Future's Promise*STARTING*(FF, Adult) SPOT OPEN

[Athenea]

Isabelle- do you think you can temp for Max? I am having writers block with this and need something to get me going again

[isabelle]

*Lex*
I narrow my eyes, glaring at Deidre as she saunters away like some sort of queen. This isn’t the time to try to annoy Zan. We need to support each other. I quickly quell that emotion, for Zan’s sake, reaching out to take his hand again. Again, I try to focus on calmness and love. Whatever happens, I want to face it together.

*Max*

I wince as a stab of desperation and fear pierces my skull. I’m still not sure what to make of all this but I know those feelings weren’t my own. I remember feeling Zan’s fear when he was born, and after, when he was still on Antar. I look at the boy in the back as Lex moves back to stand next to him. Did Zan do this?

"Dad? Say something. Please,” says the girl who introduced herself as Vega. My daughter – by Liz, I’m guessing. Or at least hoping. She certainly doesn’t look anything like Tess. I’d been shocked into silence by all of this, trying to take it all in. My eyes dart from one face to another, lingering most often on Vega and on the boy in the back that she called Zan. Zan. Only a week ago I held my son in my arms for the last time and wished him a happy life. This boy looks scared, almost in pain, hiding behind his friends. Could it really be him? I left him a memory, a mark. I could verify him, if not the others.

“We’re only here to survive,” says the girl who claims to be Michael’s daughter. To survive. What the hell happened to them? I notice everyone seems to be accepting this. I guess we’re pretty used to crazy things although I think this is the craziest. I glance at Liz, reaching out to take her hand, no longer caring about what Michael might think. Liz is my life. I want her for a wife. I want to have beautiful children like the girl before us – but I don’t want them ever to be scared and desperate as these teens appear to be.

"The government. They ... found us. We escaped," says Vega. She seems to be taking the lead here. Her words send fear through me that’s not external. The government. The Special Unit. Eagle Rock. The white room. Our kids in a place like that? My daughter? It takes an effort to keep on breathing.

“Okay,” I say at last. “If you’re who you say, of course we’ll help you.” I don’t yet have any idea how, but I know we’ll have to. I’d like to know why they came here for help instead of running off to Iowa or Canada or somewhere with their parents, with us. At least my parents know about all this now so maybe they can help, too. I really want to see Zan and verify that it’s him. “You introduced Zan, and Michael’s kids, but who are the other two?” I ask. I’m not so sure about the red-haired girl leaning against the wall with her eyes closed, although she is undeniably beautiful. The boy looks quite a bit like Zan and that worries me. Vega didn’t introduce him as a brother. Who is he?

*Vega*

He speaks! Dad is finally saying something. I have a flash memory of Michael complaining about my Dad being too passive. Suddenly I have a lot of sympathy for him. Thankfully, Dad seems to accept the situation to some extent, wanting to know the others. I swallow and gesture.

“That’s my cousin Deidre Valenti,” I say, starting with the easy one. “And that’s Dominick Royals. He’s Ava’s son. Ava and Zan.”

.

[nickimlow]

Isabel

Max seems to be the only one able to digest all of this enough to remain sensible. I'm still feeling uncertain, but for some reason they seem genuine to me. And that makes me feel uneasy.

When Vega, who is supposedly Max's daughter, introduces the girl I'd noticed earlier as Deirdre Valenti, my mind starts spinning as I try to construct a family tree in my head. If Vega is Max and Liz's daughter, and Deirdre is her cousin, and since Liz isn't related to Kyle...

I throw a wide-eyed glance at Kyle and then turn back to look at her. I'm afraid to even ask. The pain of losing Jesse is still too fresh to even consider it.

"Deirdre... your cousin..." My words come out as a barely-audible whisper. All of this is just too much. But if it's true, Max is right. We need to help them. How would we know if it is true though?

I clear my throat, brushing the nervousness aside. I look at my brother, knowing that beneath the calm facade he is as confused as the rest of us, though as always, he continues to uphold his role as our leader. "Max..." I say tentatively, wondering what he thinks should be our next move.

[isabelle]

*Max*

"Deirdre... your cousin..." Isabel whispers and I know she's doing the math in her head. "Max..."

"She's yours," I agree, looking at the red-haired girl. Isabel and Kyle had a baby? I see Vega give a small smile which I take as confirmation. There's something very odd about the way Deidre is just standing there against the wall. I can't help feeling that she's doing something. Using her powers. But what powers? To do what? My gaze then slides back to Dominick. Zan and Ava. That makes him like this Zan's full brother genetically, even 'though they don't have any actual parents in common. Why doesn't Vega see him as a brother? Or at least a cousin?

"Ava must have been pregnant when we met her," I muse aloud. "I wonder if she knew." I look at Liz, knowing that in spite of her similarity to Tess, Liz was closest to the Dupe when she was in Roswell. She might even know how to contact Ava.

"Okay," I say again, trying to figure out what to say next. "Why did you come here, back in time? Why can't you go to your parents in the future?" I ask, sure that I won't like the answer. Maybe they're all captured, too. The kids got out but we didn't?

[Athenea]

Thanks Isabelle for temping for us. mariadac will be taking over for Liz. I think I took on too many characters and it drained my muse for this so I appreciate her taking Liz for me. Thanks you guys for your patience

[Athenea]

Dominic

I sit back and let Vega fill in the blanks for the parents. Out of the corner of my eye I notice Deidre walking away from Zan and Lex with a look of a cat that just got its cream. I roll my eyes at her. That girl just likes to push too far sometimes. I always viewed her antics as harmless but she seems to be able to get under Zan’s skin like no one else. The problem was that Zan wasn’t stable and so I worry more about what he would do to Deidre, especially when he loses it like he was so prone to do. Lucky for us he has Lex.

"Why did you come here, back in time? Why can't you go to your parents in the future?" Max asks and I decide to speak up. “We can’t go to you because you all are dead.,. the dead can’t really help us much now can they?”

Zan

Hate is a powerful emotion… it has the power to block out everything else and makes your mind focus specifically on it. We had a teacher once, before the others came and it was just me a Dominic ‘training’. He was an old army general; when we were learning to fight physically, Dominic would when every time because he was physically bigger, the instructor took me to the side and told me that hate and anger could be used as weapons also. He was right, but I don’t think he ever realized what those words meant to an empath.

I squeeze Lex’s hand and close my eyes in an effort to block everyone else out. I barely hear Max’s question but Dominic’s answer makes me laugh and little hysterically. On the inside I realize how crazy I must sound but I can’t help it. “No, and you can’t help the dead!” I say still laughing and I know I’m losing it.

Suddenly an idea hits me and I stop laughing suddenly. "We could hunt them down...the ones that did this to us. Hunt them down before they can find us in the future. Tear there brains out slowly and when they scream for mercy we will ignore them like they did us." I say and glance at my hand that is free from Lex's grip. "Think of all the blood!" I say laughing again like it is the best joke I've ever heard.

[Loxyanissa14]

~Deirdre~

“That’s my cousin Deidre Valenti,” I hear Vega’s introduction. I want to say something witty but my mind goes blank as panic rushes down my spine. I open my eyes immediately and glance around the very crowded room. What if we aren’t safe here? How long did the government know about our parents? What if we left behind one hell to be introduced to another? My mind races with unasked questions.

And then I hear her voice whisper “Max…” and my whole body relaxes.”She's yours," I hear Max reply. I cringe at the thought. I don’t belong to anyone. I haven’t in a very long time. I retreat back to my mind as Max goes on to ask us questions about our past. A past we had all hoped to escape from.

“We can’t go to you because you all are dead... the dead can’t really help us much now can they?” I hear Dominic answer Max’s question. I grin at the comment but than I hear Zan open his mouth and my grin quickly fades away.

"We could hunt them down...the ones that did this to us. Hunt them down before they can find us in the future. Tear there brains out slowly and when they scream for mercy we will ignore them like they did us." Zan says hysterically and for a second I think about joining his crusade and then he adds, "Think of all the blood!" and I decide it’s best not to encourage the crazy. I had so hoped that our parents wouldn’t find out that Zan is defective but I guess there’s no hiding it now. Damn him.


~Michael~

I listen trying to take everything in. I get a bit confused at one point but than I just decide that eventually I figure it out. I hear something about Ava having a son and the pretty red headed being Isabel’s daughter. I can see it not really in their looks but in the way they both carry themselves. I get a bit caught up in comparing the two that the only thing I catch from the weird kid in the back is "Think of all the blood!"

I step beside Maria and raise my hand again ready to blow the creepy kid up. I then narrow my eyes and glance around not really sure what’s going on. I just know that the boy appears to be messed up in the head. “Ummm….ok….what the hell is wrong with him?”

[isabelle]

*Vega*

I cringe as Dad asks about why we didn't ask for our parents' help in our own time. I pause, not sure how to tell him the truth. Then Dominick just blurts it out like he doesn't care. The guy is such a jerk. I know that none of these are his parents but they still don't deserve to be told like that.

Then Xan goes off on a rant. My eyes go wide and I turn to stare at Lex. I know it's not fair to make him responsible for Zan's mental state, but he's the best we have. Lex returns an apologetic look before focusing on Zan again.

"Calm down. It's okay. We're gonna fix it," Lex murmurs, stroking Zan's back. He leans his head against Zan's shoulder and I can easily guess the kind of emotions he's sending to my half-crazed half-brother. "We're gonna fix it."

“Ummm….ok….what the hell is wrong with him?” Uncle Michael asks.

I shake my head, wishing I didn't have to explain this, but if I don't, Dominick will say something hurtful again. The expression on Dad's face already looks shattered. We don't need to make this worse. "Zan is an empath. That place messed him up. He has a hard time blocking emotions and controlling ... things," I say. It's not a good explaination but it's the best I can do at the moment.


*Max*

We're dead? I glance at Liz, squeezing her hand tight. We have to stop it. I can remember Michael's words. 'Where do we get popped, when do we get popped, and who pops us?' Before I have a chance to say anything, Zan seems to flip out. Oh my God, I can't help but think, even 'though I don't believe in God. My eyes go wide in alarm, not sure what is going on. Is this my son?

Michael asks the question that's probably on everyone's mind but the answer doesn't reassure me at all. They've done this to him? I don't doubt it. Just over one day in the White Room left me feeling scared for a long time afterwards. I don't know anything about Empaths but I can imagine it would be worse -- if he were actually feeling whatever hate and contempt his captors had for him ... I want to reach for him but I wait, not sure if it will help.

"We're gonna change it," I promise without any idea of how. "We've changed the future before. We'll do it again. We'll stop them. You tell us what happened and we'll stop it." It still makes me wonder why they came all the way back to NOW. Why not closer to when they were taken -- to parents who would know who they were? There's still a lot to figure out.

[nickimlow]

Lana

I can see that our parents are still trying to take it all in and I can only imagine how strange it must be to have a bunch of kids pretty much their own age materialise out of nowhere introducing themselves as their children. I'm worried about Mom, who's always had pretty shaky nerves in times of crisis, but the oil seems to have calmed her down some.

When Uncle Max asks why we hadn't gone to them in the future instead, I feel as if someone has stabbed me in the chest. Dominic's reply echoes with bitterness. “We can’t go to you because you all are dead.,. the dead can’t really help us much now can they?”

He shouldn't have said that. After all, our parents did their best to protect us, and in doing so they sacrificed their lives though death, as it turned out, would have been a better fate. But I know that Dominic has suffered so much and it pains me to see him always having to be the strong one. Deep down, he's still human. Or at least, as human as we all are. I move to his side and place a hand on his arm, just reminding him that we're in this together.

Then Zan makes the situation even more uncomfortable than it already is. I can't blame him, because of all of us, he's been through the most, and the worst. His sudden outburst makes Dad nervous and he raises his hand. "Dad, no!" I cry, knowing full well how his temper can flare up. It was a reflex, and I immediately regret calling him that because that's just going to make him even more nervous.

And then Uncle Max voices what I've been hoping in my heart, what we've all been hoping for. He sounds so reassuring, like the leader that he is. In a way, he reminds me of Dominic when he's in control. "We've changed the future before. We'll do it again. We'll stop them. You tell us what happened and we'll stop it."

This is what we came back for. This isn't the time to be bitter, not now when we're so close to rewriting our future.

"They kept track of all of us, of you, and then when you'd all settled down and thought it was safe again, they found us," I say quietly, forcing the ugly memories out of the way as I speak. "You were all... killed... and then they took us and stuck us in a horrible facility. We've been their lab rats since we were 5, some of us 4, and Zan was there for practically his whole life."

[isabelle]

*Max*

Since they were four or five? My mind boggles at all the thoughts crowding into it at that. They're not much younger than Zan. Only a few years from now, we're all dead? I guess that explains why they came back so many years. And they spent all that time in a government facility? Growing up there, as lab rats? Tortured and experimented on? My eyes drift back to Zan. His entire life?

That can't be entirely true. He spent almost a year on Antar and then a month with me and now...

"No." I say, not able to take it all in. "He's supposed to be safe. I sent him away a week ago so he'd be safe. The FBI will never find him." It was just about the hardest thing I'd ever done. Just as hard as leaving this planet with Tess to protect him on Antar. That hadn't worked out that way but I hadn't known it at the time I was making that decision. But this one, to protect Zan, that can't be wrong. I needed him to be safe. No, Lana has to be wrong. She has to be.



*Vega*

"WHAT?" I say, not believing what I'm hearing. It's all true. Zan was given away. Given away. I never even knew I had a brother until I met him in that place. Why? Why did Dad do that? "You've already given him away? Then the government has him. They were watching you. They had him a week after you gave him up." I'm so dismayed by all of this that I'm not even annoyed at Zan anymore. Years we were together there. I may not have liked him that much but we were together. The six of us together were all we had. It binds us together whether we lilke it or not.