Catagory: CC, AU
Disclaimer: I don't own anything
Summary: Continuation of my version of Roswell where Liz is the healer and not Max. This picks up right after (literally) where the first story let off.
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SUMMER OF DESTINY
PART 1-History Lesson
Liz did her best to mask the feelings of hurt and suffering that Max’s departure had left on her heart as they climbed back into the pod chamber. Entering it reminded her of the responsibility that had just been put on her shoulders and knew she needed more information if she ever hope to achieve what was set before her. She looked at their protector and said, “We want some more answers, I want to know everything.”
“That covers a large quantity of subjects, where do you want me to start?” Ed asked.
“What planet are we from?”
“Antar. The largest of the five system planets of the Whirlwind Galaxy.”
“The message said that we are the combination of human and alien, now I know that our blood is different from humans but how are we different from other aliens?” Liz asked.
“You have human bodies on the outside. While you’re systems and organs are made of the same makeup as your blood, they are still human in nature. Because of all of these differences you do not have the ability to change your form.” Ed explained. “Others from our planet’s bone structure if far different then humans.”
Liz nodded understanding. “Why? If we could appear as humans if we wanted to, why go through the trouble of creating us as hybrids?”
“Our young do not usually have control over the shapeshifting ability until they reach maturity so they had to make you hybrids so that you wouldn’t expose yourselves. Your protectors could only do so much.”
“But they weren’t anticipating the crash and we only had two protectors that survived.” Liz commented
“What caused the crash?” Isabel asked.
“We collided with an aerial device of the militaries, a plane. It blocked out sensors and we crashed. Two of the protectors, the ones actually flying and guiding the ship, died on impact. Kalen and I climbed out of the wreckage and brought your pods to this rock formation. We were caught just after.”
“Kalen was the one that the Special Unit tested on all those years isn’t he?” Liz asked.
“No, that was me. Kalen escaped a few days after capture. I was there for several years.”
“What’s your name? On our planet?” Isabel asked.
“Nasedo.” The protector answered.
“So where have you been all these years?” Michael demanded loudly, the anger in his voice evident. “Why weren’t you there when we came out of the pods?”
“I miscalculated when you would hatch.” The protector stated. “When I returned to the pod chamber, Kyle was the only one still encased in his pod. I waited for him to emerge and then left. The Special Unit was hunting me so we couldn’t stay in the area. It wasn’t until Liz foolishly healed that human that we received our first solid lead.”
Isabel could see that Liz was doing her best to block out their protector’s comment about healing Max so she decided to ask a question of her own, “You don’t care for humans do you?”
“No. Not after what they did to me. And In the time I’ve lived among them, I’ve come to realize that they are beings that prefer to destroy what they don’t understand because it’s easier. They are ignorant, inefficient creatures.” He stated simply.
“You might remember that we are half human?” Liz interrupted. She knew his feelings stemmed from his time spent in the white room but she didn’t like the derogatory way he spoke about humans. “And that we have loved ones who are completely human. They are not all like the Special Unit.”
“You’re letting your feelings get in the way of your judgement for those so called loved ones.” Ed stated. “Emotions are a weak point that will get you killed. It is bad enough that the three of you have exposed yourselves to the humans that you have. We should remedy that situation.”
“I’ve seen the evidence from your damage control, Nasedo.” Liz said purposely using his alien name. She wasn’t sure why she did it, except to maybe separate who he really was from his staged name. “And you are not going any where near any of them. They are not to be touched, do you understand me?”
“Yes.” He said distastefully. He didn’t seem to like what he had been ordered to do but seemed to follow her orders. Liz saw an irritated look pass over Kyle’s face but she just ignored him. If he was going to stick around, he’d have to get used to their views on humans.
“Now that that’s settled, how about a history lesson?” Michael demanded. “We know that we were killed but why?”
The protector seemed to think for a minute, probably trying to figure out where to begin before he spoke. “The three of you are the last in a long line of rulers of Antar. Many years ago, our planet was broken up into regions, each governed by the strongest family of the area. The system worked for a while but eventually, conflicts between the regions broke out and the planet was in chaos. Several of the more powerful families decided that something needed to be done. It was the head of your family at the time that was chosen to lead them. All the resources of half a dozen regions were put behind them and they accomplished their ambitions. Ever since, the oldest of each generation has inherited the throne.”
“So although Michael would be considered a male heir, Liz inherited the throne?” Isabel asked and Nasedo nodded. “Sounds better than some of the kingdoms on this planet.”
“Practically from the moment she was born, Shyla was raised, educated, and nurtured to become the next queen. The twins, who were two years younger, were also educated in the ways of royal life but to a lesser degree.” Nasedo explained. “When Shyla reached the age of maturity, her father, King Radon, announced that she would marry Derogo. Derogo was the oldest son of one of the King’s advisors and a descendent of one of families who gave their support in the conflicts years before. Plus Derogo understood that although he was married to the queen, he had no real power. When King Radon died not long after their marriage, Shyla became leader, not Derogo. Everyone thought it was a perfect match, except for one.”
“His name was Kivar. His families’ history was similar to Derogo’s but he wanted more. He felt he should be King but that wasn’t possible so he thought he would settle for the Queen’s husband, hoping to control Shyla and have the power. But he lost his chance when Shyla was betrothed to Derogo.”
“Did they love each other?” Liz asked. “Shyla and Derogo.”
“Of course they did.” Kyle answered instead. Liz’s eyes snapped to look over at him, and were surprised to see truthfulness in his eyes. It was like he was just assuming it, more like he knew for sure. Did he remember?
“Kyle is right. They did love each other.” Nasedo stated. “With Shyla no longer an option, Kivar turned his attention toward her sister. But knowing that it might appear suspicious for him to suddenly become enamored with Vilandra so he pursued her quietly. Eventually, Vilandra knew that Kivar was mounting an army against her sister but she was unaware of exactly what he was doing until it was too late. He agreed to meet with Shyla to talk peace, but instead he marched his troops into the castle. It was a bloodbath and not many survived. The Queen mother was able to escape with some of her guards. Later, some of them snuck inside and smuggled samples of each of you to recreate you. The procedure was completed and the mission to Earth was launched.”
“So how do we get back?” Michael asked.
“We don’t.”
“But the messages said…” Michael started to say but Nasedo interrupted him.
“The message was recorded before our ship was destroyed.” Nasedo reminded him. “It is now no more than rubble and what was left is now in the army’s hands. If we are to go home, it will be when a ship comes for us.”
Isabel had had enough by now with the whole question and answer session and could see that Liz was running low as well. “I think we should call a break for now. We need to home before our parents get too suspicious.”
Liz nodded, she wanted to go home to the shelter of her room. She wanted to sleep for several days and hopefully wake up from this nightmare. Leaving Kyle with their protector, the three siblings climbed down the rocks and hopped into the jeep. Once they had pulled away, Michael asked. “What do you think?”
“I think they’re telling the truth, but I’m still weary of them. They’re not like us, they’re more alien.” Liz stated.
“I don’t trust them.” Isabel stated.
Liz looked at Michael in the rearview mirror then over at Isabel. “I don’t either but for now, they’re all we have.”
PART 2
The rest of the drive home was made in silence as they all tried to adjust to what they had learned. They needed to let things sink in. Liz pulled up in their driveway but before she killed the engine, Michael stopped her. “Do you mind if I borrow the jeep? I’ve got something I need to take care of.”
Liz nodded before opening the door and climbing out. She normally would have just hopped out but she was too exhausted. She had only slept a total of three hours, those of which were with Max, in the last few days. All she wanted a shower and then climb into her bed for a long time, like the rest of her life.
The two girls crept into the house, not sure where their parents were and neither felt like running into them at the moment. But they didn’t get so lucky. They were only half way through the living room before they heard their dad call them from the kitchen. “Liz? Isabel? Is that you?”
“Yeah, Dad.” Liz called. “We’re just going up to our rooms.”
“Come in here and say hi first.” Her dad yelled.
Liz and Isabel looked at each other for a minute and knew that they couldn’t get out of it. Isabel just shrugged and headed in to talk to their parents. They walked into the kitchen and saw their mom doing something at the stove while their dad was sitting at the table. They could tell their appearances had been noticed by the way their mom’s mouth hung open in shock when she saw them. “What happened to you two?”
“Oh, we’re just a little dirty from camping.” Isabel explained. She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought about cleaning up with their powers until just now, five minutes too late. Now they were going to have to hope their parents bought their story or things could get even more complicated.
“What were you doing out there?” Philip asked. He didn’t think he had ever seen his girls look like this. Isabel’s typically perfect appearance was ruffled and her clothes had quite a bit of dust but she looked nowhere near as bad as Liz. Her face was pale, the only color on it was dark circles under her eyes and her cheeks were blotchy red as if she’d been crying. Her forehead also had red marks of a different kind, they appeared to be mild burn marks but her hair mostly covered them. Her hair looked unkempt and stringy, and her clothes also held dirt on them. “Lizzie? What happened to you?”
“Nothing, Daddy.” Liz managed to answer. It almost felt strange to use the childish term of endearment because after the last couple of days, she felt like anything but a child. “I fell a couple of times in the woods while we were looking for firewood then I couldn’t sleep very well. So I’m going to go upstairs and take a shower then go to bed.”
Liz didn’t wait for their response before spinning on her heel and practically ran upstairs. She couldn’t stand looking her parents in the face and lying to them. She tossed down her bag that Isabel had brought her clothes in and started to strip so she could take a shower. She had barely taken her shirt off when Isabel barged in. She didn’t say as she sat down on Liz’s bed. Liz looked at her and asked, “What did they say?”
“Nothing. I think they’re in shock.”
“They’re not the only ones.” Liz muttered.
“Liz…” Isabel said trying to think of the best way to approach what she wanted to say. “about what happened at the podchamber…about the message we heard...”
“Isabel, I’m not in the mood to talk about this. You heard me downstairs, I just want to take a shower and go to sleep. Can I do that? Can I just have a few minutes of peace?” Liz asked a little harsher than she meant to but she was at the end of her rope, and that rope was about to snap.
“Of course Liz.” Isabel stated.
“Thanks.” Liz said. She turned to go to the bathroom when she saw the pants leg of the scrubs she’d been wearing when she escaped the White Room poking out of her bag. She didn’t know why she had kept them, she had just stuffed them in her bag when she changed. “Do me a favor? Burn those.”
Isabel nodded as she watched Liz escape to the bathroom. When she was out of the room, Isabel reached over and grabbed the offending garments. They were only in her hands for a minute before her powers turned them into ashes and then there wasn’t even ashes left.
Liz quickly shed the rest of her clothes before jumping into the shower. Her body went into shock for a minute when the water it her. It was too cold, it was too much like the ice baths. She quickly turned the knobs to heat up the water. But even after the warm water had been running for several minutes and her body temperature rose back to where it should be, her hands still shook from the traumatizing affects those few seconds of cold water had on her.
She picked up her body wash and the sponge that went with it and started to wash her body. Before she knew it, she was scrubbing hard on her skin, trying to scour every bit of her body. She didn’t stop scrubbing until her skin was pink and felt raw. But she still didn’t get out of the shower.
As the water beat down on her tender skin, the dam inside her broke and the tears began to fall. Days of pent up fear and terror, not only for herself but for the ones she cared about, and the feelings of desertion from Max came out as she cried. He had told her that he loved but then left her. She figured that he saw it as helping her fulfill her destiny but she saw it as him not wanting to fight for her. He had given up on her.
Her legs gave out and she slid down the side of the shower wall before coming to rest on tub floor. She pulled her legs up to her chest, hugging herself as she continued to sob. Luckily the shower drowned the sounds out. She stayed like that until exhaustion overwhelmed her. She turned off the shower and climbed out. She dried off and dressed in a loose T-shirt and sweats, not even bothering to mess with her hair before going to her room. When she reached her room, she shut and locked the door. She pulled the curtains shut before collapsing on the bed. The last thought that ran through her head was of Max.
(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(**)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)
After leaving the Evans, Michael drove back to the factory but found it was empty. Max must have called Maria and Alex and they left. He went by Maria’s house but she wasn’t there yet so he went home. He walked into his apartment, flipped on the light, and almost jumped out of his skin when he saw who was sitting on the couch. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“I was waiting for you.” Maria answered. “Max told us that it was safe to come back to Roswell and about the message you received from your home planet.”
“How’s he handling it?” Michael asked.
“Not good.” Maria replied. “Are Liz and Kyle really married?”
“Were. They were married, in our past lives. They’re not now unless they go through it here.” Michael corrected her. “And from what I saw, that ain’t going to happen.”
“Max said he left her because she had her destiny. I’m glad we don’t have to worry about that.” Maria said, the relief in her voice was very evident.
“I wouldn’t say that.” Michael said as he looked at Maria. She looked at him confused as she sat in front of him and he felt terrible for what he was about to do. “Maria, we can’t be together.”
“What?! Why?!”
“Because when I’m with you, I forget that I’m not normal. And I can’t do that.” Michael answered. “I didn’t protect Liz, and looked what happened to her. I can’t let that happen again. I have to look out for her and Isabel, for everyone.”
“But Michael…” Maria started to say but Michael interrupted her.
“Maria, you can’t talk me out of this.” Michael stated. “My decision is final.”
“I can’t believe after everything we just went through, you’re going to do this.” Maria said rising from his couch. “I have been with you every step of the way, and now you think I’m too much in the way? Well you know what, you’re wrong. And I’ll just have to knock it into your thick head that you’re wrong.”
And with that Maria stormed out of the apartment. Michael just watched her go and knew that things weren’t going to be as simple as he thought it would.
PART 3
After Max explained what had happened at the pod chamber, Maria left the trio of humans to go find Michael. But Alex stayed to try and help Max. He could tell his friend wasn’t doing so well even if it was his decision to break it off with Liz. Max’s parents were busy with the café but they had noticed their son’s behavior. When Max wouldn’t talk to them, they asked Alex. The only thing he could think of to satisfy them was to tell them that he and Liz had broken up. They seemed to understand and left the two boys alone in Max’s room for the rest of the day.
Once they were in the room, Max had grown quiet and Alex respected his need for silence. He knew that Max would talk when he wanted to, and again he was right.
“What you think is going to happen now?” Max asked suddenly.
“I don’t know, Max. This isn’t something we’ve gone through before so I don’t have any answers.” Alex said truthfully. He had been thinking the same thing. How was what their alien friends found going to change things? He had already seen what the news had done to Liz and Max, what could it mean for him and Isabel? After all, she just found out she was a princess. That was bound to change things.
“I don’t think I can stand to see Liz and Kyle together.” Max stated. “The night I saw them in the park, kissing, it was like someone had cut my heart out with the dullest thing possible. Having to live with that every day, seeing them around the café, I just can’t do it. Not right now at least.”
Alex was about to say something when Maria came bursting into the room. They could see her face was filled with both anger and sadness. “You won’t believe what just happened.”
“What?” Alex asked.
“Michael broke up with me.” She announced. “I went to his apartment and when he finally appeared he told me he couldn’t be with me.”
“Why?” Max asked. “Liz and Kyle are the only ones who have destined mates.”
“He said it was his fault that Liz got taken into the White room. He said he didn’t protect her like he should have and that he had to focus on guarding his sisters. He said he couldn’t do that if he was with me, like I’m just some distraction that he could toss away.” Maria said furiously. “Can you believe him?”
She flopped down on Max’s bed next to Alex in a huff. “Love sucks.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself Maria.” Max agreed. “I was just telling Alex that I didn’t want to spend my summer watching Kyle and Liz.”
“Max, I think you’re overreacting to this.” Alex stated. “Liz loves you, she even told you that she wanted to be with you and not Kyle.”
“Yeah. Any one can see how much she loves you.” Maria added.
“I know she does. That’s the problem.” Max said. “If I didn’t break it off with her , Liz would have stayed with me and forgotten all about her destiny. A destiny her planet is depending on her to fulfill.”
“But what about you?” Maria asked.
“I’m going to do what I can to deal.” Max answered. “And that includes getting out of Roswell for a little while, probably for the summer.”
“What?” Alex and Maria asked at the same time. “What do mean leave Roswell?”
“I thought I’d go see my aunt Evie and my cousins in LA.” Max replied. “She’s always asking me to visit and I could help out with the kids since they’re on vacation and not in school. It’ll be good for me, maybe I can heal my heart”
“When would you plan to leave? Alex asked.
“It’s still early enough that I could possibly be out on a flight tomorrow.” Max informed them. “I know Evie will be thrilled to have me and will want the help. She was telling my dad that she was having problems finding someone to keep an eye on the kids. So the sooner I get there, the better.”
“Maybe you should wait until you’re thinking more clearly.” Alex said. “We’ve been through a rough few days, and now isn’t the time to make big decisions.”
“Alex is right, you wouldn’t want to pull a Michael and make some rash decision.” Maria agreed. “You might end up regretting it later.”
“No.” Max shook his head. “If I stayed here then I might back down.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” Alex muttered. He was about to say more when his cell phone started ringing. He fished it out of his pocket quickly and flipped it open. “Hello?”
“Alex, it’s me.” He heard Isabel say.
“Hey Isabel.” Alex greeted. He felt his heart starting to beat faster. He couldn’t help but wonder what Isabel would say to him, after all neither Max or Maria had had good conversations with their aliens that day. What if Isabel was calling him to break it off with him? “So what’s up?”
“I wanted to talk to you but I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to leave tonight. Can you meet me for breakfast in the morning?” Isabel asked.
“Um, I’m staying the night at Max’s so probably not, how about lunch?” Alex asked. He calmed down some, she sounded like she really wanted to see him.
“That’s fine. I’ll see you at noon okay?”
“Works for me.” Alex answered. “Bye Isabel.”
“Bye Alex.”
Alex hung his phone and stuck it back in his pocket. He saw Maria and Max were watching him with interest. “Isabel wants to talk so we’re having lunch.”
“Good luck, hope things work out better for you.” Maria said.
“Could you do me a favor?” Max asked. “And not mention to Isabel about my leaving? I don’t want Liz to know until after I’m gone.”
Alex didn’t feel right about agreeing but saw the pleading on Max’s face. It was a big deal to him so he had to agree. “I won’t say anything.”
“Thanks Alex. Why don’t we go downstairs and get something to eat and I can talk to my parents? Then I can call Evie and settle things with her.” Max offered.
“I could definitely go for some chocolate right now.” Maria retorted.
“Then a double chocolate chip shake is waiting for you.” Max said.
The three of them headed down to the café and got some food. While they ate, Max informed his parents of his idea. They were somewhat reluctant to let him go but saw that Max really needed it and knew that his aunt would loved to have him. He would help her out with her kids, which was a bonus for her since she was a single parent and the kids loved Max.
So Max called his aunt and all the arrangements were made. Thanks to the fact that he was a single passenger, Max managed to secure a ticket with not too much added expense. It was all set for Max to leave for LA the next afternoon. He promised Maria and Alex to keep in touch. He felt bad for leaving them but they both said they understood although they both tried once more to talk him out of it. When that didn’t work, they helped him pack before spending one more night together before he left for the summer.
(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(**)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)
Isabel pulled into the first available parking spot she saw in front of the Crashdown and killed the engine. She had checked with Liz at breakfast to make sure it was okay to take the jeep and her sister had just shrugged and tossed her the keys. Then she went back up to her room saying she was still tired even though Isabel knew she had slept the evening and night before. She wasn’t fooling her, Liz was pining for what she had lost.
She was really worried about Liz, she had heard her crying in the shower but knew if she had tried to comfort her, Liz would just deny it. There were times when she could be as much of a stonewall as Michael. She would get it into her head that she didn’t need to bother anyone with her feelings and kept everyone out. That was what she was doing now, staying locked up in her room keeping out the world. Isabel knew that if she kept this up, Liz was going to have a breakdown.
She had tried last night to talk Liz into going to see Max, telling her that he was just overwhelmed that morning with the message and that’s why he walked away. But Liz wouldn’t listen to her. She just said that Max made his decision and it was probably better in the end since they now knew that someone would come for them.
Isabel had gone to talk to Michael about her concern for Liz but he was having his own problems. When she arrived, he was in the process of trashing his apartment. He didn’t even notice that she had entered until she yelled his name several times. He stopped and she had demanded that he tell her what the hell was going on. That was when he told her that he had broke up with Maria and why. When he was done she told him that she was being as thickheaded as their sister was. They had proceeded to argue about it until Isabel left.
After talking to both Liz and Michael, Isabel knew what she wanted, Alex. She wasn’t as self-sacrificing as her siblings, she wasn’t going to give up Alex. She needed him and wanted to be with him, if that meant she was being selfish, so be it. That was when she realized she needed to talk to Alex. She was positive he would think that she was going to break up with him and wanted to make sure he knew the truth. So she had called to set up lunch with him. And now that the lunch was here, she was starting to feel nervous. But she reminded herself that it was Alex and nothing to be nervous about.
She entered the café and saw that Alex was already waiting for her in the booth they normally sat in. As she walked over, he spotted her and smiled. It was a full-fledged Alex Whitman smile and she felt some of the tension leave her body. When she reached the table, she couldn’t help but lean over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks for coming, you don’t know how much it means to me that you did.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Alex asked. “I’ve never passed up the opportunity to have lunch with a beautiful woman.”
Their waitress appeared then and took their orders. Once she left, Isabel worked up the courage to speak what she was thinking. “Alex, I know what you’re probably thinking right now…what with what happened to Liz and Max and Maria and Michael and I wanted to talk to you about it.”
“Let’s talk then.” Alex said uneasily.
“Okay, I’m going to say what I want to say and let me get it out before you say anything okay?” Isabel asked, Alex nodded. “I know you probably think that I want to break up but I wanted to tell you that I want exactly the opposite. I don’t want to loose you because of what we found out. I care about you too much. Besides my siblings, you’re the only one who really knows me, really knows me. Sometimes I think you know me better than they do. If you want to call things off like Max did, I understand. But I wanted you to know, I don’t want to give you up.”
When she finished, Isabel felt exhausted. Emotional confessions were draining. Alex looked at her for a minute before saying, “Are you done?”
Isabel nodded. Before she knew it, Alex leaned over the table, cupped her face and planted a firm kiss on her lips. She gasped in surprise and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth. When she felt his tongue brush against hers, she got over the shock and returned the kiss. They finally broke apart when oxygen became a necessity. When they pulled away Alex had the biggest cheesiest smile on his face. “I hope that answers a few things for you on how I want the status of us.”
“Yeah, message received.” Isabel stated.
PART 4
Over the next couple of days, Isabel and Alex spent all of their time together. Once Max left, Alex was able to tell Isabel about his departure and she relayed it to Liz. She could tell Liz was upset that Max had felt he needed to get away from her but didn’t say anything about it.
Isabel knew that her parents were starting to worry about Liz too. Her dad had made the mistake of asking Liz if her and Max had any plans for the summer one night at dinner. Liz had been idly picking at the food on her plate and didn’t raise her gaze as she mumbled that her and Max had broken up. Before they could ask anymore, Liz asked if she could be excused and went back up to her room.
Liz only came out of her room and out of the house when Michael informed her that they needed a meeting and training session for their powers to be set up. He had questions about the new power he had developed while she was gone and they hadn’t had a chance to ask about them before. So she contacted their protector and Kyle and set up a meeting. They jumped into the jeep and treaded out to the desert.
Once they all arrived, Liz got straight down to business. Isabel had a feeling it was to avoid Kyle who had been calling the house quite a bit trying to talk to her. Liz of course hadn’t been taking the calls, Isabel couldn’t blame her, she wouldn’t want to hear a bunch of crap about their destiny when she was nursing a broken heart.
“What can you tell us about our powers? We don’t know much about them.” Liz asked them. “Do they develop as we use them or as we get older?”
“Both. You develop control as well as strength the more you use them. And as you reach the age of maturity, they become even more developed. From what I’ve seen so far, you guys are behind in your progress.” Nasedo explained. “You’re probably going to be developing new ones that you didn’t even realize you had.”
Liz nodded, knowing that what he was saying was true. They didn’t have anyone around before to show them how to use their powers so they probably hadn’t had a chance to tap into all of their potential.
“Do you know what our powers are?” Michael asked him. “Do you know what we’re capable of? Like do you have a list of what the scientists each gave us?”
“They didn’t engineer your powers, those you inherited. The people from our planet can all manipulate as well as shapeshift but they also have individual powers that are passed through their family. The amount of powers differs for each family, some only have one while other families pass on two. The four of you are in the latter group. Male and females have separate types of powers. Males usually have more defensive powers such as Kyle’s shield and his ability to throw sonic blasts, while females are different. They have mostly psychological powers. Isabel’s powers for instance are dreamwalking and astral projection.”
“Wait a minute, what is astral projection? I’ve never done that.” Isabel asked.
“Astral projection is when your consciousness is propelled to another place. You can see what is going on in the place that you’re at, if you practice enough you can even speak to people but you can’t touch anything, just like when you dreamwalk. You can’t actually influence the dream, just watch.” Nasedo clarified.
Isabel realized that she had astral projected when she had tried to contact Liz in the White Room. She had known at the time that something felt off with her powers but she hadn’t thought it had anything to do a new power. “I have done that, I just didn’t realize it.”
“Liz’s powers as we know include extensive healing. We can all heal minor injuries, but to heal at the volume that it takes to heal a mortal wound, you have to connect to a person. And that takes great mental powers, more so than average for our people.” Nasedo explained. “Healers are not common but not extremely rare either.”
“These connections that I have to open to heal, do they have lasting effects?” Liz asked.
“No. Why?”
“After I healed Max, I would sometimes get flashes from him, memories. Is this because of the connection?”
“No.” Nasedo informed her. “The mental powers you have leave you somewhat vulnerable if you don’t have control over them. You can receive them from both people and objects when you leave yourself open.”
“There were times when Max would get flashes from me too.” Liz said, she noticed that he seemed surprised but she continued on. “He said the memory he saw was like he was looking out of a ship at different distances from a red giant. It was during what Kyle said was our ‘awakening’.”
“The flash was one of your previous life memories. You often visited the star cruisers. As to why he received them, I’m not positive as to why. During your ‘awakening’, you would be very exposed and probably sent him the flash.” He explained although to Liz, it didn’t sound as if he knew what he was talking about.
“Explain exactly what this ‘awakening’ is.” Michael commanded. “And why did it affect the humans we were with?”
“No, it’s a one time occurrence.” Nasedo stated. “When we reach sexual maturity our hormones emerge rapidly. I am not a scientist so I cannot give exact details but it is an ordinary occurrence. Since you are half-human, your maturity could manifest itself differently. I’m positive that is why the humans were affected.”
“What’s my other power?” Liz asked. She could tell that he didn’t really know as much as he was acting like.
“Your other power is what we call mind warping. You can create illusions that don’t really exist, make people see what isn’t really there. It can be very useful if you need to get out of a hazardous situation.”
“But couldn’t messing with people’s minds be dangerous?” Liz asked. “I would think that mind manipulation would leave damaging effects.”
“It could, if it was done repeatedly over extended periods of time.” Nasedo answered her. “That is not something that is typically done.”
Liz understood and motioned for him to continue. Nasedo nodded, “Michael being a male, his powers are different. He can channel his energy in a different way, into either a powerblast or a defensive shield. I’m aware that you have seen Kyle’s shield, so you know each person’s shield is unique just like everyone’s energy is subtly different.”
“And you can train us to use these powers?” Michael asked.
“Yes, it is my job.” Nasedo answered. “I’ve spent the last ten years helping Kyle so he will be able to help as well. As a matter of fact, he can aid Liz in tutoring her on her mindwarps, which I’ve educated him about. We already know she is quite capable in her healing abilities. I’ll work with Isabel and Michael to assess their powers.”
Liz knew that Nasedo was pairing her off with Kyle for reasons other than helping her with her powers but she said nothing. Neither did Michael or Isabel Kyle and Liz moved away from the other three to give Michael some room to practice without having to worry about them.
When they were a decent amount away, Kyle spoke, “I’ve been trying to call you…”
“I know, I didn’t really feel like talking much.” Liz stated. “Especially about this destiny stuff.”
“But you can’t deny it now, you saw the message the same as I did.”
“Yes, I heard the message. I also heard her say that we were a mixture of human and alien which means we are not the same people we used to be. We may have been married in our past lives but we are not married now. I make my own decisions when it comes to my life and my heart.” Liz declared.
Kyle stood there stunned, he was not sure how to act. Ed had always told him that Liz was his that they were supposed to be together. That she too was waiting for him and when they were reunited, they would love each other. But that was not how it was. Liz knew nothing about him and had fallen in love with a human.
Liz saw the shock as well as a little bit of hurt on Kyle’s face and felt bad for snapping at him. From what she had seen and heard, it wasn’t totally his fault he was on this destiny kick. Nasedo had probably been pounding it into his head from the time he came out of the pod. He had been raised to believe that she was his and he had gotten the shock of a lifetime when he arrived in Roswell and saw that things weren’t the way he’d been taught. “Kyle, I’m sorry for snapping at you like that. It’s just hearing all the destiny stuff is too much right now.”
“I understand.” Kyle said.
“I don’t think you do. When Max left that day, it broke something in my heart and I can’t see it being fixed any time soon. I’ve loved Max for eight years, I can’t just get over that. I know you came here expecting us to be together but right now, the only thing I can see us being is friends.” Liz explained.
Kyle thought over what she was saying. Maybe all was not lost, if they grew close as friends, perhaps it could develop into more especially with Max out of the picture. “Friends it is then.”
“How about we get started on the training?” Liz asked.
“Right.” Kyle said. “Okay first thing you do…”
PART 5
The weeks that followed the first training session were filled with many more. They worked hard at mastering their powers. There were times when Isabel forced Liz to stop the session when it was evident that she was exhausted. She knew that Liz hadn’t been sleeping well, she had heard her up during the night as well as yelling in her sleep. She first tried to talk to her about it but she told her that nothing was wrong. She had tried to dreamwalk her to find out exactly why but Liz’s newly developed mental powers also included a block on her dreams.
Michael was just as bad as Liz when it came to eagerness in regards to training. When he wasn’t working, he was training. He too became stronger in his powers thanks to Nasedo’s tutelage, no longer did he lack control. But despite the new knowledge and control he had acquired, he was still insisting that he couldn’t be with Maria despite her attempts to convince him otherwise when they were working together.
Max had safely reached Los Angeles and was enjoying his summer so far at least according to what he told Alex. Alex had a feeling that Max wasn’t being completely honest but knew that if Max didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t. So instead the two talked of other things like what Max was doing and Alex spending more time with Isabel. Alex wanted to tell Max about how Liz was but Max would clam up when her name was even mentioned.
So not to end up like their friends, Alex and Isabel spent whatever free time they had together. Her parents were used to Alex being a fixture in their house. Since it was summer their curfew was extended, if it wasn’t for that Alex wouldn’t have found off how bad things were for the Evans.
Alex and Isabel were listening to music as well as making out in her room when loud screaming interrupted them. Isabel jumped up and rushed out of the room, “Liz.”
Alex hurried after her, when they reached Liz’s room it was dark and it was evident she’s been sleeping. But now she was screaming and thrashing around on the bed. Isabel tried to grab a hold of her but she was fighting her. “NO! No more! I’ll tell you anything just stop hurting me!”
“Liz.” Isabel said loudly. “It’s Isabel. You have to wake up.”
Liz’s eyes suddenly snapped open and the screaming stopped. Isabel pulled her near into a hug. Liz was sweating and there were tears running down her eyes, Alex looked at her and saw a scared teenage girl and it suddenly hit him how hard everything must be for her. Liz had been through a terror that few could imagine before finding out she was the leader of a planet that was at war, a war she was supposed to stop. Then that information caused her to loose the man she loved. It was a wonder that she wasn’t completely insane yet. “Isabel, what can I do?”
“Nothing…” Isabel started to say when her parents came in.
Diane plopped down next to Liz and tried to pull her into a hug to soothe her but she wouldn’t let go of Isabel. “Liz, tell us what’s the matter.”
The arrival of her parents seemed to shake Liz out of her stupor. She sat up straight and said, “I’m fine Mom. Just a bad dream and when I woke up I thought I saw something out on the balcony.”
“Liz this isn’t the first time…” Her dad said.
“I’m sorry for waking everyone up.” Liz said sweetly, ignoring what her dad had said. “But I really want to get back to sleep. I had a busy day and I’m really tired.”
Isabel and Alex watched as their parents looked warily at Liz then at each other before Diane leaned over and kissed Liz on top of her head. “Get some sleep Liz, we’ll talk about it later.”
They all retreated from the room leaving Liz to herself. She flopped back onto the bed and blew out a breath of frustration. The nightmares were coming more frequently and each one was getting worse. She knew her parents were getting suspicious, and she was going to have to figure out how to handle them in the morning. She grabbed a book and headed out to the balcony to read until she was too exhausted to stay awake.
Isabel and Alex tried to avoid her parents by sneaking back into her room but didn’t get that lucky. “Isabel, we know something is wrong with Liz.”
“Daddy, Mom, before you ask me, I don’t know what is going on with Liz.” Isabel said. It wasn’t a complete lie, she didn’t know for sure what was bothering Liz, she only had an idea.
“I think she’s taking her breakup with Max harder than we thought.” Philip stated. “The ways she’s been acting is completely unlike herself. She’s been quieter than normal and withdrawn even from you Izzy. She wakes up screaming, or stays up half the night. She disappears during the day, not telling us where she goes. She just says, ‘out’. None of this is healthy.”
“Maybe we should think about sending her to a psychiatrist.” Diane suggested.
“Now Mom, that’s going a little drastic don’t you think?” Isabel butted in. “I mean it’s only been just over a few little nightmares, Liz will get better.”
Philip looked at Isabel and could tell that she was holding back something. Over the last few days he had come to realize that both of his kids were keeping something from their parents. And he was going to find out what it was. “Well we’ll just have to wait and see how things turn out. I think it’s time for Alex to go home.”
Isabel nodded and led Alex downstairs and out to his car. “I’m sorry about our evening ending so early.”
“Why didn’t you tell how bad things had gotten with Liz Isabel? I mean you told me that she’s been distant and stuff but you didn’t tell me anything about the other things, like the nightmares.”
“I didn’t know what to say.” Isabel answered.
“How often has this happened?”
“Almost every night, but Mom and Dad only know about two. I woke her up the other times before they heard her.” Isabel explained. “I’ve tried to dreamwalk her but I couldn’t get in.”
“You saw a little bit of what she went through and we all saw the condition she was in when we got her out. If I was her, I would have nightmares too.” Alex commented.
“She won’t talk to me or Michael about anything that happened in the White Room. I mean we know she was pretty much tortured in there but she won’t talk about it. She just stays in her room when we’re not out with Nasedo. She’s even changed everything she owns that’s white into a different color. It’s like she can’t stand the sight of something white.”
“She’s completely locked herself away from everyone. I think Max leaving her that day at the cave was the straw that broke the camel’s back for her and that’s why she so introverted. I don’t know how to break her out of it.” Isabel complained.
“What if we had someone else try to talk to her, try to pull her out? Someone else who’s suffering from a broken heart.” Alex suggested to her.
“Who? It’s not like we have a lot of options.”
“Maria. True, she can’t relate to the White Room thing but both have been left by the men they care about. She might not feel comfortable talking to you because you and I are still happily together.” Alex explained. “Maria needs someone too. So it shouldn’t be hard, they were already becoming friends.”
“How soon do you think you could talk to her?” Isabel asked.
Alex looked at his watch. “I know she was closing the Crashdown tonight and should still be up. I can swing by her house and talk to her. If she’s a go, I’ll send her over tomorrow, if not I’ll call you and tell you what she says.”
Isabel nodded. It would hurt if Liz opened up to Maria rather than her but she knew that Liz needed to talk to someone. And she wanted to help her, if she did maybe she’d get her sister back. “Tomorrow will be good. I told my mom I’d go out shopping with her in the morning but you can reach me on my cell phone.”
Alex leaned over and kissed her firmly on the lips. “Don’t worry, we’ll get her back. Then we’ll see what we can do about everything else.”
“I hope so. I hate how everything has torn us apart.” Isabel said. “I wish things could go back to the way they were.”
“You’re not the only one.” Alex stated before he climbed into his car and headed off to talk to Maria.
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