Lifting The Shadow- (CC/ALL/TEEN)-chp 13? 6-5-07 [WIP]

[Rai]

Disclaimer: Roswell does not belong to me, but to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, and the WB/UPN.

This story kind of focuses on what happened to our group after they fled Roswell, and what would have happened if they never really got a chance to settle down. It centers around their kids, really, and what would happen if everything went to hell.

Hope you like! -Rai

October 30th, 2023, Providence, RI

You have to understand, I would never let my parents know that I didn't always feel safe. They feel guilty enough, not being able to provide a home for me, for all of us for so long. Guilt is completely hardwired into their systems- it's practically their religion. Personally, I'm just happy I was born, never mind how I was brought into this world. No one is really safe anyways, is what I think. Terrible things happen all the time to normal people- danger is just a part of life. I know what the danger is, is the only difference. There's nothing they can do about it- we're different. And I enjoyed my childhood. We were constantly moving, seeing new places. I had Rath; I didn't have to go to school.

Not that I was completely free from it- with my parents? Yeah, right. I was sufficiently well schooled by the time we were finally able to settle some. We lived in Dallas for a long time- I love it there. Big enough to get lost in, but not as overwhelming as New York. But we had to move again when things started to just feel… wrong. There was this one girl who kept trying to get close to me, even though I was terribly rude to her, and my Uncle Michael's boss quit and moved to Bermuda all of a sudden. His replacement was too nice (with Uncle Michael, that’s definitely suspicious), and when I was coming to visit him (I'm pretty close to all my family, but sometimes Uncle Michael just gets me.) when I saw him poking around in his car. I didn't dare tell Uncle Michael just then (I'm not an idiot), but I did make him come home with me right away. I'm not even sure what excuse I used- I think I told him my car was acting up and I wanted him to help me figure out what was wrong with it. When we got home I was able to tell everyone what I saw. So for the next year or so we were on the road again, until we felt safe enough to settle down again. I think my parents have been waiting until I've been old enough to take care of myself before they figure out how to retake their lives.

So now we're in Rhode Island. I'm pretty happy here- I have a boyfriend and I'm a freshman at Brown. My mom's here too- she's a grad student/T.A. in molecular biology, which makes both her and my dad beyond happy. It's what she always wanted, and my dad's just happy that he isn't holding her back anymore. At least that's what he thinks- he doesn't always get that he's her world, even though it's terribly hypocritical. My dad's interning at the local hospital- he was able to get his degree by stealing a semester here and there at various colleges, taking classes online, and then 'merging' it all with a little otherworldly help. And since we were in Dallas for four whole years, he was able to actually complete med school in one place. I think it comforts him to know he can help heal people without using his powers, although sometimes it nearly kills him when he has to stand back and watch someone die. He's planning on working exclusively on child surgery, or something like that, if he ever gets the chance. I think it helps that they look so young- you can tell that they're out of their twenties, but further than that, no one can guess what ages they are.

I'm glad we're all happy, but I can't say I think it's going to last. Maybe I've been running too long, or maybe it's that I just don't see the end point in hiding. I mean, is there someday gonna be this huge secret society of alien/human hybrids? Because Tess lied to my parents. The children of aliens aren't completely human. Mostly, yeah. But what she failed to remind my dad of before her little kamikaze act was that his powers- they weren't alien. They were just what the alien side let come out naturally. So Rath and Aly and I have these powers, and most likely Zan, too. It worries my dad to no end- to know my brother's out there somewhere, with no one to confide in or help him. But he can't do anything about it, so….

I don't know. I just don't see a way out. Maybe that's why I'm a Poli Sci major- so I can find a way out of this eventually. I want to go on to law school eventually, if I get the chance. I just don't want my family to have to look over their shoulders anymore. If I can find a way to stop that in the system, it works for me. But while it's good, I'm just going to let it stay that way.
Lex Evans (but only in this journal!)

[Rai]

A/N- This is kind of the jumping off point for the rest of the story, before it gets more interesting. I'll probably be updating about once a week after this, unless I get ahead of myself. This chapter is important in that everyone kind of gets introduced and there are a couple of important things in here that will make more sense once we get further along.

Raychel- Thank you! Isabel and Kyle are together in this story, no offense to Jesse, but he just didn't really fit. So I don't know how much I'm going to delve into that, if at all, because this is kind of after all of that. Aly is their little girl, and Rath is, of course, Michael and Maria's. I do have special plans for Zan that I'm pretty excited about. But he doesn't come along until later.

Caroline- Thank you so much for the post! I admit it, I'm a shameless reply-whore. Hope you like this part!



Chapter One

Rath looked up as Lex entered the room noisily. She crashed on the couch next to him, sticking her feet in his lap and grabbing his popcorn. “I was eating that!”

“Whatever,” she shrugged. “You never put in enough Tabasco sauce, anyways. Freak.”

He stole the popcorn back from her and turned the volume up on the TV. After a while he commented, “Man, he's resourceful, isn't he? I sure wouldn't have thought of a hang glider.”

Lex nodded. “Well, he has to be, doesn't he? How many people adopt a monkey as curious as George? To effectively take care of him, he has to think creatively.”

The doorbell rang and Lex ran to answer it. “Hey, there,” she said, smiling flirtatiously at the blue-eyed boy standing in the doorway.

“Hey,” he said, leaning in for a kiss. “Can I come in?”

“I don't know…” she teased. “Lift up your foot.”

He did obligingly, while giving her a puzzled look.”

“Ok,' she nodded, 'now the other one.”
He lifted that foot up too, balancing himself in the doorway. “Now do I turn myself around and do the hokey-pokey?”

“Nope. Just wanted to see if you actually could. I guess you can, can't you?”

“Brat,” he said and grabbed her, tickling her middle.

“No! No! No! I give!” she cried.

Rath yelled from the other room, “Keep it down in there! George is trying to solve the cannoli mystery!”

“Shh…” she whispered, her eyes twinkling up at him. They went into the other room, where she took up her former place on the couch and her boyfriend crashed on the chair. She pushed Rath's knee with her foot. “Rath, Danny, Danny, Rath.”

The guys nodded at each other, Rath engrossed in the show. “So, what are we watching?” asked Danny.

Lex grinned at him. “Curious George. It's the one where George is trying to get the chef to cook him some cannoli's.”

His return smile was sort of quizzical. “You guys still watch this? I haven't seen this since I was a kid.”

“Um, yeah..” Lex said, her eyes on the screen. “It's fun. Popcorn?”

Danny grabbed a handful from the bowl and stuck it in his mouth. His eyes went wide and his lips went tight. “Mmmm mmm mmm!”

Lex started giggling. “Bathroom's that way.”

He jumped up and ran off.

“Ahh, humans and their wussy tastes,” lamented Rath, to which Lex replied by kicking him.

“Shut up!' she hissed at him as she got up. 'I'm gonna go make sure he's ok.”

She wandered down the hall to the bathroom. “Honey? Danny, are you ok in there?”

Danny opened the door, grinning wryly. “Yeah, I'm fine. What happened to that popcorn? You don't think I'm gonna get sick or something, do you?”

Lex tried not to smile, but didn't have a lot of success. “Um, no. I forgot- Rath likes Tabasco sauce, too, so we both put it on our popcorn. We tend to forget that other people aren't as… fond of it as we are.” She looked up at him innocently with her wide, dark hazel eyes. “I'm sorry, baby, I never meant for that to happen. Forgive me?”

Danny grinned and pulled her close. “What kind of a name is Rath, anyway?” he whispered as he leaned his nose against hers.

She nibbled on the bottom of his lip. “Oh, it's just an old family name. We're not actually related, but our families have known each other for generations.”

“You're not related? Not even the tiniest little bit?”

“Not in the physical sense. But we've grown up practically brother and sister. I think his dad and my aunt almost dated for a while, but couldn't quite bring themselves to it.”

“Well, ok,' he breathed into her ear. 'As long as he doesn't have any designs on my woman.”

Lex giggled and pushed him away. “Your woman? What is this, the Victorian era? If you think you can get away with saying-“

They were interrupted by a key turning into the lock. Lex rushed to the door to let her mother in and Danny took the bags of groceries out of her arms. Liz smiled at her daughter and kissed her on the cheek. “Hi, sweetie, how are you?' She turned around to look at Danny, who was currently hidden underneath the groceries. 'Here, let me take some of those back! You must be Danny. Lex has told us so much about you.” She grabbed a bag of groceries on top. “Here, the kitchen's this way.”

They filed through the living room into the kitchen, Lex throwing a pillow at Rath on the way through. He moved it from his stomach to underneath his head, making himself more comfortable.

As they set down all their bags in the kitchen, Danny reached out a hand to Liz. “Hi, Mrs. Charles, it's great to finally meet you.”

Liz looked at him for one long moment, then shook her head and smiled. “It's very nice to meet you, too, Danny,” she said and shook his hand. “I'm sorry, I'm slightly out of it today.”

At this, Rath shuffled in to start poking through the grocery bags. “Aunt Liz, did you get any Snapple?”

Liz shook her head at him sorrowfully. “No, Rath, I did not get any Snapple.” She grinned at his puppy-dog look. “I did not get any Snapple because we already have two cases hidden in the back of the pantry. Don’t you trust me?”

“You rock, Aunt Liz!” Rath disappeared into the pantry, rummaging around loudly.

Danny shook his head. “So does all your family have the same… eating habits?”

Liz laughed. “Hardly. Lex's Uncle Kyle- he's married to her Aunt Isabel, who you'll meet later tonight- and Rath's mother, Maria, and I can't stand half the things the rest of our family eats. It's an acquired taste, I think, coming from being raised together so closely. And everyone has his or her own different dietary quirks. I once had a friend who liked peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches, of all things. Can you believe it?”

Danny and Lex both laughed. Rath poked his head out of the pantry. “What's going on out there? There's no frolicking going on without me, is there?”

“Don't worry, Rath-head, there will be no frolicking going on without your pre-approved permission,” Lex drawled.

“All right, then. Just so long as we've made that clear.” Rath came out of the pantry carrying two Snapples, setting one in front of Lex. “Sorry, man, I didn't know what you like.”

Danny shrugged. “That's cool.”

Lex laughed and pulled on the inside of his elbow. “Danny, would you like something to drink? We have some bottled water like you like.”

Danny smiled down at her. “Bottled water sounds great.”

Lex headed for the fridge. “Mom, you want one too?”

Liz nodded from the cabinet where she was putting away groceries. “That sounds good, sweetie.”

Lex grabbed the waters out of the fridge for her mom and boyfriend. “Here you go.”

All of a sudden, angry voices sounded from the living room, “All I asked for was that you put the wash in the dryer! Now, is that too much too ask? It's not that difficult, Michael!”

“Look, I already told you I'm sorry! And I fixed it, didn't I? It's not that hard to deal with! You're acting like I did this to personally offend you or something!”

“Yes, and that's the way you think you can deal with everything, isn't it, Michael? Just wave your hand over the problem and make it all go away? We've been together for almost 25 years and you still can't remember to just put the damn laundry in the wash and do it right the first time?”

“Why should I bother to remember anything? You remember it all for me! Every damn thing in our entire relationship, you remember! So where do I come in?”

“Who is that?” Danny whispered, eyes wide.

Rath smiled an upside-down smile. “My parents. This part isn't so bad. It's the making up that I'm less fond of.”

“You could just use your brain for once! Just a little tiny bit of it would work! You know, the upstairs part?”

“Well, I think all of me is in perfect working order. I thought you thought that, too.”

Rath grimaced. “And here it comes…”

“Well, I guess it's only laundry, but I do think-“

“Mom?' Rath yelled desperately. “Is that you?”

Maria and Michael arrived in the room, both looking rather flushed. She walked over to kiss her son on the cheek. “Hey, baby, how are you?”

Rath grinned as he enveloped his mom in a big, one-armed hug. You can tell he loves his parents, thought Danny enviously.

“I'm good, Mom. I came over after class to watch some TV.”

Maria came over to hug Liz. “Hey, chica, how were classes?”

“Good. Oh, Maria! This is Danny, Lex's boyfriend. Danny, this is Michael and Maria James, our family friends. Michael and Maria, Danny.”

Danny smiled up uncomfortably at Michael, who was staring him down. Man, he and Rath look exactly alike, he thought. “It's very nice to meet you, sir. Mrs. James.”

“Aren't you a little old for her?” asked Michael, frowning at him.

“He's only a couple of years older than me, Uncle Michael. He's in grad school.” Lex said at him pointedly. “When it comes to that point, isn't Aunt Maria a little bit old for you?”

Michael was rescued from having to answer that question by the back door opening and four more people crowding through. Liz was swept up from behind in a giant bear hug as her husband kissed her neck. “I missed you,” he murmured in her ear.

She smiled and reached up to touch his cheek. “You were only gone for a couple of hours.”

“That made it worse- I knew I was going to see you that much sooner.”

Danny whispered in Lex's ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist, “Are they always that… You know?”

“Oh, always. They're practically one person. But they always made me feel like I was the most important person in their life. They're really good at that.”

He smiled down at her. “We're gonna be like that someday.”

Lex squeezed his hand and leaned on him. “You're amazing.”

All of a sudden a little brunette bombshell exploded onto the scene. “Lex! Lex! Pick me up, woman!”

Lex swooped her little cousin up into her arms. “Aly, have you behaved today?”

“I always behave.” Aly announced regally.

“Ha!” exclaimed her father, setting down a foil-covered pan on the island. “Only seven years old and you already have her lying like an expert. It's pure corruption, is what it is. I blame it on her mother's side of the family.”

Max laughed. “Only because you never could lie for shit, Buddha-boy.”

“Max!” exclaimed Isabel. “Language!”

“Sorry, Izzie,” Lex's dad said, pulling her into a one-armed hug, holding two of his favorite women at the same time.

“Danny, you met my dad, and this is my Aunt Isabel, Uncle Kyle, and Alyssa Winchester,” Lex said as she leaned hers and Alyssa's weight onto his. “Aunt Izzie, Uncle Kyle, I've told you about Danny.”

Isabel smiled at him. “It's good to meet you, Danny. Lex has said such nice things about you.”

“It's good to meet you, Mrs. Winchester. It's really nice to spend some time with her family- I've been wanting her to introduce me to you all for so long.”

Liz smiled at all of her happy family as they interacted with her daughter's boyfriend. Their lives had always been so complicated, and they could finally just relax for a while- it was a good feeling. “Why don't we all go into the dining room and get settled? I think that dinner's about ready,” she suggested.

They all filed into the dining room. After everyone got settled in, conversation flowed easily. This was a family who was well at ease with each other- a happy family.

Later that night, Lex walked Danny out to his beloved sports car. He leaned against it and pulled Lex against him, looking at the sky. They stood silently for a while. “You didn't feel uncomfortable tonight, did you? I mean, I know you're probably not used to big families, so…”

“Hey,” he silenced her, squeezing her tightly. “I really enjoyed myself. My mom and I would be lucky to have a family like yours, so don't you ever think otherwise.”

“Good,” she said, tracing her hand on his chest. “I just want you to be happy, you know? And if you felt in the least bit weird, all you have to do is tell me, remember that. All right?”

“Promise,' he replied. 'Scout's honor. Do you have your costume for the Halloween party tomorrow night?”

“Hey, now,' she giggled. 'You promised you wouldn't ask!”

“That wasn't asking what it was,' he protested. 'I just wanted to make sure you had it,” he said righteously.

“You are such a liar!' she squealed indignantly. 'I don't know how I can ever trust you again,' she proclaimed. 'You are just going to have to find a way to regain my love.” With that Lex tossed her hair back and looked at him expectantly, one eyebrow raised.

Danny leaned closer to her face. “Oh, really?' he queried, inching closer with every word he said. 'Well, I wonder how I could ever possibly do that…” he trailed off, both of them being rather preoccupied.

The next morning Lex was the first one up, vigorously making sure all the Halloween decorations were perfect. Max whispered into Liz's ear in their dark bedroom, his arms entwined around her, “She's getting to be worse than the Christmas Nazi. We've lost the house- I say we move out quickly before she comes for the rest.”

Liz whispered back, a happy grin on her face, “But, King Max, if she's already taken all the battleground, what left does she have to come for?”

“Our souls, Liz, our souls. Oh laugh, now. See who's laughing when she takes yours first because you wouldn't flee with me when you had the chance!”

Liz rolled over closer to her husband and laid a hand on his chest. “Oh, I've seen your soul, and I definitely know she'll want yours first. Besides, no one can be worse than Izzie. We should just pit them against each other and clean up the fallout.”

“And destroy the whole world? Where is your sense of civic duty, woman?” Max teased her.

“You could consider me more of a... foreign relations expert,” she murmured in his ear.

“Mom?' a voice carried into their room. 'Where did you put those streamers you got yesterday?”

Liz sighed. “We'll have to continue our human-alien relations business later,” she said as she smiled down at him, pushing herself up off his chest.

Max caught her and pulled her back down for a quick kiss. “Just so long as you remember how important they are. For the world, you know.”

She giggled. “Always.”

She poked her head out the door a minute later. “Lex, I think I left them in the cupboard next to the refrigerator!”

Lex shook her head as she rummaged through the groceries. “Like I don't know what they're doing up there,' she muttered. 'They could at least have the decency to wait till I'm at my dorm. Why on earth I have to be one of the few kids in the world with a damn connection to my parents that tells me all their feelings, I don't know. It's disgusting, is what it is.”

Rath walked in through the kitchen door, munching on a baby carrot. “My parents are 'making up' again. Why they can't be like normal parents and expend their energy in golf and canasta, I don't know.”

Lex agreed mournfully. “It must be an alien thing. You never see other kids' parents so involved with each other. You should learn how to nip that kind of thing in the bud. Ah, here they are! Here, take this.” She shoved a load of decorations into his arms.

He looked at her, puzzled. “What's this for?”

Lex gave him a patient, you're not the brightest kid in the class, look. “It's Halloween?”

Rath started backing up slowly. “Um, I forgot- I have plans that include having a life today. Can't break 'em. Sorry.”

She glared at him. “I need you to help me put these up in the living room. I also want to decorate the lawn in an old graveyard theme. I'm thinking definite Victorian undertones. Maybe we can make it look more overgrown and creepy?”

Rath sighed. It looked like he wouldn't be going anywhere today.

Several hours later, a group of alien hybrids surveyed the scene.

“Do you think it will work?” asked one.

The obvious leader glared at the offending party. “Of course it will work. It'll better than work. Kids are gonna love it!”

Her mom laughed, “It's wonderful. We've got the best house on the block. In the city, even! But we'd probably better grab a bite to eat. Kids are going to start showing up pretty soon.”

Lex gasped and looked at her watch. “Oh my goodness! Danny's gonna be here in an hour; I have to get dressed! Thanks, guys!” She fled into the house.

Liz smiled at the two remaining men. “Rath, we're cooking pasta for dinner. Do you want to stay and eat?”

He shook his head. “No, thanks, Aunt Liz. I've got to finish up on some homework before I pick up my date. Thanks, though,” he said as he headed off.

“Alright, then. Say hi to your mom for me!”

“Will do!”

Liz pulled Max closer, smiling into his eyes. “Looks like it's just you and me tonight, then.”

“Mom!!' a voice bellowed from an upstairs window. 'Have you seen my other boot that went with this outfit?”

Liz sighed and headed off to help her daughter. “We really need to work on our timing.”

An hour later the doorbell rang. “I'll get it!' Lex yelled to no one really in particular. She ran downstairs to open the door. “Hey, handsome,” she said, leaning onto the door to properly show off her curves.

Danny was stunned. The edges of her face that met her dark hair were smeared in silver paint that trailed down to cover all of her neck and drift along her shoulders. She was wearing a black cami that ended just before it met her tattered black knee-length skirt, revealing a midriff covered in silver designs that matched her arms. Tall black boots gave her an extra couple of inches that made her seem even taller, given black and mauve fairy wings that reached toward the ceiling. She'd even managed to tint the ends of her hair silver, giving her the appearance of something out of a fairy tale, which all combined to make him almost speechless. “You look… wonderful,” he said, unable to take his eyes off her. She had even chosen to go light on the face makeup other than her almost-black eyes that were outlined in purple.

“Thank you,' Lex blushed. “You look pretty good yourself,” she replied. Danny did look good. His clean-cut good looks were offset by the 40s era military uniform he was wearing. “Shall we go?” she said, offering him her arm.

“Hold on!” said her dad. He smiled at them, although the military outfit bugged him a little. “I want to get a picture of the two of you before you go.”

They posed for the camera before heading out to meet up with friends. It was a fun night for both of them, dancing and hanging out with friends. They even met up with Rath and his blonde for the night, the like of which he went through like paper. He just claimed he wasn't up for commitment. Lex claimed he couldn't make a commitment if his life depended on it, to which he would usually reply that it was a good thing that his life depended on not committing, and she should follow his fine example, which is where the argument tended to deteriorate and eventually end up in base name-calling and insults.

When she finally got home, with every intention of skipping class in the morning, Lex stretched out on her bed to write in her journal.

There's something about Danny that just makes me feel so… normal. I swear, sometimes I feel like his eyes are about to pierce right through to my soul. I do really love having a normal life, but I want to be able to be honest with people about who I really am, too. Which also conflicts with my desperate desire to keep my feelings and emotions secret… It's all so complicated. Maybe what I really would like is to just keep things simple. Simple is good. Simple is very good. I really like that Danny's nice to Rath. The other guys I dated- I don't know, they just couldn't handle the fact that I've got this guy around all the time who isn't blood related to me. Which is stupid. They were all completely nice, but I could still tell it bothered them. But maybe they were just precursors to the real thing. I want Danny to be the real thing.

[Rai]

A/N Yay! We finally get to the interesting part. This part was semi-inspired by a song, which I'll post at the end so that it doesn't give anything away (now don't go peeking!), and it's one of my favorite parts. I'm working on a really difficult/emotional part right now, but I have a few days off work this week so hopefully I'll be able to get through it. I hope you like this part as much as I did. Feedback is always, always greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Many thanks to my lovely beta, Ashleyt. This story would probably be a lot less coherent without her help.

Sorry, Jessibelle, this is where the happy part ends. But hopefully you'll still like it.

Chapter 2

One Month Later

Danny stood at Charles' door with Lex's bags. “Are you sure I can't help you upstairs with any of this stuff?”

Lex smiled at him and leaned in for a kiss. “It's ok, babe, I got it. No problem.”

“All right,' he hemmed, leaning over her. 'If you're sure…”

“Hey, Danny-boy,” she said, grabbing him by the shirt. “I'm ok. Promise.”

“Ok,' he sighed. Then he brightened up. 'I've got a present for you!”

Her eyes widened. “I thought we weren't going to give each other our presents until you left on Thursday!”

“Oh, no, this isn't a Christmas gift. It's a we've been dating for almost six months gift,” Danny said as he pulled a soft, velvety brown bear out of his jacket pocket.

“Aww…” she cooed. “That's so sweet, Danny. Thank you!” She proceeded to show him just how grateful she really was. “All right,” she said as they broke apart a few minutes later, leaning her forehead against his nose while they both caught their breath. “You need to go now. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?”

“All right,' he said, pulling her close for one last hug. 'Sweet dreams.”

“Oh, you know they will be,” Lex teased as she waved goodbye.

The next morning Lex hid from the sunlight that followed her mother into her room. “Mom, lights,” she groaned as she hid under the covers.

Liz smiled at her little girl and kissed her on the forehead. “Just wanted to remind you that your dad, aunts, uncles and I are going to New York today to do some last minute Christmas shopping. Oh, and Aly, too. She wants to get a new ballet outfit or something. We'll see you when we get back, ok?”

“Sounds good,” said the lump of covers that seemed to be shaped into one little ball. “Love you.”

“Love you too, baby,' Liz said as she left the room.

“Bye, peanut!' her dad called from the hall as he passed by.

“Bye daddy!” were the last words to come out of Lex's mouth before she fell back asleep.

After she woke up, she wandered downstairs for some waffles and Tabasco, when, inevitably, Rath showed up. “I swear, you have a sixth sense for when I'm cooking,” Lex complained at him, but pushed a waffle over.

His mouth full, Rath tried to exonerate himself. “I know what we're doing today,” he stated.

“And here I thought I was the psychic.”

“Ha ha,' Rath laughed at her. Then he brightened. “We're gonna play the mask game!”

Lex immediately pulled herself out of her morning grump. The mask game was something their parents had invented while they were still on the run. One person disguised himself and hid while the other person was the 'special agent' and looked for them anywhere within a three-mile radius. You got special points for not using your powers, the amount of time it took to be found, et cetera. While this game had evolved some as they had gotten older, it still came in useful. It could also go on for days until both were satisfied with the outcome.

Later that night, both crashed in a booth at Johnny Rockets, completely tired out. Lex pushed a French fry around in her ketchup smiley face.

“You're killing your ketchup man,' remarked Rath, cocking an eyebrow at her.

“I want to kill my ketchup man,' claimed Lex. “He's an evil ketchup man. You just can't hear all the wicked things he's saying in my head.”

Rath swiped the fry that Lex was playing with. “Problem solved- the ketchup man is dead.”

“Now you've made it worse!” she protested. “That wasn't the ketchup man- that was the weapon I was using to assassinate him. Now I'm out of weapons. I wonder if I should get more…” she drifted off, apparently deciding whether or not to order more French fry weapons. Then she snapped back to attention. 'Why do you keep checking your cell phone like that? Are you expecting a call or something?”

Rath started, then shrugged, putting his cell phone away. “I don't know. It’s just… having your parents called you recently?”

Lex shook her head, thinking. “No. But they said goodbye when they left this morning, so it's not that unusual. Why?”

Rath shrugged again, a careless façade on his face. “It's just been a while since my mom called. I'm sure it's nothing, she just checks in more often than this usually.”

Lex just twitched her lips. “It's probably that her cell phone died. You know she never remembers to charge it.”

“Right. That's probably it,” Rath drawled, then flashed his smile at her.

They paid and walked home. Both were tired, cold, and off in their own world. They took turns showering at Lex's house. She came back into her bedroom, toweling her hair dry, to find Rath pacing back and forth, phone in hand.

“Rath, seriously,' Lex insisted. “You know that they'd call if something was wrong. Or if something really bad happened, they'd let us know through our connection. There are a million things to explain it. Rath? Are you even listening to me?”

Rath had stopped pacing and was staring at something on her bookshelf.

“Rath?' Lex said again, this time rather tentatively. 'Is everything ok?”

He reached up and pulled something off the shelf. He said slowly, “Where did you get this?”

Lex looked at the little object he held, with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. “That's my teddy bear. Danny gave it to me for our six-month anniversary.”

Then Rath spoke four little words that made Lex's heart stop. “Why's the eye glowing?”

She half reached out to touch it, and pulled back. Then she snatched it out of Rath's hand. She tugged frantically at the small animal's head, scrabbling violently at the seams with her nails. The head split off, stuffing spilling out to reveal a small camera attached to the back of a button eye.

The world spun around Lex, everything turning into a dizzy blur, then came to a sudden stop. She stood there, completely frozen, just staring at the remains of the innocuous looking toy in her hands.

She was shaken by to reality by Rath, who was gripping her shoulders with white knuckled hands. “Lex! Lex! You have to tell me what it saw. What did the camera record?”

Lex looked at him blankly for a moment, but then a light slowly dawned in her eyes. Her hand slowly gripped tightly around the camera, letting the rest of the teddy bear drop onto the floor as she thought out her answer. “No,' slowly came out. “No, I didn't change in my room this morning so the camera couldn't have caught me naked.”

She's in denial flashed through Rath's brain. The pressure's made her go insane. “Um, honey,” he began.

“I know how to deal with this,' she interrupted, straightening her shoulders. ’Come on.” She scooped up the tattered remains of the teddy bear off the floor and walked out of the room.

Rath followed her down to the kitchen. “Where are we going?”

She flashed him a twisted smile as she scooped up her car keys off the counter. “Trust me.”

They pulled up in front of a smile apartment complex, parking haphazardly across the street. Lex got out of the car and stalked over to the trunk, muttering underneath her breath.

“Lex…Lex!” Rath shouted at her. She looked at him inquisitively. “This is Danny's apartment complex.”

“That it is.”

“Maybe I'm a little bit crazy for, you, know, asking this, but what are we doing here?!”

“Rath,” she said. “You told me you trust me, right?”

“That's a bit of a stretch,” he muttered, but nodded his head anyway.

“Then trust me!” she declared.

She cracked the trunk, pulling out a knife and a tire iron. She flipped the knife to Rath. “Let's get started, shall we?” she grinned at him.

“Wha…”

Lex walked over to a familiar car parked underneath a streetlight and swung the tire iron straight at the windshield.

“Quick, slash the tires!” she hissed at him.

“Lex, what is going on?”

“Just do it!” she directed at him. He shrugged and got to work.

A crowd started gathering at the noise, making a wide semi-circle around the car. Danny came running through just as Lex reached the first headlight.

“Lex! Lex, stop! Why are you doing this?!” he shouted at her in horror.

“You seriously don't know?” she screamed at him. “You can stand there and honestly claim you don't know?” She was white and shaking with the fury running through her. “I cannot believe you!”

Rath came up behind her and grabbed her arm. “Lex…” he whispered in her ear.

“No!” she shouted, shaking him loose.

Danny flipped out his cell phone. “I'm calling the police.”

“Go ahead.” Lex's voice lowered as she stepped towards him. “Maybe you'd like to explain to them how this camera got in the bear you gave me.” She pulled the teddy camera out of the back of her jeans and threw it on the ground in front of him. Rath started to smile appreciatively. The girl was a genius.

Danny's eyes widened and he took a step backwards. “Lex, babe, I swear I don't know how that got in there.

“Stop lying to me!” she screamed, and in one swift motion smashed the other headlight. Several of the people watching started to cheer, and one or two of the guys were starting to look at Danny menacingly. “Pervert! I trusted you!” She trailed off as she dropped the tire iron to the ground. She shook her head. “I cannot believe I ever trusted you. What kind of person does that make me?” she said, still shaking her head as she walked away. Rath picked up the tire iron as he followed her to the car.

Danny made a move to follow them, but a burly looking guy grabbed him. “Dude, don't even think about it.” He watched as they sped away. He watched as the crowd dispersed, most of them giving him dirty looks as they left. He stood next to his ravaged car, alone, and picked up his cell phone again, pressing a button. “We have a problem.”

Lex was shaking as they drove off, holding the steering wheel for dear life. Rath was watching her intently, trying to figure out what move to make.

“Lex…” he hesitated, then gripped the steering wheel as she swerved. Thankfully, it was late, so there was no one else on the road.

“Hush,” she commanded. “Not yet.”

They rode the rest of the way in silence. Lex got out of the car and walked into the house. Rath gave her a few minutes before following. He found her in her bedroom, rummaging in her desk drawers. She pulled out pad and pencil and started writing on it.

“I cannot believe he did that to me!” she exclaimed. “What a bastard!” She held up the pad for Rath to read. Don't know if anything else in the house is bugged- Be careful!

“Yeah, well, I'm never letting him anywhere near you again. What a perv.” Rath waved his hand over the pad. Did he give you anything else?

Lex sighed and flopped on the bed. “Whatever. I just want to go to sleep and forget all about it.” Nothing permanent. We need to call our parents and get the heck outta dodge. We've got at least three days.

“Well, you need to call your parents. I'm not going to leave you alone tonight with a creep like that hanging around.” They can't be sure who we are or they would've grabbed us before now. You probably threw them off with that whole 'pervert' thing.

“Ok.” Lex pulled out her cell phone, which was blinking. “Hey, I missed a call.” She dialed her voicemail and put it on speaker.

“Hey, baby, it's your mom. We ran into some of your Uncle Kevin's friends while we were out, and they absolutely insisted we all go home with them to see him for Christmas. They'll be coming for you soon. The emergency money is in the closet, and don't forget to clean your room! We love you, sweetheart!”

Lex and Rath looked at each other, stunned.

“What?”

This part was partly inspired by the song "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood.

Right now he's probably slow dancing with a bleach blonde tramp,
and she's probably getting frisky...
right now, he's probably buying her some fruity little drink cause she can't shoot whiskey...

Right now, he's probably up behind her with a pool-stick, showing her how to shoot a combo...

And he don't know...

That I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats...
I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...

Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

Right now, she's probably up singing some
white-trash version of Shania karoke..
Right now, she's probably saying "I'm drunk"
and he's a thinking that he's gonna get lucky,
Right now, he's probably dabbing on 3 dollars worth of that bathroom polo...
And he don't know...

That I dug my key into the side of his pretty little suped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats,
I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...

Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

I might saved a little trouble for the next girl,
Cause the next time that he cheats...

Oh, you know it won't be on me!

Ohh... not on me...
Cause I dug my key into the side of his pretty little suped up 4 wheel drive,
carved my name into his leather seats...
I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights,
slashed a hole in all 4 tires...

Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

Ohh.. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats...

Ohh... before he cheats...

[Rai]

Ashleyt- Glad you liked the song. There's something about being destructive that has appealing tendencies, which is not to say anything about my personal life. Thank you for all your help!

Beth- Danny is a creep, isn't he? But never fear, this is definitely not the last we see of him!

Thank you to anyone taking the time to read this story, and I hope you like it! Feedback is always, always appreciated, including constructive criticism. I say that now..



Chapter Three

Lex mouthed, “Kivar,” at Rath, who nodded silently. She moved swiftly over to her closet and started to pull her clothes out and throw them on the floor. Rath pulled her suitcase out from underneath her bed and started loading things into it. Her favorite books, a couple of stuffed animals, the makeup off her vanity, all went in. Lex dumped all of the clothes she'd heaved out of the closet into the suitcase.

“Stand back,” she ordered Rath, who quickly complied. She held out her hand and gave a slight energy burst pointed at the suitcase. It was powerful enough to destroy any electronics contained in the bag, but wasn't about to set the house on fire. If any of her clothes came out looking slightly charred, well, that was easily fixed. She grabbed her iPod and computer and stuffed them into a backpack.

They headed to her parents' room. Lex started digging through the back of her mother's closet until she reached what looked like an electrical box. She popped it open and tugged out a large shoebox. She opened it to check the contents, and sure enough, it was filled with packets of money and a few small bags that held uncut diamonds. She lifted up the money to check something at the bottom, then stuck the box into her backpack. They headed out the door.

They did a quick once-over of the jeep before they got in, double-checking for any kind of extra electronic signal, including their own personal devices.

“Do we need to go to your house for anything?” Lex whispered, her voice shaking.

Rath shook his head. “I keep everything important on me, but we should probably stop at Aunt Izzie’s to pick up Mr. Squidgy. Aly’ll never forgive us if we leave him behind.”

“Alright. Squidgy then the car. Off, Alfred.”

Rath pulled out. “I am so not Alfred. I’m Batman, if anything.”

Lex snorted. “Yeah right. I’m Catwoman, so you can’t be Batman. You’re not that level of cool. You’re the Scarecrow.”

“How are you Catwoman?”

Lex waved her hand in the air dismissively. “I’m hot, have unclear affiliations and intentions, and am extremely flexible. It’s only natural that I’m Catwoman.”

“And why am I Scarecrow?”

“Because the mere sight of you strikes fear in the heart of all.”

“Ha ha. Very funny.” Rath pulled into the Valenti’s driveway. “Alright. We get in, we get Aly’s stuff, and we get out. Five minutes.”

They walked slowly into the house, pretending it was just like any other time they came there. Rath headed for the kitchen to load up some food while Lex walked into Aly’s room to grab her escape bag. It was eerie, going into the girly pink room, aware that there was little chance that it would be lived in again. She picked up Aly’s stuffed pony and reached underneath the bed where her bag was. She stood at the door for a moment before flicking off the lights and joining Rath in the car.

They drove towards the edge of town, constantly looking over their shoulders for anyone who might be tailing them. The buildings got shabbier and shabbier until they pulled into an abandoned looking apartment building with a covered garage. They quickly unloaded everything into what looked like a broken-down old car. Rath placed his hand on the hood for a moment. “We’re good. Is it all clear?”

Lex focused for a moment, sending tendrils of awareness into the rest of the building. “No one’s here.”

Rath smiled grimly. “Then let’s get out of here.”

As they pulled out of the garage, smoke started to curl out of the windows before the whole building exploded in a wave of fire. Neither of them looked back as a flood of people started to run towards the complex.

They were an hour out of the city before either of them said anything. Rath looked over at Lex, who was curled in a little ball with her arms wrapped tightly around her waist, looking out the window.

“Are you alright?” he asked, shooting worried looks at her.

“I’m fine,” she replied.

Rath sighed internally. The events of the night were just beginning to hit her, and she was coming off her high. No matter that they’d known each other their whole lives, when things got too rough she just... withdrew. By now he knew just to wait it out and eventually it would come out.

So they drove quietly through the night, ending up in a little town come morning. They parked the car at the local Denny’s, changing its color and license once again, and then headed to the motel across the street. Rath went in while Lex cased the place, searching the perimeter for anything that seemed out of place. They didn’t seem to have been followed, which was a definite plus, but she couldn’t think that they would be ahead of the game for long.

Rath came out and jerked his head toward their room. They walked in together, lovers meeting for an early morning tryst if anyone cared to look, but once inside weariness overcame them. Lex kicked her shoes off and dropped on one of the beds, curling in a fetal position and pulling the covers over her head.

While Rath was as bone-weary as Lex, now that he was in bed, he couldn’t fall asleep. Worry consumed him, worry for his parents, Aly, all of the family he’d grown up with. He’d thought Kivar wasn’t a real threat, not like the FBI. His alien planet seemed so much less immediate than the one he had to deal with on a daily basis.

He got up and paced around the room, looking out the windows, even though he knew he was safe for now. They’d covered their tracks well. He crawled back into bed, trying to breathe evenly, to slow his heart rate down. He eventually fell into a fitful sleep, tossing with nightmares.

Late that afternoon, Lex woke up. She groggily moved over to the other bed to push Rath awake, then stumbled into the bathroom. Rath was finally sitting up when she emerged a quarter of an hour later, now a preppy redhead in a polo dress and sneakers. “Hurry up, I’m hungry.”

“Sure thing, princess.” Rath shuffled into the bathroom, yawning loudly. When he came out, he looked as clean-cut and up and coming as Lex, his hair highlighted blonde and his clothes pressed. He glared at Lex as she struggled to suppress a laugh.

“Whatever. Can we just get some food?”

An hour and three courses later, Lex was curled up in the booth, stirring her coffee idly. “We need a plan.”

Rath nodded. “I think the time for running is over. We just need to make sure that we throw everyone off of our trail for a while.”

Lex paused. “I think we need to find a way to contact Larek. We need to figure out how to get to Antar.”

“I agree.” Rath said then hesitated. “But I think we need to find your brother first.”

“What? No. I... Why would that be a good idea? Drag some unsuspecting normal person into this mess?”

“Well that’s the whole point,” Rath defended. “If they’re looking for us, they’ll be coming after him, too.’ He lowered his voice as a lady walked by. “We should get to him before they do. Even if only to warn him away from them, because they won’t give him a choice about whether or not he wants to be involved. We can at least give him a chance to protect his family.”

Lex sighed. “Alright. I guess.”

“The real question is how to find him. Do you think that we could dreamwalk the picture of him as a baby?”

”It’s not necessary.”

“What?”

Lex spoke up. “It’s not necessary. Dad knew the name of the lawyer who his dad gave Zan to. The first time we were in New York, he broke into his office and took Zan’s file. He never contacted him because the FBI never found out about him, so he didn’t want to risk him, but we have the file. All we have to do is look him up.”

“What? How come I didn’t know this?” Rath demanded of Lex.

She rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t supposed to know. But I overheard our parents talking about it while I was supposed to be in bed. The good side of having a connection with your parents is you know when they’re talking about something you’re not supposed to know about.”

Rath stood up and tossed some money on the table. “Alright then. Let’s get going.”

[Rai]

A/N- This is one of my favorite chapters so far, but it was probably my least favorite to actually write. Contradictary much? I think not. But it's also my longest chapter to date (and the farthest I've ever got in a story). If Zan's name gets confusing, which my lovely beta, ashleyt, was kind enough to point out to me, it's because Max's dad changed it slightly when he put it on a birth certificate, and that'll probably come up later. I feel sorry for him, just cause everything's kind of going to come at him at once.

Also, there's not going to be a chapter next week, probably, because (yay!) I'm leaving the country. Tomorrow. To go to England with my best friend. (I probably don't sound quite as excited as I feel.) I'm also slightly ahead right now and I'm loath to give that feeling up. But I give you an extra-long chapter to make up for it. But I'm hoping to write more on the plane, especially on the way back when I'm not allowed to have electronics, and I'm going to stop rambling now and let you read the story. I really hope you like it. And thank you, as always, to ashley for helping me out!


Chapter 4

Back in the motel, Lex opened her backpack and pulled a manila folder out of their shoebox of money. She traced the clasp for a moment, then tore the top off and pulled out the papers to rifle through them. “Lets see here... Ok, here’s a birth certificate. Zane Philips, unknown parents, born November 17th, they must have made that up, adopted to Aaron and Lily Ripley, New York City, May 23rd. Looks like they basically kept the name. That should be an interesting conversation starter... Where’d you get the name? Oh, he was named after his father who was a murdered Antarian king who was then recloned in the hopes that he could save his planet. What about your kid?”

“Hey!” interjected Rath. “It’s not so bad.”

“Yeah?” Lex asked, raising her eyebrow. “I don’t remember that being what you said when we enrolled in high school. High school. He’s got to be in college now, right? We should just Facebook him.”

Rath and Lex looked at each other for a moment, ‘Can it be that easy?’ written over their faces.

Lex shrugged and pulled her computer towards her. “Thank god for wi-fi. Alright, Zane Ripley.. Only one. Damn.”

“What?”

“He’s got one of those stupid pictures of himself as a little kid. It’s going to be pretty hard to find him. He’s at NYU, though, so that isn’t that far away. It’s got the dorm he’s in, though. Shouldn’t be hard to get into.”

“Okay, then,” Rath said, getting to his feet. “Let’s get on the road.”

After another night in the car, they finally stopped. Lex dragged herself out of the car, leaning against it and sighing dramatically. “If I never have to get into a car again, I will sacrifice to all the gods I can find.”

“Heretic.”

Lex ignored Rath and continued, “So I guess we should find someplace to eat, and then maybe a place to stay-”

“Lexygirl,” Rath interrupted. “We really need to find Zan. For his safety, remember?”

Lex sighed, then looked up at Rath and gave him a little half-smile. “Yeah, I know. It’s just scary, you know?”

Rath pulled her close and hugged her tightly. “It’s gonna be ok. I promise.”

She squeezed him for a moment, then let go. “Alright. Let’s go to his dining hall, see if he shows up there.” She straightened her shoulders and walked onto the campus.


Three hours later...

Lex groaned into her eighth diet coke. “What kind of guy doesn’t come for food every chance he gets?”

Rath shrugged. “What if we missed him?” He was instantly silenced by a wicked glare.

“Don’t even...”

“All I’m saying is we don’t know what he looks like. We could have missed him. Or maybe he’s finished with exams and gone home.”

Lex shook her head decisively. “I would know. There’s a similarity in families that’s impossible to- Wait. Over there.”

Rath raised an eyebrow. “You can tell from all the way over here?”

She laughed. “I don’t need to. No one who isn’t related to my father could possibly look quite that serious. Besides, look at his tray.”

Looking again, Rath zeroed in on the guy. Tall, dark haired and skinny, he definitely resembled Max. He was shuffling through the food line clumsily, trying to balance his tray on one arm and unsuccessfully reaching for pie with the other. He rescued the tray just before it slipped, then looked around shamefully. He shuffled to an empty booth and put his meal onto the table, yogurt, a burger, and a large bottle of Tabasco sauce.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Took you long enough.” Lex stood up. “Wait here.”

She walked resolutely toward the boy’s table. He surreptitiously stopped shaking Tabasco sauce over his yogurt as she approached him. “Zane, right?”

Looking around as if there was another person she could be talking to, Zane nodded. “Yeah, that’s me. Do I know you? Are we in a class together?”

Lex pushed her hair back and shook her head, twisting her fingers together. “Um, no.” She muttered to herself, “Right, Lex. Just get on with it. Okay, were you adopted?”

Zane looked as if someone had slapped him. “Who did you say you were, again?”

She sighed and sat down across from him. “I didn’t. Look, I’ve been going about this all wrong. I’m Lex. I think I could be your sister.”

She waited.

“Ok, then. This is going real well.” She shifted awkwardly to the side and saw Rath glaring at her. She gestured her hands at him and he jerked his head sideways at Zane. She looked back at Zane, who had missed the whole interlude, who was looking at the table with a drugged look on his face. She reached out to touch him, then thought better of it and pulled her hand back. “Zane? Are you ok?”

He looked back up at her, blinking. “Yeah. Of course I am. I’m fine. But you’re wrong. I don’t think you’re my sister.”

“All right,” Lex said, nonplussed. “So, you weren’t adopted, then?”

“Yes. I mean no. I mean- Look, I just don’t think you’re my sister, all right? I have this... genetic condition.”

Lex shrugged and stood up. “Ok, then. If you’re sure. Too bad.” She reached over, dipped her finger in his yogurt, stuck it in her mouth, and grinned at him. “Mmmm. It tastes so much better when it’s spicy.” She walked out of the cafeteria, Rath running to catch up with her.

Zan sat there for a moment, then looked down at his yogurt, knocking over half the things on his tray when he saw it. Where it had been cream colored before, now it was a bright fire engine red.

Rath panted as he caught up to Lex outside. “Well? That’s it? You’re not going to even try to find out if he’s your brother?”

Lex shot a disapproving glare at Rath. “Trust me. He’ll be out here in a minute. When have I ever failed?”

He rolled his eyes but didn’t reply. Sure enough, moments later Zane came running out. He looked around, and his eyes settled on Lex as he walked toward her. “Ok. I’ll bite. Let’s talk.”

Lex nodded and glanced around. “Shall we find someplace... more discreet to talk? I’d really like to get inside and we need a place to stay anyway.”

“Well, I guess that’s ok,” said Zane. He looked nervously at Rath. “So, is he...? I mean-”

“Rath’s a part of this.” Lex interrupted. “His dad and mine- Ours, I guess, have been friends since they were born. There’s a lot of history between us. But I’m really not feeling comfortable here right now.”

“Ok. Do you want, to maybe...”

Rath intervened. “Well, we need to get checked into a hotel. Maybe you could recommend one nearby?”

Zane nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.”

After a very awkward car ride and a quick look around the perimeter, they were safe inside the hotel room. The three of them stood there looking at each other.

“I’ll go get pizza.” Rath volunteered, ignoring the hate look Lex was shooting at him, and left.

“So... You think you’re my sister?” Zane opened up the floor.

Lex nodded. “Yeah. Well, do- Do strange things happen around you? Or I guess more specifically do you make them happen?”

“Strange things how?” asked Zane warily.

“Oh, what the hell,’ Lex muttered and ran her fingers through her hair, turning her hair back to its natural black color. ‘Things like that.”

Zane sighed and his shoulders relaxed. “Oh my god, I’m not insane. How did you do that? Are we part of some government conspiracy? Or is it some kind of magic that only certain people have?”

“You mean J.K. Rowling style?’ Lex asked, an eyebrow raised.

Zane grinned wryly and gave a half nod, to which Lex replied by starting to laugh and sagged onto the bed. “Sorry, Harry, you’re not a wizard. Hope I didn’t disappoint.”

Set at ease by her reaction, Zane sat down across from her and grinned back at her. “Damn, there goes one of my childhood dreams. I always kind of hoped my letter from Hogwarts just kind of got lost in the mail.”

Lex smiled at him and shook her head. “No, sorry, the real story’s actually much stranger than that. Where do I start, is the real question.”

“Well, you said we have the same father.’ Zane leaned forward, a hopeful look on his face. “Do we have the same mother?”

Lex shook her head. “No.’ She hesitated a moment. ‘Your mom died before I was born.”

“Oh.’ Sadness flickered across his face. ‘So is that why your dad gave me up? Was it because I’m different?”

“No!’ Lex exclaimed. “No, not at all. Actually... He gave you up because he thought you weren’t different. He wanted you to be able to live a normal life. He wanted to protect you. And by the time he figured out that you would have been like us, it was too late. But he never for a second wanted to give you up. He loved- He loves you. He only ever wanted what’s best for you.”

Zane relaxed again. “So, he did want me?”

Lex nodded firmly. “I have never had the slightest doubt about that.”

He drew a deep breath and released it. “Ok. So what... are we? How do we do what it is we can do?”

Lex giggled nervously. “Ok, well, we’re from Roswell, if that helps.”

Zane laughed. “Roswell, New Mexico? Like home of the aliens, Roswell? Wait. No. Aliens?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Except as far as I know, there aren’t any aliens there anymore.”

Zane shook his head. “Aliens? I... No. It’s not possible.”

Lex snorted. “Says the boy putting Tabasco in his yogurt.”

“So you’re from another planet.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Actually, you were the only one I know born there.’ Lex started, then saw Zane’s disbelieving look. “Ok, not helping. Just, this sounds really weird, all right? So bear with me. But I’m not making any of it up.”

“But- the Roswell thing was almost a hundred years ago. Are we immortal or something?”

She laughed again. “No. Hardly. At least, I don’t think so. You know, let me start from the beginning. Our planet was going through a civil war. The King, queen, sister and her fiancé were all assassinated by an insurgent named Khivar. Khivar had seduced the King's sister, Vilandra, and then betrayed her. Still following me?"

Zane nodded, quiet.

"But there was still a faction who wanted the King in power, including the Queen Mother. So she had the royal four cloned as hybrids- human and alien, and sent them here with four protectors to await their return. But the ship crashed."

"And that was the Roswell crash."

"Exactly. Two of the protectors were killed in the crash. There were two sets of hybrids, and two protectors left. They split up- one protector for one set of pods. One protector took his pods to New York to wait for them to hatch. The other protector hid his in Roswell and left. I'm sure he intended to get back in time- but he didn't. I don't know if the pods hatched early, or what, but the king, our father, and his sister Isabel came out first. They were found wandering by the side of the road- six year olds. Then Rath's father, Michael, came out. Nasedo, that was our protector, only came back in time to retrieve your mother. So the rest of them grew up without knowing where they came from."

Zane nodded. "So they really were alone."

"Right. When Nasedo finally returned, with the Queen, your mother, it was after they'd already gone through some pretty intense things. And then Nasedo was killed, and Alex. Well, your parents tried to be together, but my dad was already in love with my mother, and Tess had her own agenda... It just didn't work. So Tess tried to take you back home, but they betrayed her there. She came back, but unfortunately her ship crashed, leading the Air Force to her, and she died protecting you from them. Which is when Dad thought it best to give you up, and the Feds came after us, which leaves us here."

"That's... intense.' Zane finally said. 'It sounds like some sort of deranged fairy tale.”

“Yeah,’ said Lex, then sighed. ‘Look, I know I sound crazy. But it’s true. And I know it feels like I just came here out of nowhere, but we needed to tell you. We had to warn you.”

“Warn me now? Why?”

“Because our parents have been kidnapped. We wanted to tell you so- so you could get your family out of the way. You can get out of the way.”

Grief flitted across Zane’s face. “My parents died in a car crash a year ago. It’s why- I transferred colleges when they died, but it wasn’t exactly the fresh start I was hoping for.”

Sadness filled Lex’s face. “I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “It’s occurred to me lately to try to find my birth parents, but it just seemed too soon. And I didn’t really know where to start.”

“Hopefully you wouldn’t have been able to find us anyway.” Lex smiled grimly at his puzzled look. “We’ve been on the run my whole life. The FBI.”

Zane nodded. “Oh. So, what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know.’ Lex shrugged. ‘We want to try to find a way to Antar- that’s where we’re from- so we were going to try to contact someone who is friendly to us. It’s a long shot- we don’t even know if the person who he used as a go between is even still alive.”

“So what do you expect me to do?” Zane caught Lex’s eyes and held them.

She shook her head. “Nothing. Nothing that you don’t want to do. I was serious, Zane. We just wanted to warn you, so you wouldn’t get hurt. You don’t know what these people can do.”

Zane sat back. “This is- It’s just a lot to handle. You don’t even know if they know who I am, right?”

Lex nodded.

“Well, then, I need some time to think. I’m only human- well... I just need time to think.”

Lex nodded again. “Alright. We’ll probably be here overnight, unless something comes up.”

Zane got up and ran his hands through his hair. “If we don’t see each other again, it was- It was interesting meeting you.”

“You too.’ Lex smiled, then called after him as he walked towards the door. “Zane- we are human. Mostly, anyway. It’s why your mother was betrayed on Antar.”

He smiled at her and nodded. “Thank you.”

Rath came in a little later to find Lex lying on the floor, looking at the ceiling. “Have you ever thought that maybe we’re just crazy? Or maybe it’s just me. Instead of being in this little motel room, I’m actually locked up in a pretty all-white padded room, rambling on about aliens and royalty because there’s just something to complicated about the real world for me to handle.”

Rath snorted. “I may be less prone to fantasy flights than you, sweetheart, but if your other world’s worse than this, then you’re better off here anyway. And why would you create a world like this? Knowing you, your fantasy world would have servants waiting on you hand and foot and a constant flurry of masquerade balls.”

“Hah,’ Lex said. ‘What do you know about my fantasy life? You’re only Rath.”

“Well, if what you say is true, then I’m a figment of your imagination, and therefore I know what you want because I’m a part of your head. And if I really am Rath Maxwell Alexander Guerin, then I’ve known you your whole life and I know the way you think, probably better than anyone. So either way, this is not the way you’d choose to go crazy.”

Lex sighed. “Fine.’ She looked up at him hopefully. “Pizza?”

Rath sat down next to her. “Yes, I got sausage. What happened to our friend?”

Sitting up, Lex grabbed a slice of pizza. “It’s kind of a lot to take, Rath. Did you really expect him to stick around?”

He shrugged, speaking around a mouthful of pizza. “Well, I’m assuming since you let him go he wasn’t planning on calling the feds.”

She gave him a dark look. “You really think I would have let him get past the door if he had any bad intentions? I’m so tired, though. You know how hard it is to read someone.”

Rath shrugged. “What about his family?”

”Car accident, about a year ago. He’s the only one left.”

“A year ago?’ Rath asked, suddenly interested. ‘But that was when-”

“No. This has nothing to do with that.’ Lex insisted. ‘Don’t go there.”

“Ok,’ Rath shrugged, grabbing another piece of pizza. ‘So what do you think he’ll do?”

“I don’t know, I don’t read minds.” Lex retorted.

Rath backed off. “TV?” He switched it on.

Lex shrugged and got up. “Why bother to ask if you’re just going to turn it on anyway? I’m going to take a shower.” She stalked into the bathroom and slammed the door.

Rath sighed and shook his head, picking up the remains of the pizza. He straightened up the room and crashed on one of the beds, making sure to take the one closer to the door. Silence reigned for a while, until he heard a crash in the next room.

“Goddamit!”

Rath burst into the bathroom to find Lex bright red and sobbing in anger, curled on the floor with her hands on her forehead. “Goddamn son of a bitch moron ledge! Why the hell would you put something like that in the middle of this idiotic tiny bathroom?’ she yelled. ‘I just don’t freaking get it! They can’t put it above the toilet like normal hotels?”

He kneeled down next to her, pulling her hands away from her forehead to reveal a long but shallow gash. He reached over and grabbed a towel, briefly wetting it in the sink, pressing it onto her forehead. “Shhh. Shhh. It’s going to be ok.” He picked her up and pulled her into his lap, cradling her. He held her until she cried herself out, hiccupping.

“I’m just so tired,’ she sniffled. ‘That bastard,” she muttered, letting out a long, shuddering sigh.

Rath pulled her to her feet and helped her out of the bathroom. “C’mon. Let’s get you into bed.”

“Okay,” Lex yawned. She dropped onto the nearest bed and cocooned herself underneath the covers. “Night,” she whispered before falling asleep, her breathing still ragged.

Rath checked the door and window again, making sure they were sealed. When he fell into bed this time, he didn’t dream at all.

The next morning they went about their business quietly. Lex preferred to stay quietly zoned out in front of the TV than leave the motel room, while Rath left to pick up some basic necessities. Having traveled so much made them experienced in the need for things such as a good cooler, blankets and headphones for when neither of them could stand the other’s music any longer.

He returned to the hotel to find Lex still watching TV, but she had a nonchalant look on her face as if she had been doing something she shouldn’t have. “Hey. Did you remember the Tabasco?”

Rath nodded. “Me, forget? Hardly.”

Lex snorted. “You remember that time we were on our way to Canada and the one thing you had to get at the store before we left? And how we had to go five weeks without any sort of taste in our food? Whose fault was that?”

Rath shook his head. “It was your job to remind me.”

“No, it wasn’t. You just depended on me to remind you.” Lex turned off the TV and started picking up the clothes she’d scattered everywhere. “What about Snapple?”

He sighed. “Yes, I got the Snapple.”

She wandered about the room, checking under tables and chairs to make sure she hadn’t left anything behind, all the while surreptitiously glancing at the door. Rath pretended to ignore her, until she was on her fifth round of checking the bathroom.

“So, I think it’s time to go.”

Lex looked startled. “Oh, well, I just feel like I’m missing something. Do you think I could have dropped my straightener when I hit my head last night?”

Rath shook his head. “I saw you pack your straightener. Why you need a straightener in the first place is beyond my comprehension, and if you lost anything when you hit your head, trust me, it wouldn’t be something you could see.”

Lex gave him a withering look but chose to ignore the last part of his comment. “I need my straightener because it’s much more efficient to use that partly and then use my powers to heal my hair from the heat damage. And since every girl in the universe has a straightener, it would look extremely odd if I didn’t have one. I just know I’m missing something.” She kneeled to look underneath the bed again.

“Lex.’ Rath said patiently. ‘I don’t think he’s coming.”

“Just one second!” Lex called.

“All right,’ Rath said, marching over and dragging Lex up. He picked up the bags and pulled them all toward the door, opening it to find someone standing outside.

“Hey,” said Zane. “There’s nothing left for me here. So where are we going?”

[Rai]

At long last, the next chapter.

Beth- I'm glad you like Zane's name. Don't worry, Lex and Rath are pretty worried about their parents. That little outburst was not just contained to Danny anger. But right now they're trying to focus on what they have to do to stay safe so they can make their next plan of action. Also, they're used to their connection reminding them when something's wrong. Right now it's kind of on silent. And we have not seen the last of Danny.

As always, so much thanks goes to Ashleyt for her wonderful beta-ing skills.

Chapter 5

Zane shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Lex was turned around in front of him, looking him up and down.

“So, where are we headed?” he asked, trying not to squirm as Lex continued to scrutinize him.

“I figured we’d head midwest for a while,” Rath said. “We’ve got a couple of places where we can lay low until maybe the heat dies down some. Rest up, get to know each other, plot out our next course of action.”

Zane nodded, smiling awkwardly at Lex, then looking away.

“Well, you’re definitely as polite as Dad,” she announced.

“What?” he asked.

She grinned at him. “I’ve been making you uncomfortable for at least five minutes and you haven’t said a word. I’m betting you don’t know where to start.”

”Start what?”

“Asking me about our family.’ Lex shook her hair out of her eyes impatiently. ‘I mean, you have got to be beyond curious.”

Zane laughed, tension gone. “Well, when you put it that way... What’s our dad’s name? And your last name, for that matter? Well, can you just tell me everything?”

Lex nodded. “I think that could be arranged.” She climbed over the back of the seat to sit next to him, dragging her backpack with her and rummaging through it, pulling out a book. She opened it to the middle and pulled out a picture, pausing for a moment. She took a deep breath, then smiled widely. “Here’s dad at my graduation. It was just before we moved away from Dallas. He’s Max Evans, and that’s my mom, Liz, standing next to him.” She pulled out another picture; this one folded in half and tucked into the back of the book. “Here’s their group just before- just before your mom got pregnant. She’s right there- with the curly blonde hair. Her name was Tess.”

“You have a picture of her?” hissed Rath. “Where did that come from?”

Lex leaned forward. “He deserves to have a picture of his mother.” She lowered her voice. “She’s his mother, Rath. You should understand.”

“I do.” Rath reverted to his normal tone. “Where did you get that picture?”

Lex leaned back again. “It’s of their prom.” She started to point at the picture that Zane was glued to. “That blonde right there, that’s our Aunt Isabel. She ended up marrying your mom’s prom date, Kyle. They have a little girl, Alyssa, who’s seven. There’s Rath’s mom and dad, Maria and Michael. Michael was one of the original four.”

Zane pointed at the picture. “Who’s that?”

“Oh.” Lex’s voice was even. “That’s Alex. I was named after him. He died not long after that picture was taken.”

“I’m sorry. What-” Zane stopped.

“He was killed by an alien.”

Rath shot her a look.

“It’s important he know the danger.” Lex looked at Zane. “This is the way our lives work. It’s not safe or easy. You got lucky. I don’t know much about you, but from what I can see, you were safe. We’re out of a zone that resembles normal in any way, and it would be cruel to you if I didn’t tell you upfront about it. If you want us to drop you off at the next stop so you can get on a bus and head back to school or Cancun or whatever, that’s ok. You’ve got to do what’s right for you.”

“No.” said Zane. “You’re right; you don’t know much about me. And I’m not going to lie and pretend that my life was worse or more dangerous than it was. I got the happy family and the nice suburb thing. But I’ve also been alone. More alone, since my parents died. And I’m not going to give up on the chance to have family again- any kind of family. Especially when it means that I wouldn’t be alone with this secret anymore. Sometimes you have to sacrifice your safety to get something better.”

Lex shrugged. “Works for me. Rath?”

“I say we show him the secret handshake.”

She grinned at Zane. “Sounds like you’re in. Now, the thing you’ve got to remember about Aunt Isabel is that...”

***

Lex dropped her bags on the floor with a huff. She stretched her neck back and sighed loudly. “I am so tired. Ugh, I just need a bath so bad.”

Zane looked around admiringly. “What is this place?”

Rath shrugged. “It’s our cabin. Our parents found it when we were younger, extremely shabby and got it for a bargain.” He wiggled his fingers. “All it took was a little magic to fix it up and make some... improvements. It has many amenities that would seem less attractive to most people. Like the fact that we’re ostensibly snowed in. Less of a problem for us.”

Lex picked up her bags again and dragged them over to the staircase. “I’ll take the loft and you can have the downstairs. Try not to break anything.”

Rath nodded at the hallway. “Come on, I’ll show you the other two rooms.”

He led Zane into the hall, which opened up to four more doors. Rath pointed each one out to him. “We’ll share a bathroom, which is probably why Lex took the upstairs. The rooms are tiny, but after being on the road for days it really doesn’t matter as long as you’ve got some privacy. And that’s the door to the basement. There’s a handy escape hatch behind the tool table down there. It’s pretty much only accessible to us, and it comes out in a culvert a ways away.” He grinned. “We like to be well organized when it comes to our escape plans.”

“Okay. Does it matter which room?” Zane asked.

Rath shook his head. “It doesn’t really matter, but I’ll just take this one, cause it’s got some of my stuff that I left in it. If you need anything during the night, don’t hesitate to wake me up. Wake up Lex, though, and your life is forfeit.”

Zane laughed. He started to open his door, then stopped. “You really care about her, don’t you?”

Rath paused, then nodded. “Yeah. I do. I’ll see you in the morning.” He closed his door softly behind him.

***

The next morning was extremely leisurely. They all got up late, ate breakfast, and hung around. After a while Rath went to pick up supplies while Lex started to clean up. Zane wandered into the kitchen and started to help by drying the dishes.

“Why don’t you just use your powers?” he asked.

Lex shrugged. “I do, sometimes. But Mom and Dad were- are pretty insistent on me doing things the normal way, so it kind of turned into a habit.” She grinned mischievously. “I’m really supposed to use them way less than I do. But what would I do if I couldn’t remake clothes with a single wave?”

Zane smiled back. “I get that. My parents didn’t know about me, so it was mostly necessary for me to use them sparingly. I think they suspected something was... different, but they never pressed. So what about you?”

Lex looked up, confused. “What about me?”

“Well,” Zane said, “I got to hear a lot about the last generation yesterday, and some about you growing up, but nothing recent. What’s your life like?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Oh, you know. College, mostly. Ugly breakup. The usual.”

“I’m sorry. What happened?”

Lex scrubbed at a nonexistent spot on her plate. “Rath found a camera inside a stuffed animal he gave me. We think he was FBI.”

“Oh. That sucks.”

Lex laughed grimly. “Yeah, it kind of does. So, your parents sound like they were good people.”

He nodded. “They were. They just accepted me, you know? I was really lucky.” His face darkened. “Of course, it just made it worse that I couldn’t get there in time. I could’ve- I could have saved them! I should have been there! It’s not fair! Why am I able to do this? I have this amazing thing, and it’s completely worthless when it counts! Why wasn’t I there?” Zane gripped the side of the counter, shaking and white.

“Zane.” Lex said quietly. She tugged his hands free from the counter and led him over to the couch. “Zane. You can’t blame yourself. We’re not gods. I can’t imagine how painful it must be to know if you’d been there you could have saved them. That’s not something normal people have to deal with. It’s not something we should have to deal with. But it isn’t your fault. We can’t change the course of the world. It’s no different than if you’d been a completely normal human and hadn’t been there. What if you’d been there and could have called an ambulance quicker, or if you’d been able to pull them free of the car. Or if you were there as you are and you hadn’t been able to reach them in time or if they’d died on impact.

It makes it harder, knowing that you’ve got your gift and you can’t always use it. Dad struggles with it daily. It’s why he became a doctor. He wants to help people, but he’d kill himself if he tried to heal everyone. Or it would put us in danger, and he couldn’t live with that. So he does what he can, where he can, but he still has to step back sometimes and say, ‘I can’t do anything.’

It’s terrible, being us- being anyone and being helpless, but it’s something you have to learn how to deal with. I can only say what my mom says, which is maybe there’s a plan that we don’t know about. It’s what gives me hope. You need to have hope, because you can’t just keep playing these ‘what if’ scenarios in your head. It will kill you, and I’m pretty sure that’s just the opposite of what your parents would have wanted for you. You just have to remember that they loved you and hold on to that. It’s all you can do.”

Zane sat there silently for a moment. “It’s just so hard,” he said, his voice breaking.

Lex nodded sadly. “I know.”

Zane put his hands to his face, then broke down. Lex sat there, rubbing his back silently, with a grim look on her face. They stayed that way for quite some time.

***

When Rath came back he had to search all over the house before coming down to the basement to find Lex. She was standing on top of the tool table waving her hand at the wall.

“Um.”

She looked at him irritably. “I’m looking for the box of alien stuff. I could have sworn it was right here when we left.”

“Where’s Zane?”

“He went for a walk. You know, this may seem like crazy talk to you, but here’s an idea- you could help me!”

”In the snow?”

Lex kicked an empty kleenex box at him. “What can I say? He did not grow up in the Southwest like normal people. It’s uncanny. Rath, where is the box?”

“I don’t know, did you check next to the furnace?”

Lex climbed down off the table and brushed herself off rather fruitlessly. “Why you couldn’t have just answered my questioning the first place...” She waved her hand on the wall next to the furnace, revealing a silver handprint behind it. She pressed her hand against it and pulled out a small chest when the wall opened. “Oh, good. Let’s go upstairs and make sure everything’s ok.”

“It’s not like anything in there’s useful,” Rath muttered as he leaned against the wall.

Lex stalked up the stairs, tossing her hair. “I wouldn’t say that.”

Rath shook his head but followed her upstairs.

[Rai]

Chapter 6

I don’t even know why I’m writing this down, but I just need to get everything out of my system. This has been a friggin nuts week. Maybe I’ll do better if I just write it all down, in the order it happened.

Danny put a camera in my teddy bear. A six-month anniversary gift, and he’s a Fed. How-I should have felt him out-Ok, that sounds totally wrong. I just knew I should have at least peeked at his intentions when we started dating, but I didn’t want to find out something I wouldn’t like. I just wanted to be a normal girl with a normal boyfriend at college. I don’t know what I was expecting, though. It’s too much to think that my life could ever be normal. And we’ve gone this long without having to deal with the alien menace, haha. That’s probably what Danny thinks about me. I’m the alien menace. If only he knew that the most I use my powers for is personal cosmetics. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Mom and Dad are gone. All of my family. We think Khivar took them. All we had was one little voicemail, and our parents were gone. Just Rath and me, and we’re stuck between the FBI and an alien king after us. Although it’s hard to figure out if I’m the alien or not. Do I really belong anywhere? I’m part human, part who knows what, Antarian, and both places want me for bad reasons. I never really had a chance, did I?

And my brother. I have a brother. Technically I always knew I had a brother, but if you never hear the tree fall and all that... Wait how did that go again? Whatever. And he’s my brother, definitely. He’s not what you call the spitting image of my dad, but I see the similarities. From what I’m told about Tess, he’s a little bit like her too. I think he’s insecure. Who wouldn’t be, even if they weren’t raised by a psycho killer? Rath has this completely nuts idea- well, I’m not even going to write it down. I don’t know where he comes up with these things.

And as usual, I’m not really writing what I think about any of this. What do you when you meet your illegitimate sibling, or when your parents go missing? I like him. It’s kind of been a whirlwind. It’s hard to try not to be too intense, because I can tell he doesn’t need that. As long as I just stay cool, everything will be alright.

This may be the worst time of all to stop, but I think we need to lay low for a while. I just know that’s what we need to do. I know what else we need to do, too. It’s going to be hard, but what isn’t? We can get prepared while we wait. I don’t think that anything too bad is happening to our parents right now, and that’s the most I can glean from what I’ve got. I tried last night to reach them, but it took more energy out of me than I can afford and I fell asleep almost immediately. I’m glad I didn’t tell anyone I was going to try, Rath would’ve been pissed. He’s super worried already, I can tell. He’s trying to be the strong one, surprise surprise, but that can’t last long. He wants to take care of all of us, and he doesn’t really do the bursting up thing like his dad, but he doesn’t want to put any more pressure on me by spilling his guts.

Poor Zane. How do we tell him about his mother? Should we do it, or wait for Dad? Although it will probably be too late. You shouldn’t have to suffer for the sins of your parent. He’s also kind of the picture of my worst fear. I don’t want to lose my parents. I’m so afraid, and nothing seems to be going right.

Lex

[Rai]

Ashleyt- Your hunch may be correct, but I was kind of surprised that it started showing up this soon. It was totally unintentional, but I thought the same thing as I was writing this chapter. Thanks, again, for beta-ing!

Chapter 7

Lex hid her diary underneath her mattress, well aware that it was a futile gesture, then turned onto her back to gaze out the skylight. The loft was one of her favorite places in the world. It was sparse, pretty much a bed, a fireplace and a bathroom, and there was really only a curtain that made it into a room at all, but she loved it. The bathroom had a huge old bathtub they had salvaged and repaired themselves. There was also a very large water heater, although it was just an escape hole and if she wanted hot water she would have to do it herself.

Right now snow was falling on the skylight and slowly sliding down it, which Lex watched lazily. She burrowed underneath her blankets, half dozed, until the sound of a piano woke her up.

“Aaah,” she said.

Wrapping one of the blankets around her, she padded downstairs to Rath’s room.

She tapped on the door, slightly pushing it open. This had been Rath’s room the last time they’d stayed, and it really reflected his personality. The walls were covered with both completed and half-finished paintings, the only furnishings was his bed and a keyboard he was currently sitting at. Lex curled up on the bed quietly, listening to the mournful sounds that filled the room.

While she was resting, she decided to try to reach her parents again. She crossed her legs and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Searching inside herself for the place where her connection to her parents rested, she tugged it a little, then followed it upward. Straining, she felt something, then fell over, screaming in pain as the lightbulb and windows shattered.

“Aaaoow!”

Rath jumped up and grabbed her. “What? What happened?”

Zane burst into the room. “What’s going on?”

Lex held onto her forehead, whimpering. “Ohhh, ohhh...”

“Hold still,” Zane commanded, then reached over and rubbed her forehead. “Better?”

She nodded, pulling herself up against the headboard and away from Rath, her hands twined through her hair and her fingers pressed against her skull.

“Lex, what happened?” Rath asked again. “Tell me.”

She sighed with her eyes screwed tightly closed. “I tried to reach Mom and Dad, but someone was waiting.”

“Waiting?” Rath said guardedly.

“I cut him off, but he tried to- he tried to get in.”

“And you were trying to reach them?”

Lex nodded, her eyes still closed.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Rath yelled. “They’re gone, Lex! They’re gone, kidnapped by Khivar, and you try to freaking contact them? Are you friggin’ insane? He could have found us! Mindraped you! And you go and try to reach them? Do you have any idea how stupid that was?”

“That’s enough,” said Zane quietly.

Rath glared at him. “Keep out of it.”

“No. You don’t need to talk to her that way.”

“Zane.” Lex shook her head imperceptibly.

“What do you even know about it?” Rath shot at him. “You don’t even know her. What she did was stupid and she knows it.”

“I know she’s my sister,” Zane said insistently. “And I know that it’s a rough time and you don’t need to talk to her that way.”

“Whatever.” Rath snapped at him and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Zane sat next to Lex on the bed. “Are you ok?”

She nodded. “I’m fine. Rath just needed to blow off steam. He’s really freaked out. And he’s not doing good right now.”

“Yeah, well I can understand that. Now’s not the time to be yelling, though.” Zane paused. “But, Lex, what you did was really stupid. You could have gotten hurt.”

Lex looked at Zane studiously. “I know. But it was something I had to do.”

***

The living room was dark enough when Rath returned that he didn’t see Lex sitting on the couch.

“Rath.”

He stopped skulking towards his room and hit the light. “What, are you gonna get on my case, too?”

Lex rolled her eyes and stood up, hand on her hip. “Rath, grow up.”

“Well, I was right,” he insisted. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

”I know that. I know it was stupid. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have to do it.”

“No,” Rath said vehemently. “You were doing it to prove yourself. You wanted to be super-Lex and figure out where our parents are so you can win. Lex finds Mommy and Daddy, goes back to her nice little life and can pretend that everything’s fine. That things could actually be normal for us. Well, that’s a lie. Things are never going to be right, Lex, and it’s time you learned to accept that.”

Stung, Lex blinked back tears. “Is that really what you think of me? Sure, who doesn’t want to be normal, but that’s not what this is about. I can’t believe that you’d just assume something like that!”

“Oh, really?” Rath retorted. “Please, enlighten me. What grand and noble motive inspired you to take on the responsibility of finding our parents without even warning us? Tell me, oh wise one, so that I may learn from your wonderful knowledge and experience.”

“You!” Lex shouted. She rubbed tears away furiously. “Look at you Rath, you’re shouldering all the responsibility on yourself! You are so determined to make everything okay that you won’t let anyone else try to help at all. Well, that’s bull. You’re going to break if you keep going down the road you’re on, and we’re going to have to pick up the pieces. You cannot do all of this by yourself, and I won’t let you.”

Rath spun on his heel and walked out of the room. Lex shuddered and rubbed her hands over her face, dropping back on the couch. Zane came out, shirtless and his hair sticking every which way. “Lex? What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Lex snapped. She ran upstairs, slamming a non-existent door behind her.

Zane ran his fingers through his hair blearily, then turned and went back to bed.

***

Everyone walked on eggshells around each other the next morning, though Rath and Lex glared if the other dared look their way. She used her powers to pull the cereal to herself as Rath reached it. He retaliated by using the last of the milk. She melted his spoon when he got up to get a drink.

“Dammit, Lex!” A lightbulb behind him popped, and Lex cocked an eyebrow.

“You better learn to control that anger or you’re going to be blowing things up in public next,” she drawled.

He knocked his chair over. Zane half stood up, then sat back down when Rath and Lex glared at him.

Rath laughed sarcastically. “I don’t think so, sweetheart. You’re the only one who can piss me off like this.”

That statement cracked Lex up. “Oh, sure, until someone says something you don’t like. Does something without your holy highness’ royal permission. Or, God forbid, even makes a mistake. Because you could never do that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry I interfered in your plans. Can’t stop the lovely heroine from rescuing her family all by herself, and turning the bad guy good so they can get married and live happily ever after in your perfect little world. I’m so glad you’ve got it all laid out. I know, you’re going to change the world, starting from the inside.”

Zane pulled Rath’s bowl of cereal over and started eating it, watching Rath and Lex like they were something out of a movie.

Lex flushed dark red. “Well at least I’ve got a dream. It’s not like we’ve got a whole lot of options to work with, here. “ She ran a hand through her hair. “Let me see, there’s running from the FBI. Or we could announce ourselves to the world, and just wait for them to cut us into little tiny pieces. That would be after the torture, of course. And, oh wait, there’s surrendering to the planet that rejected us in the first place and dumped us here with useless guardians that sold us out. Forgive me for not settling on a choice that meets your requirements. Which one of those would you like me to pick again? I’m partial to surrendering to the FBI, myself. I’m pretty sure Khivar just wants us dead as quick as possible, so that would give us the longest lifespan of those options.”

“That isn’t the way it has to be,” he retorted.

“Oh?” Lex asked. “Then explain it to me. What other options do we have?”

“I don’t know!” Rath yelled at her. “All I know is that there has to be more to life than this! I won’t accept that this is all I’ve got!” He took a deep breath. “This can’t be it. I don’t want to have to lie my whole life about who and what I am. I may not know what else there is out there, but that doesn’t mean I’m just going to roll over and play dead.” He shook his head and started to head for the door.

“Stop right there.” Lex paused. “Don’t walk away from me, Rath. We’re going to settle this. All this argument is going to do is weaken us, and now is seriously not the time when we need that.”

Rath turned around and lifted his hands helplessly. “So how do we do that?”

Lex closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Fine. I’m sorry for not talking to you before I tried to contact our parents.”

“Thank you for your apology,” Rath said.

Lex waited.

He let out a long-suffering sigh. “I’m sorry for hogging all of the responsibility.”

“For trying to put everything on my shoulders.”

He rolled his eyes, but repeated, “I’m sorry for trying to put everything on my shoulders.”

”And I will admit that I’m worried about my parents.”

“And I will admit that I’m worried about my parents,” he parroted.

“And I will make Lex breakfast in bed for the next week.”

“And I will make Lex-” he stopped and threw a pillow off the couch at Lex, who caught it and grinned.

She shrugged nonchalantly. “It was worth a try.”

He rolled his eyes but grinned at her. “Whatever.”

Zane got up and left the room. “You people are weird.”

Lex and Rath laughed, releasing the tension of the previous week.

[Rai]

Jessibelle47 I'm glad you liked it! It's fun to see how their personalities resemble their parents, and how they differ. But trust me, that is not the last fight to come.

Thanks, as always, to my lovely beta, Ashleyt.



Chapter 8

Liz gasped in shock as she felt her daughter try to reach her, then in pain as a shock of energy from her manacles cut them off. She reached out in the darkness. “Max, Max!” she whispered.

“I’m right here, Liz.” His hand encircled her tiny wrist.

“Lex tried to contact me! They’re ok, I know it!” Liz whispered excitedly in his ear.

Max pulled her to him. “I know they are. They’ll be fine. They’re good kids.” He kissed her on the forehead, glad for the darkness that hid his worried frown.

[Rai]

Ashleyt-This chapter was so simple compared to the last, I don't know how you didn't fall asleep writing it.


Jessibelle- You get some answers in this chapter. Admittedly, not many, but it's a start.

Chapter 10

That night they gathered together in the main room to eat dinner. Rath was sprawled in an easy chair, trying to find a hockey game with the tv on mute, Zane was writing things down in a notebook and muttering under his breath, while Lex was pawing through the box of alien artifacts, a blanket draped over her shoulders like a cape. She pulled out the communicators, holding them up to the light. Zane looked over curiously. “What’s that?”

She traced her hand over the design on top, then replicated it into a small tattoo onto her wrist. “It’s a message from home,” she said absently. “It’s the only thing they gave us that lasted. That actually came to us. Not much use, except to divide and cause more problems.”

“More problems how?” Zane asked.

“Huh?” Lex snapped back to reality. “What did I say?”

Zane shook his head. “So what exactly do those do?”

Lex shrugged inelegantly. “I’m not entirely sure. They’re supposed to be communicators, and there was a message that our family originally saw from our grandmother, but that could have been just another lie our so called protector fed to us.”

”Why was their protector lying to them?” Zane asked.

“He wanted to sell them out to Khivar. Not exactly the best choice for a guardian, huh?”

Zane shook his head.

Lex tossed her hair out of her eyes. ”He wasn’t the only one. Originally there were supposed to have been four, I think. Two dead in the crash, two useless. And only one still alive.”

Rath looked at her. “You mean Kal?”

Lex blinked her eyes innocently. “Oh, Kal Langley died years ago. Left all of his money to his utterly handsome young nephew, Calvin O’Hara, who just magically seemed to inherit his brilliance as well.”

“Is that so?” Rath drawled.

Zane held up his hand. “Am I missing something here?

“Our protecters were shapeshifters,” Lex replied, her face stretching into a wicked grin. “And the one who abandoned his charges instead of betraying them decided to become a big-time movie producer in the lovely Hollywood, California.”

“Aha,” Zane murmured.

“You have to admit,” she continued, “it does have some intriguing possibilities.” Lex traced the design on the communicators again. “What do you want to bet he knows how to use these?”

”And I’ve always wanted to see Hollywood so,” Rath said, sighing prettily.

***

”I really think we should have waited longer.” Lex said, sinking down into her seat and crossing her arms, sighing dramatically.

Zane rolled his eyes in the backseat.

Rath shook his head. “Lex, we voted. Like you wanted, remember? And we decided, as a group, that it was time to take action. We just don’t have the time to wait for something to happen to us. So we’re going. Suck it up.”

Lex snorted and tossed her hair. “I just don’t have a good feeling about this. Who knows if the aliens are waiting for us there?”

“Then we’ll deal with that when and if it comes.” Zane spoke out strongly. “Rath’s right, Lex. If we keep hiding, who knows if they’ll find us or not. Proactive over reactive.”

She hooked her headphones into her ears. “Whatever.”

Tensions were running high by the time they reached California two days later. About an hour out of L.A. Lex spoke up. “We need to stop at a gas station.”

“Now?” Rath asked, looking at her increduously. “We’re almost there.”

She rolled her eyes. “Which is why I need to stop,” enunciating each word slowly as if she was talking to a small child. “You think we’re out of danger from the FBI here? Now we should blend in more than ever. And we should make our game plan.”

Rath veered across the highway to the exit, ignoring the angry honks and pulled into the nearest gas station. “Happy?”

“Enough!” Zane yelled, the two looking at him in surprise. “Your bickering is driving me crazy. Just shut up and deal with it already.”

Lex giggled. “Someone got up on the wrong side of the spaceship this morning,” she muttered. Rath snickered in the seat next to her as Zane got out of the car and walked away.

Lex headed for the bathrooms while Rath patrolled the candy aisles. A few minutes later she emerged, a L.A. princess with bleached blonde hair, a dark tan, and clothes that seemed to be fresh from a designer’s hands. She struck a pose for Rath. “What do you think?”

He frowned. “I don’t like it. It isn’t you.”

She rolled her eyes impatiently. “Well, I never said it was me. What it has to be is convincing. Different.”

”Whatever,” he drawled.

Zane walked back inside and rejoined them. Lex studied him for a moment, raising an eyebrow. “Feel better?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

”Good,” she replied. “So here’s the plan...”

***

The personal assistant to a major movie producer sighed as she buzzed in his 3 o’clock. Her day had started at four that morning, and this was the last meeting of the day, hastily scheduled the day before.

A young man and woman entered, arms entwined and followed by a tall bodyguard. The two were strikingly similar, down to the same bleached blonde hair and dark eyes. The lady laid one perfectly manicured hand on the P.A.’s desk, sighing delicately. “Ve are here to see za moovie producer. Za Crown Prince Nicolae and his sister, her royal highness Alexandria of Slovakeonomantarina,” garbling the last word. “Why is he not here to meet us immediately?”

The assistant’s eyes widened. “Oh, right, I’m so sorry, just let me buzz him down for you!” She picked up her phone. “Mr. O’Hara, the, um, the Prince and Princess are here to see you.” She paused. “You want me to tell them to what? Yes, yes I know that. Of course. So sorry.” She looked back nervously at Lex, whose face was very solemn at the moment.

“Rafe!” Lex snapped. “I heard somezing outdoors. Go and check za perimeter.” She snapped her fingers. “Now, please.” The bodyguard turned and left.

The assistant stood up, gripping her noteboard so tightly her knuckles turned white. “Um, Mr. O’Hara will be down in a moment. May I show you to the parlor and offer you something to drink?”

Lex let out a huff as they followed her down the hall. “Vedy well, I suppose. My brother’s constitution vill only permit him lemonade, so we shall both have zat.”

The assistant nodded and fled. Zane and Lex looked at each other meaningfully and started giggling. “Slovakeonomantarina?” Zane whispered.

Lex suppressed her laughter and started wiping away tears from her eyes. “Oh, god, I didn’t want her to repeat it to him. Shh, I think she’s coming back.” They both sobered up quickly as the assistant returned with their drinks.

“Mr. Thompson was just behind me,” the P.A. reassured them. “Oh, here he is now!” she cried gratefully. “Mr. Calvin O’Hara, Prince Nicolae and Princess Alexandria.”

A tall, handsome man in his early forties swept up to them, smiling deferentially. “Your royal highnesses, this is such a surprise,” he said, bowing over Lex’s hand as if to kiss it and freezing in shock. He straightened himself up and backed up towards the door. “Unfortunately, something-”

“Stop,” commanded Lex, raising her arm. She glanced over at the assistant. “Miss, now would be a very good time for you to leave.” The lady nodded nervously and backed out the doorway. “Calvin O’Hara. Or, should I say, Kal Langley. Even that probably isn’t your real name, but that doesn’t really matter, does it?” Lex looked at her brother, smiling grimly. “See, Zane? I was right. It’s not just our father who can tell him what to do. I would imagine it’s anyone with the seal, or in the royal family.”

Kal cursed at her. “Figures. You’re just as selfish as him, too.”

Lex raised an eyebrow and stepped forward. “Selfish? I’ve spent my whole life running from the FBI while you’ve sat up here in your beautiful mansion having the time of your life. My parents have just been taken by some crazy person who I’ve only heard of in fairy tales, and we’ve been running for our very lives. I really don’t think you’re in any place to start throwing stones, sweetheart. And the only thing my father ever asked of you, the person who was sent here to guard him, was to protect him from the many people who have wanted his head for only being alive, the only thing he asked was for help saving his son.”

She waved her hand in Zane’s direction. “See him right there? Another decent person who you could have helped, but chose not to.” Lex stepped even closer, lowering her voice. “But that’s not the real question here, is it? Because what you’ve done, oh, let’s call it deserting the king in a time of war and endangering him and his heirs, why, that sounds more along the lines of treason, doesn’t it? I wonder if there’s a punishment on Antar for traitors.”

Kal gulped silently as Lex continued. “There would be, wouldn’t there? I wonder if it’s anything like the sentences that people on earth receive. But if the king himself decrees it, it wouldn’t matter what the usual punishment was.” She paused for a second and took a deep breath. “So, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to snap out of your stupid self-pitying eighty year funk, and you’re going to help your King and your country, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll do you a favor and forget your address.”

Kal nodded, hate written all over his face.

“Good,” Lex smiled. “Now let’s get started.” She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, then opened her oversized purse and brought out the communicators. “We need to reach Larek.”

Kal reached towards the communicators, scowling. “Here. You need to speak in Antarian to activate them. I don’t know how long they will last. It has been eighty years, as you so kindly pointed out.” He spoke a word over them, and they started to glow. “Here, touch them and project yourself into them.”

Zane and Lex reached over to touch them. All of a sudden the communicators shined. What seemed to be a holographic image of some sort of alien popped up and spoke.

Kal replied, and the alien disappeared. A moment later, a human looking person popped up. He ignored Kal and spoke directly to Zane and Lex. “Prince Zan, Princess Alexandra?”

”Yes,” Lex replied impatiently. “Our parents, do you know what happened to them?”

”They are safe for now,” Larek said. “I have had people searching for you ever since they were taken. Where are you?”

”We found the only original protector and forced him to help us contact you. We’re in California now. Where are our parents?” Lex demanded, shaking.

Larek sighed. “Khivar does not have them yet. Unfortunately, neither do I. You are needed here, desperately. I can open a portal to bring you here, but it will take time. And doubtlessly Khivar’s men have been watching the treasonous protector in hopes that you would contact him. You should leave immediately.” He told them where to wait and when to be there.

“You’re sure?” asked Zane.

He nodded. “I am losing the connection. Leave, and be safe.” Larek bowed, then disappeared.

The little assistant came back into the room, shaking. Lex looked up, startled. “Ma’am, it’s really not safe for you-”

“I tried to stop them, Mr. O’Hara, really I did,” the P.A. claimed as she scurried towards Kal, and everyone’s eyes shot towards the door. About eight men in suits and sunglasses walked in, and the leader smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile.

“The royal prince and princess of Antar. How could one man ever be so lucky?”

Lex didn’t avert her eyes from the goons, but laid her hand on the assistant’s shoulder. “What’s your name, hon?”

“Oh!” she said, startled. “Molly.”

“Ok, Molly, well right now would be a really good time for you to leave. Just walk out this door behind me and go home, all right?”

Molly nodded and ran out behind her, with Kal following shortly behind. “Asshole.” Zane muttered.

The leader grinned again. “Uh-oh, looks like you’re here all alone, with no one to help you.” He started advancing towards them. “Now, we can make this nice and easy and no one gets hurt, if you want.”

Lex reached over and grabbed Zane’s wrist as she raised her other hand, throwing up a green shield. “Where the hell’s Rath when you need him,” she grumbled.

The leader of the goons shrugged. “Well, I asked nicely.” He brought out a gun and started shooting at the wall, slowly moving forward but not wavering an inch. Lex stepped back nervously, concentrating as hard as she could on her wall, Zane feeding her power. The shooter jerked his head at one of the guys behind him, who brought out what looked like a long tranquilizer gun, the rest spreading out in a semi-circle around them, blocking Lex and Zane at the wall.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit...” Lex started muttering under her breath as the shield started to waver when the opposite wall burst open. Lex blinked and pulled Zane down as her shield dropped and the room filled with people.