Chapter Text
"I am asking you to trust me with this." Liz pleaded. She had been dreading this argument for months, and now that it was here, she just wanted it to end. The anger and disappointment in Max's eyes was almost more than she could stand.
"No, you're not asking me anything. You haven't asked me about any of this. You just got caught in a string of lies."
And his accusation did it. Calling her a liar, accusing her of going behind his back, it just hit too close to home, and the one thing she'd been trying to keep buried just exploded from her mouth without even a thought of the ramifications.
"I guess it sucks, huh? When your partner doesn't include you in major life altering decisions."
Max recoiled, like he had been slapped.
"Are you angry at me for bringing your sister back?"
Liz opened her mouth to argue back but before she could say another word, the door opened, and Rosa walked in.
"Heyyyy!" She greeted cheerfully.
Liz clamped her mouth shut before she could say another word. Closing her eyes for just a moment, she pushed her resentment away, trying to refocus on the issue at hand.
"Rosa, we think you're right. We think mom was taken by Flint Manes as part of some scheme."
"Well there is new information."
Liz's heart started pounding at the seriousness in Rosa's voice.
"We found this on Michael's trailer," Isobel explained, passing a postcard to Liz. It was a ransom note.
"Flint didn't abduct my mother," Liz realized as the evidence sunk in. This is Helena's handwriting. They're working together. But… if she kidnapped Alex to get to Michael, what does she need Michael for?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Helena checked her appearance in the mirror one last time. She smiled and fixed her lipstick. It was time for the last step in their plan to move forward. She checked her pocket. The syringe that Jesse Manes gave her was still there. It would be necessary, if they were going to keep the creature in line. Her smile faded into a scowl of disgust as she thought about the act she had to put on to get it to do what they needed it to do. As long as it ended up dead by the end of CrashCon. She wanted it buried in the cold damp earth, just like her sweet Rosalinda.
Smoothing her hair into place, she plastered her perfect, practiced smile back on, before turning her attention to the task at hand. Walking into the main room of the house, the curly-haired guapo stood waiting, a dark look on his face.
"Hola Michael! I'm Helena Ortecho."
Before he could say another word, she jabbed the needle into his arm. He cursed and glared at her as she explained.
"It's a special drug developed at Caulfield. It won't harm you at all. And you won't be able to use any telekinesis until it wears off. It'll keep you honest."
"I want to see Alex." He demanded.
"Oh, you will." She confirmed, handing the plans Flint developed to him. "After you build me this bomb. I'll show you to your room. It's late and you need sleep. Study the plans tonight, and tomorrow you'll build it for me."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was midday when Isobel pulled into the mostly empty parking lot at the Wild Pony.
She used to hate this bar. It always seemed dirty, grimy...though in retrospect she wondered if her jackass ex-husband had anything to do with that. It wouldn’t do if his wife spent time in his hunting ground. His influence probably pressured her to stay away all of these years.
Now, though, her perspective was changing. Max worked here. Maria owned the place. This bar was part of her family now too. She loved this bar.
Isobel smiled confidently as she strode into the Wild Pony.
“You’re the blonde. The one Rosa was afraid of.”
“Hi Mimi.” She stripped her coat off as she greeted the other woman… her niece.
“You stay away from me,” Mimi warned.
“Nuh uh,” Isobel scolded, taking Mimi by the arm and stopping her from leaving the room. “I’m your cool Aunt Isobel. Maybe we can get to know each other under better circumstances sometime.” She tossed her coat to Maria. “You sure about this DeLuca?”
“Desperate times call for desperate alien invasions.”
“What are you talking about?” Mimi retorted.
Isobel turned her full attention on Mimi, narrowing her eyes as she focused her energy on the other woman’s mind. She easily felt herself slip into Mimi’s subconscious.
“Show me what happened the night you disappeared, Mimi.”
With a flash, Isobel found herself watching as Mimi walked barefoot in the dark, down the long dirt road to the Wild Pony. She could feel the dust and gravel between Mimi’s toes, the cold air that somehow didn’t seem that uncomfortable to Mimi. A light approached from behind her, and Mimi turned to see the hunting van approach.
“Oh thank God you came!” Mimi exclaimed, hugging Helena Ortecho.
“Mimi! My beautiful friend!” Helena greeted her, and they both climbed into the hunting van.
“I told you, Helena! I saw it all in a vision. Rosa didn’t kill those girls. She was murdered. By aliens.”
“When Jim Valenti was dying, I came home to say goodbye. He said that Rosa was killed by an alien, but she could be preserved, brought back.”
“You didn’t believe him. No one ever believes us.”
“I thought he was crazy, that the cancer made him paranoid. Rosa was long gone when Jim died. But then, you called. You told me the same thing. So I called Jesse Manes and he confirmed it.”
“Jesse Manes knew the truth?”
“He said that Rosa was killed by an alien. That she was the first of many. He knows how to get the technology to destroy them. He just needs a little help. A little extra persuasion. I’m going to war, Mimi. But first? You need some shoes.”
Mimi suddenly turned her attention from Helena and looked sharply right at Isobel.
“Get out of my memories, Isobel!”
Isobel staggered backwards, blood dripping from her nose. She gasped and turned to the bar, grabbing a towel to stop the bleeding.
“This is just like the time I tried to get in your head without consent,” Isobel complained to Maria. “She kicked me out!”
“What do you mean, get into my head?” Mimi interjected.
Isobel turned and studied Mimi.
“This might take a while,” she sighed. “I need some acetone, Maria. And you might want to call Liz. Helena Ortecho is deep in all of this. They should be here to hear it themselves.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Charlie wasn't expecting to have company as a hostage. She's been developing her pathogen alone for days under Helena's watchful gaze while Flint threatened her sister's life. So when Helena walked into the makeshift lab that morning, with some new guy following her, it piqued Charlie's curiosity.
"Buenos dias, Charlie. I hope you slept well. Meet Michael. He's here to build the device. Michael, you should have everything you need on the table. Follow the blueprints exactly."
They worked in silence, other than Helena occasionally yapping away in Spanish on her cell phone. Charlie cursed under her breath. Everyone said that Spanish was the more useful language, but teenage Charlie just had to take French. And a little bit of German, just to try to read Einstein in his native language.
"This entire process would be more efficient if I could attach the release chamber to the other side." Michael criticized from across the room. Charlie smiled a little. Another person who was too smart for his own good.
"Ay, mijo. Now's not the time to get creative. Time is running out. Follow the blueprints exactly."
Charlie eyed the other side of the room and watched Helena pace away to continue her phone call.
"You don't look like an obedient soldier," she commented. "Who'd she take to force you to do her bidding?"
"A friend. It's complicated," he replied in a voice that made it clear that he wasn't interested in telling her anything more. "Why are you helping her? Jenna's free."
"Flint Manes has a sniper rifle on the roof pointed at her bedroom window. If something happens to her I'd…"
Michael cut her off. "You'd never forgive yourself."
"I'll never forgive myself anyway. Helena has me formulating a pathogen that I invented when I was 17. It's a poison that dismantles specific DNA. If targeted your death is quick and ugly, a bleeding from every orifice kind of deal."
"Wow. If only you'd been invited to more parties in high school."
Humor as a coping mechanism. Just like her sister. It immediately made her want to explain, justify her actions. Like she never could with Jenna.
"I thought that I was saving people. Okay, imagine a weapon that you could drop into a populated city and the only people targeted would be al-Qaeda leaders and their direct descendants. Okay? In the right hands my weapon could prevent innocent civilian casualties and save our troops."
"I'm guessing these are not the right hands? Why am I building the bomb when the inventor is under Helena's thumb?"
"I do chemicals, not mechanics. And technically it's not a bomb." She argued. She was so sick of Helena calling it a bomb. "It's a catalytic toxin atomizer that was developed in a top secret operation involving weapons specialists from both the Army and the Air Force."
"Project Shepherd." Charlie nodded, confirming. This guy knew a whole lot more than any civilian should if he knew about Project Shepherd. "One more question for you, Charlie. Whose DNA is that poison you're making gonna target?"
"Judging from conversations I've heard between Helena and Flint, it's alien DNA. Like, literal aliens." Charlie chuckled under her breath.
She never really believed in aliens, but if this were true, the potential opportunities for science were innumerable. Studying the specimens would be the ultimate opportunity for any scientist. Especially if the aliens we're alive. After death...well, at least you could still learn a few things from the autopsy.
They both fell silent as Helena returned to the room and checked their progress. It was silly, really. It's not like the woman had the slightest idea what they were doing. She was a glorified babysitter at best.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jenna had only had her job back for a couple of days, but already she felt more like herself. With Liz's help, her migraines were better, and work wasn't particularly draining physically since she was stuck to her desk all day. Thankfully, when she took out a patrol car that morning, Valenti didn't question it.
"Thanks for the assist." Evans commented. "I'm guessing that guard wouldn't let me through with bolt cutters unless I had an officer of the law present."
Cam chuckled, "Oh well, don't be jealous, Evans. Valenti has me on desk duty. So this little adventure is my lunch break."
"Valenti did the right thing, giving you your job back."
"Yeah well, you know, apparently some local bartender gave her reason to doubt the events the night of the gala were my fault. So I owe you."
"I've lost track of who owes who what at this point."
"Well you owe me lunch for this little escapade, so hopefully you have enough tips in your back pocket for a burrito on our way back to town."
"Of course," Max laughed. "Lunch is on me."
They reached the storage unit in question and Max chopped the padlock with his bolt cutters and pulled up the door.
"Well...okay then." Jenna gaped as her eyes focused on the contents of the storage unit. In the back of the box was a stereotypical investigation board. Photos and documents, dates and names, all linked together like a spiderweb.
"You said that this was the former Sheriff Valenti's storage unit, right?" Jenna asked. "So why keep an investigation off the books like this."
"Because it was about aliens…" Max guessed, his eyes tracing the path of evidence. "Rosa told him about whatever was going on between her and Isobel."
"He didn't know what the connection was with the other two girls though," Jenna observed, noting the big question mark next to their names."
"Cam, he knew what the handprint meant, and they didn't have one." Max muttered.
"Oh, is that baby Max?" Jenna asked, pointing at a photo pinned up off to the side of a dark-haired kid. Michael's young face and curly mop hair was below it. A post-it was stuck beside Max's photo with just one word on it.
"Ally?" Max read aloud. "Jim Valenti approached me at graduation, told me I was the kind of kid that the sheriff's department needed. It was what first put the idea in my head to join the force. It never occurred to me that he was actively trying to recruit me because I'm an alien."
"Noah Bracken. Evans, he knew about Noah." Underneath Noah's photo was a snapshot of what looked like a glowing egg thing. "Max, look." Jenna pointed at the photo. "That was taken in this storage unit."
"Noah's pod…" Max told her. "With Rosa's body in it. Which means he and Noah were working together. At least for a time."
Max pulled out his phone and started snapping photos of the board. "I gotta study all of this. See if there's any clues here."
Jenna snapped a photo of the board and quickly texted it to Kyle. "Kyle should see this," she told Max. He might have some thoughts.”
"Good call." Max agreed. "He is the one who sent us here."
As they left, Max pulled a fresh padlock out of his pocket and secured the unit. It wouldn’t do to leave this level of information available for just anyone to stumble across.
Right when Jenna was about to start the car, her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket and quickly skimmed the message.
"Kyle says it doesn't make sense that the storage unit was for alien stuff. He had access to two different secret bunkers for that stuff. The only reason he’d need another hiding place is if he was worried that Jesse Manes might find the cabin's bunker."
Jenna's mind raced and she looked up to meet Max's narrowed eyes.
"Cam, this was the stuff he wanted to keep away from Jesse Manes. Information on my family, on Noah, on Rosa…"
"Master Sergeant Manes is staunchly anti-alien. But Jim Valenti saw the potential of alien-human partnership."
"He tried to recruit Noah, but Noah had his own agenda and Jim couldn't control him."
"So he targeted you instead."
"And when he was dying he needed someone who would care to know about Rosa's body, so he gave the flash drive to Helena Ortecho. Who instead saw an opportunity to get revenge for Rosa's murder, so she teamed up with Jesse and Flint instead of hiding this from Project Shepherd like Jim wanted. But what are they planning?"