ROSWELL on PLANET-SF

CHAPTER NINE

Liz woke up and felt a tightening on her wrists and ankles. The next thing she felt was a breeze. She opened her eyes to an unfamiliar dim room. She rolled her head to either side and saw no-one. She knew it was a motel, but not which one. She looked down; her shirt was cut open, uneven threads on either side of her chest. Relief swept through her when she saw the whiteness of her bra. She looked to her hands, they were bound to the bedpost with leather straps, and she imagined the same for her ankles. A gag was cutting into the side of her mouth. Eyes wide, frightened.

* * * *

"It's been twenty-four hours," Isabel said to the small group gathered in Maria's room. "Can we file a missing persons report?"

"I don't know if we should," Michael said and looked down at the small life in his arms. "What if it's not of this Earth related?"

"We don't know that. This could actually be a random act of ..." Isabel trailed off before the word 'violence' came out of her mouth. She saw Max cringe regardless. "She's fine Max."

"We don't know that!" He raised his voice then looked at Leia. "I'm sorry."

"She's out, don't worry," Michael smiled. "Random doesn't happen to us, Iz."

"Maybe she's right," Maria offered. "I don't know. I'm scared for her."

"Me too." Kyle was pacing the room. "Isn't there anything we can do? I hate just sitting here. My dad's been scouring the streets and came up with nothing."

"Her parents are worried. I think they'll probably file the missing person's." Max looked at the floor and took a deep breath. "I should have known something like this was going to happen." He rubbed his face with his hands.

"No. You shouldn't have." Isabel rubbed her brother's back.

"Everything was going too good for us."

"Don't be stupid Max, this might not have anything to do with you. Or us."

"That could be true, but probably not," Kyle said, tilting his head to one side. "I mean, no offence, but how often does something strange happen and it not be alien related?"

"He's right." Michael handed Leia to Maria. "We have to figure this out. Hopefully Valenti can keep the Parkers calm and we can figure this out."

"You have to find her..." Maria trailed off. She was torn. She was the happiest woman on Earth with Michael and Leia; on the other hand she was scared to death about her best friend. "Please."

"I don't know where to start," Max admitted.

The silence in the room stated that no-one else knew either. There was always a clue how to go about things. Not this time. Not for Liz. She had just vanished.

The phone rang and Michael lunged for it before it woke Leia. "Hello?"

"Where's the King?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, asshole."

"Okay." Michael knew the voice, it was familiar. "Can you hold on? I'll get him." He placed his hand over the mouthpiece. "Some dude asking for the King. I guess that's you, Maxwell?" Max yanked the phone out of Michael's hand.

"Yes, this is Max."

"We have your bitch."

"Where?"

"It's not that easy."

"What do you want?"

"You."

"Where?"

"We'll let you know. We just wanted to let you know we had your bitch."

"Is she okay?" Max softened his voice.

"For now, kind of." He looked across the room to his bound and gagged hostage and smiled. "I don't know how long she'll stay that way though. She's actually beginning to look a little uncomfortable."

"Tell me what you want and don't hurt her."

"I told you, we want you. Stay tight Zan, or is that hang loose? We'll find you when we want you. Don't go far..." He disconnected.

Max hung up the phone and looked at his friends. "They have Liz and they want me."

"Who?" Michael asked, his adrenaline kicking into high gear.

Max looked to Isabel. "Iz."

"What? What's wrong?"

"It's Bret." Max took her hand.

"Bret?" She laughed. "What are you crazy? Did he say, 'Hi, it's Bret and I've kidnapped your girlfriend'?"

"I know his voice Iz, all the times he's called for you at home. I'm sorry, it's him. Max saw the colour drain from her face. "I'm sorry."

"You're wrong, Max." She stood up. She wanted to scream at him but didn't want to wake Leia. "You are so wrong. Bret isn't like that, he's kind and...and..." Tears streamed down her cheeks. Maria stood and hugged her; she could feel her heart breaking. "He's wrong, Maria, tell him he's wrong!"

"He's right Iz," Michael said. "I thought I knew the voice but I couldn't place it. It was Bret."

"Are you doing this because you don't like him?"

"We're not doing anything," Max replied. "We all liked him. I don't understand it either, I'm sorry. All I know is he has Liz."

"Liz, Liz, Liz. It's always about Liz, isn't it?" Isabel snapped. "Don't forget other people have lives that don't revolve around Liz Parker!"

"It's not like that Isabel." Michael stood up. "Bret has Liz, he's obviously a freakin' alien or he wouldn't have called Max the King. This is about us."

"This is so wrong," Maria stated, stepping away from Isabelk. "Why would he take Liz."

"He wouldn't," Isabel shook her head. "There is no reason. He's not an alien!"

"Maybe Bret wasn't what he appeared to be," Kyle said softly, wanting to avoid conflict.

"What do you mean?" Isabel snapped at him. "What do you know?"

"I mean things aren't always what they appear to be." Kyle's thoughts lingered on the familial love and trust he had invested in Tess. "Sometimes you can't see what's right in front of you all along."

Isabel stared at him, Liz had said almost the identical thing in her dream to her. "Oh, ho." She sat down heavily on the bed next to Max. "No, this can't be happening. Not Bret. I love him."

"Iz." Max put his arm around her shoulder and she turned into him, sobbing.

Michael picked up Leia and motioned for the rest of them to leave Max and Isabel alone. They congregated in the living room.

"I don't know what to make of this," Michael shook his head.

"I want Liz aback," Maria glanced at the baby in Michael's arms. "Will you get her back?"

"Yeah," Kyle answered. "That's a promise. No-one is taking away anyone else that I care about. I don't care If they fight with ray guns and mind powers. We'll get her back. I promise."

"You heard him. We'll find her." Michael handed Leia back to Maria. "I'm going to have to go soon, you know. We'll have to think of a plan, I'll be back though."

"I know," she gazed into his eyes. "I know you'll always come back. I wish I could go with you."

"No. Leia needs you."

"Liz needs me, too."

"Liz needs the rest of us." He shook his head. "Max won't let anything happen to her."

"Sometimes Max is wrong," Kyle added. "He can't see what's in front of him either. He'll get manic and then he'll get stupid. You're the grounded one Michael, he'll listen to you."

"I've never been the grounded one," he smiled.

"Don't let Max act alone, he'll end up getting her killed."

Michael nodded and Maria looked down.

"What did he say to you?" Isabel asked after a few minutes of hardcore weeping.

"He said he wanted me, he called me Zan. Told me he'd get a hold of me and not to go far."

"I trusted him. I almost told him our secret," she laughed but it wasn't a pretty sound. "Didn't really matter, he seems to have known that already."

"It's not your fault Iz, he used you."

"Yeah." New light flickered behind her eyes. An angry light. "I'll kill him."

"No-one is killing anyone."

"I didn't mean to sound like I wanted anything bad to happen to Liz. I don't. He hurts Liz, he's gone." Isabel stood up. "Let's go to your place. I don't want Ms. DeLuca to come home and that sweet baby doesn't need to hear all this."

Max agreed and followed her out of the room. They met the rest in the living room. Agreeing that going to Max's was logical - that was where Liz had been taken from - Maria looked at the floor.

"Sorry babe," Michael hugged her. "You're going to have to sit this one out."

"I want to go."

"Forget it." He kissed her. "Stay here. I'll call you if anything happens, okay?"

She nodded and walked to Max. She hugged him and he awkwardly put his hands on her shoulders. "Find her. Bring her back. Don't do anything stupid." She walked back towards Michael and Kyle. "Be careful."

The three aliens and Kyle walked out the front door leaving Maria DeLuca and her newborn baby alone.

* * * *

Forty-eight hours. Liz Parker had been missing for forty-eight hours. Max was sitting on the floor of the new home he was supposed to be sharing with Liz. Each time the phone rang, he jumped. It was Mr. Evans, again. He told him the same thing had had been telling him: no, he hadn't heard from Liz and no, he had no idea where she was. Once again he heard about the slight argument they had had the last time they had seen her. Promises to call if anything new was learned.

"I think this is shit," Isabel sat down next to him on the floor and handed him a can of soda. "I know who is behind this, ultimately."

"Tess?"

"Of course," Isabel smiled cruelly. "I don't know how she did it, but she did."

"I don't feel her at all anymore. Or my son."

"You can't feel him?"

"No, not for a while. I guess it's for the best, though. I'm not leaving here, Earth I mean. This is my home." He shrugged. "I'll never know what happened to him or how he turns out. I'll get past it. I have a new life with Liz..." He looked at the phone. "I had one anyway."

"You still do, we'll find her and get her back." Isabel hugged him. "I'm pissed off and ready to kick some butt. No-one, and I mean no-one uses Isabel Evans like that and thinks they're going to get away with it!"

"We'll take care of if then, together?"

"Always."

* * * *

"She's been gone for two days Michael." Maria was pacing in the bedroom of his home. "What if you can't find her?"

"We'll find her and everything will be fine. I don't know who this Bret dude thinks he's messing with, but we'll take him down and get her back," Michael tried to reassure her. "Max will call here as soon as he hears back from psycvho Bret or he and Iz come up with a plan." He kissed her neck. "Okay?"

"Is Max acting...normal?" Maria rolled her head to the side.

"He's okay," he answered between kisses. "He's scared. I'm scared."

"I'm scared, too," she admitted and pulled him close. "Do you think something already happened to her?"

"No." He shook his head. A knock at the door caused him to jump. He opened it hesitantly. It was Kyle. "Did you hear something?"

"No." Kyle walked in. "I was hoping you did. I'm going crazy sitting at home waiting. I feel like I should be doing something, anything!"

"I know, we all do," Maria said softly.

"Where's the baby?" he asked smiling, looking around the room.

"With my mom," Maria answered. "For about another hour, then I have to be back home."

"Oh." His shoulders slumped.

"You know you can come visit her anytime you want, right?"

"Really?"

"Of course," Maria smiled genuinely at him.

"Cool. So, I'm going out for a while, I guess. You know, drive around. Look around." Kyle nodded. "We're missing something."

"Cell phone?"

"Armed and ready," Kyle whipped his phone out of his pocket. "Call if you hear anything."

Michael promised and let him out. Maria had sat down on the couch. Her eyes were wet. "Don't cry. It'll be okay."

"I feel so bad. I am like the happiest person in the world because I have you and Leia. At the same time I'm the saddest because Liz is gone and I don't know if she'll come back."

"She'll be back, I promise. She's my friend too, Maria, and I look out for my friends." He embraced her. "This will be over soon and we'll go on with our lives and so will Max and Liz. We didn't come this far to have another tragedy."

"You better be right, Guerin." She tried to smile but found it impossible. "You better be right."

* * * *

Kyle had been driving around Roswell for hours. He'd scanned streets and went back to the hotel Isabel had told him Bret was staying at. No-one named Bret Anderson was a guest there, he had checked out three days prior. He took a deep breath and thought about what he might be bringing Morgan into. She was such a sweet girl, he liked her. A lot. Deep in his thoughts about Morgan he didn't realise he had reached the city limits until slightly unfamiliar buildings and stores came into view. He started to pull a U-turn in the middle of the street, then stopped. Several blocks in front of him was a motel set off the main strip. For reasons unknown to him, he kept driving and turned into the parking lot. He drove around to the other side and saw a figure walking in a room on the second floor.

"There's no way," Kyle shook his head. "No freakin' way in hell." At that point Kyle would have sworn up and down that the figure walking into room 285 was Bret Anderson. "That's got to be him and that dorky walk he has." He watched as a light went on behind the closed curtains. He whipped out his cell phone and called Max. "It's Kyle, I think I found Bret."

"Where?" Max was on alert.

"Off sixty-seven. Cheesy motel, called Lighthouse Inn."

"Stay there, I'm on my way."

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STORY OF LINES:
3 - CURVED PATH

CHAPTER NINE

WRITTEN BY BECKY W

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