"We escaped. We used all that Manticore had taught us and turned it against them. That's why they wanted us to be drones, so we would never question orders and turn away from them. Whenever we would go out on maneuvers we took inventory of our surroundings. We planned for months. Finally when the night was right we made our move." Liz swallowed the lump in her throat before she continued, " Being the oldest, Zack was appointed our commanding officer so he led us out. We were almost out of the building before it was discovered we were gone. They tried to capture us but we got out and separated. Zack had already told us that we would have to scatter once we left the compound so we broke up. Ky and I are the youngest and we thought it was best if we stuck together. We decided we wanted to go some place warm so we headed south."
"Why did you have to have a place that was warm?" Michael asked.
"It was winter the night we broke out and there was snow on the ground. Our clothes were too thin for the length of time we were exposed to the elements. Once we reached the nearest city we went into an apartment complex and stole some clothes from a Laundromat. Ky and I decided we never wanted to be that cold again so we went to the desert and eventually settled in Roswell. We didn't know what happened to our other eleven siblings until Zack came to us three years ago."
"Eleven? I thought you said there were twelve others besides the two of you?" Max asked. He regretted it the moment he saw the sadness appear in Liz's eyes.
"There were. When we discovered, we were almost trapped. Zack and Eva were the only ones with firearms so they covered us so we could escape. Eva didn't make it. Lydecker killed her."
"So where are the others?"
"With Lydecker hunting for us, we all had to stay hidden separately so we're harder to find. Until today I hadn't seen any of my other siblings since we escaped except Ky and Zack. Zack is the only one who has contact with any of them."
Everyone looked at Zack, "It is the safest way. I've known where Ky and Liz have been for nine years but just let them know three years ago. Most of us have settled but some of us move around. I have a contact number that they can reach me at any time."
Maria asked. "When did you go to live with the Sheriff and the Parkers? Do they know about you?"
Kyle answered her, "Yeah, Dad knows all of it and the Parkers know most of it. Liz hid some of the darker aspects of it." Kyle glanced around then started again, "A couple weeks after we left Manticore, we arrived in Roswell. My dad found us in the old soap factory one night when he was on duty. We were leery of him at first, we knew we couldn't trust just anyone but Liz had a feeling that we could so we let him take us back to his house. He told us his house was empty because his wife was in Clovis visiting relatives; so we had a safe place to sleep for a couple of days. He eventually talked us into settling in Roswell. He knew it would be too suspicious if he took us both so he had to come up with a plan. After approving it with us he called the Parkers. He had grown up with them and knew he could trust them. They were getting ready to move back to open the Crashdown. They came and met us. Liz was the one to decide to go with them. They took her in and raised her as their own. When my mom came back, Dad told her that he had found me abandoned in the park. He knew about Lydecker being after us so he kept her in the dark to protect her. It's why she eventually left." Kyle took a deep breath to calm himself down, "My dad wanted to make sure Liz and I were protected so he used all his resources at the station to find out what Lydecker was up to. He had to do it after hours so no one would see him and mom got tired of him never being home so she left."
Liz broke in and said, "He's been doing everything he could to keep us hidden. After Zack found us, we knew that our other brothers and sisters were living their lives on the run and he didn't want that for us. My parents and him wanted us to have the most normal life we could." Liz smiled and said, "How do you think he knew what to do when he started covering for you guys?"
"He already had the experience." Max stated.
Kyle nodded "Yeah, although he hasn't had to do much for us lately but be on the lookout. When he started covering for you,
things became a lot more difficult. Your cover-ups were always a lot bigger. That's the reason I was so upset about it. I was worried he would lose more. He'd do anything to make sure we are all safe."
"That's why the sheriff went after Max so adamantly after the shooting at the Crashdown. He was protecting me." Liz said. "After those tourists told him that Max had done something to me, he thought Manticore might have found me. He got even more curious when he questioned me about it and I wouldn't tell him anything. I had never hid anything from him or Kyle. When Kyle saw the silver handprint, he knew I was hiding something from him and thought I was getting into something that could expose me."
"If you trusted the Sheriff so much, why didn't you tell him about us?" Isabel asked.
"It wasn't my secret to tell so I helped you hide it. You guys had to trust him on your own. I knew that he ever found out the truth that he would be there for you too."
"So you lied to the people you trusted most just to protect us." Michael asked surprised. He had been upset that Liz felt she couldn't trust them with her secret when she had done everything in her power to make sure they trusted her. But knowing that she had lied to the Sheriff and Kyle just to protect them helped him to forgive her.
Liz just nodded, "You don't know how much of a relief it was when they finally found out. It eased the strain between us.
I got my brother back and we did what we could do to help you."
"Um, I hate to ask this but did Manticore ever catch up to any of you?" Isabel wondered.
Liz nodded, "Ben was killed, we're not sure how but Manticore found his body. Bren was taken in six months ago. They reconditioned her and she now works with them. Zack was caught shortly after but escaped. They caught and killed Tinga. Before we knew she was dead, Max and Zack went in after her. Max was captured. That's why we are here. They're holding her and we are going in to get her tonight in just over six hours."
"How?" Michael questioned.
Zack jumped in, "Don't worry about it. We know what we are doing."
Liz put her hands up to still the guys bickering, "That's pretty much it. That's our secret. According to people in Roswell, I'm just Liz Parker, science nerd, and Kyle is the all-American athlete. In realty we are X5's hiding from the enemy. We stay alert, keep up with our training, arm ourselves, and stay prepared to leave town in case we are discovered."
"When do you train?" Maria asked.
"Well we workout individually but we go out to the desert every couple of weeks for target practice and to keep up with the hand to hand. That's why we pretended we were dating. We could spend a lot of time together alone and no one would try to hang out with us." Kyle explained.
"I'm sorry for not telling you. I wanted to but I didn't know what you might do if you found out that I was made to be a human weapon. I was also worried that if something happened with us that you guys would try to help us and possibly expose yourself. We don't want to go back to Manticore and I didn't want them to try to get to me through you guys. I'll give you guys a couple minutes to absorb everything." Liz followed her siblings over to Logan's computer and sat down to see what her friends would say.
Before Logan got up to join them, he spoke to Liz's friends, "Liz and Kyle are still the same people. All the stuff they told you about; what they went through is what made them who they are. I know you're hurt that they didn't tell you but they did what they thought they had to." Logan finished and made his way over to the X5’s.
He walked up just in time to hear Zack say, "I don't know how you can still trust him after all he had done."
"What did Max do?" Krit asked. He didn't like the thought of any guy hurting his sister. Alien or not.
"He pushed her away after having her fall for him. Not to mention the other girl that came into the picture. He's done nothing but break her heart." Zack answered.
"Zack, quit it. They are the closest people in my life and I love all of them. I just hope they can forgive me for not telling them. Besides, you don’t know what happened before we left Roswell." Before Liz could tell him, Max came over. "You can come back over now." As Liz walked past him she heard Max whispered, "You and I need to talk. Alone." Liz nodded.
Her and Kyle took positions so that they were facing their friends, Liz spoke first, "Are we okay? Can you forgive us?"
As they all nodded, Max answered her, "It hurt that you couldn't trust us but we understand. Just don't do it again. This past year has been hard partly because we all kept secrets from one another. From now on we need to have everything out in the open."
"I guess now it's the "I know an Alien and X5 club." Kyle said.
Liz saw that Maria was pouting and asked, "What's wrong, Maria?"
"I'm the only regular human in this group."
Liz laughed and went to hug her friend, "I wouldn't have it any other way. Thank you for being my friend."
"I told you before. I always got your back. Even if you don't need it." Maria said.
"Okay you two break it up." Michael said.
Maria pointed her finger at him and said, "Space boy you better be nice or I'll sick Liz or Kyle after you."
Liz snickered, "Maria, calm down. You know how Michael can't stand emotional scenes. He's just like Zack." She turned her head and glanced at her oldest brother. "That's probably why they haven't been getting along well since they got here. They're just alike."
Zack just shook his head and refused to retort back. He knew Liz was just try to get a rise out of him. "Well now that all this stuff had been taken care of you guys need to go so that we can finish getting ready."
"We're not leaving. We're staying until Liz and Kyle are ready to go back." Max stated. The other three spoke their agreement as well. "I can't just leave knowing they will be in danger. We want to help."
"No." Zack argued.
"I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to Liz and I wasn't there to save her. I don't doubt that you guys know what you're doing but something could happen. Not to mention the extra firepower we would bring to the table." Max said looking at Michael.
"Zack, as much as I hate to side with him I think they should go with us. Their powers would give us a tactical advantage that Manticore wouldn't be expecting. Plus we don't know what kind of condition Max will be when we get to her. She might be in pretty bad shape." Kyle said, he could tell Zack was considering it.
"No!" They all stared at Liz in shock, "It's too dangerous. Could you imagine what Lydecker would do if he got a hold of them? He'd have a field day with them once he found out what they are." She looked at Zack for support.
"Liz, Kyle is right. We have to look at this from all angles. We're only using them if we have to." Zack looked Max dead in the eye before saying, "Max and Michael will go with us but will stay with the cars. Isabel and Maria can stay here with Logan." Zack looked at Liz to see if she would argue. When she didn't, he said, "Yours and Kyle gear still needs to be unloaded."
Liz nodded as Kyle turned to Max and Michael and asked, "Feel like helping with some manual labor? We've go two trunks that need to be unloaded. They're not huge but they're kind of heavy."
Michael and Max headed off with Kyle leaving Liz, Maria, and Isabel standing with the others. Syl was telling them a little bit about herself when the guys came in. Kyle and Michael each had a trunk while Max came in carrying Liz and Kyle’s duffle bags. Kyle set his trunk down and said, "Be careful with that"
Michael looked at him in confusion then at the plastic container he had just set down and asked, "What's in it?"
Liz smiled as she hopped down from where she was sitting. As her and Kyle began to open the trunks she said, "Weapons mostly, along with some other equipment." The others gasped with they saw the guns, knifes, and other stuff in the trunks.
"Oh my God," Maria said.
"Liz told you we keep ourselves prepared."
"Where did it all come from?"
"We got most of it at swat meets. With all the survivalists out there, it is pretty easy to get the stuff. Although Dad had to buy most of it since we just turned eighteen." Kyle said as he picked up one of the semi-automatics. "This is our emergency stash though. This stuff is too big to carry around everyday so we keep smaller stuff on us. There is also some climbing gear and first aid equipment."
"Like Liz carrying a knife?" Michael asked.
Liz blushed when she realized that Michael and Max had heard Kyle's comment about her knife in the kitchen. "Yeah, among other things." Liz reached behind her withdrawing her 9mm automatic and displayed it to them. Her friends looked more shocked about knowing that she had a gun on her than they had about anything else.
"Do you keep that on you all the time?" Maria asked.
"Not all the time but at least within easy reach. It's usually in my backpack or locker at work if I can't keep it on me. Kyle carries one too plus one he usually keeps it in the car. If any of Lydecker's men were to show up we have to be prepared." They started pulling everything out and checking it over. Liz and Kyle showed their friends how to load and use some of the smaller guns.
After closing up the trucks, Maria spoke again, "Well I don't know about any of you but I need food. Anybody up for getting something to eat?"
"Why don't all you guys go get something to eat and bring Max and I back something? We'll stay here." Liz suggested in hopes of getting some time alone with Max to talk. Everyone got up and prepared to leave except Krit and Zack. They both looked at each other and decided they weren't going to leave Max and Liz here alone. Krit said, "Grab us something too. We'll stay here." Liz could tell her brothers didn't trust Max around her. Knowing she wouldn't be able to talk them into going she looked at Kyle and pleaded with her eyes to help her. Kyle saw it and knowing she needed him to run interference he said, "Yeah, I think I'll stay too."
After the others left, Liz pointed Max towards one of the other rooms and told him she would meet him in there in a minute. Once he was out of sight, Liz spoke, "I know you guys stayed to watch over me but you don't need to. Max and I just need some time to ourselves."
Zack recognized the look in Liz's eyes, "You can't be considering being with him again."
Liz whirled on her brother, "Whether or not I decide to, it is my decision. I'm the one who has pushing him away and I'm sick of fighting what my heart tells me. Don't try and tell me what to do Zack. Especially when you don't have all the facts."
"Then enlighten me."
"Ask Kyle. I'm busy." Liz spat.
After Liz walked out of the room, Krit and Zack looked at Kyle. Kyle glared in the direction that Liz had gone, "Since Krit doesn't know all about the intergalactic soap opera, I'll start at the beginning."
Back
Next
LittleBit Fics