Buddha Boy, Part 2

[k4writer02]

Title: Buddha Boy,

Author: k4writer02

Recipient:: petitchouette

Fandom: Roswell

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers (if applicable): Season 1, some season 2

Warnings (if applicable): Goes wildly AU from Season 2.03, Surprise.

Summary: The world is ending in Roswell. The Skins are in power, Kyle’s imprisoned, and Michael and Maria make brief appearances as resistance leaders.

Part 1


He meets Tess and Ava, who have changed out of white paper and into black shirts and pants. Probably impractical for the desert, but they can change it once they’re away from this white room.

They each have a sack, and one for him-he presumes there’s “food” and flashlights and blankets. Liz won’t put on the shoes they got for her, and won’t follow them, so Kyle winds up with her across his back in a fireman’s carry.

Leaving the building is harrowing. Kyle has trouble getting Liz to shut up until Ava threatens to stuff a sock in her mouth. Surprisingly, this is the first thing that penetrates the haze around her. Liz settles into sullen silence.

The unlikely foursome creep around patrols, with judicious mindwarps and lots of luck. They resist going to the obvious places-despite aching temptation, they don’t go to the Crashdown or the Valenti house, or the high school. Not to the Evans’s house or the UFO Center. They don’t go to the library. Kyle draws the line at stealing a car to take off for Fraser Woods, Pohlman Ranch, or the pod chamber. Being on foot sucks, but driving would draw far too much attention.

Ava makes noises about retrieving the orbs or the book, but ultimately agrees that they should seek out the resistance first. Tess leads them to a small group somewhere even Kyle wouldn’t have thought of-the old juvie hall.

They’re all dripping with exertion by the time they get there-even Liz, and Kyle has carried her half the time.

Approaching the Juvenile Detainment Center, he puts her on her feet. He takes the lead.

Liz has an arm draped around his neck as she stumbles with him into the cafeteria.

The six people in the room get to their feet, spilling food. A curly-haired boy draws a pistol.

“Sean!” Liz’s voice reverberates through the room. “It’s me. Liz Parker.”

Kyle evaluates Maria’s no-good cousin, then the wacky British millionaire who bought the UFO Center. Brady something? He recognizes Pam Troy, and his football buddy Malamud. His eyes lock on Amy Deluca, and then dart to the sixth person in the room. “Hanson?” his jaw drops.

“Kyle.” His father’s deputy nods.

A strained moment of silence follows when Tess and Ava show themselves. So their secret’s not so secret; will these humans hold these aliens accountable for the skins’ sins?

“Where did you come from?” Amy squeaks, taking the burden of Liz out of his arms by embracing her.

Suddenly, the questions break out of the stunned humans. Kyle slumps in relief.

“The skins had me locked up. I killed one. These two--,” He indicates Tess and Ava, “They helped free Liz, get supplies, and find you. We’re ready to fight with you.”

Pam and Malamud look at him like he’s insane-or a ghost returned to haunt them. Good. Serves them right for not arguing against turning him in.

Brody is nodding enthusiastically. Sean and Amy mostly have eyes for Liz. Hanson is taking it all in, then offers his opinion, “Let’s take it to the sheriff.”

“My father’s dead.” Kyle said, harshly.

“The new sheriff.” Hanson says. “The remaining human population of Roswell voted him in two weeks ago.”

At that moment, Michael enters the cafeteria, with a badge pinned on. Tess and Ava rush to him, babbling. He holds up a hand for silence-interesting, how he became the leader after all that time chafing under Max’s pacifism.

Ava and Tess stop talking, respectfully.

“What happened to Maxwell?” Michael asks.

“He died.” Tess says. That’s it. She doesn’t tell the whole story-doesn’t waste his time. “We’ve brought some intel; where’s the debrief?”

And just like that, they’re welcome.

Sean puts the gun away. The millionaire brings water. The four escapees drink, and Kyle listens to the information Tess and Ava have gleaned through mindwarps, hallucinations, intuition, and eavesdropping.

He adds his own insights here and there, but in the end, they turn to Michael, “So, Guerin, what’s the plan?” He asks. “Go after Zan, to that summit in New York? Kill the gandarium? Hunt skins one by one? Find out what a grain-lift is?”

“Granilith.” Brody corrects. “And since I’m going to be abducted and taken to the summit anyway, I’d say that the young lady who knows that city should accompany me as a guide. They won’t deny the king his bride; she’ll have a chance to free him.”

“Done.” Michael agrees. Kyle is surprised Michael is taking other people’s ideas-it doesn’t seem like his leadership style. He’s more of an order-giver. But then, maybe he knows when to be flexible.

“As for the other two, we’ll split into two groups. Parker, you and Ms Deluca and Pam are going to look at the science stuff with these crystals. Figure out what causes them, how they’re going to kill us all, etc. And then how to stop it. Once you know, we’ll all do it.”

Hanson adjusts his weight in anticipation. He knows what’s coming.

Michael looks in Kyle’s face, then at Malamud, then to Tess. He glances at Sean and Hanson. “And the rest of us are hunters. We work in pairs, like cops or wingmen. Kyle, as rook, you’re with me till you get five kills; then we’ll look at partnerships. The other pairs-huh, Malamud and Hanson, you did pretty well on the last raid. Sean, meet Tess. She looks like a ninety-pound weakling, but give her a test drive sometime.”  Michael shoves his hands in his pockets. “That goes for everyone. I expect you to practice, people. I know this stuff isn’t easy, but it is what’s going to keep you alive. Got it?”

They all nod. Kyle looks at Amy, Sean, and Michael. Even Brody. Where is the one person who links them all? Does he dare to ask?

Evidently, he doesn’t have to-Maria comes in, hair cut ruthlessly short, like last school year. More practical for a fugitive, he supposes. She has four orbs and an Indian amulet with her.

Kyle has never been so happy to see her.

“Hey Kyle. Tess.” She says casually, like they’ve always been here, in the middle of a one-time detention center, during a civil war. “Oh my God, Lizzie.” Her squeal could have shattered glass, and he’s not the only one who thinks so. She grabs her best friend in a desperate hug, and Liz falls apart into tears again. Liz, Amy, and Maria retreat to a less crowded corner; people turn their backs on the scene, like that gives them any privacy at all.

Pam does not look overly excited by these additions to the party. She edges toward Sean, as if advertising that her claim had been staked. Tess and Ava look mildly irritated-they’re not looking to move in on anybody’s man.

Malamud appears to believe he’s hit a jackpot-it’s the end of the world and there are gorgeous twins in his orbit. He’s not quite the last man on earth, but it’s close enough that he’s really hopeful. Idiot.

“A word?” Kyle asks.

Michael nods.

They step away from the larger group, “You holding it together?” Kyle asks.

“Day by day.” Michael says. “But this really isn’t supposed to be my job.”

“‘Supposed to be’ went out the window in October.” Kyle comments.  He pauses, then asks very seriously, “Can we win?”

Michael surveys the scruffy civilians before him. Hardly an army. And he’s facing opponents who think like he does. They have superior resources, intel, and training. But his team is fighting for their homes. “Maybe. If we knock out the leaders; get the footsoldiers sniping at each other. It’ll either leave them so weak we just pick ‘em off like flies, or…” He stops speaking.

“Or?” Kyle prompts.

“Or it’ll backfire like a mother and we’ll unify them against us, till they crush us.”

“I like the first one better.” Kyle remarks. What else can he say?

“Me too.” Michael admits. “But I’m planning for both.”

“Ok, then. What do I do next?”

“Eat something. Catch some sleep. We’ll figure it out from there.”

Kyle respects Michael’s style. There were so many times everyone looked at Max, after someone asked “what next,” when he left them hanging that Kyle almost expected not to get an answer.

Kyle says, “thanks.” He’s just turning away as Maria approaches, “There’s a pharmacy not too far away; one we haven’t raided yet. Pam and I want to go and stock up. We’re going to need some tranquilizers.”

All three of them look at Liz, who is weeping in the corner, pulling at her hair, as Amy tries to stop her.

Things weren’t supposed to turn out this way.

“Don’t forget antibiotics. Clean out as much as you can carry.” Michael advises. “If there’s a plague coming, I want us prepared.”

Maria nods, rolling her eyes like she already knows this.

“Oh, and Maria?” Michael stops her with his voice.

She turns back, and he says loud enough for the group to hear: “Take Sean with you too, okay?”

She nods, and they kiss, quick and hard. Now that the rest of the world is completely insane, apparently, they don’t have to introduce drama by fighting. Or maybe they do. Considering he isn’t actually an alien, the millionaire is doing a good impression of a green man. Though how he thinks he’s got a shot with Maria is anybody’s guess.

Kyle crosses the room to where the chow is being heated by a sterno. Baked beans and canned peaches never looked so good. He eats a small amount, then goes to the corner of the room where sleeping bags are laid out. Tess and Ava are sitting together on one blanket, eating from the same plate. It’s eerie to see the harmony of their movements.

They turn to him together.

Kyle nods, unsure of what to say. He’s suddenly exhausted and overwhelmed by the sheer number of people around him. But as he settles in to sleep on the floor of the correctional center cafeteria with possibly the only eleven allies he has in the world, he feels hope.

Maybe Kyle wasn’t on the losing side of this apocalypse.

Not yet, anyway.