</center>Title: Goonies Never Say Die
Author: A Rose Is True Blue, Me, Erin, Erinio, Ero, Kiki...whatever-it's me
Rating: To be safe - MATURE
Summary: Based on the movie, The Goonies.
Coupling: Conventional Couples - Max/Liz, Isabel/Alex, Michael/Maria. Kyle/Serena is a new pairing.
Disclaimers: The idea of The Goonies does not belong to me. It belongs to Richard Donner, Steven Spielberg, and whoever else thought it up. The song "She Hates Me" belongs to Puddle of Mudd, and "Butterfly" belongs to Crazytown. The definition of the word 'date' is from the Fifth Edition High School Dictionary by Thorndike Barnhart.
Dedications: I dedicate this fic to Elena, my chica! *throws arm around Elena’s shoulder* who made this beautiful banner for me! *squeals* Isn't it fantastic?!? And Jess, my Irish sista!
If it weren’t for her, the sexy wilder beast that she is, this fic wouldn’t even be more than something we talked about on IM’s so… to my girls, I love you both. *tackles* Author's Note: I’ve gone through and re-read everything, and re-edited it. Therefore, it should kick ass now.
<center>Goonies Never Say Die
First Chapter</center>
Roswell, New Mexico
Date (dãt), n., v., dat ed, dating. -n. 1. time when something happens. 2. statement of time: There is a date on every piece of U.S. money. 3. period of time. 4. U.S. informal. appointment for a certain time. 5. Informal. person of the opposite sex with whom an appointment is made. 6. out of date, old-fashioned; not in the present use. 7. to date, till now; yet. 8. up to date, a. to the present time. b. modern; according to the latest style or idea. -v. 1. mark with a date; put a date on. 2. find out the date of; give a date to. 3. be dated; have a date on it. 4. belong to a certain period of time; hate its origin: That house dates from the 18th century. 5. Informal. make a social appointment with (a person of the opposite sex).
People used to say if it walked like a duck, smelled like a duck, and looked like a duck... then it was a duck. So, if it looks like a date, sounds like a date, and you want it to be a date... then that made it a date. Didn't it?
Max Evans groaned, and fell back on his bed. He was destined to a life of pure misery and torture all because of an angel. He desired her at every moment, ached to hold her at every sight of her, and most of all, he wanted to kiss her in front of everyone in Roswell. Unfortunately, Max Evans and Elizabeth, Liz, Parker were polar opposites.
Liz was the captain of her cheer squad, one of the most popular girls at school. She was in the A-crowd, probably the leader of all the rich bitches at West Roswell High. Her father owned a restaurant, and lived on the "rich" side of the town; a old Victorian house to be exact.
Max on the other hand played few sports, too shy to join and not feeling the need to be rejected. He was from the "poor" side of Roswell, immediately placing him in the C-crowd, but because of his "good looks" he was bumped into the B-crowd. Max, didn't care much about the girl's at his school, only letting his eyes stray to watch Liz Parker. Max lived more towards the edge of town. A group of houses were placed along the far edges of the quarry, and Max and his family had lived there ever since he could remember.
It was his home; a place where all of his memories were kept, and Max never minded being in the B-crowd because of it. A school jacket wasn't his lifetime goal. The teams Roswell offered were run by coaches who only cared about the kids whose parents had donated to the sports team. Max worked out at home, and ran through the neighborhood early in the morning. His life was... simple, and he liked it that way.
Max's thoughts were put on hold when his door was thrown open and then shut. Max quickly closed the dictionary, but knew it had caught his sister's eye. Isabel Evans was the one thing in Max's life that was anything but simple. She had nothing in common with her brother besides the fact that they both were blood related. Isabel had long blonde hair, with dark brown eyes. Max had dark hair, nearly black, with amber eyes. Isabel was popular in school, among the other "poor kids". Max was Isabel's brother. Isabel liked being the center of attention, Max would rather hide behind the tree. Isabel had breasts, Max didn't. Max had... Okay, so the point was obvious; Max and Isabel were nothing alike.
Isabel reached around her brother, and grabbed the dictionary. She raised an eyebrow, and then sighed in frustration, throwing herself into Max's desk chair. She shot him a glare, still not speaking. Max cleared his throat. "There's this thing; it's called a door. When it's closed it usually means the occupant is busy."
"There's this thing called a bed; it's for two people to use. You on the other hand never seem to use it for it's rightful meaning, so why should I bother knocking?" Ouch. Low blow. That was definitely below the belt.
"So I guess you're still mad?" Max asked.
"Mad? No Max, of course I'm not mad... because of you we're only losing our HOME!" Isabel shouted.
"That's not fair," Max replied. "They were planning on tearing this community down for awhile now. If you want to blame somebody, try blaming the people who are petitioning for a mall." Max got off the bed and grabbed a set of weights, doing bicep curls.
"They were planning on tearing this community down, but because so many people lived here they were holding off."
"For how long? A year? Two? We'd still have to move either way."
"If you had left Liz Parker alone this-"
"I asked Liz on a date, and she said yes. How that effects you or anyone else is still something I haven't figured out."
"You know Sean Pierce is in LOVE with Liz Parker! He's been after her for years, and she's always turned him down. He claimed her, Max. Every other guy noticed that Liz was his, but you! Then you had to go and mess with his girl-"
"Liz is not Sean's girl."
"Yes, Max, she is. He's rich, she's rich. He's snobby, she's snobby. That's how it goes Max. They go together, we go together. We don't mix, okay? Daniel Pierce, has been wanting to tear us down for years... but he's held off because there weren't many Roswell people active in it. If Sean came running home to dear Daddy, telling him this project is a great idea, Pierce is definitely going to get the ball rolling! It doesn't help that he hates Dad, either," Isabel shook her head, tears brimming her eyes. "I didn't want to have to leave home until after my Senior year... Max, we're only Juniors. Alex, Kyle, and Michael - they're a part of our family, Max. In a week we'll be gone and who knows where we'll all end up."
Max put his weights down and sat across from his sister. He lifted her chin and wiped away a tear. "We'll... I'll figure something out. It will all be okay."
Isabel nodded and let her brother hug her. He rubbed her back and then let her pull away. "Promise we'll find a way to not have to leave Roswell."
"I promise," Max smiled. "Come on, Mom left meatloaf in the oven for us. If it burns, she'll probably kill us all."
"Like the food already isn't going to kill us? I just say we forget the meatloaf and call for Chinese," Isabel stated, heading for the door. Max pulled her back and pushed her on the bed before running for the door. "Nope! I'm calling for pizza... wuss!"
"I'm no wuss, Max! Get your ass back here!"
<center>***</center>
"Met a girl, thought she was grand. Fell in love, found out first hand...went well for a week or two then it all came un-glued..." His jaw tightened and he felt his hands immediately form into fists. In the cell next to Nicholas Dunn-Kelly was Hunter Montgomery; an sixty-four year old drunken guy, whose wife had left him for a younger man. Day in, and day out he sang the same song, over, and over, and over again. Nicholas was ready and willing to strangle him had they been sharing a cell.
"In a trap, trip I can’t grab...never thought I'd be the one who would slip, then I started to realize I was living one big lie..."
Nicholas groaned and threw a pillow over his head, trying to drown out the man's voice. It was almost breakfast time. He had to keep it calm until then. He didn't want the guard's rushing in on account of him...at least, not yet.
"She fuckin' hates me! Trust, she fuckin' hates me...La La La love. I tried too hard and she tore my feelings like I had none. And ripped them away!"
Breathe in, breathe out. Nicholas shut his eyes tightly, and pressed the pillow tighter against his ear. It was bad enough that the song sucked, but if you add in the old man's voice, Nicholas was sure his ear drums were about to split in half.
"She was queen for about an hour. After that, shit got sour. She took all I ever had, no sign of guilt...not feeling bad, no!"
How long had Nicholas been in jail? He was sure it was longer than a month, but with Hunter singing next to him, it was probably two to three weeks at the most. Everything had been set for the robbery, everything was perfect. If that stupid bitch of a sister in law haven't of set the god damn alarm off, he probably would have never been caught. She should be in here, not him.
"In a trap, trip I can’t grab...never thought I'd be the one who would slip, then I started to realize I was living one big lie..."
That was it. Nicholas grabbed his blanket and forced himself not to strangle the other man. He pushed it onto the pillow, only to find out that the singing had begun to get louder. The bastard was purposely making him suffer. It wasn't that Nicholas could blame him; because he couldn't. If he had been locked in jail with no boo's...he'd probably kill, but seeing as how the old man purposely tried to piss him off, Nicholas wanted to settle on just killing him.
"She fuckin' hates me, trust. She fuckin' hates me, La La La love. I tried too hard and she tore my feelings like I had none, and ripped them away..." Hunter paused for a moment before starting to bang on the jail bars to a fast beat, "That’s my story, as you see. Learned my lesson and so did she. Now it’s over, and I'm glad ‘cause I'm a fool for all I've said."
Nicholas jumped up. "You're damn right! Now can you just shut the fuck up and let the rest of us get some god damn quiet?" Hunter's cool gray eyes looked over Nicholas for a moment before he slowly pulled his hand away. Nicholas sighed in relief, "Thanks for nothing you pathetic alcoholic." He laid back on his bed, resting the pillow under his head, and pulling the blanket on top of him. He closed his eyes, and felt sleep come over him. Until...
"She fuckin' hates me! Trust, she fuckin' hates me...La La La love. I tried too hard and she tore my feelings like I had none. And ripped them away!" Hunter began to bang on the cell bars connecting his and Nicholas' cell. Nicholas growled and jumped out of bed rushing towards the old man, who was currently laughing.
"I'll kill you when we get out of here."
"Boy, the day you get out of here is the day I quit wanting to drink," Hunter began to laugh again, getting Nicholas even more angry.
"I swear I'll-" There was a beeping sound before a voice in the loud speaker called, "Breakfast boys! Everybody up!" The cell doors opened and the different cellmates began to slowly walk out of their cells, heading for the dining area. Nicholas watched Hunter pass by and he smirked, throwing Hunter a wink. The old man shook his head and continued to walk on.
Nicholas waited until all of the men had cleared out before he started to move. He saw the one guard with his night stick, waving it back and forth as he walked. Before he reached the guard, his steps faltered and his fell to the ground, his arms going out in front of him for protection as he hit the ground with a loud smack.
The guard froze as Nicholas Dunn-Kelly began to violently shake in front of him. His legs kicked out and his back kept jerking up. He pushed his night stick in his pocket and rushed towards him flipping him over. Nicholas' eyes were rolling from side to side, saliva running down the side of his mouth. And suddenly the shaking stopped as did Nicholas, his eyes open, gazing at the gray wall of the cells around him.
The guard reached to check Nicholas' pulse, but Nicholas snapped into action, grabbing the guard's night stick out of his pocket, and bringing it down quickly to meet the guard's head. There was a loud cry from the guard before he fell into unconsciousness. Nicholas shrugged and pulled the guard into his own cell, quickly swapping his clothes for the guards. "Sorry Deputy..." Nicholas looked at the tag, "Sorry Deputy Hansen." His grin widened and he walked confidently out of the cell, he was finally going to go home.
<center>***</center>
James Valenti Jr. sipped his coffee silently, looking through his case files. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened in Roswell, New Mexico lately. "Alien sightings", attempted robberies, speeding tickets, drunk driving...the list went on.
Roswell, New Mexico had never been the type of town where anything crazy happened. In the past fifty years, ever since the supposed "crash", Roswell had been a crazy town. More and more lunatics began to segregate in Roswell, especially around the crash festival, but the most interesting was Nicholas Dunn-Kelly. He was one of the three Dunn-Kelly's wanted for armed robbery, assault, speeding tickets, and so on and so forth. So far, Sheriff Valenti was lucky to have caught Nicholas when he did. Unfortunately, Nicholas' brother Khivar, and his wife Tess had managed to get away.
Jim reached for his coffee cup again, and went to take a drink. He sighed; empty. A figure passed by his doorway and he quickly shouted, "Hansen!" When Hansen never turned around he cursed and walked towards the doorway, only to see Hansen walking quickly towards the exit. Hansen didn't walk like that, and he never wore his hat. Looking down towards the cells, Sheriff Valenti made his way towards them, gun on the ready. Each cell was as empty as the first, except for Nicholas Dunn-Kelly's cell.
"Aw... shit!" he yelled. He grabbed his walkie-talkie and stated clearly, "Prisoner on the loose, I want all the exits locked up. He will NOT leave this station!"
<center>***</center>
"You got it?"
Tess frowned at her husband. "I got it."
"Positive?"
"I said I got it!" Tess shouted, quickly shutting down her laptop, and reaching for her gun on the dashboard. After a few minutes, Tess began to panic. "Where the fuck is he?"
"He'll be here," Khivar said sharply.
"We're outside of a fucking police station-" Tess was cut off by a shrill sound. The doors were beginning to lock. "He ain't got much time left."
Khivar’s eyes darkened as he watched the door intently. He turned the ignition. "I'll give him two minutes." A minute passed before the station's doors were slammed open. Nicholas was staring smugly at the car, as he ran towards it. Tess fumbled with the lock as Nicholas started to bang on the door. "Pull up the lock!"
"I'm trying jackass, it's stuck!" Tess shouted back. Khivar rolled his eyes at the two, and aimed his gun at the lock, immediately pulling the trigger. Nicholas pulled the door open, jumped in, and slammed it shut.
"Now Tess," Khivar commanded. Tess pressed a small button on the top of her laptop. Immediately, the metal gates in front of the station began to close.
"Buckle up Nicholas," Tess stated, before sarcastically adding, "Wouldn't want anything to happen to you." Nicholas sneered, crossing his arms over his chest. Khivar raced towards the gate as it closed, the metal scratching the sides of the jeep. Nicholas went flying, his forehead hitting the back of Tess's seat.
"Should've buckled up," she laughed. Nicholas ignored her, turning back to look at the station. He saw Sheriff Valenti and a few more policemen running out of the station and towards their vehicles. Red and blue lights flashed as they tried to get past their own gate. He grinned.
<center>*** </center>
Come my lady, come come my lady
You’re my butterfly, sugar baby
Come my lady, come come my lady
You’re my butterfly, sugar baby
Liz flinched and stopped the music as she heard a shout. Pulling her tank top off, allowing the cool wind to hit her sports bra, she jogged over to where Vicki Delaney was curling up on the grass, clutching her knee. "Are you okay?" Liz asked.
Vicki bit her lip before nodding. "I just need ice... I'll be fine."
"Courtney, get her some ice," Liz demanded. Courtney nodded and led Vicki away. Liz turned on Pam, furious. "What the hell were you thinking? Your job is to help catch the flyer not let her hit the ground! Four laps around the track."
"What?! That's ridiculous! She fell, it wasn't my fault," Pam retorted. The other girls watched their captain with pride as she snapped, "Ten laps, or you're off the squad." Before Pam could reply, Liz turned back to the others. "All right girls, let's try the Victory Pyramid."
<center>***</center>
"Screw up again Troy?" Maria teased, as Pam Troy joined her on the track. Practice had ended half an hour ago, but Maria was still running extra laps, enjoying the feel of having the track to herself.
Pam sneered, "Shut up DeLuca."
Maria rolled her eyes and ran away from the track, heading for the bleachers. She grabbed her water bottle and towel, rubbing the towel over her neck before letting her long hair flow down her shoulders. She pulled it back again and threw it back into a sloppy bun before setting her water bottle down and running up the bleachers. The burning in her thighs and calves urged Maria on as she ran up and down.
She spotted Liz from the bleachers, and offered a friendly wave to her friend who returned it whole heartedly. Liz was wearing the same grin she wore everyday since she went on one date with Max Evans and planned a second one for this upcoming Friday. Maria shook her head and grinned; now she had to find her own Mr. Right. Personally, she thought he had been hit by a truck.
<center>***</center>
"She's going to run upstairs," Michael Guerin stated, throwing more popcorn into his mouth. He shook his head as Neve Campbell ran for the stairs instead of out the door. "Told ya."
"Mickey!" Hank called from outside. "Give me a hand on this car, will ya?"
Michael paused the movie and placed his popcorn bowl down before approaching the car. "Yeah, Pops?"
"I'm going to try starting the car; let me know if it works, all right?" Hank grinned, and moved towards the front seat of the old truck. Shaking his head, Michael bent down, placing both hands on the sides of the hood, holding it up. Hank started the car, and it began to purr like a kitten before steam started to come out of the radiator.
Michael coughed and bent down, waving the smoke out of his face. Ah ha...there was a loose screw caught in between two wires. He reached for it, and pulled it out, but his elbow snapped something off, causing oil to spray all over Michael, covering his face.
"That needs a bit of work," Hank said through his laughter. He reached over and offered Michael a reassuring pat on the back before getting back to work.
<center>***</center>
Was it wrong to sleep in until twelve on a Saturday? Kyle groaned and flipped around on his bed before reaching for his remote and turning the TV on. With a yawn he watched as a black jeep was chased on South 285 by several cars. He reached towards his night table and grabbed the Oreo package he had left overnight. The phone rang and still tired, Kyle answered, "'Ello?"
"Kyle?"
"Hey Dad," Kyle yawned once more. "You're on TV."
"I'm calling on Hansen's phone. I wanted to let you know I couldn't make it to your game today. Nicholas Dunn-Kelly escaped from the station this morning-"
"S'okay Dad, especially when the season ended last week," Kyle rolled his eyes. "Look Dad, I gotta go. I had a late night." With a click, Kyle hung up the phone and slumped back down in his bed. He flipped through the channel's before finally staying on the cooking channel.
That only increased his hunger and Kyle rolled out of bed, hitting the floor. He did his routine twenty push ups before getting up and heading for the kitchen... today was going to be a long day.
<center>***</center>
"Sweetie, I tried to make you breakfast but that stupid toaster broke again. Do you think you could fix it?"
Alex stared at his mom in irritation. "The reason it won't work is because I took all of the parts out of it. Just buy a new one."
"You took the old one apart, you buy a new one."
"Hey, when Dad accidentally lit the gazebo on fire you didn't make him buy a new one." Alex mumbled.
"That's because I hated that gazebo. Your father liked it."
"So much he burnt it to a crisp," Alex stated cheerfully. His mother shot him a look. "I need you to clean the garage."
"Are you kidding? I have to go to Isabel's today... Mom it's our last weekend before the crazy week of packing and such."
"It won't be so crazy if you get some of it done today." She moved over to the microwave and placed a dish of bacon in. When she tried to start it, it wouldn't work. She threw her hands up in the air and spun around to glare at him. "What else have you emptied out? First my toaster, than my microwave... I don't even understand why I buy things at all."
Alex rolled his eyes and stood up, walking over to his mother. He leaned over and plugged the microwave in. She bit her lip as it started up. Alex leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Later Mom."
<center>Goonies Never Say Die
Second Chapter</center>
"I'm sorry, Max, but I refuse to watch Baywatch," Isabel grabbed the remote from her brother's hand. "Isn't that what you have Liz for?"
Max glared at his sister and then rolled his eyes. He stood and stretched before crossing the room to bench press.
"One day, that thing is going to fall on you and all I'm going to say is-"
"‘I told you so‘?" Max guessed.
"‘Serves you right, Jackass,’" Isabel corrected.
"I was close," Max shrugged and then smiled, laying back down.
Isabel rolled her eyes. "You could just join weight training."
"Right," Max replied, blowing air out of his mouth as he lowered the weight. Isabel threw her hair up and then flipped through more channels, stopping at a country station to annoy her brother to all ends. He shot her a glare. "Gee Iz, thanks for putting the channel on something I'd enjoy."
"I thought you liked country," Isabel replied innocently. She threw her head back and sighed dramatically. "I'm so bored."
Max, not looking at his sister but out the window, grinned. Walking up to the front door was Michael Guerin, one of his best friends since they had first been introduced in kindergarten. Michael was the first kid Max knew, other than himself of course, that could piss Isabel off to the point where actual steam could be seen coming out of her ears.
"Michael's here," he stated. Isabel turned to see Michael walk confidently into their living room, throwing himself in one of the chairs, and resting his feet on the table. Isabel used her own feet to kick his to the floor. "No feet on the table. It's rude." Yet, she kept her own on the small table.
Michael rolled his eyes before greeting Max, "Hey Maxie!"
Max, currently doing sit-ups nodded to Michael, before getting back to counting. For a moment there was silence until Michael groaned. "Aw... come on guys! We gotta do something!"
"We live in Roswell. We have NOTHING to do," Isabel stated, her voice unenthusiastic. "Then again, we could always try to find some..." She lowered her voice to a whisper, "aliens."
Michael threw the back cushion of his chair at Isabel as she fell to the floor laughing. "The look," she snorted, "on your face was priceless!"
<center>***</center>
Shampoo. Where was the damn shampoo when you needed it? Kyle looked through the different aisles of the supermarket, his eyebrows raised. He had conditioner... the only problem was getting shampoo. He sighed in frustration. Couldn't a guy just expect to come into a grocery store and find the shampoo right where it should be? He caught sight of someone working there and he immediately rushed up to them.
"Hi, can I help you?" The clerk greeted. Kyle bit back the urge to roll his eyes at the annoyance in the clerk's voice. He worked there, so he should just suck it up and help a person. "Yeah, where's the shampoo?"
"That all depends. Which shampoo would you be talking about?"
"The kind you wash your hair with. What else would I be talking about?" Kyle snapped.
"Oh, that kind." The clerk raised a cigarette to her lips. "I'd love to help you. It'd complete my day... No, actually, it'd be the reason for why I was still living but, I'm on break."
Kyle looked at her with wide eyes. "Can you point me in the direction of where it might be?"
She gave him a single look before getting up and walking away. Kyle threw his hands in the air. "That's it! Dad can get his own damn shampoo next time." He walked for the Exit after paying for his purchases and headed towards his house. Unfortunately, his car was in the shop for work so he was walking around town... everywhere.
He pulled his headphones on, ignoring the sounds of the traffic, and waited for the sign to say he could cross. He walked across the street when it did, not hearing the wails of the police cars. Once he reached the middle of the street a black jeep sped right past him. Kyle froze, almost feeling his heart stop. He turned to run back across the way he had come, only to have several police cars speed mere centimeters in front of him. With a look of terror on his face, Kyle dropped the groceries and ran. He had to tell the others.
<center>***</center>
"We gotta do something guys," Michael repeated, standing up. "We gotta see the rest of Roswell, blow this town apart, we gotta party!" He stood close to Max. "But noooooo! Someone's got to go and fall in love-" He jumped back as Max swung out at him.
"Cut it out guys," Isabel stated. She shot Max a look. "Although, he is right."
"Even if I hadn't have "fallen in love" we would still have to clean the attic," Max stated.
Michael held his hands up. "Clean? Oh no, I don't do the cleaning thing."
"Now you do," Isabel stated. She got up, stretched, and turned to Michael, who was trying to make a quick getaway. She coughed and he groaned, turning around. "Do I have to?"
"Yea, you 'have to'," Isabel caught Max laughing. "So do you, buddy."
At that, Max groaned and stood up. Michael was right, it was the weekend. They should be doing something other than packing and moving.
"What's in the attic?" Michael asked, shooting an annoyed glance at Isabel.
CRASH!
Isabel and Max immediately jumped backwards from the flying glass. Isabel looked up and smiled despite the ruined window. She helped her boyfriend up. "Are you okay?" This was the second time this week Alex had tried to enter through the front window. He lived next door, and had created a clothes line connecting their window to his window, on the second story. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as well as he planned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. No injuries. I'm good." He winced at the sight of all of the glass. "But my mom will kill me once your mom bills her for the window."
Isabel frowned. "No... this place will be all ruined soon anyways. One broken window won't keep them from tearing our homes apart." Alex wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.
"Glad you're here, Alex, we get to clean," Michael said sarcastically, breaking the awkward silence that had settled.
"I just finished cleaning the garage!" Alex stated, a look of pure torture on his face.
Isabel crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't have to help. You could all just leave me to do everything."
"I'm liking that plan," Michael replied.
"Sounds good," Max sat next to Michael as they turned the TV on.
"EVERYBODY UP!" Isabel shouted. "Let's go. Up the stairs!" She turned the TV off, and pointed to the stairs. "You all have two seconds."
"Think she's serious?" Michael asked Alex. Alex raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "Say goodbye to your balls, dude."
Michael and Max jumped up, racing for the stairs. Isabel grinned and kissed Alex on the cheek. "Let Kyle in, will you?"
Alex paused. "Kyle?" At that moment, the doorbell rang. He raised an eyebrow in his girlfriend's direction.
Isabel shrugged. "I saw him coming when you came in."
<center>***</center>
"Alex!" Kyle shouted, as he rushed through the door to enter the Evan's house. "Alex, my man, you will never believe what happened!"
"You're right. I probably won't if it's coming from you," Alex shut the screen behind Kyle and began to walk up the steps, Kyle right behind him.
"I'm serious!"
"I bet."
"You're a punk," Kyle sighed. "Well... where's everyone else?!?"
"The attic. We're all cleaning today," Alex said, faking a smile. He pulled on a string, and pulled the ladder down, leading them to the attic. "Kyle's here to help, guys."
"Yeah, yeah-" Kyle cut off at the sight of the attic. "Holy shit. Is this a library or an attic?" Books were everywhere, covered in dust. Buried underneath them, were boxes.
"These are all some of Dad's old cases," Max replied. "We have the pleasure of taking all of these boxes out to the trash."
"Dad and I have to do that too," Kyle stated, looking around. At the mention of his dad, he jumped in the air. "Guys, I almost died!"
"Right," Isabel said picking up a box and opening it. "Dad has a lot of junk."
"That's what sucks about being a lawyer," Michael huffed and sat down near a pile of boxes.
"Guys, did anyone hear me? I just said I almost died!"
"You said that two weeks ago, and a month before that, and then two months before that-"
"FINE!" Kyle shouted, flinging his hands in the air. "I wasn't almost killed two weeks ago. But a month ago I was, and two months before that, too."
"You're right. You're the Sheriff's son, of course people are going to try to murder you. What are the rest of us thinking?" Isabel asked sarcastically. "By the way, while you tell us your tragic death story of the month, hand me that box near you."
Kyle grinned. "Okay, so I was at the supermarket and I was crossing the street when this 2001 black jeep went flying across the street - centimeters away from me - so, I turned to cross the other way, and then a whole bunch of cop cars went past, again centimeters away. Man, it was the most amazing thing, you should have been there." He went to grab the box, and hand it to Isabel when he tripped on a loose board and went flying. The box landed on it's side, the top flying off, and papers tumbling out.
"KYLE!" Isabel shouted. She picked the box up and groaned. "Look at all of these papers."
"I think I broke something," Kyle mumbled, as Max helped him up.
Isabel stacked some of the papers back into the box. She looked around for any she might of missed, and spotted a manilla portfolio. She pulled it towards her, curious. There wasn't anything special about the envelope, except on the front, in bright red letters, it read 'CONFIDENTIAL'. What could her dad have in here that was so secret? Isabel opened it, dumping the contents into her lap.
"What are you looking at?" Michael asked, bored. "I thought we were supposed to be cleaning? Weren't we?"
Isabel still didn't look up from the papers. "Max, get over here!"
The others stopped sorting through the boxes and approached Isabel. "What'd you find?"
"Max, look, this is a map!" Isabel's eyes shone with excitement.
Max took it, and looked at it. "A map to where?"
Isabel picked up a broken pendant, hanging on a silver chain. She put it around her neck and rubbed it. It seemed to broken in half. Next to the chain, had been a key. She pocketed it, and then turned back to answer Max's question. "I don't know, it's written in Navajo." She turned to Michael. "Your mom was part Navajo... what's it say?"
For a moment there was a flicker of emotion in Michael's eyes, before he leaned down to look at the map. His brow furrowed, and he rubbed his forehead. "The map's really old, it's hard to read through all the smears and smudges."
"Try," Isabel urged.
Michael strained and worked the frail, almost ancient seeming paper over with his eyes. There was a spark of recognition as his eyes followed the lines of writing, and the silence was almost palpable. Four tense teenagers waited and watched their friend who was trying to decipher the language. Finally, Michael looked up with wide eyes.
"What? What does it say?!" Isabel questioned with impatient urgency.
"It's a map... it's a map to an alien spaceship," Michael said, his voice serious. Isabel searched for amusement in his eyes, not finding any.
"Oh please!" Kyle moaned. "And you guys didn't believe me?!"
Michael glared at Kyle. "I'm serious. It's a map to an alien spaceship."
"Isabel... please tell me you don't believe this," Max said, looking down at his sister who had remained silent.
She looked up. "It all makes sense Max! All of this is about a case Grandpa was working on in 1948. He was defending an old Navajo man named Riverdog," Isabel looked back down at the papers, and read through some of them, "Apparently, Riverdog said he had been walking through the desert that night when there was a bright white light, and a loud crash. He was knocked unconscious, but when he woke, there was a figure lying near him, covered in blood. He rushed the figure towards a nearby cave. When the stranger awoke, Riverdog called him Nasedo-"
"Which means 'Visitor' in the Navajo language," Michael added.
"Nasedo told Riverdog a story about his planet-"
"His planet? Which would be what?" Alex asked.
Kyle laughed out loud, "I can't even believe we're having this conversation."
Isabel shot them both a glare. "Look, laugh if you want, but I'm serious. I remember, when I was little, Dad used to tell me stories-"
"Dad would tell you anything to get you to sleep," Max stated.
Isabel sighed and looked back down at the map. "No... he was telling the truth. Nasedo told Riverdog the same story Grandpa used to tell Dad and Dad used to tell me!"
"Let me guess," Kyle licked his lips, "Once upon time..."
"You ass!" Isabel snapped, slapping Kyle's leg.
He yelped and jumped back. "I was just guessing!"
"What was the story?" Michael asked, interested.
Isabel leaned forward. "There were five planets; Hanar, Antar, Sero, Kathana, and Tarsus, which formed a V-shape. In the center was the planet Antar. It was lead by the Royal Four; Zan the King, Rath, his second, Vilandra, Rath's fiancé and Zan's sister, and Ava, Zan's Queen."
At that Max snorted.
Isabel shot him a look. "Do you mind?"
Max held his hands up as if he was surrendering.
"Antar was being attacked by the farthest two planets; Kathana and Sero. They each wanted the power Antar held over the other planets, so they attacked, planning on taking Antar on as their own. The Antarians weren't prepared for the attack and the Royal Four were killed. The head scientists were able to take the essence out of the Royal four and implant it in embryos. Nasedo, was flying them over to Earth for protection. A few weeks later, a second ship was to follow him in case Earth didn't agree to protect the Royal Four."
"Nasedo brought gems, and different jewels as a peace offering between Antar and Earth, but before they could land, a traitor who had hidden in the ship, damaged the embryos and the essence of the Royal Four. The traitor damaged the ship well enough to crash it, before Nasedo was able to kill him."
"And Nasedo told Riverdog all of this?" Alex asked.
"Yes, Nasedo hid the ship, the jewels, and gems in Roswell, and left a map, this pendant, and a key in Riverdog's care for when the second ship came down to Earth."
"Wait a second, Isabel," Kyle said, "why didn't Nasedo just take the jewels for himself? Or at least go to the President and offer an alliance between Earth and Antar? Where's Nasedo and this Riverdog now?"
"Riverdog passed away awhile ago, but my dad told me that Nasedo waited years for the next ship to come and finally he was captured by a group of the FBI, and tortured before he escaped to go back to the ship."
There was silence for a second before Michael burst into laughter. "I get it. This is all a joke, isn't it?"
"What?" Isabel asked, annoyed. "It's not a joke. I'm serious... we can follow the map and find the-"
"Intergalactic booty?" Kyle laughed. "Nice joke, Isabel. You got us."
"I swear-" Isabel was cut off my the sound of the doorbell ringing.
"Saved by the bell," Max joked. He led the others the rest of the way down the stairs, leaving Isabel alone in the attic. She glared at their backs before gathering the remains of what was in the manilla envelope and rushing down the stairs after them. They were going after those jewels if it was the last thing she did!
But again, you are the quote queen!!! LOL. Thanks for the feedback chicadee!!