Chapter Text
Tess made her way outside. Wanting to have one last look at the world she grew up on. To help remember why she was doing this. Why she couldn't give up. Even if everyone else had years ago.
As she stepped outside to see the ruins and fire blazing across the Earth. She could help picture what used to be in it place. A town full of life and normalcy. It was still hard to believe sometime that a little town in the middle of nowhere, had once been a sanctuary to three alien refugees. Once upon a time it would would be hard; if not impossible to picture three being from another planet living there. Having grown up there calling it there home. At a little out of nowhere place. Surrounding by nothing, but desert sand as far as the eye could see. Had become their home, a safe haven for them all. Herself include for a while, until it was ripped away.
Lies and secerts had destroyed them. Broke apart the only family she'd know. The people she was meant to be with, to belong with. Did want or needed her. So, she made a new family. It ache to no fit in with those she'd always been told where hers. Her family.
It wasn't until years later she learned why. Why she always the outcast. Why she never seemed to be able to fit in with those that she was meant to fit in with the most. At first she believe that Liz was the reason. Her and the other humans just couldn't seem to expect her. They wanted her gone and the others seemed to care about their opinion and feelings more than her.
However, as more time passed and the years went by she slowly began to believe it was her. That something about her wasn't right. That maybe the people back home messed up when creating her. That some part of herself was fundamental wrong. It wasn't until she learned about the others. That she began to hope again.
Hope that she finally found the family she'd always longed for. That she finally meet the people she belong with. That Zan, Rath, Lonnie and Ava their other selves could be her home. People just like them, but different.
Only to learn that Zan was dead. That it wasn't an accident like Lonnie and Rath wanted them to believe. That they had murder him. That Ava hadn't been able to do anything, but watch. They wanted to go home.
To stop living on a planet they didn't fit in on. Surrounding by people that would lock them up and experiment on them if they ever realized how different they were. When instead they could be spirited away to a place they belonged. Where they didn't have to hide. Where they weren't treated like trash. They were promised a return trip home. To a place where they were needed, valued, and respect. They saw it as a chance to get back everything they'd lost.
Zan saw it for what it was, a trap. So, he refused. He never thought to explain the reason why. Zan knew there was no going back. That it was to late. That they weren't who they once we're, and that they weren't powerful enough to survive what ever their enemies had in store for them upon their return. They were safer on Earth. He never thought he needed to explain his thoughts or the reasons behind his decision it to the others. He was still the King, their King, but more importantly they were his family. He'd trusted them and that trust had gotten him killed.
Ava was weak. She always had been. Her pod malfunction causing her to be more of a burden than anything else to them. They never felt that instant connection to her like they had each other. Which made them single her out. They were always a little suspicious of her. Which caused them to treat her differently than each other. They cared about her in there own way, but she was never their family.
Ava herself realized early one that she didn't fit with them. That she didn't feel like she belonged. As they grew older it only became more clear that something went wrong with her. That she was different than the others. It caused her to try and force herself to be something she wasn't. To try and fit in. To show them that she belonged, but no matter what she did. She always seemed to fall short were it mattered.
It wasn't until Zan was killed that she knew why. They weren't her family, not really. Max, Isabel, and Michael where the family she belonged with. She could tell the moment she meet them. She felt that connection the others had always talked about.
An for the first time she had hope that she could belong somewhere. With people that wouldn't turn on her at the drop of a hat. Like Rath and Lonnie had with Zan. Expect as she watched they way they acted. The way the treated each other she hesitated. There response to her and the other's. She couldn't blame then for being weary they had alot of enemies after all. It was best to be casious of the unknown.
It was the way they treated Tess most of all that made her realize she was better of on her own. They looked down on her. Treated her like the enemy. Like she could never be anything, but an annoyance that made her realize how similar they were to each other.
It wasn't until her talk with Liz that she could the full picture. It helped make up her mind. She didn't belong there and she never would. Just like her other self they just couldn't seemed to catch a break. Which was why she warned the other about Rath and Lonnie. Not because it was the right thing to do, or that she cared about what happened to Max even though she should. It was the thought of her otherself that caused herself to speak up. They deserved a chance to be live, to be happy.
As she packed up and leave she couldn't help, but glance back and wonder. To wonder if in another life if thing could have been different. If Tess and her had always been were they belonged with this would have been different. Would she bee with Max like in her last life. Would she and Michael be the siblings they were meant to be. Would Isabel have been her best friend. Would Zan be alive. Would Tess successed were she'd failed. An as she locked eyes with her mirror self she knew that she was wondering to.
Tess couldn't help, but compare the Ava she first meet. So, like herself in every way to the only that came back. The one the tricked her and replace her without anyone even noticing. No questioned asked. Ava was more than willing to share how easy it was for her to slide into her place. For the others to expect her in way they never had her.
It killed something in side of her to see the truth so clearly then that she never belonged or matter enough to them. That they couldn't tell that she wasn't herself. That wasn't what hurt the most. It wasn't until they believed that she could kill Alex. The one person other than Kyle that she could call a friend. That she completely broke. It was something she could never forgive. It was more than easy for them to turn on her or who they thought she was.
Tess couldn't help, but thank God every day. A being she didn't even believe in for Larke and Kyle. Larke because he realized almost immediately that she wasn't me. That she wasn't the he'd once been able to call a friend. The woman in front of him wasn't the Queen he'd so long ago swore to protect, but her double instead. He didn't hesitate to try and make contact with the people back on Earth. To find out what happened. An when all he'd gotten were blank looks and uncaring attitudes. He put everything aside and personal made his way towards Earth. A last resort that came into flourishen when the Roswell bunch refused to acknowledge, let alone listen to him.
Kyle never stop wondering. Questioning how the girl he came to view as a sister could do those those things. Kill Alex and mind wiped him. Let alone use the mind wiped to force in him into forget it happen. To make him help get rid of his friends body. Someone he'd know all his life, before then proceeding pretend to mourn him.
That she had the nerve to help him well grieve and move on. None of it made any sense to him. The person he saw admitting to doing those things wasn't the girl he'd come to know and love. The person who stood before him was nothing but a stranger to him. It was only then as she admitted to all of it an more. That he questioned if he'd known her at all. If it all been fact. A lie to get closer to him, to them. Expect as he looked into her eyes as the doors to the chamber closed taking her beyond his reach. He could help but feel as if he was missing something. That things still weren't as they seemed.
Yet, no one else seemed to feel that way. So he keeps his mouth shut and his doubts to himself. Not won't to rock the boat. When all he had was a feeling. It just didn't seem worth it as he watched as the others smile and hugged each other in happiness. Feeling out of place he turned away from the joyish reunion happing in front him to make the long journey home in the dark.
It didn't take much effort on his part to pretend to be find. The other never really paid attention to him in the first place. He didn't have link to them anymore, he never really did. His involvement with the group had only very been accidentally. The circumstances caused them to bring him in once more. An then only when it suited them. When they needed something from him was he called upon.
An now that he and Liz were completely beyond repair. With her being obsessed wit Max Evan. She'd completely changed from the person he used to know. They person he once actually been able to picture have a future with. That person was gone and he'd finally learned to expect that she was never coming back. They'd all change for better or worse. So much had happened over the course of the last few month/years. That none of them were ever going to be. An strangely enough he was okay with that, because he knew the truth. An the truth was he like who he is now a while lot more than he like who he once was.
An now that Tess was gone. The last link keeping him attached to them was gone to. They didn't have a use for him anymore. Their dislike for him had aways been clear. Especially, in the being. He'd thought that it had changed. That they were friend, sort of in their own way. Expect they began to make it crystal clear that they no longer wanted him around. Some more straight forward and blunt (Max/Michael), while other's (Liz) were alot more sutile.
It take him long to realize that now that everything was said and done. That the only reason they keep in around was to keep tabs on Tess. They often used him to manipulate her. Sometime it was obvious what they were doing. What they asked him to do and yet he'd done it aways. Other time he didn't have the full story, but chose to believe that the others knew what they were doing.
It wasn't until recently he realized he'd been mapulated to. That they'd take advantage of his trust and used it against him. It made him question if their behavior isn't what caused Tess to do what she had. If they had made her feel like she needed to beytray them to safe. He knew that didn't make what she'd done right. He'd never be able to forgive what she'd done. What she'd made him do, but he could understand it. Even if it was only a little bit. She did what she did to survive and really any person, any human in her place would have done they exact same them. After all it was only human nature to strive to survive.
It wasn't until months later when Larke showed up on his front porch. That he began regretting his decision to ignore his intuition, because within a few minutes. He'd been able to sort through his memories and pen point exactly when the switch had taken place. The night he'd walked out one her to help Liz.
The night he pretend to sleep with her because she asked him to. She'd told him it was a bad idea. That she should tell her no and stay home. Spend the night with her on the couch and have a movie marathon on instead. She smile up at him. Waiting for him to realize that he should in fact stay home with her.
Only for that smile for vanished moments later, before he even had time to declined. Something on his face had given him away. He remembered her shaking her head sadly at him before whisphering, "This time I won't be the shoulder you cry on. When you realize that she was only using you." Before disappearing up the stairs.
Kyle chose to ignore her and make his way outside. He'd barely even step foot outside the door when he heard the crash from up stairs. He didn't even hesitate to continue on to the car. Having enough of her temper tantrums for the night. He paused once he reached his car, hesitant. A chill running down his spine.
He knew he was being watched his eyes immediately shoot upwards to Tess bedroom window. He could barely makeWmake outsout her figure as hidden by the shadows of her curtains. The one thing her could see with the utmost clarity was her smirk. Which only seemed to fueled him with more rage. It was the final push he needed to sement his decision to leave.
It was that moment that changed everything. He'd been right when it happened. Right outside when she been attack. An he hadn't noticed or cared, because Liz needed him.
It had take them a good three months to track down the place she'd been taken to. An a good two months of which it had taken to convince the others of the truth. An another month of planning on how to get her out. When they finally gotten her out she was nothing more than a shell of herself. She would speak, wat or sleep. They had to force to do the most basic of things. She was dead to the world around her. Content to ignore each and everyone of them like they had her. She couldn't help, but blame them for what had happened to her.
Slowly, but surely she began to put herself back together again. Tess was no longer the girl that craved their approval or affect. That girl had died along time ago. She no longer wanted anything to do with them. So, she asked Larke for a way to leave. No not back to Antar or any place like that. She knew that for the moment she wasn't the Queen the needed or deserved. That going now alone and broken she would only fail them. She just needed get away from all the pain and betrayal of it all.
An so he took her away. Stopping on a planet know for it's healing and wisdom. She spent the next two decades there. Healing, learning, and remembering. She unlocked all of her memories from the life she had before. Learned to heal from the pain and beytrayal of both lives. She learned to forgive and move on, but never to forget. Because she knew if she forgot she'd be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.
It was then that it was determined she was ready to leave and return. No to her beloved Kingdom, but to Earth and the others. It wasn't long ago Larke had been in touch with her. Antar had been lost. Ava and the baby killed in the uprising. Kivar was on his way to rage world on Earth. He'd gotten tired of waiting for them to return and challenge them. An decided to bring the war to them. He wasn't contend to rule over a world they had semenly had chosen to banned. An set his sight on the world they had chosen to live on and call home.
When she'd returned only a year had passing. With graduation right around the corner. The first place she'd gone to was the crash down. Only to learn that Liz was gone and so we're the others. Sherrif Valinte was died, killed. Only a couple days earlier. She hadn't even a clue as to where the others might be, or where to start looking.
A month later the first attack came. It was the dead of night sleeping when the first shots were fired. Most had even realize what was happening.
Tess couldn't stop the tears flowing down her face as she watched as the world she'd come to love and call home burn. Especially, when she knew it was only just the beginning.