[u]Part 3[/u]
Kate Spencer was in turmoil. There was no other way to describe how it had felt to actually come face to face with Zan like that.
She had recognized him immediately. His eyes. They had not changed a bit, were still the same dark amber, even though they looked slightly different in the human face he now wore. They still shone with intelligence and an innocence that masked his true nature so effectively, she had actually felt like throwing her arms around him before she remembered who he was.
He was Zan, the destroyer of her world. It didn't matter that at one time she would have done anything for him. He was her enemy now. It was a choice [I]he[/I] had made. There was no way to change it, even if she did remember how much she used to love him, like the brother Will had never found the time to be in that other life.
She had never expected it to happen so abruptly, that they would track him down so easily, but when she had chased Will down to the high school, she should have known that the fates were aligning, that when her brother actually did something irresponsible and completely fool-hardy, for the first time ever, it meant that the apocalypse was well near nigh.
Zan had recognized her too. She had seen it in those eyes that would always betray who he was. She had barely managed to pull herself together enough to leave the scene before she did something she would regret later. Because, in the instant after she had moved past remembering how much she used to love him, she had wanted to kill him - right there in public.
She couldn't though. This mission was [I]too[/I] important! It was completely wrong to let emotion - to let [I]memory[/I] - interfere. And, for the first time in this life, not to mention the last, it was what Will was letting happen.
Kate had known that it had hit Will hard to hear that Rowena had been found - that not only was she alive, but she was living in the same town as Zan, that she was actually [I]friends[/I] with her greatest enemy, because apparently she was. She had been in Arizona with him, had been working with him. When Jack had described her to Nicholas, the leader of the Copper Summit Skins, he had confirmed it.
The irony of it was not lost on any of them. Rowena had been found and she was working with the one person she should have absolutely known better than to have anything to do with.
Nicholas had filled them in on the little he had known about her. Apparently she was going by the name Liz Parker in this lifetime. Nicholas hadn't paid much attention to her after all, sure that she was just one of Zan's human minions, of which he apparently had several. But then Nicholas had never known Ro, had only become Khivar's right-hand man after Ro's death.
The whole thing had freaked Will out - big time. He had been unable to hide his fear for Ro, that Zan was using her in an effort to gain a foothold over Will, just like he had before. It was the same fear that had made him lie to Kate and Jack. Kate knew this intellectually, but she still could not help the anger she felt at her brother. He was actually jeopardizing the whole mission in his quest to reclaim Rowena. Their first priority had to be the granolith. They needed to save their people. It [I]was[/I] a miracle, as Jack had called it, that they were apparently going to be able to save Rowena at the same time, but it had to be secondary.
It just had to be. They could not fail their people again. Not like they had, so completely, before. They had been reborn to save them, to liberate them. It was their sole purpose, no matter how much Will wanted to recapture what he had had with Rowena.
Kate had chased her brother down to West Roswell High School to remind him of this pertinent fact, but, in the process had made things ten times worse. Because, in the end, wasn't it she who had [I]literally[/I] smacked right into Zan, alerting him to their presence?
And, so, now she wandered the streets of Roswell, her heart beating irregularly, expecting Zan to pop out from behind every second tree, expecting him to come after her. It was what he would do after all. He would know that they were here for the granolith, would do everything in his power to protect it. And there was no question that Zan's power was immense. Even connected with Will and Jack, she would be hard-pressed to defeat him if he truly wanted to win. And if Nicholas was right, then Zan had also brought together [I]his[/I] Four Square. He, Ava, Vilandra and Rath were all together, were all bonded.
They were unbeatable.
Except that.
And, suddenly Kate understood exactly why Will had been so desperate to reconnect with Rowena. Because, in the end, she was their only hope to defeat Zan.
Apparently her brother had not been merely a fool for love after all.
A smile of admiration broke across her face. Now all she had to do was find Will and tell him that she fully approved of his plan, that she fully supported any effort to bring Zan down before he could use the granolith and truly win.
With Rowena back in their camp, it was only a matter of time now. Zan of Antar's days were numbered.
**************************************************
Alex pushed his way through the doors to the Crashdown, his eyes narrowing at the sudden dimness after the bright morning sunlight. When he finally managed to refocus, he felt his heart start to pound in a more regular rhythm as relief ran through him.
He had found Liz. She was all right. Thank God! He was going to kill her for practically giving Maria a conniption and taking a year off his own life. The restaurant was almost empty, so he opened his mouth to do just that when he realized that Liz was not alone.
She was sitting at the counter beside that new guy, the one Hardy had sent her off with, and apparently she was [I]more[/I] than all right. Because, at the moment, Liz Parker was laughing her head off.
"LIZ!" Alex couldn't help himself. He yelled her name, irritation and pleasure mixed in his tone in equal parts.
Liz looked up, blinked. "Alex?" She asked, barely managing to suppress another giggle. "Hi!" She glanced at the clock behind the counter. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in PE?"
"Aren't [I]you[/I] supposed to be in Chemistry?" Alex shot back. He eyed the guy sitting beside Liz with suspicion now. He was looking at Alex with an open expression on his face. Alex turned back to Liz, raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest.
Liz's face was slightly flushed, as though she was now a little embarrassed. "Well, yeah," she admitted grudgingly. "But Will's new in town. I had to show him the best place to eat, didn't I?"
"In the middle of Bio?" Alex asked, hard-pressed to stay mad at her. It was better to see Liz a little giddy and playing hooky than how he had seen her earlier that day. She had been practically drowning in her own misery not two hours ago.
But it still didn't make any sense, this sudden happiness. Not with the way that Max and Liz had been behaving towards each other and not with what Liz had told them about Kyle. Clearly something was wrong with Liz Parker and one fun breakfast with some new guy was not going to fix that. She was putting on an act, a very effective one, yes, but Alex was already beginning to see through it.
Liz was grimacing. "I just couldn't." She broke off, looked away. Alex knew that he was not the only one thinking about Max Evans now. He could have kicked himself. Because apparently Liz had managed to forget whatever disaster had befallen her star-crossed romance this week, even if only for a little while. And what had he done? He had brought it all crashing back down on her. Some friend he was!
Alex looked at Will again, this new guy apparently responsible for brightening Liz's mood considerably, and suddenly felt much more charitable towards him. "Hey, sorry. I'm being totally rude." He extended his hand. "I'm Alex Whitman. Best friend and general worrywart with brotherly tendencies. It's not like Liz to skip out of class, so I was freaking a bit."
"I can understand that," Will replied, accepting Alex's hand in a firm grip, his blue eyes friendly. "Liz told me that herself actually, although I'm having a hard time buying the goody-two-shoes reports considering the fact that not only did she ditch Bio, she made me do it too!" He nudged Liz lightly, making her laugh again.
Alex stared at her. Was she actually blushing? Good Lord! Apparently this guy had not only improved Liz's mood. He had also tilted the world off its axis, because there could be no other explanation for why Liz Parker would be looking at this Will character like.
Well, like he was Max Evans.
It was freaky. And Alex was suddenly very, very wary again. He remembered Maria's comment that maybe this was a mindwarp on Liz, that this guy was somehow controlling her. Could his wacky friend actually be right? Because to have Liz looking at him like this so quickly, it was just completely [I]wrong[/I] in a way Alex could not comprehend.
He was going to get to the bottom of this, immediately, if not sooner.
"Hate to be rude again," Alex began tentatively, "But Lizzie, I really need to speak to you alone."
He watched Will closely. Was he imagining that he saw something flash in Will's piercing eyes? He didn't think so. That had looked entirely too possessive for Alex's peace of mind, like the hesitation one would expect from a boyfriend when his girl was going to hang out with a guy that he didn't know well.
Yup. Something was definitely rotten in the state of Roswell.
Alex was beginning to regret that he had run out of the school so quickly. Maria had been right. Maybe he should have waited for some Czechoslovakian back up.
But whatever it was Alex had seen on Will's face was gone almost immediately. "Of course," Will shrugged. Alex frowned when he noticed that Will was staring over his shoulder. But when he turned around, whatever it was the new guy had been looking at was gone. "I need to get back to school anyway. I don't want to get booted out on my first day."
Alex narrowed his eyes as Will brought a friendly arm up and gave Liz a squeeze. "I'll see you later Liz. We're still on for tonight?"
"Totally." Liz beamed at him. "I'll give you my ultra-deluxe tour of Roswell."
Will stood and sauntered towards the doors, glancing once more over his shoulder before he left. "Nice to meet you Whitman."
Alex didn't reply. He just nodded as he plunked himself down beside Liz, never taking his eyes off Will until the other guy left.
"What a nice guy!" Liz exclaimed as the doors swung shut behind Will. "Wasn't he nice Alex?"
Alex turned his head, regarded Liz seriously. "I don't know Liz. What makes you think so?"
Liz blinked. "I don' t know. There was just something about him."
"Okay Parker, cut the crap." Alex knew he was being abrupt, but he didn't care. His friend was behaving totally unlike herself and he was not going to put up with it a moment longer. He could not endure another morning like the one he had just had. Hell, he couldn't endure another few [I]months[/I] like the ones that had just passed! The alien abyss had a general propensity for angst, but it truly seemed that, ever since she had heard the destiny message after they had all saved Max from Pierce, Liz was bringing a lot of it on herself.
First she had walked away from Max, when clearly it was the last thing Max wanted. Then she had apparently slept with Kyle Valenti, someone Alex [I]knew[/I] Liz didn't care a fig for - well, certainly not as more than a friend. This had only been confirmed by how miserable she had been by the distance between she and Max this morning.
This new guy was just another example of it. Alex Whitman wanted the Liz Parker he knew and loved back and he wasn't going anywhere until she was straight with him.
"What do you mean Alex?" Liz asked, sounding mildly annoyed now. "I'm just telling you what I felt."
"What about Max?" No point in beating around the bush Alex decided. If she was going to be pissed at him, he might as well go for broke. "And what the hell did you mean when you told me and Maria this morning that you slept with Kyle? Liz, that is just not [I]you[/I] and I refuse to believe it actually happened."
It was the wrong tactic though, because as he watched, Liz's face shuttered, effectively shutting him out. "It happened Alex. I made a mistake and I regret that I hurt Max, but it's over and I have to move on. Is it so wrong that I find another boy attractive? I can't ever be with Max anyway and we both know why!" Her voice had lowered to a desperate whisper and, for the first time, Alex truly began to understand how completely devastated his best friend was.
She truly believed that she did not belong with Max Evans and it was killing her.
"Liz." He reached out to take her hand, but she jumped off her stool and turned her back on him.
"I don't want to talk about this ever again Alex. I mean it. Max and I are never getting back together and it's time for me to accept it and move on. And if the rest of you can't deal with that, then I'm just going to have to find new friends."
And with that resounding, metaphorical, slap to his face, Liz stormed through the swinging door into the back, leaving Alex staring after her.
Kate Spencer was in turmoil. There was no other way to describe how it had felt to actually come face to face with Zan like that.
She had recognized him immediately. His eyes. They had not changed a bit, were still the same dark amber, even though they looked slightly different in the human face he now wore. They still shone with intelligence and an innocence that masked his true nature so effectively, she had actually felt like throwing her arms around him before she remembered who he was.
He was Zan, the destroyer of her world. It didn't matter that at one time she would have done anything for him. He was her enemy now. It was a choice [I]he[/I] had made. There was no way to change it, even if she did remember how much she used to love him, like the brother Will had never found the time to be in that other life.
She had never expected it to happen so abruptly, that they would track him down so easily, but when she had chased Will down to the high school, she should have known that the fates were aligning, that when her brother actually did something irresponsible and completely fool-hardy, for the first time ever, it meant that the apocalypse was well near nigh.
Zan had recognized her too. She had seen it in those eyes that would always betray who he was. She had barely managed to pull herself together enough to leave the scene before she did something she would regret later. Because, in the instant after she had moved past remembering how much she used to love him, she had wanted to kill him - right there in public.
She couldn't though. This mission was [I]too[/I] important! It was completely wrong to let emotion - to let [I]memory[/I] - interfere. And, for the first time in this life, not to mention the last, it was what Will was letting happen.
Kate had known that it had hit Will hard to hear that Rowena had been found - that not only was she alive, but she was living in the same town as Zan, that she was actually [I]friends[/I] with her greatest enemy, because apparently she was. She had been in Arizona with him, had been working with him. When Jack had described her to Nicholas, the leader of the Copper Summit Skins, he had confirmed it.
The irony of it was not lost on any of them. Rowena had been found and she was working with the one person she should have absolutely known better than to have anything to do with.
Nicholas had filled them in on the little he had known about her. Apparently she was going by the name Liz Parker in this lifetime. Nicholas hadn't paid much attention to her after all, sure that she was just one of Zan's human minions, of which he apparently had several. But then Nicholas had never known Ro, had only become Khivar's right-hand man after Ro's death.
The whole thing had freaked Will out - big time. He had been unable to hide his fear for Ro, that Zan was using her in an effort to gain a foothold over Will, just like he had before. It was the same fear that had made him lie to Kate and Jack. Kate knew this intellectually, but she still could not help the anger she felt at her brother. He was actually jeopardizing the whole mission in his quest to reclaim Rowena. Their first priority had to be the granolith. They needed to save their people. It [I]was[/I] a miracle, as Jack had called it, that they were apparently going to be able to save Rowena at the same time, but it had to be secondary.
It just had to be. They could not fail their people again. Not like they had, so completely, before. They had been reborn to save them, to liberate them. It was their sole purpose, no matter how much Will wanted to recapture what he had had with Rowena.
Kate had chased her brother down to West Roswell High School to remind him of this pertinent fact, but, in the process had made things ten times worse. Because, in the end, wasn't it she who had [I]literally[/I] smacked right into Zan, alerting him to their presence?
And, so, now she wandered the streets of Roswell, her heart beating irregularly, expecting Zan to pop out from behind every second tree, expecting him to come after her. It was what he would do after all. He would know that they were here for the granolith, would do everything in his power to protect it. And there was no question that Zan's power was immense. Even connected with Will and Jack, she would be hard-pressed to defeat him if he truly wanted to win. And if Nicholas was right, then Zan had also brought together [I]his[/I] Four Square. He, Ava, Vilandra and Rath were all together, were all bonded.
They were unbeatable.
Except that.
And, suddenly Kate understood exactly why Will had been so desperate to reconnect with Rowena. Because, in the end, she was their only hope to defeat Zan.
Apparently her brother had not been merely a fool for love after all.
A smile of admiration broke across her face. Now all she had to do was find Will and tell him that she fully approved of his plan, that she fully supported any effort to bring Zan down before he could use the granolith and truly win.
With Rowena back in their camp, it was only a matter of time now. Zan of Antar's days were numbered.
**************************************************
Alex pushed his way through the doors to the Crashdown, his eyes narrowing at the sudden dimness after the bright morning sunlight. When he finally managed to refocus, he felt his heart start to pound in a more regular rhythm as relief ran through him.
He had found Liz. She was all right. Thank God! He was going to kill her for practically giving Maria a conniption and taking a year off his own life. The restaurant was almost empty, so he opened his mouth to do just that when he realized that Liz was not alone.
She was sitting at the counter beside that new guy, the one Hardy had sent her off with, and apparently she was [I]more[/I] than all right. Because, at the moment, Liz Parker was laughing her head off.
"LIZ!" Alex couldn't help himself. He yelled her name, irritation and pleasure mixed in his tone in equal parts.
Liz looked up, blinked. "Alex?" She asked, barely managing to suppress another giggle. "Hi!" She glanced at the clock behind the counter. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in PE?"
"Aren't [I]you[/I] supposed to be in Chemistry?" Alex shot back. He eyed the guy sitting beside Liz with suspicion now. He was looking at Alex with an open expression on his face. Alex turned back to Liz, raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest.
Liz's face was slightly flushed, as though she was now a little embarrassed. "Well, yeah," she admitted grudgingly. "But Will's new in town. I had to show him the best place to eat, didn't I?"
"In the middle of Bio?" Alex asked, hard-pressed to stay mad at her. It was better to see Liz a little giddy and playing hooky than how he had seen her earlier that day. She had been practically drowning in her own misery not two hours ago.
But it still didn't make any sense, this sudden happiness. Not with the way that Max and Liz had been behaving towards each other and not with what Liz had told them about Kyle. Clearly something was wrong with Liz Parker and one fun breakfast with some new guy was not going to fix that. She was putting on an act, a very effective one, yes, but Alex was already beginning to see through it.
Liz was grimacing. "I just couldn't." She broke off, looked away. Alex knew that he was not the only one thinking about Max Evans now. He could have kicked himself. Because apparently Liz had managed to forget whatever disaster had befallen her star-crossed romance this week, even if only for a little while. And what had he done? He had brought it all crashing back down on her. Some friend he was!
Alex looked at Will again, this new guy apparently responsible for brightening Liz's mood considerably, and suddenly felt much more charitable towards him. "Hey, sorry. I'm being totally rude." He extended his hand. "I'm Alex Whitman. Best friend and general worrywart with brotherly tendencies. It's not like Liz to skip out of class, so I was freaking a bit."
"I can understand that," Will replied, accepting Alex's hand in a firm grip, his blue eyes friendly. "Liz told me that herself actually, although I'm having a hard time buying the goody-two-shoes reports considering the fact that not only did she ditch Bio, she made me do it too!" He nudged Liz lightly, making her laugh again.
Alex stared at her. Was she actually blushing? Good Lord! Apparently this guy had not only improved Liz's mood. He had also tilted the world off its axis, because there could be no other explanation for why Liz Parker would be looking at this Will character like.
Well, like he was Max Evans.
It was freaky. And Alex was suddenly very, very wary again. He remembered Maria's comment that maybe this was a mindwarp on Liz, that this guy was somehow controlling her. Could his wacky friend actually be right? Because to have Liz looking at him like this so quickly, it was just completely [I]wrong[/I] in a way Alex could not comprehend.
He was going to get to the bottom of this, immediately, if not sooner.
"Hate to be rude again," Alex began tentatively, "But Lizzie, I really need to speak to you alone."
He watched Will closely. Was he imagining that he saw something flash in Will's piercing eyes? He didn't think so. That had looked entirely too possessive for Alex's peace of mind, like the hesitation one would expect from a boyfriend when his girl was going to hang out with a guy that he didn't know well.
Yup. Something was definitely rotten in the state of Roswell.
Alex was beginning to regret that he had run out of the school so quickly. Maria had been right. Maybe he should have waited for some Czechoslovakian back up.
But whatever it was Alex had seen on Will's face was gone almost immediately. "Of course," Will shrugged. Alex frowned when he noticed that Will was staring over his shoulder. But when he turned around, whatever it was the new guy had been looking at was gone. "I need to get back to school anyway. I don't want to get booted out on my first day."
Alex narrowed his eyes as Will brought a friendly arm up and gave Liz a squeeze. "I'll see you later Liz. We're still on for tonight?"
"Totally." Liz beamed at him. "I'll give you my ultra-deluxe tour of Roswell."
Will stood and sauntered towards the doors, glancing once more over his shoulder before he left. "Nice to meet you Whitman."
Alex didn't reply. He just nodded as he plunked himself down beside Liz, never taking his eyes off Will until the other guy left.
"What a nice guy!" Liz exclaimed as the doors swung shut behind Will. "Wasn't he nice Alex?"
Alex turned his head, regarded Liz seriously. "I don't know Liz. What makes you think so?"
Liz blinked. "I don' t know. There was just something about him."
"Okay Parker, cut the crap." Alex knew he was being abrupt, but he didn't care. His friend was behaving totally unlike herself and he was not going to put up with it a moment longer. He could not endure another morning like the one he had just had. Hell, he couldn't endure another few [I]months[/I] like the ones that had just passed! The alien abyss had a general propensity for angst, but it truly seemed that, ever since she had heard the destiny message after they had all saved Max from Pierce, Liz was bringing a lot of it on herself.
First she had walked away from Max, when clearly it was the last thing Max wanted. Then she had apparently slept with Kyle Valenti, someone Alex [I]knew[/I] Liz didn't care a fig for - well, certainly not as more than a friend. This had only been confirmed by how miserable she had been by the distance between she and Max this morning.
This new guy was just another example of it. Alex Whitman wanted the Liz Parker he knew and loved back and he wasn't going anywhere until she was straight with him.
"What do you mean Alex?" Liz asked, sounding mildly annoyed now. "I'm just telling you what I felt."
"What about Max?" No point in beating around the bush Alex decided. If she was going to be pissed at him, he might as well go for broke. "And what the hell did you mean when you told me and Maria this morning that you slept with Kyle? Liz, that is just not [I]you[/I] and I refuse to believe it actually happened."
It was the wrong tactic though, because as he watched, Liz's face shuttered, effectively shutting him out. "It happened Alex. I made a mistake and I regret that I hurt Max, but it's over and I have to move on. Is it so wrong that I find another boy attractive? I can't ever be with Max anyway and we both know why!" Her voice had lowered to a desperate whisper and, for the first time, Alex truly began to understand how completely devastated his best friend was.
She truly believed that she did not belong with Max Evans and it was killing her.
"Liz." He reached out to take her hand, but she jumped off her stool and turned her back on him.
"I don't want to talk about this ever again Alex. I mean it. Max and I are never getting back together and it's time for me to accept it and move on. And if the rest of you can't deal with that, then I'm just going to have to find new friends."
And with that resounding, metaphorical, slap to his face, Liz stormed through the swinging door into the back, leaving Alex staring after her.