A Father's Duty Part 11
Part eleven
It was getting pretty late, but Ava couldn’t sleep, which wasn’t all that surprising, considering the week she’d had.
It had started pretty normal: wake up in one of the access tunnels built into Chicago’s Metro system, then go out into the city, looking for food, money, anything to avoid having to return to her siblings and their new ‘crib’. Several months ago, Lonnie had gotten a hankering to leave New York. Rath had thought she was crazy, after all, they had that city wired, but Lonnie had been determined. Ava secretly suspected she’d been seeing a guy and it had gone sour. Whatever. It didn’t matter much to her if Lonnie screwed around on Rath, it’s not like he was Mr. Faithful, Upstanding guy or anything.
Not like the guy whose room she was occupying right now.
Ava could tell just by looking around he was the kind of guy who would stick with his woman forever. She idly wondered what that felt like: to know that kind of devotion. Lord knows Zan, for all he treated her good, protected her from the twisted pranks their podmates liked to play, he screwed around on her plenty. Oddly enough, Ava hadn’t minded too much. Just as she’d often felt like he was waiting for someone special to walk into his life, so was she. He was out there, she just knew it. One day a stranger would step into her life and everything she’d gone through to get to that moment would be erased, made null, and she would be given a clean slate. A fresh start, where she could get things right. She would just have to be patient until that day came. And unlike Zan, she was willing to wait for him.
Rath’s death had been their first indication that the FBI was on to them and out for blood. She’d passed by the scene just a few minutes after Rath had died, sickened by the sight and smell of the destruction left in the wake of America’s finest. The FBI apparently wasn’t pulling any punches and had taken Rath out with the heaviest artillery they’d dared to use in a populated area -if the damage was anything to go by. Fleeing the scene, her heart pounded as she brushed tears away from her eyes. Rath might have been a mean, twisted son of a bitch, but no one deserved to be blown up at point blank range. That was just - inhumane.
Arriving breathless at their hideaway, Ava told Lonnie what she’d seen and the two of them high tailed it into the night. They didn’t get far.
After several hours, Lonnie had insisted on robbing some 7-11 for cash and eats. Ava had told her she was crazy, they shouldn’t go anywhere near town. She’d been right. Two hours later, Lonnie was dead, too.
The shaking from the explosives they used to take her out could be felt on the street corner where Ava had been standing.
The worse part of it was, though Ava had been several blocks away, when it had gone down, Lonnie had tried to connect with her, to ask for help. For Ava, it was as if she were looking through Lonnie’s eyes when they took her down. Ava now knew what her own death could look like: soldiers shouting, firing their weapons, people screaming nearby then darkness.
She knew then that it weren’t no accident the FBI found them. They were in a full out hunt for them. Through her connection to Lonnie, she knew they were set on destroying them all. And what chilled her to the bone was just before the connection expired, she’d heard one soldier mention a name: Max Evans. She knew then that she had to get to Roswell.
The trip had taken several days as Ava had opted for either walking or hitching her way. She couldn’t afford to draw attention to herself by travelling commercially or stealing a car. So anxious was she that she would be too late, Ava had slept little and eaten less on the long journey. Finally arriving in Roswell, she’d immediately made her way to the CrashDown Café where she remembered Liz lived. She nearly collapsed with joy when she saw it was still standing; she’d had several waking nightmares that she would arrive too late and the building would be destroyed by the government agents hunting them. Of course, she’d found out soon enough that she’d been too late. Liz was gone.
It wasn’t until she’d heard those words that Ava realized how much she was counting on Liz to be here. Liz was the only person on the planet who’d ever been nice to her, and with her entire family being wiped out in a matter of days, Ava had hoped… Well, she didn’t know what exactly. It was just, she remembered so clearly the way the girl, a stranger really, had comforted her when she’d woken up from that nightmare which hadn’t really been a nightmare. She remembered how Liz had taken her in, no questions asked, allowed her to sleep inside on her sofa. She’d even given her a blanket and a pillow. Then the next morning she’d stood up to Rath and Lonnie’s dupes for her, not even caring that they could blast her into oblivion if they wanted to.
Liz, she decided during the following months was like an angel. A thousand times since, she’d wondered what Liz would have said if she’d just stuck around instead of leaving. Something told her the other girl would have accepted her, looked past her origins as if the things that made her different weren’t so bad. That may not seem like much to normal folks, but to Ava, it was everything. She’d never been accepted for who she was by anyone outside her family. Rath and Lonnie treated her like crap. They always put her down, belittling her and her abilities. Ava had learned early not to fight back, it would be pointless anyway. They were right. She was weaker than they were. They’d gotten the lion’s share of the alien genes, all she’d gotten was the leftovers.
Zan was different. He treated her better. Protected her. Time and again he’d say, “Yo, you cainst let them talk to you like that. Yous da queen. Theys just shit for brains. You got that?” Always, she’d nod, but secretly, she’d wondered why, if she was the queen, did everyone always ignore her and do what Lonnie wanted?
She was all but worthless, she knew it, but she’d hoped in this one thing, she could do the right thing, but even in trying to help Liz, she’d screwed up. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so careful. Maybe she should have just stolen a ride and gotten to Roswell right away instead of hitching.
Either way, don’t matter much now. Here she was in Roswell and Liz was long gone, which meant Ava was alone. For the second time in her life, she was completely without friends and family. Last time, she’d lasted a month before the loneliness had gotten to her, sending her back to the sewers of New York. This time, there was nowhere to go.
Ava was all alone in a world that wanted her dead.
She prowled restlessly around the room she’d been given to sleep in. while it was obvious it hadn’t been lived in in a good long while, there were still traces of the previous occupant: posters on the wall, the desk and bed. Pictures on the dresser. Wondering about the young man who’d been raised by the kind hearted folks she’d met this evening, Ava wandered over to the slightly dusty souvenirs. “Hey, I know you,” she said, lifting one picture up and peering at it closely. It was Liz. Her open smile and bright dark eyes unmistakable. Looking at the other two people in the picture, she thought they looked slightly familiar, recalling that there’d been two other humans with Liz the night she’d met them it that alien museum the King had worked at. For the life of her, she couldn’t remember their names, having been too caught up in studying Max Evans, mentally comparing him to her Zan, consumed with misgiving over what they were planning to do to him. Not to mention grief and guilt over her part of what had happened to Zan.
Focusing on the gentle smile of the guy standing next to Liz in the photo, she saw traces of Mr. Whitman, though the boy took after Mz. Whitman in his coloring. Her hosts had informed her, sadly, that their son had passed away in a car accident last year. At the time, she’d been saddened that such nice people had been robbed of their son so early in his life, empathizing with their grief. Now knowing that the dead teen was one of Liz’s good friends, she was even sadder. How his death must have hurt the softhearted girl. Ava wondered briefly why Max had been unable to heal him. Perhaps he was killed in the crash.
Taking the framed momento back to the bed, Ava sat down, brushing a blue black curl out of her face as she did so, enjoying the soft, clean feel of it. After dinner, Mz. Whitman had pretty much insisted that Ava make use of the bathroom. Ava smiled at the older woman’s attempts at subtly, but she hadn’t minded. Ava knew she stank. It had been days since she’d last showered. Rath and Lonnie didn’t care if they stank worse than the sewers where they lived but Zan had showed her it was ok to be clean once in a while. They’d occasionally break in to motels or go to truckstops to avail themselves to a hot shower, washing themselves and their clothes under the hot spray. It had been wonderful.
Away from Lonnie and Rath, Ava sometimes saw a different side of Zan. Not softer, but more caring. It was on one such an outing that Zan had made love to her for the first time. He’d been laying on the dingy motel bed, relaxing after his shower while he waited for her to finish up. She’d been startled by a cockroach crawling across the floor while she was drying off. Normally bugs didn’t bother her, it had just surprised her to see it there on the semi clean tiles by her feet. When she’d jumped, she fallen back into the tub and hit her head.
After coming to ‘rescue’ her, nearly busting a gut at her predicament as she recalled, Zan had carried her to the bed and healed the swelling bump he’d found on the back of her head. After that, well, one thing led to another, and they discovered what it was Rath and Lonnie had been crowing about for months.
Tonight’s shower hadn’t been anything like those old times with Zan of course, but the feeling of being completely clean, having clean clothes to get into - Mr. Parker… Jeff, had bought her a change of clothes, plus an extra shirt for sleeping in - well, it made her feel good. For the first time since Zan died, Ava felt safe, cared for and it was a good feeling. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to have this feeling every day. Touching the dark haired guy’s image in the picture, she whispered, “I sure hope you knew how lucky you were.” Her finger moved to Liz’s face and she added, “I know you did. We both know things ain’t always flowers and sunshine, and sometimes you gots to take what you can, when you can, just to get through the day. I hope that Max of yours is treating you good, like his queen, just like Zan treated me.”
Liz’s smiling face was her only answer.
Ava pondered the picture for a few minutes longer, wishing Liz were here to talk to. The whole time she was on the road to Roswell - heck, ever since she’d left really, she’d longed to sit with Liz somewhere quiet and just talk, share herself and her experiences liked she’d only ever done one time before in her life. Something about Liz invited her to open up to the other girl. She knew Liz may not understand everything about her, but she would try if Ava would only give her the chance. Sometimes Ava wondered why she ever left Roswell in the first place. At times she thought she knew the answer. Roswell represented everything she’d never had: love, trust, security. In this town she knew she could find that fresh start she’d thought she wanted. And at the time, she hadn’t felt worthy of the blessing. In fact, she’d been afraid she’d somehow taint the goodness of this town and the people in it, the ones so most wanted to get close to. And so she’d run away from it, only to find that what she as really running from was herself.
Then, a little over a year later, she found herself right back here again, no closer to resolving the demons inside her. The difference between then and now was that she finally admitted it. Not that that helped her in any way to know what to do about it. How she wished Liz were here.
Staring at the dark haired girl’s likeness, she got an idea. Flipping the frame over, she took the back off and removed the picture from behind the glass. There was a folded up piece of paper there that she ignored, concentrating instead on laying back comfortably on the bed and laying her finger across Liz’s picture. Ava could dreamwalk, but only the members of her family. Whenever she’d ever tried it on a human, it hadn’t worked, but Liz was different, she’d seen it herself.
She knew it was a long shot, but maybe, just maybe she would be able to get through.
Beneath her fingertip the paper rippled.
*~*~*~*~*
A husky laughter split the night, followed by an indignant, “Are you laughing at me?”
“No,” a feminine voice giggled.
“Now, you listen to me. I am still the king around here and what I say goes.”
“I thought you gave up the throne.”
“I lied,” was the teasing reply. “Now I am commanding you to stay still… until Simon Says you can move.”
“Right.”
A stern reprimand. “No talking either.”
“Whatever.” The response was more whispered than spoken, the final syllable ending on a sigh.
The darkness around Ava finally cleared and she could finally see - and what she saw made her cover her mouth to catch an escaping giggle. Apparently Liz had a more adventurous imagination than she’d given her credit for. On the tackiest bed she’d ever seen Max had Liz laid out arms and legs spread out as he knelt over her feasting on her neck. They were both still modestly dressed, though Max was taking pains to remedy that situation.
“Yo,” she said loudly garnering Liz’s attention. “You wants I could come back later?”
“Ava?” Liz exclaimed, lifting her head, to look at the newcomer. “Is that you?”
“Hey,” Max protested. “Simon didn’t say you could move.”
Liz didn’t bother to answer him, and shoved him off her instead. He rolled once before landing on the floor with an ‘oomph’.
“Ava, what are you doing here?” Liz asked, sitting up, pulling the sheet around her.
From the floor, Max sat up, complaining, “Liz, what…”
Without so much as a glance at him, Liz cut him out of her dream and he disappeared into thin air. Standing up, the bed also went away, and Liz was standing before her in a pair of jeans and a red sweater. Ava watched as she approached as if afraid Ava would disappear, too.
“I come to see you. I wanted to warn you. The FBI is hunting deadly, and they’re gunning for your Max.”
Nodding, Liz answered, “Yeah, I know. They’re looking for all of us.”
“How did you know?”
“It’s a long story, but let’s just say I saw them. We barely left Roswell in time.”
“Well, they ain’t taking no prisoners, if you know what I mean.”
“Ava… are you ok? They… they didn’t get to you, did they?”
“Nah. I’m good. But Rath and Lonnie… They’s dead. The FBI got ‘em both just a couple of days ago, and I heard ‘em say they was going after Max next.”
Ava watched as Liz’s mouth set in a firm line and she nodded. “We’ll be careful.”
“That’s good,” Ava answered. The two girls were silent for a moment. Ava, having delivered the message she’d bisected the country to give didn’t know what else to say.
After a moment, Liz asked, “Ava, how are you doing this? I mean, I thought Lonnie…”
“You thought only Lonnie could Dreamwalk ya? Well, you’re half right. I cain’t dreamwalk humans, only… you know. Like I said, yous different now, since Max changed you.”
“But don’t you need a picture? I mean, it’s just that Isabel usually need to be touching…”
“Ya, me too. It helps me focus, or something. I gots lucky that there was a picture of you sitting on the dresser here, else I’d still be sitting here wishin’ I could talks to ya.”
Liz was frowning, trying to put the pieces together. “Ava, where are you?”
“Oh, I’m in Roswell. I came looking for you to tell you about Rath and Lonnie and they told me you was gone. I saw your dad…”
“Oh my god. He doesn’t know anything about this Ava! Not any of it.”
“Well, I’d say he sure found out in a hurry, ‘cause he’s the one who believed I wasn’t Tess. He said I was a clone. He couldn’t have knowed that unless someone had spilled da beans. Speaking of which, what did my dupe to do piss off Mr. and Mz. Evans so much? I thought he was gonna scalp me or something for a minute there. Your dad actually stuck up for me.”
Liz was covering her face. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Liz? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, it’s just we tried so hard to keep them out of it and now that we’re gone, they get dragged in.”
“Yeah, well, it was probably kinda hard to keep them in the dark with the FBI crawling up their asses.”
“What?” Liz asked faintly.
“Yeah, they bugged your house, least that’s what he said, and I sure as hell believe him. I swear I saw four or five agents just walking through town to your place. Don’t worry, Liz, he’s being smart about it.”
“What about my mom?”
“I don’t know. I ain’t never seen her. What’s she look like?”
“Her name is Nancy. She’s about four inches taller than me. Red hair.”
Nancy!? Nancy was her mom? Ava remembered Max’s dad telling Jeff he could use her to get Nancy back from the FBI.
“Ava?” Liz’s voice was starting to sound anxious.
“Nah. I ain’t seen her, but I’m sure she’s fine. I mean, your dad was good, right? I’m sure she’s ok, too.”
Seemingly relieved, Liz blew out a breath. “Yeah. I’m sure you’re right. Look, Ava. The FBI knows Tess is dead, they probably don’t know about you. Maybe you should just get out of Roswell.”
Before Ava could respond, there was another voice in the darkness surrounding them. “Liz? Liz are you in here?”
“Yeah, I’m over here.” To the dark haired alien she joked, “Who knew my dreams could be so popular?”
“Liz, what’s going on? Max is really worried. He’s been trying to wake you up for like five minutes.” Isabel finally arrived in their plane of consciousness and of course, the first thing she saw was Ava. “What are you doing here, bitch?”
“Isabel!” Liz reprimanded.
Ignoring her, she closed in on the smaller girl. “I swear, if you’re hurting her in any way, you’re going to wish the government had finished you off.”
“Isabel, it’s Ava!” Liz shouted to be heard over her friend’s bitter anger.
That brought her up short, but only for a moment. “So? That doesn’t change anything. What’s she doing here, anyway?”
“She came to warn me. Us. About the FBI.”
Snorting she answered, “Yeah, well, she’s a little late.”
Deciding to pretend for the moment that Isabel wasn’t there, Liz asked, “Where are you now?”
“The Whitman’s. They took me in for the night.”
“Alex’s?” Isabel asked softly, then with growing anger, “You’re at Alex Whitman’s house? HOW DARE YOU? GET OUT! GET OUT OF THERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!”
“ISABEL!” Liz shouted, becoming angry with her friend. Ava looked like she’d taken a physical blow. “Stop it. What’s wrong with you?”
“Me? What’s wrong with you? Have you forgotten what Tess did to Alex?! And now Ava is just staying there, in his house, probably in his room like nothing happened.”
“What are you saying? That because Tess murdered Alex that Ava deserves to be punished? I don’t blame her for Tess’s actions any more than I blame you for Lonnie’s - or have you forgotten your dupe tried to kill Max when he was in New York?”
‘Go Liz,’ Ava silently cheered. That made twice in one day someone had stood up for her, and both times it had been a Parker. There was something to be said about that.
Isabel looked like she wanted to argue, though she knew Liz was right. When she remained silent, Liz said in a more reasonable tone, “Could you please just go tell Max, I’ll be done in a minute?” When Isabel hesitated, clearly unsure whether or not it was safe to leave Liz alone with Ava in her head, Liz assured her, “Go on. It’s ok. I’ll be fine. I’ll talk to you in a few minutes.”
Backing down, Isabel nodded. With one final glare in Ava’s direction, she disappeared from Liz’s dream.
With an embarrassed shake of her head, Liz said, “Sorry about that.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Lonnie’s said worse. Besides, she was just lookin’ out for you.”
“Yeah. We’re all a little hyper protective of each other these days, I guess.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet. So, you alls ok?”
“Yeah, we’re good. It’s been a rough few days, and some of us are getting cabin fever, but we’re doing ok.”
“Good. Look, I’m supposed to be meeting with your dad and Max’s folks tomorrow. There anything you want me to tell them?”
Tears welling, Liz shook her head. “I wouldn’t know what to say.”
“Can I tell ‘em that you’re still in one piece just so’s they don’t worry?”
“Yeah,” Liz agreed. “That would…” her voice broke as the tears broke free and ran down her face. “God. I hate that I had to do this to them. I hate that I hurt them like this. It was just… there was no time. The FBI was there and we had to run. There was no time to look back, or leave them or note. Nothing.”
“They knows, Liz,” Ava comforted her as she’s once been comforted. “Don’t you worry about them. You guys just keep doing what you’re doing, because the only thing that’s worrying your folks right now is that you might not make it through this thing. You just work on staying one step ahead of the government and they’ll be ok.”
“Right,” Liz agreed, sniffling.
“How’s about I look after ‘em for awhile for you? Just till things cool off?”
“No, Ava. It’s not safe for you there. You should just leave Roswell,” Liz repeated from earlier. Adding, “In fact, maybe you should come join us. That way we’ll all be together.”
There is was. The very thing Ava was hoping Liz would say. The entire reason she’d gone to Roswell: to find another family among Liz and her friends. Max, Isabel and Michael were the only other people on the planet who were like her, and it made sense to her that she join them… and Liz, whose forthright acceptance warmed her to her soul. It was what she wanted more than anything, yet something held her back. Words that had been spoken in anger now branded themselves on her heart: “I bet you could use her to get Nancy back.” If the FBI had Nancy, it would take more than a couple of concerned citizens to get her back. They just might need someone with a little more firepower at her disposal. They might need her.
“I’d like that,” she answered Liz, “But let me get back with you on it. There’s something I gotta do first.”
“Ok,” Liz agreed, hesitantly. “If you’re sure. Contact me anytime, ok?”
“Sure.”
“Ava, it was good to see you again. I was worried about you.” Liz stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. “You take care of yourself.”
“You, too. Cornball. See ya soon.” With that, the Dreamwalk ended.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sitting on Alex’s bed, Ava fingered the picture and thought of what she’d set out to do. She began to second-guess herself and trepidation set in. Who was she that she thought she could do this? Rath and Lonnie were ten times more powerful than her and they hadn’t survived their run ins with the government, and yet here she sat, contemplating storming one of their strongholds to save a woman she’d never even met.
She wondered briefly if she was going crazy. Then looking at Liz’s sweet smile she realized she didn’t have a choice. She wouldn’t be able to look the other girl in the face ever again if she knew her mom was at the mercy of their sick-minded government.
Ava wasn’t stupid, she knew her limitations. Lonnie was quick enough to point them out time and again. If she committed herself to this, she would probably die, but at least her death would mean something to someone, unlike Rath, Lonnie or even Zan. And maybe, if she gets really lucky, and makes it through this in one piece, she could then go make a new family with Liz and the others.
For that end, she’d risk anything. She had nothing left to lose.