Title: Revelations (part 3)
Author: Angela Rae
Category: Max/Liz, Michael/Maria, Isabel/Alex, Kyle/Tess (M)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these fabulous characters, more's the pity. They are the exclusive property of 20th Century Fox Television, Regency Television, Jason Katims, Melinda Metz and Laura J. Burns. To quote some of my favorite fan fiction authors, I'm just borrowing – I'll return them as I found them. Cross my heart!
A/N: Quick recap, I first started this story back in 2000 at the end of Season One, but I had to stop writing before I finished the fic. Over a decade later and I ran across the old message-board hardcopy. Now, I just want to see if I can finish what I started back when I was 20. I really hated the direction the show took after Season 1 and want to see if I can write what I think should have happened! Rated M for safety reasons… this fic is set at the end of "Destiny", ep 1:22. Hope you Enjoy!
Max glanced to the right and saw the sign proclaiming "Roswell, New Mexico: Aliens Welcome!"
The drive back to town had been a silent one for the most part. Max could literally feel the tension in the jeep. It was a nagging ache in the back of his skull. He could sense Isabel's worry and Michael's vague apprehension, but Tess… Tess was a blank. Max was a little surprised he couldn't feel anything from her. But there was no time to wonder as they pulled up to Michael's apartment.
Reaching over, Max caught Michael's arm before he could jump out.
"Our place. Tonight," Max said.
Michael nodded before he leapt out of the jeep. He turned and gave a slight wave, then disappeared through the door.
Max pulled away from the curb and quickly drove to their next destination, the Harding house.
Hoping out of the jeep, Tess turned. "I'm just going to pack a quick overnight bag so I can catch the noon bus. I'll be back as soon as I can, okay?" She smiled at Max.
"Sure, Tess," Isabel said with a casual flip of her hair. And if her smile was a little strained, Max didn't think Tess noticed.
"Alright, guys," Tess said, "I'll see you in a few then." With that she pivoted and walked into the house.
As Max turned the key in the ignition, he just hoped there would be time enough before she got back to talk to Isabel and Michael about the problems they were facing – not to mention take care of the more personal difficulties. His thoughts settled for a brief, unsure moment on Liz.
The jeep ride home was quieter than the one out of town, but when they pulled into the driveway Isabel reached over and touched Max's arm as he cut the engine.
"Max, what are we going to say to them?" Her tone was anxious.
"Well, whatever it is we have to think fast," he said, smiling.
Isabel sighed. "I think we should tell them, Max."
"You do?"
"Yes." Her expression was a strange mix of confident and edgy in the face of such an unknown. And their parents' reaction to learning their children were from another planet was the biggest unknown she could think of. She knew Max was dreading it. That's why his answer surprised her so much.
"You're right, Iz," Max said, slowly, "but I don't think now is the time."
"But we can tell them soon?" Isabel felt as if a tremendous weight had been lifted off her shoulders at her brother's words. To be able to share this with their parents was a dream come true. She smiled. Finally, no more secrets. No more lies.
"Yeah, Izzy, we'll tell them soon." Though Max was uneasy with the concept of telling their parents the whole truth about them, he could see how much it meant to his sister. "Now that we know who we are, they should know too. It wouldn't be right to keep it from them anymore."
Isabel's smile was radiant when she grabbed him in a crushing hug.
"Thank you, Max."
He smiled and squeezed her tight for a moment before letting her go.
When they got out of the jeep, Isabel came around and took Max by the hand. Together, they walked up the front steps and opened the door, stepping inside.
(***)
Back in his apartment for the first time in days, Michael Guerin sighed as he flopped down on the couch. He covered his face in his hands and pressed his fingers into his eye sockets, his mind coming around to the last thing on this planet he wanted to think about.
Maria De Luca.
Memories of the way her hair glinted all golden in the sunlight flashed across his mind's eye, tormenting him. With a frustrated growl, he pushed himself to his feet and stalked over to the refrigerator. He yanked open the door and lifted out a quart of milk.
He just had to keep reminding himself that she wasn't safe with him. Hell, she wasn't even safe from him! That thought made Michael grimace as he raised the milk to his lips and drank straight from the carton.
The knock on the door surprised him.
He shoved the milk back into the fridge, quickly wiping his mouth off on his sleeve as he reached for the knob of the front door. He opened it.
"Alex," Michael said, startled.
The lanky young man at the threshold gave him a small lopsided smile. "Michael, you're back." It seemed as if he hadn't expected anyone to answer the door at all. "So, I guess that means Isabel and Max are in town too."
"Yeah." Michael's reply was curt, his eyebrows raised.
"Okay." Alex's smile was in place even though Michael saw pain flash in his eyes. "Well then, that's all I wanted to know. I guess I'll see you later." He turned to leave.
"Hey, Alex," Michael called, stopping the other young man in his tracks.
"Yeah?" Alex looked back.
"She'll be okay." The words were quiet.
Knowing exactly who she was, Alex's smile became a little more genuine. "Thanks, Michael."
Michael's expression was a strange mix of pity and understanding as he watched Alex go. With a shake of his head, he turned back into his apartment and closed the door.
(***)
That night found Isabel Evans sitting at her vanity where she had almost completed her nightly ritual.
She and Max had concocted some insane story about a group campout that they had left a note to their parents about on the table. At his parents' disbelieving stares, Max had quickly asserted that the note must have blown away or something.
Still not quite believing them, Diane Evans had proceeded to give them a thirty minute lecture on safety and the importance of letting one of them know if they were going to be out for the night… much less for a three day trip they were going to be missing a day of school for. "Next time, pick up the phone and call us," their mother's voice had been strained with remembered anxiety. "We thought you had been kidnapped or something."
Max had looked more than a little guilty at that, Isabel thought. The memory made her smile grimly. Her mother had hit the truth and not even known it.
Taking up a bottle of expensive oil-free lotion, she began to apply a light layer to her face, carefully smoothing it over each feature on her way from her forehead to her chin. Her dark brown eyes fluttered open as she rubbed the excess into her hands and reached over for her brush. Slowly, running it through her hair, sliding the bristles carefully over each strand, she studied her reflection in the mirror.
Isabel found it slightly surprising that there was no radical transformation visible after the events of the last few days. Max's kidnapping, and the subsequent breakout, combined with the information they'd been waiting their whole lives to hear created a storm of conflicting feelings she hadn't even begun to deal with. Emotions she knew Max and Michael could sense raging just beneath her skin. She felt a tension building in her, one she didn't understand.
The one thing she did understand was the instinct that seemed to blanket all the rest; her need for Alex Whitman.
Even the thought of him helped her to calm herself enough to maintain control. But it also brought back the pain of the decision to be made between her feelings for Alex and her pre-ordained mating to Michael.
Isabel tossed the brush back onto the vanity and roughly pulled her hair up into a high ponytail. Her eyes glittered with emotions that threatened to break though the carefully constructed wall around her heart. She struggled with tears as she pulled on a pair of loosely fit, light blue cotton pajama bottoms. She quickly tied the draw string at the waist and shrugged into the white cotton tank top that completed the ensemble. It was time to talk to Max and Michael.
She walked over to her bedroom door and quietly slipped out into the hall. Her bare feet padded silently over the carpet as Isabel walked into her brother's room, closing the door behind her.
She found Max sitting cross-legged on his bed and went over to join him. Counting Crows was playing on low volume. Their eyes met in mutual understanding but they said nothing as they waited for Michael.
They didn't have to wait long. He appeared outside the window and Max quickly moved to let him in.
"Hey, Michael." Max greeted him as he closed the window behind their best friend.
Michael nodded and walked over to the desk to take the only remaining seat in the room. He quietly pulled the chair across the floor. Turning its back to face the two on the bed, he straddled the chair and let his arms cross over the backrest as he leaned forward.
When everyone was settled, Isabel asked in hushed tones, "What are we going to do?"
Max smiled a little. Trust Isabel not to skirt the issue. Even as a child, she had always asked the hard questions first.
Michael startled them both when he stood and began an agitated pacing. "Maybe we should start with 'What do we know?'" he suggested abruptly, his tone growing more upset by degrees. "We know that our people are enslaved. We know we were brought back to save them. We know we belong somewhere. And, we know we have to do whatever it takes to get back to that somewhere and help our race."
Isabel could feel the agitation coming off him in waves. Her knuckles whitened as she clenched her hands together tightly.
Max's voice was calm and steady. "Michael, we all agree that we'll do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal, but you know that's not the real issue tonight."
Michael stopped pacing and stood still in the middle of the room.
Isabel slowly forced her hands to relax, concentrating on one finger at a time, as she looked at her brother. She knew what he was saying.
Obviously, Michael did too, because he interjected quickly, "It'll take all four of us to do what we're needed to do. Otherwise, they wouldn't have brought Tess back. There had to be a reason."
"He's right, Max," Isabel said.
"I know, Iz," Max said, "But everything our birth mother told us was about a different life."
He continued, "I will find a way to help our people, but I won't – I can't give up Liz."
Even though Michael felt much the same way about Maria, despite his fear he would someday hurt her, Michael still needed to question. He had to be sure that Max had thought this through and that he wasn't acting solely on personal feelings. Which is why he said, "We could still have been paired for a reason, Maxwell."
Max was serious when he said, "I've tried to think logically and what I come up with is that we were paired that way in the past, so that's how they want us to pair now. I don't think it's necessary to our mission though." He took a deep breath. "What I do know is that I have never felt for Tess what I feel for Liz. Not in this life or any other."
His eyes took on a solemn quality, begging to be understood. "Every time I think of spending the rest of my life without Liz, I can't even breathe. How could my deepest instincts be wrong?"
Isabel studied her brother's face. The intensity she saw there told her he meant what he said. She glanced over at Michael. His expression was carefully blank, but long years of knowing and loving him gave Isabel insight others may have lacked. In his eyes she saw hope.
Max continued, "Could you really be with Izzy, Michael?"
Isabel's eyes locked with Michael's and she saw the answer before he said it.
"No." Michael sighed.
"And you, Iz?" Max asked.
"No," she said, quietly. Her heart began to pound as the realization of what this admission meant hit her.
Alex.
Michael's gaze was steady as he reached out his hand. Isabel didn't hesitate as she placed hers to his, palm to palm.
"You will always be my brother," she said softly.
Michael nodded, his feelings for her showing in his eyes. They were family.
Isabel felt safe in the knowledge that she could call on that love at any time and be assured of his answer. She looked from Michael to Max and wondered how she had gotten so lucky. She had two of the most wonderful brothers on this world or any other.
Michael cleared his throat uncomfortably, breaking the silence of the moment. "So, now that that's settled, I'm going home to get some beauty sleep."
"You could use it." Max laughed and Isabel smiled.
"So could you, Maxwell" Michael said with a crooked grin as he walked over to the window, opened it, and disappeared over the sill.
Isabel turned to Max and laid a hand on his shoulder. She knew what he was feeling because she felt the same. "We need to talk to them or we'll never get any sleep tonight," she said.
Max's face sobered. "Iz, if I find out I've lost her for good I don't think I could handle it."
Isabel struggled with her own fears as she hugged her brother tightly. "She loves you, Max, that's one thing I'm sure of. You won't lose her."
Max squeezed back and wondered how he had ever gotten so lucky to have her as a sister, unknowingly echoing Isabel's earlier thoughts.
Letting him go, Isabel grinned and said, "Go get her."
Max's answering grin was blinding as he slipped out the window. When he reached the street, Isabel watched as he began to run.
Liz is a lucky girl, she thought.
Her thoughts turned to Alex and she sighed. She needed him… and she knew exactly where to find him.
(***)
Across town under the muted street lights of the UFO Center, a stranger stepped out of his car and onto the street. Reaching into his pocket, he withdrew a palm-sized, black pentagon. Blue lights flashed and a faint pattern of blips sounded. The coordinates triangulated in this town.
They're here.
His first instinct was to seek them out and destroy them, but he was under strict orders. He would wait and observe. He was patient. He could wait.
Pocketing the strange devise in his hand, he got back into his car. He started the engine and slipped it into gear, driving to the nearest of the many motels to rent a room and send back his report.
A cruel grin stretched his features.
Oh, yes. I can wait.
TBC…
A/N: R&R is always appreciated. So, press the little blue button… : )