1Roswell and all the characters in it are the property of Jason Katims Productions, Regency Television and 20th Century Fox Television. No profit or copyright infringement is intended from this work whatsoever.
The Following Morning
Kyle rolled the dilapidated old jeep to a stop in front of the squat looking structure. Really, it was little more than a large concrete hump situated out in the middle of nowhere. The remoteness of the location actually did more for its privacy than the chain link fence that surrounded it.
Stepping off the vehicle, he walked closer to the padlocked gate. Taking in the view, he nodded, satisfied he was at the right place.
Liz' vision focused on only three images, all of which she passed on to him with a touch. Ava herself, or at least, what she probably looked like now was one. A standing stone ring, which they had traced to a recently built landmark in Phoenix was another. That one reminded him of Wormhole Extreme, to be honest. The third one was this building.
It had taken two days of driving to get from northwestern Washington State where they all lived to Phoenix. Most of another day was used up in the library before he found out what the third image was.
Built during World War II as an munitions depot, it had long since been emptied and abandoned. Though not before a chain link fence was erected around it. The entire area around Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa was littered with the things and it was only by a stroke of luck that he had been able to acquire a mostly complete list.
Another day had been spent checking other sites on the list before he found this particular one. Kyle hoped he was not too late.
Figuring he had gotten as far as Liz' vision could get him, he shrugged and stepped forward to examine the padlocked gate. It wouldn't be enough to stop him, of course. Idly handling the padlock he started as he was suddenly bombarded by a barrage of images and sensations.
Kyle stepped back, confused. Whatever that was, it was not touching the padlock that had triggered it. He would have to look elsewhere for information. He fixed his eyes on the gate again, and smiled. Of course. Reaching forward once more, he grasped the chain this time, and closed his eyes as the images flooded him.
He was wearing a white shirt, a black bulletproof vest and dark shades, holding up the chain as a similarly attired man applied a large wire cutter to the padlock. Blood had already been spilt, staining the gray walls flanking the depot entrance. A pair of dark clad bodies slumped underneath.
Kyle's vision cleared. He was alone once more. And he had apparently missed all the excitement. No matter. He took the padlock in his hand once more, and with nary a twitch, it clicked open.
Same Time
Ava opened her eyes only to be greeted by gray. Lots of gray. Gray walls, gray ceilings. Gray bed too as far as she could tell with gray beddings and restraints. She sighed, struggling slightly before giving it up as pointless.
She could not even use her powers. Worryingly, the federal agents who had captured her had had a way of disabling her powers, and it stood to reason these people, likely military given the uniform grayness of this room, would be able to as well.
"Oh good, you're awake."
The short woman who spoke swept into the room and simply overwhelmed her. A flashlight in her eye, a stethoscope on her chest, various other implements stuck in her ear and mouth. The woman never gave her a chance to speak.
"So, how are you feeling?"
Finally, the ordeal was over, and the doctor was standing at the foot of the bed, filling in her findings on a clipboard.
"Fine, I guess," she replied uncertainly.
The doctor nodded with a smile as she cranked the bed into a reclining position. Pointing to a chart on the wall, she continued with the examination.
"Cover your left eye and read the lowest row of letters."
It was after she had done the eye test for both eyes that she finally voiced what had been bothering her since the... inquisition began. "Is there a point to all this? Just get it over with and dissect me already!"
That actually stopped the doctor short.
"You seem convinced we will 'dissect' you eventually?"
"Don't mess with me." Ava scowled. "What other reason could there be for you to keep an alien like me here like this?"
There. She'd said it.
Instead of looking horrified, or even surprised at her exclamation, the doctor just smiled quizzically at her. Walking around the bed, she sat down at a chair before speaking.
"Because I'm a doctor and I want to make sure you're ok before we send you on your way? Even the restraints are for your safety, if you can believe that."
The doctor smiled again and shrugged before speaking once more.
"As for dissecting you, there are far less invasive ways of finding out how your insides work. That's assuming they don't work the same way as baseline humans' to begin with."
Ava looked at the woman incredulously. She talked as if 'non-baseline' humans was an everyday thing for her!
"Baseline humans?"
"Well, your brain's about a few steps higher up the evolutionary ladder than most. And your blood is swimming with these strange crystals that probably act as power source for your abilities. But the rest of you is… baseline."
"You talk like this isn't a big deal. So what are you gonna do? Just let me go?"
"Twenty-four hours." The doctor replied, then consulted her wristwatch. "Make that nineteen hours. I'll keep you under observation for another nineteen hours, and if nothing comes up, you're free to go."
"The military's just gonna let me walk away from here?"
"Well… a few people will probably want to talk to you. But as far as I'm concerned, yes. You'll be free to go."
With that said, the doctor began to gather her things.
"I'll let you rest for now, and check back with you in a bit."
She was at the door when somebody knocked on it from outside. She opened it just a bit to confer quickly with whoever was knocking, before turning back to Ava.
"Looks like you have a visitor. No more than thirty minutes." That last was actually directed at the person outside.
She stepped out and let the 'visitor' in. He was a tall man, rather lean and clean shaven. Without being told she knew right away that he had been among the people who had removed her from the bunker and moved her here. And then she got a really good look at his face.
"YOU!"
Kyle slowly followed the downward ramp. This bunker had an underground level that was even larger than the one above ground.
There were no stairs. Just a ramp that dropped down to the right just next to the entrance. That then turned left again, or forward, orienting him in the same direction as the bunker.
The lower level had a few more chambers, arranged in a row crosswise to the one above. Each one as large as the one above.
Idly he raised his hand to touch the wall. He kept following the corridor, dragging his fingertips along the walls, the doors. His next clue was here, he could sense it.
It was at the first door that he got his next clue. He winced. An image of sandbags being stacked and a machine gun being planted. Whoever these people were, they were putting up, had put up some heavy weaponry.
He opened the first door, but beyond waving his flashlight around to get a better look at the rather empty room, his instincts told him to simply move on. Whatever he was looking for was not in the first room. Nor was it in the next few rooms. Then he got to the last door.
More precisely it was the wall before the last door that stopped him short. An image of an entire section of wall being blown inwards. Closer inspection of the wall did indeed reveal the seams where the old wall and the repaired section met.
Intrigued, he pushed the door open and stepped in. At first glance, the room was as empty as the others before. Undeterred, he proceeded to explore the room, carefully examining each nook and cranny. When he was done, he explored it some more.
It was on his second circuit that he finally found the next piece of the puzzle. A piece of metal reflected the flashlight's light just as he almost stepped on it. Squatting down to get a better look, he realized it must be the casing for a bullet of some kind. And when he picked it up, he got an image of soldiers manning a checkpoint in front of a massive arch that served as entrance into an underground base that he remembered seeing before on TV.
The image filled him with equal parts elation and horror. On the one hand, he now knew where the breadcrumbs led and it was time for him to move on. On the other hand, the knowledge that the Air Force had a hand in what was happening to Ava was worrying in the extreme.
With a grunt, Kyle got up to his feet. The piece of brass he simply let go to fall back to the ground before he made his way out. Somebody might still come back to look for it, they had after all taken the trouble to patch up the wall and he already had what he needed from it.
He also had to get back in touch with the others and let them know of this latest development. Isabel should have contacted him through dreamwalk by now, but she had not. She must have a reason, he figured. Even after all this time, long distance communication remained an exclusive ability of hers. Somehow, none of the others had been able to pick up the ability.
Kyle winced as he realized he would have to turn in early and get an early start tomorrow. Colorado Springs was another full day's drive away.
Same Afternoon
"Thanks!" Liz smiled as Michael took the grocery bags from her arms to bring them to the kitchen.
"How's Maria?"
"Waters just broke," Max replied as he moved closer for a quick kiss. "Be a while yet."
Liz just nodded as she knelt down to accept hugs and kisses from the kids. She was well aware of the routine, having had two of her own. Maria for that matter was now on her third.
"Isabel?"
Max just shrugged.
"Still in her room," Michael replied as he returned from the kitchen. "I don't know, she hasn't eaten all day, or even been out of her room. She just… mopes… and just cries all the time and says Alex' name over and over. Won't even talk to us."
Liz sighed as she settled into the couch.
"I don't get it. Alex has been dead for ten years," Liz thought out loud. "What could she possibly find now that could spook her so bad and still involve him?"
"She'll snap out of it." Max said quietly. "Hopefully soon. Then we'll get some answers. Have you heard from Kyle?"
"He called the daycare just before I left." Liz narrated what Kyle told her of what he'd found. About the ring landmark and the bunker he had explored. That there seemed to have been two government units fighting over Ava. And that he had just missed her but that he had clues pointing to Colorado Springs.
"I told him about Isabel, he had no idea what could have spooked her, either."
"He's gonna need help if he wants to break into an Air Force base." Michael muttered. "A lot of it."
"He won't do anything rash." Max declared confidently. "A couple of days and we should be able to fly down and give him a hand. If it becomes necessary."
"What, leave the women and kids here by themselves?" Michael asked.
"Isabel should be able to take care of them."
"If she's snapped out of it by then." Michael argued to which Max just nodded and shrugged.
A heavy silence settled on the three before Liz spoke again.
"I better get started on dinner. You two try and pry Isabel out of her bed again."