In Search of... (Zan, CC / Mature) (Complete)

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DMartinez
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Part 9

Post by DMartinez »

Part 9

It was a sweet setup. Rik woke in a bed of his very own with sheets softer than any bed he had ever slept in before. Somehow he had gotten from the car to the bed without anyone waking him. There were four oversized pillows to cushion his big head and it looked like Darin had gotten the same treatment across the room. "Ma?"

"Here." Erika had draped herself on a big chair to watch over the sleeping babes.

"You sleep there?"

"If you could call it sleep." She groaned as she worked at a kink in her neck. "How're you feelin'?"

"Like shit run over twice and chucked out a window." He scooted to the side of the bed and pulled back the covers.

"Watch your mouth," she muttered as she took the offered half of the bed. "I'm in love with this bed. I will carry it home with me on foot if I have to."

"Get some sleep." Rik rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling. "I don't want to go talk to him." She didn't say anything and when he turned to look at her, she wasn't in the room anymore. She was wherever she had gone in the car the night before. "I'm gonna find the bathroom."

"Don't talk to anybody until we're all together." She warned as she lay her head down on two of the oversized pillows.

Feeling like a hunchback, he went in search of the bathroom. The first door he came upon, he almost tried the handle but backed away because just like he always could tell, the room was 'occupied.' The next door was the room he was looking for. Flowers on the walls. Fuzzy butt warmer. Soap shaped like ducks and flowers. Hand towels with hearts and ivy. After relieving himself, he exited and ran smack into his father. "Morning Rick. You're up early."

"Nature calls. Don't care what time it is." Rik nodded.

"Listen, most everyone is eating downstairs but… I wanted to talk to the three of you before I made introductions. Last night everyone was tired and there is a lot of confusion."

"Hey, look. I could still use some sleep and my mom just went to sleep. When we up and ready, we'll come find you… unless there's some hurry."

"Not yet but when Kal gets here, we move and I'd like to get everything straightened out before he shows up." He took a breath. "We'll get some clean clothes up here, when everyone is showered, we'll talk."

"I'll be up." Rik nodded again and shuffled his way back to the room. He sank onto the bed but didn't lay down.

"Sweetie?"

"He's going to bring us some clothes so we can clean up and then it's time." He looked back at his mother. "I kinda don't want to know. I think that now that I'm gonna find out what it was for… I don't want to know."

"Me too."

--

Darin put on the clothes that were too big for him but they were better than the clothes Dari had lent him. Flannel wasn't something he had ever really worn before but whoever they belonged to wasn't much taller than he was and that was a relief. When he emerged from the bathroom, Erika and Rik were waiting. They had woken him after they had already cleaned up. It was time to face the music but he didn't want to know. He would be content to hold Erika's hand all the way back to his parents so that he could say he was sorry for being a jerk and would they take him back.

The dining room was full of people in various stages of breakfast. Max put down his napkin, lifted just a hand to everyone at the table to silence them and motioned the trio into the kitchen. The kitchen was a disaster. Waffle batter was smeared on the counter, preserves spilled on the small table. Baby formula spilled in the sink and the charred remains of the first waffle on a plate next to the iron. "Forgive our sawdust, reconstruction underway." He joked and gestured to the chairs that had somehow missed the catastrophe. "It was the guys' turn to cook this morning. Some of us are worse than others. Sit, please."

Erika stared at him, peered at him as if searching for something. "Just say it."

"Do you know me?" Max asked her. "I mean, do you think you've seen me somewhere before?"

"I know I have. We came here looking for their father because… some shit happened and we got caught up in it." Erika told him. "I think you had better straighten out this mess."

"What the hell is goin' on?" Rik demanded and yanked the picture out of his pocket. "That's you and I want to know why you left us."

Max reached out and took the picture and started crying. There was the proof he was looking for after what had happened the night before. "That's you?"

"Yes, you dumb fuck."

"Rik, watch your mouth." Erika muttered.

"I've never seen a picture of him before." Max sank against the counter with a smile and tears. Staring at the picture, he started talking. "Rick, you still have my cigarettes?" Nodding, he gave one to the older man, who lit it on the stove before resuming his perusal of the picture. "You know… I can save the other stuff for another time… this." He gestured with the picture. "This is something we have to discuss. Kal, the man you spoke to, he works with me… I had him search for my son. It's taken many years and I've been on the move for so long… I couldn't be sure where he was and the only clue I had was New York. I didn't know which city or if he was still there but Kal says, 'I think I got him, let me make sure.' I said, 'okay, just be sure.' I don't know who he thought he found of the two of you but a week and a half ago he says, 'yeah, yeah, don't get your shorts in a twist, he be there before the week is up.' But it's been longer and I haven't heard a word and I'm getting worried. To be so close and to have it ripped away is a scary thing…"

Max puffed on the cigarette and tore his eyes from the picture to look at the taller boy. "Then you showed up last night and I was so excited that I ignored all the clues and inconsistencies that came out of your mouth and then there were the two of you and I didn't have a clue what was going on. I want my son and it's clouded my judgment. I haven't seen him in nearly 15 years. You look enough like me to be mine."

"What's the problem?" Rik lit his own cigarette against his mother's stern glare. He saw that she looked uncomfortable and he suspected she knew something. Maybe what was about to pour out of this guy's mouth. "Aren't I? Is there a test that I failed? I'm good at those things."

"You could be." Max nodded and looked to the picture again. "If we took a blood test, it would show with 99.99998 percent certainty that I am your biological father." He cut the boy off before he could butt in. "The deal is, this got more complicated the moment your mother kissed me last night. You are his biological mother, right?"

"Yes." Erika nodded and crossed her legs, then her arms over her chest. Last night she had kissed a stranger. Nothing about that kiss had felt like Zan and she could never forget how he kissed.

"And that's your little brother?" Max nodded. "I only have one son."

"Half-brother." Rik muttered and shrugged. He didn't know what was going on. He was good at puzzles, at riddles and there weren't enough pieces for him to solve this one yet.

"We could do the same test on him with the same results." He shut his eyes. He had done this all wrong. "Your father's name was Zan, wasn't it?"

"Whatever you're calling yourself these days. Max. Zan. Bill. King Louie of the jungle." Rik wanted to scream at someone to just get to the point. "Are you tryin' to tell us that you aren't our dad?"

"I think so." He held up the picture and smiled a little. "I've never seen him before. I always wondered what exactly he looked like. I've heard so much about him. You were born in New York city?"

"Yeah."

"I was only there once and you were probably already walking." Max shook his head at the picture. "My son wasn't born until the following year."

"But that picture." Rik blurted out, shooting to his feet and pointing. "Right there. That's me and that's you. 1999."

"I was in Roswell, New Mexico in 1999." Max answered, gaze flicking to the dining room on the other side of the door. In the picture was his dupe. The legendary Zan of New York, just the way Ava had described him. Tattoos, piercings, goatee, bike chain necklace, rings and wild hair. Still, the similarities. Front teeth slightly larger and buck, huge ears, hell… the acne scar on the forehead was the same. Max let out a laugh as he stared at the dead man. Same long nose, full bottom lip… same cowlick that ruled the part in his hair. And there, Zan's first baby. Diapers and a black T-shirt. That image. That knowledge that Zan had had more time with his first son than Max had ever had with his own made the anger build. Unable to contain his frustration, Max rose to his feet and in the same fluid motion sent the sugar jar out the window as the tears fell.

Erika blinked at the man standing before them. "Who is he?"

"This picture proves my point. You aren't my son. I have to find him. This is… someone else. When was the last time you saw him?"

"He was supposed to come for Thanksgiving and he didn't show, didn’t see him the week before that either." She tilted her head at the man, Max. "Why are you crying?"

"Imagine… that you had heard about this… brother you had for years but you never met him and then you finally… after so many years… you saw a picture of him and he was so much more than you ever thought." Max handed the picture back. "You could say that your father is like my brother, which I suppose would make you my nephews." He looked to the dining room door again. "Did he leave before or after the little one was born?"

"I never met him." Darin answered quietly. "I don't think."

"No. You've got those pictures, right?" Rik turned to Darin. "You have one?"

"Yeah." Darin pulled it out of his pocket.

"What?" Max stared at them in confusion but took the picture when it was offered. Taking the picture back from Rik, he eyed them carefully as he lifted them to his eyes and his breath went away. "I… I thought you were brothers."

"Half-brother. I've said it like a gazillion times." Rik shook his head.

"Your mother?" Max asked Darin.

"Never met her either." Darin cleared his throat. "They gave me up. I met him at school. We got into Adarma on a scholarship… that I don't even remember applying for."

"Yeah. Me either." Rik agreed.

"Adopted?" Max looked to Darin. There. He was younger. Shorter. "You're 14?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Darin watched as the man sank to his knees.

"I thought I'd lost you." Max whispered.

"You mean?" Rik looked to the shorter boy. It had never occurred to them that Darin's father would not be Rik's father. The pieces. He finally had enough to guess at a bigger picture.

"You're my father?" Darin stared at Max. "Why did you give me up?"

"It was too dangerous to keep you, even after they realized your mother… Wait. I have to start over." Max got to his feet. He hadn't let himself get his hopes up and now he had too many things to do.

"Max, where's Zan?" Erika finally asked.

"He's…" Max stumbled over his words. "Ava never mentioned you."

"We were never officially introduced and I'll just assume you're talking about one of the girls he used to run with. Does she know where he is?"

"He's…"

"Max? How's it going in here?" A voice interrupted and too late, she entered the room. Max tried to stop her but she saw Rik and then she saw Darin. "What's going on here?"

"Liz, hold on." Max was definitely overloading. "Erika… Zan's dead."

The blonde went still. "Dead."

"How long?" Rik demanded. Grief slammed into him from some place he didn't know he had for his father.

"November 2000."

"Ah." Erika whimpered. He was dead. Had been dead all this time. "How?"

"That's not important right now. Maybe you should lay down?" Max watched Rik sink to his knees.

"Max?" Liz asked softer. Max seemed lost and he had definitely lost control of what was happening in the kitchen. "What's going on?"

"I think I will lay down." Erika whispered and her son was at her side instantly.

Darin stared at them as they went. He felt cold and he no longer felt 14. "Darin?" His head turned at the voice but his eyes were still on the retreating duo. "Darin?" He couldn't take his eyes off of them. "Darin?"

When he finally turned, Max looked nervous. "What's going on?"

"Can I tell you a story?" Max motioned for a seat at the table.

"Max! What just happened here?" Liz demanded.

"Give me a minute." He put her off. "Liz, this is Darin. My son."

TBC
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DMartinez
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Part 10

Post by DMartinez »

In Search Of Part 10

Rik left his mother after she had cried herself to sleep. He had to eat and he needed some answers and she couldn't be with him anymore. She had gotten what she came for but he still had a mission or two. Mission number one: Scrape some of that batter off the kitchen and make a waffle.

When he made it into the kitchen, Max was cleaning. The other guy from last night was washing and a tall dark, bearded man was making more waffles. Darin was slumped over at the now clean table. Rik felt sorry for the kid. His dad was a real weenie. He had actually gotten used to the idea of a brother. Squeezing his shoulders, he leaned in. "You okay?" Darin nodded just a bit but didn't lift his head. "They tell you anything?"

"I was waiting for you."

"Rick." Max turned from a counter. "You okay?"

"I'm good." Rik muttered as he took a seat. "I've been pissed for 15 years but I didn't really remember the guy. Mom took it hard." He slouched in the chair. "I don't want to talk about it now. Just lookin' for some grub."

"Sure, just a minute. This is Michael and that's Jesse, my brother-in-law. Uncle to you two." Max patted each on the shoulder in turn. "You'll meet Kyle soon enough. He's out getting you two some clothes. You can thank him for what you're wearing now." He looked to Darin. "How about it, Darin? You ready to eat, too?"

"Sure."

Solidarity. Rik nodded to the younger boy. "Did you even sleep?"

"Yeah." Darin nodded. "Dreamt of Cam."

"What a coincidence." Rik snorted. "Me too." Before either realized it they were both snickering. That seemed like an eternity ago and it was just yesterday.

"Jesse… I'm starving." A tall brunette burst into the kitchen.

"Just a minute. I have to cook them and I'm not… special." Jesse tossed over his shoulder. Rik watched the brunette freeze and stare at them.

She edged her way over to her brother and lowered her voice. "Can I talk to them?"

Max looked at her. "That's a good question. Rick, Darin. Aunt Isabel, my sister."

"How's it goin'?" Rik nodded to her. Then he was remembering that morning. Her voice was a little familiar. "Hey, are you guys in the room next to the bathroom?"

"Yes." Isabel narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"No reason. Just wondering." Rik shook his head and clasped his hands over his stomach. "Uncle Max, you should really think about getting this place checked out. Insulation might be a bit thin."

Isabel gasped and walked out of the room again. Jesse's back straightened but held his head high as he followed his wife into the next room. Max looked to Michael, who was nodding his head. Then they burst out laughing. Michael shook his head over the dishes. "I heard them, too. I just didn't want to say anything."

Max caught his breath and cleared his throat. "That's why Liz was so eager to get breakfast started this morning."

"Maria, too."

"Liz is my step-mom." Darin explained. "She's the hysterical brunette from this morning. Maria was the blonde at the table… you know, the one with the boysenberry on her…"

"Yeah." Rik nodded that he had seen her, too. So it was him and the munchkin against the world again. Somehow the burden of not having the same father took the strain off of him, made the kid seem a bit cooler. It took a load off… but there was still a load there. When he looked at Darin, he knew the kid knew too but the kid still had the lot from before and it was going to crush his young mind. "Hey, that guy. He ain't your pops. Your pops is the guy that got us out alive."

"I wish that were true." Darin shook his head. Postponing the inevitable was the priority. "Do you know who Karen Donovan is?"

"Sure, she's in my remedial chem. lab." Rik shrugged. "I gotta catch up and she wants to catch me up."

"You gonna let her?"

"No. She's a dirty girl."

"How do you know?"

"I just do." Rik shook his head. "She's been with the captain of… everything and the quarterback and the full back… and the half back."

"How could you know all that?"

"Don't know. Just do."

"You ever wonder why?" Max prodded as he poured fresh batter onto the waffle iron.

"We weren't talkin' to you." Rik muttered.

"But I heard just the same. Could you do… other things?"

Rik was weirded out. The way Max was staring at him reminded him of the way Zan stared at him out of that window 14 years ago. "Before four days ago? No."

"But you just know things about people you've never met?"

"Sometimes."

"What you said to Isabel a while ago… Did you really hear them or did you just know it?"

Rik stared back at the man as he thought it over. It's not something other people would know. "I walked past this mornin' and I just knew there were people in the room getting' busy."

"It doesn't strike you as odd that you know that." Max turned and set a plate of waffles on the table. "Dig in." He handed each a plate and watched as they dove into the waffles as if they hadn't eaten in days, so he got busy making more. "Darin? You able to do anything most people can't?"

"My dad says I have photographic memory but… I've read about it and that's not what I do."

"You read something and you can do it?" Max peered at his son. The walls were still up and he couldn’t hug the boy or touch him but now he was talking. "Sometimes you can't remember reading something but you know it anyway?"

"Yeah." Darin nodded.

"Me too." Rik whispered. He wasn't hungry anymore. Maybe a cigarette would calm his nerves… but he had left the pack when he had gone upstairs and now it was gone. The waffles just sat in his stomach like lead. "At the school, I kinda felt like… I was on fire. Then Darin lifted his hand and this… green thing came out b'tween us and the feds. The bullets hit it and stopped movin'. Kal did his thing and they were all on the ground. I… I had a cut on my hand and it just…"

"Got better?" Max finished for him and took a seat. Michael hopped up on the counter to listen. Max was getting better at talking about this stuff, in that he had stopped taking over the conversation and let other people talk and accept it on their own.

"Yeah." Rik nodded, his fingers itching. "We… were cornered and I… thought I needed everyone to take a step back and just keep goin' and my hands just went out and… I leveled everyone in a city block… I couldn't breathe. Everyone just… on the ground."

"He zoned out." Darin supplied. "They started shooting at us when they got back to their feet. Rik fell down the subway entrance. I think he cracked a rib. We were only on the subway for a few minutes and then they stopped and they boarded and I…"

Max waited but both boys were quiet and neither was eating any more. "What happened?"

"We don't know." Rik looked up at him. "I thought we were dead. I couldn’t move and Darin just… shut his eyes like if he couldn't see them, they couldn't see us. And it's like they didn't. I could swear that guy looked right at me but he didn't see me."

"Like mother, like son." Michael muttered.

"Shut up." Max bit at him.

"Rik, where are your bruises?" Darin asked suddenly.

"What are you talkin' about? I'm still sore as hell." Rik touched his face and realized those didn't hurt.

"I… did that." Max bit his lip. "Last night. I fixed a lot but you were pretty banged up. I imagine that you're still sore. Truth is, I'm a bit drained and probably because of all the activity you two were up to these past few days."

They stared at him, not comprehending what he had said. Michael hopped off the counter and slapped Max on the shoulder. "You're weak. I'll do it." He held his hands out for the boys to see that he had nothing in them. He snapped his fingers on both hands and flames shot out of his thumbs. The chairs scraped on the floor as they leapt back from the table.

"Michael!" The boysenberry blonde shouted from the doorway. "You're scaring them." She entered with a short man with wide shoulders and a few bags of clothes. She turned to the boys. "It's okay. Aliens are just like humans, only dumber."

"Maria." Max groaned.

"What?"

"We hadn't told them yet." Michael bit out.

"Hah." Kyle laughed and caught himself. "Name's Kyle. I did the shopping so you can shoot me later. I'll just disappear now. I'll take the blabbermouth with me." He gripped Maria by the arms as she had her hands clamped over her mouth.

Rik stared at them. Aliens. What did aliens have to do with anything? Max pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can someone go get Liz? She's better at this than I am."

"Everyone is better at this than you." Michael muttered but went to retrieve his royal highness's wife.

Darin stayed plastered to the kitchen cabinet. Flames had shot out of Michael's thumbs. He edged away from the spot where Michael had stood and instinctually towards Max. He felt like he was eight years old again and watching monster movies for the first time. He couldn't handle it back then and he was pretty certain he still had nightmares about Vampires from the first time.

Max turned at the presence beside him. "You okay? We really didn't mean to scare you."

"Fire. Out of his hands." Rik blurted out. "Fire."

Liz walked in to two confused boys and a concerned Max. "What's this Michael's telling me about you being weak?"

"Liz, please. I'll explain later. Can you help me?" Max nudged Darin towards the table and motioned for Rik to sit as well. "Rik, this is my wife Liz. She does a much better job of explaining than me or Michael. She's not going to light her hands on fire. I promise."
"He didn't." Liz scoffed and sat at the table. "Hi. I'm Liz." She shook Rik's limp hand. "These guys don't know what they're doing. I'm sorry if they scared you." She took a breath and reached for each of their hands. "The first thing you have to know is that you're the same… more or less. What's your name, sweetie?"

"Darin Christopher Maples." Darin told her around a dry tongue.

"Good name." She nodded. "And you, honey?"

"Ronald Israel Kasey." Rik nodded, oddly calm holding this woman's hand.

"But everyone call's you Rik. The initials. I got it." Liz nodded with a smile. "I'm going to tell you a story that began nearly a hundred years ago. When you think you're going into overload… just squeeze my hand."

Rik listened and still felt oddly calm. War, royalty and aliens. The royal family was brought down by an evil superpower and, in a last ditch effort to find some hope, a few crazed scientists crossed a quarter of the universe to create four supersoldiers. Being methodical in nature, they created two sets in the event something went wrong. And something did. Their ship crashed and the aliens had to hide. The hybrid supersoldiers grew up without any true knowledge of what they were or what they were for. When they woke, they were separated and lost each other for years but three found their way back to each other. The leader of this group fell in love with a human girl and saved her life at the risk of exposing himself to the wrong people. The fourth rejoined the group, only to rip the new group apart with half-truths and manipulations. She escaped with the unborn prince and when she returned, she sacrificed herself for the group.

Unable to provide a safe environment for the prince, he was sent away. He had been weighed and measured and found lacking as an alien but as a human had a normal future, all his father could ever want for him. A decade passed before anything out of the ordinary occurred but there it was. The evil superpower had consumed all the resources available to him and decided that Earth would make a nice home. To ensure his own safety, he'd have to capture the young prince as ransom. He bought himself into the government with knowledge and let them do his hunting for him. The leader was getting older and he had to see his son again before anything could happen to any one of them. Now he had three children and needed his family together so he could decide what to do.

"Do you understand?" Liz asked softly. It was the same soft voice she'd used on them since she'd seated herself at the table.

"How do I fit in?" Rik whispered.

"Your father… the leader of the second set. He had an opportunity to step and take control of the situation." Liz let Darin's hand slip from hers so she could hold Rik's in both of hers.

"Why didn't he?"

"We didn't really know. Ava, his friend, told us that he liked being human and he didn't want that life."

"My dad backed down?"

"He stood his ground. The way he told it to her… he lived that life once and it didn't agree with him, getting murdered and all. He wanted to make a go as a human… even if it meant living in the sewers. The others didn't take well to that. They wanted it. They wanted to go home." Her eyes shone bright with tears and her hold on him was slipping. "He never told them about you. You were a great surprise."

"Why didn't he tell anyone?"

"I figure that if they knew about you… they would have used you against him to get him to do what they wanted."

"Didn't they?"

"No." She took a deep breath. "He didn't want to do it and so they took him down. They pushed him in front of a truck and watched as it ran him over. They even made it stop." Liz sobbed involuntarily. She wasn't in the room anymore. She was being controlled by the vision. "They made it stop."

Max pulled Liz's hands off of Rik's. "Sh. Liz. Liz." He watched her eyes as she let it wash over and away. "Liz. It's okay."

"God, Max. They pushed him into the street and before he could get up, they made the truck go faster and to make sure, they made it stop on top of him. He barely had time to burn his picture of the baby. God, he was panicking, Max. God."

"Sh." Max pulled her into his arms.

Rik sat dumbfounded. Murdered. "Mom." He got to his feet and staggered his way up to the bedroom where he'd left her. She sat up. "I said I didn't want to know, didn’t I?"

TBC
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DMartinez
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Part 11

Post by DMartinez »

Part 11

Darin had watched Max pick up Liz and take her to the nearest room with a couch to lay her on. Tears still streamed down her face but she was calmer. She had stopped babbling about what she had 'seen' and she seemed to be in some pain. Max ran around getting aspirin and water, a warm wash cloth for her forehead. Rik was gone. It had been too much and whatever Liz had done to them both was wearing off. The panic was seeping in. He didn't feel like an alien. Maybe he didn't feel human either.

Darin felt like he was stuck in place and everyone was just moving around him. Like he had become invisible because there were people helping Liz and there were people feeding children and people were coming and going and he was going to scream. That's when it happened. That Kyle guy had a paper and he showed it to Max and Max's eyes sought out Darin immediately. Frozen in place while Max's eyes went back to the paper and read whatever it was Kyle wanted him to see.

There was no Liz for this because Liz was nursing a headache or something. Max took a deep breath and motioned for Darin to follow him outside where it was quieter. Before Max could open his mouth, Darin ripped the paper out of his hands and ran out into the yard. Obituaries. Shaking, he ran his eyes down the columns until he found it. Gregory Maples. Cause of death: heart attack. Three days ago.

The sobs came and he felt arms around him but he couldn't even think enough to shrug them off. "He thought I hated him."

"I'm sure he knew you didn't."

"My mom's all alone."

Max had nothing to say to that. He wished that his first bonding activity with his son could have been something else. He held on tighter and let the boy sob. "Why did he think you hated him?"

"Because he didn't tell me I was adopted." Darin was too old to be held but it felt good. He would have preferred his mother's arms if there had to be any at all but he was so far away from everything that he had ever known.

"I'm sure he loved you." Max held on tight. "No one would do what I'm sure he had to do to keep you unless he really wanted to. Be willing to take on faith that he could keep a child he'd wanted for years, loved so immensely without a guarantee that... Never knowing if someday someone would want him back."

It was more than Darin could handle. He shoved Max away and ran into the house and up the stairs and into the room he had shared with Rik and Erika the night before. Under the covers, no one could see him cry.

He felt a weight on the bed. "Hey man, what's goin' on?"

Darin slipped the paper out to Rik and tucked himself back in. He felt another weight on the bed. "What's that?"

"It's his dad. He died that day at the school."

"Oh, honey." Erika curled her body around the boy.

--

Rik stared out the window. Little kids running around. Alien kids. Darin had cried himself to sleep and his mother was holding on to the grief-stricken boy. Her own grief had dissipated the second Darin had stumbled through the door. She had a project now to keep her mind off of everything else.

"Isn't that something you tell someone?" He rasped out. He hadn't shed a tear but he felt like he'd been crying for hours. "If they're gonna bring your child into the world? Maybe say, 'by the way, babe, I ain't from 'round here', you know?" His voice was failing him from holding it all in. "Maybe just a 'hey, the baby's gonna do some weird shit when he grows up' or somethin' like that?"

"Maybe…" Erika sighed. "He was doin' like Max did. Makin' sure you grew up human. Normal. Maybe he didn't get too much of that when he was growin' up."

"Maybe." Rik nodded to the window. "Maybe it was safer. So, you just thought he ran off. So I don't grow up like a brat, thinkin' I'm better than I am. Thinkin' ev'rybody owe me somethin'."

"He wasn't livin' any better than us, Rik." Erica whispered. "Whatever he was. Alien. King. Punk kid. He gave us everythin' he had and more. Some days… I knew he hadn't bathed in a week. He was a very clean person, mind you, but I could tell… I do believe that much that he gave us, he stole. He made Grampa keep us but he didn't force himself into our house."

"Some kind of heads up." Rik crossed his arms over his chest. "Just… maybe a letter. A note sayin' 'I gotta go. Big shit on the line. Fate of the universe on my shoulders. Might not come home.' Just something besides… 'I'll bring you some of those oranges you like. See you in a coupla days.'"

"How did you know he said that?" Erika stared at him.

The knock came at the door. It was Max with food. "I know I'm the enemy and everything but I figured you all would be hungry by now. Maria cooked so it will be edible, I promise."

"Thank you." Erika nodded. She stared at her son but they would talk about it later. Maybe.

"How is he?" Max set the tray on the dresser.

"Sleeping. He's really upset."

Max nodded and shoved his hands into his pockets. "I got word from Ava. She'll be here tomorrow… possibly tonight and I wanted to talk to her first before… we all sit down to talk."

"Ava?" Erika sighed heavily. "There were two girls he ran with. Told me they were none of my business."

"Yea high." Max motioned with his hand. "First time I met her, had hair to her chin. Blonde, blue, black, pink."

"Yeah. I saw her." Erika hugged herself. "I kept askin' 'bout her and Zan told me to stop." She took the food when Rik gave it to her. She ate slowly, her eyes on Max. "Zan wasn't a bad guy but he could be mean when it came to gettin' his own way. Zan walkin' into a room could be intimidating. Zan horsin' around could make you a little nervous if you knew he was in a mood. Zan bein' serious was enough to bring you down… but when he started flexin'… it was beyond scary. Like maybe when he was that way… you could believe he was the tough guy he always wanted you to think he was. I liked to think he was just showin' off but sometimes… like he was this general of the streets and you didn't cross him the wrong way or you'd be the next sacrifice to the cause. So when he told me to drop the questions about the girls… I dropped it."

"Ava told me as much." Max nodded. "I'm not a nice guy when I don't know what's going on. Ask my sister."

"Knowin' what I do about Zan… I don't ever want to meet his sister if she could do what she did to him." Rik had told her what he had learned downstairs and it didn't seem true. Not yet. She wanted to talk. To ask some questions but this was not her arena. She was the visiting side and she had her son to look after… Darin too.

"I don't think she's around anymore." Max furrowed his brow. "I don't know what exactly happened to her but it could be that she died while I was in New York last. She… could be dead. I don't know for certain."

"Who was the last to see her?" Erika pressed between bites of food. Her appetite returned with a vengeance. She watched his eyes dart to the sleeping boy's form and fixate on the floor.

"I don't know what to believe anymore. I asked Ava about her abilities and she had never done it herself. I always get the feeling that she's hesitant to embrace her powers."

"Powers. Abilities." Erika looked to her son. "I feel like I'm stuck in one of those movies Steve is always making us watch."

"Can you not say his name?" Rik stopped eating his sandwich. He didn't want to think about Steve, not now. There was too much other stuff. Steve would wait.

"Rik." Erika pleaded. "Don't be mad at him. Not now."

"I can be mad at him if I want to. You don't know." Rik shook his head at her before he brushed past Max to get out of the house.

"Who's Steve?" Max caught himself and backed into the wall. "I'm just curious. You don't have to tell me."

"Steve was his best friend." Darin whispered, he had been awake for a while but he still hurt inside. "Dari was his girlfriend… kinda."

"And they're not anymore." Max nodded and gestured to the food though the boy had yet to sit up. "I brought you some soup. I don't know how you're feeling right now but you need to eat something."

"Maybe later. I still feel like I'm gonna vomit."

--

It was the second time in as many evenings that Rik had found himself on the roots of the tree in the backyard. He was very close to tearing the house apart for a cigarette. There was a five year old poking around on the porch and sneaking glances and it gave Rik something to focus on. Which alien did that kid belong to? There were several children roaming around but the one on the porch was a puzzle. Possibly fathered by that Jesse guy… but maybe not. Green eyes like the boysenberry blonde but too dark a complexion. Were there more people coming? A mystery that he could ponder as people milled about on various chores.

Being alone allowed Rik to think, something he didn't want to do but given his options, it was safer. He really didn't know why he was so mad at Steve. Rik and Dari were a barely thing. He saw her on weekends and they made out but they had never hit the sheets. He had been wary. He knew Dari wasn't a dirty girl but… he had ignored his instincts with Robbie. She had turned out to be a dirty girl. Not Dari, though. Maybe she was just in love, too. In love with Steve. He groaned when he saw Max appear on the porch. The man whistled and all the kids appeared out of nowhere to wash up for dinner. Max picked up the five year old and talked softly to the boy for a moment. Then the tyke was shooed into the house and Max was on his way to the tree. "You okay?"

"Fine."

Max looked around before sneaking the pack out of his pocket. "I won't tell if you won't."

"Thanks." He took one but hesitated a moment when Max lit them both with his flaming thumb. They sat in silence for a few moments. "Your wife?"

"Liz is fine, resting. She's been stressed, you know? Our daughter is only three months old. She's out of practice with her powers. She prefers to hypnotize when she does the calming thing and it had been so long that the part of her that does the vision thing… it took over and she couldn't control it. We… knew what had happened to him but we didn't know. None of us could ever really know what it was like to be him in those final moments. That his last thoughts were of you." Max sighed and shook his head. "She's always been able to pick up on things and I think that because she was holding your hand, because you are Zan's son, that it just took her there."

"You mean… She's psychic?"

"Very near to it. She used only be able to do it touching one of us but now she does it by herself and when she touches one of us… it's like an amplifier for her powers."

"Okay." Rik took a long drag on his cigarette and tapped his foot on the tree root. "So… what's with all the kids?"

"Most of them are Kyle's. Two by his first wife. She died in a car crash six years ago. He was inconsolable for months. Two are by his girlfriend but I think the little one isn't his. She left him and the kids last year. Michael and Maria have one. She's six. Jesse and Isabel have two, seven and four." Max nodded to window where Michael had stuck his head out to see what was going on.

"And you?"

"Just Hannah, the baby, and Isaiah." Max smiled when the five-year-old came barreling out of the house and into his lap. He quickly discarded his cigarette butt and waved away the smoke with the help of his powers. Isaiah was used to it. "Isaiah, this is Rik."

"Hi." Isaiah clung to Max but eyed the teenager carefully.

"He's yours?" Rik blurted out.

"Hey buddy, I think Mom has mac and cheese and green beans…" He kissed the boy's head. "Go on, we'll be in, in a bit." The little boy ran off into the house. Rik watched carefully, Max loved that boy but there was no way little Isaiah came from either of them. "Two years ago we were in Seattle… enjoying the rain, hanging out. We, Liz and I, rented this loft from this young couple. Inherited a building but no money, trying to raise their son and expecting a second, working full time and not quite making it. We helped out where we could. They helped us stay below the radar."

The evening sent them into shadows. Max lifted his hand and the porch light turned on. "We were there about six months. We got to know them very well. I had gone to help Isabel out with the kids a few hours away while Jesse was working on our departure from the city. We don't stay in one place too long. Liz was there with Julie, helping with Isaiah because Kevin was working… She was there when the call came. Kevin fell off a beam, broke his neck. When Julie heard, she went into labor. Liz tried to help but the ambulance didn't get there fast enough. There were complications on the way. Julie made Liz promise to take care of Isaiah."

"All three of them died?" Rik stared at his feet. Father, mother, unborn brother or sister. The kid had lost them all in one day. "Bad day."

"Really bad day." Max nodded. "We never intended to take him in. We knew they didn't have any other family. He was alone and we couldn't just leave him until we knew what was going to happen. So we put it off. Isaiah didn't leave Liz's side for days. We made the arrangements for the funerals, anything to make sure they would be in a place that Isaiah could one day visit. Tried to figure out what to do with him… we weren't going to be in Seattle much longer. Tried to explain that to the social services representative. Things weren't moving fast enough. Before I knew it, we were on the road and Isaiah was with us."

"They just let you take him?"

"Let… Funny word. They kind of forgot we had him… lost his file…"

"Convenient."

"Yeah. Contrived convenience. It was just easier to make sure they lost his files than to make sure they made him a priority." He took a deep breath and looked to the setting sun. "We found as many pictures as we could. We show him when he asks… which is becoming less and less. I… can't imagine being without him now."

"Why'd you really do it?" Rik had to know. There was a heaviness in Max's words that wasn't coming across. "Social services does check ups but if the files are missing, they'll figure it out. They have orphanages, foster homes…"

"I hate to think we stole him… and people don't think twice anymore, you know? They see a happy kid with a happy family and assume it's okay. I kinda did the same… I thought about it, without even really thinking about it. It was maybe two towns later that I justified it to myself… Isaiah's life was stolen from him. The potential life he could have had was gone. Liz and I weren't having any luck. I've got nieces and nephews and my only child… I gave him up. We could provide for him until we found a decent place for him to live. A place where he could be loved and have a home. He knew us, he was comfortable with us… we've been putting off finding that family for a while now because… I love him as if he were mine… Now, I can't let him go."

"You could take in a stranger's child but you can't keep the one you created?" Rik was a little angry on Darin's behalf. He wondered if the kid knew yet.

"I was 18 when I got Zan… Darin back. The FBI were after us and I was going to graduate, just barely alive as it turned out, and I just knew that it wasn't over and he was a baby. Helpless. Not even a year old yet. He needed someone better than me, safer than with anyone connected to me. When Isaiah came into our lives… I was used to running with small children. I was older, a little wiser and better able to protect my family. 29 is a lot different than 18."

"Why are you out here tellin' me when you should be in there tellin' him?"

"I think you need to hear it more right now. We try not to be bad people. I don't want you to think that you got dragged into this for nothing. Everyday is a fight to keep our families safe. Kyle has moved around the least of all of us. Two cities in the last 10 years. It's a big deal and he picked up and brought his family out here because this is big. This is what we've always been afraid of. The war has come to earth. Kivar has come to kill me. To kill Darin… to kill you. They don't know about you or they didn't but since the thing at the school… I'd bet he's onto us."

Rik got to his feet. It was unjustified. All of it. No proof that he could see with his own eyes. "What if I decide to take my mom and go home?"

"I wish I could let you do that. I don't want to keep you with us against your will but now that I know about you, you're my responsibility. You represent someone I never got the chance to know and in some ways… I think he might have done a better job. He refused flat out to go to the summit and I let myself be tricked into it. I made many enemies that day and it could have been all for nothing…"

"What?"

"If I had conceded to their demands. I would be dead now. Darin would have never been born. Nor Hannah and I would have never been gifted with Isaiah and I never would have met you." Max stared up at the boy. The way he stood, the way he stared out into the black, he looked like Zan… from a picture Erika had shown him. One she kept since they left the others behind. "Maybe your life would have gone on without interruption but you would have never found out what you are."

"And what am I?"

"You are the first child ever born on this planet with alien blood in your veins. The first hybrid child born in this country with a social security number and full rights as an American. It doesn't seem like much but everything on record about you is fact. Mine… all made up. My birthday, my name… contrived in a pinch for a six year old who couldn't speak English and didn't even know that he'd been hatched or that it was different. Even Darin doesn't have that. His are fake." Max's eyes lit up. "You represent our freedom."

"Holy fuckin' shit." The voice hit them. "Zan?"

TBC
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DMartinez
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Part 12

Post by DMartinez »

Part 12

Max smiled when he turned but he could already see this was going to go badly. The smile slipped off his face once he took a good look at her. Ava stared and planted her feet, hands extended, definitely not a good start. Petite in dark clothes and shining jewelry, the platinum blonde stepped into the light as mean as she could ever look. A tear formed in her eye as she took in the boy. "You are not Zan. Why the fuck do you have his face?" She looked to Max. "Don't tell me you've been suckered, Max."

"Ava, calm down." Max rose and put his body between the woman and the boy.

"Calm down? Why're you sittin' out here with that phony?"

Definitely not the way he wanted this to go. Maybe he should have found some way to prepare her better. "This is Zan's son, Ava. I didn't want you to find out like this. I couldn't tell you over the phone. I wanted to tell you in person before you saw him."

"When we were kids, he looked like that. Just like that. 'Xactly like that." Ava didn't lower her hands. Max could see she wasn't believing him. She was already gone to that place that only Ava could go. Growing up with Lannie and Rath had taught her how to find that place. The place where she could get things done without having to think about them and the consequences.

"Zan kept a secret from you guys."

"No! Zan didn't keep secrets. Not from me."

"Ava, look at him." He pleaded and reached out to grip her arms. "Look at him."

"No." She gritted out. "Zan would've told me. He would have! I loved him and he owed me that. He would have told me if he met someone or got the whore pregnant. He wouldn't ever string me 'long." Her pale hair swung around her face as she fought with Max. "I was his wife, Max. He wouldn't do that to me." Her words were weak and Max could finally get his arms around her, pinning hers to her sides. Her blue eyes were fixed on Rik's face, tears blurring her vision as they slipped over the lashes. "He was mine. How could he hide you from me?"

Rik had had about enough. Enough people yelling. Enough anger. Enough people telling half-truths. His father was married? Made his mother the other woman? She had no right to put any of this on him or his mother. They hadn't asked for this. "How could you let him die? You took him away from me. Didn't you even try?"

"Shut up!" She screamed, the anger full blaze once again, and tried to swing an arm at the boy but Max held her fast. "Let me go."

"Let her go. If she wants a piece'a me, she can have at it but she's the one who stood by and let him get murdered." Rik spat at their feet.

"Enough!" Max shouted, struggling to hold onto the distraught alien. She was so strong for such a little thing. "It's not her fault."

"Then who do I blame for this bombshell? Blamin' him is like blamin' the moon." Rik shook his head and made his way to the house, people were staring out of windows everywhere. "Who do I blame for a father I haven't seen in 14 years? I wanna know who wasn't doin' their job when my father was killed for havin' an unpopular opinion regardin' all of the bullshit that's been spewin' out of everyone's mouths. Obviously he was in the right because this wasn't his style. He would've never taken on somethin' this big." Everyone stared at him, slack-jawed, but it wasn't his words. It was the halo around his body. The boy was glowing.

Max stumbled outside, he lost his grip on the angry woman and Ava took off into the house after Rik. She leapt up the steps and through the door before anyone else could get to their wits about them. "Listen, you little shit! You don't know anythin' 'bout Zan. You couldn't."

"And you did? I was nearly two when you let him get killed. If you knew him so well, if you were married like you say… why didn't he tell you about me? Why didn't he trust you that much? Unless maybe you were in on it. Distracted him maybe? Get his attention off the fact that his sister wanted him dead?"

"You don't know what the fuck you're talkin' about." Ava turned her head and her gaze landed on Erika. Her blue eyes went wide, her hand lifted to point at the blonde. "You. I know you, you slut."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The one insult that Rik could not take from this woman who had been 'married' to his father. Max tried to hold onto the power but he was weak and it slipped right out of him. Rik used it to knock her off her feet but he was young, he was inexperienced and he couldn't control it and it swept everything in a ten foot radius.

Tables shook, kitchen devices leapt off their counters and crashed to the floor. Ava landed hard on her back, completely and painfully winded. Erika slammed into the wall behind her, her head banged as if someone had physically grabbed her and shoved her head into the wall. Liz grabbed her baby and Isaiah, her protection bubble shot up, deflecting the burst but wearing on her already weary mind. Isabel shoved at it and it parted around her and her family but Jesse was too far away and he doubled over in pain. Maria ducked and her hair singed on top. Kyle and his girls hit the deck, his boy dove out of the room, the energy missed them by centimeters. Michael waded through it, his daughter behind him, arm raised. All he needed was a firm tap on the boy's head. Enduring, he finally got his powers through the waves and Rik crumpled to the floor.

Max gasped where he lay on the porch, halfway in the door. His chest burned. He heard pounding and at first thought it was his heart but Darin came barreling down the stairs. Chaos sounded as people got to their feet. Kids crying and clinging to breathless parents.

"Geez. Doesn't he know how to do anything?" Valerie muttered under her breath from behind her father.

"Guess not." Michael sighed and bent to pick up the teen.

"Is he alright?" Erika gasped out, gripping the back of her head on the floor where she had landed.

"He'll be fine." Michael shrugged and hefted the boy over his shoulder. "It happens. These kids get excited and they blow stuff up."

"okay." She took a deep breath and winced as she felt every bruise in her back. She was very close to blacking out but she had to get to her son first.

"Where's Max?" Liz called out over the screams of her children.

"Over there." Darin pointed to the prone figure. "What happened?"

"Rik decided to kill us all for eating corn." Michael bit out and trudged up the stairs with his load.

"Is Ava okay?" Isabel picked up her youngest and peered over the table at the still blonde. Jesse, holding his middle as if it ached, stumbled around to check her out. Her eyes were open and staring at the ceiling.

"I'm fine." She whispered. "I'm breathin'."

"Good." Jesse nodded and held out a hand. "Isabel?"

"We're fine."

"Kids?" Kyle pushed himself off the floor.

"Here." "Here." "Here." "Daddy, my knee."

"Alright." He dusted himself off. "Well, we went a whole four days without an explosion. I think it's a record. My kids are getting good at ducking."

"Shut up." Maria glared at him as she moved toward Max. "Someone owes me a haircut. Max, what is wrong with you?"

"Max?" Liz edged around the table to see for herself. "What happened? Did he get hit?" It was hard to move with Isaiah clinging to her leg but she managed it. "Max, didn't you put up your shield?"

Deep breaths, deep breaths. Max fought the urge to blackout. He saw Darin bending over him. "Don't."

"What?" Max gasped in confusion.

"You don't get to die, now. I lost one father already, today." Darin held out his hand to help him up. "You don't get out of this that easily. You brought me out here, you're stuck with me."

"That was the plan."

"Max? What happened?" Liz cut in.

Leaning on his son to remain on his feet, Max jerked his head towards the living room. "Everyone else finish eating. Michael, Isabel… Ava if you can manage it."

--

In the end, few people were left out of the discussion. Darin listened intently as Max explained what had been going on. "When Kal hadn't contacted us in a while, I tried dreamwalking Zan… Darin. I couldn't. I didn't know what he looked like. So Isabel tried to help me. We figured since he was supposed to be in the city, it wouldn't be too far. With our combined energy…"

"It should have been a breeze." Liz finished for him with half a smile on her face. She squeezed his hand. "But it wasn't."

"No. I couldn't get in… at first. We tried different ways to find him. Focusing on his energy but I couldn't remember what that felt like… then I focused on my love for him. On that day…" He couldn't finish the sentence but everyone who was there knew which day. "There were people all around a table. Everyone pointing at me, at Darin. They were saying things. 'You don't belong.' 'You aren't one of us.' Before I could stop it, I was in another dream. Some of the same people, I figured it was just a dream shift. Same thing. 'You don't belong.' 'You aren't one of us.' I got kicked out of that dream and ever since then… I've been a little… off."

"When did you do it?" Liz pressed.

"Last week. Last Monday." Darin answered for him. "I had that dream. I got called into the headmaster's meeting room. Everyone there knew I was adopted and that I didn't belong in Adarma. They voted me out. My parents didn't even try to fight it."

"Rik told me he had a dream." Erika confirmed, hugging herself. "The school board had a meeting and they wanted him out. They didn't want our kind there to begin with."

"I think that since then… I've been connected to them both. Only I didn't know it was two of them and it explains a lot." Max clutched his heart. He ached. "They didn't know they had powers, didn't know how to use them. They were scared and instincts sprang up but they were weak and I… well, I was strong just a few days ago. They've been drawing off me and my supply of energy, channeling it into whatever's been going on." He looked to Ava. "Do you know how to shut it off? If Rik gets angry like that again… and soon… I won't be able to take it. This was an accident and I didn't tell anyone but Michael what's been going on."

"Because you knew I'd yell at you." Liz chided him.

"And I knew you'd worry." He tried to placate her.

"I think I can but I gotta… touch them too." Ava was still upset. She wouldn't look at Erika. Erika couldn't stop looking at Ava. So, Ava went another way. "Is that hers? My… dupe's kid?"

"Yeah, this is Darin." Max nudged the boy. "You remember what we said about your mother?" The boy nodded, barely. "Ava is her duplicate. If you wanted to know what she looked like… almost exactly like her."

"I'm not five. I can figure it out." Darin bit out but he stared at Ava. "So you know what my mother could do? Could she make people see things that weren't there or not see things that were?"

"My specialty."

"Just checking. I'm gonna go check on Rik."

"Honey, some help?" Erika reached for his hand. Together they climbed the stairs. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I was upstairs when it happened." Darin nodded. He had heard the commotion and bolted down the stairs but what had gotten his attention was the sudden tiredness before it had happened. If Max was connected to the two of them, the two of them could be connected through Max. He hadn't voiced it and Ava was going to fix it. Seeing her… He hadn't thought much about his mother but when Max had explained, briefly, that she was dead… he had accepted it. Then when Liz had explained everything, his curiosity was displaced because of Rik, because of Liz, because of everything. Downstairs was a carbon copy of his biological mother and he was curious. Damn curious.

"Lucky you. I feel like someone stuck their hand in my middle, wiggled it, then gripped real tight and tossed me against a wall." Erika kissed his head.

--

Ava watched them. Her competition hugging on Max's son. A decade and a half later the hurt was too real. She had seen her. That one club that Zan just had to go to once a month. Said he liked the scenery. Ava had seen them dancing. Had seen them sneak off. Then they didn't go to that club any more. A year later, she had gone back and SHE had been working there instead of dancing. Ava had forgotten about it for too long. "He said she was nothing to worry about."

Liz rocked her baby and looked to her friend. "He was trying to protect them."

"From me?"

"From everything."

"And how would you know?"

"Vision." Liz's eyes blanked out for a second as she remembered how it felt to have three tons of truck crushing her ribs to the pavement. To struggle with an arm just barely working to destroy the evidence of a life lived in duality. "I'm not the enemy."

"No." Ava sighed heavily. "I've got history with that girl. In the city a few years back… I recognized her… I… got her into some trouble with the boss at that club she works at. She don't remember seeing me there but I was there."

"She didn't know she stole him."

"God, how can he have a kid?" Ava stopped her ranting and looked to the staircase. There he was. Awake and not seeing but staring at them. Rik hadn't been out all that long. "Look at him. Looks just like him."

"His ears don't stick out as much." Liz shook her head. "Rik, you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just hungry." Rik shoved his hands in his pockets. His mother had been fussing the second she entered the room and he had to get out. He hadn't eaten lunch when Max brought to them and he blew up dinner. He was starved.

"Maybe you can scrape something together, Max?"

"I'm on it." Max motioned Rik to follow him. "You really okay?"

"I didn't mean to do that but what she said about my mom." Rik tried to apologize.

"It's okay. You were upset." The older man got to work fixing something edible from what they had left. "It's partly my fault. I didn't warn her. It's not something you say over the phone. And what you and I were talking about before she showed up."

"Can you trust her?"

"I do." Max took a seat with the food. "There is a lot happening very fast and I'm afraid that we're not going to get it all straightened out before the real shit gets stepped in. I trust Ava with my life, with my children's lives."

"Can anyone join?" Darin had appeared in the doorway.

"Sure. Sit. You didn't eat either." Max hopped up to fix another plate. "Like I was saying. Ava's just upset. If nothing else, she and Zan were best friends… more so than they were lovers."

"Can we not call my dad a lover, please? Aids in better digestion." Rik commented in mid-chew.

"None of us knows the score anymore, guys. Not even me. I'm still confounded by the fact that I went looking for one child and came away with two. Kivar, the bad guy, he knows about you." Max looked to his son. "He's seen you, he may have even held you. He knows about you. He wants you. Rik… you could actually be the one he's looking for, though. It's like I was saying earlier. You are the best of the children we have. You are old enough that you can look after yourself, that you can make decisions and you have the best cover."

"What about me?" Darin fiddled with his sandwich. "If I'm the one this Kivar guy wants."

"As long as I am alive, it's my decision." Max told him. "This is chaos. This uncertainty of whether we'll be on this planet tomorrow. I don't want either of you near Kivar but the day will come when we don't have a choice. This war could go down without a single human being made aware of it. Without any of us seeing the parts of our families that we've been removed from for so long."

"Like who?" Rik stopped eating. This was new information. More family?

"I was adopted when I was six, we think, straight out of the pods. Isabel and I have adopted parents." Max strained to keep the emotion out of his voice was it was impossible. "My mom and dad… I never appreciated them when I should have. They didn't know what I was until… Tess came home with you. Within a month, we were all gone. That month was the most painful and the most fulfilling of my life because as it turns out… my parents could love me even if I was an alien. The reason I gave you up… was because my parents gave me the strength to be me and I wanted that for you. To be away from all of this shit that has nearly destroyed my life on more than one occasion."

"You were adopted… I just never really thought about it. I thought maybe there were aliens that raised you." Darin stopped eating.

"My parents had brothers and sisters and nephews and nieces. A whole family out there that's tied to me by memories of growing up. Liz has parents, a couple of aunts, an uncle and a whole slew of cousins. Maria's got a mom, a cousin. Jesse's got a few cousins left. Kyle's dad died last year but he's got a mother out there somewhere that he hasn't seen since he was six. Michael… his foster parents are dead but… he met his human donor's daughter and his granddaughter. These people are out there. Ties to us. Reasons for us to protect this planet."

"My mom was an only child. My grampa's dead. I don't know where my gramma is… she left when Mom was little." Rik sniffed a little over his sandwich. "It doesn't seem cosmic when I'm worrying about whether or not my dad loved me… or what Ava being married to him means about my mom… but…"

"I know." Max nodded.

"Life is short." Darin whispered as he rearranged the items in his sandwich. "That's why you came for us. That's why you took in Isaiah. Life is too short to miss the people you love. To not have family. I've been a real brat about it."

"No. This is big. Too big and I didn't ask your permission and with your father…" Max took a deep breath. "It is expected that the two of you might not focus on the big picture. I'm not griping. I'm just trying to explain it all a little better than I have been. This is a load. It's right before the punch and that's going to hurt. As soon as Kal gets here or sends word, we have to move. We have to get somewhere innocent people won't get hurt."

"How does Kivar even know what anybody looks like?" Rik cut in. "He's never been to earth before."

"When Isabel got married, he was here, in way, and he met most of us, saw the rest of us. He took control of a helpless man and used him to manipulate Isabel home to him but Isabel didn't want that life. She wanted this one, with her husband… and now with her children." Max crossed his arms on the table. "The truth is… we never wanted this. Even knowing what we are and what we are for… none of us want it. It was laid on us… after we had already failed at it in another lifetime. We have it. Like it or not, it is ours… and therefore… yours."

"We don't want it either." Darin whispered. "I had a plan. Go to school. To college. Be… something. A lawyer, a lobbyist. Run for governor. Be something. Run for president but it turns out I wasn't even born on this planet much less this country." He threw down the remains of his sandwich and marched back up the stairs.

"He's only 14." Max whispered to himself.

"How old were you?" Rik polished off his dinner. "When you found out?"

"17. That's when we found it all out. About who we really were, where we come from. That was a… very unsettling year. I found out the truth, I found out about your father… I lost my greatest love… fell in with my worst enemy and I lost one of my best friends. In one year… almost to the day." Max looked to his nephew. "I just try as hard as I can everyday to make it up to Liz… for dragging her into this."

"She loves you." Rik sniffed. "That's what she uses when she does the calming thing she did on us. I didn't really feel it before because of the weight she laid on us but when she saw… whatever she did the day he died… I saw her." They sat in silence for a long time. People where coming and going, cleaning up messes but no one disturbed them. Lights went out and families retired for the night. Not everything revolved around this thing going on with Max and Darin and Rik. "I remember him a little. I get these images, feelings in my head when I think about him."

"I know… when you do it, I get a little dizzy. Ava's going to fix us… tomorrow probably so what happened tonight won't happen again. You learn to do it on your own with your own energy." Max nodded to him and started to rise from the table.

"You know… I think Ava is… justified. If she loved him as much as my mom loved him…" Rik bit his lip. "I remember him looking at my mom and I think… I really think he could have loved her as much back."

"Are you sure he didn't?"

"I wish it was something I could prove to her. She beats herself up over him every once in a while… but now… we know he didn't just take off. It was bigger and more important than us."

"Not more important, Rik." Max squeezed the young man's shoulder. "Not to him. Just more likely to get him and you killed."

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Part 13

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Part 13

Darin lay in bed for a long time after waking on that second day in the house. The grief pressed in on him at all sides but today he could breathe through it. Gregory Maples was dead. His father. He didn't want to believe it but it was true. It was almost as unbelievable as finding out that alien blood flowed through his veins. Aliens. He had never given the idea much thought. It did explain a few things but it was still such a foreign concept. The odds were so great. The chances of this particular solar system sustaining life on Earth were phenomenal. It was just right. Smallish planet, close proximity to the smallish Sun, with life thriving and one notable intellectual race but barely capable of breaking atmosphere to land on the moon. Earth was lucky to be alive.

Antar had better odds. It was part of a binary system that had many probably dozens of planets, of which, five were capable of sustaining life. That was minimum of one intellectual race. There were different species of intellectual beings that could build and operate craft that could travel at least near the speed of light to cross this section of the galaxy. If it were so simple… were there more life forms out there in this same galaxy? Did they also have the technology for extended space travel or were they like 8Earth? Lucky to be alive.

"Don't break your brain." Rik warned from the next bed. He head felt oddly empty. When he had awakened, he had the most depressing feeling of being alone with his mother two inches away. "You feel weird?"

"About what?" Darin blinked at the sound of his own voice. It sounded old but it wouldn't last. By noon he'd be back to cracking again.

"Just weird?"

"Thinking too much to feel much of anything."

"I think she fixed us last night." Rik didn't like the thought of Ava touching him while he was asleep and that was probably why they had done it that way. To keep him from knowing and to keep him from blowing something else up and possibly killing Max.

"Really?"

"Yeah." He sat up. "Hungry?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go." The duo made their way to the kitchen amidst people running around doing chores. Rik felt bad about not pitching in but they were on a mission just now. Breakfast or bust. They almost entered but there were three women sitting around the kitchen table… technically four. Liz rocked in her chair with her baby on one shoulder, sipping tea with her free hand. Ava stirred her coffee, eyes downcast… and Erika had her hands wrapped around a mug. They listened for a while.

"It's hard. I know it ain't your fault." Ava cleared her throat. "Your kid hit a nerve is all. Zan used to tell me everythin… before we was together, we would pick out his girls, you know? Girl shoppin. Then we was together and then… I don't know what he was… I don't know why he didn't think he could tell me."

"If he's anything like Max… he was overreacting." Liz shook her head.

"He did have a tendency to do that." Erika nodded

"It's not like I didn't know somethin'." Ava looked directly at Erika. "I just didn't know what was up his butt all the time. He stopped hangin' round after the party, you know? Goin' for walks, for fresh air… In New York, heh. We was hittin' the strangest places. It makes sense now but it sure as hell didn't then."

"I always wondered what he was hiding from me. I figured it was bad but I just figured maybe he was homeless or something… squatting somewhere he didn't want to show me… I never figured he was doing double duty with the responsibility."

"I always figured he'd be honest with me if he ever met someone that meant somethin to him." Ava's blue eyes were filled with tears that never fell. "I loved him somethin fierce. You don't know how it killed me to have that… epiphany that if he had the capacity to really love someone that it wouldn't be me." She laughed to herself. "I was 16 years old and I saw it in his eyes. He was passin time with me even if he didn't know it yet. I tried for a little bit to see if I could make him but… and maybe that's why he didn't tell me… He could be mean sometimes but he was never mean to me about the way I felt for him."

"I know what you mean. He could scare me with the way he treated people he thought would hurt me or Rik. Oh… the day I told him I had been seeing a doctor about prenatal and all that. He went off. For two seconds I thought he might hit me… but only for two seconds. It makes sense now. He wasn't angry. He was afraid but those were the longest two seconds of my life. When he touched me, I flinched and I watched his heart break. He was only going to touch my cheek and tell me to be careful." Erika blindly sipped her coffee.

"Zan would never hit a lady unless she started it."

"What?" Liz sat up.

"The girl was askin for it." Ava shook her head and chuckled. "She hit on him and he didn't bite and so she threw herself at him and he wouldn't. She slapped him and he took it but he didn't cave and he didn't say a word. He just stared at her with… disgust. She punched him and then she tried to kick him good. That was the last straw. He punched her. Not hard. Just enough to stun her and then he walked away. It was hilarious."

"That's awful." Liz shook her head and shifted her sleeping babe.

"That's Zan. He had this sense of humor that you had to experience to get."

"Yeah. I tried to explain something to my dad and he didn't get it. I told him and retold him and he just didn't get it. In one of the few good moments they had together… Zan said something and my dad laughed. It was the same thing but…" Erika laughed to herself. "Dad would think about it and laugh to himself and I would think… they would get along so well if only Zan would… get a job or get a place we could share… spend more time when my dad was home."

"He met your father?"

"He had to. My dad was going to throw me out and I guess moving me in with you guys wasn't an option."

Rik stared in disbelief. They were chatting like old friends. Darin got tired of eavesdropping and pushed open the door and waved to the table. "Got any food?"

"You're a regular bottomless pit. Is there a single moment in the day when one of us isn't feeding you?" Liz teased him and pointed to a plate of cinnamon rolls on the counter. "Help yourself."

"I'm a growing boy. I need lots of sugar and carbs." Darin offered one to Rik, who still hadn't fully entered the kitchen. The older boy took it but didn't eat it. "Anybody have any rousing stories of my mom?" He regretted it the moment it was out of his mouth but no one made him feel bad about it.

"I'm the wrong person but talk to Kyle. They used to hang together a lot." Liz smiled at him and tried to mean it.

"Hey there, lil Zan." Ava nodded to Rik and motioned him to the table. "Sorry bout last night but… Tempers and emotions runnin' high. No hard feelin's?"

"You could've woken us up to fix us." Rik bit out.

"Honey." Erika reached for him but he didn't budge. "It was safer to do it while everyone was asleep… because you were all asleep when it happened… right?"

"Yeah." Ava nodded and pulled and little pouch from a pocket. "Come on. Truce. I'll let you pick two pieces of his."

"What?" Rik stepped back.

"His things. I carry 'em 'round with me. After I got back to New York… I tracked down all his jewelry. Pawn shops, crime labs… people's houses sometimes. Some of the stuff was burnt pretty badly but I think I got it all fixed. Take a couple of pieces." She poured the jewelry out onto the table.

Rik recognized the hoop and one of the rings. "I can't just take them." He felt in his pocket. It was the only one he had. There were others but it was the only one he had on him. "Here."

She didn't take it at first so he set it on the table and took the hoop and the ring. He gave the ring to his mother for her thumb and he took out one of his earrings to put in the hoop. It was a long moment as Ava put away the rest of the pieces. Then her hand went to the picture. She stared at it and just like Max had done, she cried. "We never had pictures of ourselves. Thanks."

David picked at his roll. He felt a little useless and awkward. This moment wasn't one for him but Ava turned to him. She ran her hands over her face, erasing the makeup and tearstains, then over her hair. "She looked something like this when I saw her that time. Your mama looked like this."

She was beautiful. Angelic. Blue eyes, blonde hair and so soft. It explained some things. That time his hair curled in Seattle. That weird squint he sometimes got when he was upset. The hazel in his eyes when he was in a mood. Hints of his birth mother in his face. "Thank you for showing me."

"If you ever have questions about her powers, you can ask me." Ava promised and reached to squeeze his hand. "I almost forgot to tell you guys. It's been a lil crazy around here. Kal's on his way." They blinked at her. "It'll be a couple of days, yet. He's stuck in the city and he doesn't want us movin witout him."

"Morning." Isabel burst into the kitchen in that way she always had. Then the mood hit her. "Did I miss something?"

"Nah." Liz shook her head and gratefully handed her child to Erika so she could walk around. "How's the reunion coming?"

"Ah. Jesse's all talk. He says we'll take things slow but we never do. Three years is a long time but not the longest we've ever been apart." Isabel waved off her sister-in-law. "I'm just going to take a few things. Jesse and I want to take the kids on a picnic."

"Good." Liz nodded and watched Isabel whip together a load of fixings and look around. "Basket?"

"I'll cheat." Isabel grabbed a big bowl and a couple of dishrags. A wave of her hand had transformed them into a basket and cloth that she could pile everything else into. "See you later."

"Max wasn't kiddin' when he said that things've been rough…" Rik stared after her. "How do they got two kids if they don't see each other?"

"What?" Darin blinked. Had he missed something? What were they talking about?

"Don't worry about it. I'm good with the puzzles." Rik winked at the kid. "I've been listenin' to everythin' everyone's been sayin'. Aunt Isabel has two kids. 7 and four if I heard right. So what? They only see each other every few years and the result of the reunion is a kid… The kids never see their daddy or what?"

Liz leaned on the counter and debated on how or if she should answer that question. "Kind of. It was five years before they saw each other again. It was for a few days here and there over the course of a year and then we had to move again. Three years later, we came back through… They reunited… had a baby… and Jesse kept him so Isabel could be with us… one step ahead of the law."

"You mean…" Erika sat up straight. "But… a baby needs its mother."

"And a mother needs her baby." Liz nodded. "It was a tough decision but they felt it was best. Rather than move a baby all over the country… to let Jesse raise him in a stable environment. To do all the things that Isabel wanted to watch him do. Go to school and have friends… When we thought it was safe… we dropped her off. She spent a year and a half the last time, getting to know her son and having her daughter… that she left with Jesse. They only came up here last week."

"She's a good long distance mom, though." Ava cut in. "She calls on their birthdays even before they could talk. Dreamwalks every once in a while to make sure they're alright. Sends postcards from places we've been… out of order and long after we've left."

"You traveled with them?" Darin was fascinated by Ava. She seemed alright and she and his mother were pretty much the same person, right?

"For a bit." Liz smirked at her friend. "She gets wanderlust if she's with us for too long. Weird as it seems… I think we moved too slow for her sometimes."

"Sometimes." The blonde admitted with a smile.

--

"It's not Hogwarts, Maria." Michael bit out and Darin tried to contain a chuckle.

"A place with lessons for children out of the norm." Maria arched her eyebrow, picked up Kyle's youngest. "Play nice."

"It's not Hogwarts." He called after her. His daughter plopped onto his lap with her marbles. "Thanks."

"What are we doing with marbles?" Rik wanted to be outside, helping Max with… whatever Max was doing out there.

"You gotta learn some time." Michael nudged little Mandy. "Show them."

"Like this." She held out her hand, then waved her other hand over them. They all turned blue. Then one at a time she touched the marbles. Red, purple, pink and green. "You try."

"Just point and go?" Rik looked skeptically at his marbles.

"Try." Michael turned a few of Mandy's marbles into very complicated patterns. "The instincts are there and you've had some limited access to your powers. Just. Try."

"Try." Rik breathed over and studied his marbles. He thought about red. He wanted red marbles. Nothing happened when he waved his hand. He pointed. Darin did the same. Nothing.

"It's a molecular thing. You're changing the way the molecules are structured to reflect the colors."

"Yeah, that's instinctual." Rik snorted. After about ten minutes, he'd had it. He got up and stormed outside with his handful of marbles.

"You guys are probably just tired." Michael shrugged and kissed his daughter's head. "She's had nothing to do for weeks. She's getting better."

"Look." She changed the shape of her marbles into cubes.

"What if we're too old to learn?" Darin asked softly.

"Tell you what… I… was not so great at this stuff when I was your age. I didn't have any control… it takes practice. Just… don't push yourself too hard. You just get frustrated and that doesn't do anyone any good. Tell him when he wanders back." Michael swung Mandy around onto his back. "We got some stories to read. I'll be upstairs if you need me."

Darin shook the marbles in his hands before moving to a window to hold them to the light. He'd figure out how to do it.

--

Rik sat on the tree roots. Max raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything as he passed. He liked the tree. He wasn't used to seeing trees so big. He studied the marbles. If that little creep could change the marbles, so could he. That Mandy was a real pain in the ass. One of the marbles was real smoky. It reminded him of the night he and Steve nearly filled Steve's hall closet with smoke…

"Dude, I think I'm gonna vomit." Rik groaned even as he drug on his twentieth cigarette.

"No. You run out of here to vomit and you'll let all the smoke out." Steve shook his head but he looked a little green himself. "We'll take a break. You dizzy?"

"A little." They sat, inhaling their own second hand. "You think this is dangerous?"

"Don't know. You're the genius. What do you think?"

"Carbon monoxide poisoning, maybe."

"That bad?"

"Pass out, never wake up."

Steve responded by kicking the door open. "I'm too young and pretty to die."

Rik blinked at the marbles in his hand. They were all a smoky gray inside but clear around the edges. He saw the shadow of someone standing over him but he didn't look up. "Look at that. Reminds me of that time we nearly killed ourselves trying to see if we could fill up the hall closet with smoke."

Rik snapped his head up and there he was, blocking the sun with his big bald head. "Steve?"

"You know, that old guy told me some crazy stuff but I ain't believe it until now… Even with the quiet lady that wears the blankets on her head." Steve kept talking and Rik kept blinking at him. "There are some fine ladies in the house. They all spoken for?"

"Married… most of them." Rik got to his feet. "Are you here? Really here?"

"I'm standing here, aren't I." Steve turned in a circle, taking in the sights. "Middle of nowhere. You know… I got recruited by this old guy… said he needed someone he could trust to watch after this old lady. She don't talk much… or at all but she seems nice."

Rik turned to the house and Kal was standing on the porch next to a wheelchair. A small figure was seated, covered in a thin sheet.

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Part 14

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Part 14

Darin watched from the window. He could barely believe his eyes. That was Rik's friend. He hadn't heard a car drive up. He raced down to see what was going on and stopped on the porch. "Kal?"

"It's the runt." Kal turned to the boy and tilted his head suddenly in the direction of a covered figure. He turned to the figure for a moment. Darin could swear there was a hum in the air. Kal turned back to the boy. "I apologize if I was offensive. Her majesty likes to keep things proper."

"You couldn't warn us? Tell us what's going on?" Darin bit out. He pulled out his marbles and threw them into the grass. "I just want to go home and be with my mother."

"She's not your mother, kid."

"I'd rather be her son than a murderer's."

The hum grew in intensity. Kal turned to the figure. The hum seemed like it was trying to invade Darin's mind, pushing in at the corners. Then Max was there. "Kal. What's this?"

"Can everyone please be some kind of silent?" Kal held his hands out. "Max…" He seemed to bristle when the figure sat up. "King Zan, your highness, we've got an important diplomat from the Antarian summit arrived just to see you… and her grandchildren." The hum grew again and even Max took a step back. The figure was agitated. "Yes, your highness, grandchildren. You've got five."

"This is my mother?" Max stared at the covered figure.

"Your daughter has two children. You have a son-in-law. Two daughters-in-law, two children between them… and a adopted…" Kal paused. Darin supposed he was clarifying adoption to her. "An adopted son." The hum got loud again and Kal looked like he was berated once more. "Well they can't hear you, that's why I'm speaking English." The hum made Darin's ears ring briefly and it faded away. "Well, pardon me for being honest. Adjust your vocal cords. English isn't hard. It's like a disease, the easiest language in the universe to pick up." The hum was back in full force, even Max seemed to stagger. "You picked me, I didn't pick you. I'm not going to play Zan's stooge again. I'm here cause I have to be." The figure picked up a slender arm and slapped it against her armrest. "No! I wouldn't be on Kivar's side. If I wasn't encoded, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be here at all."

"Kal, go get Isabel. She's in the field with her family." Max jerked his head to the side.

"Gladly. Your mother is one… hell of a woman." Kal winced noticeably at the inquisitive hum. "It's a compliment in most circles, your highness." He was off the porch not a beat after his last word.

Max knelt next to the chair and gently removed the sheet. He had a tear in his eye when he looked over her ageless face. Large black eyes framed by short dark lashes. Fine, luminescent, silver hair fell from the peak of her elongated head in a thin braid. She had small curved indentations for ears and a small slit for a mouth. Darin couldn't help but stare. "Is she really your mother?"

"Biologically speaking, I suppose." Max took her hand in his. "I guess you're not the only one with questions about where he came from." Her fingers were long and tapered, no fingernails, no obvious knuckles. "Do you know who I am?"

Her other hand touched his face, he'd forgotten to shave that morning and her fingertips ran over the stubble. A finger ran down over the bump on his nose, then over an eyebrow, then lightly ran over his hair, pausing to pick out a clump of gray. A hum, more pleasant than before, reverberated in the air. Darin knew that hum. He'd never heard it before but when his mother fussed over a stray hair or some fuzz on his shirt, he felt the same thing as when this… woman hummed over Max. She made some strange gulping noises and then attempted to speak. "Do all humans mature so quickly? On Antar, you would just have begun to advance in age… if none of this tragedy had ever occurred."

"I'm afraid a human life span is much shorter than an Antarian." Max let her have free reign over him. "I think my human donor grayed prematurely, though." She seemed to chuckle. "Isabel will be excited to meet you. She's dreamed of this day since we hatched."

"These Earth appellations are strange. The attendant was designated Steve. You designate your sister by this alien… Isabel."

"My name is Max." Max turned to his son. "And this is Darin."

"Zan, young Zan." She held out her hand to the boy. "I witnessed this life enter existence. Such unsightly creatures, humans giving birth. When you emerged, I held you in my hands with new appreciation of human beauty. They secreted you away. Performed tests beyond their comprehension. They didn't know what I know. Human potential is just that. Potential. Antarian tests do not register potential, only existing energy. She took you, your mother. Evaded Kivar's men and absconded with my vessel. I was to come to Earth long ago."

Darin took her hand, it was warm. He had just expected her touch to be cold. "We met?"

"Your mother designated you Zan, after your father. Your mother… always leaking." When Max chuckled, she tilted her head at him. "Not leaking?"

"It's a technicality. Humans… leak… from different places at different times."

"Disgusting habits. I know." Darin could swear she was joking but he wasn't sure what constituted an alien joke. "From the ocular ducts."

"Crying." Max nodded sadly.

"From the mammary?"

"Lactating."

"Where is she?"

"She's gone." Max cleared his throat. "But my wife is in the house and I know she'll want to meet you… I have a daughter and a little boy."

Darin listened as Max explained as much as he could to her about his life on Earth. He turned his eyes to the tree. Rik and Steve were standing under it, smoking and watching them on the porch and staring off into the distance.

--

Rik turned to Steve when the sheet came off the alien. "Wow."

"Dude, I kinda knew but I never got to see." Steve gaped. He fumbled for his cigarette. "Let me tell you, man. Things have been just… fucked up since you took off."

"Dari know about any of this?"

"Nah. Right after you guys took off, that guy showed up. Dari was upset so she went home and I went to take care of the old lady." He rolled his shoulders and gave his cigarette to Rik. "Look… man… about Dari… we… really never meant to screw you over. I figured you'd meet some hot rich chick and that'd be the end of it." He sniffed. "You always said they were all over you."

Rik inhaled deeply. "Yeah… I was saving face. Most of those girls were too scared to talk to me… and the ones who weren't… they laughed at me."

"It's not like I had planned to… you know… we just… hung out a lot. You were always busy… and you know T." Steve nudged Rik. "Come on… we were in diapers together… we'll be friends longer than me and Dari will be together… and you know it."

"Yeah… you just… should have told me."

They stood in silence for a long time. "So… that guy… that your pops?"

"No. He's dead. That's my uncle." Rik's mind was reeling but the cigarette helped. "Lots of relatives in that house."

"I don't know why I'm here but near as I can figure… it's because you trust me. You went to me when they were after you and I got you out alive. That dude is all kinds of rude but… I agreed because you're like blood, man."

"Yeah." Rik accepted the handshake. Feelings were still hurt but he could deal. "Let's go play catch up."

--

The Queen mother sat quietly, absorbing everything. Her gaze lingered on Erika so long, Rik took his mother's hand. "Kal, I am weary."

"Kid, you mind?" Kal tapped Steve. "Find a bed for her."

Steve shrugged at Rik but rose to collect the old alien. Max motioned for him to sit. "I'll do it."

Michael paced until Max and his mother were out of earshot. "What happens now? Why is she here?"

"She has to identify all of you as who you are to the summit leaders when they get here. They're all coming but Kivar is already here and if he kills you all before they can be gathered… it's not going to be pretty." Kal caught the lemon when Liz tossed it at him. "This has been a long time coming. They departed not long after Tess got here."

"Why did it take so long?" Liz pressed.

"The Granilith has enough power to make a one way voyage in a matter of weeks. There was an experimental craft that she was supposed to use to come here to warn you all but… Tess stole it to save the kid. It would have been dangerous to attempt the voyage in that craft. Her highness left a few weeks later. She's been on Earth for about a year but she arrived just before Kivar did. Kivar murdered her guards and she's been on the run. She's weak and it's hastened the end of her life cycle. I found her by accident."

"It's taken 14 years to travel from Antar to Earth?" Liz calculated the distance. "That doesn’t make sense."

"All experimental technologies on the last fleet of ships headed for Earth. Some cautious leaps through space from what I understand… and a kind of gene therapy to allow her lungs to breathe this atmosphere. Human/Antarian hybrids on Antar are just a bit sluggish. Lethargic because the air is so thick but Antarians on Earth is a little trickier. I was groomed from birth to make this voyage and survive. I was experimented on so that she can spend her remaining years here with her children." Kal bit into his lemon.

Darin stared around the room. Everyone was dead serious. "Why does she have to identify us?"

"Because, kid… the Summit leaders had no proof that you'd be alive still. Max can't rule but he's got his line of succession. Kivar is bound to find you all and assassinate each and every one of you who is important enough. Even the boy." Kal pointed to Isaiah on Liz's leg. "Adopted or not. Max recognizes the boy as his son and so will be taken as such. Max passed it over but one of you two…" He pointed to Darin and Rik in turn. "You could take over in a heartbeat. If her highness says you are Max's son in the presence of the Summit, it's official."

"By that logic… Max could appoint me." Michael cleared his throat.

"No. You're already recognized as war commander. I'm saying that Steve has an equal shot at the throne if she so much as speaks his name in conjunction with Max's or hell, Zan. That's the important thing here." Kal took a seat to concentrate on his fruit.

"Why did you drag him into this?" Rik spoke up at last and Kal didn't answer. Rik cursed. "To throw them off, you son of a bitch."

"You see now, why we don't like him?" Max spoke up from the stairs. "The more the merrier, you said. He's been encoded to protect us. It improves his chances if there are a few targets who aren't important enough. Some human shields."

"Dude, your family's more fucked up than before." Steve hissed to Rik. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

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Part 15

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Part 15

Darin volunteered to help with the baby. Liz was packing up essential things she and her family would need. Max was busy coordinating vehicles and game plans. He felt the need to just get out of the way and he could handle the baby. She just sat there staring at stuff and sucking her binky. Big brown eyes staring… mostly at him. Out the window he could see Rik and Steve being the grunts they pretty much were. Luggage brought outside and they carried it to the specified set of wheels.

He didn't bother turning away when he heard the footsteps and wheels. Kal cleared his throat loudly and walked out. That guy had real problems. He acted like he hated everyone but he wouldn't leave. The wheels that moved on their own got his attention. It was Grandma Alien as he had silently dubbed her. She moved her chair by force of will to the table to gaze on the baby. Her large black eyes still creeped him out but at least they were fixed on Hannah instead of him. Hannah didn't seem to think there was anything unusual about Grandma Alien.

She made a lot of those gulping noises and her voice was much warmer and femininely deeper than the day before. "Once, our people were much like humans. Our bodies are still similar but do not operate the same any longer. We had instruments to aid us in taking care of babies but we've evolved so much. When I was young and healthy, I could not carry a child of this size for very long. I could hold her to me with my mind but not with my hands for very long at all. I am so physically weak now, I cannot hold my own body on its feet. This chair is a great aid."

"Our old are the same way sometimes."

"Our young are like you. Stubborn and willful."

Darin felt her smile rather than saw it. "Are we ugly to you?"

"I used to think so but the moment I laid eyes on you… after you were cleansed… I loved humans. I have no real gauge for handsome or beautiful yet but I love these visages of my children."

"Did you know my mother?"

"She's outside."

"No. She's not my mother. She didn't give birth to me." Darin protested.

"The Ava on Antar I know well. A lovely young one. Enchanted my Zan from the day they met. They were enamored of each other. I wanted so much to have descendants but there was no time. There were wars and he was gone much of their marriage."

"My mother, though. Tess. You were there when I was born. Did you speak to her?"

"I could see her soul was the same." Grandma Alien gazed on her older grandchild. "She was hurting. Her heart was broken. She didn't like to talk. She seemed to think she had done a disservice coming alone to Antar. I think it was safer considering what they were to do to you."

"Did she tell you why she went alone?"

"No. It made her so sad, she wouldn't talk."

"She killed someone."

"Lies."

"She did. A boy. He was 17 years old and he didn't do a thing to earn his death. I'm not sure she was sorry she did it." Darin just couldn't keep his mind off of that. "I'm 14. He was just a boy… like me."

"Ava would not harm anyone." Grandma Alien insisted. "Ask. Go outside and ask her."

"That Ava wouldn't… unless she had to. The Ava from Antar might not but Tess did. They aren't all the same people."

"The essence is the same."

"The essence is copied. I don't know how it works on Antar but on Earth… when you make a copy of something, it's not the same as the original. There are small additions and small subtractions. The differential climbs if the cloned item is living. Max isn't Zan and neither of them is your Zan. The same basic elements blended with a human being. I don't see any possible way for any of these people to be who you expect them to be."

"Perhaps you are correct. Some elements of Max and Isabel are not what I remember of my children… but some elements are precisely who my children continue to be."

"Maybe."

"I can't know anything about them that I don't remember. 25 year without me. They are indeed different but I am their mother and to me, they are the same. This Ava is not your mother but she could be. If she were your mother, I have no doubt she would kill for you… she would die for you. Through all that, she will love you."

"She's got her own life. I have my own life. I don't know Max. Tess and Max are just donors. Max is barely a person. They aren't parents to me… They are biological ancestors… much like you are to Max and Zan and Isabel and… whoever her clone was. Footnotes in creation."

"That may be so but science is not everything. My son was happy to see me. My daughter cried when I held her hand. They wanted to meet me." She challenged the boy. "If you can't love those who gave you life, you should respect them and their sacrifices." Grandma Alien dared the boy to speak with her eyes. He didn't, he felt a hum in his bones, dancing around his skull. Annoying but not intrusive. Then he found out why. "My children were ripped from me by powers out of my control long before they were should have been. I studied the occupants of 50 worlds and I chose this one myself. As unattractive as I found humans, as disgusting to me as their ways are… I felt it was best. The best world to hide them and to give them a chance to live in the known universe.

"Times on Earth have changed but I remain the same, so different are our ways. I cloned my children… such is forbidden but I took the risk of death than to see my husband's legacy end, trampled underfoot and erased from history by one such as Kivar. I gave part of myself, a piece of my body, to ensure their reborn lives. I sent them on experimental craft and across a galaxy… alone, with servants." She let loose a harsh bark which Darin suspected might have been her version of a laugh. "When I learned of the crash… I went against all my advisors' wishes and sent communicators to Earth so they might contact me when they were ready, if they survived at all. I gave all I had, all of my resources and possessions, to prepared studies to advance our technology. To find a way to bring them home."

Darin couldn't take his eyes from hers. He wasn't sure if she was forcing him or if he just couldn't. The hum was gone but her words were more human than they had been since she had arrived at the house. Her face seemed impassive but her voice carried so much. It almost suggested tears.

"I feared the worst for decades… and all of that dashed away the moment I saw your mother emerge from the Granilith in neutral territory. She programmed it for Larek's Antarian complex. There we met and waited the outcome. Kivar is an impatient ruler. Your initial test showed nothing. He ordered your death. While he petitioned custody to do so, I performed my own tests… I prepared myself to voyage to Earth in a questionable vessel. Your mother stole it to save your life. There was just one. My fleet gave chase. I used my own essence to guide jumps through the stars… 12 times. Each jump took a part of my life force. I was forced to rest months between jumps. Each jump risked the lives of two hundred of our loyal subjects on experimental technology. Each jump could have meant our deaths, young one. A year I spent on this forsaken planet, searching for my children, unable to leave a message anywhere for fear it would be intercepted. One by one my guard was killed off… murdered by Kivar and his army here on Earth.

"I've tainted myself to breathe in this filthy atmosphere so I would last long enough to find you all. I have more than proved my love. I am a dying one. Aged beyond my revolutions, unable to hold my youngest grandchild and I would do it all again… over and over if it means I can bask in their essences once more."

Darin didn't dare open his mouth to her.

"The highlights of my sacrifices, young one. Ask your father what sacrifices he's made for you. He has told me and he deserves your utmost respect for all he endured to ensure your safety when he was able. I should know… I have done the same."

Hannah rose from her carrier and hovered for a moment before she floated closer to Grandma Alien's body. Her hands touched the baby lightly but never made an attempt to hold her. Hannah just watched with those big brown eyes. "To see ones so full of life makes it all worth it. Worth it a thousand times over."

Darin felt ashamed of himself… but still a little angry. His father was dead. Dead. Had died saving their lives, without knowing what it was he died for. His mother was alone and grieving. Max… had only them on his side. Had only the great parents Darin had instead to keep hate from taking over. But then… Darin had never done anything to Max to make him mad or disappointed… or anything to make Max feel like a parent to a 14 year old boy. It was like starting over with a new parents… only he wanted his old parents back, too.

"Darin. Please take your sister." Grandma Alien spoke and Darin did as told. He wrapped his arms around Hannah and for a moment she was weightless and then suddenly her full weight rested in his arms. She made baby noises and Darin couldn't help it. He felt like a big brother. "You'll protect her the way my son protects his sister. Always."

--

Food. Rik grabbed the first sandwich he saw and bit it in half. He grabbed three more and headed for the door. He barely saw her out of the corner of his eye but he was in the kitchen for a reason. The mission was food or bust.

"Are you concealing yourself from me?" Old Lady Alien, his personal nickname for her.

Rik turned at the voice. She didn't sound like an old lady though. It was an ageless sort of voice, androgynous. "Not on purpose. Max has kept me busy, today."

"Are you frightened of me?"

"Not really." He shook his head. She made him uneasy. It was the eyes. No eyelids and all pupils. At least, that was his theory. They could be covers for thousands of tiny eyeballs… like a fly.

"Your companion spoke quite often of you. I feel like I know you but I've yet to spend time in your presence. He is very loyal."

"He's the best friend I've ever had." He took a seat near her chair so he could eat his sandwiches and set aside Steve's. "What do the men look like? Do they have hair like you?"

"Yes. It is not the physical that determines the gender. That is in the essence. I remember it was difficult to decide on finite genders for my children. Some of Zan's qualities were like those of a common human female but his essence screamed more of human man. It was the same with Vilandra. She was so aggressive for a female but it made sense. Together, they can be perfection… of course the more time they spend together, the more time they spend quarreling over miniscule and non-essential quandaries. A sibling bond that I believe transcends species.

"You are my first born grandchild and you are beautiful. Lovely. Lovely." Her chair rolled closer and her hands skated over his face and shoulders. "You put substance in your cranial follicles…" he nodded. "You stand your hair that way to scare off predators, I suppose?"

"Not really."

"You pierced your epidermis and colored it in various places. You don't do this to scare off those stronger than you? I've read of this. Bears try to make themselves appear larger to fend off predators. Ancient tribesmen pierce themselves with animal horns to prove bravery and strength. Why do you do it?"

"Self-expression."

"But you have the same mark as your companion. Steve."

"Yeah. We got them together."

"Is he your lover?"

"No!" Rik shouted but calmed himself. "no. We're just friends. We got that tattoo together because we… didn't ever want to forget that we were best friends."

"Were you afraid you would forget? Is that a human thing? Forgetting loved ones?"

"No. It's just… I was going to a new school and meeting new people… Different people from what I used to know. Sometimes… you just… grow up and apart and we didn't ever want to forget that we knew someone that well. I've known Steve since before my grandpa died."

"Maturing doesn't change who you are. It changes how you make decisions… hopefully makes it harder to do foolish things. Always follow your heart. If you love your friend, show him."

"We're not gay. Just friends." Rik pressed. He looked up when Max walked in from outside. "Can you explain to her?"

"Explain what?"

"He protests too much. He tells me that he and Steve are closer than anyone ever on this planet. They have corresponding badges of their love but…"

"We're not gay." Rik insisted. "I am a man and I'm looking for a woman. I promise. Steve has a woman… he has my woman, actually. Steve and I are not lovers."

Max coughed to hide a laugh. "Antarian is a very literal language, Rik. It may not be possible to dissuade her of this notion. Explaining what a human friendship is… it could be difficult. On Antar… the gender and homosexuality issues are quite… well… non-issues. It could be years before she fully understands that you and Steve aren't together in that way."

"They love each other so much. They will make each other so happy." Grandma Alien went on. "Will they make great-grandchildren?"

That was the last straw. Max burst out laughing. He could feel her laughter from outside and had to check it out. This was just too good. She had been making fun of him and Rik couldn't tell. Clearly Max had inherited his sense of humor from his mother.

"No! Max! Tell her! Why are you laughing? This isn't funny!"

"Calm down." Max coughed and tried to stop laughing but it was hard. "She's messing with you." He cleared his throat. "Take Steve some food. She knows you aren't gay. She was just having fun."

"Do not you have this tradition? Teasing your children? Isabel told me your surrogate mother did it quite often."

"She did." Max nodded. "Most of the time at my expense. Rik didn't know that's what you were doing."

"I didn't. She should laugh or snicker or somethin'." Rik banged out the back door to deliver food.

"I tried to laugh out loud. I may have startled your daughter."

"Maybe there are some limits to your cords." Max nodded and took hold of the wheelchair handles to wheel her back into the dining room, where Isabel was setting up her kids for a quick meal under the watch of their cousin. Jesse moved through with some of their bags.

"Perhaps." Her head turned to follow Jesse. "Her husband is very tall. Very tall."

"Well, she is a giant herself." Max whispered.

"Shut up." Isabel glared at him. "Least I didn't fall in love with a midget."

"Children." Their mother interrupted and rolled herself out of Max's hands. "I want to talk with my grandchildren."

"Are you really our grandma?" The oldest asked.

"Yes, eat your lunch." Isabel instructed. "Where are Michael and Maria?"

"Upstairs." Mandy bounded into the room. "Mommy and Daddy said I gotta come down here and play."

"Sit and eat, too." Isabel pointed to a chair but the kids kept on talking. Ignoring all efforts to get them settled.

"Are we leaving again?"

"Where are we going?"

"How come those boys gotta come?"

"Where did you come from, Grandma?"

"This is gross. I don't want it."

"Mama, pick me up."

"Uncle Max, where's my daddy?"

Darin turned around. Where did that extra kid come from? Isabel's two, Max's baby, Michael's daughter… Kyle's daughter? Isaiah. Valerie. The kids were coming out of the woodwork.

"So many young ones." Grandma Alien mused with a merry hum.

"Somebody rang the dinner bell." Max snorted and moved quickly to get kids seated with food.

"You look funny." It would be Kyle Junior who told the alien that.

"Yes, yes. You can look all you want as long as you eat." Max tickled the boy into a chair. "Darin, can you take Hannah off the table?" He passed out sandwiches and chips. "Roll call. Isaiah's here." Max kissed the boy's head. "Guerin child is here. Valerie, Kyle, Sara, Paula… all here."

"Eddie and Jenny." Isabel nodded.

"Hannah and Darin." Max pointed. "Rik and Steve outside. All accounted for?"

"I think so. Yeah." Isabel agreed.

"Go, you two have things to do." Erika burst into the room. "I've got mine all packed up. Go… finish what you have to. I've got them."

"I know you have been hiding from me."

Erika turned slowly to the old alien and didn't know what to say. She had been hiding from the alien.

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DMartinez
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Part 16

Post by DMartinez »

Part 16

Erika moved around the table making sure the little ones were fed. It had been so long since Rik was this little but she could keep up with Darin to help. She just couldn't seem to shake the eyes of the old lady. The kids didn't seem to think she was any different but being an adult, Erika was a little weirded out. Darin had been quiet. Helping when asked, staring outside every chance he got. Such a sad and confused boy. A whooping went on outside. When she turned, Rik and Steve were doing their victory dance. She just shook her head and moved around the room to see who needed what.

It was strange being around children so young. The oldest at the table was eight. Her son was first. Oldest. That was a little bit scary. Then Kyle popped into the room. He was a funny guy. He clapped twice. "All righty. Troops. Let's load up. That's the Valenti clan only. I want three girls and a boy on their feet now."

"Daddy, we're eating." Valerie rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Fine. Eat." Kyle sighed and picked up his little one to sit her on his lap. "Who made up this rule that you guys had to eat?"

"You did."

"Is that sass? Are you sassing your old man?"

"You're not old."

"Damn straight. Don't say damn." He pointed to his kids in turn. "Miss Erika." He nodded at her. "How are you getting along in the I know an alien club?"

"Fine, I think. As one of the newest members… um… I think I can safely say that I'm overwhelmed."

"You're in a more exclusive club as well. The I gave birth to an alien club."

"Oh, I don't know. That's a little harder to swallow. I mean… I never knew much about Zan and to suddenly find there's all this stuff. Wars and legacies and all different kinds of aliens." She shrugged. "I'm dealing."

"What do you mean? You did not know Zan well?" Grandma Alien spoke up at last. "I was told you are the mother of one of my grandchildren. The tall one without a sense of humor."

"We were together only… two years. Some of that was obligatory on his part."

"How do you mean?"

"I mean that I… dated him for a few weeks and then discovered myself with his child some time later." Erika met the woman's eyes. "If it weren't for Rik, I don't doubt he would have moved on to greener pastures."

"You don't believe that."

"Maybe not. Just something I tell myself when I think about him."

"Hey, you know…" Kyle started and shook his head. "If your Zan was anything like this Max… he probably loved you more than he ever said. Max doesn't fall in and out so quick. It took some major interference to break them up that time. I'm talking that whole three plotters make a conspiracy type of planning. I met them once. If they never knew about you it's because he was trying to keep you safe. I mean, his own sister."

"What are you talking about?" Grandma Alien spoke up. "How did Zan die?"

"His sister and best friend threw him under a truck." Darin answered her. "Because they wanted to go home and he didn't want to fight… he probably didn't want to go where he couldn't see Rik grow up."

"You're creepy when you do that. You do realize that, right?" Kyle told the kid and took his little one to wash up. "Creepier than his old man, I swear."

--

Max lit each cigarette in turn, keeping look out for their thwarters. "Okay, boys. Enjoy it. It'll be the last we have for a while. Once this is over, we quit. Okay?"

"Can try." Steve shrugged.

"We've been smokin' since we were… twelve?" Rik tried to remember.

"Ten maybe."

"You two have been smoking longer than I have." Max shook his head. "Let's finish loading up. I want to be out of here by sundown."

"Hey Uncle Max…" Rik lingered after Steve left to finish up a vehicle he had been loading up.

'Uncle?' Max turned back to the boy. "What's up?"

"What's gonna to happen?"

"Hopefully not much."

"There are more of us kids than there are adults that got powers… How are you gonna protect us all?"

"I'm sure we'll think of something." Max sent the boy on his way just as the boy's mother was approaching. "Erika… something wrong?"

"Aside from my boy smoking again?" She swatted the boy but kept approaching Max. "Kind of. Your… mother is kind of freaking out. Darin told her how Zan died and she's… making this noise."

"A noise?"

"We didn't notice at first but it's been growing. It's scared the kids. Kyle's with them now." Erika led him back into the house were the kids were all in the kitchen, away from Grandma Alien and Darin in the dining room. The hum in there was nearly unbearable. "I don't know what she's doing."

"She's grieving." Darin informed her, he looked particularly distressed by this.

"Mom…" Max knelt in front of the alien. "Mom… are you okay?" He was jerked back suddenly by a static-y hum. "Sh… sh… calm down."

"I didn't mean to say it. It just came out." Darin tried to help.

"It's okay." Max told him. "Go… talk to Liz."

"But I didn't mean to." The boy protested, sounding desperate.

"I'm not mad. Just. Go talk to Liz." Max turned back to his mother. "Sh… Sh… I can't understand you. Can you try to speak English?"

Darin only stood there a moment longer before he rushed out of the room and to find Liz. He found her packing the baby's things in the bedroom. "I didn't mean to."

"What?" Liz tilted her head at him. "Darin? What happened?"

"She was asking questions and the words just came out of my mouth." He backed against the wall. "I didn't mean to say anything. They just came out."

Liz put her hands on his shoulders. "Look at me, Darin. Who asked the questions?"

"The.. Her."

"Okay. What did she ask about?"

"Zan. How he died."

She nodded to herself. "Do you remember when we were in the kitchen? I was holding your hand and you were calm and I could talk to you?" He nodded that he remembered, it had only been a few days. "Then I was holding Rik's hand and I couldn't stop talking. I wanted to. I didn't want to see but I did and I couldn't stop talking. Remember that?"

"Yeah." Darin started to calm down. "Is that… what we do?"

"It's interesting." Liz guided him to sit on the bed. "My powers come from inside me. From this little brain I got. And your powers come from inside the little brain in there." She touched his head. "Some things are easier to do than others for me and for you it will be different. This is something you and I can share. I think it's an empathic ability but because of this alien energy inside us, it can get a little more specific. I see things. Visions."

"I hear things. Feel emotions."

"Yes, I feel them too. Part of the empathy. If you follow it, maybe you can get more."

"I heard his thoughts."

"Whose?"

"Zan's."

"Focus on it." Liz took his hand in hers and stroked gently. "Follow it, Darin. Just… go with it."

"He stole food and hid it in his bag when no one was watching. A night's worth of stealing could get a few days worth for them." Darin shut his eyes and just tried to decipher the thoughts. "He knew that they'd find out someday and he was trying to be careful. He waited until they were busy before he left. It was his favorite part of the day. They were both there. She was getting off of work and he was waking up and the old man was off to work. It was like playing house. He just wanted to be where he could always sneak away and see them. He… He… I'm losing it."

"Just relax. If you relax, it will just come."

"The prettiest he ever saw her was a couple of months after they found out she was pregnant. She was just barely showing. She was still getting sleep because they hadn't told her father yet and she had stopped drinking. When she slept, he could see the baby inside her, playing. A boy." Darin opened his eyes. "It's gone. How…?"

"How is it just gone?"

"How could I do that? Zan's dead."

"I have my theories. I can't get the visions of everyone that's dead, just aliens." Liz pulled the boy into her arms and rocked him slowly. "Sometimes I get random things. Rath or Lannie… sometimes Tess but I try not to focus on them. I never got one of Zan before the other day. They say everything is made up of energy and that the energy never dies, it just… keeps going. Changing and channeling into different things. I think that you and I have the ability to find that energy, wherever it's gone. Someday, we'll be able to focus it enough that it'll be like they never died."

"You think?"

"Maybe. Who knows, maybe one day you'll be strong enough to channel your father's energy. So you can feel him even though he's gone. You'll be able to feel just how much he loves you because that's a part of him… just like you could feel how much Zan loved Rik even though he's been gone for 15 years."

"I'm not sure I like this any better than the mind-warping."

"Come on. Let's go check on Max. He's probably in over his head trying to calm his mother down."

--

In the end, it took both Max and Isabel's constant reassurances that they loved each other to calm the elderly alien. They had to promise that they would never hurt each other. Grandma Alien rode with Isabel, Michael and Kal in one car. Kyle, Jesse and Maria had all the little ones in a van that was headed in the opposite direction. Everyone else was in the other van with Max.

Erika sat in the back seat next to her boys. Liz and Ava sat in the middle and Darin rode with Max up front. Liz kept fidgeting. It was the first time she'd been away from her baby since she was born. Away from Isaiah since they'd left Seattle. Maria, Jesse and Kyle could handle them all but Liz still worried. The ride was quiet because everyone knew what was going to happen. They would rush to meet the Summit but they might not make it and if they did, Kivar could already be there. They might not make it out alive.

"Are you scared?" Max asked his son. The boy shrugged. "I meant… about what you did in the house?"

"I don't know. It's weird but Liz and I talked. I guess I'm okay with it. Maybe later we'll have time to practice it." Darin shrugged.

"Maybe." Max tried to hold in a smile but the corners of his mouth curved up. "You know, I was an okay student in school. Never got grades too high because I didn't want to get special recognition. Anything that might call attention to me."

"Did it work?"

"Kind of. I took two math courses concurrently one year and I ended up on a stage with some honor students. It was a little embarrassing."

"I love that stuff. Knowing that I can do everything. Knowing that it can take me places." Darin looked out the window. "My dad worked on Wall Street. My mom ran all the charities for the country club."

"Sounds nice. I'm glad you had that. My dad was a lawyer. My mom… well, she was all over the place."

"Aw. They's bondin'." Ava shot Liz a look and gagged. Liz snickered. She shouldn't help herself. Ava could always take her mind off her worries. Both women turned when a teenaged face popped up between them. "Can I help you?"

"You spoken for?" Steve asked her, eyebrows wagging.

"You." Erika smacked the boy. "Sit down."

"Sugar, you're sweet but I ain't goin'a jail." Ava kissed his cheek. "But you look me up when you turn 21."

"Don't encourage him." Erika sighed. "What am I going to do with you, boy?" He settled back into his seat. "You're breakin' more hearts than I can count."

"Yeah, you got a girl." Rik reminded him. "My girl."

"You ain't gon let that go? I'm sorry. If you want, I'll break it off when we get back. She might have moved on since she ain't heard from me in so long." Steve rubbed his head. He felt really bad about that.

"If you care about her, go ahead." Rik shrugged. It wasn't important anymore. It still stung but it didn't matter. "Hey Uncle Max… could you do that thing I did back at the house? The thing I didn't mean to do?"

"Not quite like that." Max called back. "With me, it's more focused. A forward moving type of thing. I've never been the epicenter of a leveling force like that."

"Zan could do that." Ava nodded to herself. "He didn't like to do it."

"If you and Zan were the same, how come you didn't have the same powers?" Rik furrowed his brow. He had been over it. There were things that Max could do that Darin couldn't do but Rik could and things that Darin could do but Max couldn't and still some that neither boy could do.

"It's like…" Ava started. "Tess and I was the same. We looked the same. We had most of the same powers, I think. The mindwarp being the big thing… but we grew up like different people. She had that fireball thing. I could probably do it but not that well. What I do that she could just a little is understand people. She manipulated people with it. I influence people a little more subtly than that. I don't have to talk to people. I just have to look at them." She turned to Erika and took a deep breath. "Like I seen you before with Zan but I didn't know everything. So I got jealous and I made your boss fall for you…"

Erika blinked at the blond. That was years ago. "You mean Ernie? I nearly got fired. He harassed me for months. They finally had to give him an ultimatum and he had to quit and he still didn't stop calling me for months after that."

"Sorry. My bad." Ava looked to Liz, but didn't look for sympathy there. "What I mean is… we was cooked up slightly different from each other. Rath could touch a girl and she'd be all over him."

"Michael just flirts… a little. A look, a word. Girls fall all over him." Liz supplied to corroborate what Ava was getting at. "I can't tell you how many free stays we've gotten out of him… of course, Maria hates it. She's the only one that flirting doesn't seem to work on."

"Aunt Isabel?" Darin pressed.

"I don't know. Ava?" Max turned slightly.

"Lannie could mindrape. She didn't have to touch you unless you were an alien." The tiny blonde shuddered. She didn't like talking about Lannie.

"Isabel gets involuntary stuff from alien-related people. Her dreams take her places sometimes that she doesn't direct them." Liz filled in.

"So, like twins aren't identical in personality, your clones aren't completely identical." Darin sighed heavily.

"Right." Max nodded. It seemed right. "Did Zan have a shield?"

"Something like it. I mean… He could deflect stuff like nobody's business but I don’t think it was like yours." Ava shook her head sadly. "Maybe that's why he couldn't save himself."

"What happened to his body?" Erika asked out of the blue.

"Cremated, I guess. Whatever they do for John Does." Ava shrugged. "We didn't stick around to find out."

--

Rik stared at the patch of moonlight on the seat in front of him. Everyone but Max was asleep as they kept driving. He still had no clue where but they kept following the car in front of them. Maybe Kal or the alien knew where they were going. It was that place between awake and sleep. Dozing but heavier. "Where are you?"

"Waitin' for you to show up."

"Are you there already?"

"Not quite. Jeez. You got tall."

"Don't know why you're surprised. You were this tall."

"I guess I was."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Didn't want you in this."

"Were you gonna come to Thanksgiving?"

"I thought bout it. I guess I meant to. I had to lay low. I know what you did, Kid. I'ma slap my genes right outta ya."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Sweetie. You're talking to yourself." Erika mumbled, shaking her son slightly to get him to wake up just a bit.

"What?" Rik sat up straight. He was in the van still. Where had he been just then? His breaths came unevenly. Was he sweating?

--

Darin shifted against the head rest, his head flopping from side to side as the van went over potholes. He felt her arms around him and settled in deeper. She rocked him back and forth while she hummed. "That's it. Just go to sleep, my baby."

"I remember this."

"Of course you do."

"You always smelled pretty."

"My baby all grown, practically. He's got no use for me anymore."

"Am I taller than you already?"

"Looks like it. You know that I'd kill for you, right?"

"You don't have to."

"But I will. Wake up. It's time to go."

"What?"

"I said, wake up, Darin. You're dreaming." Max rubbed the boy's back. Darin rolled over to look at his father. "You okay?"

"Did you used to sing to me?"

"No… I think that's something I wasn't allowed to do. My voice makes dogs bark." Max shook his head. "What were you dreaming?"

"Just singing a ballad for dead friends…" Darin murmured as he drifted off.

"What?" Max stared at the boy but he was already asleep again.

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DMartinez
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Part 17

Post by DMartinez »

Part 17

Dawn crept into the windows just as the cars were pulling into a motel. Darin rolled down the window when Max shot out to talk to Michael. "Did you see it?"

"Yeah, I saw it." Max nodded. "They're here, I'm sure of it."

"It means those are going to disappear on us." Kal jerked his head to the van, meaning the humans.

"Just Erika and Steve for a little while. Everyone else should be fine." Max eyed the motel, warily. It didn’t look like the Bates motel or anything out of the Shining, it just looked void of humans. "Think they're inside?"

"If they've used a dimension dampener, they're ready. They saw us coming." Kal pulled the wheelchair out of the car and set the Queen mother in it. "Now we just have to go in and see what they want."

Rik took his mother's hand and followed Kal to the motel doors. Max reached for Liz's hand. Isabel took a deep breath and followed. Ava and Michael walked abreast, leaving Steve feeling pretty useless as he brought up the rear, nudging Darin ahead of him. The procession found the outdoor pool was surrounded by puppets. They were seated on lawn furniture at the pool's edge, watching expectantly. They were different puppets from the last Summit, which strangely put Max at ease not having to talk through Brody.

"Max, you've not changed much." One addressed him. "Please, take a seat. We were just getting started."

"I take you to be Larek." Max pulled a seat to the concrete ledge and his mother was wheeled into place beside him. Darin just hung back. It was eerie. These people weren't themselves, their manners didn't match their appearances. Everyone got themselves seated with a view but the proceedings never stopped. "I understand that Kivar has used up his last chance."

"You would be correct. It has been some time for us but for you, he is newly on Earth. When your bride left us and your mother followed suit, Kivar took the remainder of Antar's resources, squandering them on travel technologies. He left the world a dying place. Citizens are trapped in their homes to conserve energy. Many have evacuated and sought refuge on our planets… others have… frozen to death on the roads. These last 14 Earth years have left Antar in limbo with no one to claim her or to save her as everyone with her best interests in mind are here on Earth."

"Kivar stole some sensitive technologies from my scientists." The outburst came from across the pool. Kathana.

"What kind of technology?" Max asked.

"Sensitive projects." Kathana crossed her arms and looked away.

"The matter is none of your concern. You refused our help the last time, Zan." Hanar still had that bug up his ass but Max wouldn't let him clam up.

"That is the reason that I am here." Grandma alien spoke up, realizing that her true voice could not be heard through the human ears of the puppets.

"Bada. You look ill."

"I am ill." Bada, as it turned out was her name, sat up straighter. "Your poison did this to me."

"You agreed. I told you that it was dangerous." Hanar snapped back.

"Enough." Larek leaned forward in his seat. "Has the line been continued?"

"Zan." Bada gestured to Darin. "You've met him… my second grandchild. The first… Rik." She motioned to the boy standing with his mother. "I have others. All very young. These two are the oldest." She waited as the other Summit members murmured amongst themselves. "My Zan, Max as he is called, must speak for Rik until Rik is old enough to rule."

"What?" Rik hissed to his mother. This was all going so very fast. Rik felt as if all the sleeping he’d done in the van wasn’t enough. He felt dizzy.

"I always knew that loophole would bite us in the ass." Hanar muttered.

"Max cannot speak for a child that is not his." A voice boomed from the entrance. "We challenge the parentage." Kivar, and he was not alone. The tall alien wore a robe to conceal his slender body, silver hair falling loosely from the crown of his head. His journey had left him with more energy than Bada. His four companions were all cloaked, hoods hiding bowed heads. They looked like participants in a Stars Wars convention, who actually were Jedi. Max didn’t let the guise fool him, these were probably Kivar’s assassins. The murderers set on his mother's guard upon her arrival on Earth. "If this Rik is really Max's son, he'll carry the seal. Max will be able to bring out the seal. Rik must be verified."

"You have some nerve." Kathana bellowed from her seat. "Have you any idea how many of your people have demanded asylum in the last decade and a half? Stealing my hard work and throwing it away like this. You should be murdered while you sleep for what you've done with my work."

"And I thank you, it worked quite well and I needed not defile myself like her ladyship." The alien was rather well-spoken and loud for his form. Apparently he had had more practice than Bada at hiding in plain sight. "I demand verification."

Steve leaned over to Erika and hissed quietly. “I thought she could name anyone to this thing.”

“She can but they have the right to verify and reject as they see fit.” Michael muttered to them. “Keep quiet.” Then he moved closer to the pool.

"Do it." Sero waved them off.

"Uncle Max." Rik hissed. He was panicking. His face felt so hot he thought he might pass out. "What are they talking about?"

"Do it." Hanar sat back.

Kathana seemed to debate with herself for a moment. "Do it."

"We are out-numbered, Max." Larek gestured for him to begin. "Verify."

Max got to his feet and motioned Rik closer. Maybe he could do it. He and Zan were clones. Rik was bound to have the seal. The boy edged away from his mother slowly and stood at the pool's edge with Max. The man's hands covered the top of his head. Max whispered a few reassuring words and told him to hold still. A rush of energy ran through his head and when Max released his forehead, it tingled. Rik had definitely felt something happen but a murmur went up around the pool. They didn't seem pleased. Max sagged slightly. He looked apologetic.

"If I produce the seal with my resources, I speak for Antar. Agreed?" Kivar addressed the Summit leaders who couldn’t find an argument against it. He waved his hand and a cloaked figure rounded the pool with long strides, not so gently brushing Max aside, and approached the tall teen. They were about the same height but the face was hidden in the shadow of the cloak. Rik held still as a hand was lifted to the back of his head. The same feeling occurred but this time a bright light erupted from his forehead and a swirling of stars flew before his eyes. They formed a V and the point glowed the brightest.

"Max!" Michael and Kal blurted before the figure took his hand back and pulled off his hood. The stars vanished and all focus was on the lightly bearded face of the deceased king clone.

"Zan." Ava gasped and nearly fell on Liz in her surprise.

"Zan?" Erika took a step forward. Her hungry eyes ran all over him. He didn’t look like he had aged much since she’d last laid eyes on him. Had Max and Ava really been wrong about what had happened to him?

Zan’s eyes swung to her and a myriad of emotions crossed the orbs before they refocused on the boy in front of him. "This is my son."

"And who are you?" Larek peered at the man closer.

"I'm Zan." He turned to look at Max. "The real Zan."

"But you died." Max blurted out. "I've got a witness. Someone who saw you die."

"I heard you died, too." Zan smirked, pulling Rik with him as he backed his way toward Kivar. Rik was so stunned, he couldn't fight but he kept trying to talk to his mother. His mind was reeling. This guy even smelled like his father.

"There cannot be two of them." Larek got to his feet, upsetting the furniture beside him. "Zan must be verified. I demand it."

“Just because you are Zan were friends doesn’t make him your problem anymore, Larek.” Hanar snarled.

Darin stared at his father. That Zan was walking away with Rik and Max was letting him. “Max!” Max flinched but didn’t turn. Erika was in shock, reaching for Darin with one hand and reaching her son with the other. “Dad!” It was like Max wasn’t listening. Liz seemed to be pleading with him, her eyes boring into her husband’s head.

“I challenge his biology.” Max blurted out. “Two clones or not… That Zan died before the last Summit. I was verified. Why would Zan ever side with Kivar?”

“He’s got a point.” Larek leapt on Max’s point. “I want one of them disqualified.”

“Which one?” Sero grumbled. He had been quiet all this time but seemed like he needed this to be over.

“Does the lady have enough strength to verify?” Hanar tapped the arm of the wrought iron chair impatiently.

“No.” Bada whispered. “I do not. Verifying will kill me. My servant Kal found me in a sorry state. He has led me to my son and daughter. Max is my son.”

“And this other?”

Bada looked long and hard at the clone. His eyes seemed to be fighting themselves. He looked like Max. Like the picture of Zan that Ava had shown her. Her DNA screamed at her that this man was her son every bit as much as Max was. Still, something was wrong with him. He was siding with Kivar and the Zan she raised would have never done such a thing. “He is an abomination.”

“You are one to talk about abominations, old lady.” Kivar barked at her.

“If you had not threatened my grandson, all of this could have been avoided. He was a baby. Too young to be a threat. Because of you, she ran. None of us would have to be here.”

“Don’t I get a say?” Rik yanked his arm out of Zan’s grasp. “And don’t you ever say anything?” His face felt so hot and he thought he was going to be sick but he couldn’t stop talking. His eyes roamed over the face of his father, unaged after 15 years. “Or do you only speak when Kivar lets you.” Zan looked like he wanted to say something but his mouth didn’t open. “Dad!” The mouth opened but no words passed the lips. “I challenge! I challenge!”

“Challenge what?” Larek turned to the boy. If the boy said the right thing, this could be settled. No one had been chosen to speak for the boy yet. The boy was the only one who had been verified and young or not, he was the Antarian speaker.

“This Zan’s free will. I don’t think he’s able to control his actions. He’s being puppeted by Kivar.” Rik really felt sick but he just couldn't keep anything to himself.

“Prove it.” Kivar bit out. He looked so much more threatening than Bada though their faces were indistinguishable.

“We’ll need some proof of so strong an accusation.” Larek led the boy some more, praying the boy was as smart as he seemed.

“I can think for myself.” Zan choked out the words. They didn’t sound natural to Rik’s ears. “I speak for myself too.”

“When I was two, you told my mom you’d buy her something. What was it?” Rik stared at his father and the man seemed to want to say something but his words weren’t coming as naturally as they could have.

“Fruit.”

“What kind?”

“Fruit.”

“What kind? Which fruit?” The boy pressed. Kivar’s hands twitched slightly and one reached for Zan’s shoulder but the man was slightly out of reach. “Fine. New question. What did you tell me about these?” Rik pulled a cigarette from his pocket. Recognition flared in Zan’s eyes but Kivar kept reaching for the king.

Then Darin raced to the edge of the pool. He could feel her. His dream was real. He could smell her. Unable to put into words what he needed to say, he began to hum. Max turned. He remembered that song. When he turned back to the clones, one of the other hooded figures staggered, reaching for a ledge to catch itself. Its head lifted and turned to hear the humming better. After a long moment, it straightened and tried to cross to Darin but Kivar reached out and caught its arm. “Stay here.”

“What did you say to me about these?” Rik snapped his fingers and a flame appeared, just like Michael did that first day in the bed and breakfast. He lit the cigarette and took a deep, long draw. He blew the smoke in Zan’s face. “What did you say?”

The hooded figure in Kivar’s grasp half-heartedly tried to pull its arm free. Then it let out a loud feminine sob. Max stared in horror as the hood started to slip off of her head. The Summit leaders could do nothing but watch as it all began to fall apart. She hummed because her mouth wouldn’t open. She sobbed because she was emotional. She tried to pull free but her muscles wouldn’t fully cooperate.

“I’m…” Zan got the word out as Rik was taking a second puff.

“You’re what?” Rik taunted him, blowing the smoke up his nose. “What?”

Zan clenched his jaw, then lifted his chin as he forced his hand up and closed it around Rik’s. He forced the cigarette from the boy’s hand and put it to his own lips. He took a long, deep pull and let out the smoke in a thin but accurate breath that forced Rik to cough. “’F’I eva ketch you wit one a dese agin… I’ma slap my genes right outta ya.”

Then Tess broke Kivar’s hold with a mighty shove. “Zan!” Curly hair flew around her face as she had to escape his quick recapture of her arm. “Zan!” Tess looked like she was still a teenager. She clawed at his hand, drawing dark blood from his flesh. “Zan!”

“Mom?” Darin stared at her. She was dead but there she was fighting off Kivar. Ava saw it and shoved Liz toward the pool. Tess was pissed. “Mom?” Max grabbed the boy and dove with him into the pool. Several splashes around them, signaled that everyone who still had their wits about them were doing the same.

“I can’t swim.” Erika told Steve even as they both jumped in. Zan grabbed Rik and they fell into the pool. The other hooded figures dove in, leaving Kivar wondering what was happening until Tess took a deep breath and let it out in a big huff and an enormous wave of energy that materialized as a fireball. To keep their hosts alive, the Summit leaders leapt into the pool just as the heat reached them. Muffled sounds reached the ears of the submerged summit members. None of it sounded good and they were each loathe to be the first to come up for air.

When Max could hold his breath no longer, he broke the surface, gasping for air. Others around him were doing the same. The pool was crowded with eighteen bodies. Each of them reached for someone else. There at the edge of the pool knelt Tess. Max remembered that look on her face well. Calmly, he reached for Liz with one hand and Darin with the other and moved them all to the stricken blonde. She looked about to vomit into the pool. Her mouth started to move when Max reached the ledge. “I couldn’t let him take our son. He would have. He would have. He would have taken Zan and killed him.”

“I know.” Max nodded and looked up into her face. “Are you okay?”

“I think so.” She turned her head and the alien lay writhing in pain. His flesh had taken on a mottled texture. Kivar couldn’t speak English any longer but Max could feel that the dictator was desperate to have his head. “He… Max… why are you so old?” Her fingers brushed a gray strand back from his face. Her eyes turned to Darin. “Why is he so old, Max? Where have I been?” Her hands fluttered as they reached for him. “I thought I was dreaming. I was holding you and…”

“You were singing to me.” Darin nodded. “I dreamt it too.”

“You knew what I was going to do.” Tess still looked like she was going to vomit. Her words came thick and rushed. “You knew before I knew where you were. You knew I would do this again. I’ve only done it once before.”

“Twice.” Liz told her. “This is the third.”

“Third?” Tess didn’t even look at her old rival. “Three times? Why is everyone so old?” Her hands shook on Darin’s face. “You were so little still when I left. How are you so old?”

A pair of gasping figures struggled against their robes to get out of the pool. Lannie and Rath. They looked wiped and non-threatening for the moment. Kal pulled himself and Bada from the pool. The Summit leaders were also emerging, muttering to themselves. Michael and Isabel kept her eyes on their dupes as they caught their breaths. Rik and Steve hung from the pool’s ledge in the deep end. Ava touched Zan’s face with tears running down her face. He just stared back at her. Rik looked around. “Mom?”

Zan’s head snapped around. He looked his son and looked to the boy’s friend. Then he dove beneath the water. She was so still where she lay at the bottom of the pool. Everyone turned to watch. Liz’s hand covered her mouth, her eyes wide. Darin turned from his mother. “Erika?”

“Mom.” Rik whispered and pushed himself out of the pool to round the patio to where Zan was coming up with the still body. “Mom…” He helped pull her out and Steve was there helping to lay her out while Zan got himself in a position to help. “Momma…”

“Erika… Baby?” Zan pushed on her chest. Steve blew in her mouth. “Why’d you let her jump in?”

“Did you see what that lady did? We would have all died.” Steve hissed while he gathered his breath.

“She ain’t neva been swimmin’.” Zan pushed and pushed. Rik felt so helpless. Steve was right. If they had stayed on deck, they could have died. Jumping in the pool was the only way. “I always meant to take her.”

Rik didn’t even think. He shoved Zan out of the way and rolled his mother onto her side. He put a hand on her back and visualized every movie he had ever seen where the day was saved and the girl lived. He went all the way back. The Abyss. He couldn’t think. He had to do. Just like with the marbles. Then the gurgling came. Water came gushing out of her mouth. Then the gasp. Zan rushed in to place a hand on her ribs, to ease the chill, to make the breathing easier.

“Can we settle this already?” Hanar snarled. The man he puppeted wrung out his toupee and replaced it on his head.

“Your manners have always been deplorable.” Bada griped as Kal got her seated upright. “It is obvious that Kivar used your technology to attempt a coup. He’s resurrected four beings with what he stole from you. All of them were dead before Kivar arrived. They have been used against their will.”

“What’s the year?” Zan called out, tears rolling down his cheeks as he watched his son hug his mother.

“2015.” Rik told him, softly.

“15 years? I been gone for 14 years?” Zan fell back, breathing heavily.

“Who speaks for Antar?” Sero pressed gently.

“I speak.” Max pulled himself out of the pool. “They’ll get dried off and better soon. I will speak on behalf of our people. I’ve been recognized and I don’t think this Zan will challenge any further… will you.”

“No. Go. Speak.” Zan waved him off. He had other things on his mind.

TBC
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DMartinez
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Part 18

Post by DMartinez »

AN: All caught up now. I'm working on this stuff, I swear. I realize there will still be huge questions after this part but please bear with me. There was a lot of stuff in this part.

Part 18

Darin watched from the bed where he sat with his mother. If he had had any doubts about where he belonged, those were erased the moment she had put her arms around him back at the pool in that motel. As soon as Ava had her wits about her, she had loaded all humans and half-humans into the van and headed out of range of the dimensional dampener. The last thing they needed was for Erika to vanish and catch pneumonia because of the dampening field. Ava put herself in charge of making Zan comfortable. Making sure Zan had everything he needed. Nothing to upset Zan. But Zan didn't want to leave Erika… and that was okay too.

Liz paced the room like a caged tiger. She kept glancing at the bed as if Tess were going to just sit up and start killing. However she was alive, she had remembered him and had in her need to protect him, killed their enemy… or at least, left him dying. Darin had had to step over Kivar to get out of the pool and the sight of the dying alien had left the boy a little nauseous. Tess appeared to be just five years older than her own son. She had fallen asleep humming to him, holding him against her. Darin felt bad for allowing it. Liz was clearly not going to leave him alone with her. He liked Liz but this was his mother. The woman who had given birth to him on an alien planet… who had killed Liz's best friend.

Darin watched Liz from half-closed eyes. She looked like she was going to be sick. She kept one hand on her stomach and the other either on her head or at the small of her back. She'd pause at the end of the room, rock on the heels of her feet, turn, then pace the other way. "You look like your mother when you do that."

"What?" Liz paused and looked at him, her worried brown eyes wide. "What did you say?"

"I don't know." He shook his head, suddenly wishing he hadn't said anything at all. That ability was getting very much annoying since he couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut. "She's not going to hurt me."

Liz barely smiled at him. "Sweetie, it's not you that I'm worried about."

"Hannah and Isaiah."

"Yeah." She sat on the end of the bed. "This is not ever something I contemplated… especially not like this. By now, I'm convinced that she would never hurt you. She proved that today. She may have sacrificed herself for all of us but I can't… just starting trusting her after what she did."

"She killed your friend."

"She says it was an accident but she should have never started doing what she did to him. She lied to your dad." Liz touched Darin's hand. Calming him though he could feel she wasn't calm herself. "Made him think he was connecting to you in the womb, that you were dying so that he would find a way home." She squeezed his hand. There were tears in her eyes. "I don't want you to hate her. That… is… that would be very bad but understand that I cannot be as trusting of her as you can."

When her hand pulled away, green sparkles crackled up her arms. Darin's eyes widened. "Liz?"

"It's okay. It happens when I'm stressed out. It'll be okay." She pulled her hands into her sweater.

--

Rik found more blankets for his mother. She lay in a bed with tons of pillows. Zan never left her side. He held her hand and stared at her. Then he peered closer at the hand he held. His ring on her thumb. He looked up at his son. "You got tall."

"Happens when you grow up."

"I was gonna stop by with some oranges." Zan's voice caught as he explained. Most of his memories were vague but that week was crystal clear. "We was gonna sit down to Thanksgiving like a real family… I was gonna bring Ava."

"You was?" Ava spoke up from her post in the doorway. She had her attention divided between her lost lover, the boy dozing on the hotel suite couch and Liz pacing in the other room.

"I wanted you to see him." Zan's breath caught for the millionth time since he had awakened from his manipulated sleepwalk. "I wanted to trust you because we couldn't do it alone anymore." Tears shone in his eyes. "He was so sick when he was born. It was too early. I was there helpin' him and no one found out… but I wanted you to see what I made." He gestured to the boy moving around, trying to keep busy. Busy trying to ignore the fact that his dead father was sitting next to the bed. "Look at 'im."

"I seen him." Ava nodded to the boy. "Me and him had it out, already. We's cool now. And that one." She nodded to Erika. "She's nice. We get along."

"Yeah." He sighed heavily, the tears threatening to fall. "He ain't little no more. You shoulda seen him when he was little and runnin' all over the place. I could watch that all day… I think he hate me, now."

"I think he did for a while." Ava offered him a small smile. "I did for a while. Leavin' me the way you did." Her face crumpled for a second but she swiftly regained her composure. "We got over it. I mean… I wish I had known before showin' up for all this shit but maybe you was right. I mean… you was gonna tell me but before you could… Lannie and Rath…"

"What?" Zan straightened and looked her in the eye. "What about them? Why didn't I tell you?"

"They got you run over." Rik told him and moved to a window that faced the parking lot. "They sold you out."

--

It was very late when Max entered the room. The first thing he did was greet his wife with a kiss and a reassuring hug. Tess was awake and watched how Liz's crackling grew just a little when he touched her. Then the crackling faded and they just stood for a moment, holding each other.

When she had woken, Darin was asleep next to her. He was so perfect. Max sat on the end of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I used up all my juice." Tess shrugged and breathed deeply. "Why did you change his name, Max?"

"I didn't." He shook his head. "His parents did."

"His parents?" She narrowed blue eyes at him. "You gave our son up for adoption? Do you hate me that much?"

"Can we not do this right now?" Max pleaded and took Liz's hand when she offered it. This was just too much. All Liz's faith in him had sprung from the fact that Tess was dead. That she was a non-issue… and here she was, an issue. A threat if she couldn't be trusted.

"Because of her?"

"Because." Liz interjected as calmly as she could. "It's been 14 years since you died, Tess. Things happened." She tried to control her tone so Darin wouldn’t wake up. "It turned out for the better. He had a real home with two parents who loved him. Prep schools and every advantage possible. You should be proud. Your son wants to run for office someday. If we had taken him with us, he'd barely have any sort of education."

Tess was quiet for a moment. "Do you have children?"

"Yes." Liz nodded and turned back to look out into the sitting room where the rest of them had waited. She could make out the still bodies of the other previously deceased aliens. Obviously, no one trusted these latest incarnations.

"He's so beautiful." Tess murmured as she stared at her child. A baby when she had gone off to save them from the government and now turning into a young man. "He's going to be taller than me… Did you tell him what I did?"

"Yes." Max nodded to himself, eyes on the bed though he could feel Liz's eyes on him.

"He's human. Why did you bring him into this if he had a good family? A normal family?"

"He's not as human as we were led to believe… He has… powers…" He tried to explain but he didn't understand it himself.

"Does he warp? I know you didn't like that." There was a little fear in her voice. Would they hurt her son if he proved to be too much like her?

"He's only done it once."

"He's just so beautiful, Max."

"I like to think he's handsome, myself." Max cleared his throat, he was trying to alleviate the tension but it was still pretty stuffy. Liz squeezed his hand hard, in silent support.

Darin opened his eyes a crack and saw Max. He forced himself awake, his eyes wider to get a glimpse of Liz's profile. "Liz? You okay?"

She turned and smiled at him but it looked forced. "I'm fine, sweetie. You can go back to sleep. We didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't." He turned his eyes to Tess. So much curly blonde hair, her eyes were so blue. "Tess?"

"Oh. I'm okay. I'm happy." She told him, pain behind her smile. "Did you have a yard and a dog?"

"We live in the city, so no yard but we've got a floor to ourselves and I had a hamster once. His name was Horatio."

"Are you in high school yet?"

"I'm a sophomore… I skipped a grade. We're at a private academy."

"Did you like your parents?" Tess froze when Max cleared his throat very loudly. "What?"

Darin felt the tears prick at his eyes but he didn't let them fall. "My dad died a few days ago. He helped us escape when the Feds came for us."

"Feds!" Tess jerked upright and kicked Max's leg with her foot. "Why did I die if there are still Feds, Max?"

"Kivar's Feds, not the old ones." Max corrected, quickly. "I was upset about the Feds when I found out, too."

"They never came close." Darin promised. "Bullets just whizzed by."

"You were shot at? What in the hell has been going on?"

"We thought you could tell us." Liz turned, her eyes looked deadly. For the first time, Darin was scared of Liz. "You did arrive with the evil party… again."

"I was being puppeted."

"How many people did you kill this time? Or did you not stop to count again?"

"I died. I thought I was done. Game over. Don't yell at me. I didn't ask to be reconstituted and puppeted into assassinating the good guys."

"Ladies!" Max shouted to break them up. He hated that this was happening. Of all the outcomes to this day that he had envisioned, none of them had included breaking up a fight between the two women who had given birth to his children… considering one of them was supposed to be dead. "Enough. No more arguing. This is a stressful situation and we all miss the kids and we want to put ourselves far, far away from Kivar's decomposing body." He took a deep breath and shot Darin a sympathetic look. "We just need to get along until we figure out what's happening… and what we're doing about it."

"Everything okay in there?" Michael called in. "Did Liz kill her?"

"Everyone's still alive." Liz called back. The 'unfortunately' didn't need to be spoken for everyone to know that she was thinking it. "You do know that I will kill you if you hurt any of us." The two women eyed each other for a moment. "I know you remember what I did that day."

Tess nodded stiffly. "I remember."

"I've gotten a hell of a lot better at it since." Liz released Max's hand and stormed out into the main room.

"What?" Darin looked between his parents. "What did she do?"

"She… um…" Max stammered.

"She threw me up against a wall when I came back to Earth. Twice." Tess swallowed thickly. She remembered how that felt. It wasn't just that she had hit the wall. Liz had thrown energy at her. It had felt like she had a hand in her gut, gripping her insides and using them to slam her against that wall.

"Liz?" Darin's eye shot to the door. "She pushed you?"

"She used her powers." Max finished the story.

"She threw you?" Darin rose from the bed. Outside, he could see Liz pacing again. Her hands glowing green. "But… Liz is nice."

"But you don't ever cross her." Tess whispered. "Ever."

--

The shout woke Rik. He struggled to open his eyes to see if it was his mother. "Mom, you okay?"

"She's good. I think it was Max breakin' up a catfight." Zan answered for her. She was still wrapped up tightly to keep warm. She coughed lightly but she looked much better than she had as they were leaving the Summit. "I'll do somethin' more for her when I get my strength back."

"I'm sorry, Ms. K. I… thought you had come up with the rest of us." Steve apologized for the millionth time from the doorway.

"It's okay, sweetie." Erika smiled at him. "Getting fried or drowned and saved. I pick the latter. You did good." She looked to her son. "And I heard you were using your powers."

"I had to do something." Rik still didn't know how he felt about the control he had exhibited by that pool but it all been in desperation. "They just… came."

"You did good." Zan told him. He was proud. "But I wasn't lyin'. I catch you smokin' agin, there's gonna be a fight." He just stared at the boy. "I can't believe you remembered that. You was still in pampers when I said that. You could say Da-da and Ma-ma and… Po-po. That was it. You're smart."

"I'm good at figuring things out." The boy shrugged.

"You hear?" Ava nudged Zan with her foot from where she sat at the end of the bed. "He got into one of them schools where they gotta where the tie and jackets to class. They got real books in the classrooms and the teachers know stuff."

"That right?" Zan nodded to himself. "Alright."

"Don't know if I'll ever get to finish, though. The dean is probably dead and the Feds were all over the place. Kal was the guy who got me in." Rik sulked, he had almost forgotten about the academy.

"You got you in." Liz paused at the door. "Kal told me about the test he gave you guys. Only the heir to Antar could answer number 56 the correct way."

"It was a simple question." Rik shook his head.

"Yeah. Nothing special about it." Darin agreed, walking up behind her.

"Well, geniuses. You got the answer wrong." Liz smiled at them. "He told me he racked his brain trying to figure out how two kids got the answer right when only one boy was missing. Guess it all worked out. You two were the only ones out of twenty kids to answer the question that way… you each only got three other questions wrong. Those were all different but that one…"

"That's weird." Darin mused.

--

Rik sat on the floor and stared at the unconscious bodies. Michael was keeping them knocked out. He was going to revive them when they were ready to get answers. Bada and Kal were having a discussion in the corner. Nothing but hums over there. Max was pacing the room. Everyone was settled in to listen. "The Summit leaders have accepted me as King. I'll be the one making the decisions from now on. Before I get into that though, I wanted to talk to you guys about this clone business. It took a lot of convincing but Kathana agreed to tell me the specifics of her projects. Kal is a shapeshifter and has been bred since birth to make the journey to Earth and survive. His sacrifice is that he can't really feel anything. My mother had to… undergo severe gene therapy to survive even this long. What Kathana's project did was utilize a form of Gandarium to bridge the gap so that Kivar could breathe here and not be rendered useless upon arrival… when he got here… he… found his friends. They filled him in on who was dead and what all had gone on with us.

"He adapted this technology and gathered the remains. It didn't take long. He infiltrated the FBI pretty quickly. They helped him get all the remains together. When Tess died, her bones were recovered and kept in a locker. A worker at the morgue in New York thought the DNA of a John Doe was suspicious. The body was frozen for further study. Two bodies in California were found mysteriously burned and kept when the surrounding area was free of scorch marks and there was no evidence the damage had been caused elsewhere. It had been ruled a freak lightning strike." Max took a deep breath. "The process is complicated but it worked. Using leftovers from his own transformation, he stored the bodies and reconstituted them. His trace DNA allowed the puppetry we witnessed.

"Kivar was able to speak some before we were allowed to dispatch him. Zan was particularly hard to control because there were places he couldn't reach. All of this took a month or two. Tapping into Zan's healing abilities, he could restore life. They were told vaguely what we had all been through. They were careful not to remind them how they died, it would weaken Kivar's hold… which is why I think Zan and Tess were able to break their holds." He offered them a shrug. "They each died protecting a child… children that we brought to the summit and put in harm's way."

"So what? They got all Frankensteined and let Kivar take hold?" Rik blurted out.

"Not exactly. Kivar's hold took place inside the… Frankenstein process. There was no 'let.'"

"You got no idea how hard it was to break that hold." Zan spoke up at last, he looked tired. "I tried but it was like I was a remote control car and he had the controller. I couldn't've done it if Rik and Erika weren't there."

"How about Tess?" Michael demanded.

"There's no stronger bond than a mother and her child." Liz answered for the alien, if just to keep her from speaking too much. "She died so Darin could have a real chance at life and Kivar was going to take it away. She did what she had to."

"Something like that." Tess nodded.

"How did he know what Kivar was doin’?" Zan cut in. His eyes were focused on his son. The boy hadn't so much as looked at him since the Summit.

"He just knows things. He gets feelings off people. He doesn't even have to think about it. He just knew something was wrong with you." Max started the boy's story but he wanted Rik to finish it.

"That dream I had. I was talking to you and you said that thing to me about the smoking, like when I was a baby. You also said I was tall… like you did earlier. I didn't even remember having the dream until later… after."

"Darin had a dream too. He was talking to himself in his sleep on the way over. We might have known sooner if I hadn't screwed up whatever connection they had. Once we got that fixed… their powers have been coming along pretty steadily." Max sighed heavily. "How they were just human before and now…"

"Maybe you did something, Max." Isabel spoke up for the first time all night. "I mean… we did that dreamwalk thing and only after did they manifest anything. Ava fixed it and they got better on their own. Maybe we flipped a switch. The powers are human and… maybe we woke up that part of their brain that let them do it… like when you healed Liz."

"What are we going to do with them?" Michael demanded, pointing at the bodies. Lannie and Rath hadn’t so much as budged in hours.

"That… will depend on what Tess and Zan can tell us." Max cleared his throat. "We've had our share of run-ins with them but I don't know them well enough to know what they're capable of. I don't know what all went on with Kivar."

Zan's eyes went dark. Tess seemed to shrink into herself. "Kivar was a sick fuck. Kill them."

"He didn't need much to hold onto them. Kill 'em." Zan agreed.

Rik stared at his father, then shot to his feet to hit the bathroom before the bile broke free of this throat. Steve went after him. "Dude, you okay?" The response was a deep retching and gasping. "Rik, man…"

Zan barely looked over his shoulder in the direction the teens had gone. "Just kill 'em both. All I need to know is what Kivar made them do to me… Ava says they killed me… even better reason."

"Tess?" Michael pressed.

"What he said." She whispered.

"Let's try to get some rest. Michael… Ava…" Max motioned to the bodies. "Help me."

"Max, you're tired." Liz protested.

"Not that tired. I'm not sleeping if they're a threat to us."

TBC
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