Always With You 3:6B
Always With You Part Three by Watcher Tara
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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Roswell.
Summary: Max and Kyle have to team up to save Liz from an unexpected threat. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang returns to Marathon, Texas looking for answers and finds more than they anticipated.
Category: Max/Liz
Rating: PG
He hung up the phone and practically skipped to the waiting RV. On the drive back to the house, he planned what he would say to convince the professor. He could show him how the metal of the cylinder was unlike any other metal known to man: when it was bent, it bent back on its own. He’d discovered that one day when he’d unknowingly set a heavy book on top of it then leaned his elbow on it. When he’d closed the book several hours later, the canister was flatter than a pancake. He’d stared in amazement as it slowly returned itself to its original shape. He’d been so astounded that he’d dropped the thing on the floor and stepped on it just so he could watch it repair itself all over again.
Plus, he could take the bracelet with him, Atherton thought as he drove. Then he decided against it. He wasn’t about to remove that thing from the secret cupboard for anything. Everything that had happened to him the last time he’d tried to wear it was still burned into his brain. He wasn’t making any plans to get anywhere near it in the immediate future. It had been six years since he’d worn it, but nearly dying wasn’t something a person forgot easily.
Six years was a long time. He stopped and thought of everything that had happened to him ever since he’d fled the Mesaliko Reservation with Nasedo’s stuff. It was hard to believe that it was already November of 1959. The new decade was fast approaching, and he felt that in many ways he wasn’t ready for it. He wondered what the sixties would bring to this country as well as Mother Russia. He’d broken his Russian ties several years back, content to live out the rest of his life as an American, but he remained interested in world affairs.
Right now, however, the only thing that held his immediate interest was translating the scrolls. He turned off the highway and drove up the long driveway that led to his house. In minutes, his was getting out and stepping inside the building. He was shocked to see two strangers standing in his kitchen. One of them was holding one of the scrolls.
“What’s this?” he’d asked angrily. “Who are you? You’re trespassing on private property.”
Of the two men, one was somewhat tall and skinny, the other was a little stockier, but not fat by any means. Both were of indiscriminate ages, and had no outstanding features. In fact, they were just Average Joes, right down to their plaid shirts and jeans. If he’d been thinking, he might have realized that the last time had seen anyone so unremarkable was six years ago.
“Oh my god, Alex.” Isabel said. She was still dream-walking Alex; still had the connection with his subconscious. They’d both gotten so caught up in the events unfolding before their eyes that they forgotten everything else. Both of the teens recognized these two strangers from Atherton’s past. These two people had been in Roswell only last week. She reached for his hand.
“It’s Mr. Skinny and Bubba.” He was amazed. “They look exactly the same.” He shuddered. It had only been a few days since the two of them had beat Alex nearly to death while looking for Isabel and the others. His dreams at night were still haunted by them.
“Yeah,” she breathed. “Of course, they are shape-shifters like Nasedo. They don’t age like we do.”
“I guess we’ve found out how they got the scrolls from Nasedo. They took them from Atherton right here. Poor Atherton. He’s about to find out the hard way that these guys don’t take ‘no’ for answer.”
They were interrupted by the voices coming from the screen as Atherton’s life story continued to play out in front of them.
“Where is the Shield? Where is the Sword? Tell us.” The larger one, which Alex had taken to calling Bubba during their short stay in Roswell, had Atherton by the shirtfront.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Atherton said. “Who are you? What do you want with me?”
Bubba shook Atherton like a rag doll, and growled, “We have scrolls old man. It’s just a matter of time before we find what we’re looking for, so why do you save yourself a lot of pain and… well, pain, and just tell us.”
“I told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The larger alien punched Atherton in the face. The human grunted, and tried to roll with the blow, but the other man was suddenly standing behind him. Mr. Skinny supported Atherton’s body as Bubba laid into him. Blow after blow landed on Atherton’s body. His cries of pain echoed loudly off the walls.
“Tell us, old man, or…” he let the sentence hang.
“I don’t know what you want.” Atherton cried out, desperate to stop the pain. “I would tell you if I knew what you wanted, I swear. I don’t know what you’re looking for.”
Mr. Skinny looked at Bubba who nodded, confirming that Atherton was telling the truth.
“Ok, Atherton, answer one question for me, and we’ll let you go,” Mr. Skinny said. He shook Atherton who was dazed to the point of being incoherent. “Are you listening? Answer one question for me, and we’ll let you go.” He pointed to the decorative scroll casing. “Where did you get that?”
“A man…” Atherton could barely form the words. “A man gave it to me.”
“Who? Who gave it to you?” Atherton was silent, not because he was protecting Nasedo, but because he was still processing the question. Pain was screaming through every nerve ending in his body. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he was having a heart attack: his entire left side was numb. Bubba slapped him hard across the face to get his attention. It worked. “Who gave you the scrolls?”
“Nasedo.”
“Nasedo? Who the hell is Nasedo?”
Bubba looked at Mr. Skinny. “Do you think Nasedo is the Protector of the others?”
“Possibly. More than likely, if he had the scrolls. No one else would have had them.”
“Hey, old man!” Bubba shouted in Atherton’s face. He slapped him on the other cheek. “Hey. Do you want to live?”
Atherton nodded painfully.
“Say it!”
“I want to live.”
“Good, then here’s what you’re going to do. You are going to take us to where this Nasedo is. After that we’ll let you go.”
Mr. Skinny said from behind him, “Do you understand. You take us to this man, Nasedo, and we’ll leave you alone.”
“I don’t know where he is.”
Bubba sucker punched him in the gut. Atherton thought that his spleen was going to explode. His vision was receding. All of his breath gushed out of him, and he was sure that he was going to be sick.
“Do you think we’re kidding?”
“I’m telling you. I haven’t seen the man in six years. He could be anywhere on the planet by now. I don’t know where he is. I have no idea.”
“Well you had better come up with an idea, and come up with it fast. I’m not a patient man.”
“But, I don’t…” Suddenly a face flashed through his mind. Wait a second, he thought. He had no idea where Nasedo could be, but maybe, just maybe there was someone who did. Someone that Nasedo had trusted. “Ok, ok. I think I know someone who can help you.”
What he was going to was worse than cowardly, to set up a completely innocent person, but with his life on the line, Atherton could barely generate any remorse. Besides, Riverdog was a much younger man with a large family and friends. He could hold his own with these two, he rationalized. Atherton hadn’t put together the pieces of the puzzle that was laying before him: he had no idea that the two creatures standing in front of him were aliens. And he was planning to just hand Riverdog over to them.
“You better not be trying to trick us, old man. Else you won’t live to see the sunrise.”
“Where is this person?” Mr. Skinny asked.
He wiped away the blood that was trickling down his chin before replying. “Roswell. Roswell, New Mexico.”
“Roswell, huh?” The two strangers shared a look. Atherton didn’t know it, but they’d already been in that particular town looking for the Protector, and the pod chamber that he was guarding. They figured that Atherton must be willing to cooperate if he was going to be taking them back there.
“Let me just get… get a jacket.” Atherton could barely talk, let alone walk and drive. When the taller man released his hold on him, Atherton nearly slid to the floor. He caught himself on the table. His coat was where he’d left it on the back of his chair, since he hadn’t worn it earlier when he’d gone to town to use the phone. All of a sudden, his conversation with Professor Shellow seemed a lifetime ago. He looked at the taller man. He’d pocketed the scrolls, not bothering with the small case they’d been in when Atherton had taken them from Nasedo. He figured that he wouldn’t be going to Arizona to meet with him after all. He actually had little hope that he would be coming back here at all, but then, he’d gotten out of some pretty rough spots before. Maybe he’d find an opportunity to bolt. There was a chance that he could get out of this with his skin still attached, albeit a slim one. At this point, he’d take anything he could get.
He grabbed his jacket off the back of the kitchen chair, and slipped it painfully on. He didn’t have a full range of motion in his shoulders any more. He wasn’t concerned about the coat as much as the small key that was in the pocket. It was the key that opened the trap door to the room downstairs. He wasn’t taking the chance that someone could find it and discover the hidden room beneath the floor.
“Let’s go.” The larger man was impatient.
“I’m coming.” The three of them crowded into the cab of his RV. Atherton slowly started the engine, and pulled out on to the road. The entire six-hour trip back into New Mexico was made in complete silence. They had to stop twice for gas, and they kept a close eye on him all the while he was running the pump.
It was midnight when he pulled into Roswell’s only hotel. He’d explained that they couldn’t go in search of the person until it was light out. As soon as dawn was creasing the sky, they were up and headed out in the direction of the Mesaliko Indian Reservation.
Atherton pulled into the village, and was preparing to get out when Mr. Skinny stopped him.
“Wait a second. We can’t have you walking around looking like that. You’ll draw too much attention.”
Atherton’s face was pretty battered from their confrontation yesterday. “Well, there’s nothing I can do about it now, is there?” Atherton asked sarcastically.
“Probably not, but you’re not me.” Mr. Skinny waved a hand in front of the human’s face slowly.
Suddenly, his face felt completely normal. In shock, he pulled the rearview mirror around and looked into it. There was no evidence left on his face of the fight. Disbelieving what his eyes were telling him, he brought his hand up to touch skin that until a second ago was painfully discolored. He was completely healed.
“What… How did you…”
“How do you think? What did you think this was about all this time? What, did you think we were government agents, or something?” Atherton just sat there with his mouth hanging open. “Read your book by the way. It was highly entertaining. I couldn’t stop laughing. Where ever did you get your ideas? I especially like the part where you said that… what was it? ‘Aliens had neither the lung capacity nor the brain capacity to survive here on Earth’. Very funny.”
“Come on, let’s go.” Bubba had already climbed down.
With shaking fingers, Atherton was barely able to get his door open. He stumbled out of the RV and walked on shaking legs over to the first person he saw. “Excuse me, but do you know where I can find…”
“Go away! You’re not welcome here.”
“What?”
“I remember you. You came here years ago, and told us you were going to write a book about our tribe. We welcomed you, and in return you betrayed our people.” It was Fire Shadow.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. Look, I need…” he didn’t get to finish.
Riverdog’s father spat on the ground between Atherton’s feet and walked away.
“Who was that? Is he the one?”
“No. Let me go ask someone else.”
Atherton stepped into the small village store. Within a minute, he stepped back out again. “Come on,” he said climbing back into the RV.
“Now where are we going?”
“You better not be trying to pull anything.”
“He’s back in town,” was all that Atherton would say.
They climbed back into the RV and returned to Roswell. On Main Street, they pulled up and got out. Atherton didn’t know where Riverdog might be in town, but he figured the stores along the strip were the best place to start.