#◈ › bonds — ❛ believing in everything but the harm we’re capable of ❜ — maria × miriam — destineden

[austerulous]

◈  @destineden clicked the ♡ to get a web weaving

1. No Death, Mirel Wagner. 2. A Dowry of Blood, S.T. Gibson. 3. Reading Time, Vicente Romero. 4. In a Week, Hozier. 5. Kye Smith Art. 6. Watching you talk on the phone, I consider the empty space around atoms–, Rhiannon McGavin. 7. We’ll Never Have Sex, Leith Ross. 8. John Berger. 9. Planet Vega, Mira Nedyalkova. 10. Planet Vega, Mira Nedyalkova.

[echo-bleu]

Family

Cactus Soulmate AU continuation. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

[brief mention of war, alcohol]

“Alex!”

Isobel watched the young woman, her soul flowery and red and a soft yellow at the center, run from behind her bar and jump into Alex's open arms.

“Maria!” he laughed, bracing himself against a table to hug her. “It's so good to see you.”

“How are you doing? How long are you back? Introduce me to your friends,” Maria fired rapidly, not leaving him any time to answer. Alex just waited until she was done and started introducing them and talking about his life on Antar.

It had been six months, since Isobel had taken Alex to their ship to meet Michael. Alex had settled almost smoothly on their native planet, finding a job in military security that he could mostly do from home. He and Michael still couldn't be more than a few yards apart, but they'd adapted, and neither of them seemed overly bothered by that fact. They still behaved like newlyweds. They'd moved in together without hesitation, just days after meeting each other−but such was the power of soul bonds.

Alex had regular contact with his friends back home, and as soon as they could all take some vacation time, he'd asked to go back. He didn't miss Earth, not exactly, but so many things were different on Antar, and he sometimes confided in Isobel that he felt homesick. He never told Michael that, though. Michael abandonment issues tended to shine through whenever he was reminded that his soulmate wasn't even from the same planet, and he'd close in on himself, or go on a bender.

The fear that Alex would one day leave him couldn't even be assuaged by the fact that they physically couldn't handle being apart. So here Michael was, standing beside Alex as he introduced him to his human friends−Alex's other best friend Liz had shown up in the meantime−looking like he wanted to be anywhere else.

“Michael, can you at least pretend to be happy for him?��� Isobel murmured in her brother's ear. She didn't like Earth anymore than she had last time they were here, but it had brought them Alex. A light in their life, truly. The end of years of misery and longing for Michael, and a great verbal sparring partner for Isobel. Even Max had found a friend in Alex.

“Sorry,” Michael deflated. “I'll try.” This was important to Alex. After taking him away from his planet for six months with barely any warning, they owed it to him to give him this. After this week, he probably wouldn't see his friends again for another six months or more.

They all settled around a table, as Maria brought them beers. Max and Liz took one look at each other, and their souls did a smooch and melted with each other. Well, that was another thing taken care of−or maybe another issue to deal with? Isobel watched them with a good dose of envy. She wouldn't find another soulmate. Not after what Noah did to her, using her body and her mind. It wasn't unheard of, having several soulmates, but finding one was rare enough, and even then, Isobel didn't think she was capable of loving with her soul anymore. Now with how damaged it was.

The people of Earth, if nothing else, were refreshing in the way they didn't avert their eyes when they saw her. They couldn't see souls, according to Alex. Everyone on Antar knew what had happened to Isobel at a single glance−killing your own soulmate left a recognizable mark.

Although the strange, sympathetic look on Maria's face when she met Isobel's eyes told her that maybe not all humans were the same.

Isobel didn't pay attention to the people going in and out of the bar until Alex looked up at a man who walked in with a surprised expression on his face.

“Kyle?”

“Alex? Wow. It's been a long time.”

Alex huffed. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Ten years, uh?”

“Guys, this is Kyle Valenti,” Alex introduced. “Kyle, this is Michael, Isobel and Max. You already know Liz and Maria.”

“He was in high school with us,” Maria explained.

“Are you guys−” Kyle hesitated.

“We're Antarian,” Isobel said. Their clothes, more than their appearance, distinguished them.

“I meant−” Kyle tried again. “Are you−” he gestured between Alex and Michael, who had an arm around Alex's waist.

“Yes, we're together,” Alex confirmed. “That gonna be a problem?”

“No, of course not! I'm not like that anymore,” Kyle raised his arms in defense. “Really, I'm sorry for all I said back in high school. I was stupid.”

“Um. Okay,” Alex said a little doubtfully, but he seemed to choose to let it slide. “Michael's actually my soulmate. The alien way.”

“So you got yourself an actual soulmate? I knew you were hopelessly romantic, but not that much, Manes!”

The three Antarians in the room froze.

“Manes?” Michael almost squeaked. On Antar, people didn't have last names. To them, Alex was just Alex. They'd never even thought to ask for his full name. “Manes? That's your last name? Like the Manes who try to destroy us?”

Alex looked horrified, and so did the other humans around the table, sensing disaster. He shook his head in desperation. “No, no, no,” he murmured. Isobel was stuck between feeling sorry for him and horrifically confused.

“Alex,” Michael's voice had gone cold. “Answer the question.”

“Yes,” Alex said through gritted teeth, meeting his fate with his head held high, once the moment of shock past. “Jesse Manes is my father.”

“You're the son of the general who campaigns to kill us all?” Max asked, as Michael was too gobsmacked to continue the interrogation. Isobel just didn't know what to do. There was no way someone with a soul like Alex's could be that evil, and he clearly had shown none of it. But then maybe humans could hide their true nature, she couldn't know for certain. Was he some kind of spy?

“He is the man who gave birth to me,” Alex explained. “Doesn't mean I agree with him. He hates me, and everything I represent. Having an alien soulmate is just one of these things.” He turned to Michael. “You know I don't think like him.”

Michael shook his head. “How could you hide this from me?”

Alex sighed. “I wasn't exactly going to introduce you,” he answered slowly. “You're my family, not him.”

“You still chose not to tell me.”

“Yes. And I'm sorry. I have nothing to say except that...I was afraid of what you'd think of me.”

“And what am I supposed to think, now that I know you lied to me?” Michael spat.

“I didn't−” Alex started. I didn't lie, Isobel fills in the blanks. He just never spoke about his family at all. “I'm sorry.”

He made a gesture toward Michael, but Michael stood up brutally. “I need some space,” he said.

“Okay,” Alex murmured miserably. “When you're ready−”

“We'll see.”

Alex nodded, biting his lip. He watched Michael walk away to the bar and order a stiff drink from Maria, who'd just gone back to work.

“You guys−” he started toward Isobel and Max. Isobel looked at Max, letting him decide. She had her own opinion, but she would follow her brother's lead on this. She'd been the one who found Alex, after all. If it went pear-shaped, it would be her fault.

Max was still wrapped up in his sudden love, but he looked at Alex critically. “I believe that you're not like your father. I don't like that you didn't tell us, but you're entitled to a private life, at least with us. If you make things right with Michael, I don't have an issue with you. If you hurt my brother again, on the other hand−”

“Thank you,” Alex murmured.

Isobel caught his eyes and nodded. “He'll come around,” she said. Michael was hot-headed, but he wasn't a fool, and his love for Alex was deep. They were soulmates. That couldn't just go away.

Isobel looked between Michael, sitting at the bar, and Alex, with an apologetic Kyle Valenti at the table near the back wall. She didn't have the precognition gift some of her people developed, but she could almost feel another disaster coming. She expected a fight, maybe, from the dark looks Michael was sending Valenti and the amount of alcohol he was ingesting. Of course the bars in Roswell, the point of first contact, would have acetone on tap.

She absolutely did not expect Michael's tongue down Maria DeLuca's throat. Maria only leaned into the kiss for a second, but the harm was done.

Alex saw it at the same time she did, and she didn't get a chance to do something. He stood up, looking gobsmacked for a moment, then absolutely devastated. Hesitantly, he took a few steps toward Michael, then just shy of touching him, his face turned resolute. He mentally grabbed at their linked souls and pulled.

There was a horrible screeching sound that made Isobel want to clasp her hands over her ears. And then, as quickly as it had started, it was all over, the bar suddenly quiet. Michael crumpled on his bar stool. And Alex…

Alex was gone.

[austerulous]

Bond tag drop! ♡