Title: Thanks Giving

Author: Dontia

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything but the plot.

Spoilers: I’m so beyond the "reality" of the show. Some of you think that’s a good thing.

Rating: R

Summary: It’s Thanksgiving. The gang gives thanks for their many blessings. They also decode the book.

Notes: Sequel to "Soldiers". Season Two doesn’t exist except for brief glimpses. Season Three not at all.

Feedback: It’s the circle of life. I love to write, you love to read. Tell me you love reading, I’ll continue to love writing.

***************************************

It’s the day before Thanksgiving. The eight teenagers meet in the parking lot of the high school just after noon.

"I wonder which saint invented minimum days," says Michael.

"Don’t know but they deserve better than sainthood," says Kyle.

Everyone but Maria laughs.

"I want to check on Leda," says Maria worriedly.

"She’s fine," says Max.

"You don’t know that."

"I know when she wakes up cranky, I’d know if she were in danger."

"Really?"

"Trust me, she’s fine."

"They should’ve done something by now," says Isabel. "Attacked us or something."

"I’m glad they haven’t," says Liz, standing on the fringes of the group. "It gives us a chance to finish the translation."

"How’s that coming?" asks Tess.

"We’re still stalled on that one line," says Alex. "Once we get it, everything else will fall into place."

"Good," says Michael. "I’m tired of waiting for them to come after us. It’s time to take the fight to them."

"We will," says Max. "As soon as we’re ready."

"Can’t come soon enough for me," says Isabel.

Tess looks at Isabel in concern, noting the shadows under her eyes. She exchanges a look with Maria.

They’re the only ones who know Kivar’s visiting Isabel in her dreams. Somehow, Isabel convinced them not to tell the others.

"Isabel, why don’t you spend the afternoon with Leda and me?" asks Maria.

"No!" says Isabel, practically yelling. Everyone looks at her in shock.

"She hadn’t had much sleep lately," excuses Tess. "She’s worried about pulling off Thanksgiving tomorrow."

"Gonna turn into the Thanksgiving Nazi too?" asks Michael.

"Shut up," says Isabel, smiling tiredly. "I think I’m gonna go home and take a nap."

"You could take a nap at our place," says Tess.

"I’ll come over later. Kyle, could you give me a ride home?"

"Sure," says Kyle, happily surprised. This is the first move Isabel’s made in his direction since that disastrous kiss.

Kyle takes Isabel home, and the rest of the group breaks up. Finally, Michael and Tess are the only ones left standing there.

"You gonna tell me?" asks Michael.

"Tell you what?"

"Why Isabel has dark circles under her eyes."

"Oh, that."

"Yeah, that. Come on, tell me."

"She made me promise."

"She’s not pregnant, is she?"

"You can’t tell Max. He needs to concentrate on the book."

"What’s going on?"

"Kivar’s visiting Isabel in her dreams."

"How long?"

"Since Veteran’s Day. Probably because Nicholas knows all that stuff about us."

"She should’ve told me."

"She can’t stop the dreams, we tried. The book may help. That’s why we can’t distract Max from decoding it."

"Is that why she doesn’t wanna be around Leda? Because of the dreams?"

"She’s afraid Kivar will make her hurt Leda."

"We should at least warn Maria, so she can be on guard."

"She already knows."

"Then why did she invite Isabel over there?"

"She wants Isabel to know she trusts her. Are you gonna tell Max?"

Michael considers a moment. "Not yet but soon. The three of us together can do something to block Kivar."

***************************************

As he’s taking her home, Kyle looks at Isabel. He sees her almost fall asleep before jerking herself awake. "Is this some alien thing?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You look horrible."

"Thanks a lot Kyle."

"You’re beautiful Isabel, you always look beautiful. But you look worn out too. You can tell me."

Isabel looks at him as the car stops in front of the Deluca house. "It’s Kivar."

"What about him?"

"Come on, I’ll tell you inside."

They go in and sit in the living room.

"What’s Kivar done now?" asks Kyle.

"He’s invading my dreams."

"What’s he doing in them?"

"Trying to get me to turn on you guys, come to him."

"What does he do when you laugh in his face?"

Isabel looks at him, shocked. "You’re not worried I’ll give into him?"

"Of course not."

"But I told you about Vilandra. And I know you saw flashes."

"If you were all Vilandra…but you’re Isabel too. Isabel who mothers the hell out of her friends. Isabel who terrorizes the entire town just to make Christmas special. Isabel who dies a little inside when she’s forced to hurt anyone in any way."

"Thank you," says Isabel, tears in her eyes. "Would you…hold me while I sleep? I think I might be able to if you’re here."

Kyle gently pulls her into his arms. Isabel lays her head on his chest and dreams only of Kyle for the next few hours.

***************************************

In a motel room outside Roswell, Lonnie barges in on Nicholas.

"I see manners aren’t on the menu today," says Nicholas.

"Why don’t we get rid of ‘em already? Kill ‘em and go home."

"Because Kivar wants Isabel willing."

"I’m Vilandra too, and I’m willing."

"What would Rath say to that?"

"Don’t act like you care."

"I don’t. I just don’t want his jealousy to be a problem."

"It won’t be. Now about going home-"

"Be patient, she’s almost ready. When she is, we’ll go back to Antar. Cheer up Lonnie. So you won’t be Kivar’s queen. You’ll be the queen’s twin. There’ll be power in that too."

"There better be."

Outside the room, Rath has heard everything. He’s enraged and begins to plot his revenge.

***************************************

At the Whitman house, Alex pushes away from his computer in frustration. "It’s hopeless."

"We’ll get it," says Max. "We have to."

"We’ve been at it since Leda was born. We still haven’t figured it out."

"We’re closer than we were."

"Let’s take a quick break then look at it again."

They go into the kitchen. Maria has Leda in a high chair, feeding her a bowl of cereal. They both kiss Leda.

"How’s it going?" asks Maria.

"We’re stalled," says Alex. "Not sure where to go from here."

"You’ll figure it out."

Max picks up Leda. "I’m gonna take her for a walk around the house. Talking to her helps me think."

Alex waits until Max leaves the room. "We have to tell him."

"You wanna tell him now?"

"He has to know eventually."

"But now? Alex, with everything that’s going on we can’t afford to right now."

"How much longer can we keep it a secret? Your mom knows, my parents know. So does the sheriff, Tess, and Michael."

"We decided not to tell Max we’re dating until the Skins and Dupes are taken care of."

"I don’t like lying to him."

"Neither do I, but it’s just until we win this thing. After that, we’ll tell him."

"Okay, we’ll wait."

Max comes jogging back in with Leda in his arms. He has a huge smile on his face.

"What is it?" asks Alex.

"Leda solved it," says Max.

"The book?"

"Yeah, she solved it. I let her play with the computer keys and she put in the right sequence."

"She knew what to do?" asks Maria incredulously.

"I don’t know how or if she knew, but she put in what we needed. The computer’s translating the book into English as we speak."

"We need to call everyone," says Alex.

Max shakes his head. "Tomorrow after dinner. We’ll give everyone a copy of the translation."

"They have the right to know now," says Maria, thinking of Isabel.

"You’re right, and they’ll probably be mad at me for not telling them right away. But this changes everything. After this, normal is over. At least, normal for us."

"All right," says Alex. "We’ll wait until after the dinner."

***************************************

At the Valenti house, Amy hangs up her cell phone and looks at Jim. "We have a problem."

"What happened?"

"That was my nephew Sean. He’s coming to town."

"I thought you said he was in juvenile hall."

"He got out last spring. He had a job as a longshoreman in Texas but he’s coming back to Roswell. Wanted to know if he could stay with me until he found a place and a job."

"What’d you tell him?"

"I told him yes, he’s family. Now I have to figure out how to keep all this from him. Especially since those Skin things can attack at any moment and I’m not living in my house."

"When should we expect him?"

"Tomorrow in time for dinner."

***************************************

The next morning, Amy comes out of Jim’s room at five to start dinner. She’s surprised to see Kyle asleep on the sofa, since he called and said he was staying at her place with Isabel.

She goes into the kitchen and finds Isabel already cooking. "You didn’t have to do this."

Isabel shrugs as she bastes the turkey. "Couldn’t sleep."

"Has that been happening a lot lately?"

"It’ll pass."

"If you need to talk, I’m here."

"Thank you. Kyle told me your nephew’s coming to town."

"Yeah, Sean’s moving back to Roswell."

"I don’t think I remember him."

"He was a bit older than you. Plus I think it was before your brother saved Liz."

"Before we gave your daughter the time of day. I’m sorry."

"For what?"

"Us dragging Maria into this."

"I’m not happy about it but Leda wouldn’t be here otherwise. Wouldn’t trade her for anything."

"Neither would I. You can go back to bed if you want."

"We have a big crowd to feed. We need to get ready."

The two women continue to prepare the meal.

***************************************

At Michael and Tess’s apartment, Tess hangs up the phone and slips out of bed. After a quick shower, she gets dressed.

Michael raises his head from the pillow. "Where are you going?"

"To help Amy get dinner ready. Isabel’s already over there."

"It’s five thirty."

"We have to start early if we want to eat by two. I’ll see you over there."

"You’re not going anywhere. Wait until I get dressed."

"Michael."

"The Skins are out there. I won’t have you in danger."

"I can take care of myself."

"I know, that’s why I need you to wait for me. I need someone to protect me."

Tess sighs. "Fine, but hurry up."

***************************************

A few hours later, everyone is over the Valenti house. They’re preparing dinner as they discuss Sean’s arrival.

"What if something happens when he’s around?" asks Maria. "What if he’s standing right there when the Skins attack?"

"We’ll deal with that if we have to," says Max.

"Are we gonna tell him?" asks Alex.

"We have no way of knowing if we can trust him," says Michael.

"Michael’s right," says Isabel. "We don’t tell him anything."

"What if he sees something?" asks Kyle. "That’s a distinct possibility. Especially if he stays long."

"I’ll mindwarp him into not remembering," says Tess. "Which means we still need to keep an eye on him. I can’t mindwarp anything I don’t know about."

"Then it’s settled," says Max.

The doorbell rings. Amy answers it with Max behind her in case it’s the Skins.

Sean’s standing there. He hugs Amy. "Good to see you."

"You too Sean," says Amy. "Come in, let me introduce you."

The introductions are made. Maria and Tess notice the way Sean’s eyes linger on Liz.

"You think Liz would listen to me if I warn her about my loser cousin?" asks Maria.

"Probably not," says Tess. "But this may be just what we need."

"What do you mean?"

"He’s interested in Liz. Her spending time with him would be the perfect cover to keeping an eye on him."

"I don’t think she’d do it."

"You never know unless you ask."

"You think she’ll do it if you ask?"

"Hardly. But maybe if Michael does. I’ll talk to him."

***************************************

In their motel room, Lonnie watches Rath put on his jacket. "Where you goin’?"

"What do you care?"

"Maybe I wanna go with you."

"Just goin’ for a walk."

"I’ll pass."

"Thought you might."

"Don’t be gone for too long. You never know when we’ll move on those twits and leave for home."

"Can’t wait."

Lonnie catches the weird tone in Rath’s voice but dismisses it as he walks out the door.

***************************************

At the Valenti house, everyone sits down to dinner.

Max frowns when he sees Maria and Tess maneuver Liz next to Sean. He whispers in Tess’s ear. "What are you up to?"

"I’ll explain later," says Tess. "Sit down, Michael’s glaring at you."

Jim taps his fork against his water glass. "Before we start, I’d like to continue a tradition Tess started last year. Before we ate, we went around the table and everyone said what they were thankful for. Tess insists it’s what Thanksgiving’s about. Not football as previously reported."

Everyone laughs.

"I’ll start," says Max. "In the last year, I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I’m thankful my friends stuck by me through them, even though I didn’t deserve it. Thank you."

"I’m thankful for the same thing," says Maria. "I’m also thankful my daughter came out healthy. And I’m thankful for Tess, who helped me even when I still wanted her boyfriend."

"Think nothing of it," says Tess. "I’m thankful for all the friends I’ve found this last year. And I’m thankful for Michael. Loving you makes me happy every day."

Michael leans over and they kiss.

"Enough mushy stuff," says Kyle. "I’m thankful Evans pulled his head out of his butt so we could all sit here together."

"Here, here," says Michael.

"I’m also thankful we survived another year. I expect to see you all next year. Same bat time, same bat channel. Or no matter where we are, I expect to know we’re all alive and safe."

"We’ll see what we can do," says Max.

"I’m thankful for Leda," says Alex. "I’m thankful my friends and my parents stuck by me. And I’m thankful we survived."

Sean looks around, noticing the way everyone looks when they talk about surviving. He wonders if a friend of theirs died.

"I’m thankful for my best friends Tess and Maria," says Isabel. "I never had anyone I could confide in about anything, not even Max and Michael. Especially not them. Knowing I can count on you both makes everything easier."

"I’m thankful to Kyle and Michael," says Liz quietly. "I went through the hardest time of my life and they never let me push them away. Thank you both."

"What are friends for?" says Michael. "That’s what I’m most thankful of. I grew up without a home. Then all of you slowly came into my life and I learned home isn’t a place as much as it’s where the people you love are. And Tess, you’re the one who truly showed me that. Thank you."

Michael and Tess kiss again.

"I uh, guess it’s my turn," says Sean. "I guess I’m thankful that you’re sharing your holiday with me."

"I’m thankful for my granddaughter," says Amy. "I’m thankful Maria and I managed to get close again. And I’m thankful I managed to find love again when I thought I never would."

"Guess that leaves me," says Jim. "I’m thankful for so many things. My son Kyle. Tess, who I consider a daughter. The rest of you kids, who I also feel close to. I’m thankful for everyone’s safety and pray it continues. But there’s one thing I can’t be thankful for yet."

"What’s that?" asks Kyle.

Jim pushes back his chair and drops to one knee in front of Amy. He pulls out a small diamond ring. "I can’t be grateful for my fiancée until she says yes."

"Yes," says Amy, tears in her eyes. Her hand shakes as Jim puts the ring on. He gets to his feet and they kiss. Everyone claps, reveling in the joy of the moment.

***************************************

After dinner, Tess talks to Michael about Liz and Sean. He’s reluctant but sees the soundness of the idea. He goes to Liz.

"What’s going on?" asks Liz. "You and Tess kept looking at me while you had a heated discussion."

"We need your help."

"With what?"

"Sean. We want you to keep an eye on him, let us know if he sees anything he shouldn’t."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"Haven’t you, ah, seen the way he looks at you?"

"You want me to…are you pimping me out?"

"No! I’ll tell Tess to forget it."

"I was kidding. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him."

"Are you sure?"

Liz sneaks a glance at Max holding Leda. "I have nothing better to do. Besides, he’s kinda cute and I don’t think anyone else should be pulled into this."

"Thanks Liz."

"You’re welcome."

Liz walks over to Sean. They start talking. Michael nods at Tess. She smiles and gives Maria a thumbs up.

***************************************

After Sean leaves to take Liz home, the rest of the gang gathers. Max tells them about the book translation.

"I can’t believe you didn’t call us," explodes Michael.

"Calm down," says Tess, stroking Michael’s back.

"He should’ve told us right away."

"Yes, but he has a point. There’s no turning back after this Michael, it changes everything. Would you have rather spent last night going over the book?"

Michael thinks how late he and Tess stayed up and what they were doing. He grins. "Not a chance."

Jim groans. "At least tell me you’re being careful."

"We’re being careful," says Tess. "Have you read it Max?"

"Not yet," says Max. "I thought we should all take a copy. Maybe one of us will see something the others miss."

"Great, homework over the holiday," says Kyle. "You’re worse than my teachers."

"I’m gonna stay at Alex’s, with Leda. Don’t wanna take any chances when we’re so close. Maybe you could stay here Isabel."

"Won’t Alex’s parents mind?" asks Amy.

"They’re out of town," says Alex.

"It’s gonna be too crowded," says Isabel. "Especially with Sean staying here. Maybe Kyle could stay with me at Amy’s."

"I don’t think that’s a good idea," says Amy. "All those raging hormones."

"Nothing will happen," says Kyle.

"It could."

"He helps me sleep better," says Isabel. "No dreams."

"Really?" says Tess. "I wonder why that is."

"What dreams are you talking about?" asks Max.

Everyone’s informed about Kivar.

"So that’s why the Skins are holding off," says Jim.

Max looks at his sister thoughtfully. "Isabel, I hate to…how bad are the dreams?"

"I can handle them, when I get SOME rest," says Isabel. "Why?"

"If Kivar doesn’t get through at all, the Skins will attack. But if he gets through every now and then-"

"No," interrupts Kyle. "She’s not putting herself at risk like that."

"It’s just for another week or two."

"No!"

"It’s my decision," says Isabel. "I can do it."

"You sure?" asks Tess. "We don’t want anything to happen to you."

"I’m sure. I can do it."

"The second you can’t, you tell us," says Michael.

"All right."

The party breaks up and every heads home.

In the car, Kyle turns to Isabel. "You don’t have to do this."

"I need to," says Isabel.

"Why?"

"I need to know he doesn’t have power over me. That I can stand up to him and choose my family over him."

"You still love him?"

"Part of Vilandra still loves Kivar. But even that part is having doubts ever since…"

"Ever since when?"

"Since you first kissed me."

"Oh. Good."

Kyle takes one hand off the wheel. He uses it to hold Isabel’s hand as they continue to the Deluca house.

***************************************

Michael and Tess enter their apartment.

"I’m still mad at Max," says Michael.

"I expect nothing less. Are you always gonna glare at him when he talks to me?"

"Only when he whispers in your ear. What was that about?"

"He wanted to know why I put Liz next to Sean at dinner."

"Oh. I’m gonna take a shower."

Tess shakes her head as Michael goes into the bathroom. She contemplates joining him but decides to wait in bed. She’s down to her underwear when she hears a noise. She investigates.

She gasps when she sees Rath standing by the living room window. She raises her hand at him.

"Nice rack," says Rath casually. "I can see why my other half is with you."

"What are you doing here?"

"Came to talk."

"About what?"

"Stomping Nicholas like the bug he is."

Tess looks at him appraisingly and slowly lowers her hand. "Michael!"

***************************************

THE END