Who: Isabel and Max Where: The Prison When: Tonight Warnings: No.
"I am making this happen."
Isabel was glad for her single because if she'd had a bunkmate that person might have thought she was crazy. Then again what was crazy? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If that was the strict definition than someone needed to throw a straight jacket on her right now and lock her up somewhere. It had been over a year since she had last heard from Michael Guerin but that didn't stop her from trying.
Once upon a time, in a place called the Roswell Public Library, Isabel and Michael had stood under the stars and tried to send a message to Nasedo, the only other alien that they knew of at the time. Isabel couldn't understand why Michael needed to find Nasedo so bad. Michael had told her that nobody ever came for him, that he felt alone and Nasedo could be the key to finding out who he was and where he belonged. When Nasedo didn't come, Isabel promised Michael that she would always come for him. Always. And damn it, she had meant it. Max might have an easier time making cold tactical decisions but his sister wasn't so rational. Michael hit her in the heart and every day that he was away was a day she worried more. Of course, she worried for Maria and Kyle too but Michael was family.
She had been pacing her cell for over an hour but finally the clock struck midnight and she thought if there was ever a time to catch Michael sleeping... She walked to her bunk and looked down at the picture of them, the three of them smiling one day over something stupid. God, she missed those days. They had been scared then too but for completely different reasons. What a waste it had been to send the royal family to Earth only to have it be devoured by zombies rather than Kivar.
She concentrated, slipping into the same trance she always went into when she tried to dreamwalk someone. It wasn't an exact science, she had never been able to teach her brother to do it just as he had never been able to teach her to heal. This time she slipped in. She could hardly believe it when she saw the desert background that made her heart long for home. She felt tears in her eyes as she saw Michael and she ran to him, throwing her arms around him and hugging him tightly.
"Is it really you? Is it really really you?" she asked tearfully.
He sighed against her and wrapped his arms around her. "Yeah, Isabel. It's me." He pulled away slightly so he could look into her face. "Are you okay? What about Maxwell?"
"Yes, I'm fine. We're fine. Max is fine. Liz too. Have you seen Maria or Kyle?" she asked him, feeling rushed and slightly giddy at having finally reached him.
"Maria and Kyle are with me. We're back in New Mexico near Albuquerque. There's a group of survivors here we've been trying to help. I've been trying to help. Can't keep those bloodsuckers away, even out in the desert but they're less likely to come out here anyway. Are you staying safe?"
Isabel nodded quickly. "Yes. We found a group of survivors too up in Everett in Washington State. There's so many different kinds of people here. They don't even care that we're aliens. Vampires too. I guess we weren't the only strange ones hiding in plain sight for all these years." She smiled oddly. It made her feel good, accepted, a part of things in the way that Isabel had always wanted to feel. "We can come to you though. Now that we know where you are we can get back to New Mexico. We can go home. Have you been to Roswell. Are my parents okay?"
Michael didn't answer. He didn't have to. She could see it in his eyes and she felt tears stinging her eyes. She knew that the chances weren't good that her parents were okay but she was still holding onto hope. With the look in his eyes, that hope was crushed.
"You shouldn't come here, Isabel. Maybe later but not yet. It's too dangerous out there. It's a long trip from Washington to New Mexico."
"I don't care!" Isabel exclaimed stubbornly. "I told you I would always come for you."
"And you did. Here you are," he said with a sad smile. "But don't come here, Isabel. I'm serious. If you and Max and Liz have found a safe place you should stay there. We're all okay here. I'm taking care of Maria and Kyle. We'll be fine."
She couldn't believe it was the same Michael Guerin standing in front of her. The hot headed crazy man that she and her brother constantly had to babysit for their entire lives. He wasn't that guy anymore, the loose canon, the hot head. He was a grown man who was taking on responsibility. He had matured a lot since Isabel had last seen him last. She knew they had all seen such horrible things that it had aged them all. Isabel sure as hell didn't feel twenty more like a hundred and twenty. She was crying again.
"Don't cry," he whispered as he came closer and dried her tears. "This isn't goodbye. It's just... see you later. It's just for a little while."
She nodded because she couldn't speak through the tears. He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead.
She woke up with a gasp and stared at the ceiling of her cell for a few minutes until she had finished crying every last tear in her body. Once she was finished crying she got up and headed to Max's cell to tell him that Michael was safe.