*******************************
CHAPTER TWENTY:
Kyle lay on the floor of Michael's apartment about two hours later, trying to sleep but failing to do so. The sounds of the helicopters buzzing overhead had finally died down. Things were quiet in the apartment, with the only sounds being those of sleeping friends. Max and Liz were laying together on a blanket across the room, while Alex cuddled Isabel close to him in another corner of the room. Maria was crashed on Michael's couch, while he slept on the floor next to her.
He thought he heard movement in the bedroom, where Tess was supposed to be sleeping with the baby. Since he wasn't sleeping anyway, Kyle decided to get up and see if everything was okay. He slowly crept through the living room and got to the door. It was cracked open, and he could see into the room. Tess was kneeling beside the bed, gently stroking baby Zahn's cheek. She then kissed the baby on the cheek, got up from the floor, and turned to face the doorway. That was when she saw Kyle watching her.
"Kyle," she whispered. "I thought you were asleep."
"Couldn't sleep," said Kyle. "I heard you moving around in here, and wanted to make sure everything was okay."
Tess was silent for a moment, as if in contemplation about what to say next. Then, she took a deep breath, and spoke. "Kyle, I...I wonder if you would do me a favor. Could you...drive me somewhere?"
"Where?" asked Kyle. "You shouldn't really be out..."
"Please, Kyle," said Tess. "I need you to drive me somewhere outside of town. I think I can try the mind warp again to get us past the road blocks."
"Okay," said Kyle. "I...suppose. I'll wake Max..."
"No," said Tess. "We go alone. Please, Kyle, I know you have no reason to trust me, but...I need you to do this for me. For my son's sake, please."
Kyle nodded his head. "My car is at my place," he said. "I can get the keys to Maria's Jetta, we'll go there and get my car."
"Why don't we just take the Jetta, we won't be gone long?" asked Tess.
"Oh, yeah, right, like I'm really going to face Maria's wrath if I get her Jetta damaged by machine guns or something," said Kyle. "Come on, let's go."
Kyle was able to get Maria's keys from the counter, and wrote her a brief note apologizing for borrowing her car without permission. Then, he and Tess went downstairs, got in the car, and headed for Kyle's house. When they got there, they were quiet so as not to wake Kyle's father who was sleeping inside, while they got into Kyle's car and drove away from the house. They were stopped at a road block, but thanks to Tess' mind warp, it looked to the sentries like he was driving alone. Tess then had him drive her out into the desert to a spot near the fence to the military base. He stopped the car and turned off the ignition.
"We're here," he said. "But, this is the LAST place we should be. I mean...the lion's den is just across that fence line."
"I know," said Tess. "But, you won't be here long."
"What do you mean I won't be here long?" asked Kyle. Then, with a worried tone in his voice, he said, "What are you planning to do?"
"Kyle," said Tess. "I...wanted to tell you something. What you and your Dad did for me...it was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. You gave me a home, made me feel safe, gave me compassion and caring. And I...I betrayed you, all of you. But, I think the people I regret betraying the most, besides Alex, are you and your Father. I really...I really never knew what love was supposed to be like. Nasedo...he didn't love me. He was like my keeper, not...not my Father. But you, Kyle, you...and your Father...made me feel so...loved, cared for. And I betrayed that." Tears were now flowing down her cheeks. "Kyle, I don't...I don't know if you can forgive me, or if I even deserve forgiveness, but...I...I can't stand the thought of you hating me. Even though I deserve nothing else."
"Tess," said Kyle tenderly. "I...could never...hate you. And that's been the damnedable misery of what I've been feeling since you left here, since...what you did to Alex came to light. He's...my friend, and you...violated him in a way I can't even begin to get my head around. I was so angry with you, for...using me and my Dad, all of us, for....mind warping Alex right in my own bedroom. I felt so...I didn't...I wondered whether you becoming a part of our family was all a lie, a...a front for covering up what you were doing with Alex."
"No, it wasn't, Kyle," said Tess, now openly crying. "I...I genuinely, truly, cared for you and your Father. Never doubt that."
"At the same time," said Kyle, "I was...angry with you, I...was trying to reconcile the fact that I...still CARED for you, was worried about you, the fact I...I...it was just so confusing. But...wait a minute, you changed the subject on me. What are we doing here, Tess? I want to know! Now!"
"Kyle, I have to make things right," said Tess. "And right now, there is...only one way I know to do that. There is only one way I can't take the heat off of all of you, and protect Zahn. Maybe I can even...redeem myself, in some way, in everyone's eyes by doing this. But, my...my motivation is to protect you, all of you, and Zahn. I have to...I have to give them what they want."
"NO!" said Kyle emphatically. "You are not going to turn yourself in to them!! They'll dissect you, do...experiments on you!!! They'll KILL YOU!!!"
"Kyle, I have no choice!" said Tess. "But, I...I won't let them take me alive!! I'm going to....make sure they know that I was the alien, but...they won't have me alive to do that!"
"Oh, what are you going to do, go in and blow up the place, yourself with it?" asked Kyle.
"Exactly," said Tess, getting out of the car.
Kyle was sitting in his seat stunned, not knowing what to do. He saw Tess start moving towards the fence. The emotions surged through him, pushing him to do what his heart was yelling at him to do. "NO!" he said.
He threw open the car door, and jumped out of the seat. Running up to Tess, he grabbed her by the arm and turned her toward him.
"I am NOT going to let you do this!!!" said Kyle. "I know you have the power to make me let you go in there, but...don't do that to me!!! I will not sit here and watch you die!!! You mean too much to me!!!"
"Kyle, I have to do this!!!" said Tess.
"No, I'd rather die than let you do this!!" said Kyle.
"What?!" said Tess, tears again rolling down her cheeks. "Why?!! I...I've brought you nothing but pain, all of you!!! This would allow you to get rid of me from your lives, to be safe!!! This would keep my baby safe at the same time!!! Why do you want to prevent me from doing this?!!"
"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!!" yelled Kyle.
Tess stared at him completely speechless, and Kyle was silent for a few moments, letting what he had just blurted out sink in with both of them. Then, as tears began to roll down Kyle's cheeks, he reached up and gently cupped Tess' face with his right hand.
"Tess," said Kyle. "I love you. I...love your eyes, your smile...how you can be so strong willed, but also...so vulnerable at times. I love the way you always had a sarcastic come back for things I would say to you, when I would...complain about your girl things strung all over the bathroom. I love how you made that Christmas so special for me and my Dad, when it hadn't been for so long. I love...how you stood there, forthright and beautiful when you forced my Dad and I to acknowledge the fact you didn't have a chair to sit in for Christmas dinner, how you chastised us for sitting around like 'beached whales' while you fixed dinner. I...got so used to having you there. Then, when you left, I...had to learn to live my life without you. It hurt so much, because...when you were here, I...got so used to you being there. I couldn't fathom having to go through my life without you in it. But, I...was starting to put you in the past, when...I saw you tonight in Michael's apartment. All of those dormant feelings came rushing back, and I knew, in my heart, that I never wanted you to go away again. I don't...want to have to learn to live my life without you in it ever again. I know...I told you I loved you like a sister, but that was a lie...a cop out, so I could run from admitting how I truly felt for you. And I always wondered...if I had told you, could I have prevented you from...doing what you did?"
"Kyle," said Tess, reaching up to wipe away a tear from Kyle's cheek. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Because....of Max Evans," said Kyle. "I...lost Liz to Max, and I was afraid that....that if I admitted my love for you, that you would...reject me for Max because he was supposed to be your destiny. That I would loose you to him like I did Liz. I knew it would hurt a hell of a lot more because I felt SO much more for you than I ever did for Liz. Plus, I also felt that...I mean, how could I compete with Max for you? I felt like I wasn't...like I wasn't good enough for you, and..."
"Oh, Kyle," said Tess, her voice choked with tears. "Just the opposite. I'm the one who isn't good enough for you. And the terrible truth is that I probably would have...turned away from your love if you had admitted it, obsessed as I was with Max then. So, you...you wouldn't have changed a thing of what had happened. I would have continued to pursue Max, missing what was right in front of me the whole time."
"Tess," said Kyle, putting his hands on Tess' shoulders. "Tell me one thing. Do you...do you love me?"
Tess was silent for a few moments, staring into Kyle's eyes, while at the same time searching her heart for an answer. Finally, she leaned in towards Kyle, and gently kissed him on the lips. He kissed her back, and pulled her into his arms as they exchanged a flurry of kisses for several moments, before Tess finally broke the kissing and looked into Kyle's eyes. "I love you," she whispered. "And I think...I think I didn't allow myself to recognize it until...that moment. I think...my human side always loved you, but...I let my alien side make my decisions, as Nasedo had taught me. But now...I don't want to listen to the alien within me. The alien side tells me to survive, at all cost. My human side...is telling me I have to sacrifice myself, to save you and Zahn and the others."
"After what we just admitted to each other, you still want to do this!" said Kyle, still holding Tess in his arms.
"Especially now," said Tess. "Kyle, I love you, and...I would die to protect you. I have to...die to protect you, and Zahn."
"Tess," said Kyle. "So help me, if you go in there, I will FOLLOW YOU!!! I will die along with you if you do this!!"
"You know I can stop you from doing that," said Tess.
"You won't," said Kyle. "I can't believe you would ever mind warp me again. Not now. Tess, there is another way."
"What?" asked Tess.
"We can...we can run away together," said Kyle. "We get the military to chase us, at least until we put some distance between us and Roswell. Then, we ditch them, and keep running."
"Kyle," said Tess, gently caressing his cheek. "You'd be living like a fugitive. You would have to leave your Father, your friends, everything you have ever known..."
"I don't care!" said Kyle, holding her tighter against him. "You mean everything to me, and I want to be with you, no matter where we go!! I want to share the danger with you, to be by your side!! And I swear, I will kill anyone that tries to hurt you!!"
"Kyle, are you...are you sure you want to do this?" asked Tess.
Then, Kyle leaned in and kissed Tess once again, capturing her lips with his own in a passionate display of love and affection. "Damned sure," said Kyle. "More sure than I have ever been about anything."
Tess rested her head on Kyle's shoulder, as he gently caressed her back. Finally, she said. "Okay...let's do it. Let's go."
**
Two weeks later, Alex and Isabel were driving to the Valenti home. Jim Valenti had asked for everyone to meet him there because he had something important to tell them. In the meantime, they, like everyone else, were reeling from the knowledge of what they now knew to have happened-Kyle and Tess ran off together, leading the military away from town after hey busted through a military roadblock in a rather showy way.
"I still can't believe Kyle ran off with Tess," said Isabel.
"I know," said Alex. "But, you know, I've been thinking a lot about it, and realize how it makes sense. I think that Kyle has always loved Tess, and he probably ran off with her to protect her."
"She just left the baby behind," said Isabel. "Abandoned it."
"They knew it would be safer with Max," said Alex. "I still can't believe he gave it up for adoption."
"Think about it," said Isabel. "Are any of us ready for children in this stage in our lives? Why do we use protection every time we make love?"
"Good point," said Alex. "By the way, you never did tell me why you abstained from voting on whether or not to turn Tess over to the military."
"I couldn't," said Isabel. "I was so angry with her, but after what you told me...about how I would feel if I did kill her, I just...I couldn't vote in her favor, but I couldn't vote against her either. I didn't want to support her, but didn't want her death on my conscience."
They pulled into the Valenti driveway, then went into the house. The last to get there, Alex and Isabel joined the others in Jim Valenti's living room.
"Thanks for coming," said Valenti. "Everyone. I know...we've been through a lot these past few weeks."
"You sounded like it was pretty urgent over the phone," said Max. "What's up?"
"I heard from Kyle," said Valenti.
Everyone's attention was immediately perked up when they heard that. "How?" asked Liz.
"He wrote me a letter," said Valenti. "It arrived in an envelope with no return address marked on it. He said that the authorities don't know who he is, at least he doesn't think so, so he figured it would be safe to write."
"What's he say?" asked Alex.
"He says that they let them chase them all the way to the Arizona line," said Valenti. "Then, Tess pulled a little mind warp on them. They blew up Kyle's car, while Tess made the chasing soldiers think they were in it when it blew. Tess also made sure the fire burned so hot that nothing was left of the car when it was through but ashes."
"That takes the heat off of them," said Michael. "Then where did they go?"
"They stole a car," said Kyle. "Took it to Phoenix. Then, they bought another car at a used car lot. Tess changed the fifty dollars in his wallet to a whole lot more than that, so they could afford it."
"Isabel, you still got to teach me how to do that," said Michael.
"The letter was postmarked from Phoenix," said Valenti. "They didn't say where they were going, but said to tell everyone that...they're sorry for running out on you. Apparently, according to Kyle, Tess was going to blow up the base that night, with her in it, but Kyle convinced her to run with him. They also...said to make sure Zahn was okay. And...that's it."
"At least...at least Kyle is okay," said Liz. "We can breath an little easier."
"They're a regular Bonnie and Clyde now," said Isabel. "Who would have thought?"
"I still can't believe he ran off with that bitch," said Maria.
"He loves her," said Alex. "You can't...you can't fight love."
End of Chapter Twenty. Chapter Twenty-one coming soon.
Now you see why remembering the fact Tess didn't actually kill Alex in this chain of events mattered. On the show, Tess killing Alex, then mind warping Kyle into carrying the dead body of his friend, pretty much killed any possibility of strong feelings of love that Kyle might have had for Tess. But, in this case, while what Tess did was terrible, it did allow room for Kyle to still have strong feelings for Tess, and to forgive her for what she did. I always felt the "I love you like a sister" thing was a cop out on Kyle's part, for the reasons I wrote into the story with what Kyle said to Tess about it. Everything up to that "brother-sister" confession at prom had been indicating, in my opinion, that there was romantic interest between them. So, even though this is really an Alex/Isabel story, I decided to go ahead and throw in a Kyle/Tess romance in there too, to give a more favorable resolution to that storyline as well.
Well, this crisis may be over, but more trouble is coming in the next chapter for Alex, Isabel, and their friends. So, stay tuned for chapter twenty-one, and don't miss what happens next. In the meantime, thanks for all of the great reviews I have gotten so far. The feedback I have gotten is most appreciated, and I would welcome even more reviews for this chapter, or the story so far.
CHAPTER TWENTY:
Kyle lay on the floor of Michael's apartment about two hours later, trying to sleep but failing to do so. The sounds of the helicopters buzzing overhead had finally died down. Things were quiet in the apartment, with the only sounds being those of sleeping friends. Max and Liz were laying together on a blanket across the room, while Alex cuddled Isabel close to him in another corner of the room. Maria was crashed on Michael's couch, while he slept on the floor next to her.
He thought he heard movement in the bedroom, where Tess was supposed to be sleeping with the baby. Since he wasn't sleeping anyway, Kyle decided to get up and see if everything was okay. He slowly crept through the living room and got to the door. It was cracked open, and he could see into the room. Tess was kneeling beside the bed, gently stroking baby Zahn's cheek. She then kissed the baby on the cheek, got up from the floor, and turned to face the doorway. That was when she saw Kyle watching her.
"Kyle," she whispered. "I thought you were asleep."
"Couldn't sleep," said Kyle. "I heard you moving around in here, and wanted to make sure everything was okay."
Tess was silent for a moment, as if in contemplation about what to say next. Then, she took a deep breath, and spoke. "Kyle, I...I wonder if you would do me a favor. Could you...drive me somewhere?"
"Where?" asked Kyle. "You shouldn't really be out..."
"Please, Kyle," said Tess. "I need you to drive me somewhere outside of town. I think I can try the mind warp again to get us past the road blocks."
"Okay," said Kyle. "I...suppose. I'll wake Max..."
"No," said Tess. "We go alone. Please, Kyle, I know you have no reason to trust me, but...I need you to do this for me. For my son's sake, please."
Kyle nodded his head. "My car is at my place," he said. "I can get the keys to Maria's Jetta, we'll go there and get my car."
"Why don't we just take the Jetta, we won't be gone long?" asked Tess.
"Oh, yeah, right, like I'm really going to face Maria's wrath if I get her Jetta damaged by machine guns or something," said Kyle. "Come on, let's go."
Kyle was able to get Maria's keys from the counter, and wrote her a brief note apologizing for borrowing her car without permission. Then, he and Tess went downstairs, got in the car, and headed for Kyle's house. When they got there, they were quiet so as not to wake Kyle's father who was sleeping inside, while they got into Kyle's car and drove away from the house. They were stopped at a road block, but thanks to Tess' mind warp, it looked to the sentries like he was driving alone. Tess then had him drive her out into the desert to a spot near the fence to the military base. He stopped the car and turned off the ignition.
"We're here," he said. "But, this is the LAST place we should be. I mean...the lion's den is just across that fence line."
"I know," said Tess. "But, you won't be here long."
"What do you mean I won't be here long?" asked Kyle. Then, with a worried tone in his voice, he said, "What are you planning to do?"
"Kyle," said Tess. "I...wanted to tell you something. What you and your Dad did for me...it was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. You gave me a home, made me feel safe, gave me compassion and caring. And I...I betrayed you, all of you. But, I think the people I regret betraying the most, besides Alex, are you and your Father. I really...I really never knew what love was supposed to be like. Nasedo...he didn't love me. He was like my keeper, not...not my Father. But you, Kyle, you...and your Father...made me feel so...loved, cared for. And I betrayed that." Tears were now flowing down her cheeks. "Kyle, I don't...I don't know if you can forgive me, or if I even deserve forgiveness, but...I...I can't stand the thought of you hating me. Even though I deserve nothing else."
"Tess," said Kyle tenderly. "I...could never...hate you. And that's been the damnedable misery of what I've been feeling since you left here, since...what you did to Alex came to light. He's...my friend, and you...violated him in a way I can't even begin to get my head around. I was so angry with you, for...using me and my Dad, all of us, for....mind warping Alex right in my own bedroom. I felt so...I didn't...I wondered whether you becoming a part of our family was all a lie, a...a front for covering up what you were doing with Alex."
"No, it wasn't, Kyle," said Tess, now openly crying. "I...I genuinely, truly, cared for you and your Father. Never doubt that."
"At the same time," said Kyle, "I was...angry with you, I...was trying to reconcile the fact that I...still CARED for you, was worried about you, the fact I...I...it was just so confusing. But...wait a minute, you changed the subject on me. What are we doing here, Tess? I want to know! Now!"
"Kyle, I have to make things right," said Tess. "And right now, there is...only one way I know to do that. There is only one way I can't take the heat off of all of you, and protect Zahn. Maybe I can even...redeem myself, in some way, in everyone's eyes by doing this. But, my...my motivation is to protect you, all of you, and Zahn. I have to...I have to give them what they want."
"NO!" said Kyle emphatically. "You are not going to turn yourself in to them!! They'll dissect you, do...experiments on you!!! They'll KILL YOU!!!"
"Kyle, I have no choice!" said Tess. "But, I...I won't let them take me alive!! I'm going to....make sure they know that I was the alien, but...they won't have me alive to do that!"
"Oh, what are you going to do, go in and blow up the place, yourself with it?" asked Kyle.
"Exactly," said Tess, getting out of the car.
Kyle was sitting in his seat stunned, not knowing what to do. He saw Tess start moving towards the fence. The emotions surged through him, pushing him to do what his heart was yelling at him to do. "NO!" he said.
He threw open the car door, and jumped out of the seat. Running up to Tess, he grabbed her by the arm and turned her toward him.
"I am NOT going to let you do this!!!" said Kyle. "I know you have the power to make me let you go in there, but...don't do that to me!!! I will not sit here and watch you die!!! You mean too much to me!!!"
"Kyle, I have to do this!!!" said Tess.
"No, I'd rather die than let you do this!!" said Kyle.
"What?!" said Tess, tears again rolling down her cheeks. "Why?!! I...I've brought you nothing but pain, all of you!!! This would allow you to get rid of me from your lives, to be safe!!! This would keep my baby safe at the same time!!! Why do you want to prevent me from doing this?!!"
"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!!" yelled Kyle.
Tess stared at him completely speechless, and Kyle was silent for a few moments, letting what he had just blurted out sink in with both of them. Then, as tears began to roll down Kyle's cheeks, he reached up and gently cupped Tess' face with his right hand.
"Tess," said Kyle. "I love you. I...love your eyes, your smile...how you can be so strong willed, but also...so vulnerable at times. I love the way you always had a sarcastic come back for things I would say to you, when I would...complain about your girl things strung all over the bathroom. I love how you made that Christmas so special for me and my Dad, when it hadn't been for so long. I love...how you stood there, forthright and beautiful when you forced my Dad and I to acknowledge the fact you didn't have a chair to sit in for Christmas dinner, how you chastised us for sitting around like 'beached whales' while you fixed dinner. I...got so used to having you there. Then, when you left, I...had to learn to live my life without you. It hurt so much, because...when you were here, I...got so used to you being there. I couldn't fathom having to go through my life without you in it. But, I...was starting to put you in the past, when...I saw you tonight in Michael's apartment. All of those dormant feelings came rushing back, and I knew, in my heart, that I never wanted you to go away again. I don't...want to have to learn to live my life without you in it ever again. I know...I told you I loved you like a sister, but that was a lie...a cop out, so I could run from admitting how I truly felt for you. And I always wondered...if I had told you, could I have prevented you from...doing what you did?"
"Kyle," said Tess, reaching up to wipe away a tear from Kyle's cheek. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Because....of Max Evans," said Kyle. "I...lost Liz to Max, and I was afraid that....that if I admitted my love for you, that you would...reject me for Max because he was supposed to be your destiny. That I would loose you to him like I did Liz. I knew it would hurt a hell of a lot more because I felt SO much more for you than I ever did for Liz. Plus, I also felt that...I mean, how could I compete with Max for you? I felt like I wasn't...like I wasn't good enough for you, and..."
"Oh, Kyle," said Tess, her voice choked with tears. "Just the opposite. I'm the one who isn't good enough for you. And the terrible truth is that I probably would have...turned away from your love if you had admitted it, obsessed as I was with Max then. So, you...you wouldn't have changed a thing of what had happened. I would have continued to pursue Max, missing what was right in front of me the whole time."
"Tess," said Kyle, putting his hands on Tess' shoulders. "Tell me one thing. Do you...do you love me?"
Tess was silent for a few moments, staring into Kyle's eyes, while at the same time searching her heart for an answer. Finally, she leaned in towards Kyle, and gently kissed him on the lips. He kissed her back, and pulled her into his arms as they exchanged a flurry of kisses for several moments, before Tess finally broke the kissing and looked into Kyle's eyes. "I love you," she whispered. "And I think...I think I didn't allow myself to recognize it until...that moment. I think...my human side always loved you, but...I let my alien side make my decisions, as Nasedo had taught me. But now...I don't want to listen to the alien within me. The alien side tells me to survive, at all cost. My human side...is telling me I have to sacrifice myself, to save you and Zahn and the others."
"After what we just admitted to each other, you still want to do this!" said Kyle, still holding Tess in his arms.
"Especially now," said Tess. "Kyle, I love you, and...I would die to protect you. I have to...die to protect you, and Zahn."
"Tess," said Kyle. "So help me, if you go in there, I will FOLLOW YOU!!! I will die along with you if you do this!!"
"You know I can stop you from doing that," said Tess.
"You won't," said Kyle. "I can't believe you would ever mind warp me again. Not now. Tess, there is another way."
"What?" asked Tess.
"We can...we can run away together," said Kyle. "We get the military to chase us, at least until we put some distance between us and Roswell. Then, we ditch them, and keep running."
"Kyle," said Tess, gently caressing his cheek. "You'd be living like a fugitive. You would have to leave your Father, your friends, everything you have ever known..."
"I don't care!" said Kyle, holding her tighter against him. "You mean everything to me, and I want to be with you, no matter where we go!! I want to share the danger with you, to be by your side!! And I swear, I will kill anyone that tries to hurt you!!"
"Kyle, are you...are you sure you want to do this?" asked Tess.
Then, Kyle leaned in and kissed Tess once again, capturing her lips with his own in a passionate display of love and affection. "Damned sure," said Kyle. "More sure than I have ever been about anything."
Tess rested her head on Kyle's shoulder, as he gently caressed her back. Finally, she said. "Okay...let's do it. Let's go."
**
Two weeks later, Alex and Isabel were driving to the Valenti home. Jim Valenti had asked for everyone to meet him there because he had something important to tell them. In the meantime, they, like everyone else, were reeling from the knowledge of what they now knew to have happened-Kyle and Tess ran off together, leading the military away from town after hey busted through a military roadblock in a rather showy way.
"I still can't believe Kyle ran off with Tess," said Isabel.
"I know," said Alex. "But, you know, I've been thinking a lot about it, and realize how it makes sense. I think that Kyle has always loved Tess, and he probably ran off with her to protect her."
"She just left the baby behind," said Isabel. "Abandoned it."
"They knew it would be safer with Max," said Alex. "I still can't believe he gave it up for adoption."
"Think about it," said Isabel. "Are any of us ready for children in this stage in our lives? Why do we use protection every time we make love?"
"Good point," said Alex. "By the way, you never did tell me why you abstained from voting on whether or not to turn Tess over to the military."
"I couldn't," said Isabel. "I was so angry with her, but after what you told me...about how I would feel if I did kill her, I just...I couldn't vote in her favor, but I couldn't vote against her either. I didn't want to support her, but didn't want her death on my conscience."
They pulled into the Valenti driveway, then went into the house. The last to get there, Alex and Isabel joined the others in Jim Valenti's living room.
"Thanks for coming," said Valenti. "Everyone. I know...we've been through a lot these past few weeks."
"You sounded like it was pretty urgent over the phone," said Max. "What's up?"
"I heard from Kyle," said Valenti.
Everyone's attention was immediately perked up when they heard that. "How?" asked Liz.
"He wrote me a letter," said Valenti. "It arrived in an envelope with no return address marked on it. He said that the authorities don't know who he is, at least he doesn't think so, so he figured it would be safe to write."
"What's he say?" asked Alex.
"He says that they let them chase them all the way to the Arizona line," said Valenti. "Then, Tess pulled a little mind warp on them. They blew up Kyle's car, while Tess made the chasing soldiers think they were in it when it blew. Tess also made sure the fire burned so hot that nothing was left of the car when it was through but ashes."
"That takes the heat off of them," said Michael. "Then where did they go?"
"They stole a car," said Kyle. "Took it to Phoenix. Then, they bought another car at a used car lot. Tess changed the fifty dollars in his wallet to a whole lot more than that, so they could afford it."
"Isabel, you still got to teach me how to do that," said Michael.
"The letter was postmarked from Phoenix," said Valenti. "They didn't say where they were going, but said to tell everyone that...they're sorry for running out on you. Apparently, according to Kyle, Tess was going to blow up the base that night, with her in it, but Kyle convinced her to run with him. They also...said to make sure Zahn was okay. And...that's it."
"At least...at least Kyle is okay," said Liz. "We can breath an little easier."
"They're a regular Bonnie and Clyde now," said Isabel. "Who would have thought?"
"I still can't believe he ran off with that bitch," said Maria.
"He loves her," said Alex. "You can't...you can't fight love."
End of Chapter Twenty. Chapter Twenty-one coming soon.
Now you see why remembering the fact Tess didn't actually kill Alex in this chain of events mattered. On the show, Tess killing Alex, then mind warping Kyle into carrying the dead body of his friend, pretty much killed any possibility of strong feelings of love that Kyle might have had for Tess. But, in this case, while what Tess did was terrible, it did allow room for Kyle to still have strong feelings for Tess, and to forgive her for what she did. I always felt the "I love you like a sister" thing was a cop out on Kyle's part, for the reasons I wrote into the story with what Kyle said to Tess about it. Everything up to that "brother-sister" confession at prom had been indicating, in my opinion, that there was romantic interest between them. So, even though this is really an Alex/Isabel story, I decided to go ahead and throw in a Kyle/Tess romance in there too, to give a more favorable resolution to that storyline as well.
Well, this crisis may be over, but more trouble is coming in the next chapter for Alex, Isabel, and their friends. So, stay tuned for chapter twenty-one, and don't miss what happens next. In the meantime, thanks for all of the great reviews I have gotten so far. The feedback I have gotten is most appreciated, and I would welcome even more reviews for this chapter, or the story so far.