Strength of Mind
Category: CC
Spoilers: Everything up to and including 'Departure'
Summary: If a person dies, is that person really gone or does a part of them continue on.
Disclaimer: This is a fictional story using characters and events that belong to the creators of Roswell. I own nothing and make nothing from this story. In other words; Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afforded them if I did.
Chapter Two
The next morning found Max stretched out on his bed, fully awake as he stared blankly at the ceiling in his bedroom. Worry etched his features as he contemplated the ramifications of Alex knowing his, Isabel's, and Michael's secret.
'If you do hurt her, I will hurt you.'
Max remembered the unfriendly look in Alex's eyes and the dead certainty in Alex's voice. Both told Max that Alex believed that he could, and will, hurt Liz but that was something that he couldn't believe would happen. He would die before hurting Liz.
The way Alex acted last night worried Max, especially after learning that he had hit Michael. That was two threats from Alex and he was worried that Isabel would be next. He wanted to keep an eye on his sister just in case she should run into Alex.
Max looked down at the sleeping form of his friend, wrapped up in his sleeping bag. He reached for one of his pillows and threw it at his friend's slumbering form. "Michael.. Wake up."
A loud snort erupted from within the sleeping bag and Michael sot up to a sitting position. A set of bleary eyes scanned the room before resting on Max.
"Wha... What time is it?"
"Early," came Max's terse reply.
"Then why'd you wake me up, Maxwell?"
"Because I need to go talk to Liz," Max growled. "So get up."
Michael grumbled but did as Max wanted and was soon on his way home to get cleaned up and changed.
:
Isabel had lain in bed for the past couple of minutes, half-listening to Max wake Michael up. The rest of her attention was focused on trying to remember the nightmare she had last night. It was frustrating for her to not be able to remember what felt like a very important dream. The only things that she faintly recalled was that it was dark where ever she was and that there was a sense of pain. A lot of it.
That was the one thing she didn't tell Max that night.
It was the pain that had woke her up
After finding out last night that Liz had told Alex about them, she had planned to dream walk Alex. She needed to find out what he subconsciously thought of them, of her, so once she had got back to room, she climbed into bed with her yearbook, opened it up to Alex's picture and prepared to enter his dreams. At least that was the plan but instead, she ended up falling asleep.
I must've been more tired than I thought.
Isabel slowly climbed out of bed and began to get ready for the day. The first thing on her agenda was to find Alex.
:
Liz was walking on cloud nine all morning. Even having to work an early shift at the beginning of the weekend couldn't wipe the dreamy smile that was plastered on her face. She was happy because of two things. One, she has her best friend, Alex, back in her life with no lies between them and two, Max had kissed her.
Max had finally kissed her.
Liz absently cleaned the counter as she replayed the kiss in her mind.
"Liz?"
The brunette turned to find a highly amused Maria, who just arrived for her shift watching her.
"Babe," Maria chuckled. "You've got to come down from the cloud you're on. We've got hungry customers waiting to be fed and I'm not facing them all by myself."
Liz looked around, surprised to find that the place was nearly filled. The look that she threw Maria was both shocked and contrite.
"Sorry about that Maria," Liz grabbed a pad and pen as she headed for the nearest table in her section. "But not even a room full of alien crazed customers can dampen my day."
"I can see that," Maria said as she watched from behind the counter as her friend went about her business with more than just a little bounce in her step. She hasn't seen Liz like this in a long while and was very happy to see her friend like this again. Liz positively glowed and even some of the more surly, morning customers looked a little bit happier after Liz had chatted with them before taking their order.
After Liz gave all her orders to the cook, Maria cornered her by the pickup window.
"Okay," Maria started off. "You're holding out on me and that's against the rules."
Liz looked at her friend with a look of complete innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about Maria."
"Something happened last night after the party and you're not sharing, girl friend" Maria gave Liz a pointed look. "And I know that you spent some time in jail with Alex so tell me what's going on."
"Well first off, I told Alex everything that's been going on," Liz casually said as she filled up a salt shaker.
"WHAT?"
Everyone in the cafe looked at the two waitresses, especially at the blonde that had yelled who was now completely ignoring her audience as she dragged the brunette into the back room.
"Are you telling me that Alex knows about Michael, Max, and Isabel? About them being..." Maria paused to make sure that Jose wasn't listening to them. "Czechoslovakians?"
Liz was so shocked to see the hopeful look on Maria's face, all she could do was nod her head.
"Oh Thank God!" Maria exclaimed. "What did he say? How did he take it?"
"Truthfully, I don't think that he really believed me. It may take a few demonstrations from one of them to make him accept it. One good thing though, Alex is willing to be our friend again."
"I'm glad to hear that," the blonde said with a smile. "I really missed him being around."
Just then Liz's father poked his head inside the door. "You better get out here girls. These people are not gonna serve themselves."
"Okay, Dad." Liz answered her father. "We're coming out."
Her father nodded his head and then let the door close behind him. Both girls left the back room and went to the pick up window, grabbing the food sitting there and delivered it to the waiting customers. Liz took another order and gave it to the cook, not noticing that Maria followed her.
"Maria!" Liz jumped when she turned around, startled to find her friend standing right behind her.
"Sorry but you still haven't said what's got you in such a good mood and even though I'm happy that we have Alex back, I'm willing to bet that something else happened."
Liz gave her friend an exasperated look before quickly gave Maria a brief summary of what had happened after she and Alex were released from jail, including her late night visitor.
That caused Maria to squeal in delight for her friends happiness, once again drawing strange looks from the customers near them.
"You have to tell me everything," Maria demanded.
Liz smirked, "What about you? I know you disappeared with Michael at the party. How was your night?"
"Don't get me started on HIM," Maria stated emphatically, her previous happy look was quickly replaced by a sour one. "I swear, sometimes I just want to string him up by his-"
"MARIA?!"
"- feet," Maria finished with a smirk. "Get your head out of the gutter, babe."
And with that, Maria went back to work. Liz chuckled softly and then followed her friend's lead as she moved to take the order of the couple that had just sat down in her section.
:
Isabel watched as her brother and Michael took off in his jeep. She knew where they were headed for and that was fine with her. She had bigger fish to fry, so to speak. Once they were out of sight, she quickly made her way through town, stopping at a house that she had never been to before.
Along the way, Isabel had gone over everything that she had wanted to say to Alex but now that she was less than five feet from the front door, she was having second thoughts. Her worry over what Alex's opinion of her, Max , and Michael was beginning to shake her confidence.
What is wrong with me? Isabel thought furiously to herself. It's just Alex.
Isabel shook slightly as she tried to shrug off her anxiety. Once she got herself under control, she marched up to the front door and raised her hand to knock.
"I wondered when you were gonna show up," a soft voice spoke behind her.
"Alex!" Isabel jumped at the sound of his voice. Then she was hit by a..
Flash
Alex Whitman smiled mischievously as he raised a hand, showing her a small black box with a single red button. He pressed the button and the scene in the mirror disappeared to be replaced by her reflection.
"I wondered when you were gonna try this again."
Flash
"Are you alright Isabel?"
Isabel looked up at the concerned look in Alex's eyes. She gingerly shook her head, feeling disoriented. That flash caused a blinding pain to blossom in her mind and traveled throughout her body. The last thing she saw before passing out was the scared look on Alex's face.
:
Max and Michael rode to the Crashdown in silence. Isabel had decided to not go with them, stating that there was something that she had wanted to do first. Michael jumped out of the jeep as soon as they pulled up to the diner.
"I can't believe that Liz told Alex the truth," Michael fumed. "I'm telling ya Max, we should leave right now."
"We've had this discussion before Michael. We're staying here," Max explained patiently. "People will notice if we were to just drop everything now and disappear."
"Whatever," Michael muttered as they entered the Crashdown.
Both were surprised to find the place nearly packed. Only a few tables were empty so they moved to the one closest to the back. After sitting down, they were soon greeted by Liz and Maria.
"Hey," Liz said softly, smiling sweetly at Max.
"Hey," Max returned. "Do you have a few minutes? We need to talk."
Liz looked curious. "Sure. Hey Maria," she called to her friend. "Can you cover for me for a moment?"
"Okay," Maria replied absently as she watched Michael sit in an empty booth, ignoring her. "Whatever," she muttered with a soft snort, then her cell phone started ringing.
Liz followed Max over to the booth occupied by Michael. "What's going on Max?"
"Have you talked to Alex today?"
"No," Liz answered. "Why?"
Max started to speak when a shout interrupted him.
"Max!"
All three turned to Maria as she rushed over to them, holding her cell.
"Alex called. there's something wrong with your sister."
"What!" Max shot up from his seat.
"Where are they!" Michael demanded.
Irritation flashed in Maria's eyes for a second before turning to look at Max. "He said that they would meet you at your house."
Max raced out of the cafe with Michael hot on his heels, leaving both girls standing there.
"What's going on Maria?" Liz asked
"I wish I knew."
:
Max burst into his home, calling his sister's name. He saw her lying on the couch and immediately went to her side, carefully checking her over.
Michael was the next one through the door. the first thing he saw was Alex standing over Max and Isabel. He grabbed Alex by the front of his shirt and shoved him up against the wall.
"What did you do?!"
Alex winced in pain but kept it from registering in his voice. "I didn't do anything," Alex grated out as he roughly pushed Michael away from him. "She came over to my house this morning. When I saw her, she collapsed in pain and then fainted."
"We don't faint," Michael stated defensively.
"You don't think either." Alex retorted then turned to Max. "How is she?"
Max remained quiet for a moment until he finished his examination. "Well there's nothing physically wrong that I could tell. What exactly happened?"
"Well I went for a walk this morning," Alex began. "I was on my way back home when I saw Isabel standing at my front door. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts and when I finally got her attention, she looked at me, said my name and then lost her balance. I managed to grab her before she fell and set her down on the steps. When I asked her what was wrong, she fainted. That's when I brought her over here in my parent's car."
"I knew you did something to Isabel." Michael took a threatening step toward Alex.
"Stop it!" a weak voice called out.
The boys turned back to the couch to find Isabel struggling to sit up. Max made his way to her side but was cut off by Alex who knelt down by her.
"Are you okay Isabel?" Alex asked tenderly while laying a supporting hand on the middle of her back.
"Alex?" Isabel shot him a dazed look. "I was coming to see you."
"I know, but you fainted on my doorstep."
"I did?" Isabel questioned Alex, who nodded in response. "But I don't faint."
Alex chuckled softly. "So I'm told but you did anyway."
Max watched silently as Isabel calmly talked to Alex as he absently rubbed her back. Both seemed very comfortable in each others presence, even to the point where Isabel had relaxed considerably and was unconsciously leaning back onto Alex's hand. This caused Max to share a surprised look with Michael.
Suddenly Isabel inhaled sharply, drawing everyone's attention to her. Alex immediately began asking what was wrong as Isabel pulled away slightly.
"I'm okay Alex," Isabel answered and then shot Max a look. "I just remembered something that I'd forgotten about."
Max understood what his sister meant. "Why don't you let me check, just to make sure."
Alex left Isabel's side, missing the brief look of disappointment on her face when he removed his hand from her back. Max didn't. In fact he also didn't miss the confusion that registered in her eyes either as he took Alex's place.
"How do you feel?" Max asked, placing one hand on her forehead and the other on the back of her head. He then looked into her eyes, lightly making a connection.
"Fine," Isabel replied. "Just a little light-headed."
Max concentrated on her head first, feeling around for anything that might be out of the ordinary. Finding nothing, he proceeded through the rest of her body until he was satisfied.
"Well I can't find anything wrong except that you are tired. Did you get any sleep last night after-"
"No!" Isabel said sharply, throwing a nervous look at Alex.
"Alex," Michael spoke up, drawing the young musician's attention. "Isabel is fine so I think its time for you to go."
"Michael," Max warned.
"What?"
Alex chuckled, shaking his head as he headed for the front door. "It's alright Max. I gotta get going anyway besides I know that deep down inside, Michael is just a big pussycat."
Michael's face darkened and he moved to go after Alex when Max reached out and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, stopping him.
"Alex!" Isabel called out as he headed for the door. "Thanks for bringing me home."
"You're welcome," was his reply as he disappeared out the door.
When the door shut, Max turned back to his sister.
"About what you said earlier, you remember your nightmare?" Max asked.
"What nightmare?" Michael demanded.
"Iz had a nightmare last night after you went to sleep. At the time she couldn't remember it," Max told Michael and then he turned back to Isabel. "But now you do?"
"Yes and no."
"What do you mean?" Max sat down next to her.
"It wasn't a nightmare. It was a dream walk."
"You dream walked Alex, didn't you," Max asked
Isabel nodded. She then preceded to tell them how she had found herself in a dark room. She told them about how she could see Alex in another room, playing his guitar to a dream version of herself. Then Alex was in the same room as her and more importantly, he knew she was there.
"Wait, he saw you?" Max interrupted.
"Yeah, he did."
"How is that possible?" Michael questioned.
"I don't know but he also knew that it wasn't the first time I've walked him," Isabel stated. "And when I touched him, I felt like my whole body was being crushed."
"And that's when you screamed and woke up."
"Uh huh."
The three quietly mulled the possible ramifications of the dream walk over in their minds. Each was worried about this turn of events for slightly different reasons.
Isabel found herself more concerned about Alex than herself. Especially how he knew that she was in his dreams. And about the pain that she had felt when she touched him because a voice deep inside of her told her that the pain belonged to Alex.
Michael was thinking about what to have ready for when they would have to leave Roswell if the Sheriff, or worse the FBI, found out about them because of Alex. All it would take was one slip and they would find themselves on the run from the government.
Max was worried most all for his life and those that he cared about. Liz, Isabel, Michael, his parents, Maria, and finally Alex. What would the future hold now that three humans knew their secret. Not only did he have to think about Isabel and Michael when he made decisions, now he had to include their human friends. He now had the responsibility for five other people to look out for instead of two.
:
Alex walked down the steps and over to his parent's car. He calmly opened the door and climbed in.
"I suppose that went well," Alex said.
( It definitely could've been worse. )
Alex shrugged and gave the Evans' house one last look before starting up the car and driving off.
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