They took another helicopter to a nearby airforce base where they boarded the non descript aircraft. The trip to New Orleans was uneventful and Liz and Alec were silent most of the trip. It was only the two of them on the small plane, Alec explained that their surveillance team would travel separately so they would not know what they looked like and couldn’t try to loose them. Once they landed they were given keys to a black SUV and drove into the city proper. The flight was long and they had arrived in the middle of the night but with Mardi Gras going on, it didn’t matter, the town was awake all night.
Their hotel as well as the residence were located on the outskirts of the French Quarter. They checked into the hotel, under their alias of Abby Snow and Lucas Wolf, a couple there for Mardi Gras. A bellboy helped them with their sparse luggage despite their insistence that they didn’t need it and led them up to their room. Once he dumped off the luggage, Liz gave him a tip and he left, “Merci Beaucoup.”
Liz shut the door and turned back into the small room only to see Alec looking at her curiously. “What?”
“I didn’t know you spoke French. Granted, we never really worked on languages but still.” Alec stated.
“I speak French, Spanish, as well as some Chinese and Latin.” Liz stated. She had started learning the first two languages while still in Manticore but continued her lessons later when she had settled into Roswell. It was her way of keeping her mind occupied along with studying some advanced science texts while going to a regular school.
“Latin, why?”
“Because I love Science and scientific terms are in Latin.” Liz explained. “What about you?”
“French and Spanish, same as you as well as Italian, Russian, and German.” Alec answered. He turned then and dropped his bag on the bed, the only bed in the room. They figured they hadn’t been able to get more than one bed since they were supposed to be a couple. The room was small with only the bed and a small table as the furniture. It was nice and clean but not luxurious, it was more like a room that someone just used to sleep before going out to party more. It was nicer than some of the other places he’d stayed at when on a mission
Liz saw Alec looking around the room and decided to give the bathroom a look over. It was small and efficient with only a shower stall instead of a tub. She was disappointed, she was looking forward to taking a long hot bath. An indulgence she had not had since she had been back at Manticore, a luxury she had taken for granted while on the outside. She turned, leaving the bathroom and went back into the room where Alec was setting up their own surveillance equipment. The window was a large bay window with a small bench in front of it, perfect for what they would need it for. From there they had a perfect view of the fortress that held their target.
She looked out and saw the busy streets of New Orleans. There were people everywhere, with her enhanced hearing she could hear them talking and laughing. The city was definitely in party mode. And after so many months away from normal people she felt like she was in heaven as she soaked it all up. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t there on her own accord, she was there. “Get some rest, I’ll take the first shift.”
“You sure?”
Liz couldn’t take her eyes off the streets below, “Yeah, I’m sure. Go ahead.”
Alec nodded before heading into the bathroom to get ready for bed. He liked it when he went on mission, he was able to take advantage of things that he normally wouldn’t. Like a comfortable bed instead of sleeping on his small bunk. So he didn’t mind taking the first shift for sleep. He jumped in and took a hot shower before throwing on a pair of sweat pants and heading back in. Liz had shed her coat as well as shoes and made herself comfortable on the window seat. She seemed a million miles away, so set in her task that he didn’t bother her before he laid down on the bed and was asleep within minutes.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
A few hours later as dawn came and went, Liz was still at her station watching the street. The city had finally settled down and gone to bed but it was still mesmerizing. The city took on a whole different appearance. With the old buildings, fog, and quiet streets you could easily mistake the year and think you were in the last century. A concept Liz liked.
She had been sitting there for hours not only gazing at the city but studying the house across the street. The only movement she could see on the outside was his security making rounds to make sure the place was secure. She had to admit that they were first rate, that they paid great attention to detail and took their jobs very seriously. But she also knew that Manticore had also taken this mission seriously and had taken every scenario into accord and thought this would be the best way to accomplish their goal. And while she didn’t see her target outside she had been able to see him inside. If she had had a high powered rifle and hadn’t been ordered to poison him, she could have probably gotten off a clean shot. She was good at shooting. It was all about angles and physics, something that her scientific mind easily processed. Liz wished that they had sent someone else, she didn’t want to kill this man. But she had to.
Liz took a moment to look over at Alec. He was still sound asleep and snoring ever so softly. She noticed that in sleep his face took on a younger quality to it. He looked like a little boy and she couldn’t help but smile. She could imagine what Alec was like as a kid. He would have been rowdy one, not a shy bone in his body, the exact opposite of Ben. Liz had a feeling that if a person met both Ben and Alec, they wouldn’t see two people that looked the same but two completely separate individuals. She didn’t look at him and think of her brother at all.
She moved slightly so she could see him easier. He had ended up on his side at some point and the comforter pushed down to his waist. He hadn’t noticed the cool air thanks to the fact that transgenics had a higher body temperature. And because he hadn’t pulled it up Liz had a good view of the top half of his bare body. His chest was firm, muscular without overdoing it. She could see his toned stomach and abs before they met his narrow hips. His skin was smooth and supple, Liz couldn’t help but recall how soft it was. She remembered how his hands had felt on her back when he had helped her set her shoulder back into place. Not to mention how the skin she had encountered when they had been in her quarters during her heat. He was flawless and she knew that there were probably many women out in the world that would love to have Alec. And felt herself sliding to move along with them. At least in a physical way. Whether he could feel her eyes on him or was just waking up naturally he started to stir and she turned her attention back to the window.
Alec snapped awake, a practice he had trained himself to do so he wasn’t taken by surprise while waking. He didn’t move his body, only his eyes and saw Liz across the room still at her spot. If his internal clock wasn’t telling him that he had slept for hours then he would have thought he had only shut his eyes for a few minutes. Deciding she needed to rest too he sat up, “Anything?”
“Not really. Looks like the caterers and other party people have arrived and started setting up.” Liz answered unable to look at him. She knew if she met his eyes while he was still shirtless that she wouldn’t be able to help but blush.
Alec grabbed his T-shirt off the foot of the bed and shrugged it on. “Well I’ll take over now. Get some sleep and I’ll wake you up when it’s time to get ready.”
“I’ve studied the blueprints against the vision layout and wrote down what I thought our best escape routes will be later. I wrote them down here if you want to take a look.” Liz explained. She didn’t even undress before moving over and collapsing on the bed. She was immersed in Alec’s scent as she drifted off to sleep.
Alec looked out the window until he heard Liz’s breathing even out and knew she was asleep. He took the time to study her, something he found himself doing more and more whenever she wasn’t looking. He had noticed that she always seemed to have a haunted look to her eyes, like she had had the fate of the world on her. But there were times when he had seen brakes in that appearance. He had joked with her numerous times causing her to laugh that was when he had seen happiness in her eyes. He had also seen the pain in them deepen as well, like when she had seen her siblings or when she had talked about Max. Max had hurt her a lot, that was unquestionable. And a part of Alec wanted to find him and hurt him dearly for that. But he didn’t think that Liz would like that very much.
He knew how much Liz wanted to escape. He guessed he couldn’t blame her. She had lived on the outside and preferred it. She hated Manticore and everything it stood for including him. Okay that might not have been entirely true, she probably didn’t hate him but he was sure that she’d forget him as soon as she took off. After all the only time that anything more than friendship had happened between them was that day in her cell and that had only been because of her being in heat. She’d never look at him in more than a platonic way. Alec rolled his eyes at how sappy he was sounding in his own thoughts and turned back to look out the window.
Part 15
Liz woke up a few hours later when she felt Alec gently shake her, she rolled over and looked at him. He smiled as he said, “I was getting hungry so I ordered us some food.”
Liz sat up and looked at the cart that was now next to the bed as he lifted the covers. There were two plates each containing a huge cheeseburger with an order of fries next to it. He looked over and smirked at her, “Figured we might as well enjoy some part of our stay here.”
“Thanks.” Liz said as she took her plate from him and started to eat. They made small talk as they ate and once done Liz headed for the shower after Alec reminded her he had already taken one so she could get ready for the party. She grabbed her bags and went in. She turned the water on hot, trying to work out the tension she felt all over body. She was edgy because of what she was about to do. She might have been getting ready for a party but she wasn’t going to be enjoying it, she was going to assassinate the host.
Once out of the shower, Liz went about getting ready. The event was black tie with masque so she prepared herself accordingly. Her long hair was kept down to hide her barcode and she placed a few curls through it to give it more body then moved onto her makeup. Twenty minutes later she was completed dressed and ready to go, the only thing left was the necklace. She hadn’t put it on yet because she had been having trouble with the clasp. Maybe somewhere in her subconscious wouldn’t let her put it on, after all it was a weapon that she was going to use to kill someone. Deciding to ask Alec for help with it, she knocked on the door and asked, “Alec, is it okay if I come out?”
“Yeah, I’m decent.”
“That’s a matter of opinion.” Liz said as she made her way out. She stopped though when her eyes fell on him. He was dressed in a modern cut tux with a black vest, a classic look. His longish blonde hair had been smoothed back and it brought out his eyes. He looked gorgeous. “You clean up nice.”
Alec smiled at her. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
“Your tie is still undone.” Liz said, not even giving it a second thought she moved over to stand in front of him and started to tie it.
“Thanks, it was giving me some problems.” Alec managed to get out. When she had first walked out of the bathroom his breath had left him like a sledgehammer had hit him. She looked absolutely beautiful. Her hair looked so soft, the curls accent the fact. This was the first time he had ever seen her in makeup and the dark lines around her eyes did nothing but enhance their deep chocolate color. Her dress was black and looked to almost be painted onto her body. It was long sleeve and had V neck as well as a long skirt. But it didn’t cover much since it had two high slits that left a great deal of her legs exposed when she walked and the material was so sheer that you could see through it, well except for the necessary parts.
Liz worked as quickly as she could to get the tie tied. It felt strange doing such an intimate thing for Alec but surprisingly comfortable. She pulled it tight and made sure it was even, “There all done.”
Alec turned to look in the mirror, “Not bad, where did you learn to do that?”
“My Grandma Claudia. My Grandfather Robert could never tie a tie so she always had to do it, she thought it’d be a good idea if I knew.” Liz explained, and handed him the necklace. “My turn.”
Liz pulled up her hair and turned around so he could fasten it on. He brought it around the front of her and brought the two ends together to the back. Liz shivered slightly when she felt his fingertips brush against her barcode. For some reason it had always been an overly sensitive patch of skin for her and feeling his soft fingertips graze it felt electrifying. But as quickly as it was there, it was gone. “All set, ready?”
Her thoughts returning to what she was about to do, Liz could only nod. They double-checked everything before heading out for the party.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
They took a round about way of getting to the party, they left the hotel only to circle the block and walk back. That way if anyone saw them entering and thought about it later they wouldn’t know they had come from across the street. Once they approached the gate, their invitations were checked and sent through security. Many of the guests were complaining saying that it was insulting but Liz and Alec just went with the flow.
Once inside the two looked the large ballroom over. Alec looked at her; “Do you know how to dance?”
“What?” Liz asked confused.
“Dance, you know moving your feet to music?”
“Yes, I know how to dance, why?”
“Well I figured it could be a good way to mingle, and get a full view of the room without being too obvious.” Alec said motioning to the dance floor. He turned and held out his hand, “Shall we?”
Liz eyed him like he’d grown a second head but took his hand and let him led her to the dance floor. When they were in the center he turned to face her, keeping hold of the hand he already held and placed the other one on her waist. She in turned placed her other hand on his shoulder and the two began to waltz. They both moved gracefully and for a few moments they forgot they were on a mission. They were too absorbed in the other’s touch. Liz had not danced since the disastrous prom last year and was enjoying it very much.
Alec saw the tranquillity in Liz’s eyes and his ego inflated at the thought that he was the reason. The song ended but another started right away. It was eerily familiar to Alec. His attention was pulled from Liz as he racked his brain to figure out where he knew the tune from. Suddenly a memory of a girl slightly younger than Liz playing the piano flashed through his mind and then it was gone.
Liz saw an expression of confusion and uncertainty come over Alec’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“Um, nothing.” Alec said hastily. “Why don’t we split up and look around for a bit? The sooner we get out of here the better.”
And with that the two split up and went to separate ends of the room. With their COM links in their masks they could easily stay in communication. Liz studied the many colorful decorations as she surveyed the room. Alec was on the other side where he had stationed himself next to the bar. There were people everywhere with the wait staff mingling in between them with trays of drinks and food. Liz had taken a glass of champagne but it was more for show than anything, her stomach was so tight at the moment she was sure that if she even had a sip of water she’d feel queasy.
“Strole at one o’clock.” She heard Alec say through the earpiece. With their enhanced hearing they barely had to whisper through the microphones for the other to hear them.
Liz quickly spotted the older man through the crowd. He had his mask pushed back as he drank from a large glass. It was obvious that although the party had only started an hour ago that he was already drunk and going for more. “Acknowledged, target heading for the bar and moving to intercept.”
Liz started force her way through the crowd until she was within a few feet of Richard Strole. Alec was still at his spot, which happened to be at the exact opposite end of the bar they were at. She closed in on the gap between them and saw that his attention was on her, “Bonjour monsieur.”
“Bonjour Mademoiselle. Enjoying the festivities this evening?” Richard asked, as he looked her up and down. Liz felt somewhat disgusted at the leering way he was looking at her but pushed it away. She vaguely heard Alec over the Com making some comment about dirty old men. She glanced over to see him glaring at the back of Richard’s head.
“Yes, I am enjoying myself immensely. How could I not with all of this fabulous food and drink?” Liz replied in what she thought would be a somewhat flirtatious manner. She noticed that he had his glass was empty and figured now would be a good time to drop the toxin. “How about I get you another drink? Then we can talk more.”
He nodded to her, told her what he was drinking and she turned to get the bartender’s attention. She told him what she wanted and he was quick to fix it. She looked at Richard and saw that he was busy talking to another party guest. She pulled her mask back down to cover her face then making sure no one else saw her she quickly unscrewed the pendant, well as quickly as she could. Her hands were shaking so bad she was sure that she would dump most of the powder on the bar. But she didn’t, she got it into the drink and moved around, mixing it in. She watched as the dark fluid sloshed around inside the glass and thought about what it really was. She held a man’s life in her hands. But if she didn’t kill him she herself would die as well as Alec would be dead. She closed her eyes for a moment to catch her breath before she turned to head back to Richard. He was still chatting with some guests so she handed it to him. “I’ll be right back, I’m just going to freshen up.”
Then as quickly as she could she headed for the back of the room where a large winding staircase was. That was the meeting point for her and Alec. As she approached it, she saw Alec standing there with a glass of scotch in his hand. She nodded to show that it had been delivered and he said, “So now we wait.”
Part 16
For every second that they had to wait and watched the more Liz’s stomach tightened up. Every time he brought the glass to his lips, he’d decide to say something and didn’t drink. They didn’t have long to wait before metal clanking against glass could be heard. It was coming from another party guest not far from Richard and he said, “If you can quiet down for a minute, I’d like to make a toast.”
The crowd volume lowered and the most noise that could be heard was the sound of the wait staff moving around as they made sure that everyone had a drink for the toast. Once that was accomplished the man went on, “I just wanted to express our gratitude to Richard for hosting this beautiful party. To Richard.”
There was a round of applause then as everyone else took sips of their drinks Richard gulped the rest of his down. He had just drained it when he started to choke. He ripped at his collar trying to loosen it as if it would make a difference. Her hearing allowed her to hear the choking in grotesque detail, she could hear his desperate attempt to draw air and watched as his face turned beet red. His face then took on a tinge of purple as he continued to choke.
The two watched as three of his security personal hurried towards him as if they would be able to help him. They must have recognized the signs of a poison because one yelled some orders into his own headpiece and more came pouring through the door. “No body leaves!”
“Time for us to go.” Alec stated as they watched the guards come in. The two turned then and started running up the stairs as quick as they could, trying not to draw attention. There was only one guard perched at the top of the stairs. He came at them but Alec quickly interceded him and effortlessly knocked him out. They ran down the hall towards a room that they knew had a balcony with more guards on their tail. They found the room they needed but were held up. The door was locked with a comp key. There was a small key pad on the side of the door that required a code before the locks could be disengaged. But Alec was anticipating this and quickly punched in the master code that Manticore had somehow acquired. He yanked open the door, “Go, go, go.”
Liz had known about the key pad as well that was why she was still holding her drink. As they ran through the door she flung the full glass onto the keypad. It got the job done and fried the circuits. Alec pulled the door tight behind them, effectively locking the guards out, at least momentarily. Once they knew the door was secure they headed for the French doors on the opposite side of the room that opened to the balcony. It was a perfect set up for their escape, it was wide and gave them a good launching platform to jump from the house to the carriage house in back. Liz slipped her shoes off quickly. She didn’t think she’d be able to land very well if she was wearing heels, it had almost killed her to run in them. When they were off she nodded at Alec and they jumped. They landed effortlessly and started to run across the relatively flat roof of the carriage house. They had run only a few feet when gunshots rung out behind them. This just spurred them on faster. When they reached the roof’s edge they jumped again but instead of to another building it was to the alley below. They took off to the right, away from the house and their hotel.
They kept up this pace for a good six blocks or so before slowing. They were no longer being followed. The guards hadn’t been able to make the jump to the carriage house and had to waste precious time to get down to go after them. Plus they lacked transgenic speed. The whole scene of the man’s death ran through Liz’s mind and she felt her stomach turn over. She hurried over to the side of the alley and emptied the contents of her stomach onto the ground.
Alec cringed at the sound of Liz’s retching but moved beside her. He pulled her hair back away from face and held it as she finished vomiting. When she did, he asked, “You okay?”
“I just killed a man Alec! How do you think I feel?!” Liz snapped. “I stood there and watched him choke to death in front of his friends and probably some of his family. And I did it just to save my own ass.”
Alec didn’t know what to say, he had a feeling something like this might happen. “Liz, if it’s any consolation if I could have done it, I would have.”
Liz looked up surprised by his words, she wasn’t expecting them. His eyes said that he would have indeed done it for her, but he couldn’t. They didn’t know if the surveillance team had been watching the whole party or not. And the orders were for her to execute the mission, they would have been in trouble if the team had reported back that Alec had done it. “Thanks. That means a lot.”
“Come on, let’s get you out of this alley and get something to wash your mouth out.” Alec offered. Liz nodded solemnly and followed him out to the street. They were on the outer edges of the city and had somehow found a small part of it that was quiet There was a small coffee shop across the street from where they immerged and they hurried over to it. Liz went into the bathroom where she rinsed out her mouth and tried to push away the memories of what she had just done.
The first killing she had ever witnessed was one that she was a part of. It was in the early days of when the kids were starting to figure out that there was more to life then Manticore. They had been sent out on maneuvers with the orders to capture a prisoner. They hadn’t taken long before they caught up with him. When they had spotted a tattoo of a heart with a knife through it and freaked out. They had killed him with their bare hands, practically tearing him apart. After that they knew what it was like to kill and Liz hated it. She knew that they had to kill when necessary like for survival but she was still appalled by it.
She looked at herself in mirror and saw that she looked better than she felt. Her makeup was still set with no smearing and her hair as still in decent shape thanks to Alec holding it back for her. But her eyes scared her, they looked older than they should. She just turned away from the mirror and headed out to where Alec was waiting. “You look better.”
“Thanks.” Liz said, “It seems like I’ve been saying that a lot lately.”
“No big. I had some money so I got you a cappuccino with chocolate crème.” Alec said handing it to her. “We’ve got a few hours until it’s safe to head back to the hotel, thought we could walk around, see the city.”
Liz nodded and they headed out to the street. They just headed in the direction of the river and walked slowly absorbing the atmosphere. “So do you think we lost our little observers during our run?”
“I’m not sure. They probably estimated out exit route and were watching us as we left.” Alec answered. “Good idea about the wine by the way.”
“Thanks, I knew that it would fry the keypad and it would buy us some time. Of course I wouldn’t have known about what exactly would happen but thanks to once when Maria spilled a milkshake over the Crashdown’s computer. It just kind of came to me when we were on the staircase waiting to leave.”
“Very MacGuever of you.” Alec said.
Liz couldn’t believe it when she actually laughed, “Let me guess, you’re obsessed with ’80 television programs.”
“No, once I was stuck in this motel room for a day watching a target and the TV only had one channel that was airing a marathon.” Alec stated.
“I know how that feels, I went on a long school trip on a bus and there was a VCR. For some reason one of the guys brought an eight hour tape of Ren & Stimpy. I don’t mind the show but eight hours is a lot.” Liz explained. The two kept talking as they winded around the streets of New Orleans.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
They snuck into back part of the hotel just before dawn. They quickly changed out of their costumes and into the black uniforms that were standard mission clothing. They collected their gear and loaded their SUV back up. They drove out to the airport and left on the same plane. Liz figured that it had been waiting for them the whole time. She wrote up her report about the mission to Lydecker. He required a hard copy as well as verbal report.
She looked out the window and couldn’t believe that for thirty-six hours she had been out of her prison but it wasn’t enough. She wanted out of there for good. She just how to figure out how. She had spent hours scouting out the facilities and had not been able to find a weakness. Maybe after this mission or possibly one more they would trust her not to put some deadly toxin in her and Alec.
They landed and were shipped by helicopter once again to Manticore. Liz felt the imaginary shacks being fastened around her and her shoulders stoop. She couldn’t believe she had been in there for so many months. She noticed that despite the late hour there was lots of activity going on. “What’s going on down there?”
“Hang on.” Alec said. He leaned over and spoke for a few minutes to the guards that had came on the helicopter before turning his attention back to Liz. “There was an escape right after we left.”
Liz’s eyes widened. “Who?”
“599.” Alec answered slightly smiling. “Zack.”
Liz couldn’t believe it, Zack had escaped. “Was he alone?”
“Yeah. Apparently Lydecker let him go, he knew that he had information on where the rest of your sibs are and thought if he let him go than he would lead him and his men to him. But it evidently backfired. 599, Zack, whatever, and one of the others figured it out before he gave out too much information. The information he did give out didn’t make much difference because they ran before they could be captured.
As they landed Liz felt a little bit better with the thought that at least Zack had made it out and her siblings were safe for the time being.
Part 17
The landing was an ordinary one; the helicopter touched down without so much as a hard bump. When the blades stopped Alec and Liz hoped out and made their way through the yard to the doors leading inside. There was a TAC Officer there telling them that they were to first report to the infirmary for another dose of ‘missed’ meds and then on to Lydecker’s office to give their report. The two of course weren’t fooled and knew that they were receiving the antidote toxin. Two technicians used pressure syringes to administer them. The technician worked quickly and they were soon on their way to Lydecker’s office.
The moment they entered Liz could see that Lydecker was upset about Zack’s escape and the failure of whatever plan he had schemed to use with it despite his attempt to cover it. Thankfully she successfully kept the smile she felt from coming out on her face. She started at the beginning and told him every step of the mission from the time they landed in New Orleans until they landed back at Manticore. Once she was done relaying everything as well as gaining Alec’s comments on the mission they waited for his comments.
“You did well for your first mission 435. The target was eliminated in the given mission perimeters. Good work.” Lydecker commended. He went on a few minutes but Liz couldn’t hear him. His voice was overcome by static. She shook her head trying to clear it and noticed Lydecker staring at her.
“Thank you sir.” Liz stated.
“Although there is no pending mission at the moment, plan to be dispatched soon. Many of the active X5s and X6s have been deployed through out the country and you will be needed.” Lydecker stated. There had been an upsurge of assignments that required the finesse that only transgenics could give it. So he was even more enthused that 435 had been so successful. It would be helpful to have a first rate team ready to send. “You are dismissed.”
Liz and Alec left and started making their way to their quarters. It was almost lights out and the halls were empty. Since they wouldn’t be overheard Alec took the opportunity to ask something that was bugging him. “So you going to tell me what happened back there?”
“What do you mean?””
“When Lydecker was talking you seem to space out. I would have thought you were ignoring him, but I saw this really confused expression flash over you face for about a second. So what happened?” Alec asked.
“I don’t know,” Liz answered with a shrug. “One minute he was talking then the next minute all I could hear was static.” They approached Liz’s quarters first and went in to finish the conversation, “Have you ever heard of anything like that before?”
“You mean with the others?” Alec asked.
“Yeah, with any of the series. I mean it wouldn’t be the first time something like this just came up. Manticore didn’t exactly make us defective free.” Liz stated.
“I haven’t heard of anyone suffering from spontaneous hearing loss or hearing static like you described. But you’re right, who knows what the geneticists did when they were mixing us up.” Alec threw in.
Liz smiled at him, “You know it’s nice to be able to talk to someone about being cooked up in a laboratory. I mean not that I could talk exactly like this to anyone before anyway. Most people would rather do something else other than talking about genetics.”
At Liz’s words, an image of a brunette girl standing in front of him saying almost the same thing flashed through his mind. It was the same girl from the previous memory that he’d had in New Orleans. He couldn’t understand where these memories were coming from; they had never been there before. Who was this girl he kept seeing? She had been in plain clothes so he must have met her on a mission but why didn’t he remember. Alec thought. Unless....
Liz saw that now Alec was the one who was acting spaced out, she waved her hand in front of his face to get his attention. “Alec? Alec, you in there?”
Suddenly aware of Liz’s small hand waving annoyingly in front of his face snapped Alec out of his thoughts and speculations, “What?”
“You were a million miles away. What happened? Did you remember something about what we were talking about?” Liz asked curiously.
“No, I was just thinking of something else.” Alec answered. He watched as she flopped down on her bed and grabbed her flat pillow. He knew she’d keep asking him about spacing out so decided to get away before she could. “Well I’ll let you get to sleep, I’m assuming that we’re back to regular training tomorrow.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Liz said before he left. She wondered what had gotten him in such a strange mood as she got ready to go to sleep. She slipped her black pants off and tossed them to the other room along with her black shirt. She changed quickly and fell asleep, not even noticing the charred marks on her shirt.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
The next morning Liz went back to the routine that she had followed since being back in training. She got ready quickly but forgot her sweatshirt in her room and went back to get it. It was still cold out and it would be needed. She hurried back and started looking for it. But she had to stop when she suddenly felt dizzy. She didn’t know which way was up. She gripped the side of her cot and dropped to sit down on it. The dizziness edged off and she tried to figure out where it came from. What was going on with her?
She shook it off and realized she better get going. She reached for her sweatshirt and that’s when she saw it. Some type of green energy ran from the tips of her fingers all the way up her arms. She knew what it was it was alien energy. She had seen many different forms of it in the three years that she had known that aliens existed. And now it was manifesting itself inside her. The changes that Ava had told her had happened, ones that she had been anticipating since she had found out about her altered brainwaves. Perhaps now her weekly practices would be constructive.
And now that she knew for sure that it was happening that fact didn’t scare her. No what scared her was the place she happened to be at, Manticore. There was no doubt in her mind that if Lydecker found out about this, he would use it to his full advantage. He would want to know everything. How she had gotten her powers, who the aliens were, where they were, their weaknesses, and he would do anything to gain the information from her. She would be even more of a lab rat.
Feeling suddenly claustrophobic she pulled on her sweatshirt and rushed out of her cell and out to the yard. She jerked the sleeves down as far as they’d go, covering her entire arm. Thankfully the shirt was a little too big. She went to the small area that her and Alec went to occasionally when they wanted to be away from the prying eyes of Manticore. She had found it strange that it was there but Alec had told her that since it wasn’t close to the training facilities that they probably thought no one would bother with it.
She had to keep her new powers a secret from everyone here at Manticore. She thought she’d be able to hide it from the other transgenics, the doctors and Lydecker but she knew that hiding it from Alec was going to prove to be a challenge. They were with each other from lights on until lights out practically. Or as Maria would say, ‘Joined at the hip.’ He knew her mannerisms and would notice a difference. He would know something was up.
So now the question was could she trust Alec with this secret? She had trusted him with her life as well as other things during the time that she had known him. Hell he was the only one in the whole facility that she even remotely trusted with anything. And she felt like she knew him really knew him. And she liked what she knew. He might act like a smart aleck and cocky but that was only a facade he showed to other people. The trip to New Orleans had proven that to her. The way that he had watched over her and made sure she had been okay had left an impact on her.
She was still sitting there when she saw Alec coming towards her. “I’ve been looking for you for like ever. Have you been sitting here the whole time?”
“Yeah, I needed to get out of there for a little while to figure out some stuff.” Liz explained.
“Anything you want to talk about?” Alec asked with obvious concern in his voice. He felt better having found her. When she hadn’t appeared at their usual meeting place for morning training he had thought maybe she was late. He had gone to her quarters but there was no sign of her. After that he had gotten worried but he didn’t tell her that. Thoughts of her trying to escape played through his mind as he had kept looking for her. What they would do to her if she got caught, if she had struggled and gotten hurt. And one thing that scared him even more was that she had tried to escape and succeeded.
“Actually yeah.” Liz said. She took a deep breath and decided it was now or never. She pushed back her sleeves so that Alec could get a good look at her arms. He noticed them right away and his eyes widened as she said. “I need your help.”
Part 18
Alec stood there staring at Liz’s arms, half in fascination, half in fear. The fear wasn’t for himself but for Liz. He didn’t know if it was hurting her. He moved closer to get a better look. What was it? It looked like electricity and although a body did contain electricity, it usually didn’t exist like that. That concept made Alec think about the toxin that Manticore had infected them with. Although they had been given the cure for it, who knew if it had side effects? Was Liz still going to fall prey to it and die?
“Alec? Say something.” Liz said feeling uneasy about his silence. Was he going to freak out on her?
“Does it hurt?” Alec asked.
“Not really. It feels kind of like when you shock yourself from static electricity.” Liz explained. “Are you going to freak out on me? I mean some people wouldn’t want to stick around if they saw this.”
“Why would I not want to stick around? It’s not your fault that Manticore messed up even more and made you sick or whatever.” Alec said confused.
Liz sighed; Alec thought what was happening to her was because of Manticore so now she would have to explain. She plopped down on the ground and motioned for him to join her. When he did, she began, “I’m going to tell you something that is very serious. And it’s crucial that you don’t tell anyone. If you do, me and some other people will be in a lot of danger. Can you promise me that you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you?”
Alec could see the solemn expression on Liz’s face and knew how serious the situation had to be. “I promise, no one will get it out of me.”
“Okay, I trust you. What is happening has nothing to do with Manticore; it has to do when I was living in Roswell. Remember when I told you that I was exposed to radiation?” Alec nodded. “What I was exposed to is called Cadmium X. It’s an isotope that is not found on Earth.”
Alec’s brow creased. “What are you trying to tell me?”
“Let me explain. When I was sixteen I was working in the café when I got shot. I would have died but Max came up, put his hand over the bullet hole and healed it. He was able to heal it because he was an alien from the ’47 crash. The Cadmium X is like a leftover of him using his powers. It changed me.” Liz stated.
Alec looked at her stunned, “So Max is an alien?”
“Yes, so is his sister and our friend Michael. Tess is too.” Liz winced at her name.
“So your friends and boyfriend are aliens and now you are one?”
“I don’t think I’ve actually become an alien, the doctors would have seen something in my blood when they took it. But his healing me kind of jumped started whatever was already there. Their powers are essentially human. Everyone would have them if they evolved a few hundred years. That’s what this stuff on my arms is, energy for my powers.” Liz continued to tell him everything that had happened since the shooting.
Alec sat there for a minute trying to process what Liz had told him. Manticore considered transgenics to be a step a head of human in the evolutionary scale and now Liz to be even one step further. All because an alien healed her. Aliens. He had never really given a thought to whether they did or not but now knew that aliens did indeed exist. And why shouldn’t they? He and Liz were genetically engineered super soldiers so aliens weren’t that far of a stretch of the mind. He glanced back over at Liz and his attention was drawn once again to her arms. “Can I touch them?”
“Uh, sure.” Liz said reaching her arm out towards him.
Alec tentatively reached out is right hand and brushed his fingertips over her arm. He wasn’t sure what he expected but what happened. The electricity seemed to move to gather under his fingers, drawn to him. The energy was warmer, warmer than even Liz’s skin and almost soothing like a warm shower. And it was almost as if the energy felt like Liz. Like how he felt when she was around. It was a feeling that could be addictive.
While Alec was enjoying the feeling of her energy, Liz was indited with flashes from Alec. They overwhelmed her as they flashed by. They went so fast that Liz almost couldn’t focus on them.
***Flash***
Ten year old Alec, looking just like Ben the last time Liz saw him, being rewarded for his outstanding training
***Flash***
Fifteen year old Alec being sent on his first mission with his unit, the TAC officer telling him that he was the Commanding Officer and in charge.
***Flash***
Alec, the way he looked now, standing at attention in front of a stern looking man that she recognized as one of Lydecker's lackeys being given mission orders regarding impersonating a music teacher to acquire information they needed.
***Flash***
Alec with a young brunette girl, she was playing the piano. “Good job, Rachel.”
***Flash***
Alec and Rachel in a pool, Rachel starring at him with love before they kissed.
***Flash***
Alec running through a large house looking for Rachel, finally finding her on a staircase, “I was sent here to kill your father.
It was my job. You were my job.”
”***Flash***
Alec running out of the same house just to see a car explode, “RACHEL!”
***Flash***
Alec being drug down the halls of Manticore before being thrown into a cell meant for solitary. “NO!”
***End of Flashes***
Liz gasped as Alec pulled away from her and the connection stopped. She felt drained from what had happened, emotionally and physically. She had felt every one of Alec’s emotions during each of the flashes. The first ones had been full of smugness and pride but the later ones were different. The initial ones with Rachel contained confusion and adoration but the last few were overloaded with suffering, agony, and anguish. She had no doubt that Alec had cared about Rachel and had unwillingly watched her die, even tried to save her. But his bravery had been rewarded in typical Manticore fashion with being made to suffer. When she recuperated she looked up to see Alec staring at her. With everything so fresh in her mind she couldn’t help but say, “You loved her didn’t you?”
“What are you talking about?” Alec asked confused. What was Liz talking about?
Liz could see that he indeed did not know what she was talking about and she realized why. Manticore had erased his memories of the whole thing. “Remember the flashes I told you I used to get from Max? Well I got some from you when you touched my arms, a lot of them actually. And in the ones I saw at the end there were of a girl and you. She had a brown hair like me and you called her Rachel. I think she was part of a mission but you fell in love with her.”
“But I’d remember something like that.” Alec stated although he wasn’t as sure as he sounded. After all if what she was saying was true then the little images he had been seeing out of no where would be explained.
“They made you forget, Alec.” Liz said sympathetically. “They wanted you to kill her and her father but you didn’t want to. You tried to save her but you were too late. They drug you back here and threw you into solitary.”
Alec turned away from her, trying to sort through everything. In just the last hour he’d found out that aliens existed, Liz had some kind of strange powers, and because of those powers she’d found out that some of his memories had been erased. He heard Liz tentatively move up behind him, “You have to believe me, I wouldn’t lie to you about this.”
“I know you wouldn’t.” Alec stated. “Listen, I need some time to think about all of this. If anyone asks just tell them that I ordered for us to have some down time from training.”
“Alec, about?” Liz said motioning to her arms.
“I’m not going to say anything so don’t worry about it. Your secret’s safe and I’ll help you cover it up if you need me to.” Alec said.
“Thank you,” Liz said relieved. She watched as Alec walked away and was worried about him, maybe she shouldn’t have said anything about what she saw. “Alec, are you going to be okay?”
He gave her a half smirk, “I’m always okay.”
Part 19
After leaving Liz, Alec wandered around the buildings a little before finally climbing up a drainpipe to the roof. After so many years spent living on the base, he probably knew every nock and cranny especially the ones that could separate him from the others for a little while, which he wanted right now. What Liz just told him had flipped his world up side down.
He wasn’t naïve, he knew that Manticore was a messed up place. After all they were basically pumping out kids left and right from the genetics lab so they could train them to be soldiers, to be assassins. How disturbed and power hungry did someone have to be to make that their life’s work?
But even with that knowledge, Alec had gone with the flow. He knew that as messed up as it was, he was better off inside than out in the world. He overlooked their faults and stuck with it, for the pure reason that inside these walls he was safe from the plagues of the world. Out there, there was suffering and hunger while in here he had a warm bed and food to eat. More than some people had. Although now, he didn’t look at it the same way, according to Liz Manticore had taken something from him. They had messed with his mind, more than usual, and erased his memories. And that he couldn’t forgive.
He lay back against the cool roof and let his mind race. He wondered what exactly Liz had seen in the flashes she had gotten. She had said that he had loved the girl in his memories, Rachel. So she had to have seen more than the little bits that he had remembered. He wondered if it would ever come back to him. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the brief images that he had recalled. As he did, he was assaulted by memories.
Receiving orders from Sandoval
His hands wrapped around a man’s neck; strangling a man
Himself standing at the door of a house as it is opened
Rachel smiling as she meets him for the first time,
He was kissing her before she breaks away. ‘ I love you.’ She looked down at his hands. ‘Your hands are shaking.’
‘They are?’
‘Are you all right?’
‘Yeah. I'm all right. I'm just happy.’
Rachel slapping Alec and running out the door
He runs up just as a the car exploded, ‘RACHEL!’
Alec being tortured, and Alec being dragged into Manticore's basement,
Alec finally broke loose of the memories and came back to reality. He was still lying on the roof, he was half surprised he was still there. He half expected to find himself at one of the places he’d seen in the memories, they had felt so real. He reached up and felt his face, he brought his hand back and looked at the wetness that were on his fingertips. It was from tears. He wiped them away quickly and tried to calm himself. He felt deep despair in his heart from remembering what he had with Rachel and how he had felt with her but at least now he knew, and he would never make the mistake of letting someone he cared for get hurt because of him again.
Of course at the moment that wasn’t a difficult thing considering there was only one person he cared about, and that was Liz. He would make sure that no one found out her secret or she would be taken to a lab and caged like an experiment so quickly he wouldn’t even have time to blink.
Alec heard a faint scraping on the drainpipe he had climbed up before seeing a familiar head of dark hair pop over the edge of the roof. Liz’s face appeared next and her eyes landed on him, “Finally. I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I should have known you’d pick the highest spot to go to. Ben did the same thing, must be something in the genes, like you’ve got bird DNA in you or something.”
“I came up here to be alone.”
“I know you did, and I was going to leave you to that but then I thought of something. Whenever I’m upset you don’t leave me alone to wallow in it, you stick by me and help me talk it out. So I’m doing the same for you. Because believe me when you’re upset, being by yourself isn’t always the answer. It can make it worse.”
“How so?”
“When Alex died, I completely shut myself off from everyone, I mean I’d talk to my friends, even went to Max’s house because I didn’t want to be alone but I couldn’t open up to anyone. I couldn’t tell them anything I was feeling, about how lost I was because the only friend I had who knew the real me was dead. That I couldn’t protect him.”
“Like I couldn’t protect Rachel.” Alec muttered interrupting. Liz’s head snapped to look at him in surprise so he elaborated. “I remember it now. I was already starting to remember bits and pieces but I didn’t know what it was. Then when you told me about I put two and two together. I came up here and focused on nothing but the little bit I did remember. And it came back to me, in excruciating detail.”
“I’m sorry Alec that you had to go through that. If I knew what I was dragging up when I got those flashes I never would have said anything.” Liz apologized.
“It’s okay, you didn’t know. And in a way I’m glad I know now.” Alec said.
“I couldn’t imagine forgetting something like that. I mean I hate Tess with a passion but at least she didn’t wipe away every memory that Alex existed to us.”
Wanting to drop the subject Alec asked, “So with this whole new skin ailment of yours should I like never touch you so that you don’t get my life story? Because with training that could get kind of hard.”
Liz pulled her sleeves back as she studied her arms, “I don’t think its going to last, at least to where it’s visible. It’s already been fading in and out. I think it’s just the final adjustment my body had to make, to multiply the energy more so that it has a power source for the powers to use.”
“Well I’ll get down to the supply room and see if I can’t get you a few shirts the next size up from yours, that way it’ll be easier to cover your hands if you need it.”
Liz smiled at him, “Thanks Alec. I don’t know how I’d be able to pull this off without you.”
Back
Next
LittleBit