“No, it is my week to choose and we are not watching it!” Liz said loudly as she tried to reach for the movie. Alec held up the movie up out of reach above her head.
Alec laughed at her trying to reach his extended hand with no success. “But it’s my favorite.” He said in a mock pout.
“Don’t even try that with me. It won’t work.” Liz said wishing she were taller. She would just use her powers but that wasn’t an option around Alec. “I thought Michael was bad. What is it with guys and violence?”
Alec just shrugged. He didn’t know why he enjoyed action movies so much; it was a guy thing. Liz usually didn’t mind what movie he picked when it was his turn claiming she was used to it after all the years of watching them with Alex. Well any except for alien movies, she said she had been around too much alien stuff in Roswell.
Every Thursday her and Alec would stay at one of their apartments and watch a movie, switching back and forth on who chooses. They had come up with the idea because the rest of the week they were always so busy especially during the weekend. They spent one night alone then the next night Alec went out with Sketchy doing God knows what and Liz went out with Ava and sometimes the other girls. It was nice having one guaranteed night alone before a weekend of going out. They had started it when they were still just friends and continued it over the last month that they had been dating.
Liz finally decided to try a different tactic, compromise. “How about we watch the Patriot? The blood and guts will satisfy you while Heath Ledger can me?”
This time Alec wasn’t pretending when he frowned, “That makes me want to watch it, knowing you’ll be drooling over another guy.”
“Oh you big baby!” Liz said. She leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “Besides how much of the movie do you think we’re even going to see?”
Alec smiled at how she was trying to tempt him to get her way. Of course he wouldn’t admit it was working. Granted they hadn’t slept together yet, but he enjoyed any of physical intimacy he could share with her. If someone would have told him that he would feel that way three months ago he would have said they were crazy and pick up the first one nightstand that came around. He put his hand down that contained his movie and went to grab the ‘Patriot’.
Liz laughed at how easy it was to convince him to watch her movie and went to get the snack food. Supreme nachos with lots of Tabasco for Liz, a little for Alec. She had actually gotten him to try it one night on his food and he’d actually enjoyed it, in small doses. They watched the movie as they ate their food. Once they were done, Liz crawled up and sat on his lap laying her head in the crook of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and Liz sighed in contentment before leaning up and kissing him. Just then her cell phone rang.
“Don’t answer it.” Alec mumbled against her lips. Their cell phones were always ringing, interrupting them. Sometimes it was Max or Logan or one of his contacts for one of his scams or it was someone from Roswell or Ava.
“What if it’s important?” Liz said as she reached to pick up her phone but didn’t completely leave Alec’s arms. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me.” Liz heard, instantly recognizing Michael voice. She noticed it didn’t sound like normal either.
“What is it, Michael? Liz asked pulling away from Alec completely and running a hand through her hair. Alec could tell she was anxious and worried over something.
“Kyle got his powers.”
“Is he okay?” Liz asked getting of the couch starting to pace. She could see the confused expression Alec was giving her. “Hang on Michael.” She put her hand over the bottom of the receiver and told Alec, “I really need to take this. A friend of ours, Kyle is having some problems. I’m going to go in my room.” Alec nodded and Liz headed back to her room thinking Alec would be well out of hearing range, which he would have been if he didn’t have genetically enhanced hearing. His curiosity got the better of him and he listened to her end of the conversation.
“Okay, I’m alone. Now is he okay?”
“He’s a little shaken up but he knew it was coming.”
“Same symptoms as me?”
“Yeah, except none of the electrical touch thing with Max. He thought he just had a cold because he went camping this weekend with his dad. It wasn’t until he torched Isabel’s couch that he realized it was because of the change.”
“Oh my God. He must have completely freaked.”
“I didn’t tell you the whole story. Jesse saw it. We were all watching a game when it happened.”
Liz covered her eyes with her hand. “So he knows?”
“No, we said Kyle was playing with matches.” Michael said sarcastically. “Yes, he knows. Isabel told him the whole story. I didn’t hear much, they were in the bedroom while Max and I calmed Kyle down.”
“How is he taking it? Is Isabel okay?”
“He freaked when it happened of course. He was sitting next to Kyle at the time but after Isabel put it out and fixed the couch he just stared. After Isabel talked to him he swore he wouldn’t tell anyone.”
“He loves Isabel, he’ll be okay. Is Kyle at home? Maybe I should call him and see if he feels like talking, he might feel more comfortable talking to me since I went through it and wasn’t born into it.”
“Don’t you mean hatched?” Michael said with laughter in his voice.
“Whatever.” Liz said laughing.
“Yeah, he’s at home. That’s actually why I called, figured you could help him.”
“Well unless anything else comes up besides burning sofas I’ll talk to you at the scheduled time. Bye, Michael.” Liz said. Michael said bye and hung up.
Liz sat on her bed for a minute thinking. She felt bad for not being there for Kyle when he needed her. They had become good friends in the time since they had dated and Kyle had found out about the aliens. He had been there for her many times and when he needed her she wasn’t around. She jumped when she saw Alec leaning in her doorway, “Damnit Alec. Make some noise. How long have you been standing there?”
“You were already off the phone when I came to the door.” Of course he didn’t mention that he had heard everything from his position out in the living room. “Wanted to see if everything is okay?”
Liz nodded. “I need to call Kyle. Like I said he’s going through some stuff, I want to see if he’s okay. I feel bad that I’m not there for him.”
Alec could see that Liz was feeling bad for not being there for her friend. She was still close to them regardless of the distance between them. “I’ll be waiting in the living room.”
Liz dialed Kyle’s number and waited for him to pick up. “Hello?”
“Hi Mr. Valenti. It’s Liz.”
“Hey Liz! How are you?”
“I’m great. Michael called and told me about Kyle, I wanted to know if I could talk to him?”
“Yeah, let me get him.” Liz waited until Kyle said hello.
“You know if you didn’t like Isabel’s couch you should have just told her. You didn’t have to torch it.” She said jokingly.
“Real funny Liz.” Kyle said. The two friends talked for a while not knowing that Alec could hear them wondering what was really going on. He had heard Liz talking about symptoms. Could she be sick and he not know about it? And was with the burning sofa comment. Alec couldn’t help but be curious. What was Liz hiding?
Part 12:
Alec started looking into Liz’s secret but his own ended up coming out instead. And not by Alec. Ava, Liz, and Alec were all hanging out at the girls’ apartment. Ava joined them often to hang out since she was alone. She had stopped dating Jonathan because he moved out of Seattle. He didn’t feel like Seattle was the best place to be. There were more sector police around making life difficult for everyone in the search for the mutants. Liz noticed that Max and Alec seemed to be on edge but didn’t think it was anything more than not liking authority.
As they were watching TV when their program was cut in by news’ report.
“This is footage taken by a security camera in Sector 12. A mutant tried to climb the fence and it took six sector police to bring him down. People might ask why it took so many. As you can see by the footage the creature has what can only be described as super human strength. He was believed to have escape from a covert government agency known as Manticore.”
Alec sat there for a minute watching the program. ‘This is bad, very bad.’ He thought.
“As you can see right there a barcode on the back of his neck. Unconfirmed reports suggest that this tattoo was used to keep track of the various soldiers the agency had.” The story droned on for another minute but Liz didn’t hear it. She was in too much of a state of shock. She looked over and caught Alec’s eyes.
Liz jumped up and grabbed ALec's shirt dragging him to the back. “Ava I’ll be back in a minute.”
Once her door was shut she turned to Alec who was sitting on her bed, she crossed her arms and said, “That barcode is the same as the one on your neck. I want the truth about it.”
Alec knew there was no point in trying to lie. “The news report was true.”
“So you’re different?”
“Manticore created all kinds of different types of soldiers and gave them barcodes. We were all created in a lab through genetic engineering. We all escaped about seven months ago when Max blew it up.”
“Max is like you?” Liz asked.
“Yeah, she is. She escaped about ten years ago but was recaptured. We’re what are called X5s. Logan and Original Cindy are the only ones who knows.” Alec looked into Liz’s eyes and said, “I have to be careful who knows. My life is in the hands of whoever knows.”
Liz’s eyes widened in shock at Alec’s last statement. It sounded so close to what Max had said to her when he told her about his alien status. She couldn’t be mad at him for keeping his secret from her. She had been doing the same thing with him.
Alec could see that she was trying to absorb what he had told her. He didn’t know what to do, he had never told anyone about what he was. The only one who had even come close was Rachel but she had died before he could tell her everything. “Listen, I know that you’re going to tell me that you don’t want to see me anymore. I can’t blame you. I came out of a lab, worked as assassin; I have men who want to kill me. They’ll probably succeed one day, I understand if you don’t want to get mixed up in it.” Alec turned towards the door and before Liz could say anything he was gone.
She walked out into the living room and saw Ava waiting for her on the couch. “He’s one of them, isn’t he?” She asked.
Liz nodded. Liz flopped down next to her. “He and Max both. They’ve been hiding from the government.”
“Sound familiar?” Ava said.
“Yeah, it did.”
“So what now? I saw him all but run out of here.”
“He’s worried that I’ll turn away.” Liz looked down at Ava. “I want to tell him. After knowing everything, I know he wouldn’t tell. He’d understand. Max too.”
“Liz, I trust you, you know that. If you want to tell him then I’ll stand behind you. You know I like Alec. I never told you but he kind of reminds me of Zan.”
“Thanks Ava,” Liz said as she hugged her friend. When she pulled back Ava got up and grabbed her jacket; “I’m off to work. Matt asked me to come in to fill in for a few hours so I’ll see you later. If Alec had any questions you can’t answer, I’ll be here.” Ava left leaving Liz to her own thoughts. Deciding she wanted to know more she got up and left the apartment.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Logan got up from his computer to make his way to answer his door. He was surprised to find Liz on the other side, “Liz, what can I do for you?”
“I went Max’s apartment and OC said she was here.”
Logan nodded and showed her into his apartment. He took her into the living room and she saw Max sitting on the couch. “Hey Liz. What’s going on?”
“I saw the broadcast and Alec told me. He left before I could find out the whole story. I was wondering if you could tell me. About Alec, Manticore, you, the X5s, everything.”
Part 13:
Max and Logan quickly tried to recover from Liz’s revelation. Max had seen the report but hadn’t thought about Liz figuring it out. She forgot that she had mentioned Alec’s barcode the first night they met. She couldn’t believe Alec had just admitted it then left. Of course she should have figured she had to pick up another one of his messes. “Sit down, this is going to take awhile.”
Liz sat down in one of Logan’s chairs as he asked, “What exactly did Alec tell you?”
Liz tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and said, “That he was created through genetic engineering to be soldiers called X5s and that you have barcodes.”
“Well he definitely left a lot out.” Max muttered. “I’ll guess I’ll start with a history lesson. Years ago, Manticore started making up all kind of DNA cocktails so they could create perfect soldiers. Some look normal like Alec and me while others look like that mutant we rescued or like our friend Joshua who has a lot of canine DNA in him. Any hoo they brainwashed us all into being slaves for them taking orders, stuff like that but not all of us wanted that life. Some of my brothers and sisters and me escaped but others like Alec grew up in there. I don’t know about his life there but for a few small things. I know they primarily sent him on solo missions, that they did a lot of mental testing on him because of some stuff his twin did and I know he lost someone he cared about. It's probably why he hightailed it out of there.” Max explained realizing how little she knew about Alec’s time there.
“He mentioned that you were recaptured.” Liz interrupted.
“Yeah, last spring me and some of my sibs tried to blow up Manticore. We got the genetics lab but I was shot and brought back in. A few months later, Manticore came up with this insane idea of matching X5s up as breeding partners to makeup for the DNA that we destroyed and that’s when I met Alec. He was supposed to be my breeding partner and we ordered to you know.” Max stated feeling a little weird telling Alec’s girlfriend that he had been ordered to sleep with another woman. “But I wouldn’t betray Logan. I don’t know why but Alec lied for me the next day telling them that we had so we wouldn’t be punished. I managed to escape a few nights later with his and Joshua’s help but not before they infected me with a virus personally made to kill Logan.”
“Because he’s ‘Eyes Only’?” Liz asked.
Max and Logan looked at Liz in complete shock. “Did Alec tell you that?” Logan asked.
“No, I figured it out on my own. Actually I recognized your eyes from a broadcast. Eyes are the first thing I notice about a person most of the time.” Liz explained.
Logan just looked dumbfounded but Max continued, “I went back and got the antidote and torched the place. When I did I set everybody free--let them out into the world. Government's been trying to catch us ever since. The guy that heads it up name is Ames White but he’s not normal either. He part of some strange breeding cult that are kind of like natural transgenics. That’s most of the story, Logan can tell you anything else you need to know while I go hunt Alec down.”
Liz nodded as Max quickly left. It was a lot to absorb. Logan looked down at Liz and saw that she didn’t seem too much in shock about the story. And she didn’t seem to be scared which was a good thing. “It might take her a little while, hungry?”
The two headed for his kitchen to wait for their transgenic significant others to return.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Alec sat by himself thinking about what had happened. 'I shouldn't have ran out like that. I should have stayed and explained maybe she would understand. Just like Logan and Max. Oh, Right, yeah, 'cause I'm this charming, sweet guy and scored myself a really nice girlfriend but, unlike Max, I'm actually trying to do the right thing. Why would she want to stay involved with me? I was made in a lab, spent my formative years learning the fine art of assassination. There are guys out there right now looking to kill me. And if I am around she won't be safe whether she knows the truth about me or not. Just like the last time I let go, somebody got caught in the crossfire and died.'
Memories of the car bomb that killed Rachel flashed through his mind just then and he felt even worse.
Part 14
Max made her way out to the roof of the Space Needle and saw Alec sitting there. Right where she thought he’d be. “Hey. Figured you’d be here.”
“I came here to be alone Max.” Alec said curtly.
“Let me guess? Because Liz knows that what we are.”
She saw Alec looked at her with question in his eyes. “She came by Logan’s after you left her place. Told us what happened. She wanted to know everything since you ran off before you could tell her.”
“I never should have gotten involved with her. I told you once that we shouldn’t get involve with them but I didn’t listen to my own advice. I’m just going to stay away from her.”
“Now that she knows the dangers, don’t you think that should be her choice?”
Alec pushed off the roof and stood up, “WHY! So she can killed like Rachel? I can’t do that again. If I leave her alone she’ll be safe.”
"It's just like you to run away when things get tough," she muttered. Frustrated when he didn't reply, she yelled. "Damn it, Alec! For once, can you just think about someone else besides yourself!"
“I am!”
“No you’re not!” She lowered her voice back to its normal tone. “Talk to her Alec. Let her decide. It’s her life. She’s not going into this blind.”
Alec looked at her, trying to decide what he should do. He wanted to be with Liz. The last few months had been great. But could he really bring her into all of this? He had fallen completely in love with a person who he hoped was falling for him. He wasn't exactly sure as to what relationship they exactly held they hadn't really talked about it. But one thing was for certain, he was happy, and he never wanted it to end.
“If she wants to be a part of this then I’ll help you do whatever possible to protect her. Now come on. I left her waiting for you at Logan’s.” Max said as she started her way up to the opening with Alec following her.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
They walked into Logan’s apartment and heard Liz laughing. They made their way into the kitchen to see Liz and Logan eating. “What’s so funny?” Max asked.
“Logan tried a bite of my food. He didn’t like it.” Liz said trying not to laugh harder at the redness of Logan’s face.
“She got you too huh? It’s not bad if you cut the amount she uses in half.” Alec said knowing Liz was talking about her love of Tabasco Sauce. He looked at Liz, “Hey.”
“Hey yourself. I see Max was able to track you down.”
“Yeah.”
Max could see how uneasy Alec was. “Why don’t you two go in the other room to talk?”
Liz got up and followed Alec into the living room. Alec was starting to feel uneasy, and was about to start talking when Liz cut him off by putting a finger to his lips.
“None of what I found out today matters to me.”
Alec raised his eyebrows in surprise. “About finding out what I am?”
“Finding out what you are would take a long time. Time that I want to have.” Liz said interrupting.
“So it doesn’t change anything.”
Liz shook her head, “It doesn’t change anything except the fact that I know more about your past. Logan and Max filled me in. She told me about the genetic engineering, Manticore, and how Manticore was taken down. Max told me about the virus that they made to kill Logan and Ames White and how he’s hunting for all of you. But what I don’t know is about you. Your side of things and I want to know it.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Max told me that you were scared of me being hurt because you had lost someone. Would you tell me about it?”
Alec had never actually talked to anyone about that before but he saw the look in Liz's eyes and knew he could finally do it. “Her name was Rachel. Her father was looking too much into Manticore and they sent me to check and see what he had found out. My cover was of her music teacher. I fell in love with her while hacking into his computer. Then Manticore gave orders to kill him. I tried to warn her but she ran after her father to protect him. I went after her but the car exploded before I could pull her back.”
“That had to be horrible, to watch her die.”
Alec nodded. “It was. I started to freak out and they drug me out of there. I was taken back to Manticore and made to forget about her. I found out not too long ago that she had survived but was in a coma since that day. I went to her but her father blamed me and tried to kill me. Max stopped him. I said goodbye then I left. She died not long after. I’ve never really told anyone the whole story.”
“I’m sorry Alec.”
“It was my fault that she died. That’s why I left earlier. I realized when you found out that I already had put you in danger so I left.”
“I told you that knowing all of your past doesn’t change anything.”
“Why would you want to be put in danger?”
“Alec, I’ve been living a dangerous life since I was sixteen.” Liz held out her hand to stop him from asking about what she was talking about. “And my life will always be dangerous. I know you don’t understand and it’s a long story. I want to tell you about it but not here. Would you come back to my apartment?”
Alec looked at her while he listened to her strange request. He agreed and after saying good bye to Logan and Max they headed for her apartment.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Alec parked the bike and hopped off. He held out his hand to help Liz off and took the helmet from her. He watched her as she shook out her hair and laughed when it got stuck on her lip-gloss. He reached over to pull it back and leaned in to kiss the spot where her hair had just been. He could feel her nervousness in the kiss; it made him wonder what she had to tell him. “You okay?”
Liz nodded and wrapped her hands behind his neck pulling him down for another kiss. “Just worried you’re going to freak.”
“Liz you just found out that I’m a transgenic. Not to mention that one of your friends is one too and that there are people who are trying to hunt us down to kill us. You know what I live with everyday, what could you tell me to freak me out?”
“Just remember that you said that.” She said as she kissed him one last time before heading for her building. They had been so caught up with each other that they didn’t notice the sky blue chevelle until it’s occupants got out. Liz felt the start of the painful green current in her hands and pulled away from Alec so he wouldn’t see. She could also feel two sources of alien energy so she looked around and saw why. Alec felt her stop and pull away. He looked at her and saw her staring at two guys who were walking their way. He heard her muttered under her breath, “And the day gets better and better.”
The guy with the darker hair was the first to say anything. He looked at Alec once before he said, “Hello Liz.”
“What do you want Max?”
Part 15
Hearing Liz's question made Alec realize why the two guys looked so familiar. They were from Roswell. He looked at Max as the guy said, "You should have known I would look for you. I wanted to talk to you, work things out but you wouldn't talk to me."
"I told you I needed to be by myself. I didn't want to talk to you because I didn't have anything to say. But you ignored what I wanted because it wasn't what you wanted." Liz yelled. She could feel the current getting stronger and more painful but she ignored it.
Michael interceded then, "The street is no where to talk about this. Why don't we move someplace less public?"
"I don't have anything to say. Go back to Roswell." Liz spat. She was beyond mad. She had told Max she needed time to figure things out for herself but like always when he wanted something he disregarded others wishes.
Alec could see how upset she was and tried to grab her hand but noticed she had pulled the sleeves of her hooded sweatshirt over her hands so he grabbed her shoulder and whispered to her, "I can make him leave."
Liz looked at Max and knew he wouldn't leave regardless of what Alec did until he talked to her. "No, I'll just talk to him for a minute then he'll leave." She gave him a half smile before looking at the other two. "We can talk in my apartment, come on. And before either of you two say anything, Alec is coming with us."
The three guys followed Liz up to her apartment. She opened the front door and called out to see if Ava was home. She didn't think she was because she didn't feel her familiar energy but with her energy going haywire she could be wrong. Being able to detect alien energy seemed to only be a power that Liz and maybe now Kyle possessed. The others didn't seem to have it. "Max, my room is the first one down on the left. We can talk there." Max nodded and left.
She looked at Alec and kissed him quickly, "I won't be long. We still need to talk." Max and Michael's arrival was not going to stop her from telling Alec the truth.
Liz walked over to Michael,"Behave, don't interrogate him, don't be mean. I know you suck at small talk but play nice."
"Liz, I didn't know how close he was to finding you until he told me he was leaving. I couldn't call to warn you because he was always with me on the way here."
"It's okay. I know you couldn't help it. I know how stubborn he is, I just thought he'd give up and go back to searching for his son." She stated before heading back to her room.
Michael looked over to where Alec had sat down on the couch. He could see Alec was comfortable being in Liz's apartment, he probably spent a lot of time there. Michael had no clue what to say. He knew about Alec, Liz mentioned him almost every time he talked to her but it had been weird seeing the two of them together. After all Liz was his best friend's exgirlfriend and the girl he had watched Max moon over for years. He had never said anything about him to Max so it had been a complete surprise to Max. "Liz looks a lot better than the last time I saw her. Seattle seems to agree with her."
"Yeah, Ava's said that she's different since she got here."
"She told me that you guys met when she beat you out of some money playing pool."
Alec smiled at the memory, "Yeah, I had just won a hundred bucks from a friend of ours when Liz came up with Ava and bet me double or nothing. She kicked my butt."
Michael smirked at the thought of Liz hustling Alec. "Her and Maria are dangerous if you get them close to a table. I only win if I cheat."
"It took a lot of rematches but I finally won. I still lose most of the time. Our friend Sketchy had been begging her to teach him." Alec explained just as the front door opened revealing Ava.
Ava saw Michael and panicked for a minute thinking it was Rath but she quickly realized it was Michael, "Oh sh*t."
"Hello to you too Ava." Michael said sarcastically. "Nice way to make me feel welcome."
"Like you were so hospitable to me last time I was in Roswell."
"Well considering the company you were with. You're definitely hanging out with better people now."
"It's been awhile. If you're here I guess so is Max."
"He's in talking to Liz." Alec answered.
"Is she okay?"
"A little pissed." Alec began to say when they heard Liz's voice coming from the back of the apartment, which meant she was yelling. He was surprised, he didn't think he had ever heard Liz that pissed before. "Okay make that a lot pissed."
The three of them sat back to listen
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