Author note: I've noticed that no one has really been reviewing this. It kind of hurts because to me, when the reviews stop, it means that no one's reading it anymore. I don't mean to sound like a review whore, but really, that's the only way I can know if there's still interest in the story. I would greatly like to continue writing this, but if no one's reading then it's just a waste of time and space on this website. So, here's the deal, after I put up this chapter, I'm not touching the story for two weeks. If by that time, I haven't gotten any reviews, then I'm going to stop writing. Does that sound fair? Well, now that that's out in the open, on with the story
Max's eyes narrowed into thin slits. Sierra, anticipating some sort of action on his part, put a hand on his arm.
"Max." She said softly. "Don't do anything."
"You brought us to Tess?" Isabel hissed. "So, we were right in the beginning, huh? You've just been spouting lies to us this whole time. You're one of the Skins." Michael stared at Sierra, unable to believe what Isabel was saying. He had felt a real connection with Sierra, how could this all be a lie? Sierra sighed.
"A) I am so not one of the skins. B) I have not been spouting lies since the very beginning. And most importantly, C) I didn't bring you to Tess."
"Well, you brought us to see an 'old friend of ours' and there's Tess. What are we supposed to think?" Kyle said.
"I never said she was an old friend of yours, now did I?" Sierra said. She looked over at Liz. "I said she was an old friend of yours."
"I don't understand." Liz said. Sierra looked at each and every one of them.
"My god, you guys are clueless." She said, rolling her eyes. "Let's review the hints, shall we? A girl who looks exactly like Tess appears when I asked for someone by the name of Zana. I said she was an old friend of Liz's. Now, based on the little love triangle that went on between Liz, Max and Tess, obviously I didn't think Tess and Liz were chums. So, any guesses who that woman is?" She didn't wait for them to respond. "It's Ava, you dummies." She said. "Ava, as in the Tess look-a-like, showed up in Roswell……What? Like a year ago with a guy and a girl who looked a whole lot like Isabel and Michael who went by the names of Rath and Lonnie."
"Oh my god…." Liz said, she turned and looked at the girl. She was surprised she hadn't seen it before-She had the same lost and pained look in her eyes that Ava had when she had stayed with her.
"Now, seeing as out of us all, you're the one she's had the most face time with, I suggest you go over there and say something to her." Sierra said to Liz. Liz slowly got up from her seat. Max stopped her.
"I don't like this." He said.
"She'll be in eyesight if you really do believe I'm lying and that's really Tess." Sierra said with a sigh.
"It's okay, Max." Liz said. She got up and walked over to the girl. Her eyes slid to Liz's approaching form and they seemed to loose the whole 'deer in headlights' look. Liz stood before her.
"Hi." Liz said softly, unsure of what else to say.
"Yo." She responded, her voice heavy with the thick New York accent. Liz stuffed her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. "……How'd ya find me?" Ava asked.
"It's a long story." Liz said. "Is there…….Somewhere we can talk, in private?" Liz asked. It was difficult seeing Ava. She had the face of the woman who killed one of her best friends and, according to Sierra, would kill the love of her life in the future. But she wasn't Tess. She was the girl who helped her save Max from Rath and Lonnie when he was in New York. She was an innocent person who had the misfortune of looking exactly like a murderous creature.
"Something otherworldly come up?" Ava asked.
"You could say that." Liz said. Ava's eyes slid over to the others at the table, then back to Liz.
"The whole posse's got to conference, huh?" She asked rhetorically. "Let me ask my boss if I can take off early." She said. Liz nodded. She slowly went back to the table as Ava disappeared in the kitchen.
"Are you okay?" Max asked as soon as Liz sat down. Liz nodded. A few minutes later, Ava returned, pulling a black wool cardigan on as she pulled a set of keys out of her front pocket. She walked over to the others.
"I got a place a few miles from here……Dunno if ya'll can fit in my car……" She said.
"We've got our own wheels." Michael said.
"We'll follow you." Sierra said. Ava looked at Sierra for a moment, then Kyle. She didn't recognize them but figured she could ask later. She simply nodded and walked out of the restaurant with the others following her.
"Wait, so lemme get this straight." Kyle said as they followed Ava's small beat up car. "Doubles of you guys appeared in Roswell and no one told me and my dad?"
"There weren't doubles of all of us." Isabel pointed out. "Just Michael, me and Tess."
"My double's dead." Max chimed in.
"Yeah, my twin told us it was some sort of accident, but actually he and Isabel's twin did the deed, sort of." Michael said.
"And then lured Tess and Max to New York for some sort of meeting or something." Maria said.
"Where they tried to kill Max." Liz said. Kyle stared at everyone, a little wide eyed.
"Suddenly I'm not too bent out of shape about being left in the dark." Kyle said. A few minutes later, they saw Ava stop in front of a shabby looking apartment complex. Jim pulled over. Ava got out of her car and waited for the others to join her. After they were all out, she led them to her apartment. She opened the front door and stepped inside.
"Sorry 'bout the mess." She said as she saw the others step over some clothes and garbage that were strewn about the floor. "Wasn't 'specting company." The apartment was small, furnished with a couch that looked like it had been taken from the city dump, a few chairs and stools, and a mattress in the corner with blankets and a pillow on it. "Have a seat." She said. Kyle, Jim, Liz and Maria sat down on the couch, which emitted a little dust as soon as it took on their weight. "The maid's on vacation." Ava muttered. Michael stood by the side of the couch, next to where Maria sat and Max did the same with Liz's side. Isabel sat down on one of the chairs and Sierra sat on another one. The room was silent for a while. "Where's your friend……Brown haired skinny guy?" She asked, breaking the silence. Liz looked down and then back at Ava.
"He died." She said. Ava pursed her lips, feeling bad for asking.
"Sorry." She said. "………So I'm guessin' my twin's de-"
"Nope, she's the one who killed him." Michael said. Ava's eyes widened a bit. The room was consumed in silence yet again.
"Why Zana?" Liz finally asked. Ava looked at her. She sighed as she sat on one of the stools.
"After I left Roswell, I kind of just went all over the place." She began nervously picking at her short nails. "Went to Phoenix, Salt Lake City, wherever my little thumb and a kind driver could take me. Didn't want to stay in one place for too long 'cause I thought Rath and Lonnie would find me or sumthin'. Then I got to Colorado and got tired of moving, so I got a job. Told 'em my name was Zana cause…."
"Zan and Ava." Sierra said. Sierra said. Ava blinked and looked at her.
"How'd you-"
"You used to tell me about how your life as a traveler in the Southwest was when I was little." Ava gave her a puzzled look.
"Kid, I ain't never met you in my-"
"I know." Sierra said. "But you will in a few years."
"Say what?" Ava asked. Sierra took a deep breath and told her everything-how their lives in the future had basically not gone to well, how she used the Granolith to come to the past and how she was followed by Travis and then finally that she was trying to change the present to fix the future. Ava sat back a bit, taking it all in.
"So…..when you say everyone died…….Does-"
"Rath and Lonnie found out where you were after joining forces with Tess and the skins.." Sierra said. Michael's brow furrowed as he looked over at Sierra. Wait……Two people joining forces with Tess……Ava's going to be Kyle's wife? He thought. He shot a look over to Kyle, who was just sitting on the couch between his dad and Liz. His face was expressionless. There was no indication of some sort of attraction or anything. Nah...Couldn't be…. Michael thought.
"You mean they.."
"Yeah, they did. Killed your husband too."
"Husband?" Ava asked. Michael looked up at that. Guess I was wrong… He thought.
"So, you're saying Ava came back to Roswell on her own in your world?" Jim asked.
"Yeah." Sierra said. She looked over everyone. "If I remember the whole story correctly, she got tired of running and figured she'd be safe with you guys. She joined the little group and all that."
"So isn't being here interfering with the future? I mean, we're involving her before-" Isabel asked.
"Yeah, and trust me, if there was another way, I'd let time, nature, whatever, run it's natural course. So, yeah, I might have just caused some irreparable damage to the future but I figure it's for a greater cause, that being that you all live to see seventy."
"Well, what are we going to do?" Jim asked.
"Sorry, you and Maria gotta sit this one out." Sierra said.
"Wait, I notice you don't say Liz and I have to sit this one out…..Why don't I like the sound of that?" Kyle asked.
"Don't worry, you guys are all going to be safe." She said. She got up and got in the center of the room, making sure she had everyone's attention. "Max, Michael, Isabel, Ava, Liz and Kyle are going to help me break the Granolith. If the Granolith's messed up, Tess and the skins can't use it as a freeway between the two worlds in the future."
"The granolith can only be used once." Max said. "How are they going to be able to use it?"
"Kivar's got some minions who know how to bypass that little rule. But, if I can get in there and rough it up beyond repair, then-"
"And how exactly are you going to get to Antar?" Michael asked. "We all just toss you in the air?"
"The same way you guys do it in my time." She said. "One night, back in my time, you all went to the cave and using your powers, opened up a pathway between the two worlds. Max and Michael went in and caused some damage."
"So, we go in, bash the hell out of the Granolith, and everything will be fine?"
"Not exactly." Sierra said. "I go in, bash the hell out of the Granolith."
"Come again?" Michael said, not liking the idea of Sierra putting herself in danger like that.
"Your powers aren't as evolved as they were in my time. I need you all to stay here and keep the pathway open so I can come back."
"I don't like it." Michael said.
"Wait, I'm confused." Kyle said. "Liz and I don't have powers, we're human." Kyle said. Liz blinked.
"No, Kyle, you're wrong." She said, remembering something.
"What? We're not human?"
"No, no, I mean the powers thing." Liz said. She looked at Ava. "You told me about them……It's how I was able to warn Max…"
"Cliff notes-because of the fact that you and Liz were saved by Max, some of the alien essence, mainly powers, transferred to you guys. Right now they're almost non-existent, but over time, they're going to evolve."
"But if they're non-existent, how much help can we be now?" Liz asked.
"There's a little bit inside of you, and right now we need all the help we can muster up to open up the pathway."
"So, what, we just sit in a circle, sing some kum-by-yahs and a door between space opens up?" Isabel asked.
"Well, yeah, minus the kum-by-yahs." Sierra said with a smirk. "We need to do it at the cave though. The fact that the Granolith was stored there before means that it's got some of the Granolith's."
"So, we head back to Roswell?" Kyle asked.
"Yeah." Sierra said. She looked at Ava. "You okay with that?" She asked. Ava nodded.
"Yeah. Uh, you guys can stay here tonight and we can go back to Roswell tomorrow…..There's not a whole lot of space here, but-" Ava said, her voice trailing off a bit.
"It's fine." Jim said, speaking for the whole group. Everyone else nodded their agreement. Ava got up and went to a closet in the apartment. She grabbed some blankets from the closet for the others to use as makeshift sleeping bags. She handed them to Sierra, who was closest.
"Thanks." Sierra said. Ava nodded.
"Uh, do you guys want me to go pick up some pizza?" She asked. Everyone seemed to like that idea very much so seeing as they were unable to eat at the café. Ava gave a small smile before leaving the house. The others grabbed some of the blankets out of Sierra's hands and began setting up "beds" on the floor. Kyle decided to claim the dusty couch for himself as he stretched out the flimsy material over the couch and settled in. Isabel and Jim set their blankets on the floor as the two couples (Liz and Max, Maria and Michael) set there's by their significant other. Sierra wryly wondered how long into the night it would be before they took use of just one blanket each. Sierra took the remaining blanket and set it on the floor. As she was busy making up her "bed", Michael came over and sat by her.
"So, I'm guessing Ava's Kyle's wife." He said in a low voice, making sure no one else heard. Sierra looked at him.
"You're guessing right." She said. Michael dawned a perplexed expression.
"I don't see it." He said.
"Well, just because the two of them aren't fumbling for the nearest private place to make-out doesn't mean there isn't an attraction." Sierra informed.
"Is that supposed to be a crack on Max and Liz?" He asked. Sierra looked at him and gave a smirk.
"Sure, them too." She said.
"What, don't tell me I told you about my relationship with Maria when you were a kid." He said.
"No, she told me." She said. She smiled softly, reminiscing of how she and Maria would engage in girl talk.
"So, you and Maria were pretty close friends?" He asked.
"Yeah. I guess she inherited the whole 'mom needing to be friends with daughter' thing from Grandma Amy." Sierra said softly. She paused, realizing what she had just said. She looked up at Michael. By the look of surprise on his face, Sierra knew he heard her. Michael looked over at Maria, who was talking with Liz.
"She…" He began, his voice trailing off. He turned back to Sierra. "She's your mother?" Sierra sighed and nodded slowly. Michael blinked, trying to comprehend this. Truth was, when he thought Maria was just some random person in Sierra's life, he was a little disheartened by the fact that Maria and him wouldn't be together forever. But now, it seemed like they were. He couldn't help smile a little at that.
"I…I didn't want to say anything earlier because you and her weren't together so I didn't want that influencing anything." Sierra admitted.
"Does she know?" Michael asked.
"No. I guess I haven't gotten the nerve to tell her yet. How mad do you think she'll get at the fact that you knew I was your daughter before she knew I was hers?" Sierra asked. Michael smirked.
"Good point." He said. At that moment, Ava came in carrying three large boxes of pizza. Kyle nearly knocked her down as he took the boxes from her and set them on the kitchen counter.