Solar Eclipse M/L Book 1 (ch. 1-34);Book 2 (ch. 1-20) [SAVE]

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max and liz believer
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Post by max and liz believer »

Chapter 22

”What did Kira say to him?” Michael demanded. Maria had called him on his cell, on the verge of hysterics. She had been rambling something about Kira making Max believe that Max had made Liz sick and that Liz was going to die. And then Maria had been going on about Max crying and Liz vomiting, but that hadn’t made any sense to Michael at all.
”I don’t know,” Maria answered truthfully. ”Max only told me that he was killing Liz, that it was his fault that she was dying.”
”Damnit!” Michael said and frustrated pulled his hands through his hair. Why did that alien dude have to mess everything up? Wasn’t Liz and Max bad of as it was already? He looked at the couple sleeping on the couch. Maria had told him that they had fallen asleep about twenty minutes ago. Probably, all the emotions had worn them out. Max was laying on his back and Liz was draped over his chest, one of her legs between Max’s. Michael shook his head at the sight - somehow Max and Liz made such an uncomfortable position look comfortable.
”I’m calling Kira,” Michael said, taking control over the situation.
”Is that so wise?” Isabel asked. She was sitting on the floor, laying puzzle with Emma. Maria never thought she would live to see the day when the ice-queen played with kids - sitting on the floor. But wonders never ceased...
”He has created this mess, and he’s gonna clean it up,” Michael said firmly. ”I’m calling him.”
Maria gave him the phone and he dialed.
”Yes?” Kira answered.
”This is Michael. Get your ass over here now!” Michael said, his voice remorseless.
”Michael?” Kira asked, confusion in his voice.
”We’re at Liz’s place,” Michael said.
”What’s going on?” Kira asked, but no one was listening. Michael had already hung up.

Michael’s angry voice had woken Max up. He looked at Michael, pacing the room (Michael never paced the room!), while he threaded his fingers through Liz’s dark hair.
”Michael, what’s wrong?” Max asked, his voice low and calm.
Michael turned towards Max’s voice, and found him awake. He had not moved at all from his position, since Liz was still sleeping, but Michael knew that Max’s brain was already put into highest gear.
”I’ve just summoned a meeting,” Michael declared simply.
”You did?” Max asked, disbelief in his voice.
”Michael wants to teach Kira one thing and another about how to treat the king,” Maria said.
Max narrowed his eyes, but Michael beat him to it and spoke before Max had even the chance to open his mouth.
”No one gets you and Liz that worked up and expects not to deal with the consequences.”
”Aha,” Max said slowly and nodded. ”Michael, there’s nothing wrong here, Kira told me the truth - that’s all I ever asked for.”
”He could have done it a little smoother,” Michael said sulkily. Max was once again disapproving of his decisions.
Max eyed Michael. He could feel the tension radiating off Michael, so he backed off. It was not a good idea to push this any further.
”When should he arrive?” Max asked.
”In about half an hour,” Michael said.
Max nodded and closed his eyes again, clutching Liz closer to his chest.


By the time Kira arrived, Max and Liz were sitting on the couch, fully awake. Maria was now playing ‘house’ with Emma on the floor, while Isabel sat in one of the armchairs. At Kira’s knock Michael crossed the floor and opened the door.
Kira stepped in, giving off a somewhat breathless appearance.
”So, what’s up?” Kira asked casually. Isabel was sitting in one of the armchairs, looking a bit...angry. Michael was standing in front of him....looking pissed. He saw his former king sitting on the couch, holding an unhealthy-looking girl tightly by the hand. There was something different about his king. Even though he seemed tired and sad, his aura had changed. He was calmer, more self-confident - more like a king.
”You must be the famous Liz Parker, I presume,” Kira said and nodded towards Liz.
Liz looked him straight in the eye. No one had ever dare to meet his look that way, except Max Evans. He knew instinctively that he had a brave and strong-willed girl in front of him.
”And you must be Kira,” Liz stated.
”Why have I been summoned, your Hi-...Max?”
”You can’t just blurt out whatever you feel like,” Michael answered in Max’s place. ”What you say have great ramifications.”
Kira turned to the second-in-command.

”What are you talking about?” he asked.
”You telling Max that he is making Liz sick,” Isabel explained.
”Oh that,” Kira said, thinking that it was not such a big deal. However, he didn’t know Max Evans as well as he thought he did. If he had, he would have known that Max would kill himself rather than see Liz suffer from something he had caused. Max wasn’t only the king of a far-away planet, but also the master of self-guilt.
As Kira looked around the room, the ramifications of what he had told Max started to sink in.
”Ehh, I wanted to talk to you about something anyway,” Kira said, effectively side-tracking the conversation away from the accusations against him.
”About what?” Max asked.
”About Liz’s condition,” Kira answered. It only took the mentioning of Liz’s name in a sentence and you had Max’s fullest attention.
”I’m listening,” Max prompted, when Kira didn’t continue right away.
”As I was driving here, one of my men told me something that got me thinking. I haven’t thought of it since I automatically didn’t see it as a reality, because she was human.”
”Go on,” Isabel said when he quieted.
”Right. You mentioned this connection that you had with Liz.”
Max nodded.
”On our planet those kind of connections existed. When a man had connected with a woman they were bound together forever.”

”Like a marriage?” Maria asked from her corner. She was keeping thirty percent of her attention on the play with Emma, while the other seventy percent were focused on Kira.
”Well, no. If your marriages had worked I guess you could say that. But your marriages here on Earth are treated far too casually. A connection is forever - it binds two people together forever.” Liz leaned further into Max, seeking his warmth. Max took her hand with his other hand and draped an arm around her shoulder instead, pulling her closer to him.
”What has this to do with anything?” Michael asked impatiently.
”When a man connect with a woman, he’s giving her a part of him...of his heart if you like. When they are together they feel complete. When apart, they feel like they are missing something. I have never been connected to anyone, so I’m not really sure how that feels like,” Liz and Max knew exactly what that felt like, ”and connections are not as common in our world as you might think.”
”Would you consider them rare?” Isabel asked.
”I would consider them special,” Kira answered. ”You see, just like on Earth, we want to find the right one to spend our lives with. However, if we make a mistake, here on Earth that is, we can solve it by divorce. When you have connected with someone you can’t make it undone. The two persons are, as you would say it, ‘stuck with each other’. Therefore I hope that you understands the importance of making the right decision in our world. Not many people dare to do that.”

”Wow, sounds heavy,” Maria murmured, thinking that she would probably never be able to give a part of herself to anyone - and then have to be stuck with that person for like...eternity.
”If two people have connected,” Kira continued, ”they feel empty if separated.”
”But are they sick?” Max asked.
Kira shook his head.
”I cannot remember any connection where that was the case. The most serious is that they don’t feel whole. How would they otherwise survive the death of the....’soulmate’ as you call it. But I was thinking....The circumstances are different here. She’s a human. Perhaps her body can’t handle a connection...”
”Or being separated,” Maria pointed out.
Kira seemed to consider that for about thirty seconds before he uttered himself again.
”Have you’ve been separated after the connection?” Kira asked.
”Of course they have, they were separated for five years,” Michael said.
Kira shook his head. ”No, I mean before that. Were you ever separate then?”
Liz squeezed Max’s hand, sending him comfort.
”Yes,” Max said. ”We were separated.” He was very careful not to go into the specifics.
He didn’t really want to relive everything that had happened with him and Liz and the whole Kyle incident.
”How did Liz feel then?” Kira asked.

Liz did not feel so good,” Liz answered, somewhat annoyed that Kira was acting like she wasn’t even in the room. Kira looked at the strong girl with the weak-looking exterior.
”Which were you’re symptoms?” Kira asked.
”Dizziness, headaches...” Liz said.
”Did they get any better when you were with Max?” Kira asked.
Liz thought about that for a fraction of a second and then her eyes widened.
”Yes. Yes, I did,” she said.
”But why aren’t you feeling better now?” Kira said, mostly to himself.
”Well,” Max said and Kira looked at him. ”Liz is blocking the connection.”
”Why would you do that?” Kira asked, a hint of accusation in his voice.
”She isn’t doing it on purpose,” Max said, immediately stepping into defensive mode. ”We’ve tried to remove it, but we can’t...”
The disappointment was evident in Max’s voice.
”Wait here a minute,” Isabel said. ”Max have connected with Kyle too - he have healed him too. Does that mean that Kyle and Max are connected as well?” Maria looked disgusted, while Michael grinned - totally enjoying the embarrassed look on Max’s face.

”No,” Kira answered, and Max seemingly relaxed. ”There must be the want to connect with someone. Otherwise Max wouldn’t be able to heal anyone without being afraid that he bonded with more people.”
”You mean Max claimed Liz as his?” Maria said, somewhat offended by the caveman vision her mind conjured at Kira’s words.
”You can say that,” Kira said. ”As I explained earlier. When someone connected with another, that person must give a part of himself. Max possibly did that when he healed Liz - but not when he healed Kyle.”
”That makes sense,” Liz murmured.
”Now that I think about it, it’s very likely that it is the connection that is the root to the problem here. Max and Liz’s inability to reach each other through the connection might be what’s causing the sickness,” Kira said.
Liz looked up at Max. Could it be that simple? But it was better than that Max had changed vital functions inside of her. Perhaps they could do something about this.
Max met Liz’s eyes, and hugged her closer to him.
”What have you done in order to lift the blocking?” Kira asked.
”I have connected with her,” Max said. ”But I couldn’t enter her mind, I couldn’t reach her. It’s like she’s put up a wall, making it impossible to enter.”
”It seems as if she have put up the block in order to protect herself,” Kira said, thoughtfully.
”Why would Liz want to protect herself from Max?” Maria asked.

”No, not from Max,” Kira said. ”Liz, what really happened when everyone else thought you were dead?”
”I was attacked by Nasedo and Tess. Nasedo put his hand on me...and my interior started to heat up and then I lost consciousness,” Liz said.
”Have you used any of the powers through the connection?” Kira asked.
”What do you mean?” Max asked.
”Doesn’t Liz have any powers on her own?” Isabel asked.
”No...she’s still human. The only possibility I can come up with is that she can tap in on Max’s powers through the connection and use them. Max probably changed her so that she was able to use Max’s powers. People who are connected on our planet, can often utilize each other’s powers through the connection.”
”Cool,” Maria said. ”Hey, Michael! Why haven’t you shared any cool powers with me?”
”You’re not seriously suggesting that I shall be bonded with you?!” Michael snorted.
Maria looked offended.
”And why - Mickey G - wouldn’t you want to be bonded with me?” Maria asked.
”Okay, here we go again,” Isabel murmured.
”Guys, stop it!” Liz demanded. Both Michael and Maria quieted at the authority in her voice. Kira looked at Liz in amazement. She certainly was bonded to Max, she was already acting like a real queen.
”So how would me tapping in on Max’s powers cause me to block the connection - isn’t that a bit illogical. To use powers through the connection to close the very same connection?” Liz asked.

”Maybe something backfired...or you were trying to protect Max from getting hurt,” Kira said.
”How would she do that?” Max asked.
”You can feel her feelings through the connection, right?” Kira asked.
Max nodded.
”Perhaps she wanted to protect you from experiencing all that pain too,” Kira said.
Max turned to Liz.
”Did you do that?” he asked her.
Liz shook her head.
”I don’t know, Max. I don’t remember exactly what I did during the...uhm..burning. The pain was too..consuming for me to be able to have any clear thoughts.”
”But she can have done it unconsciously, right?” Isabel asked.
”The connection between Max and Liz must be very strong if she is to be able to do that without focusing...but yes, it’s possible,” Kira answered.
There were some minutes of silence as everyone pondered the information. The only sound around them, was the low and soft voice coming from Emma’s playing with the dolls beside Maria.
”In the beginning, did you connect with each other easily?” Kira asked. When Max and Liz looked a little confused, he elaborated. ”By connecting I mean, did you get images, feelings and thoughts from each other already in the beginning?”
”No,” Max answered. ”I saw images of Liz’s life when I healed her...but it wasn’t until we..uhm..kissed, that I saw images again.”

”And Liz saw these flashes too?” Kira asked.
Max and Liz nodded their heads in unison.
”Then that’s probably it,” Kira said and grew silent, as if that phrase had explained everything.
Michael shook his head in confusion.
”What’s it?” he asked. Kira eyed each member of the group and it dawned on him that they didn’t know what he was talking about.
”Oh, sorry,” he said. ”You have to kiss. You haven’t kissed yet, since you were separated, right?”
With red ears in embarrassment Max shook his head.
”Well, if you kiss then the connection will probably open again, since that’s how you opened the connection in the beginning before it became permanent.”
”Now?” Liz asked, her voice trembling with nervousness.
”Well, why not?” Kira said. Kira, being a man from another planet, didn’t see a problem in that. ”I need to see if it works.”
Michael chuckled, amusement spread over his whole face. This was really funny. Maria was looking pissed. Isabel tried to figure out if Kira was joking or not. Max and Liz had been separated for five years, and now Kira just demanded that they should kiss - just like that. Max and Liz looked...well...
Max cleared his throat.

”Can we at least have some privacy?” he asked, his voice strained.
Now it was Kira’s turn to look confused.
”Ehh, as you wish,” he said.
”Okay,” Liz said, trying to stop herself from laughing. This was really ridiculous, and Max embarrassment was just sooo cute. She stood up, taking a firm grip on Max’s hand and tugging him into the direction of the bedroom. ”Come here, Max.”
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Post by max and liz believer »

Chapter 23

As Liz closed the bedroom door behind them, the humor in the situation had completely vanished.
”So,” Max said.
”So,” Liz repeated.
”Liz, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” Max said, as he scratched himself behind his ear.
Liz smiled.
”Max, I would gladly kiss you any second of any day of the week,” Liz teased.
Max blushed. He felt the blood flowing through his veins and arteries heating up, as Liz stepped closer to him.
”L-liz, aren’t you afraid,” Max whispered.
Liz stopped in front of Max, her face merely inches from his. She could feel his warm breath on her face. She wrinkled her forehead.
”Why would I be afraid?” she asked.
”I-I-I might hurt you,” Max said.
Liz sighed and rolled her eyes.
”You must be kidding me, Max!” she said.

”Nuhu,” Max said and slowly shook his head.
”No?” Liz asked, arching one eye-brow.
”No, I don’t want to cause you anymore harm,” Max said.
”Max, haven’t you been listening? This might help me. Wouldn’t you want to cure me? Max, are you saying that you don’t want to kiss me?” Liz asked seductively as she traced Max’s jawbone lightly with her index finger. Max closed his eyes at her tingling touch, and tried to control himself. Where had this Liz Parker come from? Liz didn’t know herself how she ended up being such a temptress. All she knew was that she wanted Max to kiss her more than anything else in the world.
”It’s not-not that I don’t want to kiss you,” Max stuttered, the same feelings he had always felt in the close proximity of Liz Parker came rushing back to him. And just as always he was having great difficulties to control his feelings.

”You just don’t want to hurt me,” Liz said, her lips millimeters from his lips. That was it for Max. He closed the distance between them. The feeling of her soft lips, brought tears to his eyes, and his arms went around her pulling her closer. The kiss was soft, tentative at first but as that familiar electricity surged through their bodies the kiss quickly was filled with passion and lust. Their mouths explored each other, trying to make up for all the kisses lost – all the things they’ve gone through without the other by the side. Max buried his hand in Liz’s hair, pulling her lips closer to his. Their tongues tangled together, melting into one. As they came up for air, Max continued the travel of his lips down Liz’s jawbone. Liz moaned lightly at the assault of his lips.
”God, Max,” she breathed. Max relished in the taste of Liz Parker. Liz needed to feel his lips on hers again and guided his lips back to hers. Liz couldn’t get enough of him, she had missed him so much. Even in this passion, Max’s strong hands held Liz protectively to him - careful not to harm her somewhat fragile body.

A knock on the door broke them apart.
Breathing heavily Max and Liz looked at each other.
”We have to stop doing this where people can interrupt us,” Max said with a smile.
”How’s it going? Any flashes yet?!” Michael’s voice seeped through the door, unmistakably etched with the gloating the knowledge of what he had interrupted brought.
Liz smiled at Max.
”Does he got a death wish or what?” she murmured.
That’s when it hit them, at the same time.
”Did you see anything?” Liz asked slowly, anxiety evident in her voice.
”No,” Max said. ”Did you?”
Liz’s face fell and she felt like crying as she shook her head - the disappointment almost suffocating her.
Max pulled her to him again, holding her tightly to his body. She wanted the relief tears could give her, but no tears would come. She clutched Max to her - unconsciously drawing energy and support from him.
”Are you ready to go out?” Max asked softly. He was not sure he was completely ready himself. He wanted to stay in here with Liz - doing whatever it took to make her feel better. He felt Liz nod against his chest.
”Okay,” Max said and released her, taking her hand as he opened the door.


Michael stepped away from the door to let Max and Liz out. By their flustered faces and swollen lips, he was positive that they had experienced some serious face sucking.
”Oh, Max. Liz. Fancy meeting you here,” Michael said.
”Michael...don’t get me started,” Max warned.
”Okaaay, excuuuse meee!” Michael said and headed for the living room.
Maria looked up at the couple as it entered after Michael. They were looking better - both of them. Liz’s face had gotten some color, and then Maria wasn’t referring to the blushed nuance. They looked more...alive. However, she didn’t fail to notice the sadness and disappointment that was coming off Liz in waves.
”Oh, Liz,” Maria said, guessing that they hadn’t succeeded in restoring the connection, ”I’m so sorry.”
Liz stepped into her best friend’s waiting arms - her hand never leaving Max’s for an instant.
Maria hugged Liz closely to her.
”Don’t give up, Liz,” Maria said. ”You hear me? Don’t give up. Not now.”
”I’m gonna die,” Liz stated, longing for tears to come to her to wet her dry eyes.”And I probably don’t have that long time left.”

”This can’t be happening,” Maria thought. ”We finally find her, and we even have alien powers and her boyfriend has freakin’ healing powers and still we are going to lose her!!”
”It didn’t go so well, did it?” Kira asked, his voice breaking Liz and Maria apart.
”No,” Max answered. ”So what do we do now?”
Kira looked at his leader perplexed.
”I’m sorry, Max. I don’t know anymore we can do,” Kira said apologetically.
”But she’s gonna die!!” Max cried.
”Wait, what about the healing stones?” Isabel said.
”Of course, why didn’t we think of that any sooner?” Maria said, hope filling her.
”You have healing stones?” Kira asked.
”Yes, we used them to heal Michael,” Isabel said.
”That can be our only chance,” Kira said, and turned towards one of the two of his men, who had been guarding the front door. ”Nemo, get the healing stones and bring them here.”
”Yes, sir,” Nemo answered.
”Who will go with Nemo to show where the healing stones are?” Kira asked.
”I will,” Michael said. He really felt up to going on a mission. Well, mostly it was a good excuse to get out of this nut house. Too many hours in a restricted area with Isabel and Maria could sooner or later give him a free ticket to the mental institution. He could not leave fast enough.


An hour later, Michael and Nemo were back with the healing stones.
”Okay, let’s get started,” Kira said. ”Liz, you position yourself on your back here on the floor.” They had pushed the furniture away, making room for the healing. As Kira instructed Liz, the others positioned themselves in a circle around Liz. They had carried some sand inside and had used it too make lines of a circle with five lines meeting in the middle. Emma had found this part very funny, and the work had taken twice as long time only because Emma had used the sand to play in. Firstly, she had built houses and then she had gotten her mini toy cars out and had used the lines as roads. Liz had taken her to the bedroom some minutes prior to Michael and Nemo’s return, and she was now napping soundly in her bed. Max gave Liz a kiss on the forehead before he let her go to lay in the middle of the circle.
”So, I guess you know how to do this,” Kira said.
”Okay guys, now focus on Liz,” Max said, as he lifted the bowl of water from the floor. He looked around himself, at the faces of the only people he trusted in the world...and Kira - who he hoped that he could trust just as much. His eyes lastly fell on the girl of his dreams, the love of his life, laying pale on the hard, cold floor. She looked so small and fragile, but he knew that body held an immense amount of strength and will.
Max took a sip from the bowl of water and then passed it on to Maria standing beside him. The bowl continued it’s way round the circle - binding them together with the one thing they all had in common, despite their different origins - water. As the bowl had completed the circle, everybody took one healing stone each, closed their eyes and focused on Liz.

Liz inhaled and exhaled slowly and evenly, trying to remain calm and focused. Then she closed her eyes and immediately felt the warmth spreading inside her body. For one frightened moment her mind returned to the night when Nasedo had burnt her, but just as soon as the panic had flowed through her - it had dissipated again. This warmth was something different. It was something Liz had never experienced before. She was enveloped in feelings of pure love. She had never felt love so pure, so unconditional. She opened her eyes and found herself on a beach. The ocean was turquoise and glittered in the warm sun. She looked down, and noticed that her feet were bare, sinking down in warm, almost completely white sand. She was dressed in a white dress - the soft material billowing around her body in the slight humid ocean breeze. She was filled with an immense sense of calmness and comfort. The beach was deserted - but the loneliness didn’t frighten her. She felt safe here. The beach stretched out for miles. She looked up at the blue cloudless sky. Not a single sound was heard. Everything was so quiet, merely the gentle blowing of the wind was registered by her.
”Liz?” A voice behind her said. She turned around and saw Maria standing there. Maria smiled warmly and walked towards her, embracing her in a warm hug. Maria’s thoughts and feelings flowed into Liz. She relived all their moments together, all their sleep-overs, all their talks about boys, all the times they had been standing in front of the mirror, dancing and miming to some song. Liz experienced her friend’s sorrow when Maria had thought that Liz had died. Liz could feel Maria’s hope as Max had told them Liz was alive. But she could also feel that same hope dwindle to soon sink into hopelessness as the years went by. Liz felt Maria’s deep-rooted fear about losing her best friend. But through it all Liz felt Maria’s love and support.

Maria stepped away, leaving room to Michael. Liz smiled at Michael and Michael hugged Liz to him. Liz could feel all Michael’s insecurities, all his fears of disappointing Max and everyone in the group. But she also felt his admiration of her and his big-brother protectiveness. Michael released her and the next second Liz was hugging Isabel. Isabel - who put up a whole act to prevent herself from getting hurt. Isabel - who admired Liz for having the courage to be herself and don’t let anyone put her down. But also the Isabel who had a large warm heart, just longing to love and be loved. Liz could feel how Isabel was already considering Liz as her sister, being grateful for Liz’s persistence in letting Isabel in. Isabel let go off her and Liz found herself face to face with Kira, who she had merely known for a couple of hours. Kira bowed his head and took her hand and kissed the back of it. In that small gesture Liz could feel the deep respect Kira had already obtained for her, and the loyalty he held towards Max and had already started to feel towards Liz. Kira stepped away. Liz looked at the man standing a few feet away from her. He smiled and stepped up to her. He brought up his hand and caressed her cheek and next he brought his lips down on hers. The kiss was slow, but nonetheless filled with a passion Liz had never felt before. Max’s love flowed through her, making her almost light-headed. His love was pure. She felt that he had not given up on her. He would stand by her till the end. He would never leave her side. Max’s lips slowly parted from hers and with a parting kiss on the forehead, Liz closed her eyes and woke up on the floor in her apartment in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

”Liz, are you okay?” Maria asked, kneeling beside Liz as she slowly pulled herself up in sitting position.
”Yeah, yeah...I’m okay,” Liz said feeling dazed.
Max pulled her into his lap, eyeing her over.
”It didn’t work, did it?” Liz asked Max.
”I still can’t feel you,” Max said, trying his best not to let the hurt shine through, wanting to protect Liz from his feelings of disappointment.
”It didn’t work?” Michael asked.
Liz shook her head.
”Don’t you feel better?” Isabel asked.
”Actually, I feel great,” Liz said.
”So what’s the problem?” Michael asked.
”I still can’t feel Liz,” Max pointed out.
”Maybe it’s just a delayed reaction,” Maria suggested.
”Maybe,” Liz said but she wasn’t convinced. She felt as if she had been reborn, all her symptoms were gone - but the fact remained that the connection was still blocked. She didn’t want to get her hopes up again. She had hoped so much the last hours to just have it slap her in her face over and over again. She might feel good now, but she had a feeling that with the blocking of the connection, her symptoms would soon be returning.
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Post by max and liz believer »

Chapter 24

Liz closed the door to her bedroom and paused - relishing in the silence. Max was in the living room, talking to Kira. She had left, not being able to hear the hurt and hopelessness in Max’s voice. She needed time alone, time to think. She had been through so much since Max had decided to make an entrance into her life almost two days ago and she hadn’t even had any time to process it all. She realized that she had not really lived any of all those days. She had been so confused. She had tried to pretend like nothing, accept that she didn’t know her righteous part in this world and that she had to move on and go about her life like any other human being would do. Of course, that was nearly impossible. She was constantly reminded about her lack of memories, as someone mentioned a city and she had no clue where that city was located, or someone mentioned a name and she had no idea that that person had been a president or a famous actress. She had never really been able to accept the fact that she had a child - a beautiful daughter - but no idea who her daddy was, what he looked like, where he lived or what his name was. Now that the memory had returned to her, many things fell in place that had puzzled her earlier.

Like the unexplained phenomena her daughter used to accomplish. Liz remembered one particular event with Emma’s teddy bear, as Emma had been only four months old. Liz had bought Emma a pink teddy bear, and had placed it in Emma’s crib. The next day, the bear had been blue. Liz had discarded the whole thing as temporary insanity on her part - maybe the bear had been blue. But she had never quite been able to forget about it. It was one of those events that had been piled at a place at the back of her mind. Just like when she was giving birth to Emma. She had felt a surge of energy go through her, supporting her throughout the last stages of birth. Now she knew that it had been Max...
”Oh my God,” she gasped and flung the bedroom door open, rushing into the living room.
”Max!” she cried.

Max spun around and looked at her, a flicker of fear passing over his face. So much bad had happened in the last couple of hours that he expected the worst as he saw her agitated face expression. But then he saw a small sparkle of...hope in her eyes.
”Liz...?” he said, almost timidly.
”Max, remember the day when I was giving birth?” Liz asked, her voice masked with excitement.
Max looked at her, wondering if she was finally losing it.
”Liz...I wasn’t with you,” he said carefully.
”No, no, I know,” Liz said, the words pouring out of her. ”Do you remember when I gave birth to Emma?”
Max tried to figure out what she meant. He had a feeling Liz was onto something important.
”You mean- you mean - Yes! I could feel you...” Max said, the realization dawning on him as he too started to get infected with Liz’s excitement.
”You could feel her?” Kira asked. ”Wasn’t this after the connection was blocked?”
Liz nodded excitedly, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
”I could feel your pain and your contractions,” Max said, but then slowed down as doubt tried to crawl its way back into his mind. ”But perhaps that was only because-”
”No Max!” Liz said. ”I could feel you!”
”You could?” Max asked slowly, it all starting to sink in.
”You could?” Kira asked too.

”At the last stages of birth...when things were the worst, I could feel you - sending your energy to me through the connection. When I come to think of it, I had probably not been able to live through the birth if you hadn’t reached out for me. I was already so sick. I had no strength left.”
Max pulled her flush against his body and put his strong arms around her waist. He knew that she wasn’t aware of the magnitude her words had on him. She truly was incredible. She had succeeded in lessening his bad conscience - removing some of his demons - and she probably wasn’t even aware of it.
”This is good, right?” Max asked Kira, not letting go off Liz.
Kira wasn’t sure if this changed anything, but he had experienced enough of Max’s misery the last couple of hours to know not to intentionally give him bad news when it came to Liz.
”Well, this does mean that the connection can be opened again. But we don’t know if it was only an one-time occasion.”
”But there’s a possibility that we can restore the connection?” Liz asked.
”Yes,” Kira said. He was not at all convinced, but neither Max nor Liz noted. They were too happy to pay any greater attention to what was transpiring around them.

”Maybe we just haven’t found the right method to open the connection yet,” Max said.
”But why was the connection blocked again after the birth?” Kira said to himself.
Max released Liz and his happy appearance faltered a bit. Liz looked up at him, took his hand and gave it an reassuring squeeze. Max smiled gratefully at her. This was perhaps their last thread of hope and Liz could not let that be crushed so easily.
”I had no memory,” Liz said calmly. ”If I had known I had fought with everything I had to keep the connection open. But I didn’t even know about the connection. How can I keep something open that I didn’t even knew existed?”
”It was easier for you to fall back to having the connection blocked as that was the state your mind recognized in its state of amnesia,” Kira said, contemplating Liz’s words.
Liz nodded. The sound of the ringing of a cell phone ripped through the air. Max jerked his head up at the sound.

”That’s yours,” Kira informed, as he made no inclination as to answer.
Max looked slightly surprised, and then he hauled up the cell phone from his pocket. He looked at the telephone number on the display before he pressed the connect-button.
”Hi Alex!” Max said and had to smile as interest flared up in Liz’s eyes.
Max was quiet for some time as he listened to Alex at the other end of the line.
”That’s good, Alex,” Max said, trying to keep himself from not grinning at Liz’s miserable efforts at hiding her craving to talk to Alex. She was trying her best to pretend to not seem interested at all in what Max was doing.
Alex was just as bad at hiding the real purpose of him calling. Alex was highly conscious of the fact that Max had found Liz and that Max right now was in the very same room as the best friend he had known almost everything single detail about a couple of years ago. The third member of the former Three Musketeers. And now he had to pretend that he had only called to update Max on the situation home in Roswell.
”Alex, hold on for a sec, would ya?” Max asked.
”Uhm..okay,” Alex said.
Max lowered the phone, holding a hand over the speaker.
”Liz...,” Max said.
”Yes,” Liz said, trying her best to sound casual.

”There’s someone here that would like to speak to you,” Max said, smiling.
”Okay,” Liz whispered, not even attempting to hide the tremble in her voice, revealing her nervousness.
Max kissed her gently on the forehead and gave her upper arm a light squeeze, before putting the phone to her ear. Liz shakily put her hand over his on the phone and they both registered the small electrical tingle at the touch before Max withdrew his hand.
”I’ll be in the kitchen,” Max whispered.
Liz nodded weakly and watched as Max disappeared into the kitchen. She drew a shaky breath.
”Hi Alex,” she said into the speaker. Her voice was low but stable, considering the turmoil that was going on inside of her.
”Liz...?” she heard that familiar voice, that she had longed to hear ever since she retrieved her memory, say. ”Is that really you?”
”Yeah,” Liz said.
”God, Liz... I can’t believe it. I thought you were dead,” Alex said.
”Well, in some ways you can say that I was,” Liz said.
”Yeah, Isabel told me that you had amnesia,” Alex said. There was a pause.
”God Liz, I have so many questions - I don’t even know where to begin. There’s so much I wanna know. Isabel has told me a little...but.. so...How are you? Eh...I mean, how have you been?”

Liz couldn’t help but smile at his stuttering, her nervousness gradually sliding off her as she realized that Alex was just as nervous. She grew calmer as his familiar voice enveloped her.
”As good as could be expected,” Liz said.
”Right,” Alex said in disbelief and Liz could by the sound of his voice tell that he was smiling.
”I’ve heard that you were sick.”
”Well, yeah...,” Liz said evasively.
”Someone also informed me that you’re eligible to take part in leading the car-pooling to school now,” Alex said, his voice affectionate.
Liz’s face shone up at the thought of her beautiful daughter.
”Yeah,” she breathed.
”I heard she’s as beautiful as her mother,” Alex said and Liz blushed.
”She’s wonderful,” Liz said proudly. ”I don’t think I would have survived if it wasn’t for her. I would have given up a long time ago.”
”I can’t wait to meet her,” Alex said, ”and thank her.”
Liz smiled, tears stinging her eyes.
”I’ve missed you, Liz,” Alex said.
”I miss you too,” Liz said.

”Are you coming home to Roswell?” Alex asked.
Liz hesitated. She hadn’t really thought about the future yet - a couple of minutes ago she hadn’t thought she even had a future. Was she going back to Roswell? She figured her parents still lived there - she missed her parents so much. She had to meet everyone. But to everyone in Roswell she was dead. How was she going to explain a sudden coming back from the dead? However, it had not been her choice to leave, and she wanted back. But was she ready? She wanted to - but so much had happened and she was afraid that she was getting overloaded - overwhelmed by all her emotions.
”I don’t know,” Liz answered. ”Of course I’m coming back....but there are some practical things to take care of. I have work here and Emma has friends at day care. I need a little more time.”
”Of course you do,” Alex said. ”I completely understand that. But isn’t Max and the others going back tomorrow?”
A blur of emotions bubbled up inside of her. Just the thought of being apart from Max anymore made her feel so many things - the most distinct feeling being fear.
”You know, it’s Monday tomorrow and we all attend the university,” Alex said, a little worried by Liz’s silence.
”Of course,” Liz thought. ”What did you think, Liz? That they were just hanging around doing nothing day after day. They all have their own lives!” She realized that she knew nothing of how Max’s life was like now.

”Liz?” Alex said, bringing Liz back to reality.
”Honestly, Alex. I haven’t talked to them about it yet - but I guess they’re all returning back tomorrow.”
”Well, I’m not so sure Max will leave your side anytime soon,” Alex said. ”We’ll have to chain him to a wall and throw away the key to keep him away from you. And even then I’m not so sure it would stop him - alien powers or not.”
Liz smiled.
”I can understand that, because I feel the same way,” Liz said.
”We’ll meet each other sooner or later, Liz,” Alex promised. ”Nothing can keep me away either - it’s some kind of power you have on us Liz Parker!”
Liz giggled. She had only spoken to Alex for approximately ten minutes and already she felt like a teenager again, discussing every thing between heaven and Earth (and even beyond Earth) with one of her very oldest best friends.

”Thank you, Alex,” Liz said.
”For what?” Alex asked, confused.
”Just...thank you...for being you,” Liz said.
”Welcome back, Liz,” Alex said, the smile once again evident in his voice.
”I love you, Alex,” Liz said.
”Love you too, girlfriend,” Alex said. ”Talk later, huh?”
”Try stopping me,” Liz said, smiling.
”Bye, Liz,” Alex said, reluctant to hang up.
”Bye, Alex,” Liz said and slowly lowered the phone from her ear and pressed the disconnect-button. She just stood there for a while, listening to the voices coming from the kitchen. Familiar voices - voices of her family. She became aware of the smell that had started to fill every corner of the living room. Her stomach rumbled. For the first time in nearly six years she did not feel nauseous in any way and the rich smell of home made food awoke a welcomed and much longed-for feeling of hunger within her, and with a content smile grazing her lips she made her way to the kitchen.

***

”Something’s up,” Tess said in the phone.
”What?”
”Max left Roswell two days ago, taking Isabel, Maria and Michael with him - and they haven’t been back yet.”
”What?!! Why didn’t you go with them?!”
”I-I-I didn’t know they were going to leave. They never told me!”
”Of course they didn’t tell you! They don’t trust you!”
”Yes, they do!!” Tess whined.
”I’m tired of playing games, Tess. You blew it a long time ago and I let you continue anyway because you’re our only direct link to them! But that’s a mistake I won’t make again.”
”Don’t talk to me th-”
”Shut up, Tess! You will still be monitoring them, but you will not do anything. Do you hear me?! You don’t even breathe wrong without my permission! If you screw this up - anymore than you already have - I will personally see through it that you’ll be eliminated.”

Nasedo slammed the receiver down. He had heard some disturbing rumors from his allies back on Antar that an heir to the throne had been born - an heir to Max. The pressure on him was huge. If he was to do one thing incorrectly they probably would have him executed and have his head served as an offer to Khivar on a silver plate.
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Post by max and liz believer »

Chapter 25

Emma yawned.
”Em, you’re tired?” Liz asked with a smile.
Emma firmly shook her head.
”Na huh...I’m”
yawn
”not”
yawn
”tired”
”Of course you aren’t,” Liz said. ”So how about getting some sleep before you fall off your chair.”
Emma started to giggle at the visions her head conjured at that statement.
”Yep, she’s tired all right,” Maria stated, watching the little girl giggle uncontrollably.
Liz rose from her chair and lifted Emma from her chair.
”C’mere honey, I’ll read you a book.”
”I want daddy to dwead a book,” Emma said and yawned again.
Liz turned and, with a smile on her face, captured Max’s eyes. Liz arched one of her eyebrows in a questioning expression. Max shrugged.
”Of course, sweety,” Max said and rose. He relieved Liz from her daughter’s weight, placing her on his hip - nestling her small, yet compact, body against his. Emma yawned again and leaned her head on Max’s shoulder, her arms and legs dangling limply in the air from exhaustion. Max held her securely with both hands around her waist. Liz gave Emma a kiss on the cheek, Max stealing a sniff of the smell of her hair as she came close. Strawberry and vanilla.

Liz smothered Emma’s hair.
”Okay honey. You be nice to your daddy. Deal?”
”Uh huh,” Emma nodded with her eyes half open. Max chuckled.
”I don’t think she will be too much of a problem,” he said softly.
”Don’t let her cute appearance fool you,” Liz said with a secretive smile. ”Night, pumpkin.”
”Nite, mommy,” Emma said and she and her daddy was off to bed.
”Okay Liz. We have a lot to talk about,” Maria said. ”You know, in a non-testosterone environment.”


Liz closed the front door after Maria’s departure. Michael had left after dinner, which he had cooked (and it had tasted wonderfully!), leaving only Max, Emma, Liz and Maria. After thirty minutes of girl-talk, Maria reluctantly announced that she probably should get going and she had called for Michael to pick her up. They all had school to go back to in the morning - including Max. But so far, he hadn’t said a word about what he planned on doing about that. Liz didn’t know if he was going back to school tomorrow or was to skip classes or what. She knew that she probably had to work, so it would be of no greater use for him to stick around in the apartment tomorrow anyway. Liz walked back into the kitchen, took her cup of tea and headed for Emma’s room intending to find out the reason to Max’s extended absence. She knew that Emma could suddenly turn into a bundle of energy just when she was about to go to sleep, no matter how tired she might have been earlier, and it was difficult to get her to lay down and relax. And Max had been ‘tucking her in’ for about thirty minutes now. As she approached the door to Emma’s room, which had been left slightly ajar, she heard no voices. It was very quiet. She silently pushed the door open and leaned against the door frame, her cup in her hand, taking in the picture in front of her. Emma was laying in her bed - sound asleep. Max was sitting in Indian style on the floor beside Emma’s bed, watching his daughter with admiration, pride and love shining in his eyes. He was sitting there, watching his daughter as he used to watch Liz hour after hour in the CrashDown. He made no indication of revealing that he knew that Liz was there, until he spoke. His voice soft and tender, yet so full of emotions.
”I can’t believe that we made this wonderful child.”

Liz felt her heart swell and she couldn’t help but smile.
”Well, we did,” she said as she slowly made her way into the room. She put her tea cup on Emma’s chest of drawers and sat down next to Max on the floor. His eyes didn’t leave Emma’s still figure for a second, as his hand reached out and took a hold of Liz’s. Liz laced her fingers with his, placing their entwined hands in her lap.
”We did a good job, huh?” Liz asked.
You did a good job,” Max corrected, squeezing her hand. ”She’s perfect, Liz. She’s smart, warm, caring and just as beautiful as her mother.”
Liz blushed.
”Thank you, Liz,” Max said.
Liz nodded, understanding just how much laid behind those simple words.
”Actually, I don’t think I raised her. I think she raised me,” Liz said. ”Without her I would have been six feet under by now.”
”I don’t agree with you,” Max said. Liz looked at him.
”What do you mean, Max Evans?” She asked impishly.
”I’ll never met anyone as strong-willed as you. I’ve never met anyone with a greater will to survive and live. And I don’t think I ever will. I don’t doubt for a second that Emma kept you going - gave you meaning to life. However, I also know that the Liz Parker I knew would not give up without a fight - how long and difficult that fight might ever be.”
Liz felt tears stinging her eyes, moved by his sincere words, but mostly touched by the faith and trust he still had for her. They sat in silence for a while, watching their daughter sleep peacefully. Emma still lived in oblivion to the life she had been given. She was still happily unaware of the fact that she was really an alien princess on a far away planet - even if she wanted it or not.

Liz lovingly stroke Emma’s hair with her right hand, holding Max’s hand in her other. She could feel that Max had something on his mind, but he wasn’t talking. She could still read him, as he could read her - even without the connection.
”What are you thinking?” Liz asked.
”What?” Max asked, pulled out of his thoughts by her gentle voice.
”Would you like to tell me what’s on your mind, Max?” Liz asked.
”It’s just... I wasn’t here,” Max said. Liz closed her eyes, letting his voice fill her - absorbing it, taking his words to her heart. ”I wasn’t here when she was born. I wasn’t here when she got her first tooth. I wasn’t here when she said her first word. I wasn’t here when she took her first steps. I’ve missed out on so many things, Liz.”
Liz took a deep breath. She knew that he was going to feel like this. Max had never chosen to be away from his child. If he had known that he had a child - if he had been able to get to her - he would have. He would do anything to be with his child, to be a part of his child’s successes, accomplishments and failures. And he had tried - he had done everything in his power and even more than that to find his child and the love of his life. But a person who didn’t want to be found was not impossible to find, but very hard.
Liz moved around to face Max. She took his other hand, making him turn towards her. She took both of his hands in hers and looked him deeply in the eyes.

”Max, I’m sorry that you missed so much of your daughter’s life. But Emma and I have managed pretty well anyway, haven’t we?” Max did not look convinced. ”Okay, as well as could be expected under the circumstances. But you didn’t choose to do this Max. If you had known that you had a child and known where that child was you would never abandon it - never. The point here Max is that we have the rest of our lives to spend together. She’s four. She still has so many things left to experience. Her first crush, her first date, her driver’s license, her graduation, her first boyfriend, her wedding. Max, we can’t go back. You’ve missed some big things with her, but there are so many things left to go through.”
Tears were pooling Max’s eyes as he leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips over hers - his lips lingering a bit too long to count as a brief kiss. Liz inhaled deeply as feelings awoke and sizzled through her - feelings only Max’s kisses could awake.
With her eyes still closed, Liz murmured, ”I have something for you.”
Max tried to get his emotions under control, trying very hard not to let his imagination go places it shouldn’t go at Liz’s statement.
”You have something for me?” he asked slowly.
Liz opened her eyes and smiled at him.
”Yes, I do,” she affirmed, her voice secretive as she rose from her sitting position, pulling Max along with her. ”Follow me.”
Max looked at her confused, but complied without any questions.

Liz dragged him out of Emma’s bedroom, into the living room.
”Sit,” she ordered Max and he speechlessly sat down on the couch.
”What are you doing, Liz?” he asked as Liz started removing books from the plain bookshelf.
”Just hold on a sec,” she said. From the bookshelf she started to unload videotapes. They were small - the ones you put in a video camera. She opened a drawer and took out a regular-sized videotape, which had a space for the smaller videotape to be placed in - so that the small videotape could be run in a regular VCR. She placed one of the small videotapes in the big one, plugging it into the VCR. She turned on the TV and took a seat beside Max. Max’s eyes followed her every move, his facial expression a mixture of sheer bewilderment, curiosity and excitement. Without a word, Liz picked up the remote control and pressed ‘play’.
At first the TV screen was black, but then the image shifted to display the legs of a chair. Then a little baby came into view. Liz watched Max’s face the whole time. His eyes were fixed on the TV screen, but his whole face was like an open book. Thousand emotions flickered over his face as he saw the baby sleeping soundly on the screen, her beautiful brown eyes closed and her chubby cheeks rosy. As he realized that he was watching a home video of his daughter as a baby his eyes pooled up with tears, and he reached out and pulled Liz close to his side. Without a word, he affectionately kissed the crown of her head, putting more feeling and emotion in that small act that any words could describe. Liz had documented it all on film. She had been there to film all the things Max regretted missing. She had given him an indirect link to the years he had missed.


Max removed the remote control from Liz’s hand and turned off the VCR and the TV. Liz laid with her head positioned in his lap, her legs pulled up in a fetal position - sound asleep. He wiped away the tears that had silently fallen down his cheeks. Careful not to wake her, he disentangled himself from her warm and comforting weight. It wasn’t easy. She had a handful of his shirt in her hand, and even in her sleep she struggled not to be separated from him. He pried of her hand and took a pillow, which he gently put under her head. He found a blanket and draped it over her. With a kiss on her forehead he left the living room and walked back into Emma’s bedroom. He sat in there into the small hours of the morning, just watching her sleep.


Liz awoke with a feeling of disorientation, and pulled the blanket closer to her body, trying to fight off the morning chill that threatened to invade her body. It was still dark outside, and she looked at her watch and found it to be 4.30 a.m. She clutched the blanket close to her body and rose, feeling a faint feeling resembling headache, a warning of the headache that was gradually returning. Her bare feet made no sound as she made her way towards her bedroom. She was still half asleep, as she made her way inside the complete darkness of her room. She felt her way to the bed and pulled away the covers and with a yawn she crawled into bed. However, she soon discovered that she was not alone, she was not the only one to reach the decision to sleep in that bed tonight. As she crept down under the covers, she felt a small familiar warm body beside her. She inwardly smiled and crept up to the small body, relishing in the warm human contact. As she put her arm around her daughter’s still form, her hand touched skin, which texture was slightly different from her daughter’s, and her sleep-induced brain vaguely came to the conclusion that it was Max before she with a content smile drifted off to sleep again.
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Post by max and liz believer »

Chapter 26

BEEP BEEP BEEP
Liz groaned and turned, pulling the covers over her head to block out the annoying sound and the bright morning light.
”Mommy, mommy,” Emma mumbled beside her. ”I want pancakes.”
”Uh huh,” Liz murmured and pulled the covers closer, having no intention of going anytime soon, definitely not to make pancakes. She felt someone snuggle closer to her and then she suddenly had her daughter tucked in under her chin.
”Mommy, pwease wake up! I’m hungwy!” Emma said, letting in the light as she started to pull away the covers. Liz blinked and groaned, as she simultaneously fought Emma for the cover.
”Liz,” a soft voice said and then the owner of that beautiful voice was working as a accomplice to her daughter, pulling the covers away from her head - removing her refuge.
”Liz, it’s morning,” he said again and she felt his hand thread through her hair, gently removing the traces of sleep.
”Uh huh,” Liz said, not feeling too excited about leaving the warm and cozy bed.

Max smiled at her. She was laying on her side, the covers up to her ears with Emma having crawled under the covers, completely vanishing from underneath it. Emma was not the most tranquil child. She was moving around - fully awake and with new energy, removing the covers more and more in the process. However, Liz was not the first to give and she held on to the covers for dear life. Max took away his hand from her hair and reached under the covers to pull out Emma. Emma was as easy to catch as an eel and Max had to put quite some effort in removing her from her mother.
”Emma, c’mere. Let’s leave your mommy alone and we can go and make some breakfast,” Max said temptingly.
Bribes certainly worked.
”Yay!” Emma cried and started bouncing up and down in the bed.
”Emma, please,” Liz mumbled in a pleading voice.
Max caught Emma in mid air and lifted her out of the bed.
”Okay, calm down little lady,” he said.

Liz could hear Emma’s giggles as she and Max left the room. She took a deep breath and rolled on her back, staring at the ceiling - trying to accustom her eyes to the light. Her heart swelled with love as she heard her daughter’s and Max’s voices mixing with the kitchen noises out in the kitchen. That was something she had never thought she would hear. She had given up years ago on ever leading a normal life. She had taken what she had, and tried to make her daughter’s existence as tolerable as possible - but that was about all she could concentrate on. She would have had difficulties going on with her life if she was to start contemplating about her miserable situation. By focusing on her daughter and keeping her daughter happy she found an easy way out of her reality. She lazily stretched her arms out above her head, yawning as her body stretched out. She looked at the time on the bedside clock. She really should get up. It was Monday morning and she had to get Emma to day care and then head off to work. She didn’t really know what she should do. She and Max still hadn’t discussed the future yet. They had somehow left it hanging - perhaps too afraid to discuss it. That discussion would probably bring forward too many emotions. Liz was almost convinced that she didn’t have a future, that she could soon die....and Max was afraid of the very same thing although he didn’t want to face the truth yet - even though it was staring him straight in the eye.

Liz pulled her legs out from underneath the covers and shivered as her bare feet touched the cold floor. She realized that she was still in her regular clothes from yesterday and her whole body screamed for a shower. Retrieving a robe from the closet, she made her way out of the bedroom - the smell of pancakes teasing her sense of smell during her journey to the bathroom.


”Emma, why don’t you sit down and I’ll get the syrup,” Max said as he placed his hands under Emma’s arms and lifted her off the counter she had mounted in order to retrieve the bottle of syrup from one of the cabinets. Max put her down in her chair and got the syrup himself.
”Daddy, will you take me to the day ware today?” Emma asked, trying to cut the pancake into pieces only using a fork as a tool.
”I guess I can go with you and your mommy today as she gets you there,” Max said, pouring coffee into two cups.
”Can we go in your big car?” Emma asked excited.
Max smiled for himself as he pulled out two spoons from one of the drawers.
”Yes, we can go in my car,” he answered.
”Yay!!” Emma cried enthusiastically.
Emma had given up on cutting the pancake into pieces and reached for the syrup, practically drowning the pancake in syrup. With sticky fingers she tried to eat the pancake by biting bits directly off the pancake instead. Perhaps it had been somewhat successful if she had managed to keep the pancake on the plate but this is a four-year-old we’re talking about here. She took the pancake in her small hands, finding her hands a much more useful tool than the fork, and moved it to her mouth, dripping syrup in her lap and over her chin as she took the first bite.

Max turned around just in time to witness his daughter’s imaginative solution to not being able to slice food by herself, and not asking for help.
”Emma,” he sighed, and grimaced as he gently took the sticky pancake from her. ”Haven’t your mommy told you that you’re suppose to eat pancakes with syrup, not syrup with pancakes.”
Emma looked up at him in confusion.
”I lub syrub,” she said with a wide grin, syrup still dripping from her chin.
”Okay,” Max said. ”Let’s get you washed up.”
”I wanna do dat,” Emma said and headed for the bathroom, where she had her own stool to stand on in order to reach up to the sink. Max trotted after her, having learned his homework when it came to leaving Emma alone, oblivious to the fact that Liz was right now in the very same bathroom he was directing his steps towards - taking her morning shower.
”Mommy!” Emma cried as she opened the bathroom door.
Max stopped dead in his tracks.
”We’re gonna go in daddy’s big car and I’m stwicky,” Emma announced in one breath.
Max was still standing outside the bathroom, wondering if he should go in or not.
”What’s that, honey?” Liz said, the running water muffling her voice and all sounds trying to reach her.

”I’m gonna wash!” Emma said a little louder.
”Okay pumpkin,” Liz said.
Max was still trying to decide his next move. Sure, he had seen Liz...uhm..naked before - they had been intimate. The problem was that was five years ago. Emma decided to make the decision ‘easier’ for him.
”Daddy,” she said, her breathing heavy from having pulled out the stool and climbed up on it.
”I need helb! I cannot get the swoab.”
Max took a deep breath and stepped into the bathroom. The bathroom mirror was steamed up from the heat from Liz’s shower. But that was of no interest at all to Max as his attention was caught by the form partly visible through the shower curtain. The curtain partly dimmed the contours of her body, but Max could easily make up for the rest with the use of his imagination.
”Daddy, can you helb me?” Emma asked again, a hint of annoyance in her stance and voice.
Daddy jerked his head away from mommy and tried to re-focus on the daughter. He reached for the soap, but his hand stopped in mid-air as Liz poked her head out from the curtain.
”Emma, can you-” Then she noticed that Max was there too and her voice trailed off.

”Oh..hey Max. I didn’t know you were in here as well,” she said, her face turning beet red - and it was not from the warmth of the showers.
”I-I-I was just gonna..uh..”
”Daddy’s helbing me clean my fingers,” Emma said. Liz pulled her gaze away from Max. God, she had forgotten how good....okay, gorgeous..he looked in the mornings. It didn’t really ease the situation that she was standing stark naked in the same room as him with only a curtain between them - a white curtain that was semi-translucent. Liz looked at her daughter and couldn’t help but giggle as she noticed her appearance.
”What have you done, sweety?” she asked. ”Did you guys have a food fight or something?”
She directed her eyes back to Max - for the moment forgetting about her nudity and the situation they had found themselves in.
”We...uh...we were making pancakes,” Max said, embarrassed at his lack in skills in taking care of one four-year-old.
”You did, huh?” Liz smiled. ”Why don’t you help her with the soap and I’ll be right out. I can’t wait to see the kitchen!”


Max quickly took the soap and handed it to Emma. In the following minutes he learned that syrup sure was sticky and difficult to get rid of, but with some discreet cheating with powers the problem was soon solved. Two minutes later, Emma was as good as new. Well, she certainly needed a change of clothes as well, but Max didn’t want to change her into anything new as long as she had yet to finish her breakfast.
Emma hopped down from the stool and before Max had a chance to react, Emma was out of the bathroom, vanishing from his vision. He was just about to go after her when Liz’s voice reached his ears.
”Max...are you still there?”
”Yeah,” he said. ”But I’ll leave you alone now.”
”No,” Liz quickly said. Max stopped. ”Can you hand me a towel?”
”Sure,” Max said.
”They’re in the cabinet under the sink,” Liz said.
Max crouched in front of the cabinet, opened it and pulled out a large white towel. He went up to the shower.
”Here,” he said and looked the other way as Liz extended her arm out from the shower, taking the towel from him.

”Thanks,” she said.
”No problem,” Max said.
There was a pause.
”Maybe you should go,” Liz said, and Max realized that he was still standing beside the shower curtain, time seemingly having stopped as her wet hand had touched his as she was taking the towel from him.
”Oh, sorry,” Max mumbled and left the bathroom. Liz smiled as she stepped out of the shower. He was just so adorable!

----------------------------------------------------.

Liz was sitting on the bus, heading home. She had just finished her shift at the first work of the day and she was to take a shower, change clothes and then fetch Emma from the day care. When they came home they were to eat something and have some time together. Later in the evening - after Liz had tucked Emma in bed and gotten some sleep herself, normally the baby-sitter would arrive to take care of Emma as Liz departed for her shift at her night work. However, today Maria had said she would watch Emma as she slept instead. So Maria would be getting there in about four hours.

The bus came to a halt and she stepped off it. The bus station wasn’t located too far away from her apartment, which was really good. She had approximately fifty meters of walking ahead of her. As she walked she thought about the morning. After Max and she had cleaned up after Emma’s syrup adventure (which actually only had taken Max a sweep of his hand to clean up), and Liz had cut Emma’s pancakes into smaller pieces, they had all sat down and enjoyed eating breakfast together - like a normal family. Max had told them a little about what he was doing now and to Emma’s great disappointment he had been forced to inform her that she had to go back to day care and he had to go back to his school because he had lessons to go to. Max had driven Liz and Emma to the day care. Liz didn’t own a car - she didn’t have too much money, and most of the money she made went to Emma, either directly or indirectly. Some went to a fund Liz had put up to be able to give Emma a good education. After saying good-bye to Emma, and Emma had reluctantly released her daddy from the bear hug she had captured him in, Max had taken Liz to her work and with a ‘Call me if you need anything’ he had been off.

Liz walked up to her apartment door and put the key in the lock and turned. She frowned as the key didn’t turn in the lock and unconsciously she pressed down the door handle. The door drifted open and she realized that it hadn’t been locked. Fear gripped her as she slowly pushed the door open. Leading an isolated life and always looking over her shoulder, she would never forget to lock the door. That’s what paranoia did to you. As the door opened up and she was looking into her apartment she gasped and took a step back - her heart slamming in her chest. The living room was a mess. The few books that she had were spread over the floor, the couch was destroyed, its upholstery spread over the floor. Glass had been broken, the content of a trash bin had been scattered over the floor. It seemed as if someone had been searching for something. Liz felt her legs shaking. She felt watched and naked - vulnerable. She hastily backed out from the apartment and without knowing how, she made it around the corner of the house. Leaning against the wall, she pulled out the cell phone Max had bought her the other day and dialed Max’s cell phone.

--------------------------------------------.

”Hi Max!”
Max tensed up at the sound of her voice, and he had to take deep breaths to get his anger under control before he turned around and met Tess’s face.
”Oh, hi Tess,” he said, as he closed the door to his dorm room. He was surprised at how calm he managed to sound. Those years of hiding a secret, and controlling his emotions certainly paid off.
”So, what have you’ve been up to this weekend?” Tess said casually. ”All of you guys were just like missing in action.”
Max looked at her, trying to understand how he could ever have considered her as his friend. How he could have turned to her for comfort as he had found Liz in bed with Kyle. Here she stood, the woman who had deliberately planned to destroy his life - and almost succeeding as well. The woman...bitch...who had stolen four years of his daughter’s life from him. He clenched his fist tighter, before he returned his thinking to the plan to act normal and not suspiciously.
”We took a trip to Las Cruces,” Max said, his voice even and calm - not in any way giving away the lie.
”Oh,” Tess said.
”Yeah, Kyle said you were busy,” Max said, tucking his hands in the pockets of his jeans to keep them from strangling Tess.
”Really...he did?” Tess asked.

”Yeah, he did,” Max said as they started walking down the corridor, heading for their next and first lesson which they just ‘happened’ to have together. Another one of Tess’s methods of always ‘being there’ for Max.
”He told me that you had this date with that Billy guy,” Max continued.
Kyle actually had told Max that Tess had a date, but Kyle had also informed Max that Tess had never been the least interested in Billy - she had more or less hated his guts. Hence, Kyle had found it a bit odd that Tess suddenly was dating him.
”Oh...right, I had,” Tess said, inwardly kicking herself for picking such a bad day to make Max jealous on. If she had decided to go out on a date with that moron Billy another day, she would have been free to go with them, or she had a reason to ask why she didn’t get invited if they didn’t ask her to come along. She knew that she wasn’t wanted on whatever they had been up to all weekend. But as she eyed Max out of the corner of her eye, even she noticed that something was different about him. She was certain he was trying his best to act casual and his ordinary self. But some of the sadness in his readable eyes was gone and he seemed more relaxed - some of the regular tension in his body had disappeared.
”So how was it?” Tess said and Max turned his head towards her. Was that suspicion in his eyes? But just as soon as Tess thought she had seen something different in his eyes it was gone, replaced with calmness.
”How was what like?” he asked, slightly confused.

”The trip. To Las Cruces,” Tess clarified, a frown of suspicion settling on her forehead.
”Oh, it was great,” Max said. ”How was your date?”
Tess couldn’t help but smirk at the fact that he had asked about the date. So, he was interested!
”It was just wonderful!” she chirped.
”That’s good,” Max said, his voice more or less indifferent. Tess eyed him sourly. Wasn’t he the least jealous?!
Just then Max’s cell phone rang.
”Excuse me for one sec, Tess,” Max said as he hauled up the cell phone from his pocket and pressed the ‘connect’-button.
”Hello?” he said.
”Max,” a voice sobbed.
Max jerked his head up in Tess’s direction, seeing that he was under strict surveillance. He lowered his voice some, careful not to let his voice reveal how distressed and frightened he was at hearing the state of her voice.
”What’s wrong?”
”I-I need you,” she said, her voice shaking. ”Someone broke into the apartment. They might still be there.”
”Stay right where you are. I’ll be there as fast as I can, okay?” Max said.
”Okay,” she whispered. Max wanted to tell her that he loved her, but he knew that he couldn’t do that as long as Tess was listening.
”I’ll be right there,” Max said and disconnected the call.

”Who was that?” Tess asked, trying to sound interested.
Max looked at her, Liz’s frightened and sobbing voice still fresh in his memory, and tried to figure out why he had decided to not make Tess suffer.
”It was Isabel - her car broke down. I’ll have to go and help her,” Max said. ”Can you do me a favor, Tess?”
”Sure,” Tess said and lightened up. She loved when Max asked her to do things. That meant that she could make him happy and if he was happy then maybe he would see how good she was for him and he could turn to her. And then they would get together. Yep, real Tess-logic there.
”Can you tell the professor that I had a family emergency,” which was actually the truth, ”and that I had to leave?”
”Sure,” Tess said.
”Thanks,” Max said. Before Tess had a chance to tell him that she would do anything for him, Max was disappearing down the hallway, his steps hurried. As Tess watched his retreating back she thought she saw some of the old tension settling in his shoulders again. She instinctively knew that something was going on and forgetting all about doing Max any favors, she started walking down the corridor - having her own car as destination.
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Post by max and liz believer »

Chapter 27

Max brought the car to a screeching halt and Michael threw forward by the sudden stop. He wasn’t even going to comment on Max’s reckless driving. Max had called him on his cell phone, practically ordering him to get out on the parking lot in front of his apartment complex, and Max would pick him up. Michael knew even before Max told him, that this had something to do with Liz. Nothing else could get him so reeled up. Max was out of the car in a millisecond and Michael reached over and applied the handbrake, to keep the car from wheeling backwards, before he rushed after Max.


Max searched the surroundings frantically. Where was she?
”Michael! Do you see her anywhere?” he said, his voice strained. He didn’t feel comfortable calling after her. If someone was left here, he didn’t want them to know that Liz was here.
”No,” Michael answered.
Max run up the stairs heading for Liz’s apartment. That’s where he found her, in the same place she had made the phone call to him. She was sitting on the ground, her legs pulled up to her stomach. As she heard steps in the stairs she looked up, fear in her big brown eyes. As she saw him she rose to her feet and she didn’t have to wait long to have his protective arms wrapped around her.
”You’re okay?” he asked, pulling her an arm-lengths away from her to look her over.
Liz nodded. ”I am now.”
”I’m not leaving you alone again,” Max murmured, hating that the feeling that he had lost her again had gotten the chance to reclaim its grip on him.
”Max, I don’t know if there’s still someone left,” Liz whispered, the fear still evident in her voice. She felt violated. Someone she didn’t know had been in her home, going through her personal things.

”Michael,” Max said, as Michael came up the stairs. ”Can you go and see if anyone is still in the apartment?”
Michael nodded and disappeared again. Max pulled Liz close to him.
”It’s okay,” he mumbled. He felt Liz nod against his chest. They stood like that, close together, arms around each other until Michael returned a few minutes later.
”There’s no one there,” he said. Max and Liz broke apart, and Max reached down and took Liz’s hand.
”What did they take?” Liz asked.
”I don’t know,” Michael said, shaking his head. Together they walked to Liz’s apartment. ”But something’s not right here, Maxwell.”
”What?” Max asked, not liking the sound of that.
”Whoever broke in wasn’t searching after the regular stuff a burglar would break in for,” Michael said. They stepped into the apartment and Liz realized what Michael was talking about.
”The TV and VCR are still here,” Michael said.
Liz let go off Max’s hand and stepped into her once peaceful home. She moved to her bedroom and took forward the small box where she put money for groceries. The box wasn’t difficult to find - it wasn’t even locked. It was just an ordinary cookie box. But as she opened it and counted the money she found the amount to correspond to the amount she had left there.
”What have they taken if they haven’t taken the TV, the VCR or any money?” Max asked as he looked at her from the doorway.

”Maybe it’s something alien,” Michael’s voice reached them from the living room. Liz head shoot up and she quickly put the money back in the box and brushed past Max, who quickly moved to the side to let her pass.
”It looks like someone has searched for something,” Michael said, his eyes fixed on Liz as she started rummaging through the bookshelf and then went on to search the piles of books on the floor.
Max went up to stand beside Michael, his eyes also following Liz’s frantic movements.
”What are you looking for?” Michael asked her.
She straightened up, hurt and sadness, mixed with anger in her eyes.
”They’re gone,” she said, her voice hollow.
”What’s gone?” Michael asked.
”The videotapes, they’re all gone,” Liz said and then she seemed to remember something and she crouched down in front of the VCR and pressed the eject button. A videotape was ejected and she slowly took it in her hand, hugging it to her chest - tears trickling down her cheeks.
”All, except this one. The last one you watched, Max.”

Max looked at her, anger seizing him. Last night Liz had made it able for him to experience some of the moments of watching his daughter grow up and now someone had taken that away from him as well.
”What tapes?” Michael asked, completely in the dark.
”I filmed Emma as she was growing up,” Liz said. ”I showed them to Max yesterday, but now whoever has broken in has stolen them.”
”Why would someone steal home videos? That doesn’t make any sense at all!” Michael said.
”No..” Max whispered, fear slamming into him as he realized what had happened here. ”These weren’t regular burglars. They were aliens, they searched for information...and they found it.”
Liz eyes went large with horror.
”Emma,” she gasped and then she was out the door, running towards the parking lot.
”Michael, call Kira and wait here,” Max ordered before he too vanished out the door.


Max and Liz walked quickly down the corridor until they reached Emma’s classroom. Without bothering to knock, Liz ripped the door open. Max quickly assessed the room he found himself in. Children were allocated throughout the room, engrossed in various playing activities. They all turned their heads as the worried parents stormed into the room.
”Elizabeth,” Ms. Harris said and walked up to the guests. She looked at the man holding Elizabeth hand in a death grip and soon recognized him. ”Max, right?”
Max looked at her, and opened his mouth to respond but Liz beat him to it.
”Where’s Emma?”
Ms. Harris looked at the distressed parents. Something was not right here. Elizabeth seemed scared to death. However, when she looked at Max she was amazed by the dormant power he was emitting. He radiated authority, and self-assertiveness. But she also noticed the worry that etched his features.
”Uh...she’s in the bathroom,” Ms. Harris said.
Liz started walking towards the bathroom, and Max was close behind her - but his steps were hindered as Ms. Harris reached out her hand and stopped him.
”What’s going on?” she asked. She had never seen anyone so worried before. ”And why are you here?”
Max looked at her, and gently removed her hand from his arm.
”We need to take our daughter home,” he said.

”Why?” Ms. Harris said, not even bothering to ask if this man really was Emma Owens long lost father.
”She will not be coming back for a while. We have a little family emergency and we have to go away for some time. We will call you later with further information.”
His determined look told her that she wouldn’t get more out of him than that and that’s when Elizabeth came back - Emma cradled in her arms. Ms. Harris couldn’t help but be amazed by how a silent communication seemed to be going on between Elizabeth and Max. Elizabeth was somehow informing Max that Emma was okay and Max took Emma from her arms and held her tight to his chest. The most amazing thing was that Emma didn’t say a thing. It was as if she could feel her parents distress and she didn’t question it. It was like she knew that the best thing to do was to stay quiet.
”Do me a favor...uhm,” Max began, searching his memory for her name.
”Anne,” Ms. Harris said.
”Anne, if anyone asks for Emma, don’t give them any information,” Max said. Ms. Harris got the strange feeling that he was ordering her, but at the same time she had no problem with that. She somehow knew that they were in danger and she couldn’t let anything happen to little Emma.
”I’ll do whatever I can,” Anne said.
Elizabeth smiled at her gratefully.
”Thank you, you’ve done tons already,” she said, and then the small family was gone - just as quickly as they had arrived.


The light-blue eyes followed the couple as they quickly made their way towards the car in the parking lot.
”What the hell?!” the person hissed as the child, tucked into the familiar man’s arms, came into view. The person waited until the car pulled out of the parking lot outside the day care center before the person turned the car and ignited the engine, pulled out from its hiding place and onto the road - following the car on a distance that wouldn’t cause any suspicions.


”Why didn’t you tell me?!” Liz demanded to know, anger in her voice. She was sitting on the couch in Michael’s and Maria’s apartment, Emma sitting on her lap. Michael was standing in the background, leaning against one of the walls, and Max was pacing the floor. Kira was sitting in one of the arm-chairs facing Liz, and he was just about to witness what Liz Parker was really about. You didn’t keep information from her that could put her loved ones in danger.
”I didn’t want to upset you,” Max said.
”Upset me?!” Liz said in disbelief. ”If this is how you’re going to protect me, Max, I don’t need your protection! Emma and I have been doing just fine for four years without you. We can protect ourselves. But I can’t protect my daughter if I don’t know the whole truth!”
”I’m sorry, Liz-” Max started but Liz interrupted him.
”No, Max. Don’t say you’re sorry. I don’t want you to be sorry - I want you to be honest with me.”
Max nodded, understanding what his effort in keeping Liz safe from the truth could have cost him.
”How long have our enemies known about Emma?” Liz asked.
”They probably found out not so long after Emma’s birth,” Kira answered. Liz nodded sadly, pulling Emma closer to her. Emma, feeling her mother’s distress looked up at her mother’s resolute jaw.
”Mommy, why are you scared?” she asked.
Liz looked down into her daughter’s amber eyes and gave her a tender smile.
”It’s nothing, honey,” Liz said and stroke her dark hair.
Emma smiled at her, a smile that warmed her mother’s heart. Emma knew that her mother wasn’t telling the whole truth, but for the time being she was satisfied with the answer.

”Someone called me,” Liz said.
Everybody looked at her.
”Who called you?” Max asked.
”That’s the problem. I don’t know,” Liz said. ”I was really freaked out about the whole thing. It was a man and he asked questions about Emma. He didn’t want to answer any of my questions and he was threatening me, so I hung up.”
”When was this?” Max asked.
Liz thought about it for awhile.
”Sometime just after I had enrolled Emma at the day care center...about a month ago.”
”Could it have been one of our enemies?” Kira asked.
Without hesitation, Liz nodded.
”Definitely,” she said.
There was a pause, then Liz spoke.
”Is there anything else I should know, to be able to keep my child safe?” Liz asked.
”One thing is clear, you can’t return to your apartment,” Kira said.
”And you can’t return to Roswell,” Michael said.
”Well, that’s just great,” Liz sighed. ”Then where am I and Emma gonna go?”
”You can stay with me,” Max said, not wanting to leave neither Liz nor Emma alone anymore - not when the enemies were so close by.
Liz gave him a weak smile.
”Don’t you live on campus, Max?” Liz asked. ”How are you going to fit me and a four-year-old in your room?”

Max scratched behind his ear with his hand.
”Okay, maybe that’s not the best solution,” he said.
”Well, you cannot stay here,” Michael said bluntly. Max shot him an angry glare.
”What? We don’t have any room left. This is a small apartment you know,” he said, having seen Max’s glare.
”I know, Michael,” Liz said. ”I’m not gonna force myself on you. We have to find something else.”
”Where do you live, Kira?” Max asked Kira.
”Well...I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Kira said.
”Let us be the judge of that,” Max said.
Kira met his eyes and knew that it would not be wise to argue against him.
”I’m living in a warehouse outside of Roswell,” he said, but added quickly. ”However, it’s absolutely no place for a child.”
”That would work, wouldn’t it?” Max asked Liz, ignoring Kira’s last sentence.
Liz nodded thoughtfully.
”Yes, that sounds really good,” she said, and turned to Kira. ”And don’t worry about Emma, she’ll understand why we have to live there and she will be just fine.” She looked down at her daughter. ”Won’t you, sweetheart?” Emma nodded excitedly. She didn’t know what a warehouse was but it was some place new and she had never lived in any other place than the apartment in Santa Fe.

”We’ll be fine,” Liz said, turning her gaze to Kira.
Kira looked a little uncomfortable. He was here to protect the royal four, and he had been forced to admit that the royal four now included Liz instead of Tess. He would also definitely protect Emma, the heir to the throne, and having them so close by would certainly make it easier. But still, the warehouse was no home. It was just a warehouse, and it was only furnished with a camp-bed and a lamp. He was only there to sleep - nothing else.
”I suggest we head out there now,” Max said. ”But only Kira, Liz, Emma and I. We don’t want to act suspicious and the fewer people that knows about this place the better - for all our sakes.”
”Hey, hold on,” Michael protested. ”You mean, the other of us are not going to be informed of your whereabouts?”
”That’s exactly what I mean,” Max said. ”It will be the safest solution for all of us.”
”No, I want to-”
”Michael, we’ll keep in touch, okay,” Liz said calmly. ”If we need anything you’ll be the first to know. It’s only a precaution and it’s probably only for now.”
Michael grunted, but didn’t object anymore.
”Okay, let’s go,” Max said.
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Post by max and liz believer »

Chapter 28

”Okay, we are definitely going to need some things here if this is going to be our home the following months,” Liz said as she put down Emma. They were standing in the middle of the warehouse. Emma started running around the large empty room, her arms out in the air – pretending that she was an airplane, with sound-effects and the whole package. The floor was in concrete, dirty to say the least. The walls were made of sheet-metal, and the room they were standing in now was big enough to hold six cars. In one of the corners were some tires piled, and the room was partly illuminated by the daylight that seeped in through small narrow windows at the top of the walls. That meant that the windows were about three meters above ground, since the ceiling was high. At the north wall were three doors. There was one little area with a sink, a micro-oven and a refrigerator, which probably should be the kitchen. And that was about it.
”Is there even a bathroom here?” Liz asked Kira.
”Yes, actually there is,” Kira said. ”This warehouse were used as a garage before it hit bankruptcy. So there was a small toilet at the back there, and I had a bathtub plus a hand-shower installed as I moved here.”
”Okay,” Liz nodded.
”Are you okay with this?” Max asked. ”Otherwise we can find something else.”

Liz shook her head. She couldn’t deny that it was the perfect hiding place. No one would suspect that she was living in a warehouse. She hadn’t even believed that she would ever live in the warehouse. It was not exactly something you planned. Oh, where are you gonna live when you grow up? I always wanted to live in a warehouse - it’s always been my dream. No, don’t think so.
”It just needs a woman’s touch,” she said.
Max smiled at her, once again amazed by how she just kept going - right over every obstacle.
”Mommy!! Daddy!! Look me spinning!!” Emma screamed. Max and Liz looked at their daughter as she turned round and round over the big surface area. Her long dark hair was whirling around her face as she spun. Emma’s parents’ hearts swelled at the carefree way she was laughing as she spun until she fell on her bottom from dizziness.
”I want to live here,” Emma declared, as she tried to get up again.
”Okay, it’s settled then,” Liz said, her whole face smiling.

-----------------------------------------------------.

”Mommy, look! Look!!” Liz felt Emma tug her shirt and she reluctantly tore herself away from what she was watching. Emma was holding a stone in her hand. It was an ordinary rock but it was unusually beautiful and Emma was so enthused with her discovery.
”Oh, that’s a beautiful rock, Em,” Liz said. ”Where did you find it?”
Emma pointed towards some shrubs growing outside the warehouse.
”There!” she said.
”That’s really nice. Why don’t you take it into our room - it would look nicely there.”
Emma nodded enthusiastically and quickly disappeared inside the warehouse.
Liz turned her eyes back to what she had been watching before her daughter’s interruption. Max, Kira and some of Kira’s men were unloading a double bed from the truck they had rented. It was a really hot day, and Max had been forced to take off his shirt. His upper body glistered with sweat in the sun, his firm and taut muscles rippling and moving under his skin as he, Kira and the other two men carried the bed towards the warehouse. Now that was something Liz could watch all day. As they came closer to the door with the bed, where Liz was standing watching them - or Max more correctly - Max smiled at Liz’s smiling face.
”What are you smiling about?” he asked.

”Oh, nothing,” Liz said innocently and moistened her lips with her tongue. Something Max certainly noticed. The world seemed to go into slow-motion as he saw Liz tongue dart out between her lips and move over her lips. He shook himself out of it before he totally lost control.
”Maybe you should instruct us where to put this?” Max said to Liz.
”Uh huh,” Liz said quickly and moved past Kira and Max, moving into the warehouse. Max’s eyes darkened as he watched her sway her hips from side to side as she walked in front of them. He felt the blood heating up in his veins, and it was not due to the temperature created by the sun. Max was so focused on Liz’s movements that he didn’t see the rock that Emma had placed on the ground, when she had forgotten about taking it into the room. Max stumbled forward, almost bringing the bed along with him. The man walking beside Max almost stumbled over the stone as well – and the whole bed wavered in the air. Kira saved Max from complete humiliation by creating a force field with his powers that caught the bed before it could hit the ground. Liz turned around as she heard the commotion and saw the bed hover in the air.
”Wow!” she heard Emma exclaim behind her, and then Emma was running towards the bed. ”Can I ride on dat? Pwease, purty pwease!!” she begged, bouncing up and down - her arms stretched up over her head towards the floating bed.

Liz couldn’t help but laugh at Max spread out on the floor on his stomach, Kira’s men trying to help Kira with the bed.
”What are you doing?” she laughed.
Max looked up at her, his ears red. He was just about to rise from his uncomfortable position as Liz put her soft hand on his naked arm. He froze, feeling the familiar electricity surge through him, with a mixture of deep desire for her.
It had only been natural for Liz to give Max a hand to help him up, she had not counted on the effect it would have on her body to touch him. Max took a deep breath and while trying to act like nothing had happened he slowly rose - his eyes fixed on a very interesting spot on the ground - and brushed off his pants.
”Are you okay?” Liz asked, and he looked up to meet her eyes. Her eyes had some of the laughter left in them, but they mostly reflected what he felt.
”Yeah, yeah. I’m just clumsy,” Max said, smiling.
Liz smiled too, nodding and pointed towards Emma who was now sitting on the hovering bed, Kira standing beside it looking a bit tired by using his energy so much. After all, a double bed was pretty strenuous to lift on your own - using only your mind. Kira’s men were standing beside the bed, waiting for instructions from Kira on what to do. He had just told them that they could wait to help him out, since Emma obviously found it exciting with a hovering bed.
”You’ve managed to make Emma happy anyway,” Liz said.
”Then it was certainly worth it,” Max said.

Liz gave him a warm smile and felt herself drowning in those deep amber eyes of his.
”Uhm...maybe you should...uhm...help Kira,” Liz managed to say. She wanted nothing less than Max forgetting everything about Kira and the bed and instead take her in his arms and kiss her senseless, but that wouldn’t really be the sensible thing to do.
”Yeah, I probably should,” Max agreed, not making any movement towards fulfilling what he had just said.
”Daddy!! Look how high I can jumb!!” Emma cried, giggling.
Liz and Max tore their eyes away from each other and Max quickly moved towards the bed. It looked pretty dangerous as a four-year-old jumped on a bed levitating one meter above ground.
”Emma, don’t jump so high,” Liz said.
”But it’s funny, mommy!” Emma said, and as if to prove it she jumped even higher.
Liz shook her head at the absurdity of the situation. As other kids in her age were having the best time of their lives on a swinging set, her daughter was bouncing up and down on a double bed that was floating in the air - and she didn’t even think it was weird.
”C’mere, Em,” Max said and lifted Emma off the bed. ”Kira is tired. It’s difficult for him to make the bed fly in the air.”

Emma calmed down in Max’s arms. He sort of had that effect on people.
”Kira, you can put down the bed now,” Max said, and with a grateful sigh Kira lowered the bed to the ground - his energy almost completely depleted.
”Sorry, Kwia,” Emma said, releasing herself from Max’s arms and instead wrapping her small arms as far as they could go around Kira.
Kira eyes opened wide in surprise as he felt the small body in his arms. In that instant he made a promise to himself, with his heart and not due to a duty, that he was going to protect this little bundle of energy to his last breath.

---------------------------------------------------.

”That bitch is back,” Tess said.
”Please talk so that I can understand you,” Nasedo said tiredly. ”There are many bitches out there.”
”Liz Parker.”
Nasedo shot up from his chair so violently that he caused the chair to fall backwards.
”Have you seen her?” he demanded, his voice tight.
Tess nodded, with a smug on her face.
”I’ve seen her and her child,” she said.
Nasedo slammed his fist in the table.
”Damnit! Then the rumors were true!”
The smug was instantly wiped off her face, as Tess realized that she hadn’t come with such a big sensation as she had anticipated.
”What rumors?” she asked.
”That there’s an heir to Max,” Nasedo said.

”But...but..it can’t be Max’s,” Tess said. ”She wasn’t pregnant when we kidnapped her, and if she had slept with Max I would have heard about it. They would have said something about it. No one ever hinted anything about that. No, it has to be someone else’s baby.”
”No, it’s Max’s all right,” Nasedo said. ”The question here is. How could he found her so easily, when we have searched for her for years?”
Tess remained quiet, pouting over the fact that Max had slept with that bitch - and not with her!
”Do you realize that this destroys the whole plan,” Nasedo said. ”I have to cut a new deal in order to get home...but there isn’t any other way than using the Granolith!”
”I want Max! I was suppose to bear the heir to the throne!” Tess whined.
”Get over yourself, Tess!!” Nasedo ordered. ”As your mindwarping doesn’t work on him, you have no chance with him!”

--------------------------------------------------------.

”I want home,” Emma sobbed. Max looked helplessly at Liz as she walked into the room.
”What’s wrong, pumpkin?” she asked.
”I miss my room,” Emma said.
”I thought you liked it here, honey,” Max said, not quite understanding how the mind of a four-year-old worked.
Emma defiantly shook her head.
”I want my tweddy bea,” she said.
”We’ll get your teddy bear in the morning,” Liz said and stroke Emma’s hair. ”We have to live here for a while, okay?”
”But I don’t want to,” Emma said, tears running down her cheeks. Max’s heart broke at her tears. He hated to see her cry.
”It’ll be more fun in the morning,” Liz assured. ”And the quicker you go to bed, the quicker the morning will come and you can play again.”

Emma thought about this for a while and then nodded.
”But I want my tweddy toborrow,” Emma said.
”Of course,” Max said.
”You want me to tell you a story?” Liz asked.
Emma nodded.
”Okay,” Liz said and sat down on the bed. She felt Max’s arms encircle her waist and pull her towards him. She positioned herself between his legs, and Emma lay her head in Liz’s lap - ready to hear the story.

-----------------------------------------------------------------.

Max woke up in the middle of the night by Liz coughing. The coughs were hollow and dry. They were all sleeping in the same bed, which they had done ever since Max found Liz. There had never been any discussion about sleeping arrangements or anything like that. It had only been natural to find comfort in each others’ arms. Max had refused to go back to his dorm and he was to call in sick tomorrow, and instead go to Liz’s apartment to get a few things. Liz was laying on her side, her arms around Emma who was tucked in under her chin. Liz’s back was nestled against Max’s chest and he had his arms securely wrapped around both Liz and Emma.
Max closed his eyes and tried to not listen to Liz’s raspy breathing. It was eating him up inside that he wasn’t able to heal her completely and the signs of ill-health were rapidly coming back again after having been gone about a day after the healing with the healing stones. But he couldn’t block her out. Her coughing and labored breathing was like a knife in his heart. He opened his eyes again and stared into the darkness. There must be something he could do. He moved away from the warmth of Liz’s body and then slowly turned her on her back. She groaned a little in her sleep as the warmth of the two bodies that she had been sandwiched between until now was removed and then her raspy coughing filled the silent room.

Max moved his hands to the buttons of her pyjamashirt and slowly unbutton the upper three buttons. He would try to feed her with some of his energy. He knew that when you had a cough you should keep the chest warm, so he figured he could warm her a little. He carefully, in order not to wake her, put his hand under her shirt, on her soft skin. He had to concentrate hard not to react to the feeling of the soft skin of the swell of her breast that was just inches below his palm. He closed his eyes and in the dark room could be seen a bright white light.
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Post by max and liz believer »

Chapter 29

”Sir, we have retrieved the videotapes,” the man said and put down the videotapes in front of the man with the boyish appearance.
”Excellent,” he said.
As the messenger didn’t immediately leave the room, the man behind the desk annoyed waved him off.
”Now leave!”
”Yes, sir. Of course, sir.” The messenger bowed his head and disappeared out the door.
The man rose from his seat and plugged one of the videotapes into the VCR.
A little baby girl with brown hair and brown eyes were crawling on the floor, heading for the camera with outstretched arms – repeatedly voicing the two-syllabus word ‘gaga’. Even though the child was only about three months old, the resemblance with her parents was evident.
”So the rumors were true. Zan does have an heir.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------.

”Morning,” Liz smiled at Max as he walked out from the small bathroom, his hair wet from the shower.
”Morning,” Max answered, unable to not be affected by her contagious smile. ”Where’s Emma?”
”She’s outside, with Kira,” Liz answered. Max took a seat on one of the chairs. The large storage room had now been furnished with a dining table and some chairs. Liz had made breakfast.
”Max, thank you,” Liz said, as Max reached for the cereals. He met her eyes.
”For what?” he asked.
”For what you did tonight,” Liz answered.
Max flushed.
”You were awake?” he asked.
Liz nodded.

”Well, I awoke when I felt you,” Liz said, and what she said next was so softly that Max barely heard her, ”I miss you so much, Max.”
”I miss you too,” Max said. The underlying meaning of her statement was not lost to him. They lost themselves in each others’ eyes for awhile and then Max poured cereals in his bowl, and reached for the milk.
”Did it help?” he asked, referring to the healing.
”Yes, some,” Liz answered truthfully. ”The cough is gone..for now.”
Max smiled as he poured milk over his cereals. He knew that the symptoms would be returning soon, but he was happy that he could ease the pain for now.
”That’s good,” he said.
”So what are you up to today?” Liz asked.
”I’m gonna go and get some things from your apartment, and then I’m gonna do some grocery shopping - well, just take care of some things I guess,” Max said.
”That’s good,” Liz said, feeling a bit sad that she couldn’t go with him. She had only been in this warehouse for less than a day, but the isolation was already creeping up on her. However, as long as Max was with her, she didn’t feel lonely. But Max was not going to be here today, and she was afraid that would be a problem.

----------------------------------------.

”Nothing, sir,” the same man that had given him the videotapes reported.
”What do you mean ‘nothing’! It’s a child and a woman. How difficult can it be to find a child and a woman?!”
”Well, sir. Some of the men claim that they’ve heard that she’s with Zan, sir.”
”She’s with Zan?”
”Yes, sir.”
”We can actually use that to our advantage. If Zan have found her, he will insist on keeping them hidden. But he will probably need to go and buy things. Acting like everything is all right. That’s when we’ll follow him - and he will lead us straight to them.”
”The men are wondering what we’re going to do about Lantier and Ava, sir?”
There was a pause as he thought out a decision.
”Have Lantier terminated. For some unknown reason he had already made the royal four believe that he is dead. He’s of no use to us as a living dead.”
”And what about Ava, sir?”
”She is infiltrated in the target group. She can be of some use to us. Check her up. See if the royal four trust her. If they seem to do, contact her and offer her a deal.”
”What deal should she be offered, sir?”
”It doesn’t matter. Make something up. She will not get anything out of it anyway. As soon as we have no use of her any longer she’s worth nothing and she will be terminated as well.”
”Yes, sir.”

----------------------------------------------.

Max drove around the warehouse and parked the car behind the building.
”Is something the matter?” Kira asked him as he stepped out of the car.
”Take Emma inside,” Max said. ”I don’t want her to play outside any longer.”
”Daddy!!!” he heard his daughter’s voice and saw her running towards him, with a smile from ear to ear. ”You’re back!!!”
Max crouched and caught her as she ran into his open arms. He hugged her close to him, some of the demons in his mind disappearing when he knew that she was all right. He kissed the top of her head and rose with her in his arms.
”What has happened?” Kira asked suspiciously, as he followed Max and Emma inside the warehouse.
”I was followed, but I managed to shake them off - I hope,” Max said. ”The point is, if they ever come out here, they’re suppose to believe that this is an abandoned warehouse.”
Kira nodded. Max put Emma down on the ground and headed for Liz’s and his bedroom.
”Is Liz in here?” he asked.
Kira turned around quickly.
”I don’t think it’s such a good idea to go in there,” Kira said. Liz had certainly put him in an awful situation earlier, when she had made him promise that Max wasn’t to go into the bedroom. Kira was pretty certain that she was to be his future queen and an order was an order. But Max was the king, and his order weighed just as much - if not more.
”Why?” Max asked suspiciously, his hand on the doorknob.
”She doesn’t want anyone to come in,” Kira answered.
Max couldn’t help but feel frightened by that.

”How long has she been in there?” Max asked.
”About five hours,” Kira said.
Max lifted his hand and knocked on the door.
”Liz?” he called through the thick door.
”Don’t come in, Max!” he heard Liz’s muffled voice answer.
”What’s wrong?” Max asked.
”Nothing’s wrong!” Liz said. ”I just wanna be left alone.”
Max paused for a couple of seconds. He didn’t buy it.
”All right, I’m coming in,” he said and opened the door. Liz hadn’t even bothered to lock the door. She considered that act useless when she lived with a bunch of aliens.
Liz was laying on her side on the bed, a blanket spread over her. As Max entered, she pulled the blanket higher over her face.
”Max! Can’t you respect that I want some privacy?” Liz said.
Now when Max didn’t have a door separating them, he noticed that her voice sounded different.
”What’s going on, Liz?” he asked and moved closer.
”Don’t come any closer!” Liz said as she heard him move.
That sure didn’t make Max feel any calmer.
”Liz, please tell me. Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together,” Max said.
”I don’t want you to see me,” Liz said.
”Why?” Max asked confused.
”I just don’t. Now, can you please leave the room?” Liz begged.

Max looked her over, her small form covered by the green blanket.
”Let me help you,” Max said.
Liz didn’t answer.
”Liz?”
Liz inhaled deeply.
”I look terrible, Max,” she said.
Max smiled. What’s that all? She was beautiful to him, didn’t she know that?
”No, you don’t,” Max said.
”You haven’t seen me, Max,” Liz said.
Max grew suspicious and confused again. What was she talking about?
”Can you please stop talking in riddles?” Max said.
Liz took another deep breath.
”Okay, then help me,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
Max nodded slowly to himself, before he approached the bed. Now he was scared about what had happened. He kneeled beside her bed and she pulled down the blanket from her face. Max couldn’t help but inhale sharply, and Liz grimaced as he did.
”Oh God, what happened?” Max asked, tracing his fingers along her face. Her face was completely swollen up. She couldn’t open her eyes because of the swelling. Her cheeks were swollen, as was her throat.
”I don’t know,” Liz answered and Max understood why her voice sounded different. Her lips were swollen as well, and she probably had swelling on the inside of her throat, affecting her vocal cords. ”It’s probably the blocking.”

Max traced her forehead and noticed that she was burning up - she had a fever. He lowered his hand and softly caressed her cheek with his hand, and Liz leaned into it - needing his strength.
”Maybe it becomes worse when you’re not here,” she continued. ”Maybe I’m addicted to you.”
Max smiled sadly.
”Normally I would be happy to hear that,” he said. ”But not under these circumstances. This means that my absence hurts you.”
”Well, it does. I never like it when you’re away and now I have to suffer these symptoms as well,” Liz tried to joked and made an attempt to smile - but it looked more like a grimace.
Max threaded his fingers through her hair.
”Roll over on your back,” he said softly.
Liz nodded and changed position.
”You don’t have swelling anywhere else?” Max asked.
”No, only my face and my throat,” Liz answered.
”Take some deep breaths and relax,” Max said and he saw the tension in Liz visibly disappear. He put his hands on the sides of her head, burrowing his fingertips in her soft hair - and concentrated on her. It didn’t take long before he was one with her. He found the water that had accumulated in her tissues, unable to drain from her cells. He focused on making an artificial concentration gradient of the solutes in her tissues to make the water leave her cells with her blood and flow to her kidneys. As the water balance was being restored, Max searched the rest of her body. Searching for any other symptoms. Because he knew Liz Parker. And he knew that if she was suffering from something else, she would not tell him until it was serious. To his surprise, he found that her ankle was sprained - she had seemed to walk normally to him. There was some water in her lungs - the signs of early pneumonia. He took care of that as well before he separated from her. They both shivered as the contact was broken. The feeling of loneliness surging through them. Max looked at Liz and saw that she was once again back to the person before the swelling. However, there was still much left to make her look like the old Liz Parker. Even though she slept good every night - in his arms - she had bruises under her eyes, her skin had a grayish tone and her cheek bones were very prominent.

She opened her eyes, and those big beautiful eyes - that seemed even larger in her emaciated face - met his.
”Am I still Quasimodo?” she asked.
Max shook his head. Liz smiled weakly as she rose into sitting position and wrapped her arms around him.
”Thank you,” she said.
He held her close to him, and realized that now was as good as ever to bring up what he had wanted to talk to her about for ages.
”Liz, we need to talk,” Max said gently.
Liz pulled away from him, and her confused eyes searched his face.
”About what?” she asked, her voice even.
”About what really happened five years ago....when I asked you out to that Gomez concert,” Max said, not wanting to say ‘when I saw you in bed with Kyle’.
Liz took a deep breath.
”How much do you know?” she asked, her fingers playing with the buttons of his shirt.
”I know what Maria told me, but I want to hear it from you,” Max said.
”Maria told you?” Liz asked. She knew that she should be hurt, but she was merely happy that Maria had done that. If Liz had died, she wouldn’t have wanted to take that secret into the grave with her - she had always wanted Max to know. And now she finally had her opportunity to tell him...everything.
”You know the night when you sang outside my window?” Liz asked.
Max turned red and looked down at her fingers, still playing with his buttons.
”That was embarrassing, huh?” he said, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
”Yes..yes it was,” Liz said, giggling a little at the memory of it, but then turned serious again.

”Anyway, behind me up on the balcony stood another version of you.”
Max looked up into her eyes.
”He said that he was from the future - 2014 - and he wanted to prevent what had happened in that lifetime from happening. So he had the Granolith modified into a time machine, which could be used for time travels.”
Max nodded, not wanting to interrupt her. The biggest shock with this story, he had already gotten through Maria.
”The future version of you practically told me that the future was destroyed because of our love.” Max shook his head at this absurdity. ”He told me that Tess left because of us being together. You treated her badly, Max - and she got fed up with it and one day she left. All the four of you formed a complete unit. Without Tess in it, you weren’t as strong as you should’ve been and everything went downhill as our enemies attacked. That’s why you came back, in order to stop Tess from leaving. And the fantastic solution to that,” Liz couldn’t hide the hint of sarcasm in her voice, ”was to break us up. The future version of you wanted me to help him make you fall out of love with me.”
Max nodded, her words sinking in.
”So I tried...and I tried. But you wouldn’t let go off me. I hated hurting you over and over again, especially since everything I did to make you stay away from me was a lie. So I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t. You wouldn’t give up, so I gave up instead. But that’s when the future version of you told me that Michael had died just before he went through the time machine,” Max flinched at the mention of his best friend’s name, ”and Isabel had died two weeks before that.” Max swallowed deeply, mentally imagining the loss of his sister. Then he nodded, understanding dawning on him. So, that’s why she did it. ”I couldn’t be so selfish to put our love in front of their lives. I couldn’t sacrifice them, Max. I guess that was what pushed me over the edge. That’s also when Maria told me that Michael had cheated on her with Courtney, and I realized what I had to do. The one thing that you wouldn’t forgive me for. So I staged it, so that you would think that I slept with Kyle. And..it worked. Future Max disappeared, because I had changed the future - and I was alone.”

Max put his arms around her and pulled her close to him.
”Why couldn’t you tell me?” Max asked. ”We could’ve come up with something together.”
”I guess I was afraid that if Tess saw us together, she would leave anyway - even if you treated her well or not. She was always out to get you, you know. That was what she had been taught under her whole upbringing - that she was suppose to be with you. She was to come to Roswell, find you and you would instantly fall in love with her. That was the only purpose of her life....and when I stood in the way of that...well, we know how it all ended when we actually got together.... she and Nasedo attacking me.”
Max nodded and hugged her closer to him. They sat there for a while in silence before Liz pulled away from him to look him into his eyes.
”I would never do anything like that to you – never – not on purpose,” Liz said, referring to what his future version had made her do. ”It was the most difficult thing I ever have to do in my whole life...it was even worse than giving birth to Emma - even though it almost killed me. I had nightmares of you watching me with such hatred in your eyes-”
”I could never hate you. I never hated you,” Max said.
Liz brought up her hand to his cheek.
”I know that now,” she whispered. ”But when I saw the hurt in your eyes - and I knew that I had put it there - that I was responsible for your misery - I just wanted to die. So, know this Max. I would never do that intentionally. I only did it because you asked me to. It was a future version of you. But it was still you. I would do anything for you. I would die for you.” With that she refuted all the lies she had told him that night when she had told him that all she ever wanted was a normal life.
Max felt tears sting his eyes and he did the only thing he could do. He cradled her face with his hands and pulled her towards him, their lips meeting in a tender kiss that spoke volumes of their deep love.
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Post by max and liz believer »

Chapter 30

He hit the brakes. It felt like the car couldn’t stop fast enough. His heart was slamming against his ribs. No, oh no. Those were the only words running through his head. Over and over again. He could see her in the dark alley. She was all alone, he had left her and they had taken her from him. He ran to her, and kneeled beside her. No, she couldn’t be dead! She couldn’t be dead. But she was so cold. So cold. He turned her around and looked into her face. Her eyes were open, but they held no soul any longer. They were vacant - doors to emptiness. Liz had left her body.


He came out of the dream with a gasp, his body bolting upwards. It took him awhile to orient himself. It was all dark around him - the light of the moon shining through one of the high small windows, but then he realized where he was and he heard her soft breathing and his daughter’s gently, peaceful breathing and he closed his eyes and started to take deep breaths to calm his racing heart. It was only a dream. It was only a dream. He laid down beside her, his eyes mesmerized by how her skin glowed in the moonlight. He gently traced her bare arm with his fingers. She’s alive, she’s alive. He told himself over and over again. He had been living a nightmare for years. He had been so lost without her, and everyday since he had found her again, he was amazed that she actually was with him. That he could once again see her smile, hear her laughter, experience her soft caresses...hold her in his arms. Her skin was so soft, so smooth. Flawless. She had always been perfect to him. Ever since the first time he had laid his eyes on her - stepping out of the schoolbus in third grade.

The memory of that day was still vivid in his mind. Isabel had been all excited to meet new people - to meet kids her own age. She always was so social. He had been terrified. He hadn’t wanted to leave his protected haven, which he had started to consider his home. He didn’t want to socialize. He didn’t want to go out in the real world. The real world scared him. Isabel and he had always known they were different. They had also known that it would be dangerous to tell people that. Isabel dealt with everything through getting as much attention as possible. If she could be liked by other people, she wouldn’t feel rejected - she wouldn’t feel different. And she got what she wanted. She was always one of the most popular girls in school. There were girls admiring her. But she never really let anyone in. Because they both had human feelings. They were both afraid of being rejected - of being looked upon as a horrible disgusting creatures. So Max did the opposite to Isabel. He hid. He became known as a loner. A mystery to most people. Of course, that backfired a bit, since most girls found that so much more interesting - intriguing. However, there was always only one girl that mattered to Max. It was the girl who had calmed him down as he had nervously stepped off that yellow schoolbus that day. It was the girl who had taken his hand during the break, as he stood lonely in a corner of the school-yard - watching. It was the girl who had understood enough not to drag him out on the school-yard to all the people, but instead had sat down with him under a tree, and taught him how to blow bubbles with chewing gums.


Max planted a soft kiss on her shoulder, and Liz stirred. Max held his hand still, waiting to see if he had awakened her.
”Max...?” she murmured, still in her dreamless sleep.
”Shhh, go back to sleep,” he whispered.
She sighed lightly and her breathing evened out, signifying that she had gone back to sleep. Max positioned himself next to her. She was laying on her side, her back towards him. He snuggled as close to her as he could and wrapped one of his arms around her, holding her close to him. Liz, still asleep, took his hand and laced her fingers with his, pressing their clasped hands to her stomach - sighing in content. Max laid his head in the crook of her shoulder and breathed in the scent of her hair. He kissed the side of her throat gently.
”I love you,” he whispered. Feeling like his was truly home, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

---------------------------------------------------------------------.

A week later

”Is everything set for tonight?” Max asked Kira. Kira nodded.
”Yes.”
”And they can be completely trusted?”
”They’ve been loyal to me since we arrived on Earth, thirty years ago. Don’t worry, I’ve put my best men on it.”
”Be sure not to leave Emma out of your sight for even one second.”
Kira smiled at him. Max was really a true leader, and when it came to his small family he was the king he should have been even in his former life. However, then he had been married to Ava, and in the absence of Liz’s support he had made bad decisions which had resulted in the fall of his kingdom and his own death.
”You can count on me,” Kira said. ”I would rather die than let anything happen to your girl.”
Max nodded, raking his hand through his hair.
”Am I doing the right thing here, Kira?” he asked, letting his insecurities shine through. ”Everything has been cool for a week, but what if something happens... perhaps we should just call this off. Emma is safer with us-”
”Max,” Kira interrupted. ”You’ve been planning this for two days. And as you have been saying, Liz needs this.”

Max nodded. He wanted to do this for Liz. He knew that she was feeling worse. She was slowly deteriorating, and he didn’t want to just stand by and passively watch. He had done everything he could. He had eased every ailment by healing, or feeding her with energy. But as long as she was blocking him, he couldn’t heal her properly. On the outside she was being strong - putting on an optimistic face - but Max knew her too well to know that the outside didn’t reflect the inside. They needed some time alone. Even though Max and Kira tried to take some responsibility and pressure off Liz’s shoulders by taking care of Emma, she was always in some way guarding her daughter - unable to cut loose too much from years of being the only one there for her. Max just hoped that Liz was able to see what he was trying to do and not have her mind on Emma the whole night.
”Okay,” Max said, and with a nod gave Kira the green flag to stick to the plan.

----------------------------------------------.

Liz came out from the bathroom, having enjoyed a long hot bath. She stopped, her hand pausing in the movement of pulling her hair into a pony-tail on her head. The big storage room, which was furnished with a dining table, some chairs, a TV, and a couch - together with the small kitchen area of course, was illuminated in the soft and warm light of candle lights. Max was sitting on the couch, eyes locked on her and a small anticipating smile on his face.
”Max....” Liz said slowly, moving towards him. ”What’s going on?”
”I have a surprise for you,” Max said. ”And it’s still not too late.”
”What are you talking about?” Liz asked confused. Although she couldn’t help but smile at him. He was different. Excitement was coming off him in waves. He rose from the couch and took her hand, tugging her towards the front door.
”Max...I’m only wearing a robe,” Liz giggled, as she tried to keep up with Max.
”Oh, that doesn’t matter,” Max said.
”Maybe not to you,” Liz mumbled. The cool air hit her in the face, feeling even cooler as her hair was still wet from the bath.
”I have a blanket for you,” Max said, and came to a stop in front of a ladder pushed up against the house wall.
Liz looked at him with amusement.
”Max, where are we going?” she asked, trying to sound irritated, but her amusement at Max’s behavior shone through in her voice.
”We’re going up on the roof,” Max said. Liz looked at him, trying to figure out who he was and what he had done with her Max.

”Is that so wise, Max?” Liz asked. ”What if someone sees us?”
”I have everything taken care of,” Max said, as he searched her face. His eyes locked with hers. ”Please, Liz. I want you to see something. Besides, the roof is lowered in a hollow, no one will be able to see us once we’re up on the roof.”
Liz felt herself drowning in his deep warm eyes once again.
With a nod she turned and started climbing the ladder. Max was right behind her, ready to catch her if she fell. Even how much Liz tried to put on a charade that she was fine, Max knew better and he wasn’t gonna let her fall if she couldn’t climb. They reached the roof, and Max’s suspicions about Liz’s weak condition were confirmed by her labored breathing. She had climbed a four meter high ladder, and she was almost completely out of breath.
”Liz..you’re okay?” Max asked, his excitement over the surprise he had planned for her momentarily forgotten.
”Max...” Liz breathed, her voice filled with astonishment and admiration. The otherwise not so attractive roof surface had been transformed into the most romantic place Liz had ever seen. A blanket had been spread out, and candle lights were casting their soft light over the blanket. The roof was covered in the soft red color coming from the descending sun, illuminating the white rose petals which were spread out on the roof making them appear slightly pink.
”It’s beautiful,” Liz said breathlessly.
Max felt his heart swam over with his love for her.
”I thought we could watch the sunset,” Max said.
”I can’t believe you did this,” Liz whispered stunned. Max took her hand and guided her to the blanket. She sat down on the blanket and Max took another blanket laying close by and wrapped it around her body. Liz’s eyes followed his every movement. Max sat down beside her, and noticed that she was looking at him.
”What?” he asked, smiling.
”Do you know how amazing you are?” she asked. The red sun was wrapping them up in a warm color, but even with the red light shining on his face Liz could see that he was blushing lightly at her statement.
Liz’s eyes was so full of admiration for him, that he found it difficult to meet her intense gaze. He had always been sort of modest, and he never really knew what to do with compliments.

He took her hand and raised it to his lips and softly placed a kiss on the back of it.
Liz shook her head, still trying to grasp how lucky she was.
”You are always there for me, Max. Taking care of me. You heal me everyday. And am not only talking about your powers - you heal my mind. My heart. But I need to know, Max. Do you ever regret it?”
Max looked at her in confusion.
”What do you mean?”
Liz took both his hands in hers.
”I don’t want you to waste your life away, looking after me...and Emma.”
Max looked at her as if she had just grown a third eye.
”Liz, are you kidding me?” he asked.
Liz shook her head firmly, completely serious.
”Your enemies can use us against you. I know you Max, and you would drop everything - sacrifice everything - if we were in danger-”
”Yes, Liz. I would,” Max said. ”Liz, I love you. I love you more than life itself. Without you..I was as good as dead. And I love Emma. Don’t ever think that you are a burden. You light up my life, Liz.” From anyone else that would probably sound cheesy, but Max spoke from his heart - tried putting words to feelings that no words could really describe. ”Without you I’m nothing.”
Tears were shimmering in Liz’s eyes as she leaned into him, and put her lips on his. His lips were warm, soft and he tasted so good. So much Max.
”I love you,” Liz said against his lips.
”I love you,” Max said and put his arms around her waist - pulling her closer. They were soon lost in each other, the sunset forgotten. They were only feeling. Feeling the texture of the other’s lips, feeling the scent, feeling the bodies under their touching hands.

”Liz...,” Max murmured against her lips.
”Mmm,” Liz said, before she caught his lips again.
”You...”
kiss
”...wanna...”
kiss
”...uhm...”
kiss
”....see...”
kiss
”...the sunset?”
”Mmmm,” Liz murmured again, not having any thoughts at all on a sunset. She could feel Max’s mouth turn up into a grin, and she slowly pulled away - smiling back at him.
”What?” she asked.
Max looked at her. Her lips were swollen, her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were vibrant. She looked more alive than he had seen her since they had moved into the warehouse.
”You want to see the sunset?” he asked again, tucking a loose strand of her dark hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering on the silky skin of her cheek.
Liz turned her head and looked out at the sky, as if suddenly noticing that there was actually a sun out there, about to go down in a cascade of colors. She nodded slowly as she turned her head back to him.
”Sure, we can do that,” she said.
Max laid down on his stomach, pulling Liz along with him. He pulled her close to his side, correcting the blanket over her, so that she wouldn’t get cold. Liz snuggled under the arm he had put around her, positioning her head on her hands as she looked out at the beautiful sunset. They watched the sun go down during the next ten minutes, then the darkness started to spread around them - stopped only by the wall of light spread from the candle lights that were surrounding them.

”Max, where’s Emma,” Liz asked softly.
Max was actually surprised that she hadn’t asked earlier.
”She’s at Maria and Michael’s,” Max said.
”Is it safe?” Liz asked.
”Kira is with them, and some of his men are keeping watch outside the apartment complex,” Max answered reassuringly. ”Actually, some of his men are keeping watch here as well.”
Liz wiggled under him and finally managed to turn on her back, Max following her movements with an amused grin. Liz looked him straight in the eye. With a smile on her lips, she arched one of her eyebrows.
”Really?”

”Uh huh,” Max answered, suddenly having a strong urge to feel the texture of the glowing skin of her neck against his lips.
”You have really planned this, haven’t you?” Liz asked amused.
Max gave into the temptation and lowered his mouth to her neck, raining small kisses over her neck. Liz tilted her head backwards, giving him more access and Max moved his body more on top of hers.
”I wanted you...” Max said and then nibbled at the sensitive skin in the crook of her shoulder with his lips, ”....to have a night off.”
Liz cradled his face with her fingers, lifting his face from what he was doing and met his eyes - craving the taste of his lips on hers.
”I love how your mind works,” she said before she attacked his lips with a passion that took Max’s breath away. Their mouths made love to each other, as their hands went on their own discoveries. Liz started to unbutton Max shirt, which went him totally unnoticed in the heat of the moment, and put her hands inside his shirt. As he felt her small, cool hands on his warm chest he buried his hand in her hair, pulling her lips even closer to his. Liz hands traced the firm and hard muscles of his chest. She still remember every single detail of his chest, even though it had been five years since she last had been able to feel him. She moved her hands up and down his chest, as her lips were locked on his. His hands left her hair, and moved downwards, slowly followed the curves of her body to come to rest on her hips. His hands found their way inside her robe and started moving upwards again - now without the clothes hindering him from feeling her bare soft skin under his hands - as his lips left hers and he started kissing a trail down her jawline. Max’s gentle caresses over her stomach and ribs, were doing havoc to her body. His hands heated up her skin and the chilly evening air didn’t bother her any longer. He was setting her body on fire with his touches. The need for him was so intense, she wanted to curl up inside of him, in that warm and protective place inside of him that was the essence of Max Evans. Max’s hands came into contact with her breast and she instinctively arched her body against his hands.

Max paused and searched her face. Her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted, her breath leaving it in small and quick puffs.
”Liz...” he managed to say, himself struggling with his breathing. Liz opened her eyes, and the second her eyes met his he knew that she was ready.
”Max...don’t stop,” she whispered. She didn’t have to beg him twice. He lowered his head and captured her lips in a heart-searing kiss, as his hands moved the robe aside - his hands finding her breast. Liz moaned deeply in her throat, as he run his hand over her nipple before he let his mouth follow suite. Liz couldn’t think one coherent thought. Her mind was turning into mush under Max’s touches. She could only feel. Feel the feelings that were filled with more pleasure than she ever thought imaginable. Her whole body was tingling from the sensations he caused in her - every nerve ending was reacting with full effect. She could feel her body awakening - springing to life. She needed to feel him. Max was taken by surprised as Liz suddenly rolled them over, positioning herself on top of Max. She quickly removed his shirt, and then her hands went to his jeans, starting to tug down his zipper. Her movements were fast - urgent. There was an emptiness building inside of her, and she needed him. She needed him to fill it.
Max looked at her hovering above him, hot blood racing through his veins. He could feel his heart pounding, going one hundred miles a minute. Her face was shimmering in gentle glow of the candle lights, her cheeks flustered, her eyes chocolate dark, her hair fanning out around her face - teasing him as it brushed against his warm naked chest. God, he wanted her. He wanted her so badly.

Then he felt her hands touch him where his desire for her was the greatest and a tremble went through his body, as a low groan vibrated deep down in his throat. He felt Liz remove his pants, pulling them down his thighs and calves - freeing him of the pressure he was experiencing in the too tight jeans. And then she was over him again. Planting kisses on his bare chest. Max reached his hands to her head and cradled her face, pulling her lips to his - fusing them together. His hands went inside her robe again, that was still preventing him from truly feeling her, and pushed it off her from her shoulders. Liz flushed her body against Max’s, and Max could finally feel her naked skin against his - flesh to flesh. Her nipples were hard, creating pleasurable friction as they moved slightly against him as they continued devouring each other with their mouths. In the still night the only sound that could be heard was the sound of their lips moving against each other and their soft moans of pleasure. The outside world was lost to them in their heaven of pleasure.
”Max,” Liz gasped. Max gently rolled her on her back again, so that he could see her. All of her. He started to untie the band that held her robe together, but finally he tugged the whole robe over her hips, with the knot still tied as he couldn’t concentrate enough to get it loose. He paused as she was now laying in front of her, completely vulnerable to him. She looked different. Some bruises covered her body, that not even the growing darkness could hide, and she was so much skinnier. He suddenly got insecure, and started to question what they were doing.

Her breathing heavy, Liz opened her eyes as Max stopped and she searched his eyes. The desire and passion was still evident in his eyes, but now he also looked....sad.
”Max...what?” she whispered. The chilly breeze was touching her skin and she suddenly felt cold without Max’s touches.
”Are you okay?” Max asked. ”I’m not...I’m not hurting you am I?” She looked so fragile, she looked like she might break.
Liz raised her hand and put it behind his head, drawing him down towards her.
”Never been better,” she whispered, her voice husky, and then she kissed him. ”Max, please make love to me. I need you.”

Max felt her love flow over him, and he basked it in, moving his hands across her body again, caressing it with such gentleness and love that Liz got tears in her eyes.
”Liz...do we- have we?” Max stuttered as he felt Liz tug on his boxers. Liz nodded, with a smile on her face.
”Don’t worry, Max. I’m on the pill,” Liz said. Max smiled too and helped her take his boxers off. Max stopped and looked into her eyes.
”I love you, Liz Parker.”
”I love you,” Liz answered, and he slowly entered her. The couple was unaware of the silverish glow that radiated off their bodies, encircling them as they were filled with the greatest pleasure they had ever felt, as they finally completed each other. Two halves coming together, becoming whole. Their bodies were melting together, becoming one. And as their movements brought them closer to their climax the connection was restored, opening up wide between them. Images, feelings, emotions, thoughts, passions, and an indescribable love floated their senses and tears trickled down their cheeks as they could finally feel each other in every way known. Their union not only melting their bodies together, but also their minds, hearts and souls.

------------------------------------------.

The sun had descended and the darkness was spreading like a blanket over New Mexico. On a roof top on a warehouse somewhere outside of the small town Roswell, the darkness was penetrated by the flicker of ten white candle lights. Positioned in between the candles that were positioned in a circle, was a blanket. The modest lightning was illuminating naked skin, partly covered up by another blanket. Under the blanket, limbs were entwined, arms were embracing, fingers were laced. The light kept the darkness at a safe distance from the sleeping couple, that had finally come home.
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max and liz believer
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Post by max and liz believer »

Chapter 31

Kira put down the receiver.
”So, what did they say?” Michael asked him. They had not heard a word from neither Liz nor Max in the whole evening and it was getting late. Emma had fallen asleep in the bedroom. Max had wanted an evening alone with Liz, and they all had agreed that it was a good idea. Liz had seemed to be getting even worse, and Maria was worried that she didn’t have much time left.
Kira turned around and looked into the worried faces of two of Max’s best friends.
”They have fallen asleep on the roof,” he said.
”What?” Maria said, confused. ”What were they doing on the roof? I thought Max was the romantic type, why did he take her up on the roof?”
Michael chuckled.
”That dog!” he said with a smug on his face. ”He’s getting busy with Liz up on the roof. I gotta hand it to him, not even I would have come up with that!”
”Michael, stop it! Max isn’t getting busy with Liz anywhere! Haven’t you seen Liz lately? Do you really think she has the energy to do anything more than kissing?!”
”Well...”
”Forget I asked,” Maria said and turned towards Kira. ”Then when are you going home?” She brought up her hand and stifled a yawn. ”I need to get some sleep. I have two exams tomorrow.”
”Well, if they are asleep, then they’re probably finished with whatever they were doing,” Michael said, trying to keep serious but failed in keeping his voice stable as his mind conjured up all weird things you could do on a roof in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. He had to try that with Maria sometime.
”Michael...,” Maria said in a warningly tone.
”I didn’t say nothing,” Michael said, and turned to walk into the kitchen to get a snack.

--------------------------------------------------------------.

Kira opened the passenger door and carefully unbuckled the sleeping princess. When he had thought about the future, he had never seen himself with a child - at least not baby-sitting the king’s child. He put his arms under her legs and gently lifted her out of the car. He pushed the door close with his foot and walked towards the warehouse. The silence out here in the middle of nowhere was deafening to say the least, and due to the moon’s absence the darkness was much thicker. However, the sky was clear displaying millions of twinkling stars. One of his men met him at the door.
”Zan and Liz are sleeping in their bedroom, sir,” he said.
”Did you wake them?” Kira asked.
”No, sir. They came down by themselves about ten minutes after your call, sir.”
”And everything was clear tonight...nothing out of the ordinary? Nothing suspicious?”
”No, sir. Everything’s clear, sir.”
”Good. Call someone to change shift with you, and you can get some sleep.”
”Yes, sir. I’ll do that.”
”Great work. Now I’m heading off to bed with this little girl.”
”Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------.

Kira opened the door to Max’s and Liz’s bedroom.
”Who is it?” he heard Max’s voice ask. His voice was marked with sleep, and Kira realized that he had probably waken up the second Kira opened the door. Max was always on his guard, almost like a watch dog - sleeping with one eye open.
”It’s Kira,” Kira answered in a hushed voice.
”Do you have Emma with you?” Max asked, matching the level of his voice with Kira to not disturb Liz in her sleep. Kira didn’t fail to notice the small hint of concern in his voice.
”Yes, she’s sleeping,” Kira said as he walked towards the bed. Max was laying on his back, his chest bare. Liz was sleeping with her head on his chest, one of her arms on Max’s shoulder and the other slung over Max’s chest.
”Is she okay?” Kira asked and nodded in Liz’s direction. A smile spread across Max’s face as he looked down at his soulmate sleeping soundly on his chest, the warmth of her body seeping into the cold lump of guilt inside of him - slowly dissolving it into nothingness.

”Yes,” he answered, and Kira wondered how much there really was behind that answer. Liz looked different - healthier, and more alive. Something had happened, and then he didn’t mean the thing that Michael had so happily alluded to earlier. But it was neither the right time nor place for that conversation. Kira gently lowered the sleeping form of Emma down beside Max. Emma sighed lightly and then snuggled up to her father’s warm body. Max reached out and pulled the covers over her as well. He put his arm around her and planted a loving kiss on her forehead. He turned his head towards Kira again, that looked very misplaced, and appeared utterly uncomfortable with it.
”Kira, thank you,” Max said, with emotion and emphasis in his voice that Kira had never before experienced.
”Don’t mention it,” Kira said. ”Good night, Max.”
”Good night,” Max said and listened to Kira’s retreating steps and to the sound of the closing of the bedroom door. With a satisfied smile on his face, and Liz’s feelings floating around him through the connection, he closed his eyes and surrendered his body to the world of dreams.

----------------------------------------------.

Liz awoke, feeling the sunlight brush against her eyelids - teasing her to open her eyes. She felt the warmth radiating into her body. Warmth coming from another body laying beside her. She felt his arm wrapped securely around her, holding her close. She felt the air flow easily out and in of her lungs. She felt the heart pump the blood through her veins. Fresh blood, clean blood - healthy blood. Her head felt light, free from the tension, the aching and the thudding. Her joints did not ache, her eyes did not sting, her stomach didn’t burn. She drew a deep, cleansing breath - relishing in the feeling of the fresh air in her lungs, tasting the air, living it. She slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head slightly and with no effort to look at him.

Him.

The most humble and caring man she had ever known. The man who couldn’t hurt a fly...but still was destined to fight a long line of battles. The king of a planet he had no memory of. Her king. The man who had showed her love, and taught her what real love was. The man who she based her whole existence on. The man who had given her life in more ways than she could count.

She stretched up and gentle grazed his smooth, hard and warm chest with the touch of her unparched lips. She took another deep breath, breathing him in. She felt him waking through the connection, reaching for her. She felt herself being bundled up in warmth and love. She felt his whole essence filling her, scaring all insecurities and demons away. She smiled as he opened his eyes slightly.


She was so beautiful. The life floated out of her eyes, sparkling with energy. And she was smiling. For a second or two he wondered if he had died and gone to heaven. He could feel her all around him. He was wrapped up in her, wrapped up in something far older than just Liz Parker. Her soul was reaching out for him, filled with humbleness, care, gratitude and love. The very core of her being. No words were necessary as they lay there, a conversation older than time being transferred through their eyes, into their souls. She couldn’t stop smiling. He brought one of his hands up to her face and felt the soft touch of one of her strands of hair between his fingers. His hand left her hair, only to move to her forehead tracing each of the small wrinkles that had formed there as a consequence of time and hardships.

His hand traced the soft texture of her eyebrow to continue down the bridge of her nose, tracing every small detail of her features. His hand lingered on the top of her upper lip, only to slowly move to her right cheek. With a small smile he gently traced the blush on her cheek - a sign of health. He continued down to her chin, his touch as light as the wing of a butterfly. The travel of the hand turned north, lightly tracing her bottom lip with his index finger. Her beautiful mouth - the doors of breath and life. He slowly withdrew his hand from her face, closing his eyes as he did. He wanted to experience her with all his senses. He felt her scent - the scent that was so typical her. Not anything artificial, but natural and pure. He brought his hand up to her face again, cradling her soft cheek against his palm. With his eyes still closed, he leaned closer to her his whole being anticipating the moment his lips would be able to taste hers.

He could feel her lips on his even before they were actually melting together. Her softness, her warmth, and her love fused with him as their lips met in a kiss that signified so much more than just a kiss. It was a kiss of promises, a kiss of eternity, a kiss of completion. They broke apart slowly, both still with the tingling on their lips, the electricity running through them. She sighed in contentment and put her head back on his chest, her eyes never breaking communication with his. She could feel the presence of their daughter, the child of love, beside him and she smiled again. She had never felt any happier. She didn’t even own the words that could describe what she felt. Her heart seemed too small to hold all the feelings so they seemed to pour out of her, out of her every pore. She gave a new meaning to the concept of radiating with happiness.

-----------------------------------------------.

Kira looked up as the door opened to the bedroom. It was late in the morning, and for a while he had been worried why they all had slept so long. Not even Emma had woken up. He had to take a closer look at the...energy that was walking out of the bedroom. That was the only way he could describe her. Energy. She was not only a human any longer. She was an essence of altruism and love. She was a queen. She smiled at him, and her whole face shone up from the inside.

”Morning, Kira,” she said softly.
Kira cleared his throat, suddenly finding himself out of both the ability to use his voice and out of breath.
”Uhm..morning...Liz,” he said and watched as she walked closer.
”Did Emma have a good time yesterday?” Liz asked, as she started to search the cabinets after something to eat. She was famished.
Kira watched her in awe as she moved about the room. Her every movement was filled with gracefulness, and he once again shook his head trying to clear his mind.
”Kira?” Liz’s voice reached him and he shook his head again.
”I’m sorry, Liz. What did you say?” he asked.
”Emma. Did she have a good time yesterday?” Liz repeated, retrieving milk and eggs from the refrigerator.
”Uhm...yeah, she had a great time I think,” Kira answered.

”That’s really good,” Liz said, and Kira noticed how a smile spread over her face and then the bedroom door opened and Max walked out, dressed in sweat pants and T-shirt. And Kira was once again dumbfounded. There was definitely something different about Max too. His body was straighter, his shoulders were held high as if tons of lead had been removed from them. But what struck Kira as the biggest change about him was his face. Kira couldn’t quite put his finger on what actually was different. The only word he could find was peaceful. Max looked like he had found peace. He didn’t seem....lost any longer. His movements were assertive, his eyes strong and determined, yet tender and gentle.

”Morning, Kira,” Max said, and gave him a small nod of recognition.
”Mo-morning Max,” Kira stuttered and followed Max as he made his way over to Liz. He stepped up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her, his hands coming to rest - to peace - at her stomach. He leaned his chin on her shoulder, and so they stood. It was a mystery to Kira how they could stand like that as Liz continued making pancake batter and then making the pancakes on the frying pan, without separating from Max. They were like two pieces made to be together, and as they were together they worked the best. Completely in tune with each other.



And so the day elapsed. Kira found himself to be mainly a spectator to whatever wonder Max and Liz were. They didn’t talk much - there didn’t seem to be any need to do so. There were gentle smiles, small loving touches and caresses. They always seemed to be touching in some way. Even Emma seemed to notice the difference. She was quieter than usual, and Kira realized that she too seemed more at peace. A calmness had settled itself over the warehouse, and Kira went about the day feeling dazed. He couldn’t ignore the love that was vibrating through the house - a frankly he didn’t want to ignore it either.

-------------------------------------------------------------------.

Liz had positioned herself on the couch, laying on her back and staring at the ceiling - her thoughts busy miles away. Max had left to tuck Emma in. He had insisted on doing that every night since they had moved to their isolated home. He saw it as one of the things he wanted to do to spend as much time as he could with his daughter. She heard Kira seat himself in the armchair and she angled her head a bit to be able to look at him as he spoke.
”Liz?”
”Yeah,” she answered.
”There is something I would like to talk to you about,” Kira said.
”Sure, what is it?”
”I can see that something is definitely different here,” Liz smiled a secret smile ,”and I was just wondering how you’re feeling today.”
Liz smiled warmly at him.
”I’m great, Kira,” she answered.
”So..all of the symptoms are gone?” Kira asked.
Liz nodded.
”That means...that the connection is open again?” Kira asked.
Liz nodded again.
”How- I mean, was it because of...uhm...”
Liz blushed.

”Yes, it was because of that,” she answered softly.
”Okay,” Kira said and leaned back in the arm-chair. He cleared his throat. ”That’s really good, Liz.”
Liz nodded, and then her eyes diverted to the bedroom door. Kira turned in the arm-chair, following here eyes. First he only saw the closed door, but two seconds later it opened and Max appeared.
”She’s asleep?” Kira asked.
”Yeah, she was pretty tired,” Max asked and walked up to the couch. Without a word, Liz straightened up from her horizontal position and left room for Max to sit down. Then she lay down again, now with her head in his lap.
”Maria asked me something yesterday,” Kira said.
He saw interest and attention settle over Liz’s beautiful face at the mention of her friend.

”What did she ask?” Liz asked. Even though she had never felt better, living with the love of her life and their common daughter, she missed Maria. She missed the girl talk... She was practically stuck with only men around (if you exclude Emma, since she fail to register as a potential girl talk participate). She hadn’t met Maria since they moved in here, and cut themselves off from the outside world, which was about a week ago.
”She was wondering if she and Michael could come and visit,” Kira answered.
Liz’s face shone up, and her eyes sparkled. She looked up into Max’s eyes, and he nodded with a small smile on his face - needing a little man to man talk himself with Michael.
”Tell them that it’s okay,” Liz said.
”When do you think that we should do it?” Kira asked, directing his question at Max.
”You decide. You know how the situation is with the guards and everything and you know more about organizing trips that aren’t to be discovered,” Max said. He hadn’t really put himself into the part of a leader yet. He had just got his soulmate back, and a child. All he could think about and concentrate on was their love and protecting them. Keeping them save. From the inside. The outside, and all the rules and leadership stuff he had left to Kira to take care of.
”Okay,” Kira said and nodded. ”I’ll check it out.”



Two days later

”Max! Max!”
Liz used the connection as a compass, tracing his presence to the bathroom. She lightly knocked on the door before she opened it slightly and poked her head in.
”Are you decent?” she asked, with a smirk on her face.
Max turned and looked at her.
”If I wasn’t, then it would already be too late, wouldn’t it, since you’re already half-way in here.”
Liz walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, and took in the sight in front of her. Max was standing in front of the bathroom mirror - shaving. He was only wearing sweat pants - his upper body glowing in the soft daylight seeping through the high located small windows. She had tried to find Max in order to tell him something, but that was forgotten as soon as she laid her eyes on him.
”You’re right,” she said absent-mindedly as she traced the details of his chest with her eyes. His undressed state did funny things to her.
”But I guess you wouldn’t mind too much if I wasn’t decent,” Max asked, smiling too himself. He could feel her eyes on him, but he could also feel her increasing feelings of desire through the connection.
”Why do you use a razor?” Liz asked, as she stepped up behind Max’s back and unconsciously licked her lips as she now had an up-close and personal sight of Max’s back.

”What do you mean?” Max asked, somewhat confused. He lowered the razor in the water that he had tapped up in the sink, and cleaned of the lather before putting the razor back against his cheek. He could see Liz’s face in the mirror. He could see how she lifted her hand only to see the hand disappear behind his back. He gasped as he felt her light touch on his back.
”Uhm...why don’t you just like...wave your hand over your face and shave that way instead? Isn’t that less painful..and a much better time-saver?”
Actually, waving his hand over his face would make things so much easier right at this moment, because Liz’s touches on his back was making it very difficult for him to concentrate on not cutting himself with the razor. He was glad that he was nearly done shaving, because he had some other things in mind now than the removal of hair growth on his face.
”I found it better to learn how to shave properly - the human way, to avoid weird suspicions. And than I’ve just stuck with it..it’s become like brushing your teeth.”
”Really?” Liz said, her voice huskier than it was just a few moments ago. ”You mean you can avoid brushing your teeth as well and use some alien magic instead?”
”Y-es,” Max said, his voice pitching a little higher at the end of his answer due to the feel of Liz’s lips on his bare shoulder. She was leaving soft feather-like kisses like a trail of fire along his shoulder, moving up towards his ear.
”Well,” Liz said, her soft lips reaching his ear. Max put down the razor, realizing that it was a security risk to have razors in his hand as Liz was slowly driving him nuts. ”I think it’s good that you do those things the human way,” she started nibble his ear, and Max took a firm grasp on the sink at the sensations that rippled through him at her innocent touch, ”‘cause I think you look really sexy when you’re shaving.”

Max closed his eyes, and tried to hold on to the control he was quickly losing. But it was Liz he was fighting against here. Liz and her lips, and they were like poison to his self control. It did not take many nanoseconds before Max lost it and turned around with such swift movement that even Liz was startled. But before she could really register what was happening, his lips were crashing down on hers with a fierceness and passion unlike anything she had ever felt before. But she was gradually learning that Max had a million ways of pleasing her, and most of those methods involved his lips. He could kiss her in so many different way, but each kiss was always amazing in itself. He never stopped filling her with desire, passion and love. His lips were claiming hers, and his movements were fast. He pressed his body against hers and his lips traveled down her throat. Without stopping what he was doing he stretched out his hand towards the bathroom door and locked it. Moans of pleasure were erupting deep in her throat, and Max pined her against the wall, his lips never stopping in the exploration of her skin. She arched her head back at the emotions he was causing in her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, wanting him even closer. The outside world and all its problems was a long time ago forgotten, and they were once again drowning in each other.

----------------------------------------------------.

”So, where’s Liz?” Kira asked, not able to contain the smile that was tugging at the corners of his mouth from erupting, at the sight of a disheveled Max walking out of the bathroom. His hair was even more tousled than it had been when he stepped out of the bedroom an hour ago from a long night of sleep, and his cheeks were flustered.
”Oh, she’s taking a shower,” Max answered, and walked up to the kitchen table and took a bun. He took a bite from it and walked into the kitchen area to make some coffee.
”Did she tell you?” Kira asked.
Max poured water into the coffee machine while he looked at Kira.
”Tell me what?”
”I guess you got distracted, huh,” Kira said.
Max turned his back to Kira to take out the coffee from one of the cabinets, but not before Kira got the chance to see his smile.
”Uh huh,” Max said casual, his voice telling nothing but the posture of his body completely giving him away.
”Maria and Michael are coming here today,” Kira said.
Max put down the coffee on the counter and started to fill the coffee machine with the powder.
”That’s great,” he said. ”When?”
”I’m sending a man to pick them up at 6:30 sharp,” Kira said.
Max pressed the on-button on the coffee machine and walked back towards the table. He sat down across from Kira and looked him straight in the face. Max’s face had been transformed in a matter of seconds to the face of a leader.

”Kira, you have to make sure that no one, no one is following your man - neither on the way out of here and especially not on the way back here. This is a good hiding place, and I would like to keep it that way. I don’t want to rip Liz and Emma up by the roots again.”
”I assure you Max, we are taking extra precautions.”
Max held his gaze, and Kira didn’t look away. He knew that Max trusted him by now - otherwise he wouldn’t let him be anywhere near Emma or Liz, and especially not live under the same roof as him. But Max needed to trust him on this special matter.
Max’s eyes left his after some moments of pondering and he started to spread butter on his bun. Silence lowered itself over the table, as the men were lost in their separate minds.

A few minutes later Kira looked up at Max, as he suddenly gasped.
”Max?” he asked.
Max closed his eyes, his forehead creased in concentration and pain.
”Liz,” he murmured and bolted up from his chair. He run towards the bathroom, and ripped the door open. He could hear the water running in the bathtub, and he wasted no time on removing the shower curtain. He found her sitting at the end of the bathtub, her legs pulled up to her chest, the water running down her body.
”Liz,” he breathed, his voice marked with the hurt of seeing her like that. Without a second thought he climbed into the bathtub, turning off the water with his powers as he kneeled down beside her and put his arms around her. He could feel tremors cursing through her body, and she had her eyes closed.
”Liz,” he said again, but she didn’t react to him. She was completely unresponsive to his voice, his touch, him. All he could feel through the connection was fear and pain, and it was slowly destroying him. He couldn’t get through to her.
”Daddy?” he heard Emma’s small voice.
”Honey, go out to Kira,” Max said, his voice strained as he tried to break through to Liz.
”But mommy...” Emma started to protest. She too could feel the pain and the fear through the connection she had with her mother and it frightened her.
”Honey, mommy will be fine. Go out to Kira,” Max said gently.

Emma hesitated with her hand still on the doorknob, but then Kira came up behind her.
”Max, what’s going on?” he asked, and then he saw the naked form of Liz in the bathtub, cradled in Max’s arms. Even from where he was standing he could see the tremors cursing through her body.
”Kira, take Emma and get out,” Max ordered. That was the first time Max had ever given him a direct order and he took it without questioning. He took Emma by the hand.
”Emma, let’s go out,” he said.
”But somebing’s wrong with mommy,” Emma said, her eyes tearing up.
”Daddy is going to make her all right,” Kira said, ”but we have to leave them alone.”
”Okay,” Emma sniffed and let herself be lifted up by Kira. She trusted her daddy to make her mommy okay again. Kira pressed her sobbing body close to his and closed the door, his heart racing in his body. He hoped with his whole alien heart that nothing was wrong with Liz. She had been so happy the last two days and he hated to see that something had happened to destroy it.

Liz moaned deep in her throat - a moan of pain.
”Liz, you have to wake up!” Max said, his voice begging. His hand was repeatedly threading through her wet hair, drying it as well as trying to calm her down.
As her body suddenly went stiff, her back arching up Max thought his heart stopped in his chest. He tried to hold her still as her body started cramping.
”No, Liz. Please. Wake up!” he begged his voice hoarse.
The low cries that were erupting deep in her throat was nothing Max ever had heard and he didn’t ever want to hear them again. They made his heart go cold and shivers run down his spine. They were like the cries of a wounded animal, being tortured.
He frantically tried to get through to her. He reached deeply in the connection, concentrating hard on finding her. He started sending images of Liz’s life to her through the connection, trying to destroy whatever was happening to her with the strongest power he knew existed.

Love.

Her breathing was harsh in his ears, coming quick. Then her body relaxed, and instead she started gasping for air, making sounds as if she was suffocating.
Max had to focus very hard not to get distracted by her sounds of dying, as he concentrated on filling her mind with love. But it was hard as she was obviously suffocating to death right in his arms. He started to build up whatever energy he had inside of him - even energy he didn’t know he possessed - and focused it on reaching Liz, on bringing her back to him.

That’s when she stopped. Her body relaxed, and her breathing slowed down. Her cries of pain quieted, and she was instead clutching him to her, powerful sobs ripping through her entire being. Max felt the air fill his lungs again (he wasn’t even aware of the fact that he had held his breath), and his heart flutter to life again. He pulled her naked body close to his, feeling tears of relief running down his cheek. She was clenching his shirt in her fists, trying to shield herself from the reality in his arms.
”Liz, oh my God,” Max whispered. He had nearly lost her again. ”I was so afraid I’ve lost you. God, Liz. I can’t lose you. I love you so much. I love you so much.”
He started raining kisses over her face, tasting the salty tears.
”Liz, what happened?” he asked.
”I...I felt something,” she whispered, the sobs penetrating her every word.
”What did you feel?” Max asked, the fear sneaking its way back into his heart.
”It was so dark..and there was so much fear...and pain...and grief. Max...I think I was experiencing the future.”
Locked