Part 9~<br><br>When Isabel wakes up, she looks around and smiles in anticipation. She finally has hope that she’ll get out of here. Thinking about Jesse, she hopes that he doesn’t do anything stupid and get himself hurt. But she can’t help but feel elated that he insisted on coming with Max…it must mean that he still loves her…that he wants to be with her as much as she wants to be with him.<br><br>She paces her room as she tries to come up with a plan to see Liz. There has to be a way to get through to her. Her thoughts are interrupted by her door opening. She smiles and calmly follows the orderly out of the room and down the hall, into the exam room. When Dr. Weston walks in, she tries to control her anxious fidgeting on the table and smiles sweetly at him. “Good morning, Dr. Weston.”<br><br>“Good morning, Isabel. How are you feeling today?” he looks her over before walking to the desk.<br><br>“I’m good, thank you for asking.” She follows the routine small talk that they go through almost every morning before breaking from the normal. “Dr. Weston, can I ask you a question?”<br><br>He looks at her, surprised with the unusual question. “You can ask.” Letting her know that he probably won’t answer.<br><br>She takes a deep breath and says, “I heard Liz this morning…fighting with the orderlies.”<br><br>He nods at her and waits for her to continue.<br><br>She smiles at him and says, “I was just thinking…that maybe I could try to talk to her…maybe I could get her to calm down and cooperate with you more.” She offers this suggestion hopefully and tries to smile at him in understanding. “I know how much easier it would be for everyone if she would stop fighting you. I just hate knowing that there’s so much conflict between us…and you…I think you know I want our stay here to be as pleasant as possible.”<br><br>He looks at her curiously. She’s never resisted them…has been quite pleasant, in fact. If only the others could be more like her…he laughs to himself at his little joke. If <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> only</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> they could be more like her…alien. “We tried that already…we allowed you to write to her.”<br><br>Nodding, Isabel tries to stay upbeat. “Yes, and thank you for that. But…with the state of mind that she seems to be in…I can’t help but think that she might not have believed that it was really from me. I just think that if I could talk to her for a few minutes, I could get her to see that things could be a lot easier for her. After all, you’ve been so nice to me…I feel so guilty that she’s doing this to herself.” Please let that be sappy enough, she thinks to herself as she gives him a self-deprecating smile.<br><br>He regards her for a moment, thinking over what she’s asking for. It certainly doesn’t matter to him how Liz Parker behaves, but if he could get her to calm down…to cooperate…he could get the orderlies and nurses to stop complaining to him.<br><br>“Well, Isabel…I think you might have a good idea. Maybe it would do Liz some good to see a friendly face. I’ll arrange some time when you leave to stop by her room…hopefully you can get her to see how things work around here…that it won’t help her to keep fighting us.” He says as he steps up to her. “Ok, let’s get a look at that incision…see how it’s healing.”<br><br>Smiling, and jumping for joy internally, Isabel raises her shirt and lets him look at the incision on her side. “Thank you, Dr. Weston…I’ll do whatever I can to help.”<br><br>Thirty minutes later, Isabel is following an orderly back down the hall and wiping her hands on her pants nervously. Hopefully they’ll leave her alone with Liz…she just needs to tell her that they’ll be getting out soon…that Max will be here tonight.<br><br>Waiting anxiously as the orderly stops at Liz’s door, Isabel watches as the he passes a card through a security reader. She doesn’t have one of those on her door…but it doesn’t matter, it’ll be easy enough to manipulate with their powers. As the door opens slowly, the orderly quickly pushes her through it and shuts the door behind her after quickly saying, “You have ten minutes. Bang on the door if you need help.”<br><br>Barely registering what he says, Isabel stands shocked…looking at the room around her. It’s bare. A bed is next the wall and she sees that it’s been bolted to the floor. On the ceiling, there’s a single light that’s surrounded by a metal cage. That’s it. It’s nothing like her room...where she has lamps, books, a stereo, and other odds and ends lying around. Her eyes are drawn toward the corner where she sees Liz and she gasps, her hand flying to her mouth, her eyes opening wide. “Liz?” she says softly.<br><br>Liz is hunched on the floor in the corner, her head on her knees, arms wrapped around her calves. Her hair hangs to the floor and is so matted and tangled that it takes Isabel a moment to realize that it actually is Liz. As Liz raises her head, Isabel can tell she’s been drugged because her head wobbles a little on her neck. The dark circles around her eyes are so dark it looks like she has two black eyes. Her lips are dried and cracking and the eyes that look back at Isabel are dead…there’s nothing there…none of the life that used to be there. There’s also no recognition.<br><br>“Liz? It’s me…Isabel.” Isabel moves to take a step closer to her and drops to her knees, not wanting to scare her. “Can you hear me, Liz?”<br><br>Narrowing her eyes, Liz looks at Isabel and says, “Who are you?”<br><br>Freezing, Isabel says, “I’m Isabel…remember? Max’s sister.” <br><br>Liz eyes her, looks at her clothes and says, “You’re not one of them.”<br><br>“No…I’m…I’m in the room next to you.” She nods toward the wall next to the bed.<br><br>“You’re the one that keeps knocking…I heard a man’s voice coming from your room.” Liz looks at her suspiciously.<br><br>“That’s Kyle…your friend, Kyle. We were so worried about you.” Isabel is hit with the fear that Liz doesn’t even know who she is as she subtly moves closer to Liz. “Do you remember me? Do you know your name?”<br><br>Liz calmly watches as Isabel moves closer to her across the floor. “You keep calling me Liz. I don’t know you, or Kyle.”<br><br>Shaking her head as tears pool in her eyes, Isabel says, “No, it’s you, Liz. Please…just…just try to remember. They’re not giving me much time in here…and I have to tell you something. Please try to remember…remember Max? You two are so much in love…you were gonna get married right after graduation. Remember graduation? It was right before they brought us here. Max loves you so much…he always told me you were his soulmate.”<br><br>Liz watches the girl in front of her…watches the tears fall down her cheeks as she talks about this Max person. This girl must be crazy…she doesn’t know any Max and she was never anyone’s soulmate. But she feels a strange warmth inside her every time this girls says his name. It’s almost like it’s swirling through her body and she vaguely recognizes the feeling. Max…the name <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> seems</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> familiar…but she doesn’t know anyone named Max. She doesn’t know anyone besides the monsters in this place because she’s always been here.<br><br>Shaking her head, Liz says, “I’m sorry…but I don’t know Max…and I don’t know who you are or what you think you need to tell me. But unless it’s that you found a way out of here, you better just go back to your room.”<br><br>“That’s <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> exactly</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> what I came to tell you…Max is coming…tonight. He’s coming to get us out of here.” Isabel whispers to her.<br><br>Liz’s eyes open wide in disbelief, then curiosity. “Are you like me?”<br><br>“Like you?” Isabel asks.<br><br>“You know…different?”<br><br>Isabel nods and says, “Yes, I am. Max is like us, too. You need to be ready…he’s coming tonight around 1am. We’ll get this all sorted out when we’re out of here.” When she sees that she has Liz’s attention, she continues. “Please just…try to cooperate with them for the rest of the day so they don’t drug you tonight. You need to be awake when he gets here.”<br><br>She barely gets to finish the sentence when she hears the door open and the orderly peek inside. When he sees that Liz is still on the floor, he walks in and motions for Isabel to join him.<br><br>Isabel gets up off the floor and walks toward the door, turning back to Liz. Liz is looking up at her, confused and Isabel says, “You understand? Do you understand what we talked about?”<br><br>Liz nods at her before shooting the orderly an angry look and he leads Isabel out and shuts the door behind him. <br><br>When she’s back in her room, Isabel falls onto her bed with a sigh. Could things be any worse? Liz doesn’t even know who she is…what did they do to her? She can only hope that she got through to her.<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><b> 3 hours later</b><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>Liz is still huddled in the corner, thinking about her strange visit from Isabel. She has no idea what the girl was talking about but she holds onto the only important thing. Someone was coming to break them out of this place tonight. And hell, if they’re willing to break her out with the rest…who’s she to argue. She may not know much about herself, but she knows one thing…she doesn’t belong in this place.<br><br>She looks up as an orderly opens the door and walks in her room, followed by another. He’s holding a syringe and they’re looking at her warily. It’s the usual routine when they come to get her. If it were any other day, she’d be rushing at them, kicking and screaming. But today isn’t any other day. Holding her hands up, she slowly rises off of the floor and remains still…holding her hands out to them. “I won’t fight you today.”<br><br>At their disbelieving looks, she rolls her eyes and says, “Really. Here, you can cuff me…I don’t feel like fighting with you today…I’m tired.” And she turns her head to the side, assuming as peaceful stance as she can.<br><br>They approach her slowly and one of the orderlies pulls out some handcuffs, quickly snapping them on her wrists. As they roughly pull her forward, she says, “It’s ok…I know how to walk…you don’t have to pull me.” as she falls into step beside them.<br><br>As they walk down the hall, the two men on either side of her grip each of her arms…confused at her sudden acceptance. They lead her into the exam room and move to stand on either side of the door until the doctor comes in.<br><br>Dr. Weston is surprised when he walks in the room and sees Liz Parker calmly sitting on the edge of the table. He looks at the guards in question and they say, “She cooperated fully, sir…no resistance.” as they leave the room.<br><br>Looking at her curiously, Dr. Weston makes a note on his clipboard and says, “Did you enjoy your visit with Isabel?”<br><br>She looks up at him surprised. He’s never talked to her directly. “Yes.”<br><br>He nods and says, “Good. I see you took her suggestion seriously.”<br><br>She doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but assumes it has to do with not fighting them. “Yes…I think it’ll be better this way.”<br><br>“I’m glad, Liz…you’re right…you’ll make your life a lot easier.” He tells her as he tentatively approaches her. “Isabel figured that out a long time ago…and she’s very happy here.”<br><br>Her face turning red with anger, she controls it and only looks at the floor. “Yes, sir. I hope to be happy here, too.” Happy here…how delusional is this guy? How could anyone be happy here? Then something else he said hits her…he called her Liz. <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> Is</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> she Liz? The name doesn’t sound familiar to her, but apparently everyone believes that she’s this Liz person.<br><br>“Ok, can I take a look at your incision…see how it’s healing?”<br><br>She nods and willingly lifts up her shirt with her cuffed hands and lets him examine her…hoping that Isabel was telling her the truth. Because she won’t be letting anyone here touch her again after this. <br><br>After she willingly lets them lead her back to her room, she holds out her hands to let them remove the cuffs from her wrists. Once they’re off, the orderly anticipates a reaction but doesn’t get one. As he makes his way to the door, he turns to see her calmly sit on the edge of her bed and he leaves her room, surprised and very confused. <br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><b> 1am</b><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>Dressed in black suits, Max, Michael, Maria, Jim and Jesse sit in a large, black Expedition down the street from the main gate of the building that holds Liz and Isabel.<br><br>Earlier that day, Jesse met his friend at a restaurant where he was able to get an ID badge, a gate pass and a security card. Jesse told him they would alter the badge so his name and picture weren’t on it and was thankful that he didn’t ask too many questions. <br><br>Max made copies of the badge and altered it so that each of them is now wearing one clipped to their lapels. The security card most likely didn’t open any doors in the building they were going to, but they just needed it to look like it did…alien powers would do the rest. <br><br>Max stared out the windshield, going over the map that Kyle drew for them earlier in his head. “Are you ready?” He asks the rest of them as he looks at the gate in the distance.<br><br>“Let’s go.” Michael says from the passenger seat. Max changed Michael’s hair at the hotel…making it shorter and more conservative. They couldn’t afford suspicion. <br><br>Driving forward, Max approaches the gate and slows as he flashes the gate pass out the window to the guard. The guard glances at it and waves him through and they all breathe a sigh of relief as Max pulls forward to park next to the row of cars already there. <br><br>As expected, the only other people around are the three guards at the main door. Max pulls the car in a spot toward the corner of the building, as close to the side door they saw there as possible. As they get out of the SUV, Maria smoothes out her skirt and they make their way to the door.<br><br>Coming to a stop in front of the small table, the guard sitting behind it eyes each one of their badges and nods his head to Max toward the clipboard lying on the table. “Sign in.”<br><br>The other two guards are eyeing them warily as Max bends down to sign a random name from an Iowa FBI field office that Jesse’s friend gave him. Maria smiles at one of the door guards and leans on the table, waving her hand in front of her face. “Whew! It’s warm out tonight, isn’t it?” and she reaches up to unbutton the blouse she’s wearing under her suit jacket. <br><br>The guards nod at her as they watch her expose more of her chest. Michael clenches his jaw and does everything he can to keep his eyes on Max as he straightens from the table and reaches in his jacket. Pulling out the security card, he swipes it through the reader…his hand glowing slightly before it beeps and flashes a green light. None of the guards see this as they’re too busy watching Maria pull the top of her blouse away from her skin…fanning herself.<br><br>When the door clicks open, Max steps forward and pulls it open…everyone following behind. As Maria passes the guards, she shoots them a friendly smile and says, “You boys keep cool out here.” and she follows Jesse in through the door.<br><br>Once inside, Max doesn’t slow his pace as he follows the route in his mind. Trying not to look conspicuous, Jim walks next to Max with Michael and Maria behind them about 20 feet and to the right. Jesse walks at a slower pace behind Michael and Maria and hopes that anyone who sees them won’t see five people storming through the halls together. <br><br>At this hour, they see few people walking the halls, and the people they do see don’t give them a second glance as they go about their business. Max walks through a door that leads to a stairwell and they make their way down two flights of stairs before coming out to a dim hallway. There’s no one here…the corridor dim and silent. Michael stays by the door as the rest follow Max.<br><br>Max leads the way down the hall and stops at the door that Kyle said was Isabel’s. Just as he reaches for the handle, an orderly turns the corner…yawning and holding a cup of coffee. He narrows his eyes at them and says in a loud whisper, “Hey…what are you doing?”<br><br>As Max walks toward him, he says, “We were sent here to…” he doesn’t finish as he raises his hand quickly to the orderly’s forehead and the man slumps to the floor…spilling coffee all over it. Looking around to see if anyone else is coming, Max walks back over to Isabel’s door and waves his hand over the handle, hearing it click open. <br><br>Quickly, he moves to the door next to it and waves his hand over the security card reader, then the door handle. As it clicks open, he sees Isabel run out and into Jesse’s arms out of the corner of his eye. Michael, Maria and Jim are stationed at different positions down the hall, keeping watch as Max swiftly opens the door in front of him. He stands motionless…his feet frozen to the ground as he looks into the room. <br><br>Faintly, he can hear Isabel whisper to him. “Max…she doesn’t…” but he doesn’t listen as he walks into the room. “Liz?” he chokes out in a whisper. Standing in front of him is something he never expected in his wildest dreams. It looks like Liz, but…not. He can barely recognize her through the thick, mangy hair that hangs almost to her waist, the bruises on her face and the dark circles ringing her eyes…which are looking back at him blankly, and an angry scar splitting her upper lip. He can’t think about this right now…they have to get out of there. Shaking away his shock, he whispers, “Let’s go.” and motions for her to precede him out the door.<br><br>As Liz steps into the hallway, she looks to the left and sees Isabel standing with another man. She notices for the first time that they’re all wearing FBI badges and she backs away, her eye’s widening in fear and moving to Isabel in accusation. Isabel steps toward her and whispers, “It’s ok…they’re fake…they needed them to get in.”<br><br>Nodding, Liz looks back up at the group of people surrounding her. They’re all looking at her like she just sprouted a second head. She doesn’t have time to think about this, though, before they start moving. As they quickly make their way down the hall, Liz sees another girl looking at her…her face a grimace and her eyes filled with tears. Liz shoots her a look that says, “What the hell are you looking at?” before looking away. Are all these people like her? <br><br>She doesn’t have time to ponder that question as they climb up two flights of stairs and come out on a level where a few people are lingering around. She falters…sure that they’re going to be stopped as she feels a hand gently urging her forward. She looks up into an older man’s eyes and he motions to her to keep moving.<br><br>They quickly make their way through the hallways and she almost thinks they might actually pull this off when a loud alarm sounds and red lights start flashing. “Shit!” she hears someone say and they start running…hands pulling her arms to run faster. At the end of the hall, she can see a door with a red exit sign above it and she repeats in her mind, “Go, go, go, go, go…”<br><br>When they’re almost to the door, she hears a shot ring out behind them and they all freeze. She turns to see Dr. Weston with a group of military men around him…all with guns pointed at them.<br><br>“Stop…or we <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> will</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> shoot.” One of the soldiers says.<br><br>Liz looks at Dr. Weston, sees the determination on his face…and something else. Maybe fear…and desperation. She feels power surging in her as she looks at him in hatred…and her hand slowly starts to rise. <br><br>Dr. Weston says, “Liz…don’t do anything rash…no one will hurt you.”<br><br>“You won’t hurt me?!” Liz snorts as she brings her arm higher, aiming for him. “I’m going to kill you, you sick bastard.”<br><br>But she feels someone grab her arm and force it down, pushing her back…the dark haired guy who opened the door to her room…and he moves in front of her. <br><br>What Liz sees next makes her stumble back into someone who steadies her. The guy who stopped her from blasting the soldiers in front of them holds his arm up and bright green energy shoots out of his palm and flattens in front of them like a barrier. Guns go off and she can see that it’s some kind of shield as the bullets bounce off of it. She doesn’t get a chance to look for very long before she feels someone grab her arm and pull her outside.<br><br>The next thing she knows, she running toward a big black SUV and everyone is diving in as the engine starts. She looks up and sees the guy with the green shield running toward them and he dives in after them into the back and they peel backward out of the parking spot.<br><br>Someone yells in the truck to get down and she ducks as she hears gunfire and bullets hitting the outside of the SUV. She peeks up from the floor to see them flying toward a gate…a guard pointing a gun at them. Her eyes open wide when she sees the man in the front seat lean out the window and shoot the guard...and they crash through the gate. <br><br>Crouching on the floor in the backseat, Liz wraps her arms around her head as they fly down the road, turning corners so fast she’s sure two wheels leave the ground at one point. Suddenly they stop and she feels herself being pulled quickly out of the SUV and into an alley. Everything’s a blur as she’s pulled to another car and they’re driving again. When she looks around she sees that not everyone is in the car with them and she turns to look at the driver…shield guy, she named him…in panic.<br><br>“They’re in another car…we had to split up.” He says when he sees her looking around in confusion. <br><br>She nods and looks in the backseat to see Isabel and the guy she saw her with when she came out of her room. She looks at Isabel and asks, “Is that Max?” she points to Jesse.<br><br>Isabel looks over to see Max whip his head at Liz in confusion. She shakes her head at Liz sadly and points to Max, “That’s Max.”<br><br>Liz looks over at shield guy and says, “Oh.”<br><br>Max looks at her, then the road and back to her. His face has confusion written all over it and he looks at Isabel in the rearview mirror for an explanation.<br><br>“She doesn’t remember, Max. She doesn’t even know who she is. She doesn’t know who any of us are.” Isabel informs him. <br><br>Max swallows and stares out the windshield as he drives, clenching his teeth.<br><br>Jesse is stroking Isabel’s hand and asks, “Wait, she doesn’t remember anything? How did that happen? What did they do to her?”<br><br>“I…I don’t know. They let me see her for the first time earlier today and she didn’t even know who I was.” Isabel says, leaning her head on Jesse’s shoulder.<br><br>Liz sits in the front seat, her knees drawn up to her chest as she stares out the passenger side window as their car speeds through dark streets. These people act like they know her. Do they? She doesn’t even know anymore…she doesn’t remember her life before that place. Maybe Isabel was right…maybe she <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><b> is</b><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> Liz. Everyone else seems to think so…even Dr. Weston called her that earlier today. <br><br>She doesn’t know where they’re taking her…but she’ll stay for the ride as long as they get her away from here. She continues to watch the passing scenery as Isabel and the other man talk about her in the backseat. She starts to get angry that they’re talking about her like she’s not there…but doesn’t have the energy to say anything.<br><br>~TBC~ <p></center><center><FONT COLOR="B22222"><i>You're going to be the death of me.</i><br>Obi Wan Kenobi to Anakin Skywalker<br><font color="B8860B"><b>Col Threadkiller is the <i>coolest!</i></b><img src=
http://www.roswell-orbs.com/smilies/coo ... </p><i></i>
