We are family
Kyle POV
“Sorry we're late.” Max apologized.
“What's wrong?” Isabel asked.
“They fired Sheriff Valenti.”
“No.” Max said.
“They can't. They can't just fire a Sheriff.” Isabel rambled.
“They can if they're the city council. In the past year, my family has been put through an amazing amount of your crap.” Kyle said angrily. He held Max personally responsible for all the misery his sister was going through and he was sick of it. Now he was affecting his dad too. “You and your Martian friends move in, take over, and obliterate any shred of normalcy. Our lives are no longer ours.” All the years they had strived to live their lives like others and in the short time they had been around the aliens everything had gone to hell in a handbasket. “Promise me you're gonna stay away from my family. Promise me this is the last time we have to put ourselves on the line for you.”
“I can't.” Max said with an air of apology. Kyle wanted nothing more than to lay Max out on the floor and beat the crap out of him but instead he held out his hand that he was holding the alien stuff he’d stolen from his dad’s office. Max reached for it, but Kyle just dropped it to the ground and walked away.
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Liz was sitting in the janitor’s closet thinking when Max arrived. “I got your note. What's wrong?”
“Nothing. No. No, um...that's not true. Umm...I've just been thinking a lot lately,” Liz stated. The weeks before had been tough ones. It had started when her and Kyle had gotten a message from ‘Eyes Only’ somehow and that their hiding places were reveled and to call Zack. Liz had been scared but relieved at the same time because that meant Zack was okay. They had called quickly and talked to Zack. He had told her that he was out of Manticore and to be careful before letting her go. Then with Alex coming back she realized how much in life she was missing by hiding out in Roswell. “Have you ever wanted to see Sweden?”
“Sweden?”
“I mean or anywhere. Peru, Nigeria, New Zealand...” Liz asked. When she was at Manticore they had found a geography book in one of the classrooms. She had memorized all the names on the maps inside and dreamed about going there.
“Sure. But the closest I'm gonna get right now is the granilith chamber. Why?”
“Watching Alex this week...I just realized that...it's our right to see the world, to live our dreams...”
“Liz that can't happen.”
“Live life. Why?” She wanted to tell him that all you had to do was take the initiative and you could do almost everything. Even change what you were made for.
“Because it doesn't work that way for us. You know that.”
“You and Isabel and Michael and Tess are...you guys are getting cheated on a lot of things, and it's not fair. None of it is.” Liz stated realizing that Max was more trapped than she ever was.
“Liz, you...should get to see Sweden. We...I...hold you back.”
“No, Max.”
“Kyle was right.”
“That's not true.” She knew her brother had been upset earlier but she also knew how he felt about the aliens.
“Everyone we touch gets hurt in some way or another. 5 years from now, I don't want you to open your eyes and realize that...that you missed out. You're part of the group. You always will be. But you need to be allowed to...to grow.”
“Why can't you come with me?” She said pleading with her eyes. Her biggest dream right now was to run off to another continent with Max and her family. That would be heaven on Earth.
“Because I can't. But I'll be watching you, Liz Parker. Wherever you go...and I'll be here when you get back.” He said before leaving. Liz just sat there for a while longer, just lost in her thoughts.
Part 46
How the Other Half Lives
Kyle POV
“So is this the sixth or seventh hole we’ve dug today?” Alex asked.
“Hey, hey. I was kinda wondering what the hell you people were doing sophomore year.” Kyle quipped.
“Ah, well, a lot of secret meetings, a lot of lying to authorities. Sometimes narrowly escaping gunfire...” Alex said before catching Kyle’s glance. “Although generally that was pretty rare.”
“So what do we lowly human folk get out of all this?”
“I’m not sure.”
“See, I guess what I have a problem with is that suddenly I’m a member of this club I never wanted to join.” The only reason he hung around and helped out was Liz. He had to watch out for her.
“Yeah.”
“And it turns out this club bears a striking resemblance to a chain gang.” Kyle joked. ‘Well without the ugly striped uniforms, the guards looming over them and of course the actual chains.’ Kyle thought. They kept digging and talking until Alex hit something. What the... Look at this.” Alex said.
“What the hell man? It’s some sort of cave.” Kyle said looking it over with his enhanced sight. Even then he couldn’t see much. Alex next to him raised his arms up. “JACKPOT, BABY! Whooho Yeah! Alex Whitman, ladies and gentlemen! Uh-huh! Yeah! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
Kyle just looked at him like he was nuts. There were times when Alex reminded him of Krit when they were little, always joking. “Okay, well, time to put the shovel away, and uh, go find the others and tell Max.” Alex said, as he was about to climb out of the hole.
Kyle wasn’t about to report in to Max like he was his commanding officer or something. He looked the entrance of the cave again then turned to Alex. “You comin’?”
Alex looked like he was thinking about it, “Sure. You first.”
“Okay.” Kyle dropped his bag inside then crawled through the cave opening Alex following behind him. As he stood up he took in his surroundings, the interior of the cave was covered in the blue crystals. “Oh my God! What do you suppose alien crystals are going for on eBay?”
“Alright, Columbus. You claimed the land for the Queen of Spain. What do you say we go tell the others?” Alex said laughing nervously. They turned to leave but the crystals suddenly cover over the opening, cutting out all sunlight. “Oh, oh no! Oh, oh...” Alex exclaimed.
“I don’t know why I’m looking around. I suppose stuff like this happens all the time? Right?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah, sure.”
Kyle pulled out his cell phone and hit the first memory button. It rang a few times until he heard his sister voice. “Hello?”
“Liz?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s me, Kyle!”
Liz wondered why he was calling her when he was supposed to be digging. “Yeah, Kyle. Where are you?”
“In the freaking nest!!”
Liz looked down in shock at the mound of crystals they had just found. She looked at her friends and said, “Oh my God! You guys, they’re IN there.”
“Do you see the crystals?”
“Yeah, yeah, we see the crystals.”
“They blocked us in here.” Kyle was starting to freak out a little. He might have been trained to handle stressful situations but none of those had included alien crystals trying to eat them. He could hear Liz talking to who he assumed were the others. “Okay, um, you guys...you guys think that you can make an opening?”
He couldn’t make out much else until Liz said, “Okay, uh, try to step as far away from the hole.”
“Come on, come on. Get a move, get a move.” Kyle said backing Alex up and standing in front of him as they waited. Minutes went by before he asked. “Okay, what now? What are you doing?”
“Um, they’re just uh, you know...they’re uh, they’re taking a break!” He could tell she was lying. “Break?! You know there’s not that much air down here.”
“Okay, um, we’re...we’re just gonna have to get back to you.”
“Get back to us?!” Kyle could believe what he was hearing.
“Breath shallow.”
“Breath shallow?!” He managed to say before she hung up.
“What the plan?” Alex asked.
“We wait.” Kyle couldn’t think of anything else to say. They made their selves comfortable and tried to keep sane. They could hear a storm outside and wondered if it would hamper their rescue. They were singing American Pie when Kyle put a crystal he’d been playing with in a nearby bottle. “February made me shiver/With ever paper I'd deliver….Bad news on the doorstep/I couldn't take one more step” Kyle absently lit a match and watched it burn. “I can’t remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride/But something touched me deep inside the day the music died...” The match burned down and Kyle put it in the bottle and screwed on the lid, “Die sucker.”
“So bye, bye Miss American Pie...drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry/Them good ol’ boys were drinking whiskey and rye/Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die...This will be the day that I d...” They kept singing as Kyle looked down to see the crystal going nuts. “Man, look at that!”
“Woah! Oh my God!”
“What?” Kyle wondered as the crystal stopped moving and appeared to be dead. He didn’t know what was going on but he knew who might. He grabbed his phone and dialed again. He explained everything to her and waited to see what she’d say. “Okay, wait, wait, let me get this straight. You said uh, that you used a bottle?”
“Yeah.”
“Was the cap ON or OFF?”
“Well, I put it on, then it tried to escape.”
“Okay, but you were heating it the whole time. And the crystals died once you put the cap on.”
“Yeah, just after, yeah.”
“Okay, well. That’s it. You burned all of the oxygen in the bottle and suffocated it.” She explained. Kyle raised his hand to Alex to show hope then realized that if they were going to kill all the crystals then they were going to have to start a fire and burn all the oxygen out, with Kyle and Alex still inside. He hung up the phone and explained everything to Alex. Things were starting to look hopeless again as they laid on the ground.
“So this is how it ends...”
“Somehow this is NOT how I pictured it.”
“It was hell of a ride though.”
“I guess.” Kyle said. All he could think about was his family finding out how he died.
“I mean, think about it. We not only MET aliens, but they killed us. How many people can say that?”
“You’re getting delirious, is that it?” Kyle asked shining his flashlight at him.
“Nah, take...take a step away from your life, Kyle. You know, I mean, you’re part of this...this amazing thing. This...amazing knowledge that you HAVE that 6 BILLION people on this planet don’t. You really want to step out of this cave if it meant that you were gonna be another dumb jock?”
But he never was just a dumb jock. He had more than just knowledge that alien’s existed, a whole lot more. “You know what, I wouldn’t.”
Suddenly liquid started dropping on them from above. “Ah, ah! They’re attacking! Oh no!”
“No, no no no no no. No no no no no. They...they’re...they’re...they’re dying. They’re...they’re dying.” Alex said laughing.
“Dying?” Kyle asked unsure.
“They’re dying!”
“I mean...DYING!” Kyle said triumphantly.
“Dying!”
They waited until the opening melted away then dug their way out. He heard the girls shrieking as they helped pull them out. “I’m back!”
“Pull me up!” Alex yelled. Max pulled him up out of the hole. “I love you man!”
“Wait, wait, wait. What happened? What happened? What happened?” Liz asked.
“I'll tell you what must have happened.”
“Okay…”
“Since Alex and I figured out how to kill the queen, and Max told Michael, Michael must have killed the queen. So all the crystals died. And they fell on us cos they’re dead. Which means we must have saved the world!” He said throwing his hands up in the air, he felt like a superhero.
“I think our job here is done... and I need to take a shower.” Alex exclaimed.
“Let’s go home!! Come on! Come on! Grab the shovel! Let’s go! Let’s go!” Liz yelled running towards the cars. Liz got into the car with Kyle while Tess with in with Alex and Max in the jeep. Liz waited until the jeep was far enough ahead that they would see them and started hitting Kyle. “Don’t you ever do that to me again.”
Kyle ducked under her assault, she was hitting him hard. “Damn it that hurts. And it’s not my fault that the crystals wanted to kill me.”
“Well jumping into an unknown cave wasn’t a smart idea.”
“How did you know?”
“Because I know you.” Liz said smiling as they headed back into town.
Part 48
Viva Las Vegas.
Kyle was sitting in his Spanish class bored to tears. He already knew Spanish along with half a dozen other languages but it was an easy class and looked good on his file if he ever decided to go to college. He looked over and saw Michael reading something. To get his attention he threw a piece of paper at him. “What you reading?”
Michael showed him the cover, “Vegas, baby.”
Now things were getting interesting, “You're going?”
“Si.”
Kyle responded to whatever the teacher asked them as he flipped through the book. “When?”
“Fifth period, Max is making plans.”
“Do you have room for one more?” Kyle asked wanting to get away.
“Sorry, aliens only, you understand.”
Kyle pulled out some money, “Put a quarter on red for me.” He said just as the teacher came up and asked him what he was doing then picked up the book and said, “Hmmm, detención.”
Kyle rolled his eyes before turning to Michael, “Triple it, or die.”
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Liz was listening Maria going on and on trying to talk her into going, “I booked a suite at the Bali Hai hotel and casino. Amenities include marble statuary, world-class shopping and lighted tennis courts.”
“Vegas just isn't my idea of fun.” Liz stated.
“The pool has a water slide.” Maria threw in.
“I'm sorry.” Liz said moving away but Maria followed. “In the shape of a giant flamingo. Please come with me to Vegas, Liz. Michael is gonna be off doing some dumb guy thing, and I really need a gal pal.”
“No.” Liz said.
“Please.” Maria begged.
“Maria, the reason I'm not going to Vegas... is because I was married there.” Liz just didn’t feel like going to the place where one of the most romantic things had happened to her. Well in another timeline, the timeline she helped destroy.
“What?” Maria asked, not knowing what she was talking about.
“Yes, when future Max came, he told me. We got married in Vegas at the Elvis chapel, and it was the most romantic night of our lives. So basically, I don't want to go Vegas -- ever.”
“All right, you know what? There's a lesson to be learned here. What happened between you and Max is unspeakably intense, but the marriage thing never actually really happened, so you've gotta let go of it. You've got to create your own memories, and that's what we're gonna do in Vegas with Michael's money.” Maria finished saying just as Alex walked up, “Oh, I love the smell of formaldehyde in the morning.”
“Alex, pop quiz. If you were given the chance would you rather a) Dissect pig babies.” Maria asked.
“Embryos.” Liz corrected.
“Or b) get an all-expense-paid trip to Vegas.”
“When do we leave?”
“Today after fifth period. Come on, Liz, all the cool kids are doing it.”
“I would really appreciate if you would respect my decision.”
“Viva Las Vegas.” Maria started singing, “Maria.” Liz said trying to stop her but Maria just kept singing. Liz went about working, thinking about Vegas.
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Liz saw the others beginning to leave and yelled out, “Hey! You got room for one more?”
“Oh, I'm so proud of you.” Maria said squealing and hugging her. Liz caught her brother looking at her with concern, knowing how much Liz didn’t like Vegas but smiled at her.
“Yeah,” Max answered her. “ But let's get out of the hall before someone starts asking questions.”
They started to leave but Michael grabbed her arm. “No lecturing, no moralizing, no whining about spending money on the homeless. This weekend it's about fun and debauchery. You got it?”
Liz thought about last summer and all the crazy things that her and her brothers had done and smiled, “Yeah. I know how to have fun.”
Michael looked at her unbelieving and said, “Right.”
Part 49
They left the school and got into the limo heading for the airport. The flight wasn’t along one but her brother managed to talk to her make sure she was okay with everything. She dispelled his fears and said she was fine. When they got to Vegas, another limo was waiting on them that took them to the hotel. The eight of them headed up to their suite then down to the casino.
“This is so cool.” Tess said.
“Hey. What should we do first?”
“I think we should try and play a game.” Liz offered.
“Ok. I'm set. I just booked a salt scrub at the spa.” Maria said walking up.
“Wait, wait. What happened to needing a gal pal?” Liz said huffily.
“I'll be an hour tops. Have fun, guys.” Maria called out as she left.
“Okay, bye. Okay ladies let's just dive in.” Isabel said and the two remaining girls followed. At least until the security guard stopped them, Excuse me, can I see some identification?”
“Sure.” Tess said handing him her ID.
“Nice try, girls, the video arcade is that way.” The security guard pointed in the other direction.
“Uh, excuse me, we're 21.” Tess said trying again.
“Yeah and I'm charo.” The guard said sarcastically.
“You know, I'm sure we can find another form of I.D. in here somewhere.” Tess said about to pull out some money but Liz put her hand on her arm to stop her. “We are 17 years old.” Liz admitted.
“Mm - hmm. Good job.” Tess said.
“I'm sorry, very, very sorry.” Liz said apologizing as she drug Tess into the arcade not wanting to gather more attention.
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As Liz played the pinball machine, she listened to Tess rattle on. “You know what it is? It's because we're small. If we weren't so damn short, he would have totally bought that we were 21, so what I'm going to do, I'm going to mindwalk the security guard, making him think that we are 5' 10'' and then we just go in.”
Liz just rolled her eyes, “Tess, I'm fine here in the arcade.”
“Great. I'm stuck in the party capital of the world with Liz Parker. No, if we're feeling dangerous we could challenge a couple of 8-year boys to foosball or go for the ice capades.”
“You know, for your information I didn't want to come to Vegas in the first place. I knew that this was going to be the most miserable trip of my life. I knew it, but I didn't listen to my instincts.” Liz snapped Tess was getting even more on her nerves than usual. “And by the way Tess, I don't enjoy being stuck with you either.”
“Fine.” Tess said.
“Good.” Liz said when Tess finally left. She played for a few hours until she heard her brother come up. “Bored gambling already?” She asked.
“No, I was 1600 dollars up when your best friend came up and told the dealer I had a gambling problem. All because she needed to use my winnings for bail money.”
Liz laughed about what Maria had done then stopped when what he said sunk in. “Who did she have to bail out?”
“Michael and Max.”
“Max?! Max?!” Liz asked unbelieving.
Now it was Kyle’s turn to laugh, “Yeah, the two of them got into a fight in the casino earlier. Want some competition?”
Liz smiled and the two of them had a pinball tournament. Liz was still playing one game when Kyle lost his last ball, “I’m going to get some more change.” He said before heading off to the cashier.
Liz listened to the bells and whistles of the game until she heard Max’s voice, “Not bad.”
Liz smiled, “Oh, well, yeah. Yeah after playing 6 hours and a 1000 quarters, you sort of get a rhythm going.” Plus a little transgenic reflexes always helped.
“Yeah, I heard you were down here. I just want to let you know I'm leaving.” Max stated.
“Oh! Is everything okay?” Liz asked.
“Yeah, yeah. It's just... Vegas. Kinda make your skin crawl.” Max said looking around.
“Yeah.” Liz agreed just as she saw a sign for the "Elvis Chapel". “I mean, who would ever want to get married in an Elvis Chapel, right?”
Max followed her gazed, “Not me. Not in this lifetime.”
“Yeah...” Liz said seeing Kyle watching them from about fifteen feet away.
“Well, I've got a plan to catch, so...” Max said pulling her from her thoughts.
“Yeah, right.”
“See you in Roswell, Liz.”
“Yeah.” Liz said again as she watched Max leave. Then she felt Kyle come up behind her. “You okay sis?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Now let me beat you again at this game. I’ve got an idea on how to use some of the money before we go upstairs and get dressed for Maria’s dinner.” Liz smiled.
Part 50
Liz idly rubbed the back of her neck where her barcode usually was. Her and Kyle had taken some of the money and gone to a tattoo parlor to have them removed. Granted it would only last a short while but it was nice to not have to worry about it. She still had over two thousand of her money left and intended to put it away in her emergency fund when she got home. She sat by herself watching her friends dance and Maria singing. Liz could tell she was enjoying herself and thought about how sweet Michael had been to arrange it. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder only to look up and see Max dressed up holding his hand out. She took it and he lead her out onto the dance floor. They started to dance when she said, “I thought you'd be at the airport right now.”
“I was on my way, but I had this weird moment.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I saw this vision. You and me, jumping out of the cab like we'd just been married in Vegas.”
His words shocked her, “That's weird.”
“Yeah, it was like this memory flash of something that really happened, but then...”
“Max. Oh Max.” She started to say about to tell him but then Maria stopped singing. Max started clapping and the moment was over. He led her back over to the table while she tried to figure out what happened. How could Max have seen something that happened in the other timeline? They did change the future didn’t they?
Everyone headed upstairs then. She almost couldn’t contain her happiness when Max took her hand and led the way. They entered their suite laughing and having a good time. Everyone stopped when they saw the back of the Sheriff’s head.
He held up the sign the limo driver had before saying, “At 3:30 yesterday afternoon, Vice-principal McClure contacted me. Apparently, my son didn't show up for detention. Newsflash to me, so I called some of Kyle's friends. Nobody knew where he was. So I made a few other inquiries, and without alarming any of your parents I deduced that you were all missing. By 4:30 I was in a panic. Thought maybe it was a mass kidnapping or an invasion. I knew you guys had to be in some kind of trouble, because there was no way that you would just take off without telling me.”
“We just took a little vacation.” Max explained. Liz looked at the expression on the Sheriff’s face and felt guilty. Her and Kyle should have known better than to not tell him. For all he knew Lydecker could have already drug them back to Manticore.
“It's like spring break.” Michael added.
“So you skipped school. Missing class is excusable if it involves saving a planet-- yours, mine, or any other. It is not acceptable if it is done in the name of under-age gambling. Is that clear? Each one of your parents is going to hear from me later today. I expect you back in Roswell this afternoon. Kyle, get in the car.” The Sheriff ordered but not before looking at Liz. He wanted to drag her home too but stopped himself.
“I was up $1600.” Kyle protested.
“Now!” The Sheriff yelled. Kyle followed his dad out the door, Liz giving him an apologetic look as he left.
“I'm glad I'm an orphan.” Michael declared.
“Yeah, me too.” Tess added.
It was then that they heard the former Sheriff’s booming voice, “Tess! Don't make me come back in there.”
Liz almost let out a laugh when she saw Tess slink out the door. She saw Max trying to make up with Michael so she followed Maria into the bedroom. They got everything together and headed for the airport. The whole way home all Liz could think about was what her parents were going to do. But she found something completely different when she got back.
Part 51
Liz paid and climbed out of the cab she took from the airport. They’re flight had been delayed so instead of arriving in the late afternoon, it was now dark. The café was closed but she could see her mom, dad, and the Sheriff sitting at one of the tables inside. She hefted her backpack up on her shoulder and headed in. The bell over the door announced her entrance and she waited for the lecture to begin but it didn’t. Instead her Mom looked up at her with sad eyes, “Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Liz, something’s happened.” Her dad said.
“What?” Liz asked then noticed that Kyle wasn’t there. “Where’s Kyle?”
“Liz.”
“WHERE IS MY BROTHER?!” Liz yelled.
“He’s in your room. With Zack.” The former Sheriff answered.
Liz took off to the back staircase and took them two at a time. She rushed into her bedroom to see Kyle sitting on her bed and Zack leaning against the wall. Liz could see a deeper look of sadness in both of her brothers’ eyes. “What’s going on?”
“Liz, I think you better sit down.” Kyle said trying to pull her to the bed. But Liz shrugged him off. “Just tell me.”
“Ben is dead.” Zack stated.
Liz looked at him with wide eyes. A memory of Ben telling them a story flashed by her eyes and she wouldn’t believe it. Ben couldn’t be dead, he just couldn’t. “You’re wrong.”
“Liz.” Kyle said.
“NO! He is not dead.” Liz said with her lip trembling. “It’s a mistake.”
“Liz, you know I wouldn’t come and tell you unless it was true.” Zack said.
Liz knew that Zack was right and his news sunk in. She felt like she had been hit in the chest, she couldn’t breathe. She sunk down on the bed next to Kyle and let him hold her as she cried for her brother. Zack shifted uneasily from his position on the wall. He had seen his baby sister cry before more times than he liked but he wasn’t comfortable with the display of emotion.
“What happened?” She finally said. “How did he die?”
“I’m not exactly sure how it happened. Manticore found his body in the woods not far from them. He had a broken leg and neck. They had been looking for him, they pegged him for some murders. The victims had his barcode tattooed on him.”
“But Manticore didn’t kill him?” Liz asked.
“I don’t think so. Like I said, I don’t know what happened for sure and I don’t know who killed him.” Zack explained.
“He went to the high place, that’s what he would have wanted.” Liz said. The three siblings sat together the rest of the night mourning their fallen brother.
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