Fan Fic and More

thank you thank you for the post more soon i hope

Awwww... that was perfect!

“You’re so easy to please,” she replied, settling into his strong arms.

Yeah, well, it's Isabel... and Alex. So I guess he is easy to please... for her. 8) :D

Just wanted to post a quick to Rim

Look forward to seeing you around. If you get a chance, drop by <A HREF=http://majiksfanfic.com/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=23>"This That or the Other"</A> and introduce yourself.

Gazer Gets the Girl
Chapter 13B - A Weekend at the Beach, Part 2
by Stargazer_md

Part 2
“Isabel?” Alex probed gently, feeling her breathing pattern change while he held her in his arms.

“Yea Sweetie,” she answered lazily.

“Ahhmm, we have a problem,” he replied softly.

“Actually, I kind of enjoy it, if you’re referring to Fred poking me in the back,” she teased as he quickly scooted away from her. “Don’t you dare let go of me,” she added, taking hold of his arm and pulling him tightly back to her.

Alex quickly got over his embarrassment concerning Fred, and brought up the next point that was troubling him. “I thought I had a good idea last night, that we sleep in our bathing suits,,,”

“Ummmmm, Isabel moaned, rolling over to face him, resting her head on his shoulder, practically rolling on top of him. “A wonderful idea, just these little patches of fabric between us, everywhere else, nothing but skin.” She emphasized her delight by sliding the inside of her thigh up the length of his legs, until she couldn’t raise hers any higher. “I think it was a wonderful idea.”

“Hi guys,” Liz said cheerily, on her way back from the bathroom. “Sleep well?” she added with a grin.

“That’s what I mean,” Alex teased. “We’re not alone.”

“Aaauuuggghhh,” Isabel groaned. “What ever happened to sleeping in?” she asked as she rolled away from Alex. As she moved she waved her hand over their bodies, changing their scanty suits into their normal tank and boxer PJ’s. She stood and stretched limber as a cat. “Come on Sweetie, you getting up?”

“I think I’ll just lie here a minute longer,” he mumbled, holding the covers tightly. “Do you think you can help me here? Maybe wave your hand and make Fred calm down?”

Isabel replied on her way into the bathroom. “Sweetie, I can think of a way, in fact several ways that I could make Fred go down, but I don’t think you want me to do any of them with Liz and Maria in the room.”

“Great,” Alex replied, quickly sitting up and bunching the covers in his lap. “Thanks for that visual. Not only is Fred more excited than ever, but now the girls want to know why I’m sitting here blushing.”

“Hey Sweetie,” Isabel flirted. “They know.”

**********
That afternoon, the gang was walking along the beach. Isabel noticed that Alex didn’t look well. “Alex? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know, I really don’t feel good. I can’t describe it, it’s like something’s wrong, but I don’t know what.”

Isabel immediately guided him to a bench out of the hot midday sun. “Here Sweetie, sit down.” She felt his forehead, finding it warm, but not unusually so.

“Alex,” Maria said, “Are you hungry? You did eat breakfast this morning, didn’t you?” She got a nod yes from Isabel.

“He might be dehydrated,” Liz determined. “Alex, have you been drinking water this morning?” she asked, finding his skin temperature and moisture about normal for someone used to the desert heat. “Do you have a headache or do you see spots?”

“Yes, I’ve been drinking water, and no, nothing is wrong with my vision, or anything like that,” he responded. “But to be truthful, right now just the thought of drinking a bottle of water makes me nauseous.”

“Sweetie?” Isabel asked tenderly, “When’s the last time you went to the bathroom?”

Alex thought a moment. “I don’t know, but probably at the Crashdown before we left yesterday.” He realized what happened as the girls started laughing.

“Alex,” Isabel slapped him on the shoulder. “What I did in the car yesterday wasn’t supposed to be forever, you should have gone when we got to the hotel last night.”

“Well, how in the hell am I supposed to know?” he moaned. “I went into the bathroom and nothing happened, so I assumed everything was okay. I figured it went away.”

“Sweetie,” she explained patiently, “It’s a deferment not an exclusion.”

“Well what do I do now?” he sighed in exasperation. “All this alien crap is new to me.”

Liz gasped as Maria laughingly warned him, “A-word crap? You’re in for it now girlfriend.”

Alex immediately started to back pedal as he saw Isabel’s face cloud over. “That’s not what I meant,,,”

“I’m going to let that comment go,” Isabel said with a sweetness in her voice that made the twins wince. “Because you are in pain, but mostly because I am going to have our entire married life to pay you back.”

Alex looked at the love of his life with an expression that reminded her of a loveable puppy sitting next to a stain on the carpet. “Foot rub?” he asked tentatively.

“It’s going to take more than a foot rub this time.” She stood and reached for his hand, “Come on, there’s a restroom right over there.”

They stood on the path outside the building. “We can connect, and I’ll tell you when to send the signal.”

“No way,” Isabel exclaimed. “I’m not connecting with you while you’re in a smelly men’s room. We’ll both count to thirty, and then I’ll send the signal,” Isabel instructed quietly. As she watched him disappear inside, she turned back to the girls and broke out laughing.

“I can’t believe him,” Liz joked.

“He had that belly buster soda before we left yesterday, water in the car, more soda with supper, and then that big slurpee last night.” He must be ready to explode Maria gleefully said.

“Not to mention three glasses of orange juice at breakfast,” Isabel added.

“No! No, don’t send the signal,” they heard from the men’s room as Alex came running out the door.

“Alex, what’s wrong?” Isabel asked with concern.

“There’s a line, and I was standing by the trash can. I don’t think they’d be too happy if I started filling it. I’m going to have to tell you when I’m ready.”

Isabel was looking at the ground, shaking her head. “I don’t believe this.” She looked at him with irritation, “Well get going. I don’t want to spend all day on this.”

Alex went back inside the rest room and when it was his turn he contacted Isabel, “Okay, let her rip.”

“I don’t believe I’m doing this,” Isabel muttered as she looked at the twins. She waved her hand at the restroom.

“He had three glasses of OJ?” Liz responded.

“Yea, three,” Isabel added shaking her head. “I’ve seen him polish off a whole carton in one sitting.”

“Gee, between him and Kyle can we afford to feed these guys??…” Liz wondered.

“What’s that?” Maria asked as they heard strange noises coming from inside the restroom.

“Ahhhhh, ohhhhh,,,”

The twins broke out laughing while Isabel looked at them, not believing that all three of her friends had ganged up to embarrass her.

“Oh my Gawd,,,”

Isabel couldn’t continue to hold her stern expression, she joined in the laughter.

“Aggghhh, this is better than sex,,,”

“Hey Whitman,” Isabel shouted verbally, for the entertainment of her companions. “If you keep talking like that you’re never going to have anything to compare it to.”


When Alex finally exited the restroom he found all three of his friends sucking down large orange sodas. His face broke into a big grin, the girls gag was so,,, ‘Alex.’ He shook his head and moaned, “You’re killing me here.”

Isabel took his hand and started to drag him away. “Come on, lets get out of here before someone who was in there comes out and thinks that peeing is better than sex with me.”

**********
That evening Isabel took Liz to one side. “I really need to do this?” she questioned.

“No Isabel,” Liz replied shaking her head. “You don’t need to do anything you don’t want to do. But I don’t know what else we can try without formal medical tests.”

“I can’t believe I’m going to do this,” Isabel sighed. “Every day?”

“Every day for a full cycle.” Liz stated sternly.

**********
That evening, Kyle settled down on the floor, on top of his threadbare sleeping bag. He punched the thin pillow and tried to get comfortable. “I don’t believe I get stuck with the floor both nights,” he moaned.

“I know what you were thinking,” Ava teased.

“Hey, we played poker for the bed, and someone had to lose,” Michael taunted. “Fair’s fair.”

“Fair!” Kyle challenged. “The two of you both had five aces during the last hand; besides, I had something much better in mind.”

Max laughed guiltily, sitting on his folding cot, while Ava went in for the kill.

“You do realize Kyle,” she said sweetly, “That you wouldn’t be sleeping on the floor if you hadn’t taken sleeping up here with me for granted.”

“I didn’t take you for granted,” Kyle whined.

“You’ve been treating me like your buddy instead of your girlfriend,” she recounted. “Although I’m the shortest one here, you took the best seat at the concert. You’ve been eating my food all weekend, and you started a farting contest in the car.”

“Kyle,” Michael demanded. “Are you still stealing women’s food?”

“What do you expect?” Kyle questioned, settling down and closing his eyes, “Isabel’s not here to feed me.”

“Man, that’s bad Mo-Jo,” Michael teased. “She was steaming at the Crashdown, and it’s only a matter of time before she gets back at you.”


Kokugikan, (The Arena of the National Sport) Tokyo

The little old man was sitting on the edge of the dohyo (wrestling ring), waving a little Japanese flag and shouting “Banzai” as the rikishi (literally strong man, a wrestler) prepared for the start of the basho. (sumo tournament) He was very excited. He had never had a massuseki (box seat) for a hon-basho (sanctioned tournament) before. He was so close to the ring that if the Gods were to smile on him he may be anointed by the sweat of a sekiwake. (junior champion)

The first torikumi (individual bout) was about to begin. The old man watched as the first wrester entered the ring wearing his kesho-mawashi (ceremonial apron) for the dohyo-iri. (entrance ceremony) The wrestler took a drink of chikara-mizu (power water) and then used a chikara-gami (power paper) to mask his mouth as he spit. Both wrestlers began their shiko. (stamping warm up)

The little old man waved a little Japanese flag and shouted Banzai. This was going to be the biggest day of his life. The first aki (fall) started. The little old man watched as the wrestler with his back to him was the recipient of a morozashi. (inside belt grip) Suddenly the wrestler’s mawashi (belt, jockstrap) became untied as the huge man was thrown from the ring, right at him. The gyoji (referee) waved a kuroboshi (black star, loss) at the fallen champion. The wrestler stood, and noticing a pain in his ass, he reached back and pulled out a small Japanese flag that had stabbed him there.

The little old man, his glasses askew, waved his bent Japanese flag and shouted Banzai as the next fall started. He watched in horror as the next wrestler’s jock tore as he was thrown his way. The combatant stood and turned to face the old man. Frustrated at his black star, he gave the old man a tsuppari. (slapping attack)

The old man took his seat, minus his glasses this time. He sat a little crooked, and his shout of Banzai was not as loud. His reactions were slowed, and he was unable to avoid the next wrestler, torn jock and all, who fell on him. This fighter gave the old man a nodo-wa, (thrust to the throat) feeling that the old man was yokuani. (bad luck)

The little old man took a moment to recover. As he became aware of his surroundings, he saw an enormous champion teetering on the edge of the ring, his jock already wrapped around his knees. The old man reached up and placed his hands on the enormous cheeks, but his arms were folded back as the wrestler bore down on him,,,

Alex slapped the nightstand looking for the ringing cell. It took him a moment to find the right button to answer the call, as it was Isabel’s phone. “Hello?”

“Who it this?” the called demanded, “And why are you answering Isabel’s phone, you stupid b*#^@&~.”

“What? Who the hell is this,,,” Alex snapped softly, not wanting to wake anyone else, And don’t you ever say that about my mother again!”

“Put that tall blond Ice B!%*#@,,,” the caller continued to rant.

“Michael?” Alex asked. “Wait a minute,,,”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Michael screamed. “Put that stinking s(%! on the phone,,,”

“Don’t you ever say,,,” Alex fit in before Michael started shouting again.

“I’ll say anything I want about that cold hearted b!%*#@,” Michael shouted. “She’s my sister.”

“I don’t care if she’s your sister,,, “ Alex was shouting now. “Remember the last time you hurt one of my girls?,, “

“You caught me by surprise that time,” Michael taunted. “Besides this is between that f*#&$#@ w$*#@ and me.”

“That’s all I’m going to take,” Alex bellowed. “The next time I see you, I’m going to drop you like a prom dress,,, “

“Why do you care!?” Michael demanded. “You don’t even know what she’s doing to us.”

“I don’t care what she’s doing,” Alex explained “She’s my mate, and no one talks about her like that.”

Isabel took the phone from him, “What do you want Michael?”

“Do you know what’s happening to Kyle?” Michael demanded, being more careful with his language now that he was talking to someone who could reach out and lay a serious hurt on him.

“This should be good,” she said to her temporary roommates. She put the cell on speaker. “Of course I know brother dear, after all I’m the one doing it to him.”

“Well stop it, you stup,,,” Michael rebutted, stopping his diatribe just in time. “He’s waking up screaming every ten minutes. He’s thrashing around on the floor and shouting about needing help getting these big fat asses off his face,,,”

“Really? Every ten minutes? Good!” Isabel continued with a smile. “Tell me Michael, how loud is he screaming?” she asked.

“Loud enough so that none of us are getting any sleep,” Michael whined. “I know you owe him, but you’re making the rest of us miserable,,,”

“Good! Deal with it!” Isabel cut in. “You tell Kyle he owes Alex for three orders of fries and a large soda. Oh and Michael, loving brother of mine?” Isabel continued with an artificial sweetness that made her roommates cringe. “If you ever speak to Alex like that again, you will spend every night for the rest of your life crawling up an elephant’s ass. A very old, very sick elephant.” She turned off the phone and threw it across the room.

Alex looked at Isabel, barely able to keep a straight face. “An elephant’s ass?”

Isabel looked back at him, struggling to maintain her Ice Princess façade. “Have you ever seen an elephant’s ass? They’re like two stories tall.”

Alex struggled to keep his face neutral, his mouth closed, while laughing so hard that he shook the bed. He started making strangled noises at the back of his throat, while Liz and Maria practically fell out of bed they were laughing so hard.

“Okay,” Isabel returned to her normal, post Alex, personality, joining in the laughter. “What do you expect?”

“An elephant’s ass?” Maria was the only one brave enough to continue to press the point.

“You try coming up with something on such short notice in the middle of the night,” Isabel sighed. “But I’ll promise you one thing, Kyle will think twice the next time he wants to tease me.”

**********
Sunday morning the gang slept in late, packed the car, and then had breakfast. They went to a remote part of the park where they could spend the last several hours of their vacation alone.

Isabel jumped on top of the retaining wall. “Look at me, I’m on top of the world.” She blew a kiss at Alex and then twirled.

Alex’s heart turned to ice as he watched her lose her balance and fall off the backside of the wall.

“Izzy!” Alex screamed, leaping to the top of the wall and looking down. He saw her lying in a heap about ten feet below. He turned to the girls, “Get the car.”

Alex knelt next to the edge of the wall, and then hung down by his hands. When he was as low as he could get, he let go, dropping the rest of the way to the ground. He quickly ran to Isabel. She was lying on her back, with her right arm folded under her.

“Isabel, Izzy, talk to me,” he pleaded.

She moaned and started to turn her head towards the sound of his voice.

“No Izzy. Don’t move!” He opened their connection. Maybe she could respond that way. “Izzy, can you hear me? Say something! Please tell me you’re alright.” Alex knelt at her head, and gave her a quick cursory examination. He discerned that she was breathing, and that she had no obvious major injuries or bleeding. He touched her neck and took a quick carotid pulse. He didn’t have a watch, but her heartbeat felt regular, it wasn’t racing or bounding.

Liz leaned over the wall, “Maria’s going for the car, how is she?”

“Nothing critical, but I’m still looking. Go towards those stairs down there, and when Maria gets here, grab my jump kit and get down here. Tell her to take the car down to the end of the wall and bring it here. We have to get Izzy out of here before someone sees us and calls the rangers.”

Alex returned his attention to Isabel. Not having found any serious injuries that needed immediate attention he examined her head. He felt her skull looking for any injuries or bleeding. He looked in her ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. As soon as he knew her head and neck were okay, he scooted forward and pressed his knees in against her shoulders. He then closed his knees holding her head temporarily immobile. Alex ran his hands down the center of her body, from her neck to her hips. He put a lot of pressure on her hips and pelvis, pressing then both down and together. Finding no movement, and eliciting no pain response from Isabel he knew there were no serious injuries there.

Alex moved his hands up to her abdomen and palpated the four quadrants. Again finding nothing he pulled her shirt up to her bust line and carefully checked her ribcage. He held his hands on her chest and felt her as she took a breath. He checked her back, pressing his hands under her, feeling for injuries. When he pulled his hand out from the area where her arm was folded back under her, he saw blood on his hand. ‘Hopefully, that’s from her arm. No one ever died from a broken arm.’

“What can I do to help?” Liz asked.

“Come up here and hold her head. Don’t let her move, and try to talk to her. She’s probably in shock from having to stare at my butt.”

“So close and yet so far,” Isabel moaned.

Alex went down to check on her thighs and legs while Liz asked Isabel what she meant.

Isabel croaked, “Who cares about his butt when his package was hanging right there.”

Liz looked down into Isabel’s pain filled eyes, “Well, at least we know you didn’t hit your head. You still have your sense of humor.” She then turned her head to hear her response.

“I was being serious,” Isabel replied softly.

Finishing his exam and hearing Isabel, Alex scooted up to her head. He gently ran his hand through her hair, “Izzy, Sweetheart, you’re going to be alright, I promise you. I’m going to take care of you.”

Alex moved to Isabel’s side as Maria pulled up. “Maria, over here!”

Maria froze as she looked at her friend, lying so still on the ground.

Alex looked up at his childhood companion, understanding her shock. “Maria, I need you to kneel right here.” He guided her hands to Isabel’s clothing. “Gather up all the slack in her clothes, until you have a tight grip on her. You’re going to have to help me move her.”

Alex gave his girlfriend a gentle caress. ”Izzy, we’re going to roll you towards your side so I can get to your arm. It’s going to hurt.” Looking up he added, “Liz, I’m going to roll her towards Maria, I need you to hold her head and keep her back and neck in line.” He returned to his place, opposite Isabel’s arm, he looked across at his childhood friend, “Maria, roll her towards you, we only need to get her high enough for me to reach her arm, okay? On three. One,,, two,,, three.”

Maria held Isabel up high enough so that Alex could gently move her arm out from under her. With the exception of a small gasp when Alex first touched her arm, Isabel didn’t make a sound. Alex’s worst fears were realized. Isabel had suffered a nasty break, with mid-shaft angulation and a bone end piercing the skin.

“Isabel, your arm is broken, but I’m going to take care of it. You’re going to be okay.” Alex reassured her, and then looking to the others he commanded, “Lets roll her back, on three. One,,, two,, three.” Alex carefully set Isabel’s arm down and checked for distal (below the break) circulation. There wasn’t any. Alex leaned back a moment and held his chin,,,

“What’s wrong?” Maria asked. “What can I do to help?”

“Open the jump kit,” Alex commanded. “I’m going to need the sterile water, an abdominal dressing, a roll of tape, and let me have the packet marked wire splint.” He addressed his girlfriend as he informed her of the situation, “Isabel, You don’t have any blood flow to your arm below the break. We can’t let that go for as long as it’s going to take to get you back to Max. I’m going to have to reduce the fracture and splint it.”

Alex opened the wire splint packet and sighed, “There’s no way this will be stiff enough to support her arm.” He thought another moment. “Maria, get the Rand McNally atlas out of the car.” He held the atlas against Isabel’s uninjured arm to check it for length. “Give me those heavy crash shears.” He quickly trimmed the atlas to the proper length. “Now give me the multi-trauma dressing from the kit.” Alex placed the trauma dressing on top of the atlas and put a roll of one-inch tape on top of it. He placed the improvised splint down close to Isabel.

Alex returned to Isabel’s head. “Izzy, I’m going to put your arm into a splint now, that way we can move you and get you back to Roswell. Okay?”

Isabel replied with a moan.

“Izzy, I’m going to have to have Liz let go of your head now, I need her to help me. I don’t want you to move your head until I have a chance to check you again. Can you do that for me?”

“Yea,” Isabel gasped. “Swe,,,? ,,,Hurts.”

“I know it hurts Izzy. I’d do anything to take care of you. I’ve spent the last six months getting ready for this moment.” He leaned down and kissed her on her forehead.

Alex rinsed dirt from the point of the break with the sterile water. “Liz,” Alex commanded, “Hold her upper arm exactly like this. Hold it tight, I’m going to pull on her lower arm to reduce the fracture. Alex picked up the improvised splint and rolled it into the proper shape. He placed it into Maria’s hands, “The moment I tell you to, I need you to lift it into place.” He looked at both of his friends. “Does everyone know what to do?”

“Hold on,” Liz asked. “I didn’t think you were supposed to try to fix a fracture in the field?”

“I’m not. If we could take her to a hospital we would splint her in place and let a surgeon deal with it. But since she has no circulation and since we can’t get her to Max within the next two hours, it is more important that we restore circulation. That’s why we reduce it, okay?”

“Yea,” Liz conceded. “Say when.”

“Now,” Alex commanded. Alex pulled her wrist, bringing her arm back into alignment. Isabel let out a single quiet sob and passed out. Alex continued to pull traction on her arm until the length looked almost normal.

“Lift it a bit higher Maria.” Alex settled Isabel’s arm into the splint. “Maria, you’re going to have to hold it still while I let go.” Alex quickly covered the injury site with the abdominal dressing, and then covered her arm with the larger trauma dressing. With the arm in proper alignment and padded for protection he adjusted the atlas until one end was tight against her upper arm and her fingertips were wrapped around other end. Once the splint was secured, he checked her pulse again. “Okay, we have circulation.” He reached for the tape. “Now I’ve got to tape the atlas so it supports her.” He quickly finished the splint.

“Izzy, I’m going to check you one more time and then we’re going to sit you up,” Alex explained. As she slowly regained consciousness, Alex helped her sit up. He quickly used a triangular bandage to fashion a sling.

“Swee-ie?” Isabel asked groggily. “We go’,,, get ou,,, oud’ da here.”

“Don’t worry Izzy,” Alex reassured her, “We’re ready to go now, no one’s going to catch us. We’re going to get you back to Max so he can take care of you.”


Liz was on the cell, “Max, we have her in the car now, and we’re on the way back,,,”

“Well,” Max responded. “It doesn’t make any sense to meet anywhere but Roswell, we’re both about four hours away,,,”

“Yea, that’s I was thinking,,,” Liz agreed. “Okay, I’ll call you back in an hour or so, earlier if anything changes.” She turned towards Isabel, who was now safely in Alex’s arms. “Max and the rest are heading back from Albuquerque, they should reach Roswell about the same time we do. You’re going to be okay Isabel.”

Alex was in agony. Isabel was hurt and there was nothing he could do about it. Well he did rescue her after she fell, he did set her arm, and he was doing everything to comfort her, but it wasn’t enough. She was sobbing quietly, and every movement or sound she made cut straight to his heart. If only he could do more, if only he had her powers he could,,, maybe there was a way. If he could distract her, make her take her mind off the present, “Izzy? Remember that time when we were in junior high and I dropped my pizza?” He intertwined his fingers with her good hand.

Isabel smiled at the memory.

“That’s it, let me in.” Alex counted on the fact that despite her injury he could establish a connection with her. He sat next to her and Isabel handed him half of her sandwich. “Peanut butter and jelly is good.” Alex continued to share happy memories, and soon they were flowing in both directions. Isabel relaxed into his arms. “That’s the way Izzy, let me take care of you. I’ve got you now, and I’m never going to let you go.”

Liz looked over the seatback, checking on them, “I think Alex put her to sleep.”


Several hours later, Liz was back on the cell, “Max, we’re right outside of town,,, Okay, I’ll tell Maria. We’ll be there in about ten minutes. Bye”

Liz looked to Maria, “Max said to go to their house, their parents are away for a couple of days.”

“We’ll be there in no time,” Maria commented, blowing past the reduce speed sign on the edge of the city.

Minutes later they pulled into the driveway at the Evans’. Although all four of the concertgoers were waiting in the yard, Michael pushed everyone to the side, “I have her.” He gently lifted his sister out of the back seat and carried her inside the house and up to her room.

Max looked at his sister. She seemed so much smaller, lying so still on her bed. He took note of her pale skin and the bulky splint on her arm. Max visibly recoiled when he noticed specs of blood on her blouse. He tenderly placed his hand on her face and spoke softly, “Iz, it’s me, Max. I’m here. Let me in. Let me take care of you.” He reached down with his other hand and gently placed it on her arm. The splint slowly dissolved under his hands, until he was in contact with her injury.

Isabel reacted to the power present in her brother’s touch more than to his voice. She opened herself to him and allowed him to make the connection that would enable him to heal her.

Max would do anything for his sister, but he was a little apprehensive as he made the connection. Despite the fact that they had done this several times in the past, he was afraid that due to her injury she might not be able to control the images that he would receive. While this wouldn’t have mattered a couple of months ago, he was totally aware that she was now in an adult relationship with Alex, and he had no desire to see her most private thoughts.

Max tensed as the images started flowing. He saw the two of them, fresh from their pods, holding hands as a set of headlights approached in the desert. He felt her sense of belonging the first day they came home with their parents. He watched as they ‘found’ Michael, and they realized they were all together once again. Max could feel his sister’s joy as she stood on the edge of the stage at their eighth grade graduation ceremony. She waited for his name to be called, and then took his hand. They received their diploma together.

Max found the break, and began the healing process. In doing so, he absorbed her suffering, but as an Antarian/Human hybrid, he had been designed to tolerate this. After several moments he was able to dissipate the pain.

Max was surprised to see his sister watching him and Liz share a Meteor Shower Malt together. He could feel that she was happy for him that he had found someone to love. Next he saw himself give Liz a gift of bubble bath while he picked her up for a date. He saw how he could never hide the way he felt about Liz from his sister. He realized that while she teased him about his public displays of affection with Liz, she was really happy for him.

The fracture repaired, he began to heal the surrounding flesh, and the damage caused to her from the shock of the injury and blood loss. ‘Alex did a wonderful job,’ he thought, finding an artery badly lacerated by a bone end. ‘I’m amazed he was able to take care of her so well with nothing but his bare hands.’

Suddenly he could feel Isabel’s demeanor change. He watched Liz running through the halls of the school in her prom dress. He felt his sister’s confusion as she held a crying Liz, and her shock when Isabel was told that she had seen him kiss Tess. He saw his sister’s dismay at how badly he was treating Liz, and her promise to their petite friend that the two of them would get to the bottom of what was wrong. He saw himself, from Isabel’s perspective, as he forbid her to leave school early. He watched as she nearly lost her mate, twice, feeling shame that he hadn’t noticed her dismay, let alone done anything about it. He saw Maria and Michael approach his sister with their concerns that the group was falling apart. During these several seconds he saw how he was hurting his girlfriend, his sister, and his family, and how he was letting everyone down. Most of all he realized he was failing himself.

Max finished healing Isabel, and quite shaken by the flashes that he had seen, started to withdraw from the connection. What happened next stunned him.

It was as if time stood still as Max opened his hand and started to stand. Isabel appeared to him standing against a beautiful black star lit sky, yet he was still able to see her clearly. She was wearing a brilliant white diaphanous gown; reminiscent of the clothing a Greek Goddess would wear. Isabel radiated a sense of power, manifested by an otherworldly white aura as a warm wind gently stirred her hair and clothing. Her gown had an empire waist, which was belted with a rich gold cord, and the bodice was gathered into a halter. On her bare shoulder the “V Seal of Antar” burned brightly.

“Max, I think you know why I’m here, when are you going to come home to us?” she asked confidently.

“I’m here,” he answered evasively. “I’ve never been anywhere else.”

“Your body is here,” she said tenderly, taking a step forward and resting both of her hands on his shoulders, “But your soul is missing. We all love you, and we all need you. When will you let us in? When will you let us help?”

“I don’t need any help,” Max pleaded, suddenly not believing it himself.

“Max,” she added softly, extending her aura to surround him.

Max’s breath caught in his throat, as his body bolted upright. The feeling of warmth and comfort he received from Isabel’s aura was indescribable.

“I miss you,” she continued. “I need you.”

“You don’t need me anymore,” Max rebutted. “You have Alex.”

“Max,” Isabel sighed. “The fact that I have Alex in my life doesn’t mean that I need you less, I’ll always need you. As we grow, our capacity to love grows with us. I love my friends. I love Alex. In the future I’ll be a wife and mother, but I will always need my brother. I’ll always love you, just as I’ll always need you.” Isabel lowered her arms and took a step back.

“No, don’t go,” Max moaned. “I feel so cold, so alone.”

“You know what to do,,,” Isabel’s voice faded as the connection broke.

Max opened his eyes and looked down at Isabel, who was now sleeping soundly. He didn’t know if what he had just experienced was real or his imagination.

Maria looked up from Isabel, wanting to comfort her close friend now that the crisis was past, but she didn’t see Alex. She looked around the room, and not finding him, she went looking for him.

Moments later she was back. “Michael,,,”

“What?” he replied, not taking his eyes off his sister.

“Michael!” Maria dragged him away from the bed. “Alex is still in the car. I can’t wake him.”

Michael noticed Kyle watching and nodded towards Maria’s back as she ran out of the door. They found that Alex was still in the back seat of his car. He was clutching his arm to his chest and shivering. Michael reached and touched him on the shoulder gently, “Alex?” He didn’t get a response. With Kyle’s help he carefully lifted their friend from the car.

Michael returned to see Max and Liz next to Isabel’s bed, who was now resting comfortably. He leaned down and whispered into his ear, “Something’s wrong with Alex.”

“What?” Max asked, bewildered.

“I don’t know, we can’t wake him.” Michael pleaded. “He’s acting like he has the same injury Isabel does. We put him in your room.”

Max leaned down and kissed his sister on the forehead, then stood to follow Michael. Liz was torn as whether to stay with Isabel or go to Alex.

“You go, I’ll stay with her,” Kyle offered.

Max smoothed Alex’s hair from his forehead, and looked at the others. As he made a connection he asked, “What happened?”

Liz and Maria looked at each other and both answered “Nothing.” Liz continued, “The last I saw he was holding Isabel in the back seat. He was talking to her and trying to relax her. I never saw anything that would hurt him.”

“Well, I can’t find anything wrong with him,” Max stated, shaking his head. “Maybe he just needs some rest.”

Isabel woke about an hour later. She looked up at Max and Liz’s smiling faces. “Hey, guess I’ve been out for a while?” She looked around, noticing that something was wrong. “Where’s Alex?” she asked.

“He’s in my room,,,” Max didn’t know what else to say.

Isabel read the look on his face, and them leapt from her bed. Isabel stormed into Max’s room to find Alex out cold. Maria was placing a wet cloth on his head.

“Max, what happened?” Panic rose in her voice. “You’ve got to do something!”

“Isabel,,,” Max said, turning her to face him. “He’s going to be fine, he just needs some rest.”

“Why? What happened?” She looked around the room, no one would meet her eye.

“Listen to me,” Max pleaded, trying to remain calm. “Everything’s,,,”

“No Max,” Isabel barked, taking a step forward and invading her brother’s personal space. “You’re holding something back, I can see it in your eyes. Tell me,” as her face began to cloud with anger.

“I think,” Max faltered, not able to look her in the eye. “I don’t know, but I think that while you were on the way back, he somehow, he pulled the pain away from you.”

“How Max? How could he do that?” she asked, her voice starting to tremble.

“I think he absorbed it through a connection,” he concluded softly.

“So he what?” she asked hopefully. “He dissipated it? Made it go away?”

Max returned her look, shaking his head. He was unable to say anything.

Isabel turned towards Alex with tears in her eyes. Without being told Maria stood and moved away from the head of the bed. Isabel sat down and removed the cloth from Alex’s forehead, and dipped it into the bowl of cool water that was on the nightstand.

The rest of the friends took one last look at the couple before leaving the room and giving them some privacy.

**********
Several hours later, Max paid the deliveryman and carried the pizzas into the kitchen. As the rest gathered Tabasco, drinks and other necessities, they heard Isabel exclaim from upstairs.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again! Of all the stupid, reckless things to do,,,”

Maria looked at the group, “Alex is awake.”

Michael laughed, “Poor guy, he’s going to get a major butt chewing for doing the right thing.”


Alex slowly awoke to find Isabel watching over him.

Isabel brushed an imaginary hair from his face, and held him down with her other hand. “You just rest.”

“Izzy, I’m fine,” he sighed. “You’re the one who was hurt.”

Danger past, Isabel let him have it, “Don’t you ever scare me like that again! Of all the stupid, reckless things to do,,,”

Alex slowly sat up, but at the same time he stood his ground. “Don’t you even try to go there, Izzy. You’re not going to win this one.”

“What?” Isabel faltered, visibly stunned at his quick recovery.

Alex reached for her, resting his hands on her hips, holding her just far enough away so they could maintain eye contact. He softened his voice. “I’m not going to admit that I did anything wrong, but I understand why you’re upset with me. You were hurt and in pain, and I couldn’t do any more to help you. So I did the only thing I could do. I made you comfortable. In doing so, I was in pain, and that upset you.”

Isabel placed her hand over his heart. “I don’t care why you did what you did, you can’t know how scared I was to see you laying there. I can’t stand the idea that you suffered because of me.”

“No!” Alex rebutted, his gaze boring into her eyes. “Not you! This started because of an accident. You fell, nothing more than that.”

“And we shared the results. Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” she asked flirtingly.

Alex nodded in reply, then he could not contain his relief at waking to find that she was alright. He kissed her. Minutes later when he came up for air, he asked, “Hey beautiful, you got anything to eat in this joint?” They started downstairs. “Let me look at your arm, does it still hurt? Wow, no scar or anything, nothing for me to kiss.”

“I got something for you to kiss,” his girlfriend replied with promise in her voice.

TBC

Great part! :D I loved the humor. Isabel's injury was scary, and I never imagined that Alex would be able to form a connection to take her pain.
I had to quote several things from earlier in the chapter:

“I’m going to let that comment go,” Isabel said with a sweetness in her voice that made the twins wince. “Because you are in pain, but mostly because I am going to have our entire married life to pay you back.”

That was good!

They stood on the path outside the building. “We can connect, and I’ll tell you when to send the signal.”

“No way,” Isabel exclaimed. “I’m not connecting with you while you’re in a smelly men’s room. We’ll both count to thirty, and then I’ll send the signal,” Isabel instructed quietly. As she watched him disappear inside, she turned back to the girls and broke out laughing.

:

“Aggghhh, this is better than sex,,,”

“Hey Whitman,” Isabel shouted verbally, for the entertainment of her companions. “If you keep talking like that you’re never going to have anything to compare it to.”

OMG! That was hilarious! :

“This should be good,” she said to her temporary roommates. She put the cell on speaker. “Of course I know brother dear, after all I’m the one doing it to him.”

“Well stop it, you stup,,,” Michael rebutted, stopping his diatribe just in time. “He’s waking up screaming every ten minutes. He’s thrashing around on the floor and shouting about needing help getting these big fat asses off his face,,,”

“Really? Every ten minutes? Good!” Isabel continued with a smile. “Tell me Michael, how loud is he screaming?” she asked.

“Loud enough so that none of us are getting any sleep,” Michael whined. “I know you owe him, but you’re making the rest of us miserable,,,”

“Good! Deal with it!” Isabel cut in. “You tell Kyle he owes Alex for three orders of fries and a large soda. Oh and Michael, loving brother of mine?” Isabel continued with an artificial sweetness that made her roommates cringe. “If you ever speak to Alex like that again, you will spend every night for the rest of your life crawling up an elephant’s ass. A very old, very sick elephant.” She turned off the phone and threw it across the room.

Never, Never piss Isabel off!

I just have to come out of lurkerdom and say I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this story!! I really hope that Max comes to the realization that he really needs some help and will let his friends help him out!!

AND, I just love the slow dance that is occurring between Alex & Isabel! :D :D

Lynne

Lynne

Lynne

stay out of lurkdom We're glad to have you here

Gazer Gets the Girl
Part 14 – Taking Care of Some Old Business
By Stargazer MD

Disclaimer: The characters don’t belong to me. If they did, the show would still be on.
Some text is borrowed from the show, I didn’t treat it any worse than the original
writers.
Summary: A&I fun mostly.
Setting: Summer between S-2 & S-, well we won’t go there.
Category: Alex/Isabel with CC
Rating: Mature

Where were we: Isabel and Alex are both getting ready for their trip to Boston, and their all important college interviews, but one big project remains uncompleted.

**********
Isabel practically ran into the kitchen. This was a rare evening that Charles and Gloria were leaving the teens to fend for themselves. Although Gloria had recommended that they go out to get something to eat, they had made other plans. Alex was due home any minute from the Leprino Foods (Authors note: A bit of research revealed that there really is a cheese factory in Roswell, http://www.leprinofoods.com/who.html) where he was transferring their system to the new servers, while Isabel had spent the entire day in the garage configuring the workstations that they would install as soon as they returned from Boston. They were both looking forward to a quiet evening home alone. ‘All I have to do is cook supper for us,’ Isabel thought, ‘and I’m already late starting that.’

She put the wok on the stove, and reached into the freezer to get the Steak Rancheros kit that she had purchased several days earlier. “Hmmm, it looked like a bigger package in the store,” she said out loud as she read the instructions. “Heat the steak slices for five minutes, then add the contents of the vegetable and rice packages. I can do that in my sleep.”

As soon as Isabel added the contents of the vegetable and rice packages, she knew she was in trouble. The vegetables were mixed with frozen slices of sauce, which practically disappeared as they melted. To make matters worse, the vegetables themselves were shrinking as they cooked. “What’s happening,” Isabel bemoaned. “Stop shrinking!” She looked at the food in the bottom of the wok. ‘There’s enough for Alex, and a little more than I would eat myself, but there’s no way that there’s enough there for the two of us. Gloria’s warning rang in her ears, ‘Be careful! With your trips to Texas and Boston and our trip to Reno, there isn’t a lot of food in the house.’

“Nachos!” Isabel exclaimed. “I can stretch this far enough if I make a big batch of nachos.” She bolted to the refrigerator. No cheese, which wasn’t all that bad because there weren’t any nacho chips either.

Isabel’s panic peaked when she saw her hungry mate come through the back door.

“Honey, I’m Home!” Alex shouted with a huge grin on his face. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” he added, leaning forward and kissing his future bride and hearth mate.

“Sweetie,” Isabel said with a smile that didn’t quite ring true. “Why don’t you go into the living room and relax, or go up stairs and play on your guitar. I’ll call you when supper’s ready,” she added as she turned down the heat on the stove and stirred the contents of the wok.

Isabel watched as Alex opened the refrigerator and pulled out an orange soda, before looking in the pantry for something more to put on the table. When she turned around she saw Alex dousing the Steak Rancheros with Tabasco sauce. “Alex!” Isabel shrieked. “You’re contaminating our supper. You won’t be able to eat it.”

“I tried it Izzy,” Alex explained. “It’s kind of bland, especially by your standards.”

“But Sweetie,” Isabel was shocked. “What will you have? What kind of woman am I if I can’t feed my man?”

“Oh don’t worry about me,” Alex said reassuringly. He reached into the cabinet. “I’ve been looking forward to a bowl of Count Chocola all day.”

Isabel looked at him, “You’re kidding, right?”

“Tell me,,,” Alex stated confidently, “One other food that allows me to have chocolate milk as a meal?” He softened his voice. “Hey, I’m alright. Now take your supper off the stove before it burns.”

Isabel spooned her meal into a serving dish and turned the stove off. Before Alex could sit down she walked up to him and clasped her hands behind his neck. “I know what you’re doing.”

Alex reached down and placed his hands on her hips, pulling her so tightly to him that she had to lean her head back a bit to maintain contact with his eyes. “What am I doing?” he asked, his voice husky.

“You know I’m upset,” Isabel answered softly. “And you’re making everything okay.”

“Izzy, I could feel you half way across town,” her mate explained with a gentle smile.

“Sweetie,” Isabel replied with a sigh. “I wanted everything to be perfect tonight.”

“I know Izzy,” Alex explained patiently, “But you have to learn,,, we have to learn that we define perfection, no one else.” He laid a quick kiss on her mouth to take the sting out of his words. “Tonight we’re going to have ‘something’ to eat. Then when you get back from your ‘Max’ thing, we’re going to change, hopefully you’ll wear something red,,,”

Isabel’s smile indicated that his wish would be fulfilled. “Small too, my red shortie PJ’s.”

“Then we’re going to cuddle on the couch,” Alex continued, “And watch,,, well who cares what’s on TV.”

“Is that all we’re going to do?” Isabel asked, biting her lower lip and pivoting on her hips, grinding them into her boyfriend’s.

“No, because once we settle down I intend to play with you,” Alex replied with a grin as he slid his hands back to her ass and lifted her slightly for another kiss. “I’m going to caress you until you make those special noises I like so much.”

“Really? You sound awful sure of yourself,” Isabel teased, her eyes bright, extracting herself from his grip. “It sounds like the perfect evening, so you’d better eat your supper. You’re going to need all your energy when I get my hands on you later.”

**********
At lunch the following day, Ava sat down next to Isabel at the Taco Shack on the edge of town. They were careful to select a picnic table on the edge of the dining area. Isabel doused her tacos with Chinese hot sauce from her purse, while Ava poured sugar on her green sauce bean burritos.

“So how do you think Max is doing?” Isabel queried.

“He seems to be holding up well,” Ava replied. “Considering all of the mind warps we’ve found in him the past two nights. But I never got too involved with Alex and Liz. How does he seem in comparison to what you found with them?”

Isabel took a bite of her taco, which gave her a moment to compose her thoughts. “With Liz, we found one major mind warp, future Max. It took a lot of effort to break through it, but after that she seemed to be fine, although really upset that Tess had taken so much time from her and Max.” Isabel’s voice broke, and her hand began to tremble, as she continued. “The mind warps in Alex were pretty much taken care of when he was healed. I mean getting killed twice in one evening,,,”

Ava reached and placed her hand on top of Isabel’s hand. “Please, don’t continue. I don’t want to bring up bad memories about your mate.”

Isabel dabbed her napkin to her eyes, and took a drink of her Cherry Coke. She continued, determined to take care of her brother. “I just can’t believe how many warps we’ve already broken down.”

“It’s amazing he could withstand all of them,” Ava agreed. “It must have something to do with his alien physiology. I doubt a human would be able to go through that.”

“Well it stands to reason,” Isabel agreed, now fully back on topic. “Max was always thinking about Liz, or doing little things for her. I used to think it was disgusting,,,”

Ava’s brows shot up. “And now?”

“And now,” Isabel answered with a blush, “Since Alex, it seems like a perfectly normal way to act.”

“I wish I had that with Kyle,” Ava sighed.

“You will,” Isabel assured her. “Kyle and I have become friends, although at some times we’re closer than at others. But I do think you’re going to have to shock him out of his jock mentality. He seems to process everything he does through a ‘what would Malamoot do?’ filter. He’s a really nice guy, he just doesn’t realize it yet.”

“So back to Max,” Ava continued. “You think all of these mind warps are related to Liz?”

“I’m sure of it,” Isabel stated confidently. “Look at what we’ve already found. Max thought of buying flowers, he wrote a poem, he got tickets for a concert, all for Liz,,,”

“And every one of those actions was hijacked by Tess,” Ava concluded. “No wonder Liz is pissed. So what do you think the last two blocks are?”

“Hang on a moment,” Isabel said with a smile. “Sweetie-Gram.” She continued to smile for a moment.

When Ava noticed that Isabel was back, she couldn’t help asking, “That’s so Kewl. How far can you do that?”

“We really don’t know,” Isabel explained. “Since we’ve been trying this, the farthest we’ve been apart is about twenty miles. The connection was still clear and at full power. Actually the biggest issue is privacy. We’re still working out how to live with it.”

“What do you mean privacy?” Ava asked, enthralled at Isabel’s willingness to discuss their Antarian side.

“Well, the other day I ‘popped in’ on Alex while he was in the shower,” Isabel smiled at the memory. “He was so embarrassed he slipped and fell on his ass.”

“Did he hurt anything?” Ava teased, digging for dirt.

“No,” the taller one laughed. “Well, nothing important, I guess. Another thing we’re doing is I’m practicing making him weapons.”

“Weapons?” Ava gasped. “You mean guns?”

“No,” Isabel reassured her. “Things like kubatons, asps, and his PR-24. You know Alex has been taking the weaponless combat course that Jim teaches, don’t you? Well Alex can’t walk around wearing a police baton, but I can make him one with a moment’s notice if he needs it.” ‘Besides,’ she added silently, ‘I’m having trouble with all the little moving parts in a firearm.’ “I’ll tell you what’s a lot of fun though,” Isabel teased. “Alex comes home from Jim’s class and practices his new hand to hand moves on me in the back yard. Not only do we get to feel each other up pretty good, but his father watches and encourages me.”

(Authors note: A Kubaton is a small and discrete plastic baton, about the size of a magic marker. A kubaton is usually seen on a police officers or medic’s keychain. It is used primarily as a striking or gouging weapon. An asp is a baton that expand at the push of a button, in Alex’s case from six to sixteen inches. (from 15 to 40 cm) The intimidation factor of being able to produce a weapon ‘from nowhere’ can not be overstated. A PR-24 is a full sized police baton with a side handle, and in the hands of a properly trained officer, it is a wicked weapon. Kubatons and asp batons are considered to be a defensive weapon. PR-24’s are considered to be an offensive weapon. Anyone using a PR-24 can expect to be arrested and sued. Personally, I always carried an aluminum flashlight on a belt ring. No one considers a flashlight to be a weapon, but in a pinch it can inflict a world of hurt. I still have one at work, in my car, and on my nightstand.)

Ava got a big smile on her face. “Kyle is always bragging about his Greco-Roman wrestling skills,,,”

“Ask him for lessons,” Isabel advised.

“I’ll do that,” the curly one agreed. After a moments thought she continued, “I wonder if the rest of us are going to be able to develop such a close connection as you two have.”

“Maybe Tess,” Isabel sighed. “But Alex paid such a high price, the mind warps, shot once and blasted twice. I’ve got to believe all of that changed him.” She finished her soda. “Breaks over. You need to take me back home, Alex wants us to meet with our fathers after work this afternoon, and I need to finish configuring the PC’s for the Leprino Foods job.”

“Anything I can help with?” Ava queried. “I’m home alone this afternoon, and I would much prefer to hang out with you. I promise you’ll only need to show me what to do once.”

“Kewl,” Isabel said agreeingly. “I’m alone all afternoon also, and with your help I bet we can get them all done today, which is two days ahead of schedule.”

“Lets go,” Ava said, gathering their refuge from the meal. “While we’re at it we can discuss what we’re going to do with your brother tonight.”

**********
Philip looked up from the table at Senor Chow’s and signaled Juanita.

“Si Senor,” she responded. “Two more Dos Equos?”

Philip nodded, then turned back to the table. He caught Isabel dipping a nacho chip into a bowl of hot mustard. Shaking his head at his daughter’s eating habits, he looked at Alex, who was dipping his chips in salsa, and asked, “So what’s the problem you need to bring to the board?”

“Well,” Alex explained abashed. “I was in the I.T. room this morning, migrating data onto the new servers, when Mike Stanford came in and asked about the PeopleSoft software for the human resources department.”

The two men looked at each other, and waited for the teens to discuss and possibly solve the problem.

“PeopleSoft?” Isabel queried. “I don’t remember anything about that.”

“Neither did I,” agreed Alex, “But when I looked at the purchase order, I found it at the top of page three. It was kind of lost up there, and easy to miss, but it is there in black and white,,,”

“And while we don’t refer to it by name in our proposal,” Isabel continued, “We included the kitchen sink line they insisted on that covers everything on their purchase order that isn’t specifically listed by name on our proposal. So basically, we’re screwed. Bottom line it for me Sweetie, what’s this going to cost us?” she asked, looking at Alex.

“The list price for what we need is right around fifteen thousand dollars,” Alex said, but with our end bracket pricing we should be able to license it for between four and six thousand. Now while I was talking to Mike, he indicated that they were not happy with the way things went. They feel that they were as much to blame as we were, because they never questioned why PeopleSoft wasn’t on our proposal. They also feel that the kitchen sink line they insisted on was never intended to cover such a large expense.”

“So what are you saying?” Philip asked, intrigued by the way the discussion was going.

“Mike said that while they do not have money to throw around, they do have some contingency finds in the project,” Alex added encouragingly. “They are willing to cover our actual cost for the purchase of the software.”

“Okay, stop right there,” Charles interrupted. He looked at his children. “Alex handles technology, Isabel handles business. This is a business decision, so I want to see what Isabel is going to do.”

“Now wait a minute,,,” Philip cut in as Isabel’s face burned and Alex sprang to her defense.

“Hold on just a minute,” Charles pleaded as he held his son off. “I have faith in her. After all I’m placing my son’s future in her hands,,,” his voice faded as he looked at the expression on his future daughter-in-law’s face. “Okay, she’s taking my son’s future into her hands.” He turned to face Isabel directly. “This sounds like a no brainer, but I have to warn you, you’re in a minefield. You have all of the information you need to make the correct decision.”

Isabel took a deep breath. “Mike Stanford’s offer does sound too good to be true, so I’m already wary. And judging by what you just said, I’m now convinced that we can’t accept his offer to pay for the software. We have to eat the cost.”

“Right,” Charles agreed. “But why?”

Philip looked at Charles with wonder. “What do you do for the G.S.A.?” (General Services Administration, the U.S. government’s landlord)

Charles answered him, but never took his eyes off Isabel, enjoying watching her solve the puzzle. “I was in the Air Force Logistics Management Agency for twenty years managing procurement contracts, and now that I’m retired from the Air Force, I’m with the GSA, in charge of leasing space for all the post offices in this district.”

Meanwhile, Isabel had a smile on her face. “The key phrase is that Mike will cover our actual cost, actual. We can’t let him do that,,,”

Charles had a huge smile on his face.

“We can’t reveal our cost structure,” Isabel continued. “Under normal conditions, we invoice them at list price less a discount. But if we invoiced them at our actual cost, they could research the list price on the Internet, and they would be able to determine our cost structure. There is no way that we can show him how much of a discount we receive from our vendor.”

“See!” Charles exclaimed, “I told you she could do it!” He raised his beer and moments later rapped it against Philip’s.

“Well Pops, Philip,” Alex said happily, “Thanks for the help, but I have to get Izzy over to Liz’s.”

“By the way,” Isabel continued sweetly. “We’re going to be camping out at Frazier woods tonight. We’re going to watch the Perseid meteor shower.”

Philip looked over at Charles, and then both men turned back to the young couple.

“Who’s going to be there?” Philip questioned.

“All eight of us were talking about going,” Alex explained. “But I don’t know who will show up. It could just be the two of us.”

“Well if the two of you aren’t alone, that’s fine,” Philip commanded. “But if no one else shows up, I want you at home.”

“By midnight,” Charles commanded. Looking at the expression on her face, “Isabel,,,” Charles dragged out.

“What?” the tall one questioned. “Why are you looking at me? There are two of us sitting here.”

Both adults just looked at her. “Isabel,,,” this time from Philip.

“Okay,” she relented. “Sweetie,” she patted her boyfriend on the hand. “Why don’t you go get the car, wait a minute!” she commanded. She opened his top button and smoothed his collar. “You’re getting better at this, I didn’t even see you button it this time.”

“After all, I’m placing my son’s future in her hands,” Alex muttered, imitating his father while reaching for the last nacho chip on Isabel’s plate. “Okay, she’s taking my son’s future into her hands,” he added, recoiling as Isabel slapped his hand. “Sweetie, go get the car,,,” he continued as he slid out of the booth. “I might just as well not be here,” he sighed.

“Sweetie?” Isabel teased, "That paranoid schizophrenia Liz warned you about is kicking in."

"Right,” Alex replied, still talking to himself. “I'll just go to the bathroom at the Crashdown and have a little talk with myself,” he added, then leaned in and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek.

“I love your sense of humor,” Isabel said breathlessly, pulling him back for a brief kiss on the lips.

“Humor?” Alex laughed as he turned to follow his orders.

“Alex, make sure you bring your sleeping bags with you,” Charles commanded. “You know how cold it can get in the desert at night. I don’t want Isabel catching a cold.”

After Alex was out of earshot, she looked at both of the fathers. “I don’t believe that you guys think we’re going to get into trouble tonight.”

“No, Iz,” Philip backpedaled, embarrassment apparent in his voice. “We’re not thinking anything like that.”

Isabel smiled and bit her lower lip. “Daddy, you should know me by now. My first time isn’t going to be on a smelly blanket in the woods. It’s going to be somewhere nice. Somewhere with style.” She kissed both men on the cheek and left.

“Man she really has Alex wrapped around her little finger,” Charles observed.

“Alex?” Philip questioned incredulously. “You don’t think we’re on the top of that list?”

“Not me,” Charles quipped. “If I need anything from her, I send Gloria.”

“Right,” Philip chuckled.

“You do realize that you’re not getting her back,” Charles slipped in nonchalantly.

Philip smiled.

“Gloria and I agree. She’s changed us, our home. We want to keep her, she’s not going back,” Charles teased. “You can have Jesse. He’s coming home from Bosnia, and is going to be home for a couple of days before he reports to Dago.”

Philip continued to smile and shook his head. “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll just stick with my daughter, although Diane and I are willing to share.”

“Willing to share?” Charles said taking a long pull from his beer. “You heard what she said earlier, how much control do you think any one of us have over the two of them?”

Philip’s face lost all color as he called over to the bartender, “Dewers, double, neat.” (Dewers is a top shelf scotch, a double is two shots, neat means no water, no ice, no mix.)

Charles looked at him, “I never took you for a scotch man,,,”

“Make it two!” He added as Juanita put the first glass in front of him. Philip emptied the glass in one gulp. “Did you listen to what she said?”

“Philip,” Charles said calmly. “You heard her. They’re not going to do anything.”

Philip took the second glass in his hand. “What she said after that. Someplace nice, someplace with style? Diane booked them a suite at the Park Plaza, which along with the Parker House, is the best hotel in Boston.” He hammered the second glass, and looked directly at Charles. “Your son is going to deflower my daughter in Boston,,,” Philip sighed and his face fell as he realized the futility of trying to control his daughter, especially where it came to her boyfriend, “And to rub salt into the wound, I’m paying for it.”

Charles’ blood ran cold as realization struck him. “Juanita, Jack Daniels, double, bull and a ball,,, Make it two.” (Jack Daniels is a popular bourbon, double shot, bull and a ball means a shot with a beer chaser.)

Philip waved for the waitress.

Charles reached into his pocket. He laid a twenty-dollar bill and his car keys on the table. “Come on dad, if we’re going to do this, Juanita is going to want to make sure we take a cab home.”

“Home?” Philip sighed, reaching for his keys. “I’m not going home. I’m going to get drunk and sleep right here under this table. I’m not going to sober up until she turns thirty.”

Charles shook his head, “And Diane was afraid that she was going to give Alex a heart attack.” He waved at Juanita. “More? Please!” Charles put his face in his hands. “This was so much easier when all I had was boys.”

“Boys,” Philip challenged. “There’s no such thing as boys. They’re all a bunch of horn-dogs chasing down innocent young girls.”

“Innocent young girls?” Charles rebutted. “Have you seen her lately? She’s more like a heat seeking missile chasing Alex down. The poor boy doesn’t have a chance.”

“I think she already has him,” Philip agreed. “And I don’t think he’s complaining.”

“It is fun watching them together,” Charles concluded, waving for another round. “Those kids are just having too much fun.”

**********
Meanwhile, Alex was surprised that Isabel allowed him to continue to drive his car. She had simply informed him that tonight they were meeting with Max at the Crashdown, as Liz’s parents were at a restaurant equipment show in Albuquerque. She then sat in silence, a silence that Alex assumed was related to her self appointed task of rescuing her brother from the last dregs of Tess’ control.

When Alex pulled up in front of the Crashdown, he was surprised when Isabel put her hand on his thigh.

“Sweetie,” Isabel said hesitatingly. “I have a confession to make.”

Alex clamped down on a momentary surge of panic, and probed their connection. She didn’t seem upset, so he decided to wait and see what she had to say. “Okay,” he finally responded.

“What?” Isabel challenged, stalling for time. “Why do you have a smile on your face?”

“Well,” he responded. “You don’t seem upset, so unless you’re planning on picking up the next stranger to walk into the Crashdown, I guess we can manage.”

“I’m done with strangers,” she teased. “Unless you plan on coming in wearing a disguise.”

“Come on,” Alex taunted. “I’m parked in a drop off zone.”

“Well, about our trip,” Isabel started, biting her lower lip. “I changed our reservations.” She winced as she waited for Alex’s response.

After she paused a moment Alex queried, “Are we still going?” He was almost hesitant to challenge her about the trip, well really, about anything she felt strongly about.

“Oh yea,” she reassured him. “But I changed our flight. We’re going coach,,,” she blurted out, before he could interrupt her. “I changed our reservations from a suite to two rooms, and when we get there I plan on canceling one of them.” She looked down and awaited his wrath.

“Fine by me,,,” Alex started to respond.

“I know you were looking forward to a really nice trip, but I don’t want to use all of Daddy’s flyer miles,” she blurted out, not hearing him. “And I don’t see any sense in paying for a room that we aren’t going to use.”

Alex reached for her chin, and met her eyes. “Izzy, I’ll make a deal with you. You promise me that you’ll wear those shortie PJ’s that you bought at Victoria’s Secret, and I’ll forget that you ruined our trip.”

She slapped him on the shoulder. “Stop teasing me.” After a momentary pause, she continued, “You don’t mind?”

“No! Of course not,” he reassured her. “I don’t want to waste your father’s money any more than you do. Besides, I’ve seen you in your paymaster mode. I wouldn’t dare question you about money. So do we have a deal?”

Isabel responded with a wide grin. “So let me get this right,” she said thinking quickly, “You really want me to change my plans and you’re forcing me to wear PJ’s?”

Alex’s mind went numb, as his mouth fell open.

Isabel leaned forward and kissed him. As she opened her door she added, “Got ya.”

Alex quickly came to his senses. “Yea, I guess you did.”

“Well, not yet,” Isabel continued to tease. “But I will.”

**********
Isabel and Ava followed Max and Liz through the halls of West Roswell High, watching as the couple looked into the rooms that had been successfully opened. The two young women tried to hang back and allow the couple at least the illusion of privacy.

“Look at this,” Max pointed out, guiding Liz into a now open classroom. He led her to the center of the room, where a crystal podium was lit from within. On top of the podium lay a pair of Indigo Girls tickets, for the July 13th show in Denver. “I never got to give these to you,” Max sighed, “but at least Tess wasn’t around to trick me into taking her.”

Liz picked the tickets up and turned to him. “Max, when did you get these?”

“I ordered them in April,” Max replied. “The day they went on sale.”

“But my father,,,” Liz questioned.

“We had an agreement,” Max explained. “He was going to let us go.”

Liz sadly laid the tickets back on the podium, and returned to the hall. They continued through the hallway, past classrooms with wide open doors that contained flowers, music, and other small gifts that Max had intended for Liz. In other classrooms the podiums were covered with nothing more than piles of dust, representing the false memories from Antar that Tess had fabricated and implanted in his mind. Moments later they reached the end of the hall, and found themselves in a foyer.

There were two closed doors in the walls of the foyer, neither of which looked anything like the standard wooden classroom doors that they have been having so much success with. On their right was a double commercial door, made of black glass and framed in aluminum. On the left was a single steel fire door, which looked like it had been installed in a warehouse.

Liz and Max approached the glass doors, and found them locked, just like all the others had been. Max used his powers on the door, but found it was still tightly locked.

Liz looked at the door. “I know how these work,” she said excitedly. They have three locks. The first door had a lock in the middle, and the second door has a lock at the top and bottom!”

“Three locks,” Isabel quipped. “Three aliens, no problem.”

Isabel placed her hand over the lock at the handle, while Max reached for the top of the door and Ava bent and took the bottom of the door. All three applied power and moments later the doors swung open.

The group slowly walked into the darker room. Isabel and Ava hung back while Max and Liz slowly continued, holding hands. Max was determined to complete the process of breaking down the remaining mind warps while Liz was determined to end the aura of uncertainty that they had been living in for months.

Max looked around, recognition dawning on his face. He stopped, and tried to hold Liz back. “You don’t want to see this, it’s the Observatory. The week before the Prom, when,,,”

“You and Tess?” Liz demanded.

Max just hung his head in response.

Liz dropped his hand like a hot potato. “Good.” Liz exclaimed, moving forward into the room. “You told me you didn’t remember being with her? Well, now we’ll know.” She added silently, ‘And I’ll know if you’re a boyfriend or a bastard.’

Liz quietly climbed the stairs to the mezzanine surrounding the telescope room, following the sound of soft voices. She found a place where she could watch unobserved, not realizing that Max was right behind her.

Tess was sitting with her back against the wall, with her legs out straight. Max was lying with his head in her lap. Although his eyes were open and he was looking right at Tess, he did not seem to realize that her eyes were closed and that her face was scrunched, wrinkling the bridge of her nose.

“I remember something else,” Max said softly.

“What do you remember?” Tess asked with a satisfied smile on her face.

“Our first kiss,” Max explained tenderly. “We were at a party,,,”

“I leaned in,” Tess instructed, “And whispered in your ear and then you touched my cheek…

“I remember,” Max sighed.

“Good,” Tess responded, her voice indifferent. “Now what else have you learned tonight.

“My whole life I've wanted to be this person,” Max chanted in an empty voice. “This normal person. Human. My whole life I've been thinking that this alien side of me was this bad thing. This thing that made me a freak. This monster. I realize that I haven't just been hiding from the government and the law all this time. I've been hiding from myself. I don't know what's going on anymore. I thought I knew but I don't. I've lost everyone.”

“By trying to be human?” Tess challenged.

“Yes,” Max responded emptily. “I need to embrace my alien side. But I’ll lose everything, everyone I care for.”

Tess rubbed his temples, the intensity of her mind warp causing him to visibly recoil. “Yes, you will,” she said without emotion, “but I'll be here for eternity.” Tess laughed and rubbed her stomach absentmindedly. “The three of us will rule the galaxy, well at least as long as I need you.”

Liz gasped, “She’s already pregnant?” she whispered to herself.

Tess rubbed Max’s head one last time. “Now you stay here and sleep on this hard cold floor, while I go home and sleep in my nice warm bed.” She stood, allowing Max’s head to drop onto the floor. “”We’ll finish this little fiction in the morning,” she added.

Liz’s heart broke as she heard Max’s head strike the cold, hard floor. She could not believe that after all the effort Tess had put into pursuing Max for the last year, all of the hurt and anguish she had caused so many of the group, after practically killing Alex twice in one evening, she could take Max so easily, yet treat him so badly. She stepped out from her hiding place, as her hand began glow.

Tess turned to leave when she was struck in the chest by a bolt of energy, knocking her across the mezzanine, and slamming her high on the wall.

“Get up bitch!” Liz shouted, and readied another blast, but she reabsorbed the charge as she watched Tess seemingly dissolve right in front of her.

“No!,,, Don’t!” Max demanded, as he wrapped his arms around Liz, effectively trapping her arm against her body.

Liz, emboldened by rage, shook herself free. “What are you saying Max? Did you see what I saw? You didn’t sleep with her, you’re not her baby’s father, and you’re still trying to protect her?”

“No,” Max said with a smile. “I’m not protecting her, after all she’s already dead.” He tenderly took her hand in his and looked at it admiringly. “I just think it’s a bad idea to do a lot of shooting while you’re inside my mind.”

Liz suddenly realized what she had just said. “You didn’t sleep with her,,,” Liz’s voice trailed off as she stepped into the warmed hug and most passionate kiss that she had ever imagined. The couple failed to notice that the walls of the observatory dissolved and they were once again in the school’s foyer.

Ava watched the couple with an embarrassed smile on her face before turning and noticing that Isabel definitely approved of this sudden turn of events. “You’re not going to say anything?” Ava queried.

“I would have in the old days,” Isabel sighed. “I used to hate their public displays of affection. But now I have no room to complain. If that were me and Alex I would have him flat on his back by now.”

“How nasty,” Ava teased, not really caring who among the three took her comment to heart.

Liz and Max broke their clench and looked at their audience. “He didn’t sleep with Tess!” Liz explained excitedly.

“Good,” Isabel rebutted impatiently, a flush spreading down her neck and across her chest. “One down, one to go. Lets get this over with. Suddenly I want to get home,” she added breathlessly.

Next they started on the metal fire door, but no matter what they tried, they could not open it.

“I’m going to ask for help,” Isabel decided. “Sweetie,” she said softly.

Liz looked astounded. “Wait a minute! You’re going to try to open a connection with Alex, during a mind warp that Ava’s running in the middle of your dreamwalk?”

“Why not?” Alex and I have been able to do almost everything we’ve tried,,,” ‘eventually,’ she added silently.

“Yea Izzy,” they heard Alex reply over the school’s PA system.

Isabel turned to face the wall mounted PA system speaker. “Sweetie, what are you doing? We need some help here, and I was wondering if I could dreamwalk you in for a moment?”

They all could hear Alex laugh. “Well, I’m out on a date.” He paused waiting for her reaction. “Actually I’m out on a double date.” Still not getting a rise out of his girlfriend, he continued. “To be exact, I’m sitting at the movies between two women.”

“Sweetie,” Isabel said with an iciness to her voice that sent a chill up the onlookers spines, “I know you’re too attached to Fred to really do something like that, so why don’t you tell me just what you’re up to?”

“Well, since our fathers are out at the local bar,” he sighed, “I volunteered to take our moms to see the movie Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. I guess I can doze off for a minute.”

“Okay Sweetie, get comfortable,” Isabel instructed.

Moments later Alex was sound asleep in the movie theatre, and had joined them in front of the fire door.

“Geez,” Max bemoaned. “Sure is getting crowded in here.”

“Max,,,” Liz warned.

“Sweetie,” Isabel asked. “Do you think you can open it?”

“Yea,” Isabel’s hero replied, “But I’m going to have to help you make a hallagan tool. It’s solid steel, about three feet long, and the end has two claws. I’m going to swing it so that one claw bashes into the door, with the second claw up tight against the doorframe. Then we should be able to pry the door open. ”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Max protested. “Can we all try to remember that we’re all inside my head? All this talk of bashing and prying has me nervous.”

Alex turned to face Max, instantly angry. “Let me tell you something. A month ago we went into Liz’s mind. I broke down a brick wall with a fire ax, and she didn’t bat an eyelash, because she needed to find out what was keeping the two of you apart. She did her part, are you willing to do yours?”

Max, looking quite abashed, stood back and waved Alex to the door. Alex swung the tool, and the claw bit deeply into the metal. He pulled back on the handle, but the door didn’t budge. “Max,” Alex questioned. “A hand here?” With the two of them pulling, the door crept to the side a inch or two. (25-50mm) Alex took a second swing, this time forcing a small crack between the door and frame. Alex put the hallagan tool into the crack and pried until the veins in his neck were bulging. Suddenly there was a loud snapping sound as the lock broke, then the door swung open.

“I knew you could do it Sweetie,” Isabel said a little breathlessly as she led him to one side, away from the others. She slapped his hand gently as he tried to scratch his chest.

“It’s nothing really,” Alex explained modestly. “Just the right man with the right tool.”

Isabel’s eyes opened wide as the double meaning of Alex’s comment struck home, but she quickly reigned in her passion. Max was already freaked out about what they were doing while in his mind, she didn’t want to push him over the edge by exposing him to her sex play with her boyfriend. That didn’t however prevent her from making plans. She reached and opened his top button, and then rested her hand over his heart. “We’ve been missing a lot of personal time the last couple of days,” she said softly. “We can’t snuggle in our rooms, so why doesn’t the first one home pick out a movie, change into their PJ’s, and curl up on the couch,,,”

“And we can fall asleep watching the movie?” Alex continued.

“Sounds like a plan,” Isabel sighed. “Thanks Sweetie, see you soon.” She leaned in and gave Alex a kiss, and sent him back to the theatre. She joined the others as they cautiously walked into the new room.

“I recognize this place,” Max cautioned. “This is the warehouse in New York where the summit was held. This door was the one through which Nicholas entered the back of the room.”

Isabel and Ava advanced flanking Liz. Max was almost killed in New York, but once warned he should be able to defend himself. Liz, despite her recent attack on Tess, was defenseless.

They all walked around the conference room, looking at the black table with futuristic halogen lamps in front of each of the high backed leather chairs.

“It happened right here,” Max explained.

“The peace conference?” Ava asked.

“It wasn’t a peace conference,” Isabel countered, irritated. “It was a power grab. Nicholas tried to steal the granolith. Who knows what Kivar would’ve done if he could have gotten his hands on it.”

Everyone became silent and went on guard when they were interrupted by the sound of voices coming from an anteroom off to the side.

“Who is that?” Ava whispered.

“Nicholas,” Isabel spat out. “It figures he’s caught up in this somehow.” Without waiting for the others, she built a charge in her arm, and carefully approached the room.

“I know you want Lonnie,” Tess challenged. “You’re playing both sides against the middle. Why you think you can trust that freakoid skank is beyond me.”

“I know we have a deal,” Nicholas answered. “You, me, Kivar, but Lonnie,,,”

“Why would you want a dupe when you can have the real thing,” Tess taunted.

Nicholas replied with an evil chuckle. “You just keep believing that.”

“Damn-it Nicholas,” Tess barked. “Watch where you’re sticking that thing.”

“If you had your mind on what we’re doing instead of business,” Nicholas said with a catch in his voice. “You’d have a lot more fun.”

“Just because you’re fourteen years old and can keep getting it up all night doesn’t mean you know what to do with it. If you can’t reach the bottom at least slam it into the sides a couple of times.”

Liz turned towards Max. “I don’t believe this.”

Isabel turned and walked towards the door. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Ava followed Isabel.

Max and Liz started to back away when they heard Tess complain one last time. “Damn-it Nicholas. Wait for me at least once, won’t you.”

They all met in the foyer and walked towards the entrance. As they passed through the school’s doorway they exited Isabel’s dream-walk.

Liz was ecstatic. “Nicholas knocked up Tess,” she exclaimed.

“Yea,” Ava agreed. “And despite the end result, he did a pretty poor job of it,” she added as she and Isabel turned to leave.

Max stopped Isabel and drew her to one side. “Iz, thanks,” he stated happily, reaching to pull her into a hug. “You don’t know how relieved I am to know that I didn’t do this.”

Isabel rebuffed his approach. “Max,” she said in her best Ice Princess voice. “You’ve treated Liz horribly. You have a lot of work ahead of you to win her back. And as for me? I haven’t seen anything yet that would excuse the way you’ve treated me.”

“Isabel,,,” Max interrupted, visibly disappointed.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Isabel continued, more softly. “You’re still my brother, and I still love you as such, but right now I don’t like you so much. As far as I’m concerned, you’re going to have to prove yourself to me.”

“It can’t be that bad,,,” Max tried to explain.

“Max,” Isabel replied starting to get exasperated. “You chased me out of my own house, but if you really want to know what you’ve been doing, just look at Liz.” Isabel’s voice turned totally consolatory. “You can do it little brother, you’re one of the most loving and honorable people that I know. All you have to do is find that person you are,,, you were, within yourself. Now if you don’t mind, I really want to get home to Alex.”

**********
By the time the friends had exited Max’s mind and returned to their homes, it was quite late. Isabel slammed her car into the driveway, and practically ran to the front door. Her excitement at the thought of snuggling on the couch with Alex was dashed when she found Charles slumped there, snoring like a chain saw with a broken muffler.

She was much more sedate as she climbed the stairs. Her worst fears were realized when she looked into Alex’s room and found him asleep on top of his bed. She stood a moment watching him sleep, then sighed and gently slid the blanket that was folded across the foot of his bed out from under his feet. She covered him with the blanket, and then softly kissed him. Before leaving his room she reached down and took his shirt.

Now that Gloria had heard Isabel arrive home, she was free to go to bed herself. She rinsed her tea mug and placed it in the dishwasher. She slipped through the living room, careful not to wake her husband. She was happy that he had spent the evening with Philip, and she didn’t mind his having a few too many as he did have the good sense to take a cab home, but if he was going to snore like this, he was welcome to the couch.

Gloria noticed movement in the dim light of the hallway, and paused unnoticed to observe Isabel slink into Alex’s room. The teen was barefooted, and wearing his shirt. She carried a pillow in her arms. Gloria stepped to the doorway and watched as Isabel gently exchanged her pillow for Alex’s. Gloria’s heart filled with joy for the young couple as she watched Isabel brush a strand of hair from his forehead and kiss him gently. “Sweet dreams, Sweetie,” she heard the tall one whisper. Then she watched as Isabel held his still warm pillow to her face and took a deep breath.

Isabel turned away from Alex and noticed Gloria standing in the doorway. Her emotions ran the gamut, from panic, that she had been caught in his room wearing his shirt that barely covered her panties, to anger that their special moment had not been private. These thoughts came and went in less than a moment, as she realized that Gloria understood.

Isabel tip-toed back to her own room, and sat on the bed, Alex’s pillow clenched defensively to her chest. She turned to look at her surrogate mother as she sat besides her. “It smells like him,” she explained softly. “I switch our pillows every night, and sometimes I wear his shirt.”

“I used to do the same thing when Charles was deployed,” Gloria responded softly.

“It’s like he is here with me,” Isabel said tentatively. “He saves me from my bad dreams.”

“That’s why you have his sheets on your bed?” Gloria teased.

“You know about that,” Isabel whispered, shocked.

“I keep telling you Isabel,” the older woman said patiently. “I know everything that happens with my family. I raised a house full of boys, it’s a survival tactic.”

“After two or three days, when his scent fades from the sheets, I wash them,” Isabel stated, happy that the dim light didn’t reveal her blushing face. “He gets clean sheets, then I put his on my bed.”

Gloria leaned in and kissed the newest member of her family on the cheek. “Good night Isabel, don’t ever stop doing those little things for each other.”

“I won’t,” Isabel promised.

“And Isabel?” Gloria advised from the doorway. “If you put a spray of perfume on a hankie, and tuck it into his pillowcase, he’ll have sweet dreams too.”

“I think I’ve done that once or twice,” the girlfriend confessed.

“Hankies are nice,” Gloria continued. “It’s so much less of a shock for me to find a hankie in his pillowcase than a pair of panties.” Gloria teased. “Sweet dreams.” Gloria walked to her room with a smile on her face.

Isabel’s sense of paranoia went off the scale. ‘Did I miss a pair?’ she asked herself in panic. Isabel swore a solemn vow on the spot that no one, not even his mom, was going to touch Alex’s stuff ever again. All she had to do was get things organized, and make a schedule. In addition to many things, she was the queen of schedules.

**********
After another frantic day, which found Alex at Leprino Foods and Isabel spent the day at her father’s office getting caught up on her work there, the teens found themselves watching the sunset at Frazier Woods, alone this time.

“So I was able to gain two days on our schedule while you were only able to gain one.” Isabel teased. “Did we really get everything accomplished?”

“Yes we did,” Alex replied, confidently. “The client couldn’t be happier with their new servers, and the PC’s are ready for installation as soon as we get back. But I do have to say Miss Evans,” Alex continued, almost unable to keep a straight face, “That your scheduling ability needs some improvement if you had two days of slack in it.”

“Isabel slapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll tell you what,” Isabel taunted back in her best haughty voice, “Next time you can make all of the stickers and labeling on your computer instead of letting me print them in place.”

“I have to admit,” Alex agreed, “it was impressive to see you wave your hand over a patch panel and watch every port get labeled. You saved at least a day of work right there.”

“You little slave driver,” she teased.

“That’s me,” Alex claimed proudly. “Standing over you, cracking the whip, bending you to my will.”

“Promise?” Isabel said flirtingly.

Alex blushed a bit at Isabel’s blatant come on, and quickly changed the subject. “So, we’re going to be all set for when we get back? Every one is still willing to help with the swap-out?”

Isabel smiled at Alex’s tactic to get back onto safe ground. “l don’t see a problem," she replied, playing along, "I think everyone is still willing to come in. They seemed to be more than happy with our offer of a hundred and fifty dollars for a day's work, and the pizza party and sleep over afterwards didn't hurt. Second, I think we should plan on spending at least the first couple of days after the install on site to give any problems that arise the personal touch."

Alex visibly relaxed. “We’re going to pull it off,” he said with a sigh. “Can you believe it?” he asked, turning towards her. “We’re going to have our first two years of college, our housing and living expenses, everything, right in the bank.”

Isabel’s heart gave a happy little flip, hearing her mate plan their future together. She snuggled closer to him.

“All we need to do tomorrow is put in an appearance at Leprino Foods to make sure everything’s running okay, pack for our trip, and then we’re ready to go,” he said, putting his arm around her shoulder and holding her close.

“Pack?” she exclaimed, pulling away from him and looking him in the face. “You know me better than anyone else, even my mother. So tell me, what makes you think that I didn’t have you all packed and ready to go a week ago?”

“Well,” Alex gulped. “You couldn’t pack my tooth brush a week ago, I’m still using it, right?” he asked hesitantly.

Isabel smiled at his naivety. “You use a Colgate brand toothbrush, with an angled head, soft bristles, and you prefer a green handle. I packed a new one for you because the one you’re using is two month old and now is the perfect time to replace it. The only thing I’m not sure about is spare laces for your dress shoes. I don’t know if you need thirty inch or thirty-six inch shoelaces, so I packed both.”

“I should have known that you’d have everything ready,” Alex taunted, pulling her back to his side. “So maybe we could have dinner with your parents tomorrow?”

“Already set it up,” she replied. “And your parents will be joining us. Besides I need to get something special from my room.”

“Really?” Alex said laughingly. “Are you telling me that the packing princess missed something?”

She slapped him gently and laughingly replied, “No, I’m right on schedule.” She turned towards him with a look of love in her eyes that melted his soul. “I need to get my special red negligee. It’s safe in its special hiding place, and I didn’t want to take it out until the last possible minute.”

“Izzy,” Alex asked softly, “Do you mean your ‘first time’ negligee?”

The pursuer suddenly turned shy. She looked down into her lap and bit her lower lip. “Yes,” she said softly.

“Izzy,” Alex replied so softly she could barely hear him. “We’re not going to need that, not while we’re in Boston.”

The Ice Princess turned and glared at her newest victim. “What do you mean I’m not going to need my ‘first time’ negligee? We’re spending six days together but more importantly we’re sharing a hotel room for five nights. You are going to make me your woman even if I have to break both of your legs so you can’t get away.”

Alex pulled her back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You are my woman, my mate, my wife. You’re the only one there has ever been, and you’re the only one there ever will be. No words, no actions, will ever change that.”

“Then why don’t you want me?” she pouted. “Why don’t you love me?”

“Izzy,” Alex whispered, wiping a single tear from her cheek. “I don’t know how you can feel that way. I just told you that I love you. Izzy, you mean more to me than life itself. Boston is the first trip we are taking alone together. We’ll remember this trip for the rest of our lives. But I’m not going to make love to you just because we’re in Boston, I want to make love to you because it’s the right moment to make love to you.”

“But I could make those memories so much more special for you,” Isabel promised, biting his neck. “If you’d let me.” After a moments pause, not getting the response she wanted from him, she continued, “But why is the timing so important to you?”

“Timing is important,” Alex continued tenderly, “Because it’s become this big thing that’s hanging over our heads. We both want it to be magical and special and a night that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.”

“It will be, Sweetie,” Isabel said flirtingly.

Alex took a deep breath. “I’m scared Izzy, I am so scared that I’ll disappoint you, that I’ll fumble, that I won’t do it right,,,”

“Sweetie,” Isabel stated, trying to calm her boyfriend. “I don’t care what you do or how you do it. I don’t believe you don’t know that about me by now,” she added, throwing his own words back at him. “It doesn’t matter what you do or how you do it, as long as we’re together.” She looked down and bit her lip, “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

“I just don’t want to make a mess of it,” he concluded.

Isabel, trying to lighten the mood teased, “I hope you make a mess of me, as a matter of fact I’m pretty messy down there right now.”

Alex looked at her and shook his head. “You don’t take anything seriously, do you,” he asked with a smile, taking any sting out of his words.

She rearranged herself so she was sitting on his lap, reaching inside of his shirt and placing her hand over his heart. “I take everything about you seriously, especially the way you feel about me. Especially the way you touch me.” She raised her eyes and looked into his. “Sweetie, everything that we have done together has been wonderful. You’ve taken me to heights that I never dreamed existed.”

“Beginner’s luck,” Alex joked.

“Don’t say that about yourself,” she snapped, then continued much more softly. “It has nothing to do with luck. It’s the way you feel about me,,,” Isabel started laughing. “But you have to admit, no one would ever imagine us having this conversation. No one would believe that after all the years you have been perusing me that I would have so much trouble seducing you.”

Alex took advantage of her new position by gently running his hand up and down her back, gently caressing her spine. He placed his other hand on her neck, running his fingers through her hair, and tracing her cheekbone with his side of his thumb. Wanting to increase her pleasure, he used their connection to send a warm charge through her body, wherever he touched her. “Oh, you’ve done a very good job of seducing me,” Alex teased back. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed,” looking down in Fred’s general direction. At the same time he realized just how good a job he was doing seducing her.

Isabel’s pupils were so fully dilated that he could not see a speck of brown. Her nostrils were flared and she was breathing so hard that her chest was heaving, rubbing her rock hard nipples against him with every breath. Her scent was so powerful he could smell it with every breath. “But,,,” she asked breathlessly. “I sense a ‘but’ coming.”

“But you still need a lot of foreplay,” he teased. “I still have a couple of other firsts to try, and I haven’t made you horny enough yet.”

“Not horny enough?” She declared incredulously, “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m sitting here soaking through your pants.” She glared at him. “I’m ready right now! In fact I’ve been willing and ready for you every moment since Prom.”

Alex couldn’t resist teasing her a little longer. “Nope. Not tonight. Tonight doesn’t feel right, well maybe for something, but not,,, that,,,”

“That?” Isabel demanded. “Stop beating around the bush.” She took his face into her hands and looked into his soul from just inches away. “Frack me,,, Take me,,, Make me your woman forever, right now. Stop torturing me, us. I know you want me, just take me,” she demanded.

“Sweet heart,” Alex replied, barely able to control himself. “This is our bodies talking. We will make love, when the moment is right. But that moment won’t be in response to a time or a place. It won’t be because of a mark on a calendar. It will be when our hearts and souls are ready. We’ll both know when, and I promise you, it will be soon. At least one of us isn’t going to be a virgin on our eighteenth birthday.”

“My birthday? That’s not for three months!” Isabel gasped. “You expect me to last three months? Sweetie, I don’t think I can wait three minutes,,,” Isabel moaned and her passion soared as she felt Alex slide his hand up her leg. She took his face in her hands and poured her whole being into her kiss, and like she said, she didn’t last three minutes,,, the first time.

TBC

: Hey everyone,

I just joined up.My name's Karen and I generally post on Mediablvd and RoswellFanatics.

KaraGail put me onto this site a few days ago and I've been reading all the A/I fics,well ones I havent' read so far.

This one is so awesome 8)

KarenEvans!

Thanks for the welcome Splatty :D

Please update soon i need my fix of a/i :D

Rim wrote:Please update soon i need my fix of a/i :D

I second that.

Gazer Gets the Girl
Part 15 – Boston
By Stargazer MD

Disclaimer: The characters don’t belong to me. If they did, the show would still be on.
Some text is borrowed from the show, I didn’t treat it any worse than the original
writers.
Summary: A&I fun mostly.
Setting: Summer between S-2 & S-, well we won’t go there.
Category: Alex/Isabel with CC
Rating: Mature

Where were we? Isabel and Alex spent a weekend at the beach with Liz and Maria. Are they ready for Boston? Alone?

**********
“Sweetie,” Isabel said softly as she looked out the terminal window at the aircraft on the taxiway. “I have another confession to make.”

“What’s that?” Alex asked. “I kind of like the way your last confession resolved itself,” he added, blushing at the memory of her promise not to wear PJ’s.

“I’m afraid of flying,” she said softly.

“What?” he asked, not sure he heard right.

“I’m afraid of flying,” she repeated, louder this time.

“Izzy,” he asked, obviously shaken a bit, “Don’t you think this is something we should of discussed before we got our boarding passes?”

“I thought I had it handled,” she replied. “I told myself to not be afraid.”

“Didn’t work, did it,” Alex questioned.

“Why do you say that?” Isabel mumbled, watching herself wring her hands in her lap.

“Because,” Alex replied with just the right hint of humor in his voice, as he took her hands in his, “You are the only person I know who dares to deify Miss Isabel Evans.” Alex continued, “How can you be afraid of flying, after all, you came here from half way across the galaxy. You’ve flown farther that every pilot at this airport combined.”

“That’s right Sweetie,” Isabel said with a tinge of irritation in her voice. “In 1947. Now tell me, Alex, Sweetie, the one who knows me better than anyone else, what happened when we got here?”

“Ahhmm, you stayed in stasis until you knew the right guy was out here waiting for you?” Alex asked hopefully.

Despite her mood, Isabel couldn’t help but smile at his comment, but she hid this from him and snapped, “Before that, WE CRASHED!” Having made her point, she continued in a more conciliatory manner, “Sweetie, my record with flight is zero for one.” After a moments pause she raised his hands and kissed them gently. She looked into his eyes, “What are you going to do Sweetie?” Isabel asked softly, full of confidence that her mate would always be able to take care of her.

“We can fix this,” he replied.

Their were interrupted when the matronly lady sitting next to them leaned over to Isabel and whispered in a loud voice. “Young lady, I couldn’t help but overhear your problem. What you need is a valium. You’ll spend your entire trip just watching the pretty clouds float by.”

Alex was thinking fast, and when he saw Isabel take a deep breath to tell the woman just what she thought about the idea of taking medications from a stranger, he placed a restraining hand on her leg, leaned forward, and most importantly sent her a reminder that her mother would expect her to be polite.

“Ma’am, that’s a very generous offer,” Alex replied graciously. “But my girlfriend is allergic to glycol, which is used as a binder to make pills. She actually can’t take any medication at all.”

“Oh you poor dear,” the woman replied.

Alex was onto something else, though. “Izzy, let me have your purse.” He was disappointed when she handed him the smallest of the many bags she owned. After a brief look he returned it, muttering, “I’ll be back in a minute,” as he quickly left.

The woman leaned over towards Isabel while keeping watch on a business man who was eyeballing the now vacant seat. “Such a nice young man,” she commented.

“Yes he is,” Isabel replied, her voice tender now that she was talking about her savior. “I’m very lucky.”

The business man swooped in, but was met by a knitting needle that had magically appeared in the more experienced travelers hand. “Shoo,” she exclaimed, poking at the man’s thighs. “Go get your own seat.” Once the danger was past, she returned her knitting to the cavernous bag at her feet. “You can’t be too careful, you know,” she added.

Isabel laughed softly and shook her head.

Alex returned and sat down. He spread his legs wide and placed their one carry-on bag in front of him. “Izzy,” he commanded. “Sit on this.”

“Isabel, although curious, did as he asked. She watched as he reached into the shopping bag he had returned with and took out a hairbrush.

“Plastic?” she said with distain in her voice. “You’re going to use a plastic brush on my hair?”

“Sorry,” he replies. “They didn’t have a brush with an oak handle and natural hog bristles at the C.V.S.”

Isabel’s complaint died on her lips as she felt Alex’s hand caress her hair, closely followed by the brush. She gave a little moan as she leaned her head back just a little bit.

Alex quickly brushed all of her hair back over her shoulders, made sure her part was straight, and then started at the front of the left side of her head and gently stroked her hair. Every stroke of the brush was followed with a caress of his hand. He moved the brush back a fraction of an inch with each stroke and continued until he was done on that side, and then switched to the other side.

While Alex was brushing her hair, he was talking to her softly. “I love your hair. I love the way it looks, I love the way it smells, but most of all I love the way it feels.” He bent down and kissed the back of her head. “I remember the homecoming game our freshman year. Liz and Maria were so mad at me, because I must of spent five minutes leading them up and down the bleachers looking for the perfect place to sit. When I finally found it, I had to pay a kid two bucks so he would move and the three of us could sit together. We were two rows behind you.” Alex laughed softly, “The twins still tease me about the fact that I don’t remember who won the game, but the fact that I do remember that you were wearing a red strappy tank top and that you had a silver clip in your hair.”

While Alex was brushing her hair, and calmly talking to her, he was also busy mentally. He had their connection wide open and he was sending all of the love and comfort that he could muster, along with pleasant images and memories meant to further soothe her.

Isabel latched onto a memory that Alex had sent her. She was shocked to realize that it was from when they were in fourth grade, almost two years before the first time she had shared her lunch with him. She saw herself from his perspective, while he pushed her in a swing. As she went higher and faster, the air caused her hair to blow around her head. The sunlight was at just the right angle, so from where Alex was pushing her, it looked like she was wearing a golden halo. Isabel suddenly remembered that afternoon as if it was yesterday.

Isabel was playing in the sandbox behind the school, waiting for her mother to come and pick her up, when Kyle came over and started kicking sand on her. Even at such a young age she realized that he was picking on a girl to try and impress his buddies. But just as she was just getting ready to hide a rock in the sand for him to bash his foot on, the new boy in her class came over and stood between them.

“Stop kicking sand on Isabel, it’s not nice,” the new boy commanded.

“So what?” Kyle said, pushing Alex and knocking him down. “What are you going to do about it?”

Alex stood up and brushed himself off. “I’m not going to let you do it.”

Kyle knocked him down again, but this time he had to struggle to do it.

Alex stood up again. “It must be really hard to fight. I watch my dad and my brothers fight all the time, and they always get sweaty and out of breath. It’s really easy to get knocked down. I bet I can do it all afternoon.”

Kyle knocked him down one last time. “You’re strange,” he taunted as he turned and walked away with his buddies.

Isabel helped Alex up. “Thanks for helping me,” she said shyly. “If my brothers were here they would have beat him up for me.”

The new boy looked at the ground, “I don’t like fighting. I’m not very good at it. My dad likes to wrestle with my brothers, but I would rather practice my guitar. I wish my friend was here though. She would have beat Kyle up. Maria wouldn’t even need to kick him where it counts to do it either,” Alex said with pride and admiration.

Isabel decided that she didn’t want to play in the sand anymore, so she sat on the swing, and let her new protector push her, but after only a minute she heard a car horn and saw her mom in the parking lot. She jumped off the swing and landed standing up. She looked at the new boy and said, “My names Isabel. Thanks for helping me.”

“I know your name, Isabel,” the new boy replied. “I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again, even if I need to learn how to fight.”

Isabel was snapped back to the present as Alex explained his plans for the flight. “The first hop to Denver is only about an hour, and I have the new Dido CD for us to listen to. Once on the ground in Denver we’ll have to run to get to our next flight as the lay-over is only about thirty-five minutes, but then I have the movie Notting Hill to play on the laptop for the flight to Boston.”

“How long is the flight to Boston? Will we have time to watch the movie?” she asked, anything to take her mind off the flight.

“Air time is a little over three hours,” Alex explained softly. “But we cross two time zones, so it will be five hours later when we get there.”

Isabel watched him reach into the bag again, then felt as he used a rat tail comb to make a horizontal part in her hair.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“French braid,” he answered.

“You know how to do a French braid?” she asked, a hint of wonder in her voice.

“Izzy,” Alex explained patiently. “I have been the twins official girlfriend since the day I started school here. You don’t think I learned how to give Liz a French braid?”

“No,” she replied teasingly. “I was thinking that I could have put you to work a long time ago.” Through their connection Isabel could feel that he enjoyed this as much as she did. “Why do you like this so much?” she asked as she melted under the feel of his warm, gentle hands braiding the strands of her hair together, over and under, and then over and under again, as he gently caressed the back of her neck with every weave.

“I get to touch your hair,,,” Alex answered softly. “I get to look at and smell your neck,,, because caring for you is so,,, intimate.” He secured the end of the braid with a scrunchie that he had also purchased.

The PA system creaked to life. “United Airlines is pleased to announce the boarding of Flight 817 to Denver, with continuing service to Colorado Springs. All passengers are asked,,,”

“All done, Sweetie?” Isabel quipped.

“Not quite,” he replied. “Turn and look at me.” He took the tail of the comb and pulled out a bit of hair over both of her temples, letting the seemingly unruly strands of hair frame her face. “All set,” he concluded.

Isabel pulled a compact out of her purse and checked herself in the mirror. She is suitably impressed by his work. “Perfect,” she replied. “I’m going to have to thank Liz and Maria.”

Alex watched as she stood. “I’ve known you’re perfect since the first time I saw you.”

Isabel felt her face flush as she stood to one side and allowed Alex to collect their things, an opportunity the matronly woman used to speak to her.

“He’s one in a million,” she gushed. “Hang onto him.”

Isabel leaned in close to her, and shielded her comment with her hand. “Hang onto him?” she replied feinting a secret. “On yes, he’s going to marry me.”

Alex smiled, as Isabel had broadcast the conversation through their connection. He held the carry-on in one hand and pulled Isabel close with the other, guiding her towards the gate. “So tell me,” he asked, much louder than necessary. “What are we doing after the trip, and as a matter of fact, for the rest of out lives?”

Isabel stifled a laugh as the matronly woman’s face broke into a huge grin.

**********
The flight attendant gently shook Alex’s shoulder until he awoke. “Good afternoon,” she said cheerfully. “Welcome to Boston.”

“Oh,” Alex stated while looking around, momentarily disoriented. “I’m sorry,” he added as he gently woke Isabel.

“It’s not very often that we have a passenger that sleeps through the landing and deplaning, let alone a couple,” she added, before continuing towards the back of the cabin.

Isabel awoke and smiled at her mate. “I knew you could do it,” she said, while kissing his cheek. “I wasn’t afraid at all.”

**********
The following morning the young couple got up early and prepared for a day of sightseeing. Isabel took guilty pleasure in the fact that it was Sunday, and they were not going to church with their families. “Come on Sweetie, lets go. We have a lot of places to see and things to do.”

Alex came out of the bathroom, waving his hands in front of his face. “Next time we travel together, we’re getting a two bathroom suite,” he teased.

Isabel quickly ducked into the bathroom to do her make-up. “Are you complaining about the water heater again?” Feeling hungry, Isabel looked into the mirror, waved her hand over her face, and was instantly ready to go.

“No I’m not complaining about a lack of hot water,” Alex taunted. “Not even you could use it all in a hotel this big. I’m referring to the fact that you turned the bathroom into a Turkish sauna. The mirror was so steamy I nicked myself twice while shaving.”

“Oh, does Sweetie have a boo-boo?” Isabel teased in her best ‘mommy’ voice. She took his face in her hands, and kissed the nicks, healing them. “Now lets get downstairs, I’m hungry.”

“The hotel restaurant?” he asked in amazement. “We’re not going to the MacDonald’s across the street?”

“Sweetie,” she replied with promise in her voice. “I’m going to introduce to Eggs Benedict and fresh squeezed orange juice. You need to start learning about some of the finer things in life if you’re going to treat me the way I deserve to be treated.”

Alex watched as she almost kept a straight face. “Oh really?” he asked, reaching for the room key card and holding the door for her.

“Let me put this another way,” she added. “The reason we’re frugal during normal times is so that we can splurge during special occasions. This is one of those special occasions, and I intend to make sure it’s a trip we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.” Isabel placed her arm through his as they left the room. “And Sweetie? If you ever want to see my fun places again, don’t ever take me to a MacDonald’s.”

**********
Liz and Maria were in the break room, changing for their shift.

“So how’d you leave things with Max?” Maria asked.

“I told him we can’t continue as if nothing happened,” Liz sighed, slamming her locker closed and then leaning against it. “That we had both treated each other horribly. Me by not telling him about what turned out to be the Future Max mind warp, and his taking up with Tess.”

“So what are you going to do?” the pixie probed.

“We’re going to back up a bit, we’ll date again.” Liz stood and faced her friend, her face dreamy. “He’s taking me to Senior Chow’s tomorrow night.”

Isn’t that where you went on your first real date?” Maria asked with a grin on her face.

“Yea,” Liz sighed, thinking back on that night. “I’m going to wear my shortest skirt, a loose halter top, and challenge him to a game of pool.”

“Girlfriend!” Maria exclaimed, giving one of her two best friends a high five. “The boy doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Hey,” Liz replied, walking to the front of the café, “I said we needed to take a step back. I never said I was going to play fair.”

**********
Later that morning, Alex parked the Sebring convertible and trotted around to the passenger side. He opened the door, and then helped Isabel out of the car. She expressed her appreciation by kissing his cheek, and then taking his hand. Isabel turned, looked across the street, and froze. The look on her face was priceless, and Alex immediately knew that the hour he had spent on the internet mapping out this route through the Massachusetts countryside to this very parking lot had paid off. Alex released her hand and instead wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He carefully led her across the street.

As they crossed the street, the young couple could smell the tangy sent of the salt air, and feel the cool gentle sea breeze on their faces. The far side of the street consisted of a wide strip of well manicured lawn leading up to a paved sidewalk which ran along the stone seawall. As they stepped over the curb stone on the far side of the street and continued across the lawn, they were able to see over the sea wall opening the vista of Plymouth Harbor.

Isabel continued walking while she looked up, answering the screech of a seagull, who was soaring along the shoreline looking for an easy meal. When she looked back down she was able to see the cerulean blue water of the harbor, and in the distance the deeper grayish blue water of the open ocean. The harbor water was smooth as glass and dotted with a variety of small boats gently swinging on their moorings. But for all of the beauty of the harbor, Isabel’s attention was locked on the darker water on the far side of the stone breakwater. “What is it?” she asked with wonder in her voice.

“It’s the ocean,” Alex replied softly.

“Look a it!” she squealed. “It’s so big.”

Alex led her across the lawn to the rocky beach.

“What’s out there?” Isabel gasped, pointing to the horizon.

“Europe,” Alex said with a smile.

“No, seriously,” Isabel replied. “What’s on the other side.

“Izzy,” Alex repeated, enjoying her fascination. “There’s about three thousand miles of water, then you come to England. We’re talking five time zones away.”

“It’s so beautiful,” she sighed.

Alex led her along the edge of the rocky beach, towards a large stone portico. They walked slowly, hand in hand. Alex was enthralled with his mate, basking in her wonder of the place. He led her inside the portico. They looked down at a large stone that was resting on the sand. The number 1620 was carved into the stone.

“Alex, is that,,,” she asked, as she turned towards him, her smile radiant.

“Plymouth Rock,” he answered. According to legend, this is where our ancestors first stepped onto the New World.” Alex paused a moment. “Well that’s not really accurate I guess,” he said, loosing himself in thought.”

Isabel loved to watch Alex think his way through a problem, in a way that only he could. To see him try to get everything just right. She loved the simple elegance of watching him work.

“Out of respect for the peoples who were already here,” he backtracked. “I would have to say that it’s where our European ancestors arrived. Maybe not ours as individuals, but as a race.”

“It’s like a snapshot of our past,” Isabel added with wonder.

Alex looked around at the few tourist, and switched to a more private way of communicating. “It’s so wonderful being here with you. To see this through your eyes.”

“Why do you say that?” Isabel asked, walking to the back side of the portico. She rested her forearms on the short stone wall and leaned forward, looking at the boats moored in the harbor formed by the breakwater.

“I don’t know where I came from,” Alex explained. “I look at this rock and wonder if it was my direct ancestors who stepped here, or if they came through Ellis Island, or somewhere else, I just don’t know. But with you, it’s so different.” He leaned into her back, wrapping his arms around her and gently kissed her neck. He then rested his chin on her shoulder, looking out over the harbor. “I’ve been to Pohlman Ranch, where your race took their first steps on Earth. I’ve been to the pod chamber, where you took yours. It’s so unimaginable that you crossed the universe and came here, that you came to me.”

Isabel turned in his arms, facing him. “Of course I came here. This is when and where you were waiting for me. What’s a couple of parsecs between soul mates?” she added softly.

Alex put his arm around her shoulder, and led her back to the car. “Come on Sweetheart, we’re going to be late.”

“Late?” she questioned. Late for what?”

“You’ll see,” he promised.

**********
“Oh my God!” Isabel exclaimed as the whale broached, close enough to the boat to splash some of the watchers at the lower rail. “They’re huge!”

Alex stood behind her, his arms around her, pinning her loosely to the upper deck railing, secure against the motion of the boat, but for once, his mind was not on the beautiful woman in his arms. He too was mesmerized by the visitor from the deep.

Isabel turned to look at her boyfriend, barely able to keep a straight face. “This is so kewl,” she gushed. “How did you know I would like this.”

“I saw the way you reacted to the Cienega (desert wetland) while we were at Balmorhea. I figured if you were impressed by that pool, you’d really love the ocean,,, What?” he asked seeing that Isabel was laughing now.

“Sweetie,” Isabel said softly. “Did you have to put the Dramamine on your neck?”

Alex spun her around so she could continue to watch the whale show. “Yes it was Izzy,” he explained. “There are major blood vessels in the neck, so the medication is readily absorbed.”

Isabel leaned her head back against his shoulder. “But Alex, did you have to use four patches?”

“Hey,” he protested feinting indignation. “This is a real he-man thing I did for you, really studly. I needed to make sure that while my girlfriend is doing all of her girly-girly stuff, like ruling her home planet, vanquishing our enemies, or making the world safe for humanities it is important that I don’t hurl onto my sneakers.”

“Sweetie,” Isabel replied softly. “I don’t want to ever hear you talk about hurling ever again, especially when you’re standing behind me.”

“Right now we’re in the middle of a small pod of humpback whales,” the guide interrupted. “Humpbacks grow to a weight of thirty tons, (27 metric tons) and a length of forty to fifty feet. (12-15 meters) Interestingly, when fully grown, females are usually larger than males, which is fortunate, since the males don’t stay around to help with the child rearing. In addition to being the most vocal species of whales, humpback’s also are the species with the largest flippers. which may equal one third of their body length,,,”

Another whale broached, right in front of the young couple. Isabel was stunned as the whale looked her right in the eye.

“And off to the right,” the guide interrupted her lecture, “Is Regulus, an adult male named after the brightest star in the night time sky.” Regulus raised his flipper, and with what looked like a wink, rolled onto his side, splashing his way back into the deep.

“Did you see that?” Isabel asked delightfully. “It’s as if he was looking right at us.”

“Not us,” Alex answered with a smile. “You!” He continued quietly, “I’m just a local boy from New Mexico. You’re the one from his neighborhood.”

Once there were no more whales in sight, Isabel looked over the stern of the boat. “Where’s the land?” she gasped. “Where are we?”

One of the guides was passing behind them, and stopped to answer her question. As the guide took her sunglasses off, the teens were immediately struck by how much time the woman spent on the water, as evidenced by the contrast between her deeply tanned face, and the almost white skin around her eyes, which were normally covered by her glasses.

“We’re about forty miles (65 km) out,” the guide explained, “And due to the curvature of the earth, you can’t see the shore from here. We have about ten minutes before we start the ninety minute trip back.” She leaned on the rail next to Isabel. “First time on the ocean?” she asked.

“First time I’ve been anywhere,” Isabel answered breathlessly.

“Where are you from?” the guide asked.

“Roswell, New Mexico,” Alex answered. “We’re visiting Boston to look at colleges.”

“Roswell?” the guide asked, surprised. “Have you ever seen an alien?” she asked.

“Everyday,” Alex teased.

“Really?” the guide played along. “Tell me, are they really gray or green?”

“We can’t tell you all our secrets,” Isabel rebutted, wanting to change the subject. “Sweetie? Where do you have reservations for dinner?”

”Rockmore Floating Restaurant in Salem Harbor,” Alex answered.

“Kewl!” the guide exclaimed. “That’s one of the best restaurants in town. You’ll love it. Are you guys going to get lobster, or try something more exotic.”

“Exotic?” Isabel teased. “Is there exotic seafood?”

“Well, not much,” the guide agreed. “Most seafood is very delicate in nature, but a good chief can jazz it up in the kitchen. The Rockmore is famous for both their Blackened Swordfish, and their Shrimp Diablo.”

“Shrimp of the Devil, I know what I’m having,” Isabel exclaimed. “Do they make it hot?” she prompted with a smile on her face.

“Actually,” the guide paused a moment, “The cook is from Southern California. He doesn’t try for hot so much as spicy and flavorful. I would recommend it with a cup of Manhattan Mahi-Mahi Chowder, (a dolphin fish chowder made with tomato,,, Dolphin FISH,,, not the mammal) and make sure you don’t fill up. They get their deserts from the Boston Cheesecake Factory. It’s the best.”

Isabel squealed with delight watching as another whale skimmed the surface of the water along side the boat.

“That’s Trident,” the guide advised. “She’s an adult finback.”

“Does she come out of the water like Regulus?” Isabel asked.

“No,” the guide answered. “Finbacks don’t breach. On the other hand, they’re the second largest species of whales, behind Blues. But Regulus, I’ve never seen him look at anyone like that before. He must like you.”

“Maybe Regulus knows something about Isabel the rest of us don’t,” Alex teased.

“Alex!” Isabel barked, giving him a sharp elbow in the side.

“Well, it’s been nice talking to you,” the guide said as she put her sunglasses back on and stood away from the rail. “I’ve got to get back to the wheelhouse.”

Isabel looked around the almost deserted upper deck before turning on Alex. “Why did you say that?” she asked with her hands on her hips.

“Izzy!” Alex said with a smile, “You don’t really think you were going to be ‘outed’ by a whale, do you?”

“Are we going to have a fight about this?” Isabel panted, her eyes blazing.

“What?” Alex replied, totally confused. “There’s nothing here to fight about.”

“Sure there is. I can fight about almost anything. Especially your talking about Aliens to that guide,” Isabel challenged. “Then we can go back to the hotel and have hot steamy make-up sex.”

Alex breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God Izzy, you had me worried for a moment.”

She stepped closer to him, and placed her hand over his heart. “I’m serious Sweetie. There are no parents for two thousand miles, we have a hotel to ourselves, and who knows when we’re going to get another chance like this.”

“Izzy,” Alex said tenderly, while kissing her on the forehead. “I have a feeling that when you’re ready we’ll be able to find a place.”

“When I’m ready?” she squealed, reaching for his hand. “Come on. The bath room’s small, but I’ll manage.”

Alex broke out laughing. “What is it with you? What’s your hurry.”

“Alex!” Isabel explained exasperated. “I’ve been waiting for you for two lifetimes, and my clock’s ticking. I’m not going to reach my sexual peak for another twenty years, but you’ve already turned eighteen. You’re already past your peak, and you’ve started your downward spiral. You’re the keeper of the only spermies I’m ever going to get, and I don’t see any point in letting them go stale on the shelf.”

“What?” Alex gasped. “You’re going to spend the next twenty years getting hornier than you already are?”

“Sweetie,” Isabel taunted, in full flirt mode. “You’re the only guy on the face of the planet who would complain about having a horny girlfriend,,,”

“Complain?” Alex broke in. “When have you ever heard me complain?” he teased, as he raised a suggestive eyebrow.

“Well,,,” Isabel replied, biting her bottom lip and pivoting on her hips.

“What do you say you let me feed you,,,” Alex planned.

“And then,,,” Isabel teased.

“We’ll go back to Boston and find something to do,” he promised.

“Goodie,” Isabel exclaimed, jumping into his arms. “I’m already ready for you, so you’d better eat a nutritious dinner, because you’re going to need it when I get my hands on you.”

**********
After a wonderful dinner, Alex took delight in taking the winding coastal road back to Boston. But as soon as he dropped the car off with the valet, Isabel became impatient, practically dragging him to their room.

“Come on Sweetie,” Isabel teased. “We need to shower and get this salt air off ourselves.”

“Yea,” Alex agreed, taking off his shoes. “Today was fun, but a shower will feel great. Do you want to go first?”

“Together,” Isabel sighed, taking him by both hands and settling him on the corner of the bed. She took a step back and began to unbutton her blouse.

Alex watched Isabel, his eyes bulging. “Izzy,,,” Alex started as she finished unbuttoning the blouse and started to pull it out of her shorts.

“Don’t say a word,” Isabel said breathlessly. “Just sit there and watch me. I want to see the love on your face as I undress for you.” She slipped the blouse from her shoulders, and carefully folded it, placing it on the credenza. Isabel wasn’t putting on a show, she wasn’t stripping, she was simply being herself, preparing for her mate. Isabel stood in front of him wearing a sheer baby blue bra, her excitement clearly visible. “Can you see me Sweetie? Can you see everything you want to see?” She reached for the button on the waistband of her shorts. “I want you to see all of me,” she said while opening the waistband.

Alex sat enthralled, watching her. “Every time I see you,” he sighed, “You get more beautiful.” He reached for the buttons on his shirt.

Isabel quickly stepped out of her shorts, reaching for him. She pulled his hands down to his lap. “Sweetie,” she said softly. “I want to unwrap my own presents.” She stepped back and straightened, so that he could see her matching sheer blue panties. “Now is not the time to be polite and look me in the eyes. I’m yours. Don’t be afraid to look at me.”

Alex looked. He couldn’t speak, he couldn’t really smile. He had a look of rapture on his face, as if he could barely believe that the beautiful woman in front of him was truly his.

Isabel’s breath was heaving, preparing her body for whatever exertions her mind could dream up. She ran her hands up and down her body. “What do you want me to take off next?” she panted. “My bra?” she asked as she ran her hand under her cups. “My wet panties?” she whispered as she twisted her leg out and ran her hand up and down the inside of her thigh. “Or maybe you want this?” she purred as she turned away from him. She used both hands to pull up the legs of her panties, exposing the snow white globes of her perfect ass. She turned back to face him. “What do you want?” she asked once again, looking at the bulge in his lap. “It’s obvious that you like something I showed you.”

Alex looked down at his lap and squealed. He reached for a pillow, and covered himself with it.

Isabel looked down and bit her lower lip, clearly disappointed at his reaction.

Alex closed his eyes and hung his head in shame, shaking his head in disbelief as he realized his reaction. He chuckled softly. “I guess that’s pretty silly of me,” he said, tossing pillow onto the floor, “Considering what you’re doing for me.” He stood and held his arms out.

Isabel ran into his arms, and kissed him with an intensity that drew all of the breath out of his chest. She stepped back and began to unbutton his shirt. She kissed his chest as she removed his shirt. She dropped his pants, but had trouble removing his briefs. She had to reach inside of them, untangling him, before she could slide them down his legs. When she finished with him, she stepped back a bit and opened her arms, offering herself to him. “You finish.”

Alex looked at her, his mate. The love in her eyes was so bright that she was practically glowing, and she was offering him everything that he could ever want. He reached for her and gently slid his fingers under the strap of her bra, sliding his fingers up and down slowly.

Isabel watched as a wave of panic slowly washed over his face. “Sweetie? What’s wrong?”

He continued to run his fingertips under the edge of the fabric. “I don’t know how,,,” he whispered.

Isabel poured love and comfort into him. “How can you say that?” She placed her hands gently on his face, and looked into his eyes. “Everything you’ve ever done to me has been wonderful.”

“Izzy,” Alex said with a smile on his face, “You I can figure out. I just find something that pleases you, then I turn up the volume.”

“Then what’s wrong?” she asked tenderly.

“I don’t know how to get this bra off of you,” he said, abashed.

“That’s not a problem Sweetie,” Isabel replied flirtingly with a sense of relief. “I have a whole drawer full of bras, and you can practice taking every one of them off of me.” As she visualized him spending the entire evening undressing her, she felt a wave of passion surge through her body. She could barely believe that this man standing in front of her had survived everything that they had gone through with his innocence intact. Even more unbelievable to her was his decision that he would make his journey of discovery with her.

“Can you help me with this?” he asked softly.

She reached up and kissed him. “Sure Sweetie, I’d love to teach you how to undress me.” She turned in his arms. “It’s a back closure. Do you see the overlap in the middle? Take the two ends and pull them tighter on me until the hooks release.” She tightened her arms against her chest as she felt the band release, and then turned back to face him.

Alex returned his hands to her bra, and as Isabel moved her arms, he slid the straps off her shoulders.

“If you keep looking at my eyes, you’re going miss all the fun.”

Alex looked down and watched as the delicate fabric slid lower, exposing the snow white skin of her breasts to his bulging eyes. Then his mouth fell open in awe as the soft cups hung up for a moment before falling off, revealing her delicate pink tips. “Wow,” he said, breathlessly, “Every time I see more of you, I can’t believe how much more beautiful you get.”

Isabel sighed, barely keeping her emotions under control, “You’ve seen me before.”

“Not like this,” he replied as he, having been trained by the best, folded the bottom band and straps into the cups and placed the still warm garment on her bed. “The first time it was dark out, and then in Texas it was by candlelight.” He reached for one of the hard tips. “I’ve never seen you in the light like this.”

“Sweetie,” Isabel sighed. “I feel all sweaty and salty. Take off my panties so we can wash. I guarantee you, you’ll never forget this shower.”

Alex bent down and took a hold of the sides of the waist band of her panties, but hesitated when he saw how dark they were. “I did this?” he asked. He continued to slide the garment down her silky thighs, the panel sticking to her dripping center.

“You’re the only one who can do that to me,” Isabel gasped as she felt cool air against her naughty place. She leaned forward, placing her hands on his shoulders for support.

Alex almost fainted as Isabel leaned on his shoulders, and helped him remove her panties. It wasn’t that she simply lifted her legs, but the fact that as she did so, she turned her thighs out. Not only did she expose herself to him visually, but her scent almost overwhelmed him.

Isabel looked down at her mate, and taking pity on him, lifted him up and led him to the bathroom.

Alex recovered his sensibilities as Isabel turned on the water. After they climbed into the tub, he stood behind her and washed her hair. When he finished he turned her so that she faced him, and reached for a bar of soap intending to wash her, starting with her face.

“Oh no Sweetie,” Isabel pleaded. “That’s guy soap. You can’t use that on me.” She reached for her bar of Neutrogena, and quickly washed her face.

Despite spending most of his life as a ‘girlfriend,’ he was quickly learning that Isabel took her little feminine quirks to a whole new level. “What do you mean, guy soap?” Alex asked.

Isabel smiled at her mates naivety. “Sweetie. The reason you’re not touching me with your soap is because guys wash their face and their butt with the same bar of soap.” She took his hand, and then reached for her bottle of body wash, squirting some into his hand. “Now rub your hands together.”

Alex looked at the lather in his hands and reached for a facecloth.

“Facecloth?” Isabel panted, “Wouldn’t you rather just feel me up?”

Alex thought this was a great idea, and reached for her breasts.

Isabel was pleasantly surprised that he didn’t waste any time going for her goodies, pleased with his increasing confidence with her. Remembering their first bath together, when Alex was so afraid of her that he used half a bottle of her favorite bubble bath for camouflage, she closed her eyes and let Alex stoke her passions to new heights.

Alex made sure that he cleaned himself enough to meet her standards, while washing every inch of her body at least twice. He didn’t stop even though he ran out of her lotion, reveling in the little sounds she was making. He noticed that her legs were about to collapse, so he turned off the water and quickly wiped the majority of the water from her burning body. He scooped her into his arms, taking a moment to pause and kiss her, before carrying her back to the room. He leaned down and grabbed the coverlet from their bed and dragged it onto the floor.

“The floor?” she gasped.

“Yea,” Alex answered, as excited as a kid in a candy store. “The bed isn’t big enough. I want to watch,” he adds as he lowers her to the spread.

“Watch?” Isabel gasped. “Watch what?”

“You,” he replied, kissing her, working down to her neck and shoulders. “I want to watch when you,,, you know,” as he slowly worked lower.

Isabel was amazed that despite the fact that her mate was about to make her climax, hopefully several times, he could not say the word. But she was aghast at his intentions. “Oh no, Sweetie. You don’t want to do that,” Isabel cautioned. “I’m ugly down there.”

“Ugly,” Alex choked out, “Who the hell told you that? You have been the girl of my dreams since I knew that dreaming about girls was a good thing.”

“Sweetie,” she sighed, “My thighs are fat, my bottom’s too big, and I’m not even going to talk about what goes on down there.”

Alex had kissed his way to the top of her breasts. He stopped to reassure her. “Isabel, I love your legs. After your mind, they’re my favorite part of you. When you’re wearing a short skirt, I can never take my eyes off of you. You’re not a little boy after all, you’re a woman, and you shouldn’t have chicken legs. I love your curves, and as far as your butt goes, I love to reach down and cup your cheeks. I wouldn’t be able to do that if you had a flat butt.”

Isabel started to complain that girls didn’t think about themselves that way, but at that moment he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth and began to nibble on it, ending any coherent thought that she might have.

Isabel had been speaking way too much, which signaled to Alex that he was not giving her enough pleasure. He opened his mouth wider, and increased the amount of suction, drawing more of his mates breast into his mouth, also causing her entire aureole to engorge with her hot blood. Alex listened for her to again make the nonsensical sounds that he loved so much, and as soon as he heard her sounds of ecstasy, he sucked her nipple as hard as he could, while pulling his face away from her chest. This caused her breast to stretch, until it snapped back, violently breaking it’s bond with his mouth. Before her first breast stopped quivering, he had her second deep within his mouth.

Having built Isabel’s passions as high as he could by working on her above the waist, he began to quickly caress his way up her thighs. He timed his advance so that as felt her heat on the back of his hand, he had just finished laving her other nipple. He then continued his kissing journey down to her center. He pushed her thighs apart, spreading her legs as wide a possible. This was the first time he has ever seen anything so wonderful, so beautiful. Despite his growing confidence in their relationship, he still was amazed just how open she was to him, with her life, her heart, and her body. He began to stroke her petals, continuing to build her towards her peak.

Isabel felt the waves crash over her as the earth began to move. She heard a roaring in her ears, as lightning crashed behind her eyelids, but as her climax started to fade, she felt empty inside, as if something was still missing. “I need you Sweetie! I need you to take me, make me your woman forever.”

Alex was lying with his face resting on the inside of her thigh, watching as her entire lower body spasmed and trembled through her climax. “Izzy,” Alex sighed, his resolve slipping.

“Something,” Isabel panted. “Anything, I need more.”

Alex could deny her nothing, so he began to expand his stroking, working his way back to unexplored territory, her opening. He began to stroke her most intimate spot, barely believing how soft she felt. So warm, so moist. He continued, each stroke a little firmer, until her opening yielded to him.

“Yes, more!” Isabel cried out at this new pleasure. Already approaching her next peak, she began to thrust her hips at him, struggling to draw more than just the very end of his fingertip inside of her.

Alex gently probed her, guided by her sounds and motions. He had a new method of giving her pleasure, and as long as her was careful and wasn’t to forceful or went too deep, he intended to take full advantage of his new discovery, and drive her wild. As long as he kept his wits about him, mindful that he was oh so close to her greatest treasure, which he couldn’t hurt, he could take delight in bringing her to ecstasy.

Isabel thrashed her way through her second climax, and gasped for breath as her mate continued his relentless attack on her very existence. She knew he wasn’t finished with her, as he had not yet connected with her. He always did that, during her final peak, caressing her mind and soul as well as her body.

Alex was enraptured. He couldn’t believe how beautiful she was, let alone accept how much pleasure she could take from his fumbling attempts to please her. Not wanting her passion to cool, he slid another finger next to the one already inside of her. Alex heard as well as felt all of the air rush out of her body, quickly followed by her taking a beep breath so she could moan her delight at this expanded and oh so welcomed invasion of her being. She clasped her legs around his hand, only opening them when she brought her own hands down to clasp his and try to thrust his deeper.

Alex was frightened. Isabel was thrashing so much that he was afraid that he would hurt her, and now that she had grasped his hand in both of hers, he knew that he had to do something so that he wouldn’t damage her any more than he already had. In an act of desperation he slid his thumb against her, so he could make sure that her movements did not cause him to go too deep. Unknowingly, he ended up rubbing the pad of his thumb right against her most sensitive button. Once sure of her safety, and realizing that she was already approaching her final peak, he quickly opened their connection.

Isabel removed her hands from Alex, slammed them down onto the floor while grasping a hand full of the coverlet, as she was transported to a place far away. She opened her eyes to find that Alex had her at Frazer Woods, on the soft ground before their stargazing rock. As she up, her vision of the starry sky was quickly filled with the fiery visage of a comet. She quickly realized that the comet was headed right for her, and that there was no way to avoid being struck by it. The comet grew in size as it approached closer and closer. She could feel the heat of it against the tender skin of her heaving body, and her abdomen trembled in resonance with the raw power that it was going to unleash upon impact. The comet struck her, burning it’s way into her core. She screamed her lovers name, certain that the intensity of it’s impact would consume her. Bands of heat and power coursed through her body, overwhelming any one part of her being. She thrust her body into the air, supported only by her arms and legs, trying at the same time to avoid and intensify the effects that the impact was having on her soul. Isabel gasped for breath, her lungs unable to keep up with the demands of her body, as white hot energy blasted up her spine, overloading her brain with pleasure. Isabel gasped as she recovered from the initial impact, but her entire body continued to throb as aftershocks raced through her system. It was minutes later before she began to recover and return to the soft comforter on the floor in the hotel, and her mate’s strong and loving arms.

“No more. I’m too tender,” she gasped.

“Are you sure?” he whispered into her ear. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that I can give you pleasure. I want to do more. I want to make it last all night.”

“Sweetie,” she gasped, resting her head on his shoulder while caressing his chest over his heart with her fingertips, “You need to let me rest. If you touch me there anymore, it will probably hurt.”

Isabel had said the magic word, and Alex knew that he could do no more for her that night. He gently slipped from under her, and then tenderly lifted her.

“What are you doing?” she squealed.

“What?” he asked confused. “Do you think I’m going to let you sleep on the floor after your father was so nice as to get us this wonderful bed?”

As Alex lowered her onto the much softer mattress, Isabel let him have it. “Alex,” Isabel commanded. “I don’t ever want to hear you say the words father and bed in the same sentence ever again. After what you just did to me, I so don’t want to get a mental picture of him right now.”

“Good idea,” he agreed, as he covered her with the still warm coverlet. “I just pictured him in your garage, holding his pruning shears, and giving me the evil eye.”

Isabel snuggled back into his side, exhausted, as she replied, “I only want to see one man tonight,,,” She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder, listening to his heart beat, “That’s you Sweetie. You’re the only man there’s ever going to be for me.”

Alex had every intention of relaxing and watching her sleep, but before too long they were both in the dream realm, back in the desert that they knew and loved so well. Isabel was sitting at Stargazer Rock, her back against Alex’s chest, while his strong arms herd her tightly, while she told him a story about a heavenly body comet that she had recently seen. Alex listened, but wasn’t really paying attention. He had his arms around the only heavenly body he would ever need.

**********
The following morning, the young couple was up early, getting ready for their college interviews. Isabel had all of her emotions fully in check, as she frantically ran through all of the situations and problems that her fertile imagination could throw at her. Her preoccupation did not however, prevent her from noticing the fact that Alex was in obvious discomfort as he crept into the bathroom.

“Izzy,” he said, his back already towards her, “I’m going to go first and take a quick shower.”

“Hang on Sweetie,” Isabel replied, her planning forgotten. “I’ll join you.”

“No!” Alex gasped from behind the now closed bathroom door. “I mean,,, Your interview. You’ll be late. It will only take me a minute.”

Isabel opened their connection, only to find that it was closed at his end. Now she knew something was amiss. She opened the door and walked into the bathroom. The first thing she noticed was that despite the fact that her mate was already in the shower, there was a lack of steam in the air. She pulled back the shower curtain and found him huddling under an icy cold stream of water.

“What’s wrong?” she demanded.

“Nothing,” Alex replied. “I’ll be okay in a minute.”

“Alex,” Isabel barked, steel in her voice. “Turn around! Talk to me! And open our connection! Now!”

Alex slowly turned around, and did the rest that she asked.

“Oh no!” Isabel gasped, as she realized what was making him so uncomfortable. “I’ve been neglecting my Fred way to long,,,”

“You’re Fred?” Alex managed to shiver out. “Is there something new about you that I don’t know about?”

By now Isabel had dropped her clothing and was climbing into the shower with him. “Of course Fred belongs to me. Are you trying to say that I would ever want another?” With a wave from her hand the water was steaming hot, and she could see that he could already feel the heat soak into his body. “Oh Sweetie, I’m so sorry. That must hurt so much.”

“Izzy,” Alex gasped as he felt her soft body against his back. “You don’t have to do,,,” Any protest died on his lips as he felt her soft hand envelop, well almost envelop him.

“Of course I have to,,, I want to,” Isabel whispered into his ear. “I’m your woman, I’m the only one you’ll ever need to go to for pleasure.”

Isabel was mindful of the time, but was confident that she could take care of her mate’s needs and still make her interview. If necessary, they would skip breakfast. Food wasn’t important when Alex was in need. She did however, turn one of his most intensive methods of pleasing her against him. She intensified their connection and pulled out all the stops.

“I am your woman,” she said breathlessly, directly into his mind. “I am the only woman you’re ever going to want, the only woman you’re ever going to need.”

Isabel reached down and continued to stroke him, while her free hand roamed his body. As she did this she rubbed her magnificent breasts against his back and ran the insides of her silky thighs against his legs.

“I’m the only woman for you,” she continued. “I am the one who will make all of your dreams come true. For the rest of our lives together, you will never want for attention, affection or just plain raw sweaty sex. I will do everything you want of me and my body, plus I will do things to you that your innocent mind hasn’t even dreamed of yet.”

Isabel sensed that he was loosing control, so she intensified her grip on him, but she also reached with her free hand to lift and roll his spheres against each other.

Isabel brought up the memory of the past night, and imagined the look on her face and the sounds she had made as Alex had driven her past her peaks of pleasure. She sent these images deep into his mind.

Alex saw and heard his mate at the point of rapture, and couldn’t hold back any longer. He felt an infusion of energy as Isabel sent a charge of power and love through her hands, which pulsed from his manhood, up his spine, and into his brain. He screamed her name as the crest she had been guiding him along broke with an explosion of sea foam and stardust filling his mind, body, and soul with the almost unbelievably intense pureness of her love for him.

Isabel held him, as he recovered from what had to be the most intense experience of his life. She smiled at him as she now understood his willingness and self sacrifice during his acts of pleasing her. While she had always believed that the act of giving was better than the act of receiving, she would never had guessed that the act of pleasing her mate could be, at the same time, so fulfilling.

As Alex came back to Earth, he turned and looked at his mate with panic in his eyes. “Your interview,” he gasped.

“Don’t worry,” she teased. “We still have plenty of time.”

“But,,, That,,,” he stumbled over his words, confused.

“That was only five minutes,” she said laughingly as she stepped out of the tub and reached for a towel. “Yup, five minutes” she said flirtingly. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to your frail human body when I get my hands on you for the entire night,” she added as she leaned into the tub and gave him another towel as well as a kiss on the lips.

“Well,” Alex laughed as he stepped out of the tub as well. “You may not believe it, but you’re going to find that out sooner than you think.”

Instead of rising to the tease, Isabel simply leaned in and gave him another gentle kiss. “I know,” she sighed breathlessly, as she gave Fred a quick yank, just enough to remind Alex who was really in charge.

Continued next

Isabel sat across the desk from her interviewer. So far things were not going well, at least they were not going the way she had expected them to.

“,,,And in seven years when you graduate,,,” the interviewed droned on.

“Seven years?” Isabel bemoaned.

“Yes,” the interviewer insisted. “You still have a year of high school, four years to get your bachelors degree, and then two additional years to get your M.B.A.”

“No,” Isabel explained, now in full ice princess mode. “That just will not be acceptable.”

The interviewer sat back with her hands in her lap and studied the young teen like a piece of meat. “Tell me,” she asked hauntingly. “Where do you expect to be in seven years?”

Isabel looked her right in the eyes. “In seven years I will be married. I will be making a pleasant home for my husband. I will have my M.B.A. I will be the C.F.O. of Aries Technologies. We will be millionaires. I don’t know if we will have children at that point, but if we do I will be more than happy to take care of them. That’s where I will be in seven years, and more importantly, that’s where my boyfriend will be in seven years.”

“That’s totally unrealistic,,,” the interviewer rebutted.

“I usually get what I want,” Isabel replied dismissively.

“And how do you think you’re going to get there?’ the interviewer demanded, leaning forward with her now crossed arms on her desk.

“Simple,” Isabel replied confidently. “First things first, I’ve already found my future husband, and we’ve already started our own company. As for schooling, I’ve already received all of the credits I need to graduate high school. For my senior year, I’ve enrolled in AP and college level classes, and I’m even taking several night classes at Roswell Community College. I plan to enter college ready to start my sophomore year, and I plan to have my bachelors degree in three to three and a half years. I will have my M.B.A. in just under five years.”

Listen, you’re a smart kid. I like you,” the interviewed continued condescendingly. “But you’ve been a big fish in a small pond for way to long to realize how things work in the real world. This is North Eastern, one of the most prestigious universities in the country. You may think you’re special, but you have to remember that everyone who comes here is special. We only accept the top one percent of graduating seniors for out student body, and we only accept the cream from that small talent pool for our early admissions program. High school, one year. Under graduate degree, four years. Graduate school, two years. You want a family? Fine, you can have it in seven years. To us you’re just another incoming freshman.”

Isabel bristled. No one had ever tried to put her in her place like this before. She looked at the interviewer, her dismay visible on her face. Isabel reached for her floating heart. She ran it back and forth along it’s chain, taking comfort from it, drawing energy from her soul mate who had given it to her, that wonderful day after Prom.

The interviewer continued, her voice softer. “This is a decision you must make for yourself, but you don’t have to do it right now. You’re going to have to do a lot of thinking about your plans and your priorities. Are you willing to attend a high profile university? Are you willing to come here with a single minded sense of purpose to excel in this environment, or are you looking for a more well rounded life at a less demanding college?”

Isabel stood and thanked the woman for her time.

“Sweetie?” she asked.

“I’m right outside in the courtyard,” he replied.

“Good,” she sighed. “I need you.”

**********
Alex hadn’t slept well, something was upsetting Isabel, and although she hadn’t chosen to talk to him yet, her unease was seeping through their connection. Another sign of her upset was that she had come to bed wearing a sweatshirt and sweatpants, only to lay stiffly on her side of the bed. Later that night he was awoken by a vague sense of unease coming through their connection. The first thing he realized was that Isabel was not with him, but before he could move, he recognized her voice from the bathroom. He realized that she was talking softly on her cell. He couldn’t quite make out the words, but he could hear the despair in her voice.

“I know that Mom,” she said quietly. “But I have our whole life planned out, and one interview just ruined it.”

“Oh really?” Diane challenged, realizing that her daughters emotions were starting to spiral out of control. “This one interviewer ruined your plans and then destroyed your life? She must be superwoman if she could do all that in just one afternoon.”

“Mom!” Isabel snapped. “You’re not helping.”

“No?” Diane asked innocently. “Well let me try. You want to love Alex, get an education, build your company, and have a good life. Everything else is just a collection of little stuff, and you want to know something? You can’t sweat the little stuff.”

“Where we go to college is not ‘little stuff’ Mom,” Isabel rebutted icily.

Diane laughed softly. “Iz, when you’re married and dropping off your children at day care before going to meet a client, I assure you, no one will ask where you got your MBA.”

“Maybe,,,” Isabel agreed, hope in he voice.

“What’s more important to me is the fact that you haven’t talked to Alex about this,” Diane stated.

“How do you know,,,” Isabel hesitated. “Alex is looking forward to going to M.I.T. so much,,, I don’t want to disappoint him.”

“Isabel, times like this aren’t when you keep things from him,” Diane enjoined. “Now is when you lean on each other. You’ll be amazed at how light a burden can be when you share it. I would of thought you learned that lesson these past couple of months.”

“Mom,” Isabel moaned.

“Let me talk to him,” Diane commanded.

“Mom!” Isabel complained. “Alex is sleeping, and don’t you dare tell him what happened.”

“He’s not sleeping,” Diane replied confidently. “Not if you’re upset. Put him on the phone.”

Alex heard Isabel state that he was sleeping, so he sat up in bed, waiting for her to notice him.

Isabel stuck her head into the room. “Yea Mom, he’s sitting up, waiting for me.” She slowly walked into the room and sat besides Alex. “Mom wants to talk to you,” she explained, handing him the phone.

“Yes, Mrs. Evans,” Alex said politely, as he wrapped his arm around Isabel, pulled her close, and kissed her on the cheek.

“Alex,” Diane said kindly. “I’m going to share a secret about Isabel.”

“Really?” he replied, turning slightly too look at Isabel fully, while responding to her mother, “I’d love to hear a secret about her.”

“Look in her bag,” Diane explained, “And you’ll probably find a jar of Vic’s Vapor Rub.”

“Vic’s?” Alex asked. “The stuff we put under our nose when we have a cold?”

“Yea,” Diane agreed. “She likes the feel of it against her skin. It tingles. I’ve seen her rub it on her hands, and even on her face every so often. Now, do I have to say anything else?”

“No Ma’am,” Alex replied. “I know what to do from here.”

He hung up the phone, and turned towards his mate. “Having trouble sleeping?” he asked softly.

“Alex,” Isabel sighed, “I’m not in the mood.”

“Good,” Alex commanded with a smile. “Then turn around and put your hair up.”

“What part of ‘I’m not in the mood’ don’t you understand?” Isabel stated irritated.

“What I understand,” Alex said patiently, “Is that if you’re not in the mood, you need a neck rub.”

“Alex,,,” Isabel warned.

“Well, if you don’t want a neck rub,” Alex cajoled, “Just lie down and go back to sleep. You won’t even notice me.”

Isabel took him up on his offer and lie on her stomach.

Alex began rubbing her neck. He went down the sides of her neck, massaging the muscles, and then back up the center, caressing her spine. He tried to move out to her shoulders, but she slapped his hands away when he went to reach inside of her sweatshirt. Alex just smiled, and took the interruption as an excuse to get the jar of Vic’s. He smeared a line of the thick lotion down the back of her neck, covering her spine. He used his fingertips to feather the lotion down the sides of her neck, then began to rub it in. He could feel the menthol tingle his fingertips.

“Oh God, Sweetie!” Isabel moaned. “That feels wonderful.”

“Really?” Alex teased. “To bad I can only reach a bit of your neck.”

Isabel reached back, and with a wave of her hand, dissolved her sweat shirt and pants. She was left wearing a pair of plain white bikini panties. She turned to face him, laying her face on her pillow. Then she swept her arms up, wrapping them around the pillow, but also exposing the sides of her breasts. “Don’t ever stop,” she sighed.

“White cotton?” Alex teased, as he ran a line of lotion down the length of her spine.

“They’re every day panties, plain and comfortable.” She moved her hand towards them. “You weren’t supposed to see me in them.”

Alex blocked her hand. “Izzy,” he pleaded. “This isn’t about getting you naked, this is about getting you relaxed.” Having spread the lotion the length of her spine, he began to spread it out to the sides, beginning one of his special back rubs. Alex took his time, and as he felt her relax, he reveled in the fact that he was able to do something so special for her. Having finished the first pass, he returned to her neck and began again. This time he added his own special ingredient. As he was caressing her flawless skin, he opened their connection, and sent all of his love to her through his fingertips.

Isabel was literally melting. She loved intense feeling of the Vic’s, the menthol in the lotion practically burning her skin, a sensation that wasn’t lost in the bland vanilla existence that was her daily life. But that was nothing compared to the way she felt once Alex had opened their connection. Her bones dissolved into goo, and she decided on the spot that she wasn’t going to move away from his touch for the rest of her life.

“Izzy,” Alex asked softly. “Are you asleep?”

Isabel didn’t have enough energy left in her body, so she figured she would play asleep. Actually it would have been more accurate if she had played dead.

I have a confession to make, and it will be easier if you’re asleep.” he continued. “My interview didn’t go quite the way I thought it was going to. I mean, the computer stuff went great, but towards the end of the interview they invited me to help work on this robot they’re building for a competition, and when I declined, saying you were here with me, they looked at me like I was some kind of freak. They talked about living in dorms, and working on programming for days at a time, while I was talking about living off campus with you and maybe Liz and a couple of our friends.”

Alex sighed and sat next to her on the bed, not realizing that she sat up also. He continued as she pulled him into a comforting embrace. “I’m just not willing to pay the price that are asking for me to go to school here. I don’t want to be the computer nerd anymore, I’m not willing to give you up. I know you had this all planned out, I’m sorry I disappointed you, I’m sorry I failed,,,”

Isabel reacted instantly. She took his face in her hands, and turned him to face her. “Don’t you ever say that!” she exclaimed. “Don’t you ever think that you have failed me because of something as petty as a plan that doesn’t work out.” She opened their connection as wide as she could and poured every ounce of love and affection that she could into his being. “Boston is nothing more than an idea. You were thinking of going to school here, and I was thinking about how I could be here with you. Do you hear me Sweetie? The operative phrase here is ‘with you.’ Nothing else matters. Nothing! This whole trip was to check the place out, to see if the idea was viable, nothing more. Boston is a great city to visit, but if they won’t take us on our terms, to hell with them.”

Alex didn’t so much as glance at the nearly naked beauty sitting next to him, her delicate rose tipped breasts heaving with the intensity of her emotions. He only saw her eyes, the windows to her soul. He returned her look, with an intensity of his own. “Izzy, I don’t need the best school, I don’t want to be the top of my class. I did, once, before we got together and I realized what really mattered to me. I’ll settle for an A-minus on my homework, if it means I can spend time with you,”

“Sweetie,” Isabel said softly, looking down shyly and moving one of her hands to his chest, over his heart, I have a confession to make also.”

Alex kissed the top of her forehead, and sent tenderness and understanding through their connection, signaling her to continue.

“I love coming here with you,,, to visit,,, for this trip,” she explained hesitantly. “But I don’t know if I could ever live here. It’s so far from home, so different. There are so many trees here. In the desert you can see for miles, here all you can see is trees, I feel so closed in. You can’t see the stars at night, but mostly I think of how long it took and how much money it cost to get here.”

“Izzy,” Alex added. “Do you remember when I was telling you about moving so often while I was growing up? How Jesse thrived on the constant moving and meeting new people, all the while I hated it? I’ve been thinking that too. If we went to school here, we would be lucky to get home once a year. I’m not ready for that, to spend Christmas away from our families.” He raised her head so he could look in her eyes. “Maybe we need to look at,,,”

“Somewhere closer to home?” she continued. “Maybe Las Cruces, or Albuquerque?”

“Maybe,” he replied. “We can start looking when we get back.”

“I’m glad we talked this out,“ Isabel said with a smile. “I mean, we’ve been accepted by two of the top schools in the country, how hard can it be to get into our own state university.”

Alex felt on top of the world, having made her feel better, but as he pulled her in for a nice tight hug, he felt her tense up. He also felt a wave of panic flow through their connection followed by what,,, pain?

“Ow,,, ow,,, ow,,,” Isabel exclaimed as she bolted upright, her hand on her ass. She hopped around for a moment while Alex tried to ask her what the problem was.

Isabel’s eyes started to tear as she tore her panties off. “It’s the Vic’s.” She began to swipe at her rear end with the remains of the garment. “It melted and ran down the crack of my ass.” She continued to hop around the room in obvious pain.

Alex took command of the situation and guided her into the bathroom. He reached into the tub and turned on the shower, and while he waited a moment for the water to warm up, he stripped off his own PJ’s. He practically lifted Isabel into the tub, and began to wash the remains of the lotion from her body.

Isabel bent at the waist, and spread her legs as far as the tub allowed. “Forget my back,” she whined, “It’s my ass, you need to wash my ass.”

Alex knelt down behind her and was mesmerized. Having spent the past hour nearly naked receiving the back rub of a lifetime, followed by an intimate connection with her one and only, she was quite aroused. Alex was still a teenaged boy after all, and the sight of her, all puffed and juicy just inches in front of him, let alone her scent, was driving him to distraction.

“Sweetie!” Isabel wailed. “Wash me!”

Alex snapped out of his revel and reached for a washcloth and soap. He began to tenderly clean her.

“No Sweetie, wipe uphill,” Isabel pleaded. “Don’t get any of it on my cunnie, it burns.”

Alex continued to groom his mate until he could feel her relax, at which time he moved his attention further south. He discarded the course cloth, and used his fingertips to gently stroke her soft petals. He heard her breathing change, and could feel her heat against his face.

Isabel took a deep breath and hung onto the edge of the tub with both hands. She realized that Alex would only need a moment to bring her over the top. He was the only one who ever had that effect on her. During all the time she wasted dating other men, she never, not once, so much as wanted to try to get physical, yet Alex could make her soak her panties with just a smile.

Alex loved looking at her like this. He could scarcely believe that she would open herself to him like this, that she would deny him nothing. He loved that fact that she had a ‘hair trigger.’ It simply meant that he could give her that much more pleasure. He reached forward and separated the petals covering her center, careful not to touch it. He blew a gentle stream of air on her.

Isabel felt like she had been struck by lightning as her climax overtook her. She moaned and gasped for breath as her entire being shrank to the one spot of her body where she was connected to him. As she rode out her climax, she forced herself to take another breath, as she knew that Alex would momentarily intensify his touch to extend her pleasure. She felt Alex gently touch the inside if her, and here it was, the second wave. The bones in her legs melted as he opened their connection and mingled his soul with hers.

Alex wrapped his arms around her hips and pulled her securely to him, as he felt her begin to fall. He held her steady, as he slowly working his hands up her body as he stood.

Isabel turned and buried her face in his neck, and as she recovered, she began kissing him. “Come on,” she commanded, taking his hand and stepping from the tub.

“What?” he asked, slightly confused.

“You’re going to take me to bed and finish what you started,” she teased, reaching for a towel.

“What’s the towel for?” he asked, getting even more confused.

“How soon you forget,” she taunted. “My new rule I told you about this morning. Whatever you do for me, I do for you.” She looked at him with a sinister gleam in her eyes. “I am going to make you make such a big mess,,,”


Later, when they had sated themselves, or more accurately, when each had pleasured the other to exhaustion, Isabel was burrowing into Alex’s side, trying to get close to him. “Sweetie,” she sighed. “You’re unbelievable.”

Alex’s chest puffed out at the praise.

“Your backrub was out of the world,” Isabel gushed. “I want one like that every night for the rest of my life?”

“Out of the world?” Alex gasped. “I almost killed you. I’ll never do that again.”

Isabel rolled away from his side and scooted up so she could look him in the face. “Alex,” she rebutted laughingly. “You didn’t ‘almost kill me,’ it stung a bit. And now we know where not to let the lotion go. Besides, tonight turned out pretty good, don’t you think?”

“The fact that tonight turned out to be wonderful,” Alex explained patiently, “Doesn’t excuse the fact that I hurt you. I love you more than life itself, and I will never do anything to hurt you.”

“Then we’re going to have a problem Sweetie,” Isabel said flirtingly. “Because when you’re finally ready, or when I succeed in seducing you, or when I get frustrated, tie you to the bed and climb on top of you, I’m going to feel it. You’re going to take me, it’s going to hurt, and I’m going to remember that moment for the rest of my life, because that will be the moment you make me a woman.”

“Then it will never happen,” Alex said softly, yet with distress. “I’ll die a virgin before I would do anything that could hurt you.”

Isabel settled back on his shoulder. “Sweetie, you’re one in a million,” she said laughingly.

“Hugh?” Alex asked, confused.

“I’m a patient girl, and I’ll wait until you’re ready” she said while scratching his chest with her perfectly manicured nails, “But you’re not going to deny me my nookie. You are the keeper of the only goodies I am ever going to get to play with, and I have a void in me that only you can fill.”

“Great,” Alex replied. “Then you can use your powers to make sure you don’t get hurt, or we’ll talk to Max about some special healing,,,”

Isabel choked up laughing, which Alex thought did wonderful things to her breasts, since she was lying next to him totally naked. “Yea, sure!” she coughed out. “Lets go find Max and ask him to help you by making my deflowering painless.” She slapped his shoulder. “After Max gets done with you, I don’t think I could save you even with Ava’s help.”

“There has to be a way,” Alex sighed.

“Alex,” Isabel said so softly he could barely hear her. “It’s a perfectly natural process. I promise you, when you’re ready, I’ll get you so horny you won’t be able to think about anything but taking me. Then a little prick, and I’ll be your woman forever.”

“Little prick?” Alex challenged, “Fred would take exception to that.”

Isabel laughed. “I didn’t mean your,,, I meant that I would feel,,, Oh, never mind.” She reached down and took a hold of Fred. “Sorry, no offence.” Her eyebrows shot up as Fred took notice of the attention, “Oh Fred!” Isabel teased. “Again?”

**********
The following morning, Isabel didn’t question Alex as they continued driving North, deeper into the White Mountains of New Hampshire, but she squealed with delight when they pulled into the parking lot of Santa’s Village. “How did you find this place?” she asked.

“I saw it on the History Channel about a year ago,” he answered proudly. “They were doing a story on roadside tourist attractions, and the first thing I thought of was to bring you here.”

“This is going to be so much fun,” Isabel gushed enthusiastically.


Less than an hour later they were back on the highway headed south. “I can’t believe you got us thrown out of Santa’s Village,” Alex bemoaned, visibly irritated.

“Alex,” she pleaded, “It wasn’t my fault.”

“Not your fault?” he snapped, “You made Snowflake and Candy Cane cry.”

“Now I can explain that,” Isabel stated, switching into damage control mode. “Everyone knows that Elves wear red and white stripped stockings and those Arabic looking slippers with bells on them. These elves were wearing pantyhose, one leg red and one green,,, and white tennies Alex. They were wearing tennis shoes,,,”

Well how about Santa?” Alex continued. “You made him quit!”

“He was wearing corduroy,” the young Christmas terrorist continued. “Everyone knows that Santa wears red velvet.”

“Izzy,” Alex explained patiently. “Santa must have several hundred kids climb up onto his lap every day. Do you know how long velvet would last? Let alone how hot it would be?”

“Well if they’re going to portray Christmas, they should do it right,” Isabel declared in a huff, slamming back into the seat and crossing her hands over her chest. “The children deserve better.”

“Isabel Amanda Evans,” Alex practically shouted. “The kids were alright! At least until you started rearranging the trees. That’s when they started throwing clumps of fake snow at us.”

Isabel just looked at him, pouted at his lack of support, and then slammed back into the seat a second time.

“I got slapped by one of the moms, and that little kid with the Santa hat kept trying to bite my leg. It’s a wonder we got out of there in one piece,” he concluded.

“I’m just glad we got out of there before any more of my childhood dreams were shattered,” she sighed.

“I’m just glad we got out of there before the State Police showed up,” Alex muttered under his breath.

“What did you say?” she demanded, perking right up.

“Nothing Sweetheart,” he replied. Thinking fast he reached behind his seat. “I got you something.”

“I don’t want anything from that place,” she spat out, continuing to pout, but now watching him carefully. “What did you get me?” she asked when he didn’t volunteer any details.

“I got you something that my mom always had in the house during the holidays, no matter where we were,” he said proudly.

“Well,” Isabel hesitated. “Maybe if it’s something your mom would like,,,” she let her voice trail off hopefully.

Alex smiled and handed her the bag.

Isabel, having forgotten her disgrace, tore into the bag. “Ribbon candy!”

“Be careful,” Alex cautioned. “Don’t open it now, in this heat it will stick to everything.”

Isabel totally ignored his warning. “I’ve got to make sure they gave you the right ones,” she declared, opening the box. “Lets see, I’ve got green and white, red and green, gold with red and green stripes, and my favorite, red and white.” She broke off a piece of the red and white candy and popped it into her mouth. “Peppermint!” she exclaimed happily.

Alex just smiled, her happiness cheering him better that she would ever know.

**********
That evening, after a delightful meal at the No Name Restaurant, Alex helped Isabel from the cab in front of the hotel. But instead of leading her inside, he took her hand and guided her across the street.

“Where are you taking me?” Isabel teasingly demanded. “I was hoping you would drag me up to our room by my hair and have your way with me,” she added hopefully.

“To a show,” Alex replied casually, at least outwardly ignoring her banter.. “I saw a poster for it while we were in Vegas, and looked it up on the internet. Turns out they are also playing here in Boston, so I ordered tickets.”

“Oh goodie,” Isabel gushed. “I’ve never been to a show,,, What are we going to see,,, Is it anyone I know?”

“No Izzy,” Alex laughed, her excitement infecting him as well. “We’re going to see Blue Man Group. I doubt you’ve ever heard of them.”

“You mean the guys who do the Pentium advertisements?” Isabel queried.

“Yes,” he answered. “I forgot about the commercials,” he continued.

“This is going to be so much fun,” Isabel raved, practically skipping along the sidewalk. “My first show, then you’re going to drag me back to the hotel and have your way with me.”

“I’m so happy to see you like this,” Alex commented as they approached the end of the line outside of the Charles Street Playhouse.

“Like what?” Isabel replied, hopping up and down in place.

“You’ve been especially frisky the past couple of days,” Alex observed. “You seem so happy with everything we do. You’re taking so much pleasure in such little things.”

“Look around me Sweetie,” she gushed as she let go of his hand and pirouetted in the middle of the line, attracting the attention of several of the theatre goers. “No one knows me here. I don’t have to be the class princess, I don’t need to get perfect grades, I don’t need to hide. All of that’s waiting for me tomorrow, so tonight I just want to have fun.”


They looked around the crowded theatre, realizing that it was much smaller than it looked from the outside. Although small, the place had an intimate feel to it, and the audience felt like a coiled spring, pulsing with energy, waiting for something to happen. Alex had secured excellent seats, center stage, just a couple of rows back.

The lights dimmed as the theatre was filled with sound as the band started to play. They were situated in a box, above and to the right of the stage. The members of the band, as well as their instruments were covered with brightly painted designs, which glowed in the black light.

The band increased their tempo, building to a crescendo, at which point more lights and sound assailed the young couples senses. On the left of the stage three men appeared. They were covered from head to foot in dark clothing, and their faces and shaven heads were covered with what appeared to be bright blue paint. They were furiously pounding on three large kettle drums in sync with the band.

Isabel stole a quick look at Alex, who was drinking the experience with all of his senses. The sounds were so loud they could feel it in their chest. The music, which was more like a collection of dance rips than a song, was so inviting, that they both had trouble staying still in their seats.

One of the Blue Men began to pour brightly colored paint onto the drums, while the others continued playing. The paint splashed, only to be caught by a series of strobe lights, freezing the droplets in mid flight. The band and the drummers continued their assault on the audience, the music and the visual display building in intensity until with a crash, they ended the first set.


Later in the show, Isabel watched amazed as the Blue men played with Jell-O. The gelatin had been formed in a large mold similar to what would be seen at a wedding reception, only this Jell-O was bright orange and lit from below. The Blue Men assaulted the glistening mound with sounds, and beat the table with their drum sticks, causing the Jell-O to quiver delightfully. Without warning, one of the men slapped the table, releasing a secret catch, and launching the confection at the audience.

Isabel screamed, realizing that the sticky mess was headed right for her. Her enhanced reflexes allowed her to get her hands up in front of her, where she instinctively fired a defensive burst of energy to protect her mate. Luckily the beam was invisible, but the effect was seen by all. The Jell-O mould exploded in mid air, showering the audience with goo.

“Oh my God!” Isabel screamed through their connection. “What did I do?”

“Alex looked around carefully. “Don’t worry,” he said reassuringly “No one saw anything. For all they know, it was part of the act.”

“You don’t understand Sweetie,” Isabel bemoaned, “I just used my powers in public.”

“So what?” he replied calmly. “We’re in Massachusetts. No one here has an alien mind set, no one will suspect that you’re from another planet.”

Isabel began to calm down as she realized that no one was screaming and pointing at her. “You’re probably right,” she quipped. “They’ll probably say that I’m from Salem and burn me as a witch.”

Alex raised their clasped hands and kissed the back of hers as the next act started.


As they left the theatre, Alex dropped a folded bill into the AIDS donation bucket, before turning to Isabel. “Do you want to back to the hotel?” he probed softly. “Or would you rather stay out?”

“Sweetie,” Isabel quipped, slipping her hand into his. “We’re too young to go back to the room this early, and there’s nothing waiting for us at home but a lot of work. If you know of something we can do to have a last night of fun, let’s go for it. As far as I’m concerned, we can party all night and sleep on the plane.”

“Okay then,” he replied with a smile, leading her up Warrington street, “You’re the one with the maps memorized, lead on to the Revere Beach T stop.” (The “T”, or MBTA, Boston’s subway system.)

Isabel laughed, and led him in a quick about face. “Revere Beach, well lets go down to the Commons and catch the Green line.”


Although the North Shore was slowly being taken over by condominiums, Alex and Isabel were able to spend the rest of the evening enjoying the attractions at the beach. They made their way along the strip, ending up at a pavilion, and dancing the night away. When the dance hall closed, they made their way back to the T stop, where they made a chilling discovery.

“Sweetie?” Isabel asked softly, “What time is it?”

“A little after Two. Why?” he asked.

“It says here that the last train to Boston leaves at twelve twenty-six,” Isabel replied softly before biting her lip.

Alex quickly read the sign. “There’s a bus at Two!” he exclaimed, pulling out his cell to check the exact time.

“No Sweetie,” Isabel answered. “The bus only runs on Friday and Saturday.” She looked at Alex and laughed, “I think we’re stuck here.”

Alex looked around the utilitarian station. “Well there’s nothing for us here,” he commented, leading her away by their clasped hands. “Let’s go back to the beach.”

“Should we try to get a taxi?” Isabel asked in a voice that indicated that she really didn’t care.

“No,” Alex replied. “After everything we’ve gone through the past several months, I think I can take care of you for one night.” He lifted her hand for a quick kiss. “It’s August after all. It shouldn’t get that cold, and there isn’t a cloud in the sky. Back to the beach?”

The young couple made their way back to the beach. They walked the length of the beach, looking at the older attractions, now closed for the night, and the newer condominiums that were taking over. Eventually they found a quiet portion of the beach, where he thought they could spend the night undisturbed. He grabbed an old newspaper off a bench, and then led her through a break in the sea wall, onto the still warm sand of the beach.

They settled down facing the ocean, invisible to anyone on the other side of the seawall. Alex handed the newspapers to his mate, who changed them to several blankets. Alex placed one on the sand, and then covered themselves with the other. They snuggled together as they watched Venus rise from the ocean.


Isabel awoke to find herself looking into Alex’s blue eyes. “Tell me something,” she said softly. “If I’m the alien, and I’m the one who doesn’t need as much sleep, why am I always catching you watching me when I wake up.”

“As long as you’re beautiful,,,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss the tip of her nose. “And as long as I’m in love with you,,,” he kissed her forehead. “And since both of those statements are going to be true for the rest of my life,,,” he kissed her gently on the mouth. “I’m going to be watching you forever,” he concluded, leaning back against the sea wall. “You’re just going to have to get used to it.” He watched the eastern horizon, which was just starting to turn pink, and lighten up.

“Hey,” Isabel pouted. “I counted four comments but only three kisses. You short changed me.”

Alex laughed and shook his head. “I can never satisfy you, can I?”

“Actually you always satisfy me,” she cooed as she slipped her hand inside of his shirt and rubbed his chest over his heart. “Which only makes me want to give you everything I have. I want to give you my all,” she sighed, snuggling into the side of his neck.

“I know,” Alex agreed. “And I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to us getting there together. But Izzy,” Alex continued as he lifted her chin so he could look her in the eyes. “I can never thank you enough for what you’ve already given me. For this journey that we’re taking together. I can’t tell you how lucky you make me feel, how much fun I’ve been having,,,” his voice softened. “Or how much I love you.”

“Oh Sweetie,” she sighed, burrowing even tighter into his side. “About that,,, about last night,” she said hesitantly.

“What about last night?” Alex asked softly. “I had a wonderful time,” he continued. “It sounds like you’re disappointed.”

“Oh no,” Isabel sighed. “I spoiled it for you.”

“Really?” Alex laughed. “How? We had a great dinner and show. I won my girlfriend a stuffed animal at the arcade, and then I got to hold her in my arms as we danced the night away.”

“When we get home, we have to do the install at Leprino foods, (the Cheese Factory) which is going to take all weekend, and most of next week,” Isabel said softly. “Then with the Max thing starting to settle down and our going back to school, I doubt my parents will let me stay at your house much longer. So last night I denied you the last chance for you to play with me for a while.”

“Izzy,” Alex said slowly, as he again lifted her head. “You don’t think I’m stuck on the physical, do you? I mean,,, well I did really like what we did two nights ago. I especially liked,,,” Alex comment died on his lips.

Now it was Isabel’s turn to tease and laugh. “What?”

Alex just shook his head.

“Sweetie? You’re turning red,” she probed, her insecurity gone. “What about the other night.”

“I,,, ahhmm,,,” Alex stammered.

“Alex, tell me or I’ll go in there and drag it out of you,” she taunted. “What did you do to me while you were down there?”

He just shook his head, but after a moment he held up his two fingers.

“Yea, I know about that,” she said shyly, but as she watched Alex turn his beaming red face away from her she gasped, “There’s more?” She slapped his shoulder, “What did you do?”

Alex bashfully looked at her and quickly stuck out his tongue, licking his two finger tips.

“You tasted me?” she shouted, sitting upright and breaking contact with him in the process.

“Well what did you expect?” he said defensively. “It’s going to happen sooner or later, and I was afraid. I’ve seen what you eat.”

“And?” Isabel looked at him expectantly, holding her breath while thinking of another battery of test that she was taking.

“Hey, I don’t have anything to compare you to,,,” Alex stalled.

“Sweetie,” she pressed. “Yes or no. Will you do it again?”

“Of course I will,” he said with a smile.

Isabel let out a great sigh of relief, and burrowed back into his side.

The sound of a train pulling into the near by station broke into their little world. “Time to go back to the real world,” Isabel sighed.

“No,,,” Alex replied, deep in thought. “Time to go back to Roswell. Our world however, is whatever we choose to make of it.”

**********
Several evenings after returning home, Alex, Isabel, and both sets of parents were sitting down to dinner at the Evans’ home. Once everyone was sitting at the table, Philip looked at his daughter and asked, “So how did it feel to be the big woman on campus for a week?”

“Oh Daddy,” Isabel teased. “I’m still just a little girl. I’m totally frustrated because despite my best efforts, Alex still hasn’t made me a woman yet.”

Gloria gasped and turned towards Diane, who commented, “I told you, she’s going to give everyone a heart attack.”

Philip buried his face in his hands as Charles barked, “For Christ sake Alex! Go to your room!”

“Isabel!” Alex cried out. He then turned to face the parents. “Mr. Evans,,, Pops!,,,” continued, exasperated. “What are you hollering at me for? Did you hear what she said? How the hell did I end up in the dog house?”

“Isabel.” Alex slammed through their connection. “I can’t believe you said that,” with a flash of anger. “I can’t believe you would be so disrespectful of your parents.”

“See Sweetie,” Isabel said while trying to flirt as she put a glass of orange soda with just one ice cube in front of him. “It would be so much easier if you just gave me what I wanted,” she continued while looking at him for reassurance.

“Isabel, sit down,” Alex growled. “Go over there, sit down, and be quiet.”

Isabel looked like she had been slapped, but she did as she was told.

Alex continued for their parents sake, but his eyes bored into Isabel, “I feel a need to apologize for my girlfriend. She seems to have forgotten that we’re home now, and that she needs to reign in her sense of humor.”

“Sweetie,,,” Isabel tried to say.

“Pops, Mr. Evans,” Alex sighed. “You both know that I love Isabel more than life itself, and I’m sure you both know by now that I would never do anything to hurt her.”

“Sweetie,” Isabel interrupted again in her most contrite voice. “I’m just teasing.”

Alex gave her a look that showed he had learned every Ice Princess mannerism she had ever pulled on him. She realized with a chill that she had been a very good teacher.

Isabel sunk into her chair with a pout.

Alex faced the adults. “I don’t feel comfortable talking about our private life, but since you were nice enough to let us go on out trip to Boston, I feel a little damage control is in order.”

Alex looked at his mate. “Help me!” he pleaded.

Isabel immediately opened their connection and flooded him with all the love and support that she could summon.

“I’m only going to say this once,” he continued. “We’re both still virgins.”

Alex’s proclamation was met with a collective sigh from all of the adults.

“Now that’s a topic we will not discuss anymore,” he declared. “My future wife, sitting over there, may joke and tease that she isn’t happy with that status,,,”

“Joke!” Isabel barked. “You think I’m joking?”

“But I’ll make her a promise,” Alex looked straight at her with a evil grin. “We’ll finish college, have a long engagement, and then, if she’s very good and very lucky, she may have something to look forward to on our wedding night,,,”

“If you think I’m waiting that long,,,” his mate started to whine.

“Isabel!” Gloria barked.

“Yes Ma’am,” Isabel replied demurely, joining her hands and resting them on the table in front of her. She stole a glance at Alex however; “If you think I’m going to stop trying to get into your pants, you’ve got another thing coming.”

“I’d be disappointed in you if you gave up,” he replied. “You know how much I enjoy your teasing. Besides, it gives me an excuse to tease back.”

Diane looked at Gloria in amazement. “How did you do get her to sit quietly?” she asked softly.

Gloria leaned in and whispered, “One son in high school, one in the Marines, two in the Air Force. I’ve had years of practice, and I can bring them all to their knees whenever I want. After that, Isabel’s no challenge at all.”

Alex looked at the parents. “You all have done a wonderful job of raising us, but as you already realize, if you haven’t taught us to act properly by now it’s probably too late. I hope that we’ll always be able to turn to you for support and council, but we’re going to have to start making some decisions for ourselves. I promise you, we won’t,,, I will not allow us to do anything foolish or rash.”

“Isabel!” Alex snapped next.

“Yes Sweetie,” she replied, with a look of love on her face that practically made it glow.

“As of right now you are going to stop baiting our fathers,” he commanded. “Look at them. Pops looks like he is going to have a stroke, and Dad has gray hair that wasn’t there just a month ago.”

Isabel did not say a word, but her body language, head down with her hands clasped in front of her, convinced some of the adults of her submission to her future husbands wishes.

“And while we’re all being so open and honest,” Alex continued before he lost his nerve, “I need to talk to everyone about our interviews in Boston and where the two of us were thinking about going to school,,,”

Diane turned to Gloria. “My God, I think Alex has tamed her,” she whispered in amazement.

“You may be right,” Gloria agreed, “Do you really think he’s going to be able to hold out until their wedding night?”

Diane laughed softly. “Just look at her, look at her eyes. She can barely restrain herself now. I bet you my secret recipe for green bean surprise that he doesn’t make it home before she jumps him.”

Gloria had a big grin on her face. “I bet she’ll jump him before they get to their car, and Diane, no offence, but you can keep your recipe.”

It’s true that Isabel was barely able to restrain herself from taking her mate right there on the table. Not only had he stepped up and taken charge to fix a sticky situation that she had foolishly stumbled into, but he was also taking charge of her future. Isabel had never been so optimistic about her life as she was right at this moment, and that turned her on so much that she couldn’t sit still. She was afraid that if she could get her hands on her mate, she would do serious damage to his fragile human body. That wouldn’t stop her however. Not only was she sure that he wouldn’t complain, she knew that they also had friends who could heal him after she finished, allowing her to use, abuse, and most importantly please him to her hearts content.

TBC

Love it Love it Love it.

:D AWESOME!

Alex reprimanding Isabel at the dinner table was : :

Gazer Gets the Girl
Part 16 – Back to School
By Stargazer MD

Disclaimer: The characters don’t belong to me. If they did, the show would still be on.
Some text is borrowed from the show, I didn’t treat it any worse than the original
writers.
Summary: A&I fun mostly.
Setting: Summer between S-2 & S-, well we won’t go there.
Category: Alex/Isabel with CC
Rating: Mature

Where were we? Disappointment in Boston leads to new plans and opportunities. But that’s still a year out. Can Isabel hold out? Can Alex hold her off? Does he really want to?

**********
Friday morning Isabel sat with her head against the wall, eyes closed, as she mentally reviewing her to-do list. She felt that they were ready to return to school next week. The server and computer installation at Leprino Foods was complete, and the all parties were happy to find that the change over had gone better than expected. She and Alex had only spent three days on site performing the necessary training and troubleshooting tasks, instead of the entire week as planned.

At Alex’s insistence, after returning from Boston, they had both spent some alone time. He with his band friends, and she with her mom and volunteering at the homeless shelter and with the Red Cross. She had also spent several days shopping, making sure that they both had all of the clothing and supplies they would need for school.

Now there were only three task left. Alex’s doctors appointment, which she mentally checked off, the Labor Day (In the US Labor Day is the first Monday of September, traditionally the last holiday before the start of school) cookout being hosted by Jim and Amy, and one last task that she didn’t even want to think about. Isabel opened her eyes and looked at her mate who was sitting on the cold metal exam table.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Alex quipped.

“I’m thinking about how good you look in a hospital gown,” Isabel replied with a leer.

“I’m thinking that after tearing up another desk clerk, you’re going to get us banned from hospitals,” Alex rebutted.

“Hey,” Isabel pouted. “I wanted to be in here with you. It’s not my fault the doctor hired a timid office assistant. I’m just a high school student after all, why should she be afraid of me?”

“Izzy,” Alex replied laughingly, “The day you are just anything,,,”

His complement was cut off by the arrival of the technician. “Dr. Bashier ordered an E.E.G. (Electro Encephalo Gram, or brain scan) and a chest film,” she stated as she looked at his chart. “It says here that you received a blunt trauma injury to the chest in April, and that you were subsequently see in here in May to rule out a closed head injury as exhibited by syncopal episodes (fainting) and/or memory problems. The City of Roswell wants a final disposition on your medical case so that the insurance claim on your injury can be closed.”

She pulled a wheeled stool in front of Alex and took a seat, efficiently updating his history while taking a brief physical exam. She started by checking his pulse. “Have you had any episodes of dizziness, fainting or memory loss since you were last seen?”

“No,” Alex replied.

The technician quickly took Alex’s blood pressure, then as she performed an eye exam she asked, “Any difficulty breathing or chest pain?”

“No, nothing,” Alex replied. “I haven’t had any medical problems since then.”

“With the exception of two near death experiences at the hands of an alien bitch-whore,” Isabel added.

“I just figured I would leave that out,” Alex quipped.

The technician stood and walked over to the counter. She put the clip board down, and then she unplugged the EEG machine. She rolled it over to where Alex sat. “I’m going to apply several electrodes now,” she explained as she used a tape to measure his head. “I’m measuring you to get the correct placement of the electrodes,” the technician commented as she adjusted the headband. Once she was satisfied with the band, she slipped it over Alex’s head. “I’m sure you remember from last time that we also need to clip an electrode on your earlobes, and then one last grounding electrode on your forehead.”

“What, no bolts in the sides of my neck?” Alex teased, as the technician stepped into the hall to tell the doctor that the test was ready.

Isabel simply looked at the returning technician and shook her head at her mate’s attempt at humor.

“Okay, lets see what’s going on inside there,” the technician commented as she turned on the machine.

“Wow,” Alex teased. “Do you think she’ll be able to use that machine to see my girlfriend nekked?”

“If you let her see me I had better be in a big church wearing a long white gown,” Isabel teased.

The technician shook her head and then bent over the machine. “We’ve got an especially strong signal today,” she said softly as she adjusted several of the controls.

Alex looked over the technician’s shoulder at Isabel, his face full of concern.

Doctor Bashier walked into the room and noticing the look of anxiety on the technicians face, he immediately looked at the instrument. “There’s nothing here but meaningless noise Suzanne,” the doctor commented. “Turn down the gain.”

“I already have the gain set as low as it will go,” the technician stated. “And I already double checked the leads. Nothing’s crossed.”

“Well this can’t right,” Doctor Bashier stated while scratching his head. “There is way to much intensity, and look here,” he added pointing to the display, “There shouldn’t be any signal here at all.”

“Izzy, what’s wrong?” Alex asked, on the border of panic. “Can you see anything from where you are?”

“Wow,” the doctor exclaimed. “Everything just went off the chart!”

“Sweetie! I think they’re picking up our connection!” Isabel shrieked. “They know!”

“There it is again!” the technician said.

“Isabel! Panic,” Alex commanded.

“Yea, I’m trying not to,” she replied.

“No, I mean it. Go off on the Doctor,” he snapped. “Buy me some time to think!”

“What do you mean, off the scale?” Isabel demanded, crowding the medical professionals who were standing around the instrument. “What are you doing to my boyfriend?”

“Miss,” Doctor Bashier said professionally, “Why don’t you step out to the waiting room.”

“And leave you here alone to electrocute Alex?” Isabel gave back as good as she got. “I don’t think so!”

“Izzy! Connect, now!” Alex commanded. “Build a burst.”

Doctor Bashier turned to the technician. “Maybe there’s something wrong with the machine. Maybe the batteries are bad. Plug it back in, let’s switch to line current.”

Isabel opened their connection wide, forcing it to their limits.

“We can’t let them finish this scan,” Alex explained. “I’m going to blow the machine.”

Isabel took a step back, and raised her hands in front of her, seeming upset. “Someone tell me what’s happening.”

Alex looked at the cover to the battery compartment on the front of the machine, and imagined the charging circuit for the internal batteries. As he saw the technician push the plug into the wall, he commanded Isabel, “Fire!” He imagined the hard drive, where his information was stored, “Fire!”

Dr. Bashier leapt back as the machine belched forth a fountain of sparks and smoke.

Alex yelped in surprise and yanked the electrodes from his head. He leapt from the table and in a panic, backed himself against the wall as far away from the machine as possible.

Isabel ran to her mates side, taking him into her arms. “Sweetie, are you alright?”

“I think so,” He replied out loud. “Keep it up, we still need to get out of here.”

Isabel rolled the stool over to where Alex stood. “Here Sweetie. Just sit down a minute.”

Alex slid down the wall, settling on the stool.

Isabel turned on her experience as the Ice Princess, feinting indignation at the hapless medical staff. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you people,” she snapped while reaching for Alex’s clothing.

“Miss,” Dr. Bashier said while shaking his head. “I assure you, nothing like this has ever happened before.”

The technician noticed Isabel helping Alex into his shirt. “You can’t leave yet, we still need to take an x-ray.”

“What are you crazy?” Isabel demanded. “You just tried to lobotomize my boyfriend. Do you think I’m going to give you another chance so you can microwave him?” She turned to Alex. “Here Sweetie, put your pants on.”

Dr. Bashier quickly recovered. “Listen, I realize you’re upset, but you should at least let me perform a brief exam.”

Alex looked at Isabel, who commented, “Nothing invasive.”

Dr. Bashier quickly re-checked Alex’s blood pressure and pulse. He examined his eyes, ears and listened to his breath sounds. While Alex rebuttoned his shirt, the doctor commented, “There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with you, either from before, or as a result of our little incident here.”

Isabel stepped up to Alex, but was disappointed to see that in his confusion he had not buttoned his top button, denying her the comforting ritual of adjusting his collar. Instead she caught him scratching his chest, and slapped his hand away.

Dr. Bashier cut in, “Despite this unfortunate incident, I really think we should reschedule you for these tests. We should really get this claim settled.”

Isabel reached for her purse. She opened it and took out a card, handing it to the doctor. “I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” she explained. “Have the city send a waver to me at this address. Since Alex has felt fine for the past several months, and due to the fact that we also want to put the night of his injury into the past, we’ll stipulate that there is no lingering effects from his injuries.” She turned her back on the doctor, dismissing him. “Come on Sweetie,“ Isabel commanded. “I’ll let you buy me lunch.”

As Dr. Bashier watched the door close behind them before he looked at Isabel’s card. “Oh wonderful!” he exclaimed sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.

“What’s the matter Doctor?” the technician asked, confused.

“Isabel Amanda Evans,” he read. “From the law office of Philip Evans, Esquire.” He kicked the machine, making it fall off the stand onto the floor. “I was so hoping to make it another year without getting sued.”


Isabel realized that Alex was still upset, so she did not object when he opened the passenger door and helped her into the car. She let him drive in silence for several minutes before she said anything. “Sweetie?” she asked tentatively.

Alex reached and took her hand. He lifted it to his mouth and kissed it. Moments later he opened his mouth and drew one of her knuckles in. He bit down gently, holding her finger in place. He then caressed it with his tongue, sending the warmth of his love through their connection. Releasing her, he took a deep breath and continued, “Sweetheart, I love you more that I can ever say.”

“I know,” she answered tentatively, not liking the way this conversation was starting. She clasped his hand in his lap and bit her lower lip while waiting with dread for him to continue.

“In my mind, I’m telling myself that I should be happy,” Alex pondered. “I’m becoming more like you, helping to make you feel less alone. But I guess it will take some getting used to. I’m ashamed to say that finding out that I’m changing is throwing me for a loop.”

“Sweetie,” Isabel said softly, withdrawing into herself. “If it wasn’t for me, none of this would be happening to you,” she whispered, pulling her hand into her own lap.

“Damn it!” Alex shouted. “I was afraid you would think something like that.” He viciously yanked the wheel, skidding the car into a parking lot. He slammed the car into park before it stopped moving, and turned to his mate. “Don’t you ever say that,” he pleaded, taking her face in his hands. “Don’t even think that,” he added, his connection wide open.

“Sweetie,” Isabel said, looking at him with an intensity that burned directly into his soul. “I know in my heart that we belong together. I love you, I know you love me,,,,”

Alex put a finger over her lips, silencing her. “That’s all you need to say,” he replied with a smile on his face. “That’s all that matters.” He reached over and kissed her moist lips. “There is going to be a certain element of danger in our lives, but the degree of danger we face has nothing to do with our relationship.” He reached up and caressed her cheek with his hand. As she leaned her head, trapping his hand between her cheek and shoulder, he continued, “If we had stayed friends I would still die for you. If you lived on the other side of the country, I would still come to you at the first sign of trouble. So lets not have any more talk about how getting close to you puts me in danger, okay?”

“Okay,” Isabel said with a grin on her face. “Take me to the pod chamber.”

“What?” Alex asked, surprised. “How does the pod chamber figure into this?”

“I need some up close and personal time with my boyfriend,” she explained breathlessly.

“Well Mom and Dad aren’t home,” Alex said hopefully. “We can make out on the couch.”

“Sweetie,” she said, her voice full of promise, “What I’m going to do to you I can’t do on your Mom’s couch.”

“Huuummm,” Alex moaned as he slammed the car back into gear.

**********
The young couple never made it to the pod chamber. As with everything in their life, reality took precedence over their personal desires. Lunch time found them with Liz, sitting at a remote table at the taco shack on the edge of the city.

“So they were able to pick up your connection on the EEG?” Liz asked carefully.

“Yes, but no,,, well yes,” Isabel answered, clarifying the issue.

Liz was touched. She had only seen Isabel rattled this badly a couple of times, and every time it had involved Alex.

Alex reached over and touched the top of his mate’s hand, comforting her. He turned to Liz to explain. “The technician knew something was unusual as soon as she hooked me up. They were getting readings that they weren’t expecting. But then when Isabel and I connected and communicated, the instrument went crazy.”

“So the bottom line,” Liz summed up, “Is that they could tell you had changed.” Liz looked down at the table as she lost her appetite.

“Can you help us Liz?” Alex asked softly.

“Of course, anything,” his best friend replied. “But just what do you expect of me?”

‘We need to know just how much I’ve changed,” he answered. “I don’t know who else to turn to.”

Isabel saw Liz raise her eyebrows in confusion and continued, “You were able to tell that Max was different, we need you to check what you can about Alex.”

“Well,” Liz replied, already deep in thought. “I guess we can start with a cheek scraping, and make a slide from a blood sample. I also have a couple of other things we can try.”

“You could do that for us?” Isabel said gratefully.

“Of course I’ll do that. It’s the least I can do,” Liz replied. “It’s lucky for you that I’m a biology major instead of something like a history buff,” she added with a laugh.

“What else can you try?” Alex asked, his curiosity piqued.

“I can run a couple of blood test, red and white cell counts, type and RH factor, hemoglobin, basic things like that,” Liz explained.

“How are you able to do that?” Alex questioned.

“Alex, I’m a biology major,” Liz answered, with a furtive glance to Isabel. “Last year Ms. Hardy set things up at the Blue Blood Pharmacy so that I could order any medical supplies that don’t need a prescription. Besides, if I do some experiments on you it will mean that I can give Fred a break.”

Isabel was able to call on years of practice hiding her feelings, but Alex choked on his soda. “Fred?” he asked, with a slight tinge of red climbing up his neck. “What does this have to do with Fred?”

“Fred was Max’s favorite lab rat last year,” Liz explained. “I don’t think he likes needles.”

“Yea, I can imagine,” Isabel agreed, looking at Alex and laughing softly.

**********
“Well this a welcomed surprise,” Philip said happily. “It’s been months since we all sat down together,” he added while looking around the dinner table at his family. Although Max had not joined them at church this morning, he was home for Sunday dinner.

“Max,” he asked. “What are your plans for this afternoon.”

“I’m going to be at Liz’s this afternoon,” he answered. “She already has her independent studies assignments for her AP biology class, and she wants me to help her study for her first semester exams.”

“Her first semester exams?” Diane asked. “School hasn’t started yet, and she’s already facing finals?”

“Mom,” Isabel answered for her brother. “We’re all trying to get as much college credit as we can this year, so we’re really rushing the courses.”

“So do you have any exams conning up?” Diane asked of her children.

“No Mom,” Max answered. “The classes I’m taking have a more traditional schedule.”

“I’ve only got one more high school class,” Isabel answered. “The rest of my classes will all be AP and college courses. Daddy, you do remember that I start my Business Ethics class at ENMU (Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell) next week. I’ll be out until ten two nights a week until Thanksgiving, (the fourth Thursday in November) and then I’m not sure what our next semester’s schedule will be.”

“Iz,” Philip moaned. “I don’t think I want you out near the airport that late at night.”

“Oh Daddy,” Isabel laughed. “You sound just like Alex,,,” Isabel reached over and covered her fathers hand with her own. “You don’t have to worry about my going out there alone at night anymore, that’s his job now. He’s going with me,” Isabel smiled warmly. “Thursday nights he’s taking a distributed processing lab, and on Tuesday nights he’s teaching a C++ programming language class.”

“Wait a minute,” Diane asked. “Are you saying that Alex, who is a high school student, is teaching a class at the community college?”

“That’s my man,” Isabel replied with pride.

“So what are your plans this afternoon Pumpkin,” Philip asked, headed back to his original question. “I guess you’re going to drag Alex off to terrorize all the clothing stores at the mall?”

“I can’t go clothes shopping Daddy,” Isabel said offhandedly. “I’ve spent everything I’ve budgeted for the month. I have to wait until next month or until we get another job.”

Philip choked on his wine, barely avoiding spraying the table as he gasped, “You what?”

Max and Diane also expressed surprise.

“What?” Isabel demanded, looking around the room. “None of you think I can go a week without shopping?”

“As surprised as I am to hear that you’re not shopping, I’m more concerned about where you’re money is,” her father continued. “I know you just drew your pay from my office and there’s also the matter of a hundred thousand plus dollars in revenue that Aries has generated this summer.”

Max just looked at his mother as he got a shot in at his sister. “Iz not shopping? I don’t know if the local economy will survive the shock.”

“Daddy,” Isabel said commandingly as she reached for the potatoes, “I didn’t say I didn’t have any money, I said I’ve spent all that I budgeted.”

“I’ve never seen you care about a budget before,” Diane quipped.

“Well, before Alex you’ve never seen me plan for my future past next Friday night’s date either,” Isabel responded bluntly. She turned back to her father and continued more softly, “Daddy, I deposited my paycheck into our joint account. It wouldn’t be fair of me to make Alex save all of his money for our future without contributing my wages, would it?”

“You know how I feel about commingling funds,” Philip cautioned.

“You don’t think I have every penny accounted for,” Isabel asked incredulously. “You doubt me?” she continued, her brows rising.

Philip shook his head in happy amazement while Diane watched approvingly.

“How about you and Liz?” Isabel asked, turning towards her brother. “Are the two of you planning for your future yet?”

“I think we are,” he replied unsurely, “But Liz isn’t letting me in on the details yet. We’re going to Jim and Amy’s cookout together tomorrow, and we did have a date last Friday night, but I think I’m still on probation.”

“You and Liz had a fight?” Philip asked, surprised.

“Let’s just say that after this past summer Max has some fences to mend,” Isabel answered for him. “But I’m happy to say that he is well on his way,” she continued, smiling at him. Continuing on she added, “Aries’ finances are in very good condition Daddy, especially since Alex and I aren’t taking any compensation. We’re more than ready to take on any new project that may come up, plus the fact that we have more than enough to take care of ourselves should the need ever arise,” she concluded, the double meaning not lost on anyone.


Meanwhile across town,
Alex finished his dinner and asked to be excused. As soon as he got to his room he enabled his monitor, entered his password into his Blade workstation, and then opened the decryption program.

“I bet you thought I forgot all about you,” he said to the workstation. “I may be running out of ideas, but I haven’t given up,” he added. “I’ll never give up. Not until I give Isabel what she so desperately wants.”

**********
Diane sat down next to her daughter, and continued to watch the partiers in Jim’s back yard. The men were playing basketball, teens against the adults. Diane laughed as she saw Philip try to pull the same tactic here that he did in their driveway at home. His ‘if you can’t beat them, hug them’ trick was slowing Max down, but it was garnering some strange looks from Jim and Jeff.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Diane said softly.

“Oh Mom,” Isabel moaned as she leaned into Diane’s side.

Diane was surprised to find that Isabel was upset, but she automatically slipped into mom mode, pulling her daughter tight into her shoulder. “What’s wrong Honey?” she asked.

“Oh Mom,” Isabel moaned. “I love you and Daddy so much, and I’ve missed living at home,,,”

“But Alex?” Diane asked softly.

Isabel’s face lit up. “I can’t tell you how much I have loved spending the summer with him. It was magical, it just felt so right being with him.”

“Iz,” Diane said consolingly, “Every teenager feels like that,,,”

Isabel turned towards her mother and continued with an intensity that made Diane sit up and take notice. “I don’t think so Mom.” Isabel stopped talking and then looked at Alex.

Diane looked at the players and noticed that Alex was watching them with a look of concern on his face. Suddenly Alex got a goofy grin on his face, failing to notice the basketball that struck him in the chest. He gave Isabel a little wave as the other guys razzed him about his lack of attention to the game.

“He was worried about me,” Isabel explained. I told him I was alright, that I needed to talk to my mom.”

Diane waited for Isabel to continue. When she saw her daughter hesitate, she nodded for her to continue.

“I’m sorry,” Isabel said haltingly. “It’s just that I’ve never had anyone I could talk to about things like this.”

Diane started to say words of understanding but she cut herself off as she saw a single tear slide down Isabel’s cheek.

“Mom, I don’t think anything about Alex and me is anything like a normal teenage love,” she erupted, her words running over each other. She stared at her mom with a look of near panic on her face. “I don’t know how much you want to know.”

“I’m your mom,” Diane explained patiently. “I’d be happiest if you told me everything, but in the meantime, tell me whatever you need to.” Diane looked over to Alex, just in time to watch him perform a perfect slam dunk, at least it would have been if he hadn’t found himself about five feet short of the basket. Looking back she whispered, “Do you think it’s,,,” Diane led her on.

“Otherworldly?” Isabel answered. “Yes! It has to be!” she gushed. “Just compare us to the others. Liz dated Kyle before Max, and Max was happy to settle for nothing more than watching her from afar until the day she was hurt.

“Maria dated a lot of guys, declaring them to be fools and idiots before she found one worthy of her love. Michael would of stayed alone, unhappy but alone, if Maria didn’t go after him.

“Kyle seems happy with Ava now,” she continued, not noticing her mothers confusion. “But he dated every cheerleader in the school before Tess came to town, and he pretty much hated her by the night,,,”

“Now wait,” Diane broke in, holding up her hand. “What’s this about Ava, I’m looking at Tess right now.”

Isabel lowered her head. “No Mom,” she explained softly. “That’s Ava. She’s a clone of Tess who is taking Tess’ place. Tess attacked Alex, and while we were rescuing him, I killed her.”

“What? When did this happen?” Diane demanded.

“Just before the end of school in June, but that’s not the point!” Isabel answered impatiently. “No one has what Alex and I have. Look at Alex,” she continued, “He’s been waiting for me since the fourth grade. He’s never so much as looked at another girl.”

I want to hear all about this attack, but back to you and Alex. I find it hard to believe that he’s never looked at another woman,” Diane protested.

“Mom, while we were in Texas, we saw this girl on the beach,” Isabel went on, smiling at the memory. “She looked at least as good as I did, and she was wearing a lot less than I was. He didn’t even notice her until we pointed her out to him. He only gave her a passing glance and then returned to our conversation. Liz asked him if he thought the girl was hot, and do you know what he said? He said, ‘I don’t know, she’s not Isabel.’ I can’t describe how special I feel knowing that I’m his Isabel,” she added dreamingly.

They both looked over to see that Alex was looking at his feet, while Kyle had his arm around his shoulder lending the dodge ball champion some much needed advice. “I don’t care if he’s the sheriff, he’s on the other team. If he orders you to give him the ball again, don’t! It’s okay to ignore him during the game.”

“Okay Iz,” Diane laughingly replied, “While we’re talking about Tess, I’m going to explain the downside of pointing out women to your boyfriend who look better than you do,,,”

This comment stopped Isabel cold, “Please, as good as,,, maybe,” she said haughtily. “But what I’m saying is that I’m the same way. I’ve known Alex since the fourth grade, and I’ve had feelings for him ever since. But those feelings scared me. I didn’t know who I was or what I was doing here, so the last thing I could do was let him in. So while I dated most of the jocks,,,”

"Did you ever date Kyle?" Diane asked.

"Well, he is on all of the sports teams, and I did date most of the jocks, but after a while I started loosing track of who I had gone out with. So I switched to dating them alphabetically. I never got to the 'V's'."

“So, about Alex,” Diane brought the conversation back to the topic at hand.

Isabel looked at her mother. "I always thought that there would be time for Alex." She struggled to put her feelings into words. "Do you remember how you used to buy Christmas presents while you were on vacation in July?" she asked.

"Yea," Diane answered, confusion in her voice. "What does that have to do with Alex?"

Alex paused in his game and glanced at his mate, a look of concern on his face. Isabel waved him off, giving him a smile.

Isabel looked back to her mom and continued with a tremor in her voice. "You would wrap our presents and hide them on the top shelf of your closet. I used to look at then and know that we would have a wonderful Christmas. No matter what happened the rest of the year, I knew that my present was up there, waiting for me.

"I treated Alex like that. He was the only friend I could count on, who would support me and stick with me no matter what happened. But I couldn't tell him my secret, and then once the secret was out, I still couldn't let him in. So I kept him up on the shelf while I dated a whole bunch of guys that would never mean anything to me. I counted on the fact that our time would come, and that he would still be their waiting for me."

"What happened?" Diane asked softly.

"I almost lost him," Isabel answered, with a shiver coursing through her body.

"At the Kettle's?" Diane asked carefully.

"Mom," Isabel said as she took her hand in hers. "That's the night that I found out I was loosing him, but that’s not how it happened. I heard it in his voice when he called me from the hospital. He had given up on waiting for me. Then Tess attacked him,,,”

“What about this attack?” Diane asked. “What happened?”

“To make a long story short,” the blond warrior replied, “Tess wanted to return to Antar, and she was forcing him to help.”

“Antar?” Diane queried. “That’s your home planet?”

“No Mom,” Isabel declared emphatically. “This is home.” She swept her hand, encompassing the gathering, “This is my family.” She continued softly, “Alex is my home.”

“Tess was forcing Alex to help her,,,” Diane pushed.

Isabel took her floating heart in her hand, and began to run it back and forth on the chain. She paused to watch her mate, who was apparently having a dodge ball flashback. Michael rifled a pass to him, and instead of catching it, Alex jumped to the side and covered his head, allowing the ball to slam into the Jetta.

“Michael! You dog,” they heard Maria shout. “That car is the key to a good relationship with my mom. You did that on purpose.”

“For God sake Alex,” Michael shouted. “Are you trying to get me killed? Not only is Maria within striking distance, but the women who taught her to beat on me is here to give her blow by blow instructions!”

Isabel turned back to Diane. “Tess was pushing him mentally, and she pushed too hard. He collapsed, near death, and we rescued him. I fought Tess while Max healed Alex. As soon as he could stand, Alex stumbled over to support me, and then Tess got in a lucky shot.” Isabel shivered at the memory. “Mom, I was weakened, and unprepared. That shot would of killed me, but Alex stepped in front of me and shielded me. It almost killed him again. That was the third time in a month that I almost lost him.”

Diane was upset to hear that her children had faced such danger alone. “Iz, you have to tell us if something like this happens ever again, but I can’t believe you would ever loose Alex’s love," Diane declared. "I can't believe him being with another woman."

"No Mom," the teen replied chillingly. "I will never have to worry about another woman, but he almost gave up on me. He was ready to spend his life alone."

"Alone?" Diane scoffed disbelieving. "Just look at him. He's devoted to you."

"That's because the moment I realized that I was loosing him, I realized that I couldn’t live without him,” Isabel said with a tear sliding down her cheek, “I resolved right then and there that I would never let a moment go by without letting him know exactly how I felt about him."

"And this is otherworldly because?" Diane asked encouragingly.

"Because we've been the only one that there has ever been for each other," Isabel plead fervently. "Because we have a connection and powers together unlike any of my pod mates. Because when we are together, our powers grow exponentially. Because if we aren't together, it hurts."

“Mom, hang on a moment,” Isabel said as she saw Alex approach the foul line. “Sweetie, let me all the way in. Can you feel me? Just let go.”

“Okay Izzy,” he replied tenderly.

“We’re back at my house and I’m playing one-on-one with Max. He’s being a prick and I want to beat him.” Isabel closed her eyes and imagined herself throwing the perfect bucket.

Swoosh! “Nothing but net!” Alex exclaimed throwing his arms into the air and doing a little happy dance as the other players hooted and hollered.

Kyle reigned in the newest hall-of-famer, and returned him to the foul line for his second free throw. “Hey Izzy, can you give me a hand again?”

“Sure Sweetie,” she replied.

Alex bent his knees, and just as he released the ball, he felt her hand, on Fred. He let loose with a screech that caused every dog on the block to start howling. His left leg kicked up into the air so high that he fell over sideways, causing the basket ball to go crashing through the Valenti’s bathroom window.

“Michael! You rat bastard,” Maria screamed from inside the house, “When I get out of here you’re a dead man.”

“Oh man, Maria!” Michael wailed. “It wasn’t me!” ‘Forget it,’ he decided. “I’ve got to get out of here,” he added as he looked at the cars, remembering that he had arrived with Amy and Maria. “Keys!” he asked in vain of the gathered guest.

“Sorry man,” Max advised. “The Chevelle is blocked in.”

“Kyle!” Michael demanded. “You got an old bike in your garage?”

Isabel turned back to Diane. “It feels so right to be with him, I don’t know what to do, Mom. Maybe I should get a newspaper and check the rental ads, I have to talk to Alex.”

“Has any body got a skateboard?” Michael shouted.

“You’re not getting your own place Isabel,” Diane commanded. “You keep forgetting, you have adults you can turn to. We’ll figure something out.”

**********
Isabel was using every bit of willpower she could muster to keep her tears in check as she emptied her dresser when Gloria walked in and sat on her bed.

Gloria reached into the suitcase and pulled out a black lace garter belt. She looked at the teen with her eyebrows raised.

“Oh please,” Isabel responded with innocent distain. “We live in the middle of a desert. It’s way too hot here for pantyhose, and I’ve only worn stockings twice during the past year, Prom night and my Boston interview. After all it’s not as if I need them.”

Gloria dropped the garter belt, and instead picked up a delicate red gown. She knew she hit pay dirt when she saw Isabel freeze and avert her eyes.

“I Ahhmm,” she gulped, her face turning as red as the gossamer negligee, “I thought I was going to need that in Boston.”

The older and wiser woman gently placed the special garment back onto her bed.

Isabel came back to her senses, and remembering who she was, struggled to contain a surge of irritation. “You know,” she said, a touch of sarcasm in her voice, “This is hard enough to do without your help.”

“Do what?” Gloria asked innocently.

“Pack.” Isabel barked, half way between tears and anger.

“You see, that’s the thing,,,” Gloria replied. “I don’t know why you’re packing.”

“Wh,,, What?” Isabel choked out.

“Oh, Diane didn’t tell you?” Gloria continued looking at the bedroom door where her friend appeared.

Diane joined then on the edge of the bed.

“You didn’t tell her?” Gloria asked with a smile on her face.

“Tell me what?” Isabel asked waiting.

“No, I didn’t tell her, I haven’t seen her since yesterday,” Diane answered with a straight face. “I figured you would tell her.”

“Tell me what?” Isabel asked again, with growing impatience.

“No I didn’t tell her either,” Gloria replied. “At first I figured that I would wait for you, but now she’s packing. She’s probably not interested in what we’re going to tell her.”

“Will someone tell me what the hell’s going on?” Isabel demanded, finally loosing her patience completely.

“Language dear,” Gloria insisted with a smile on her face.

“We have a deal for you,” Diane said looking at her daughter.

Isabel looked at the two women warily, “What kind of deal?”

“Well, we were talking at the cookout yesterday,” Diane explained, indicating Gloria and herself, “And we convinced your father,,,”

“Fathers, actually,” Gloria corrected.

“That’s true,” Diane agreed, looking at the other woman. “I don’t know how,,,”

“Mom,,,” Isabel interrupted.

Diane turned back to Isabel, “We talked to your fathers and convinced them that they were concerned about the fact that you were going out to the airport to take classes two nights a week,,,”

“Mom” Isabel whined as she wrung her hands and pivoted on her hips. “I told you, I took care of that. Alex is going to be with me.”

“Isabel!” Gloria snapped. “You’re not helping your cause here. Now sit down and listen to your mother.”

Isabel flopped down on her chair, confused that she was again loosing control of another conversation.

“Like I was saying,” Diane continued. “Philip and Charles are concerned that you will be doing so much more than just going to high school. With your night classes, and working at the law office and Aries, they want to treat you like an adult, but more importantly they don’t want you running around alone.”

“So what are you telling me?” Isabel asked hopefully.

“What we’re telling you is that as long as the two of you keep acting like adults, we’ll treat you as such,” Diane advised. “You will be allowed to spend two nights a week here, and Alex will be allowed to spend two nights a week as our guest.”

Isabel practically exploded with joy, hugging both women. “I can’t believe you guys!”

“So as I said,” Gloria teased, “Why are you packing? But Isabel,” she added discretely, pointing to the red garment, “You can take that home.”

“Have you told Alex yet?” Isabel queried, hopping up and down.

“Why don’t you go tell him,” Diane advised.

As Isabel ran out of the room screaming, Gloria turned to Diane, “Can I offer you a mug of tea?”

“I’d love one,” she replied following her hostess out of the room. “So Philip agreed to two nights here and two nights at our house. How long do you think that will last before it becomes every night?”

They heard a crash, the sound of Isabel and Alex’s slamming into the refrigerator.

“I think this deal will last about as long as my appliances,” Gloria joked.

**********
Wednesday morning the quiet of the Whitman household didn’t last long. “Mom!” Alex shouted. “Where’s my underwear?”

Gloria stuck her head into his room, while putting in an earring. “I don’t know, I’m not in charge of your underwear.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked, totally panicked. “There’s always a stack of white briefs in my top drawer.”

“Well now you have a fashion coordinator,” Gloria teased. “I doubt if she’s into tightie whities,” she added with a grin. “Not to mention the fact that Isabel’s going to kill you if you pick her up late.”

“Isabel was afraid of something like this,” the tall blond said as she entered the room, “I took his car home last night so I could get here early.” She turned to Alex. “Why aren’t you ready?”

Alex looked at Isabel and felt foolish in his robe. She was dressed in a crisp sapphire blue blouse. It was crafted from a luscious microfibre fabric, styled with long sleeves and a notch collar, and she had an extra button opened. The blouse was tucked perfectly into an elegant cream colored pair of trousers, again in the latest style, sans waistband, with a zipper and tab closure on the side. Below her delicate ankle, which was graced with a delicate gold bracelet, she wore a pair of imported Italian shoes; bone colored low heeled pumps.

Isabel had been blessed with a natural beauty that was timeless, and although Alex loved the way she looked coming out of the shower, her sense of perfection compelled her to maintain her personal standard with the lightest application of cosmetics. On a normal day she wouldn’t allow herself to be seen without having her lips done, with a touch of eyeliner and possibly some shadow. This being the first day of a new school year however, required more. She had chosen a muted red shade of lip gloss, which brought out the subtle application of blush which accentuated her cheek bones. Her eyes had benefited from the usual eyeliner, supplemented with two shades of eye shadow, a pink similar to her blush, over a gentle earth tone, discreetly applied to just the outside corner of her eyes.

Isabel had her hair up, which emphasized the delicate dangling gold chain earrings, and also exposed her delicious neck which she graced with her floating heart on a delicate gold chain. She finished off the look with a perfect French manicure.

“You look incredible,” Alex sighed.

“Thank you Sweetie,” Isabel replied with a smile, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression, but why aren’t you dressed yet?”

“Because I can’t find my Fruit of the Loom’s” Alex complained.

“Alex, I don’t know what I’m going to do about you,” Isabel teased, keeping her irritation in check. “I laid your clothes out last night. Weren’t you listening?”

“But I need undies,,,” Alex said looking in his drawer again.

“Sweetie,” Isabel declared. “If you’re going to be seen with me you’re Blue Light Special days are over.” She held up the clothing she had laid out for him, and lifted a small gray garment off the stack. “Here, put these on, Calvin Klein’s low rise. Get used to them,” she added with a grin.

“Gray?” Alex moaned shaking his head.

“They go with your ensemble, a light blue D’amante dress shirt with a banded collar, and a pair of charcoal Saint John’s Bay pleated trousers,” she teased as she went to the door. “Now get going, or do you want me to stay and help you dress? Maybe you need me to drag you into the bathroom and wash your little tushie?” she teased. “And Sweetie,” she added. “I had better not see you in your Dockers. Wear your Floorshine shoes.”

Gloria came out of her room and followed Isabel down the stairs. “Help him dress? Do you think that would help you get to school on time?” she teased.

Isabel stopped at the bottom of the stairs and turned to face her future mother-in-law, “If I got him out of that robe, do you think we would make it to school at all? You must know me better than that by now,” she replied, barely able to keep a straight face.

Gloria leaned against the back of the sofa.

“Aren’t you going to be late for work?” Isabel asked, surprised.

“Well, I do know you better than that,” the older and wiser woman laughed. “That’s why I’ll just wait until the two of you leave for school.”

**********
Once they arrived at school, the first stop they made was at Isabel’s locker. Alex was holding a now empty Office Max bag, while Isabel carefully installed a text book organizer, her supply of emergency cosmetics, and a hanging mesh bag of shaved cedar potpourri into her locker.

“Hey Vicky,” Alex said, as their mutual friend stopped by.

Isabel turned and greeted her with a smile.

“I wanted thank you for that favor you did,” Vicky said to Isabel politely.

“Oh, that was nothing,” Isabel replied. “As a matter of fact it worked out well for us also.”

Vicky turned her attention to the second half of the couple. “Alex, you’re turning into a sharp dressed man,” she crooned. “I approve.”

“Don’t you think?” Isabel replied. “He’s developing a real sense of style,” Isabel gushed as Alex beamed. “I’m really proud of him,” she concluded.

“Well I have to go,” Vicky said sweetly. “You keep an eye on him, Isabel.”

“I will,” Isabel laughingly replied. “Thank Steve again for me.”

“Steve?” Alex asked as Vicky left for orientation.

“Steve Lydick,” Isabel answered, wrapping her arm around his waist and leading him to their homeroom. “It was his pick-up that I had borrowed the day we moved the network equipment out to Leprino.”

“That was the Lydick (Ford) Lightning?” Alex asked in amazement. “He doesn’t loan that to anyone.”

“He loaned it to me,” she teased. “I had something he wanted.”

“What was that,” Alex asked in awe.

“I hooked him up with Vicky,” Isabel said with a smile.

“And what did you have to give Vickie?” Alex asked cautiously.

“Nothing,” Isabel said with a smile. “She looked Steve up on Lucinda’s crazy kiss critique web site and then she was all for it.”

**********
After homeroom orientation, the young couple got ready to go their separate ways. “Hang on a minute Sweetie,” Isabel commanded. She smoothed his collar and then wiped her hands across his shoulders. “There,” she continued.

Alex raised his eyebrows, questioning the feeling of power across his back.

“Don’t worry,” Isabel said reassuringly. “I can’t have my boyfriend going to gym with a wrinkled shirt.”


Alex arrived at the locker room just before the late bell, quickly changed, and ran out to the gym.

“Whitman,” Coach Clay shouted. “I’m so happy you could join us.” He waved Alex over to where he was standing.

“Oh great,” Alex muttered. Usually the coach would let Alex go a couple of weeks between his special lessons, but it looked like the Coach was already ready to make an example of him.

“Ahhmm, Coach?” Kyle interrupted. “If you’re going to go over a new wrestling hold, I’ll be happy to work on it with you.”

“Naw Valenti,” the coach replied. “I hear tell that Mister Dodge Ball here demonstrated some special moves at the Prom last Spring. I want to see what he got.”

Kyle turned to his buddies. “I have ten dollars on Whitman, and I’ll cover all takers.”

Malamoot looked at Kyle as if he had grown a second head. “Valenti. Did you snort too much incense this summer? I’ll put a hundred on the Coach. After hogging all the action at Prom it’s about time Alice got put back into his place.”

Moments later Kyle had almost four hundred dollars riding on his new friend’s back. He scooted up to the front of the pack, intended to enjoy the show, in addition to his impending good fortune.

The coach never noticed the look on confidence on Alex’s face, or his subtle change in posture as the teen prepared for the attack that he knew was coming.

Coach Clay decided to dispense with any pretence of instruction. He was going to take Alex down, get his laughs, and then send the class out to do laps so he could get back to a Boston Cream doughnut that was waiting in his office. He approached Alex while posturing in front of his squad of jocks.

The coach casually reached out and grabbed Alex by the wrist. Alex stomped forward while twisting his arm towards the coaches thumb, breaking out of the hold. He then pushed the coaches arm to the side, pushing the heavier man off balance. Moments later the coach was stumbling in a different direction, struggling to stay upright.

Coach Clay shook his head, not noticing that a hush had fallen over the gym. Instead he simply turned and went at Alex again, reaching to grab the student by the front of his shirt. Alex side stepped the lunge, stepping to the side so that he was opposite the coaches elbow. Alex grabbed the coaches wrist tightly with both of his hands. Alex raised the coaches wrist head high, forcing the coach’s arm to bend at the elbow, all the while pivoting on the balls of his feet so that he was facing the opposite direction of his instructor. Before the coach could react, Alex took a stomping step forward, all the while holding the coach’s arm rigid. The coach lost his balance, but as he began to fall Alex loosened his hold, insuring that the fall to the mat was as gentle as possible.

Alex hopped up and took several quick steps backwards, removing himself from the danger zone represented by the distance that his opponent could reach. Alex remained alert, not knowing what kind of mood the coach would be in when he stood. Alex hoped that the coach would understand that it was all in fun but feared that the older man, embarrassed and angry, would come up swinging.

The coach rose slowly, but then closed in for more. Not only was Alex quicker, but he also had a clear head. The coach reached for his student, intending to slip his hand under Alex’s shoulder, and pivot him into a half nelson, but before he realized what was happening Alex had lunged with a lightning like stroke, grasping the coaches wrist. Alex hyper flexed the older man’s wrist, and then putting his other hand on the coaches elbow. Alex twisted the coaches arm, forcing it away from his body, at the same time forcing him to bend at the waist. Alex waited until the coach began to loose his balance, then took a quick step backwards, causing the much larger man to stumble forward. As the coach began to fall, Alex stepped in, and swung the coaches arm around behind his back, slamming the coach, face first, into the mat. Alex stepped over the coaches prone body, and knelt across the small of his back, ramming the coached hand up between his shoulder blades.

Alex leaned down, but spoke in a loud voice, “Coach Clay, I took your advice and signed up for some self-defense classes this summer.” He gave the coaches arm another shove, causing the older man to wince, “No hard feelings, right?”

“Ahhmm,” Coach Clay responded.

“Right?” Alex repeated, forcing his arm another three inches higher.

“Yea,” the coach agreed. “No hard feelings.”

Alex released the coach and stood up.

“Whitman,” the coach barked as he rubbed his shoulder, “I’m glad you took my advice and learned how to take care of yourself.”

“Well Coach, it’s like you said,” Alex agreed, letting the older man save face. “I have someone special in my life now,,,” Alex stated flatly as he looked at the assembled jocks, “And I will do anything I need to do in order to protect her.”

“Okay then, take ten laps and then throw some balls around,” the coach instructed before creeping back to his office.


After Alex had showered and changed, he waited for Kyle at the door. When Kyle made his way out of the locker room, Alex found his jock friend to be in an especially good mood. “Kyle,” Alex said, coming in step besides him. “Can I ask you a question?”

Kyle just looked at Alex with a silly grin on his face.

“What’s with that grin?” Alex asked. “Everyone was looking at me funny while I was in the shower.”

“You really don’t know?” Kyle asked in amazement. “Have you had an out of body experience? Wait a minute, don’t answer that.”

“Seriously?” Alex pleaded.

“Alex,” Kyle said teasingly. “You are a marked man. Isabel laid this huge bite mark on your neck, and your back is covered with scratches.”

“What?” Alex asked in amazement.

“Izzy!” Alex probed his mate.

“You’re our hero man, “ Kyle replied, throwing his arm around Alex’s shoulder. “Not only did you melt the Ice Princess, but you seem to have awoken a tiger. I’m so happy for the two of you.”

“Not now Sweetie, I’m busy,” she replied. “I’ll talk to you at lunch.”

“I think I’ll take that in the spirit you offered it,” Alex replied cautiously, “But why didn’t you say something to me in there.”

“Dude, I’m not a homo,” Kyle replied seriously. “The only thing worse than getting caught talking in the showers about something other than telling lies about girls, would be to get caught looking at your back.”

“So no one noticed?” Alex said hopefully.

“That’s right,” Kyle agreed. “Nobody noticed, but it will be all over the school by lunch.”

**********
Isabel headed out to the Quad for lunch, but she stopped at the vending machine to get a bottle of water. As she stood from retrieving the bottle she found Vicky standing in front of her. “Already?” she asked.

“I would say that you have already reached ninety percent coverage,” Vicky said with a smile.

“And?” Isabel pleaded happily, but impatiently.

“My guess is that half the girls, including most of your old friends, hate you because you found a diamond in the rough and took him off the market,” Vicky said indifferently.

Isabel was able to spur Vicky on with nothing more than a dip of her eyebrows.

“And the rest of us range from jealously happy to happy for you because of the whole Cinderella romance thing,” Vicky added, this time with a happy smile.

Isabel put her arm over Vicky’s shoulders and led her out into the Quad. “So tell me what they are saying about Alex.”

“Alex?” Vicky asked, her voice trailing off.

“Out with it Vicky,” Isabel demanded. “Or I’ll tell Steve about how you used to blow milk bubbles through your nose in fifth grade.”

Vicky stopped and turned towards her friend. “Blow it out your ass Isabel. If you rat me out to Steve, I’ll tell Alex about you doing the Alien Bop with Malamoot. You’re talking to one of the few people who know you that think there’s someone real behind your façade.”

Isabel looked at Vicky. “Why does everyone think they can get away with talking to me like that?” she asked with a smile.

Vicky’s smile made her face shine. “If you could see your face right now,,,” She put her arm over Isabel’s shoulder and they continued their journey. “The guys are convinced that Alex is a God.”

“What?” Isabel asked in amazement.

“Alex ruled at the Prom, he took his girlfriend to Boston, he comes back to school a changed man, and he claimed as his own the Elle McPherson of West Roswell High.” She continued softly, “He did, didn’t he?”

“I’ll let you in on a secret,” Isabel said tenderly, “He let me claim him.”

They arrived at Isabel’s table, attracting the attention of the seated friends. Vicky had one last question. “Is there anything you want to have put out there?”

“No, not really,” Isabel replied. “I want them to know we’re together, that I am so proud of Alex, but the rest of it is private.” She paused, “Do you want to join us?”

“No,” Vicky replied, “I’m joining Steve for lunch.”

“You’re sitting at the jock table?” Liz gasped.

“On no,” Vicky replied looking at Isabel. “I learned from the best. He’s moving to my table.”

“Vicky!” Isabel said as their friend started to leave. “On second thought, you can tell my former friends that my nails aren’t just for my boyfriends back.”

“Don’t worry Isabel,” Vicky replied with a laugh. “I think anyone that knows you already realizes that.


As they left the Quad, Alex slipped his hand around Isabel’s waist and guided her back into the building. “Today is the last day we’ll ever be traditional high school students.”

“What do you mean?” Isabel asked with an interested smile.

“Well, think about it,” Alex continued. “Last year we were here Seven Twenty until Two Fifty-Five, Monday through Friday. After we finish orientation this afternoon, we’ll only be here when we have a class scheduled, or when we want to be. I think we need to celebrate.”

“Dinner!” Isabel agreed happily, “Then what?”

“I don’t know,” Alex pondered. “’Ria will think of something, she’s the activities director.”

“Senior Chow’s,” he queried, although with his growing confidence, it wasn’t really a question.

“Kewl,” Isabel replied happily, “Hot mustard, Hong Kong Pork, and sesame oil.”

“Hungry?” he teased.

“Horny,” she whispered. “I haven’t been touched by my boyfriend in almost a week.”

They stopped outside of her AP Calculus classroom. “Well considering our location, let’s look at this analytically. “We have one frustrated girl, one willing guy, two houses, and four parents who have to work tomorrow.”

Isabel raised her eyes to look at him from under her brows while biting her lower lip. “You left out one critical variable in your equation,” Isabel said breathlessly.

“And what’s that?” Alex asked, already knowing the answer.

“Zero. Neither one of us have class tomorrow,” she replied, a look of hunger in her eyes.

“Dinner tonight and naughty time tomorrow. I’m looking forward to that,” he replied with a kiss.

Isabel felt her cell ring. Hoping that she could take the call quickly, she looked at the caller ID. “Aries Technologies, this is Isabel Evans,” she answered.

Alex watched as her eyes closed and she bounced her head back on the wall.

“No problem Mike,” she said efficiently. “Alex and I will be there at Nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”

TBC

I simply loved the parts where Maria was yelling at Michael :
Great update!