Disclaimer: Roswell, and its characters do not belong to me. Melinda Metz, Jason Katims and 20th Century Fox have that particular pleasure. I'm simply borrowing them until the Season 2 DVD's get released.

Tomorrow's Yet to Come

Chapter 13 Ava Tells All

"Look, we can't stick around the hospital," said Max. "We'll hook up later. Are you hurt, Kyle?"

"Just some fractured ribs," said Kyle with a grimace. "Believe me, I'll let you fix me up later, but right now, you do need to get out of here before the find out that Ava's okay."

"Listen, I'm not going anywhere until someone explains all of this to me," said Liz.

"We've all got some explaining to do," said Max. "But this isn't the time, or the place. There's a small bed and breakfast on the main street. We'll check in there. Call us when you can get released, and we'll come get you."

"Actually, the sheriff here contacted my dad, and I'll bet you anything he's already on his way out here. I'll get him to bring us to you."

Max and Liz were walking to the door when Kyle called out to them.

"How'd you guys know?" he asked.

"It wasn't me," said Max. "Liz knew somehow. She had a feeling or something."

"Liz?" asked Kyle. "How did you….?"

"You called?" she said simply, to her friend.

"And you came," he responded. "Cool, our own personal alien alert system. I like it. Now get out of here."

Max and Liz left the hospital room and walked down the quiet hallway. They waited in silence for the elevator to arrive. The doors slid open, and out stepped Jim Valenti. Max smiled, and slightly shook his head, and climbed into the now empty elevator. Liz slipped her hand into the sheriff's and squeezed it gently, then followed her husband into the elevator. The two turned, and watched as the door closed on the sheriff's surprised expression.

Max and Liz sat on the bed in the charming room they were given and ate the take out pizza that Max had picked up. There was a knock on the door, and Max opened it, assuming it was the desk clerk with the extra blanket they has requested. Instead he found Jim Valenti.

"Come in, Sheriff," said Max, stepping back, and opening the door wider.

"Max, what the hell is going on here?" demanded Jim. "I get a cryptic phone call from you saying you and Liz are on your way home, and need a place to hide. Kyle and Ava decide to come home unexpectedly, and I get not one, but three overnight packages from New York. Then I get a phone call telling me my son and daughter-in-law were in an accident, and it's not looking too good for her. I get here, and amazingly, she's completely healed. You'll have to excuse me if I'm just the littlest bit confused."

"Sit down, Sheriff, and we'll try and fill in some of the gaps," said Liz. "We don't have all the answers you want, but maybe if we pool our information, some things will begin to make sense."

"Fine," said the Sheriff. He pulled up a chair, and accepted the piece of pizza Max handed him. "Thanks," he said. "I haven't eaten since I got the call from the sheriff here in town. Roswell search and rescue used their helicopter to get me here. I went and saw Kyle, and he told me where you were staying. They wouldn't let me in to see Ava, but the doctors said she's doing remarkably well."

Liz and Max explained about their friend Fred, and how he had died and about the surveillance equipment they had found in his apartment.

"So you just left?" asked the Sheriff.

"There's more, Sheriff," said Max.

"Don't you think it's time to call me Jim?" said Valenti. "We've been through kind of a lot already."

"Yeah," agreed Max, with a grin. "Anyhow, Michael sent us this picture. At first we kind of just thought it was beautiful, and Liz brought it with us when we ran. She found a phone number on the back, and managed to get through to Maria, who told us it wasn't safe, and to go to the picture."

"And the picture was of Colorado?" queried Jim.

"No, the picture is of the Granolith. We were on our way home, when Liz got this vision or something. She had the feeling that Michael and the others were in danger," explained Max.

"So were Kyle and Ava," continued Liz. "But it was a different kind of danger. With Michael, and Isabel, I kept feeling as if someone was watching them, and that he was a danger. But I knew that Kyle and Ava weren't in that kind of danger. I saw their accident, and was able to figure out where they were."

"And you called the state troopers," said Jim. "Smart, very smart. But what about Michael and the others, could you see who was following them?"

"That's where it gets strange, well, stranger, anyhow," said Liz. "I kept seeing Max. He was the one following them, but that made no sense. At least not until today."

"Why not until today, what made it make sense?" asked Jim.

"When I heal people,' said Max, "I get flashes of their lives. When I healed Liz, I saw her growing up. Kyle too, I saw him playing T-ball the year you were his coach. Well, when I healed Ava, I got flashes too, but they weren't as nice as the snippets of Kyle and Liz's lives. Ava lived through hell, with Rath and Lonnie. They were always tormenting her. Zan did what he could, but it wasn't enough."

"And then, Zan was killed by Rath and Lonnie," said Jim.

"Well, that's what we thought," said Max. "But I saw a flash of the accident, and Zan survived. He waved to Ava, and ran, while Lonnie and Rath congratulated themselves on a job well done."

"She mind warped them into thinking that their plan worked," said Jim in awe. "But why didn't she ever tell us?"

"She told Kyle," said Max. "He knew, as soon as I told him I got flashes off of her, he knew what I had seen."

"Kyle couldn't have known," said Jim. "He would never keep something like that from all of you. It's too important."

"He knew, Jim. There's no doubt about it. But we didn't get a chance to talk to him about it. We didn't think it was a great idea to stick around the hospital, what with Ava's miracle healing, and all," said Max.

"Look, Kyle's discharging himself against the doctors wishes," said Jim. "I'm supposed to go pick him up at 5:00 p.m. I'll bring him back here, and we can hash this out. I can't believe that Kyle would deceive you like that."

"Jim, he wasn't deceiving us," said Liz. "Neither was Ava for that matter. There had to be a reason why she never told us about Zan. I'm not going to pass judgment on her, or Kyle."

"Me either," said Max. "Go get him, and bring him back, and I'll heal his ribs, and then we'll talk. There isn't any point in trying to figure out the whys and wherefores now."

"I'm going to head out now to the impound lot. That's where the put Kyle's car after the accident. I'll get their luggage and anything else I think they'll need. Then I'll bring Kyle, and Ava, if possible, back tonight," said Jim.

"We'll go and get some more food," said Liz, happy to have something constructive to do.

Several hours later, a knock on the door of Max and Liz's room heralded the arrival of Jim and Kyle. Liz threw open the door, and squealed in surprise at the sight of Ava, along with the others.

"They let you out!" she exclaimed.

"Well, they didn't have a choice, since there's nothing wrong with me," the petite blond answered with a small smile. "But I'm more than willing to guess that isn't what we need to talk about, is it?"

"Well, there are a few things we should probably cover," said Max, "But first, I think I should take care of Kyle's ribs."

"That would probably be a good thing," gasped Kyle, holding his side, gingerly. Max led him over to the bed, and Kyle laid down carefully, trying not to jostle himself in any way. Max closed his eyes, and focused, picturing Kyle's ribs. He could see them in his mind, with tiny cracks running through several of them. He focused, and imagined the cracks knitting together and becoming whole. As he did, he received more flashes from Kyle. This time he saw Kyle crying as he read the note his mother left him when she left their family. He saw Kyle and Ava laughing and running through the ocean together, and he saw the accident that brought them here; the car careening off the road and down into the woods, and he saw Liz, appear near the car.

Max pulled his hands away and looked at Kyle, trying to hide the anger and resentment he felt at the connection that Kyle seemed to have with is wife. "How's that?" he said, a bit gruffly.

"Great, Man," said Kyle. "I wish I could do that. I know Che'koth told us we could all do the same things if we worked on it, but I just haven't been able to manage it yet."

"Look, can we just get this over with?" asked Ava, her voice trembling. "I know you all want to know about Zan, and I just want to do it now, before I lose my nerve."

"Look, why don't we eat, while we're talking," said Liz. "Sometimes, it's easier to talk about something difficult if you're doing something else at the same time." She offered sodas and the leftover pizza, as well as chips and other snacks to the others, then sat on the bed next to Ava and waited for her to begin.

"Well, you know Rath and Lonnie were really jazzed, cause Zan wouldn't meet with the delegation. We both heard them talkin' about doin sumptin to make Zan see it there way," Ava began, subconsciously slipping into the street language she used while living in New York. "We decided we was gonna get the hell outta New York. Zan wanted to try and find the other Zan," she nodded at Max, "And try and warn him."

"He never made it," said Max.

"No, I know," said Ava. "Anyhow, we was gonna split together, but Lonnie and Rath acted sooner than we thought, and I barely had time to mind warp those two losers, so that Zan could escape. He got out of the way of that truck just in time. He got outta the way, and stood up on the other side of the street, and waved to me. I think I knew then that he wasn't gonna come back for me. Then Rath and Lonnie decided that we should find the other Zan, and we hooked up with youse guys. None of youse ever said anything about Zan showin' up, so I knew he never made it. I just figured he was either dead, or just didn't give a shit no more and wasn't ever gonna show up."

Ava looked up at the others. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. Liz reached out and ran her hand across Ava's back in a gesture of support.

"You gotta believe me," she whispered. I wasn't trying to deceive you or anything. I just figured it didn't matter."

"We know, Ava," Max said. He smiled at her, trying to reassure her. "You're our friend, and you would never intentionally hurt any of us, or put us in any danger."

"I don't get why it's so important all of a sudden," said Ava. "I mean, it's been like two years, and I've never even heard from him. He must be dead."

"He's not," said Max. "At least, not if Liz's vision is anything to go by."