.DISCLAIMER: Earth:
Final Conflict and all of Earth:
Final characters in this story are property of Tribune Entertainment. No infringement of rights is intended. Danella and Ronnie are creations or my
own. Please don’t use them without my
permission.
AUTHOR’S
NOTE: All words in ** are thoughts and
all words in [ ] are telepathic communication.
RATING: PG
Summary:
In the aftermath of Ronnie’s implantation, not all things are as they seem
SORROW'S SHADOWS
By: Roguemoon
[Liam, you have to concentrate or else it's not going to work,] Dani stated as they stood outside of the garden working on controlling his shaqarava.
Liam laughed, "I am concentrating."
Dani shook her head. She should have known better than to try and teach him anything when his eyes were twinkling like that. Still, he needed to get his control right; it might save his life someday. Liam smiled at her and she sighed. He was acting like a little kid who was trying to get out of his schoolwork. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. If Liam wanted to play, then they would play.
[Liam, put your hands out like this,] she instructed, putting her hands out in front of her, palm up.
Liam complied, "Why?"
[Just watch,] Dani stated as she put her hands, palm down, about a foot above his. After a few seconds, streams of light began to move from her hands to his. At first, Liam didn't feel anything, then he did.
"Hey, that tickles," he tried to pull his hands away, but found he couldn't.
"Dani, what are you
doing? Stop," he said between
laughs.
[No,] she replied. [Break my hold.]
Liam tried to concentrate on using his shaqarava to break the hold, but couldn't because he was laughing too hard.
Dani let him struggle against the hold for a minute more and then let him go. [Breathe, Liam.]
Liam shook his head and tried to get his breath back, "What was that about? Breathing practice in case Zo'or ever tries to tickle me to death?"
[No, I knew that you wouldn't be able to break the hold. I just wanted to see you try,] Dani answered.
"What? What was the point in that?” Liam asked.
Dani smirked, [There was none. I just wanted to see you squirm.]
Liam looked at her, "There was no point?"
Dani laughed at his red face, [None at all. You squirm quite well by the way.]
Liam's eyes suddenly lit up with mischief as he watched her laugh, "You had better start running."
Dani stopped laughing, [Why?]
"Because I'm about to find out how well you squirm," Liam stated.
Dani took a step back, [What are you going to do?]
Liam smirked at her, "Wouldn't you like to know."
Dani took one more look at him and then took off running into the garden. Liam quickly followed and easily caught her because he had longer legs. Unfortunately, when he grabbed her, she lost her balance and fell, taking him with her. When they finally stopped rolling, he found himself looking down on her.
Liam began to get up to help her up, but then their eyes locked, and he froze. Something about the look on her face was calling to him, and he wondered if the look in her eyes meant that she was feeling the same way about him. The feeling was something that he wasn't used to feeling, but for some reason he felt like he had known it all of his life.
"Dani," he whispered.
[I don't know, Lee,] she replied answering his unspoken question, [but it is very nice.]
"Didn't you and Ronnie feel this way?” Liam asked shyly.
[We felt a lot, but never this. Never so strong,] Dani whispered.
Liam looked at her for a minute and tried to sort out his feelings. After a few moments, he reached forward and gently traced he side of her face.
Dani shut her eyes and enjoyed the comfort that his simple touch gave her. When she opened her eyes, he was leaning toward her. The kiss that followed shook her to her soul. For a moment, she wished that it would never end, but it did and she soon found herself looking at Liam again.
Liam didn't know what to say to her. He didn't exactly know why he had done that, he just had.
"I'm, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..." he stammered.
Dani cut him off, [No, please don't be sorry. I, I liked it very much. For a man who has never kissed a girl before, you kiss very well.]
Liam smiled, "I think Sandoval had something to do with that."
Dani laughed, [Speaking of him, he was sitting out on the porch moping. Shall we go and try to get him out of moper mode?]
Liam stood up and gently pulled Dani to her feet, "I think that would be a great idea."
As they left the garden, a dark figure walked out of the shadows. Ronnie had come there for some peace and quiet so he could think, but that peace and quiet had been shattered when Dani and Liam had come running in. When he saw them kiss, more then his peace and quiet had been shattered. His heart and mind had both broke into a million pieces.
* How could she?? * He cried to himself and then cringed when the sound of laughter drifted from the porch back to him. A light telepathic scan told him that Dani and Liam had just dowsed a dozing Sandoval with the hose and were now trying to play the part of the innocents. Sandoval was doing a great job at being mad until he broke out laughing at their 'innocent' looks.
The child-like laughter pained what was left of Ronnie's heart. He wanted to be part of the family again, but he couldn't bring himself to face the two people he had almost killed. For a few minutes, Ronnie's mind ran in crazy circles. Then everything suddenly became clear to him. He would make up with his family, but he needed to take care of something first. That something was the person he used to call brother. No one would be allowed to come between him and Dani once he made up to her. So, since Liam was coming between him and Dani now, he'd just have to go...
Ronnie was sitting on the porch when Doors left the
house. The man didn't look very
happy. Of course, he rarely did look
happy after his weekly meetings with Liam.
It was very clear that Doors didn't like Liam any more than he liked
Ronnie or Danella, and that made him exactly what Ronnie was looking for.
The boy walked up behind him and said, "I need
to talk to you."
Doors shook his head. He had to be the unluckiest man in the world. First Liam, now this freak. Doors ignored Ronnie and kept walking.
Ronnie wasn't going to let him get away that easily,
though. He caught up to Doors and
stepped in front of him, so that he had to stop.
Doors looked annoyed, "Get out of my way,
kid. I have work to do."
Ronnie shook his head no. " I have a
proposition for you."
Doors narrowed his eyes. He wasn't the least bit interested, but he knew he would never
get out of there if he didn't listen.
"Make it quick," Doors ordered.
"I need your help," Ronnie stated. "I know you don't like Liam any more
than you like me or Dani."
For a minute, Doors was worried. Could the boy have figured out that it had
been him that sent him up? * No, he
wouldn't be asking for help then. *
Doors thought. * What the he** is he up
to?*
"I'll make you a deal," Ronnie
continued. "You help me get rid of
Liam, and Dani and I will disappear."
Doors couldn't help but let a smirk cross his
face. He couldn't believe that the
answer to his hybrid problems had just been thrown at him and by one of the
freaks itself none the less. Now he
could get rid of them all and not be in debt to Zo'or for it.
Doors reached out and shook Ronnie's hand,
"Kid, you have a deal."
Liam was annoyed.
It was late, dark, and cold. Why
Doors had decided that he suddenly had to see him was beyond his
understanding. What made things worse
was that he wasn't the only one who was suffering while waiting for the
'Almighty Founder of the Resistance' to show.
Liam glanced behind himself at Dani, and she shrugged her
shoulders. They were suppose to be
picking up some things for his father, but not 10 minutes after they had left
the house, Doors had buzzed him via his global and insisted on seeing him. Now, it looked like Doors wasn't
showing. Liam looked around and
sighed. This day had been bad enough,
now it was just getting worse.
Dani walked over to him, [Maybe you should try and
call him again.]
Liam nodded and pulled out his global. He dialed Doors, but got no answer.
"Hmm, that's weird," Liam stated as he put
the global away.
Dani looked around and shivered, [This place is
creepy. Why did he want to meet you
here anyway?]
"You know how paranoid he can be. He just wanted to be sure that no one else
would be here," Liam gazed around again.
"He sure picked the right spot."
[How much longer are we going to wait?] Dani asked.
Liam glanced at his watch, "Just a few more
minutes. I want to get that pain
medication back to Dad. He's been in a
lot of pain today."
Dani nodded in agreement. There were days when Sandoval seemed to have almost no pain from
his back injury. Then there were days
like this one where he could barely get out of bed because of the pain. Dani wished she could use her shaqarava to
heal the injury, but Dr. Belman had been afraid that the quick healing that the
shaqarava would provide might send him into shock—if it even worked.
Liam took a few steps away from her, "Come on,
Doors. Where are you?"
Dani shut her eyes and scanned the area to see if
she could find Doors. She didn't find
Doors, but she did find something unusual—a blank spot, one that could only
have been created by a trained psi hiding their presence from another psi. Dani turned to face a nearby roof—where the
presence was—and then froze. Whoever
was on top of the roof was aiming a weapon at Liam. She felt the wave of satisfaction that passed over the man's mind
as he fired.
Liam heard the shot and began to turn toward
it. As he finished turning, he saw Dani
moving toward him. Before he could
react, the shot hit her, and she fell limply into his arms. Liam took a moment to look at the roof where
the shot had come from, to make sure the shooter wasn't going to fire again,
and then looked down at the woman in his arms.
When he saw her face, he froze.
The eyes that looked back at him were cold and empty...
“How is she?”
Liam asked as he watched Dr. Belman check Danella over.
Belman wrote down a reading from one of the machines
and then looked at Liam, "She's the same as she was when you asked 15
minutes ago."
Liam's face fell and Dr. Belman gently touched his
arm, "Liam, a person in a deep coma isn't going to come out of it very
quickly. Add the fact that she is
suffering from psychic shock because she was using her powers when she was
hurt, and we'll be lucky if she comes out of it at all. I'm sorry.
I know that isn't what you wanted to hear."
Liam was silent as he fought back tears, then
whispered, "I just...I don't want to loose her. Why can't I heal her like I did before?"
Dr. Belman tried to be patient with him even though
she had already answered the question several times, "Her mind is in too
fragile a state right now to try that, Liam.
You know healing her that fast could damage her mind more that it
already has been. We can't take that
risk."
Liam sighed.
he wanted to do something—anything—to help, but he couldn't, and the
helplessness was driving him crazy.
Dr. Belman could tell how he was feeling and
realized that if she couldn't get his mind onto something else he would snap
and go after the person who had done this even though they had no clue who that
was.
She motioned for him to follow her, "Liam,
there is something I've been meaning to show you.” She pulled out 2 images of a human brain and put them up on a
screen.
Liam looked at them, but the different shadings on
the images meant little to him, "What am I looking for?"
"This is a map of Ronnie's brain. As you know, I have been keeping an eye on
him ever since Dani overrode his CVI with her shaqarava. The last few times I have seen him, I have
started to notice that there seems to be some minor brain degeneration
occurring around the area where the CVI was," she replied pointing to some
darker shaded areas.
"I thought that Dani had taken care or all of
that," Liam stated.
"She did.
What you see now had happened since then. We thought things went all right, but obviously they
haven't. My opinion is that what she
did didn't work like we expected because Ronnie isn't 100% human. As you know, everything we know about the
CVI comes from how it affects humans..."she started.
"...and because Ronnie isn't fully human, he's
reacting differently," Liam finished.
"Exactly," Belman replied. "I need to get Ronnie in for more
tests, but for the last few days he's been like a shadow and just as hard to
catch as one."
Liam nodded, "He should be in his room. Why don't we go and talk to him now. I should update him on Dani's..." his
voice trailed off as a weaker voice cried out in his head.
[Ronnie, no!]
"Dani?”
Liam quickly moved to her bedside and looked for any signs that she was
waking up. Unfortunately, there weren't
any.
Dr. Belman looked concerned, "Liam, she is
exactly the same as she was 5 minutes ago.
What is it?"
Liam shook his head, "I don't know. I could have sworn I just heard her cry
out. Come on, let's go and get
Ronnie."
They left Dani's room and were knocking on Ronnie's
door not 10 minutes later. When there
was no answer, Liam slowly opened the door and then froze. The room was empty except for a small piece
of paper laying on the table...
Liam looked at his father's pale face and wished that this note were more like the last one he had given him from Ronnie. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Liam shivered as his father began to read the letter aloud in a shaking voice.
Dad,
Dad, this wasn't how I wanted things to go. Of course, my life has never seemed to go
the way I wanted it to. I only wanted a
family and a safe place to be with Dani.
It seems like that all changed after they implanted me. Dani changed, Liam changed, and I
changed. I'm not blaming anyone for
what happened. No, that was all my
fault. She tried; I know she did. But she didn't know that disabling the CVI
would do this to me. No one did. She should have just killed me. Well, I'll take care of that soon. I just have to go and ask the stars for
forgiveness before I go. I have to ask
you too.
Dad, I messed up.
I know I disappointed you. You
taught me so much about love and life, and I threw it back in your face. I'm so sorry. I wish I could take away all of your pain. God knows, I deserve it so much more than
you do. That night, I know you don't
remember it, but you need to know what happened. You came to me and tried to make me remember how much I felt for
Dani. You trusted me, and when you
turned your back on me, I betrayed that trust.
I fully meant for you to die.
I'm, I'm glad that you didn't, but now you have to suffer for my
betrayal.
Dad, tell Liam I'm sorry. I don't know
why I got so angry when I saw him and Dani kissing. They are so perfect. I
saw it the first time they were together, even though they didn't see it
themselves. He has been all I ever
wanted in a brother, and I betrayed his love too. I can never forgive myself for that.
Dad, as for Dani, I never meant to hit her. I should have known that she would do
anything to protect her soul mate, but I let jealousy blind me again. Sorry will never make it better. If she wakes up, tell her sorry anyway, and
if she doesn't, then I will find her in the Void and tell her myself.
Dad, don't be sad that I will soon be gone. I'll be happier where I am going. Never think that I'm not with you, because I
will always be, watching over you all and trying to make up for all of the
things I did wrong.
Your New Guardian Angel,
Ronnie
'There is only one place he would go. I know because it is where I went when I needed to find a way to forgive myself for the things that I had done...' Liam remembered his father's words and hoped Sandoval was right because he was racing against time—hoping to find Ronnie before he could do what he had threatened to do. Liam cleared his mind and let his father's directions and memories guide him to the secluded cliff. When he got there, he froze.
Ronnie was standing near the edge of the cliff with
his arms outstretched and his head tilted back as if was trying to reach out
and grab the sky. He was as still as a
statue, and Liam stopped breathing, fearful that even a little breath would
send the boy over the edge.
Minutes of tense silence passed, and then Ronnie
whispered, "Liam, go away. You
aren't wanted here."
Liam stepped forward slowly, "I won't leave you
here to do this."
Ronnie slowly lowered his arms and then turned to face
Liam, "You have no choice."
"Yes I do, unless you are going to try and
force me to leave," Liam crossed his arms over his chest. " 'Cause if you don't force me, I'm not
leaving."
Ronnie shook his head, "I don't want to hurt
anyone else, especially not you.
Please, just go and let me finish before..."
"Before what?”
Liam asked. "Before you
chicken out?"
"No!”
Ronnie cried. "Before she
wakes up. I don't want her to feel
it!"
Liam was quiet a minute, unsure of what Ronnie
really meant, then something clicked and he knew. "Dani's waking up?"
Ronnie's voice was tight, "Yes, soon. I have to be gone by then!"
Ronnie took a quick step toward the cliff, and Liam
cried out to him, "Ronnie, no!"
Ronnie stopped, but didn't turn around. "Liam, go, please," he whispered.
Liam stepped closer to Ronnie, "No, she'll need
you when she wakes up."
Ronnie laughed bitterly, "To do what? Try and kill her again?"
Liam shook his head, but before he could speak,
Ronnie did.
"Don't try to tell me I won't, Liam. Please just respect my wishes and go. Be the excellent brother I know you are, and
leave me alone."
Liam looked at Ronnie, and then sat down on the
ground, trusting the feeling he had that Ronnie wouldn't jump while he was
there, "No real brother would leave you alone like this. I'm staying."
Ronnie angrily whirled around to face Liam,
"Don't you love me? Do you want me
to kill you or Dani or Dad?"
Liam managed to remain calm even though the pain he
saw on Ronnie's face was making him cry inside, "I just believe that you
won't do it."
Ronnie stalked over to Liam and placed a glowing
fist against his brother's head. Liam
swallowed, but said nothing.
"I'll do it if you don't leave," Ronnie
threatened.
Liam closed his eyes and whispered in a tearful
voice, "We forgave you for everything, Ronnie. They will always love you. I will always love you. Do what you
have to."
Silence filled the air, and, for a moment,
everything was still. Suddenly, Ronnie
let out an anguished cry and dropped to the ground. Once there, he curled into
a ball and began sobbing.
Liam walked over to his brother and wrapped his arms around him. Ronnie turned
and sobbed into his shoulder, "I'm sorry. I don't want to be alone. I
don't want to be alone. Don't leave me."
"I'll never leave you," Liam vowed
fiercely. "No matter what happens.
I'll never leave you..."