Shades Of Grey (TEEN)

[isabelle]

~Max~

* We're both fine, don't worry…,* Liz answers and I feel better able to focus on Tess and the others.

Tess' reply to my question is short on both length and answers. They crashed a week ago and this girl has been hurt this way all that time? Who are they? The blond boy is Dreakus, but that doesn’t explain anything. Why are they on Earth in the first place? When Tess says she came here for help, does she mean to heal the girl or is there some other help she needed before the crash, something that brought them to this world?

The boy, Dreakus, seems to release his grip slightly, allowing me to support more of the girl’s weight. She’s so limp and what I can see of her skin is tanned but ashy. I think she’s in serious trouble.

Tess mentions the military and I hear the helicopters overhead. “You lead the military to my door!?!” I shout. I can’t believe this. I’ve worked so hard to protect my family. She’s going to ruin everything. “Get inside!” I say roughly. I can’t have her caught here. There will be far too many questions.

Stooping slightly, I scoop the injured girl up in my arms and carry her to the sofa, laying her down gently. Only then do I see her face. She looks so much like Isabel it’s uncanny, but there’s something that’s similar to Alexis, too. Why do I feel like I should know this girl?

Dylan reappears in the living room, lingering by the doorway as if afraid to come closer. “Get some blankets,” I tell him. Even when/if I heal her, she’ll still be exhausted and she’ll need to be comfortable.

“Who is she?” I ask, looking up at Tess. I feel a shiver go across my arms and suddenly I’m mindful of what Tess had done before. I held this girl in my arms and carried her to the couch, but that doesn’t mean she’s real. This could all be a mind-warp…

[KatnotKath]

~Liz~

Max appears in the room before I have chance to answer his question as to what's wrong, but as he comes forward, I hear his voice in my head again, asking if both I and the baby are okay... I nod mentally. *We're both fine, don't worry...* I'm more than a little shocked of course, but right at this moment in time I don't think that's the major worry that he has...

The baby is perfectly fine at the moment, although it leaves me with something of a quandry... Part of me, upon seeing the teenage girl with Tess that the younger boy is holding up, and appears to be hurt, wants to step forward to help... Her long brown hair makes me think of Alexis, in a way, and my natural instinct is to try and assist her...

That natural instict is completely at odds to the other instinct which is brought into play by Tess' presence though... I'm not scared for me, but I am worried about my baby, and about what she could do... This other half of me wants to back away, and put as much distance between my baby and that woman as possible...

The net result of this, is that I actually stay perfectly still, continuing to watch Tess carefully, my hand resting over my stomach as I wait and listen to see how she will respond to the questions Max has asked. Now he's here, I feel a hundred times better anyway, but that doesn't mean I'd be even happier if she was far away from my house...

"Our ship crashed, she's injured. I, uh...came to ask for your help..."

She comes to ask for our help...? Well, no, actually I know that's not an inclusive statement, but still, after everything she has done, I am astounded that she actually feels able to say that. Her next comments cause me to stiffen, holding my breath as I remember a 'dream', or something I thought was a dream, that I saw a little over a week ago... It was Tess, and I just put it down to a nightmare because of being emotional with the baby, but maybe it was more than that, what if it was a warning about her...about the fact she was coming back to destroy our lives...

The military, on the run... These are the things we have lived in fear of all the years we've been married and even before... Max has been hiding from them his whole life, and especially after he was captured, and I've been doing the same since being brought into this. We might have a nice life to anyone that looks at it sure, but its not all as sweet and cheerful as one might think.

We've tried to give the children as normal a childhood as we can, we refused to be chased away from our homes, and our families, but that doesn't mean we're not careful... Max and I , as well as all the others of course, are all constantly on the look out for anything which might spell danger...

The sound of helicoptors only seems to reinforce her words, and I try hard to breath evenly. This can't be happening, not after everything...

Max scoops up the girl, carrying her over to the sofa and despite everything, I force myself to think practically, acting as normal as possible as I close and lock the door behind them. I can't say I'm too happy with the idea of having Tess in my house, but with helicoptors looking for her out there, I think it's a gimme that I'd rather she be inside than standing on the doorstep...

Dylan reappears right at that moment in time, and as Max tells him to get some blankets, I wonder if we should call Alexis down too. Right now though, my gut says to let her stay where she is, keep her out of this for the moment if she hasn't come down of her own accord and I hold back from calling her, deciding to just let her come down if she chooses unless something changes.

Crossing the room, nearing Max, I hear him ask Tess about who the gir is, but I also feel him through the connection we have, I feel his trepidation and uncertainty, and I think I know exactly what he's thinking... "How do we know this isn't all one of your tricks?" I ask her in an even tone.

[Athenea]

~Tess~

Max scoops Zaira up in his arms like she weighs nothing at all and gently lays her on the couch. I follow him and I feel Dreakus following behind me, I can feel the uncertainty rolling off my son in waves.

“Who is she?” Max asks and for a moment I am silent. How am I going to say this or even explain this. “She’s my daughter, her name is Zaira and this is my son Dreakus. We had to leave Antar quickly; in fact Khivar’s probably looking for us right now.”

I send a worried glance to Dreakus who has now sat now on the end of the couch near Zaira’s feet. He is visibly shaking and I know he had not thought of his father coming after us until I mentioned it. I sigh, I’m not the kind of person that begs or asks for anything especially from Max Evans, but to hell with it. “Max, I wouldn’t have come here if I wasn’t desperate. You know Who she is Max.” I say hoping he’ll understand what I’m trying to say.

"How do we know this isn't all one of your tricks?" Liz asks me.

“You don’t. But if it makes you feel any better ‘my tricks’ were taken from me along time ago. Khivar couldn’t risk his Queen having such a powerful gift afterall.”

[Dreamer_Dreaming]

*Lexi*

Here I am living Roswell, New Mexico. I go to Roswell High, I work at my mother’s restaurant, the Crashdown as a waitress, I have 2 great friends, one I think I might have feelings for then just the friends relationship, and I’m in a band. I try to live like any normal teenage girl can be. But I’m not normal. I’m not even close to normal. You see my father is half Alien-Hybrid and my mother is human that happens to have powers, thanks to my father. So trying to live as normal as I can is hard. I have powers so like my parents, my Aunt Isabelle and my Uncle Michael. My powers are telekinesis, pyrokinesis, manipulating molecules, clairvoyant flashes, but my major powers is Dream walking, I inherit my father side of the family and that is Aunt Isabelle. I like being a Dream walker, it let know who likes who, and what’s they’re biggest desire in the world. But of course no one knows this and I like to keep to myself.

I got off of my desk and walk off to my bed room window. I look out into the night sky I can’t help but think that very moment my life is about to change. I don’t know if that good thing or bad thing but I know it’s going be some kind of experience I will never forget. I walk to the mirror and look at myself in the mirror. My father always tells me I look so much like my mom, his wife, my mother. But when I look in mirror and tried to compare my looks from hers. I don’t see it. I mean I do have the same color of her hair and I have my dad’s eyes. His eyes are like mine; sometimes I think my father is staring back at me. Personal I think Dylan looks more like my mother and father. Oh Dylan is my brother, we are very close, we are so close that something we annoyed the hell out of each other. But I love him. In some ways I guess I have a little of my father in me as well. My parents always tell me I act like the person I was named after. Alex. He was my mother’s and my Aunt Maria’s best friend. He was also the love of my Aunt Isabelle’s life. But he died. I don’t know how he died. I never asked. Whenever my parents, well mostly my mom hears the name Alex I can see a painful look in hers eyes. What had happened to this person that causes my mother and my Aunt Maria so much pain?

I start hear notices from the hall way, what the hell is going on? I open my door and walk out into the hall way. I see my brother grabbing some blankets. “Dyl?” I called out to him then I heard voice down stairs. “Dyl…what’s going on? Who’s down stairs?” I ask.

[isabelle]

~Dylan~

I've got the blankets in my arms and I grab an extra pillow, too, 'cause it seems like a good idea. I know Dad could heal that girl in a minute, but she's a stranger so he's not going to use his powers. Besides, I don't think he likes them very much. I don't know why, but I just know that I've never seen Dad look that way, like he wants to do something bad. And Mom looks almost the same.

I'm about to head downstairs when Alexis appears in the doorway to her room. “Dyl…what’s going on? Who’s down stairs?” she asks.

"I don't know," I tell her. "It's a lady and two teenagers. One of them's hurt real bad." I would tell her more, but that's all I really know.

"I gotta bring Dad some blankets for her." I turn and run down the stairs. They keep sending me away. They keep sending me off to do stuff. I want to know what's going on so I can't linger here. Besides, Dad did say he needed these...



~Max~

“She’s my daughter, her name is Zaira and this is my son Dreakus. We had to leave Antar quickly; in fact Khivar’s probably looking for us right now.” she says.

Interesting. She was willing to get us all killed because she was working for him. Now she's running from him, her great ally, and I'm supposed to help her.

“Max, I wouldn’t have come here if I wasn’t desperate. You know Who she is Max.” she says before telling Liz that her mindwarping powers were taken by Khivar. She calls herself his Queen. Khivar's Queen. All that time I knew her here in Roswell, she'd been insisting that she was my Queen and I didn't want her because I wanted Liz. Seems that her other 'King' didn't either... But she says I'm supposed to know who this girl is. Tess's daughter. Is she Khivar's child too? And Dreakus? Zaira seems like someone I should know but that explaintion doesn't seem right. She can't be Khivar's. Can she?

Zaira. Even the name sounds familiar. Like I've heard it before ... somewhere ... A long time ago ...

And what about my son? The one she stole? Where's he? I glance at Dreakus, but it can't be him. He's younger than Zaira and it doesn't feel right. My son would have been her oldest...

"So you've turned your back on us because of him and now that you've pissed him off, you come running to us," I say, bitterly, trying to puzzle it out even as I try to guess how much to believe of Tess's story. It's certainly possible that Khivar was threatened by her powers, but does that make it true? In spite of these questions, my attention remains focused on the girl. She's hurt and she's ... special. I've never seen her before in my life, but I do know her. I just don't know why.

I brush Zaira's hair back from her face, looking at her. She hasn't said a word since I saw her at the door. I know she's weak and getting weaker. I know that I have to do something soon.

[Athenea]

Zaira

A gentle hand brushes against my face and I lean slightly into it, thinking its Zan. Why does everything hurt so badly? I shift and try to open my eyes to see what’s going on. Everything looks different and I blink a few times against the on slot of light I close my eyes again and try to remember where I’m at but my memory is very fuzzy. The last thing that comes to my mind is getting ready for bed and my bedroom door flying open.

It was father and he looked at me in a way that made me want to hide. He ordered my personal servants to leave and then…Oh god no… I feel wetness on my cheeks and realize I’m crying. I let out a small sob as I drift to sleep. At least if I’m asleep I can’t feel the pain and I won’t remember.

Tess

"So you've turned your back on us because of him and now that you've pissed him off, you come running to us," Max says and the bitterness laced his tone.

“I guess that’s one way of looking at it.” I say angrily and I watch as Max gently brushes Zaira’s hair away from her face and she leans into his touch. I realize I’m glaring at him but I can’t help it. For the past week anytime me or Dreakus touched her she would flinch away or even cry out like she’d been burned. But here she was, seeking comfort in a father she didn’t even know about…how ironic.

She mumbles something that sounds like Zan’s name and then silent tears fall down her cheeks but all she lets out is a small sob before drifting out of consciousness. She didn’t have much time, she was letting herself die, keeping her own healing power from working. She could never heal other people like Zan could but she could always heal herself.

“Max,” I say choosing my words carefully. “Can you heal her? I will need her because…her brother was captured by the military when we arrived and if he is still alive, she is the only one who can find him. And I’ll answer all your questions when we have more privacy.” I say giving a pointed look towards Dreakus. “But I don’t think she has much time.”

[isabelle]

OOC -- Let me know if you want me to change anything, Athenea. I'll be happy to edit.

~Max~

The girl moves and tries to speak. It sounds almost like she said 'Zan.' Does she know me? How? Maybe Tess told her where they were going?

“Max, can you heal her? I will need her because…her brother was captured by the military when we arrived and if he is still alive, she is the only one who can find him. And I’ll answer all your questions when we have more privacy.” Tess says.

At first, I almost laugh as she asks if I can heal Zaira. Of course I can. And I want to do it just like I always want to help when I see people hurting. This time it's even stronger. It's like I need to do it. It's all I can do to force myself to stop but I just need to know more. Then Tess mentions Zaira's brother, and not the one standing in my livingroom. Her brother.

'Captured by the military'

The words send ice through me as I flash on my memories of the white room, now superimposed over my recent less explanable nightmares. I actually turn away from Zaira for a moment to look at Tess.

"Her brother?" I repeat and I can see the answer in her eyes. My son. My son has been captured by the military. All these years I've lived in fear of what sort of life my son's had with Tess and Khivar, along with fears of being exposed and my other children or Liz being subjected to the FBI. And now both nightmares seem to have become one. She hasn't said it yet, but I'm sure it's true. My son, captured by the FBI.

I caught her look towards Dreakus. He doesn't know. What part doesn't he know? I can't ask now, but I will get those answers.

"Of course I can heal her," I say, turning my attention back to the girl. Tess says she can find her brother. There's no telling what else she can do, or if she's really a friend, but my gut tells me that she is someone I need to help. I don't trust Tess. Not at all. But I can't let this girl suffer any longer.

Before I can act, a thunderous sound on the stair signals Dylan's return. "I got the blankets and a pillow, too!" He announces.

"Thank you," I tell him, without looking up. "Just wait there a moment." I touch Zaira's face again, cupping her cheek as my other hand moves down to rest on her belly. I don't need her to look at me but I wish she would. I want to see her eyes ...

In a moment, I've made the healing connection. As my power flows into her, knitting her muscles and torn skin, I recieve flashes of her past, images of Antar. I see the palace. The sky. Tess. Dreakus. In almost every memory, there's another person there. A boy the same age as she. A boy with dark hair and light eyes. The same boy I've seen in my nightmares. My son.

I also see Khivar. He's in his own skin but I recognise him well enough. I remember him. Zaira's feelings in those flashes are jumbled. Love and fear. A lot of fear.

Blinking, I pull out of the connection. I'm sure of two things. First, Zaira did not get these injuries in a crash. Second, I know who she is.

*She's my daughter,* I tell Liz as I continue to watch Zaira, waiting for her to open her eyes again...

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[KatnotKath]

OOC: hope this is okay for everyone, tell me if there's anything you think I should change.

~Liz~

The girl's her daughter... The desperation in Tess' voice is something that, despite who she is, I feel as though I can relate to. If Alexis were ever hurt this badly, I'm certain that I would do practically anything to try and help her... Of course it could still all be a trick... This girl could certainly be real, and could be her daughter, but she might not be injured... It's something about the way that Tess is speaking which tells me it's not though. She insists that she can't do that anymore - which I'm not so certain about, but I think this is real...

The mention of Kivar makes me stiffen though... In all the time we've lived here, our major fear has been of earth forces, not Kivar... I don't suppose we ever really forgot about him he hasn't been the formost in our minds to my knowledge...

He's looking for them though...which means he might come here... Which puts us in danger too...

"So you've turned your back on us because of him and now that you've pissed him off, you come running to us," Max's voice is bitter as he looks at her, but the look in his eyes seems to soften as he looks back at Zaira, and suddenly I notice tears on her cheeks. She mumbles something, although I can't make out exactly what, and then her whole body slumps as she becomes unconcius although I can still see her chest moving ever so slightly which tells me she's still alive, although probably holding on by little more than a thread...

“Max, can you heal her? I will need her because…her brother was captured by the military when we arrived and if he is still alive, she is the only one who can find him. And I’ll answer all your questions when we have more privacy.”

Tess' words are all very carefully chosen it seems, but as she mentions a bother, I see the look in Max's face and can't fail to feel the emotions coming through our connection. Captured by the military, the white room... I've seen some of what he went through there, although not all of it... Even now, feels he has to protect me from it I know, but I know enough to understand that it's his worst nightmare to have any of his family, or himself, locked up there...

Dylan reappears then, after another loud trip down the stairs, announcing he's got the blankets and a pillow. Max tells him to wait, and then lays his hands on Zaira, preparing to make a connection.

Despite my best sense, as he works on Zaira, somehow I find myself moving forward towards Tess, look at her, and perhaps crazily reaching out to touch her. I guess it's the mother in me, that feels as though she understands. "She'll be okay..." I whisper softly, and before realising what I've done, my hand rests on her shoulder for just a moment. It's an impulse reaction, and a moment later I pull back - also impulse - but it's enough to 'see' something... A flash of Tess, giving birth...to twins...?

*She's my daughter*

I nod slightly as I hear him through our connection, his words reinforcing what I just saw. *I know...*

[Athenea]

OOC: Great Job You Guys!!!


~Zaira~

Suddenly everything doesn’t seem to hurt. I don’t know what’s happened, except it feels like I’ve been healed and there’s only one person I know that can do that. I slowly open my eyes and see a dark figure sitting next to me. “Zan?” I question but I blink a few more times and realize that this person is not my brother and I suddenly find myself looking into eyes the exact same color and shape as my own.

I blink again trying to get my thoughts in order. Who is this man and where am I? Suddenly I remember what my father did to me…my own father, how could he? I feel tears sliding down my cheeks and I try and quickly brush them away but I can’t seem to stop crying. How could he do that to me?

We learned along time ago that crying shows weakness so we just learned to cry quietly and not draw attention to it. But I don’t want to be quiet I want to sob uncontrollably on someone’s shoulder but the only person I can do that with is gone. I cover my face with my hands, I don’t want anyone to see me crying after all and I need to get my emotions under control. It doesn’t seem to be working though and I let out a sob as I just seem to keep whispering Zan’s name over and over again.

“Zaira stop this foolishness at once!” I hear my mother’s voice yell and I flinch at her tone. God I hate her, but I can’t seem to stop crying and seem to be working myself up even more. Maybe I'll hyperventilate and die and that will make her happy. Can someone cry themselves to death?




~Tess~

Max is finally healing her, thank god. The sooner I get away from here the better. But Max knows now I’m sure of it. He knows its his son that has been captured and I’m sure after he heals Zaira he will know she is his too.

Suddenly there is a hand on my shoulder and Liz is saying comforting words to me of all people. I suddenly feel something akin to guilt about what I did to Alex but I push it away, I have even more to feel guilty for now and I’m sure once Max figures out what happened to Zaira he will be even more pissed. Just great.

Max has healed her now, and for a moment she thinks he is Zan. She doesn’t know how close she is to the truth but if I have my way she will never know.

She starts crying and covers her face as she mumbles something over and over again. I want to comfort her but I really don’t know how too. My children always seemed to find comfort in each other and never in there Mother, I guess they learned early on that they would find no comfort in me.

It’s not that I don’t love all my children, its just I never learned how to show them. Of course, they never had anyone to show them how to love either and they seemed to do it just fine. Especially Zan and Zaira. They both seem to have a naturally nurturing disposition. I guess they get that from Max. Dreakus has a hard time showing his feeling except when he is around his siblings. If he were alone with just me and Khivar he would have the same cold, indifferent look in his eyes that his father had. It was always his siblings that brought out his true self.

But this situation is getting out of hand I would never allow Zaira to blubber like this at home. “Zaira stop this foolishness at once!” I say harshly and both her and Dreakus flinch as if they had both been struck. Why had I never noticed them doing that before? Could Khivar’s treatment of them have affected them so?

Dreakus is looking at me with the same look of disgust Zan gave me the night all this began, the only difference is that when I look at him he quickly looks away. Good to know I still have some control over this situation. But then he’s looking back to Max as if Max would know what to do for his upset sister. He’s already looking up for Max to take the lead, the same way he does for Zan. He already trusts MAX!! The little brat. I guess its due to the fact he just saved his sister or the fact he has the same power as his big brother. Dreakus is a smart boy, to smart for his own good sometimes he’ll figure it out sooner or later.

[isabelle]

~Max~

Liz knows? How did she figure it out? It doesn't matter. I'm glad that she knows and that she doesn't even seem to be upset about it. We've always known there was a boy up there somewhere, but now it's two of them. And her brother's in trouble and Tess brought the military out to hunt us all and Khivar is coming too. This would be enough to send most people raving mad, I'm sure, but we don't have that choice. We'll deal with it. I'll find my son. And ... we'll figure out what to do about Tess, too.

Zaira flutters her eyes. She's okay. She opens her eyes and starts to weep. Poor girl. She's been through something terrible, I know. My daughter. I never even knew. I only ever saw one baby when Tess was pregnant. Was she hiding him? Clearly the children can live on this world. So much of what she said was a lie, so much of what I saw wasn't true, I don't have any idea what to believe. But my heart goes out to Zaira. My child.

I start to stroke her cheek as I becon for Dylan to come forward with the blankets and pillow. Then Tess's hard words peirce through the room. Zaira stiffens, looking even more stricken. I want to blast Tess right then but know it won't help.

"No," I say firmly, but not harshly. My words are directed to Tess, but I keep them soft because of Zaira. She's tender enough, I don't want to expose her to more of that. Still looking at Zaira, I tell my daughter, "It's okay. You've been hurt. It's okay to cry."

I want to wrap her in my arms, but I know I'm a stranger to her. Instead, I take a blanket from Dylan and start to spread it over her. Tucking the blanket up around her neck, I give her shoulders a squeeze, inviting her to take a hug, if she will accept it...


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