#rnm 4x05 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thesquidkid · 2 years

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sometimes, I wish someone out there will find me

Where Alex and Max nearly get actually buried alive, Michael pretty much becomes a radar, and Bonnie is both cute and badass.

Also, please do not forget that this is a happy ending. There is just a little bit more angst before that

(chapters 1 and 2, or read it on ao3) (also this chapter is about 3.5k words, just so you know)

Enjoy! 😁❤️

Chapter 3 - don't know where it goes but it's home to me, and I walk alone

On Alex's wrist, was a mark that Michael was positive he had never seen there before. Moreover, it was a symbol he himself knew very well. He had the same on his right forearm.

The alien symbol.

Michael slowly raised his head, only to see that Alex – or not-Alex as it now seemed – was still smiling softly at him. But this time Michael didn’t smile back, the sense of dread creeping back on him. Just as he was about to open his mouth and say something – he wasn’t sure what he was going to say exactly – someone opened the door to the barn.

“What did you do?” shouted Bonnie, rushing to where Michael and not-Alex were sitting.

Her eyes were fixed on not-Alex, and there was a fire burning in them that Michael hadn’t seen before.

“I said,” she repeated, “What. Did. You. Do.”

Not-Alex put a frown on his face, and looked between Michael and Bonnie, his eyes staying on Bonnie longer.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” he asked politely, and Michael saw through the fake innocence. He saw the anger, and it clicked. The third alien.

What he needed to figure out now was the how. And where Alex was. And then, he would go and rescue him from wherever he was held.

Bonnie then turned to Michael, “This is not your boyfriend, Michael.”

“I know.” he replied, looking at her with a nod. He didn’t dare look at not-Alex, fearing what he might see there.

From the corner of his eyes, Michael saw that not-Alex straightened up, looking and Bonnie, like the two of them were having a silent conversation. It lasted for a few seconds, until Bonnie fell to the ground, passed out.

“Bonnie!” Michael shouted as he saw her head hit the ground.

He turned to not-Alex, despite the dread and fear he felt. “What did you do to her?”

The third alien sighed, “Nothing. For now.”

Not-Alex stood up, the handcuffs falling to the ground as he did so. He then stood in front of Michael, looking at him from above, with a grin on his face.

“Who are you?” Michael asked, feeling his stomach sink. He pressed his fingers in his palms, trying to stay calm, to not overreact and potentially put Alex in more danger.

The third alien’s face changed, from Alex it became a woman with dark hair Michael had never seen before. “You can call me Tezca,” she said.

“And how do I know that’s your real face? Or your real name?” Michael asked, looking briefly past her to Bonnie who was still laying on the ground, but slowly waking up.

He needed to buy time.

“You don’t,” Tezca replied with a smile. “I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”

“See, here’s the thing,” Michael said with a grin, laying back against the wall. “I don’t really trust anyone.”

“Except Alex Manes.”

He dug his nails in his palm at the mention of his boyfriend, taking a deep breath to calm down. He knew that if he reacted brutally from the start, he might not get information about Alex.

“Speaking of,” he continued, his voice calm, unlike his internal thoughts. “Where is he?”

Tezca shook a finger in front of him, a smile on her face. “That I cannot tell you. The human will only slow us down.”

She kneeled in front of him. “You do not need him. You can do great things Michael, with us.”

Michael snorted, “Oh you mean like my daddy dictator? Thanks, but I’ll pass on that.”

She put a hand to his cheek. “You have a much greater potential than Jones, Michael.” She spoke slowly, as if he was a scared animal and she was trying not to spook him.

“That human is useless to you. He is better off dead than –”

Tezca didn’t have time to finish her sentence that a strong wind appeared out of nowhere, and she was thrown into the wall behind Michael, who barely flinched as the body fell to the ground.

—

The hole on the ceiling to the cave opened up slowly, some sand falling through. Max and Alex were sitting side by side, their backs to the far end, the same wall Alex had been against when Max first arrived. They were blinded by the light coming in, and the first thing Max felt was a higher dose of yellow pollen falling into the cave.

Further annihilating his powers.

Then, they saw a man, the same one that had previously come and given Alex water and food. Except this time, he was empty handed.

“Clyde,” Max said coldly when he saw him. His voice was hoarse as he spoke, which only made Clyde chuckle.

“Sheriff Clone,” he replied, “Not feeling too well I see.”

“You’re going to let us die in here,” Alex stated, his voice empty of emotions.

Clyde laughed at him, “Oh, you’re a clever one aren’t you.” He continued laughing, which only had the effect of annoying Alex even more.

“Why not directly kill us?” asked Max, wondering what use he had had to Tezca.

“Well, you see,” replied Clyde, feeling chatty. He figured that since they were going to die in the end, there would be no harm in telling them.

And Alex was going to exploit this.

“Tezca can only use someone’s body if they’re alive,” Clyde continued, “so we need you –” he pointed to Alex “– to stay alive a little longer.”

Alex would lie if he didn’t shorly consider ending it. But he thought of Michael and everything they had been building together and thought that this was not the way he wanted them to be reunited. So he decided to keep fighting. And to keep Clyde talking, just until he knew enough.

“And you,” Clyde continued, this time pointing to Max, “once our Leader is back – which is only a matter of hours now – we won’t need you.”

“So it’s a slow death, huh,” Alex said, looking at Clyde with a smile. “And what makes you so sure we won’t try to escape?”

Clyde laughed again. “Oh come on,” he said, “I thought you were smarter, Alex Manes.”

He took a step closer to the hole, leaning in. Still not close enough for Alex to drag him in.

“You’ve been here for nearly a week now,” Clyde said with a smile. “There is no way out, and you know it.”

“They’ll come for us,” Max said, looking confident.

And even if Alex believed in his friends – in Michael – to find them and to save them, he was starting to doubt the logistics. They were in the middle of the desert, his car had most likely already been ditched. And they were quite literally buried alive. No one was going to find them.

Clyde spoke Alex’s mind. “And how exactly are they going to do that, huh?”

“Are they magically going to find your precise localisation? And even, say they did. Do you know the quantity of sand over your head? You’ll suffocate before they’ve extracted you.”

“This is your tomb, guys. You should start getting comfortable.”

All plans of making Clyde talk went out the window as they realised how little their chance of survival was. They stared at the hole as it closed, and stayed silent, not daring to look at each other.

They needed to stay awake, at all costs.

—

Alex’s car had been found on the side of a road, with no indication, or tire tracks to show how it got there. It was as if it had simply landed there.

Which, Cam thought as she looked at it, was quite possibly what had happened.

The car was empty, with no sign of life. The only reason Cam knew it even was Alex’s car was the car plate, which didn’t seem to have been changed, and the picture of him and Michael placed in the glove box.

“Shit,” she said, to no one in particular. "Shit, shit, shit."

She turned around, to look at miles of desert and empty roads. She had stumbled upon it by complete coincidence, driving around to see if she could get a glimpse of Max or Michael.

Instead, she found proof that another one of their friends was missing.

Cam took her phone out of her jacket pocket and texted the group chat. Things were worse than they thought.

—

Michael looked at Bonnie, who was slowly standing up. He then turned his head to Tezca, laying on the floor.

“Is that a thing on Oasis?” he asked with a smile as Bonnie walked closer to him. “Making people pass out?”

Bonnie kneeled in front of him, reaching behind him to untie the handcuffs. “If you stop someone’s breathing for long enough, they pass out.”

Michael’s eyes widened. “Or they die,” he said, his smile gone.

Bonnie looked up to meet his eyes. “I’ve never done it.”

“But you’ve seen it done.”

She nodded and shortly after, Michael felt his arms free. With Bonnie’s help he stood up, and stumbled a bit as he found his balance. He then went towards Tezca, who was still wearing Alex’s clothes, and grabbed the necklace he had made.

He held it tight in his hands, but didn’t feel anything. There was still a half missing. He stood back up, and turned around to face Bonnie.

“And throwing people against walls?” he asked again, “Is that a thing too?”

She looked at him, matching his smile. “Come on, don’t tell me that you, Michael Guerin, have never done that before?”

“Okay,” he chuckled, “guilty.”

They started walking out of the barn. Just before they left, Michael looked once again at Tezca on the ground, and at Bonnie, all sense of jokes gone.

“Why did you do that?” he asked, then, when Bonnie turned her head to him, confused, he continued. “I mean, you are probably going to get into trouble for that, and –”

“And I realized I don’t want to be with them anymore. I don’t want to do bad things.”

Michael smiled at her. “We aren’t defined by what we did in the past,” he said, repeating something Alex said to him. “But by what we want to do in the present.”

Bonnie smiled back. But her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. She looked back at the barn, and stopped walking, making Michael stop with her.

“You’re afraid,” he said, not questioning. She nodded, which made Michael more angry against Tezca and Clyde than he was before.

“It’s okay,” he continued. “I won’t let them hurt you.”

Something in his voice must’ve convinced Bonnie, as she turned to him with a happy smile, and they started walking again. They didn’t really have a point in mind, a place to go to. Michael wanted – needed – to find Alex, but first they needed to make sure they had as much distance between them and Tezca.

—

Max was the first one to close his eyes. He opened them straight away, once he realised he was drifting off, but it was too late. He was falling asleep and he knew it.

Alex, thanks to his training, could probably hold a few more hours, but not much. He had already been sleep deprived, thirsty and hungry since he first got swallowed by the sand.

Both of them were nearing their limit. But they had to hold on. A little longer…

—

“Everyone search the desert,” Isobel ordered.

“Stay in groups of two, and make sure you comb every inch of sand. We need to make sure we find them.”

The groups consisted of Isobel and Cam, Liz and Kyle, and Dallas and Maria. Each duo went into a car, heading to the desert, each in a different direction.

They all knew, realistically, the chance of finding Max, Michael, or Alex was very slim. But they had to take it. They had to hope that there was a chance, and that they wouldn’t arrive too late.

—

“I think we’re far enough now,” Bonnie said, as they turned behind a large rock. She turned to Michael, and looked at him apologetically.

“I’m sorry,” she said, which made Michael frown.

“Tezca shouldn’t have pretended to be your boyfriend, that’s not – I didn’t think she’d do this, I –”

“Hey,” Michael interrupted softly. “It’s not your fault okay? You got me out of there, so thank you. Really.”

They smiled at each other for a bit, before Bonnie seemed to remember something.

“Oh my God,” she screeched, “I completely forgot.”

She took something out of her pocket, and handed it to Michael, who took it. Michael’s half of the necklace. He held it in hand, next to Alex’s half. Instantly, the pieces reacted with one another, glad to be in each other’s vicinity.

And Michael only missed Alex more.

“Tezca, she didn’t want you to have it. I think the tech knew that it wasn’t really your Alex.”

The pieces want to be together. Despite the two halves of the necklace being reunited, they knew that their owners weren’t. Michael’s blood boiled once more.

And with it, the entire ground shook.

—

Cam was driving her car, with Isobel in the passenger seat, when they felt the ground behind them rumble. Cam instantly stopped the car, just as Isobel got out.

“Michael,” she shouted, with no answer but the ground continuing to shake.

Like any time before, when Michael had been angry and it seemed like an earthquake was coming, the ground shook with a single wave. But the magnitude was like nothing Isobel had seen before. When before, Michael was always conscious of what was hit, this time he wasn’t.

Isobel yelped as Cam pushed her back into the car, closing the door mere seconds before the car flipped, landing precisely where Isobel had been standing.

All three cars, spread at various distances from Michael, the source point to the earthquake, had been impacted, the airbags deployed.

Luckily, no one was injured, and the earthquake seemed to have stopped its course at the edge of the desert, sparing houses and ranches. This, obviously, later brought conspiracy theorists, led by Graham Green.

Graham talked, both in his podcast and in interviews, about aliens finally invading Earth. And that the earthquake was the start of it all.

Except, in reality, the earthquake was created by the one alien who had no interest in invading Earth and enslaving humanity. All he wanted was to be reunited with his human, and he was going to make sure that happened.

—

Alex felt the vibrations deep in his bones. He jerked awake and coughed, before realising that everything around him was shaking. He shook Max’s leg, who didn’t move.

Come on, Evans, he thought to himself, shaking him harder.

Evans, I fucking swear, come on!

When Max opened his eyes weakly, he internally cheered. But then, the hole above them opened, and with it came all the sand in the desert.

—

Michael was on his knees panting. He had never felt a burst of energy that strong. It was like he could feel every vibration in the desert. Every atom interacting with each other, he felt it, in his bones. Like he had bumped his funny bone, but in his entire body.

“Michael?” Bonnie asked, kneeling next to him. “Are you okay?”

“No,” he breathed out. “But I know where Alex is.”

He couldn’t really explain it, but he could feel, when the earthquake had happened, the shape of all the obstacles in its way. And considering he knew Alex’s body better than he knew his, every curve, every piece of skin, he was pretty confident in saying that he knew where he was.

And he was pissed. If he was right, that meant that Alex was underground, alive but not for long.

He knew that there was someone next to him, someone big, who was also on the edge of death. He could feel both their hearts beating, but it was a slow rhythm, and it was decreasing rapidly.

He ran towards the last place he had felt Alex, Bonnie right behind him. He didn’t want to be late. He couldn’t be late.

And the ground shook again, but this time in a much slower zone, and in a single direction. A radar across the desert, looking for a particular target.

—

Despite the sand burying him again, Alex fell asleep. His eyes were heavy, his throat was dry, his stomach was rumbling, and it was harder and harder to breathe.

Just as his heart was beating dangerously slow, nearing the point where it would stop, another earthquake hit. Shaking both Alex and Max, and the sand around them, allowing them a little space to breathe.

And more importantly, giving Michael indication on their position and on their vital signs.

—

When Michael felt Alex’s heart nearly stop, his heart skipped a beat, and he ran faster. He arrived at a large hole in the desert, into which sand was rapidly falling. He used his powers to lift the two bodies he could feel there, and placed them on the hard sand.

He gasped when he saw that not only his boyfriend had been buried alive, but also his brother.

“Fuck,” he said, as he saw neither of their chests raising.

“We’re too late,” Bonnie said, falling to her knees, panting.

“No, we’re not.”

Michael had already done CPR on Max using his powers, he could do it again. He brought one hand to his chest, and the other facing Max and Alex. He focused on his heart beat, and sent out pulses of energy that followed the same rhythm, the same frequency.

And when he felt their hearts beat again, he cried.

—

The rest of the day was a blur for everyone. Shortly after Max and Alex woke up, Liz and Kyle arrived running, Kyle on the phone to someone – Isobel – and Liz carrying a compass.

After Kyle and Liz arrived, Cam and Isobel along with Dallas and Maria came, bringing food and water to everyone.

Max tried to tell them something about Jones, but no one listened, making sure that he and Alex were alive first.

Michael didn’t really understand why they had food and water with them, or how they found them, but didn’t complain, and didn’t leave Alex’s side as he drank and ate.

Later, much later, once Alex had fully recovered, and the Dark Triad had been dealt with, and Jones had died for good, Michael and Liz looked deeper into the compass, and how the north had pointed to Michael during all the time he was using his powers.

—

Alex opened his eyes slowly and smiled when he felt arms and legs wrapped around him. He turned around, so that he was face to face with Michael, who hadn’t once let go of Alex since he had found him.

Alex pressed his face against Michael’s chest, sighing as Michael’s hands rubbed his back.

“Hi,” he breathed out, looking up at Michael.

“Hey.”

Michael’s voice was heavy, and tears were in his eyes, some already dry on his cheeks. He let out a sob when Alex pressed a hand against his cheek.

“I’m okay,” Alex said softly, rubbing his thumb. “I’m alive. Thanks to you. And I am not leaving your side again.”

He wiggled his way up on Michael’s body, so he could press a kiss to his lips, a promise that they would never be parted again. As he leaned close to Michael, he felt the glass on his chest heat up, and move closer to Michael’s half.

The pieces want to be together.

“You know,” Michael said as they parted, looking down at their necklaces connecting between them. “When Tezca pretended to be you, I knew.”

“Well, no,” he frowned, disappointed in himself for having thought for one second that it was Alex.

“At first, I knew, because of the necklace. It became cold, like the pieces knew that it wasn’t you. But then, when I didn’t have the necklace anymore, I didn’t –”

“Hey,” Alex interrupted, speaking softly. “It’s okay. I think that while I had blue eyes, she had access to my mind, my memories of us. She knew how to act like me. Of course you were played, but it’s okay.”

The blue eyes had taken three days to fade, all during which Alex was still recovering, his body and his mind healing. And now, Michael was enjoying Alex’s natural soft brown eyes even more.

“What matters is that you found me, eventually.”

Michael hummed. “But I could have been too late.”

Alex pressed his lips to Michael’s again, “And I am thankful you weren’t. Same for Max.”

Michael hummed again, before kissing Alex, enjoying something he feared he would never have again. Alex.

In the end, Michael had been right. No matter how far apart they were from each other, they found their way back to each other.

And now that the pieces were back together, they would never have to walk alone again.

#yes i completely skipped over the dark triad and jones #but tbf whatever i wrote would probably be contradicted in 4x05 so #also you can see im a science nerd #i still kept the part with the compass #tho it originally was supposed to be way longer #but then it kinda derailed from the story #roswell new mexico #rnm #rnm fic #alex manes #michael guerin #malex #malex fic #max evans #rnm bonnie #rnm tezca #thesquidkid writes

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dr-lizortecho · 2 years

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“you are my turquoise”

The Oatian’s are capable of creating semi-permanent psychic bonds (a sort of less invasive/parasitical version of the psychic handprints) which is how they create triads. As mentioned by Theo and Jones throughout season three triads are sources of strength for the members. In 3x10 Theo informs Dallas that “as a triad we found strength in our unity”. This along with Jones telling Isobel in 3x03 that “those boys are pulling away… it feels unnatural. It’s painful even” as well as “they have to choose to come back to you”, implies that a triad only exists for as long as all the members are unified towards a common goal/fighting for their relationship. Creating a balance and working together as one unit. Going off this idea, since aliens can create conscious connections with each other and draw on each other’s energies, in a more subtle way than the handprint (for example Max’s powers chaotically creating a tether in 3x05 and draining Liz and Kyle to keep his body alive), it’s possible they can create these connections in units not composed of three. As well as within units not specifically set up in a familial way.

We see evidence of this drawing on each other’s strength throughout the beginning of season four, while Max and Liz are still operating as one unit towards a common goal. This can be seen in 4x03 when Max tells Liz he’s terrified of what his powers could do and she tells him “then let’s figure out a way to do this without using your powers”. Because she understands and sympathizes with his fears and wants to work towards a common goal, defeating their new threat, while maintaining that bond between them. Which leads into Max attempting to explain why/when these fears don’t affect him in 4x04 by telling Liz “you are my turquoise”. This is a metaphor he reaches for to explain the bond between them, since he couldn’t quite equate it to a triad since their understanding was found family. However, in 3x03 Jones tells Isobel that “the turquoise {is} an amplifier… it boosts {the aliens} abilities”, much like a triad.

Furthermore, in 3x03 Max unconsciously/unknowingly gives Liz a handprint, creating a more direct link. This is the first sign of their bond becoming more cemented (whether from the amount of time they’ve spent trying to get on the same page or from the amount of times Max has marked her). This handprint seems to make more sense as Liz drawing on their bond, Max’s hand rests over the same spot he usually uses to create that psychic link, synapse pathways already created in both their minds. (Random science blurb: A neural pathway is the connection formed by axons that project from neurons to make synapses onto neurons in another location, to enable a signal to be sent from one region of the nervous system to another. Neurons that are used frequently develop stronger connections.)

So Liz’s strive for unity and connection, trying to get into his head and understand why he’s pushing her away, is the final straw that flares that bond to life. Drawing on Max’s strength, to bring that bond to life. This two way bond is further solidified in 4x09 when Max repeats the sentiment of Liz being his turquoise and her response is “you’re mine”, informing him he strengthens her as much as she does him. Which is one of the primary reasons she sends him out of the mindscape before bending to her dark selves will, agreeing to be weak.

This bond between them is something Tezca and Jones both attempt to manipulate. Jones aware of the handprint because of his and Max’s tether creates the scenario for Max to heal Kyle and to have to rely on his healing to save all three of them. While Bonnie mentions in 4x06 that Tezca said Max and Liz were the puzzle pieces of her plan, or rather “the glue that holds them together”. In addition, the show uses visual imagery to depict the handprint bonds and bonds in general. The show uses visual imagery to depict when they’re bonded, setting this up as early as 1x01 with them placing their hands over their chests at the reunion. Something they echo in 4x03 when Max meets Liz at the lab.

#Ik this isn’t gonna go anywhere anymore #I resigned myself to that post 4x05 but it’s still all there in my head #unedited as always <3 #roswell new mexico #rnm #max evans #liz ortecho #rnm echo

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