Unbreakable - A Beautiful Lie · (Roswell Fanfiction) · √

ONE ZERO ONE

A/N: You will meet Sarah in this chapter. The photo above shows how I envision her. (NB: Actress Amy Adams)

Our threat continued to bounce off the walls, taking on a life of its own while every set of eyes turned to look at Max and me.

We need to kill that bastard. Now.

But neither the darkness of our united voices nor the eeriness of its delivery seemed to faze Dresden. His tone of voice remained the same as he calmly interjected, "Not yet, you don't."

"There's still more for you to learn," Mr. Evans said, speaking for the first time since we had been placed in a circle on the floor like some 6-year-olds.

In a way, I found it a bit annoying that it was suddenly of such acute importance that we were briefed in detail when they had been as tight-mouthed as the most tenacious clams earlier.

For some reason I felt scolded. As if we were children that needed to be put in time-out because the grown-ups were talking. In an appropriate childish response, I pressed my lips together, the corners of my mouth turning down in sulkiness, while I silently started chewing on the inside of my bottom lip.

"Fine," Max muttered, sharing my general mood. "Then explain to me why you would still pair me up with Tess and why Liz should be paired with Sean, if your plan all along was to get me and Liz together."

Dresden opened his mouth to answer, but Max lifted one of his hands off my lower stomach to interrupt, "I understand that you needed to go along with those plans to cover up your own plans. But what I don't get is why you, Dad, would be so adamant at making me believe that I was committing something of a sin by getting involved with Liz. Even talking to her outside of those sessions with you and Sean pissed you off. Wouldn't it had been easier to have included me in your plans? To have me play along? Maybe I would have treated the situation differently. Maybe I wouldn't have put Liz's life in any more danger than she already was. Maybe we wouldn't have ended up as prisoners."

I saw Mr. Evans' mouth open to answer, but Max had one final thing to add, "And why did you push for a meeting with Command and the rest of those psychos if you knew that it would put us in danger? That's an extremely risky plan. Anything could have happened. Sean did happen. He tried to kill me twice."

Dresden was looking at Mr. Evans. Mr. Evans was looking at his son. He didn't seem pleased. Diane slowly put her hand on her husband's underarm. As if to calm him.

Except for the area in the middle of my back which was most firmly pressed against Max's front, I felt cold all over. For not the first time, this group of aliens made me feel alone. Alone with Max. Even though they had just made clear how important Max and I were to the revolution, it was still as if we were fighting this battle alone. Just like we had done from the start.

Before I had been informed of what was going on, Max had been fighting all alone. Protecting me the best he could when his own father had drawn my blood and scared me, in those repeated bedroom visits interspersed throughout my upbringing. Max had most likely looked out for me in other ways too, even though he was too modest to tell me about it. Protecting me and keeping me alive was as natural to him as breathing. It was not an obligation or a job, it was more important to him than his own life.

Would I ever be able to fully trust these people? In more ways than one, they made me feel like an experiment. They had been testing me my whole life, trying to determine whether I would be strong enough to mentally survive those numerous memory wipes during my childhood. Would I be strong enough to resist Sean connecting with me? Would I find my way to Max and trust him? Would Max and I connect? Would we become everything we were meant to become?