Without You (CC,M/L,Mature) Pt 34, A/N, 6/10 [WIP]

[Fred]

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Favorite Science Fiction Story
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Without You

Author: Fred
Category: M/L + CC
Rating: Mature (Language, Sexuality, brief nudity - LOL)
Disclaimer:The characters of "Roswell" belong to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, WB, and UPN and whoever else - but not me. They are not mine and no infringement is intended. Without You written by Motley Crue.
Summary: Liz disappears and Max embraces his alien side. What happens when Liz resurfaces?
A/N:This story starts after (well years after) the scene from BIY printed below. (Everything in the show made sense to me up until that point so that is where I'm starting.) One little thing about my Serena, she is Creole. I am not, so her grammar was something I am not 100% sure about. Just take it as it is. No need to critique. Oh yeah - one last thing - I am not great at chapter separation. I just write scenes and put them together - when I hit a wall I'm finished with that part. So basically a chapter could be really long or really short. The third season as it applies to other characters will be incorporated. Just a head's up. Langley has never seen Liz.

From "Destiny"
Liz, when I was in that room, and they did what they did to me. You're what kept me alive. The thought of you. The way your eyes look into mine. Your smile. The touch of your skin. Your lips. Knowing you has made me human.

From "Baby It’s You"
TESS: Max, she's just had a few questions about my powers, that's all.
MAX: : New theory?
LIZ: I just wanted to know some things about mind control and I thought--
MAX: : Oh, so Tess killed Alex. Is that your theory?
LIZ: No.
TESS: Max, she didn't say that.
MAX: : That's what you're thinking, why don't you just ask it?!
LIZ: Max, of course that's not what I'm thinking!
MAX: : Tess, did you kill Alex?
TESS: Max.
MAX: : What were you doing on the night that he died?
LIZ: Will you stop it?!
MAX: : Go ahead! what were you doing?!
KYLE: She was with me. We were watching Gladiator on video.
MAX: : An alibi. From one of your own.
LIZ: Can I leave now?
MAX: : Yep.

That night, Liz walked out of the house and disappeared.

Teaser (7years later)

Her tears were so heartbreaking; her lips were so full and soft. "Fuck it!" He couldn’t resist any longer. He knew that he had to heal the pain. He gabbed her, pulled her to him and kissed her. He needed to kiss her. He needed to be one with her. He needed the connection that he once shared with her. He needed to find her and his humanity. She resisted at first but he held on. He held on to her as if both their lives depended on it. He was determined to find the connection, to find the answers and to find himself. He could feel her as she stopped her resistance, as she put her arms around him and kissed him back. She kissed him with the same urgency, as if she was also looking for the connection, but it didn’t come. He stopped and looked at her, tears brimming in both their eyes, they both felt then that the connection was lost forever. They lost everything these years they had been apart, she lost her memory, he lost his humanity, they had lost their hope, their reason for living, but they had lost something much more important, the ability to heal each other and with it their destiny. Would they ever be able to find it again?

Without You
Motley Crue (1989)

Without you, there's no change
My nights and days are gray
If I reached out and touched the rain
It just wouldn't feel the same

Without you, I'd be lost
I'd slip down from the top
I'd slide down so low
Girl you'd never, never know...

Without you, without you
A sailor lost at sea
Without you, woman
The world comes down on me

Without you in my life
I'd slowly wilt and die
But with you by my side
You're the reason I'm alive
But with you in my life
You're the reason I'm alive
But without you, without you

Without you, my hope is small
Let me be me all along
You let the fires rage inside
Knowing someday I'd grow strong

Without you, without you
A sailor lost at sea
Without you, woman
The world comes down on me

Without you in my life
I'd slowly wilt and die
But with you by my side
You're the reason I'm alive
But with you in my life
You're the reason I'm alive
But without you, without you...

I could face a mountain
But I could never climb alone
I could start another day
But how many, just don't know
You're the reason the sun shines down
And the nights, they don't grow cold
Only you that I'll hold when I'm young
Only you...as we grow old

Without you in my life
I'd slowly wilt and die
But with you by my side
You're the reason I'm alive
But with you in my life
You're the reason I'm alive
But without you, without you..

Part 1

6-1/2 Years later.

Rain was threatening when Serena sat down at her friends table in front of the St. Louis Cathedral. "Madam Abigail will I get laid tonight?"

Gail looked across the table at her friend. "Let's see, give me your hand." Serena offered Gail her hand. "You are beautiful and sexy and you will be drinking, you will wake up with someone in the morning."

"God I hope not - I really try to kick them out before daybreak." She took her hand back and looked up at the sky. . ." Laplie tombe, ouaouaron chante.” Gail looked at her questioningly. Serena answered the gaze. "When the rain is coming, the bull-frogs sing.. Sorry - thank my dearly departed mother for making me learn French, well the Creole dialect at least. Most of the upper crust here in New Orleans learns real French but my mother insisted that we learn the "old" ways. Lucky me!"

Gail giggled at that. Serena was the upper crust. She owned one of the more historical houses in the Vieux Carre. If you went on a tour of the old homes in New Orleans you could hear how Serena ended up with the house but she would never tell you. Actually Serena never talked about herself much at all. She was just a fun loving party girl with (what seemed to be) a torrid past, but no one (not even Gail, one of her closest friends) really knew anything about it. There had been clues over the years and people did talk but nothing was more then a rumor. What you saw with Serena was what you got - and nothing more. Gail, a psychic could not even read her. She had tried but all she ever got was images of parties and men, everything got dark and foggy beyond that. Gail figured that Serena had built a wall around her inner self to protect her from the past. Madame Cassandra, Gail's savior and mentor, had always said that was why Gail and Serena got a long so well. Gail had a wall too. Gail of course would complain to Cassandra that her "wall" was not one of her own making. Cassandra would always tell her that her memory loss was of course one of her own making - she just didn't remember making it. When and if the time came that she needed the memories back, they would come. This was never a comfort to Gail but she accepted it because she really didn't have an argument against it.

Serena was continuing to babble. "So Boo, it's about to rain - you need to quit. I was hoping that you would be going out with us tonight. I have tourists in but after we make the obligatory run to Pat O's we can actually go somewhere fun - maybe karaoke at the Cat's Meow. Tourists always like that and so do you."

"You can actually sing. Since I can't, I don't fantasize about singing old 80's songs in public."

"Oh you always have fun - even if you won't sing. Anyway, I'm buying the tequila."

Gail thought about it. She wasn't tired and once the rain started she wouldn't have anymore customers. "I'll go - where should we meet."

"Just go get your clothes and get dressed at my house. It's closer to Bourbon anyway. Then tonight you can just stay in one of the guest rooms. You know how I love lots of company."

"Yeah - ok - I'll pack up and be there in about an hour."

"See you then babe."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max was asleep at the compound when all of a sudden he woke up to yelling. Michael and Maria were at it again. He got out of bed, pulled on some clothes, and walked downstairs. They were in the kitchen yelling about the milk or some other idiotic thing. Max entered the room, unnoticed. "What the HELL is going on in here!?!" he asked.

Maria cringed when she heard Max's voice. She knew she should have kept her voice down. Max was always dismissive to her and the other humans but when he got up on the wrong side of the bed he was just plain mean all day. "I'm sorry Max." She said and started to walk out of the room.

"No Maria - you stay in here." Max commanded. "I want to know what was so fucking important that you needed to yell at the top of your lungs."

Michael tried to diffuse the situation. "Look Max it was me - I was irritating her on purpose. It won't happen again. I thought you were already awake. I'm really sorry."

Max was tired and figured he had made his point so he let it drop - he wasn't in the mood. He waved his hand, signaling Maria to leave. After she was gone he grabbed a drink from the fridge and sat down at the table. "Is the world coming to an end today?"

"Not yet - but only a few have checked in. It just might be a slow day."

Max was tired of the battles but it was his life and he accepted it. Other's had come, some to help, some to destroy turning his world on earth into a battleground. He had the naive belief, a long time ago, that the Skins would be the last of them but Khivar had sent more. Each looking for the Granolith. Max had a group of scientists researching it but he still didn't understand what was so damn important about it. They had to move it a few years ago when the traitor told Khivar where it was and now no one knew exactly where to find it except the Royal Four. Even the scientists didn't know. Ava would mind warp most of them so they would not remember anything about it when they were done being useful. The rest Langley took care of. Max had wanted to just kill them all but Isabel and Ava had a fit, threatening to leave if he didn’t find another way. He had agreed only when Ava convinced him that she could keep them from ever remembering anything. It was ironic; he was the one who pulled his "family" kicking and screaming into the human world and in the end they had all made the choice to embrace humanity while he had chosen to detest it. He allowed the others to have their humans, but only because he needed the four together. "I'm going out. Have Isabel contact me if anything comes up."

"Sure." Michael answered, relieved that Max was leaving.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Another round!!!" Serena yelled to the bartender. They were all having a great time. Gail had been dancing with the guys while Serena and the other girl would go sing.

Gail turned towards Serena. "No laughing but I am having trouble remembering your friend’s names."

Serena smiled and started handing out the drinks. "This is Rich, Ron, Greg, and Chelle."

"And which one are you going to bed with tonight?" Gail asked under her breath, laughing at everything now.

"What makes you think . . ." Gail gave her another knowing look. "ok - Ron, Rich and Chelle belong together and before you ask - you are not being set up with Greg - Miss Pure - but you are welcome to him if you want him. He wouldn't say no - he thinks you are cute."

"God I hate that word." Serena was always referred to as beautiful and sexy, Gail was always cute.

"So have you decided to sing?"

"No way in hell, I'll just be a groupie."

"Suit yourself babe." Serena turned to Ron. "Paradise?"

Ron just smiled, gulped down his shot and followed Serena to the stage."

Gail turned to Chelle. "So this guy sings too?"

"He has always had a hard time saying no to her and she needs a man to sing Paradise by the Dashboard Light. She's always loved that song."

Gail just nodded. She knew even drunk that Serena's friends would never talk about her past. She didn't know if it was because Serena swore them to secrecy or if they were as much in the dark as she was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max turned to the woman lying in his bed. He had thought she was pretty earlier that night but now she just disgusted him. "I'm done. You can leave now."
The woman looked at him like she was going to cry but she got up out of the bed and started to put on her clothes. She came over to kiss him but he just moved away from her so she couldn't.

"This is the last time, Max."

Max just shrugged, got up and walked to his bathroom. He heard the bedroom door slam a few minutes later. He laughed. There were a lot more where she came from. Max had learned a long time ago that being cruel was the easiest was to rid himself of the bitches. Hell, all they wanted from him was to be a queen anyway. Well, there was only one Queen Bitch and Max had killed her off years ago. He kind of smiled at that thought. If these women knew that being his queen might be the death of them then he might not have to be cruel at all. Maybe he would have Langley start telling everyone how Tess died. Of course then it would be harder to find someone to come to his bed. Maybe not though - he was still king.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gail woke up feeling queasy and uneasy. That is what she called it when she was hung over and she had another dream. The dream was always the same. She would have a feeling of complete terror and then a man with beautiful dark eyes would come to her and tell her that everything would be ok. The man would make her feel safe but then, as quickly as he appeared, he would disappear into oblivion and she would be alone waiting for the terror. She didn't know which part of the dream bothered her more. The terror or the man. They both seemed so real but the man was something tangible.

She walked out of her bedroom in Serena's house and down the back stairs to the kitchen. She needed some water and some Excedrin. She heard music in the living room and decided to go through there on the way back.

"Queasy and uneasy again?" Serena was sitting in the dark alone on the floor of her living room listening to some obscure misery music (that was what Gail called it.) Serena's mood was always up until the alcohol started wearing off - then she had this ritual. That was the good thing about Serena, Gail never asked why she sat in the dark and Serena never asked about Gail's dreams. It was kind of like an unspoken rule. "You want to sit?"

Gail sat down next to Serena. She listened to the music for a while.

Serena started. "So I've heard you scream out during your dreams. I'm not going to ask you about them and tomorrow I won't even bring up this conversation but you can always talk to me if you want." Gail nodded as Serena continued. "You know, I was at Harvard for a while in the pre-med program. I don't want you to be impressed or anything, the reason I'm telling you is that I still have a lot of friends from back then and I don't want you to think they are quacks. Anyway, if you ever want, I can make some calls, they may be able to help you get your memories back."

Gail nodded but ignored the offer. "So why did you leave Harvard?"

"I just didn't like it. I got involved with Physics and transferred to another school."

"You left Harvard?" Gail couldn't believe it. "For what? MIT?"

Serena smiled. "Actually - yes."

"Your serious? I can't believe you would do that. I always wanted to go to Harvard."

"Always? What does that mean? You only remember the last three years."

"Oh my God! I don't know where that came from. Do you think that is a memory?"

Serena just giggled like a school girl. "Gail I think you had a memory! We should talk science. Maybe you were a science geek like me."

"I doubt you were ever a geek. So ask me something."

As the night wore on it became apparent that Gail was a "science geek" before she lost her memory. She wasn't as knowledgeable as Serena but she could keep up and when she didn't understand something Serena only had to explain it once or twice and Gail would catch on. It was so wonderful. Finally, Gail got up. "I'll let you get to bed. I've kept you up most of the night and you have your friends to entertain today."

"It's ok. I am having fun. Hell, the misery music has been off for a while and I don't even care. This has been good for me too. Plus I never really sleep much. Hey - let's go make breakfast."

"What do you mean let's go make breakfast? You don't cook."

"Ok what I meant to say is let's go get up Greg. He is a wonderful cook and we can talk to him while he does it. We might even be able to pour some juice or something."

Gail laughed. "He's your friend, you go wake him and I’ll start the coffee."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We lost two who were on a reconnaissance mission and one of the scientists couldn't be mind warped anymore."

Max listened as Langley gave his daily report. "You took care of it?"

"Yes I did but we are going to need a replacement or two."

"Suggestions?"

"Well I had two but since the men came back there only seems to be one. Dr. Baptiste, lives in New Orleans. No known family, only one close friend and she has a habit of disappearing every once in a while." Langley handed Max a picture that was taken for surveillance. "That's her -that's the friend - easy enough to deal with. I can make it look like a mugging."

Max threw the picture down without looking. He really could care less what this woman looked like or who the friend was. "That's fine. Let me know when you have her. Anything else?"

"No sir. That is all for now." Langley turned and walked out of the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gail sat at her table. It was still early and she had had a string of customers but she was tired and still feeling bad from the alcohol she consumed the night before. To top it all off when she had finally gotten to her spot an artist had tried to move in on it. God she wanted to go home but there was rent to pay so she stayed. Serena came by to say hi. "If I have one more teenage girl come by and ask me if her boyfriend is cheating on her - I'm going to scream."

Serena laughed. "I suppose you are still feeling the effects of last night’s tequila."

"Hell yeah. You really need to make me stop once in a while."

"Hey, I'm not your mother or even your older sister - not my job. It's hard enough to make sure you don't go home with freaks."

"Well, Serena darlin', thank you so much for keeping me from freaks."

"Anytime. Going out tonight?"

Actually, I think I might be able to get a good night's sleep for once."

"Suit yourself Boo. Cila qui rit vendredi va pleure dimanche. Sorry, doing it again. He who laughs on Friday will cry on Saturday. If you change your mind . . . ."

"I won't - not tonight - maybe tomorrow."

"Ok then - later."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"He's inhuman, Michael!" Maria was so tired of Michael's loyalty towards Max. "He had that scientist killed because Ava couldn't mind warp him anymore. The man was innocent."

Michael didn't know what to say. He knew Maria was right but he understood why Max had done it. "The man was not innocent! Max makes the tough decisions so no one else has to. Cut him some slack."

"Oh yeah - I forgot - we should be thankful. Next time I see the son of a bitch I'll be sure to remember to thank him."

"Maria, don't start. I don't want to have to worry about what Max might do to you."

"What? Will he kill me too? What if I wanted to leave? Would he let me?"

Michael looked worried. He actually didn't know anymore if he could stop Max from killing her, not after what Liz had done. "Do you want to leave?"

Maria softened some. "No I don't want to leave, I love you, but I'm tired of living like this."

Michael wrapped his arms around Maria to soothe her. "I know, I know." He bent down and kissed her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gail awoke from her dream and couldn't get back to sleep. Her dream or the man in it, woke her up and now kept her awake. She looked at the clock. 1:00am. She got out of bed and pulled on some jeans. She was going for a walk to try and clear her mind.

She walked towards the Quarter along the riverfront. She loved this area. Late at night, no one was ever around, it seemed so peaceful when just a few blocks away there was so much excitement going on. She was lost in her thoughts when she heard a very heated argument.

"DAMN IT SERA . . ."

Gail turned to look. In the distance she saw a rather large man screaming at Serena.

Serena looked crazed. "I DON'T KNOW! TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH I DON'T CARE!" Serena then muttered something else under her breath and started to walk away.

The man obviously wasn't done yet though. He grabbed Serena and pushed her up against a wall. He got right in her face. "WE ARE NOT FINISHED!”

Gail watched as Serena looked up at him. There was a kind of fierceness to her. She was not backing down. Gail was getting nervous. Was this man going to hurt her only friend? Visions were going through her mind of the night Madame Cassandra had been killed. She started to run towards the couple, screaming Serena’s name. She was not going to lose another friend.

As she got closer she could hear Serena yelling at the man. “You left - you couldn’t believe that the child was yours! Now you find out I wasn’t the slut you thought I was and you want everything you lost. Well, too fucking bad!”

“Don’t you get it? I came back.”

“Oh yeah – I forgot – out of the goodness of your heart you came back to claim the bastard child. Thank you so much. I should kiss your feet now.”

Gail stopped in her tracks. They were so engrossed in their argument that they hadn’t seen her, but she was close enough to hear and see everything now. The man was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome. A little too rugged for Gail but still very good looking. She looked at his eyes. They were filled with anger but Gail saw beyond that. He couldn’t hurt Serena.

He continued to yell at Serena. “You really don’t get it – do you? I didn’t come back out of the goodness of my heart. I came back because . . .”

Serena cut him off. “I don’t want to hear it! It is just more of your lies.”

“MY LIES!?! What about yours!?!”

“Whatever, this all really doesn’t concern me anymore. I thought it might still but now I know it doesn’t. Goodbye!!!!” She turned again to walk away. That was when she saw Gail. Serena smiled at her although the anger was still in her eyes. “Hi there, I didn’t see you there.”

“That’s ok. I shouldn’t have sneaked up on you. I just saw you arguing and I thought you might be in some kind of danger.” Gail looked up at the man and added “I’m really sorry.”

He smiled at her. "That's ok.” Then he turned to Serena. "I'm leaving but this is not finished." With that he pushed his way passed Serena and walked away.

Gail watched the man leave and then turned and looked questionly at Serena.

"That would be an ex. He's pissed."

Gail nodded her head - that seemed to be an understatement. She wasn't going to ask. Part of the friend's agreement but she couldn't say anything. "Is there something that I can do . . . do you want to talk about it?"

"Thanks babe. I appreciate it - but no - this war was over and done with a long time ago." Gail nodded again. She knew Serena wasn't telling the truth but she also knew that Serena wasn't going to discuss it - at least not tonight.


Serena looked at her. “Drink? My house?”

Gail smiled and nodded. They both could use one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max turned and saw the picture on the floor that Langley had given him. The doctor was pretty. Maybe he would have some fun with her while she was here. He picked it up to look closer and saw a face he thought that he would never see again. Standing there with Dr. Baptiste was the traitor, Liz Parker.

He opened the door and saw Langley standing at his post. He motioned for him to come into his room.

"Yes sir?"

Max picked up the picture and gave it to Langley. "The girl." He pointed to the traitor. "Is that the friend of Dr. Baptiste?"

"Yes."

"Her name?"

"Gail Walters. She's a psychic."

Max appeared to be thinking about this new information but he had already made his decision. "Will it cause anymore problems to bring her in with Dr. Baptiste?"

"No sir - it shouldn't."

"Then do it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gail and Serena were sitting at the island in Serena’s kitchen. They had gone through half a bottle of tequila and they were feeling the effects. Serena was talking about her next trip. “So I have to go to Ohio tomorrow.”

“What? You didn’t tell me that. When will you be back?”

“Hey Boo – I just found out that I needed to go tonight and I honestly don’t know when I’ll be back.”

Gail was kind of upset; Serena was the only person that she could talk to at all. Serena seemed to pick up on that. “Look Boo – the reason that I’m telling you is because I don’t want you to worry about me when I’m gone tomorrow. After the episode tonight I was thinking about taking a break after Ohio and I was wondering if you would want to take a trip with me? Maybe Europe. We would have a blast!”

Gail looked at Serena with surprise. “You’ve got to be kidding. I can’t afford to go to Europe. Even if I could pay for the trip I would lose my apartment in the process. I can’t pay for it if I’m not working.”

”Oh - please. I’m paying for you to go with me.” Serena got up and got her checkbook out of her purse. “So - how much is your rent?”

Gail couldn’t believe that Serena was offering to pay for such an expensive trip as well as paying Gail’s bills while they were gone. “I really can’t let you pay for all that. I’m going to stay here. Just make sure you send postcards once in a while.”

"Look Boo - you showed me how much you cared tonight - you saved me from the wrath of my ex. So now I want to do something for you – plus I really want you to go with me. I’ll have so much more fun with a friend."

Gail smiled. She felt all warm inside. She didn't know whether it was the tequila or knowing that she had a true friendship but she liked the feeling. "I didn't save you and I think you know it. That man would have never hurt you. He loves you more then his own life and I'm betting that you feel the same way about him."

Serena looked at Gail with a wistful look on her face. "Maybe your right but that will never change anything because contrary to the romantic ideal of love - it does not conquer all. Sometimes people can hurt the ones they love so much that no matter how much you love them or how much they love you, you can never find your way back to them. Now lets stop talking about my philosophies and talk about something more upbeat - will you please go with me?"

Gail smiled. “All right. I’ll go.”

As Gail walked home that night she thought about what Serena had said about true love. Maybe she was just naïve, but she was sure that Serena was wrong. Love could conquer all – you just had to let it. Once they got back from Europe Gail was going to ask Serena to call her doctor friends. It was time for her to remember everything. It was time to find love.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max sat up all night looking at the picture that Langley had given him. The picture of the traitor. He had fought to sleep but couldn’t. Memories now crowded his mind, memories that he thought disappeared years ago. He remembered saving her life, the first kiss, how she had proved over and over again that he could trust her – that she would do anything for him. He remembered the marvelous contentment of being with her and the overwhelming sadness when he wasn’t. He remembered his humanity and how it started to slip away when he saw her in bed with another man. How it faded a little more when Alex had died and with him the friendship he had shared with her. He remembered the day she left, the fight they had right before. The anger he felt in seeing her talking to Tess and the fear in her eyes as he questioned her. She was so convinced that an alien killed Alex, and he was just as certain that it wasn’t true. Ironically in the end it was an alien – hell it had been Tess - but by then she was gone.

Finally he remembered the total despair of knowing she had gone one step further and betrayed them all. How she had gone to Nicholas and finally to Khivar with information about them and the granolith. He had kept hope that she hadn’t turned on them, that there was an explanation, until the day he had killed Nicholas and his thoughts went through him. He had seen her betrayal with his own mind. The despair that followed was overwhelming.

He had spent these last years pushing away humans. He had seen the differences between the species and had decided that humans were beneath him. He figured if the one person he loved, the one he had seen the soul of, could betray him then any of them, at any moment could turn on them. He would never connect, never trust, never care and certainly never love a human again. Especially not Liz Parker.

With that finally thought, a final reaffirmation really, sleep came.

[Fred]

Part 2

“Rain again. Sometimes I hate this time of year.” Serena was disgusted. Both she and Gail had been standing in Serena’s foyer waiting for her taxi.

“Are you sure you don’t need me to do anything while you’re gone?” Gail asked.

“No Boo – I have people for that, but thanks for offering.” The taxi pulled up and Serena looked at Gail. “Well, guess I will see you in a week. I’ll call you when I get there. Give me a hug now.” Serena pulled Gail into a big bear-hug. “Thanks for being here to see me off. It’s been a long time since I had someone do that for me.”

Gail just smiled. She would miss her friend but she now had a trip of a lifetime waiting when Serena came back.

Serena locked up and then put her bag into the trunk of the cab and got into the backseat. “Bye – be good. Keep my boys busy while I’m gone.” With that she waved and the taxi pulled away.

Gail waved goodbye and turned to walk to Café du Monde. She needed some coffee and beignets before she went to work. It was going to be a long week without her friend but she had decided to pass the week working more then usual so she would have some extra money for the trip.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max was poring over documents when Langley walked in. ”Your Highness.”

Max stopped and looked up. He hated when Langley addressed him using his title. That meant something was wrong. “Get it out.” He ordered.

“It’s Dr. Baptiste, she got away.”

Max disgusted look was enough to tell Langley to tread lightly. “Explain.”

“She was leaving town so the men I sent decided to seize the opportunity to pick her up without involving her psychic friend.”

“And . . . “Anger was whelming up in Max.

“They waited until she was alone to strike but she knew they were there. When they went to grab her . . .”

“STOP! I think I have the picture. You sent humans, without explaining my orders about her friend, and they, being weak and stupid, were no match for one little weak woman. I want these men brought to me.”

“Sire,” Langley started “you are correct. I did send humans. I thought that the two of them could handle the situation. I take full responsibility for it and I will accept any punishment you decide.”

“Are you getting soft Langley? Are you protecting humans now? I want these men brought to me!”

“You know I could care less about any of the humans, Sire, but I can’t bring these men to you. One of them is dead, the other we’re not sure about.”

Max was surprised. From the picture he had seen, this doctor woman was about the size of the traitor. She had looked as if she couldn’t hurt a fly. She certainly didn’t look like someone who could kill. “This doctor – is she the reason the one is dead?”

“We’re not sure of the details. All we know is that an hour ago one of the men called in and told us that she knew they were coming and she had put up a fight. They didn’t get her and his partner was dead. He did say something about a wild man coming after him. The connection was lost after that. Langley stopped and waited for Max to respond. When he didn’t he thought he better try to make this right. “The doctor probably just thinks she was almost a victim of a mugging. I’m sure she doesn’t suspect anything. She will be back in New Orleans in 2 days. I will go back myself to make sure there are no mistakes this time.”

“No I don’t think so. I am going to go and get both of them. I’ll make sure there are no mistakes.”

“Sire, please allow me to at least go with you. We don’t know enough about the situation for you to go alone.”

Max didn’t acknowledge Langley. He just turned back to his papers. “Dismissed.”

With that, Langley walked slowly towards the door, nervously watching Max the whole way. Max had been known to kill for much less.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serena had told Mutt that she was leaving. He had not been pleased but he was use to her disappearing acts. She hadn’t called the airport. It was best to make the decision on where to go at the last minute in case anyone was watching her. The only thing she knew was that she would not go back to New Orleans. It was too dangerous and Gail was there. She could not/would not put Gail in danger. This was her problem not Gail’s. Serena was amused at her thought process. It had been a long time since she had cared about someone enough to protect them. Gail was becoming more and more like a sister every day. “Maybe we were sisters in another life.” Serena mumbled to herself. “Shut up – you’re starting to sound like Cassandra.”

She almost jumped out of her skin when her cell phone rang. Being attacked always made her a bit jumpy. She had to calm down before she left or she would make a mistake that she would regret for quite a while. “Hello.”

“Sera – you’re alright.” It was Cassandra and the urgency in her voice told Serena that this was not a social call.

“Did someone call you or did you have a vision?”

“Both.” Serena knew that was all she would get out of Cassandra. She was calling to tell her something and she was all business about it. “You must go back to New Orleans.”

“Cassandra you can stop there. I’m will not go back and put Gail or anyone else in any danger! I’m just going to disappear for a while.”

“Sera, this has nothing to do with La Rosa. This is not your fight; it is Gail’s, though you must play your part. Gail is not ready. You have to go back. Let them take you but don’t tell them anything. They have the power to enter your mind. Don’t let them. Make sure you keep her from them.”

“Cassandra, I’m no superhero. It’s not my job to save anyone.”

“Sera don’t be foolish. We both know you will help anyone in need and I saw this in a vision. You must do it. Besides me you are the only person in this world that cares for her. There will be others but for now it is just you.”

“Anything else?” Serena learned long ago that Cassandra’s visions were never wrong. She knew she had to go.

Cassandra knew she had gotten through. “Yes. You cannot change what has been. Don’t try.”

Serena was frustrated. Cassandra might be like a mother to but her visions were bothersome. She was always cryptic about them, she only told a person what she thought they needed to know, but besides La Rosa there had never been one that involved Serena. La Rosa was her destiny – that was known – she had accepted it. Why did she have to take this on too?

Cassandra answered her silence. “Be careful. You will know when to trust them.” With that, Cassandra hung up leaving Serena confused and annoyed.

Serena got up and called the airport. If she was going home there was no need to hide it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isabel had walked in just as Langley was leaving to declare her intentions. “I’m going to Boston to see Jessie.”

Max really wasn’t in the mood for this. “No your not. I have to go out of town; you need to stay here to deal with things.”

Isabel was angry. “I haven’t seen him in 3 months. I need to go. Have Michael take over.”

“I’m taking him with me.”

“Then let Jessie come here.”

“Isabel you know that is not going to happen. We do not trust anyone as to our whereabouts.”

“He’s my husband. He has done nothing but help since we left Roswell. We owe it to him to trust him.”

“WE OWE IT TO HIM!?! Hell, he gets his payment. He gets laid by an alien. What more does he want?”

“You are so crude. He’s my husband! I know him inside and out. We can trust him, Max.”

“NO!” Max was done talking about this. “You will not go to Boston; he will not come here! If this is a problem I can solve it for you.”

Isabel was mortified. Did her brother really just threaten to kill her husband? She still loved Max in spite of all the evil that had invaded him. She always rationalized that even though they had all experienced loss in this war, Max had lost more and endured more pain then the others. Oh, she had lost Alex and it still tore her up inside but there had been other’s to share her pain, and she had found love again. Max never had that luxury; the war had come too fast; the weight of the world was placed directly on his shoulders assuring that he would never have time to morn and he would never have time to fall in love again.
When Alex died; he not only lost a friend but, when he couldn’t save him, he had blamed himself. Later, he not only gave up his son, he had to kill his son’s mother; he not only lost his soul mate, he had to come to terms with her turning against them. Through all of this, he suffered alone. He built an impenetrable wall around his heart. Because of this, she always forgave him; she always believed there was still a part of him, deep down, that was good. Now, though, with his last comment she wasn’t sure.

He had seen the tears whelming up in her eyes but he couldn’t let them affect him. He hardened his heart and put up his wall. Without any emotion he finally said “You’re quiet but you’re still here. Is there something else?”

Isabel couldn’t think. For the first time in her life she was scared of her brother. Before she let the tears flow, she shook her head and ran from the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Fred]

Part 3

Gail sat at Serena’s piano, tapping on the keys, trying to play Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. “I really wish I could play. You really should teach me.”

“Maybe someday. Right now we need to talk.”

Gail looked up. Gail had been pleased when her friend had shown up at the Cathedral two days early. She had thought they would go out tonight. Have some drinks and talk about their upcoming trip but Serena had been on edge since Gail had shown up at her house. “What’s up?”

“Something happened while I was gone. Someone attacked me.”

Concern swept over Gail’s face. She stood up and walked over to Serena putting her arm around her. “Are you ok? Did they . . .”

“No! Nothing like that. I’m ok.” Serena walked across the room and sat on the sofa. Her words had to be chosen carefully to get Gail away from all of this. “It’s just this might not have been random.”

“You mean someone might be after you? Did you call the police? You need to if you haven’t.”

“I can’t. It isn’t anything they can help with. These people are beyond worrying about local law enforcement. I don’t mean to worry you but, to be on the safe side, I need you to leave. I have a friend, Louie Hagan; he lives in New York . . .”

Gail couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I’m not leaving, not unless you’re going with me!”

Oh God, this is exactly what Serena had worried about. She needed Gail to leave town, to go somewhere safe. Gail needed to be with someone who would keep her safe. “Please Boo. I can’t worry about you during this. Please go.” She pleaded.

“I am not going!”

Serena was at a loss. She knew she couldn’t make her go; she had to salvage this fiasco somehow. “Fine we’ll both leave, but until then you have to promise that you won’t leave my side.”

Gail looked at Serena. This seemed so important to her. She obviously was in trouble and she was trying to keep it from Gail. Gail would have none of that; if her friend was in trouble then she was going to be there to help her. “Fine, I will stay with you until we can leave as long as you promise to do the same.”

Serena didn’t like what that implied. “Look, Boo, I know you care about me and I love you for it but you have to promise that if anything happens, anything at all, you won’t try anything. You will run. It’s better if you get away and get help.”
With that, Serena got up and went into her kitchen. When she came out a few minutes later she handed Gail an envelope. “The address and phone number on the envelope is Louie’s and inside there is a note for him and some money for you. Promise me that if anything happens you will go to him. He will know how to help. Promise!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, what the hell happened between you and Isabel last night?” Michael and Max were on the plane and Michael had decided this was a good place (being it was public) to find out why Isabel had been so upset this morning.

Max sighed, he thought they had left early enough that Michael wouldn’t find out about his and Isabel’s fight until they had gotten back, but that was obviously too much to hope for. “She wanted to go to Boston, I said no since we had to go to New Orleans.”

“Max I know you don’t want anyone else to know where we are based but Jessie has been an asset. In six years, he has never done anything that would make us question his loyalty. He really loves Isabel. Why don’t we just let him come and stay with her when he wants?”

“Because we don’t make the decisions. I do. And I have made it!”

Under his breath Michael answered, “Max, eventually you are going to lose her.”

“Am I? Do you know something that I don’t?”

“No I don’t. I’m just saying . . . “

“What are you saying Michael? That she might leave to be with her human? I doubt it. Those humans make all of you weak – she won’t leave because of what she thinks might happen to Jessie if she does.”

“You threatened Isabel’s husband? My God, Max, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“I do what I have to do to keep us together. None of us will survive if the four of us are not together. If we don’t survive, Antar falls.”

“You know that you and your cronies are the only ones who give a damn about Antar. The rest of us have our reasons for staying with you but it has nothing to do with Antar and except for Ava it has nothing to do with self preservation.”

“Really Michael, enlighten me. Why does everyone stay?”

Michael was silent. He knew he had said too much.

“Never mind – I don’t want to know why everyone stays – just tell me why you stay.”

Michael had known when he started this that it wasn’t going to go well, but still he had started it – now he had to see it through. “I stay to protect them from you.”

Max didn’t miss a beat. He looked Michael straight in the eyes and smiled evilly “And you think you could? Do you really think for one moment that if I wanted Maria dead you could protect her? Oh I have no doubt you would die trying but you wouldn’t succeed. In the end she would be dead.”

"So now you're threatening Maria? I tell you this now, Max, if anything EVER happens to her, I promise you one of us will end up dead and your precious Antar will fall!”

Both Michael and Max noticed people starting to stare. Max turned to the lady across the isle and said loud enough for anyone around them to hear, “Sorry ma’m, roll playing game. Sometimes we get a little too involved.” Then Max turned to Michael and whispered, “Calm down. We really don’t need this attention. I’m not going to hurt her and I’m not going to hurt Jessie. The only reason I said it was to keep Isabel in line. You know how she can get. You asked. I figured you would understand why I did it. I guess you can’t.”

“I understand why you think you needed to do it. I still don’t like it.”

“If we can stop talking about it, I will tell Isabel I’m sorry when we get back.”

Michael nodded and turned towards the window. Michael knew enough about what Max had become to know that even if he did apologize to Isabel it didn’t mean a damn thing. He had threatened Jessie and now he had threatened Maria; and he had meant it. Max was obviously out of control but Michael had to buy some time. He would have to make sure Maria and the others were safe before he battled Max.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gail and Serena were walking along the riverfront towards Gail’s apartment. They were leaving in the morning and Serena had told Gail that she didn’t know when they would be back, causing Gail to insist on getting some of her own things before they left.

Serena kept looking behind them. This had seemed safe after a few drinks but now Serena was starting to get worried. “Gail sweetie, I’ll buy you what you need. I promise.”

Gail was still a little tipsy and unaware of the possible danger. She tried to ease some of the tension by teasing Serena. “You’re not scared are you?”

“Capon vive longtemps.”

Gail waited and then asked,”Are you going to tell me what that means?”

Serena smiled. "The coward lives a long time."

Gail felt bad. She would never forgive herself if something happened to Serena because she wanted a few mementos from the past few years. “Look, these people are after you, not me. Why don’t you go back and I will meet you in an hour.”

“The coward may live a long time but her time is crap.”

Gail let out a giggle. “That was profound.”

“Well, I do try.”

They walked a bit longer until finally Serena’s fears started to become Gail’s fears. “You’re right. Let’s turn around. There isn’t anything at my apartment that is worth this.”

Serena looked relieved, they turned to walk back towards the Vieux Carre, but, by then, it was too late.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Fred]

Part 4

Gail and Serena turned to find two large men behind them. Gail was startled and jumped back while Serena plowed directly into them, making them both adjust to catch their balance. The shorter of the two was closer to Serena and went directly for her, grabbing her by the arms.

Gail saw Serena trapped in the man’s grasp. She wanted to help, do something but she couldn’t. Her mind went blank and her feet felt like they were bolted to the cobblestone underneath them. Her heart started to race and time slowed. All she could do was watch in horror.

She looked at the man who didn’t have Serena. She was sure he would grab her at any moment but he was just staring at her, stunned. She watched as his face changed from one of bemusement to one of rage. He was still staring at her when he yelled, “SO THIS IS ALL ABOUT LIZ!?!”

Gail looked at the other man, the one who had Serena. He was having a hard time controlling her and his partner didn’t seem inclined to help him. She looked into his eyes and almost lost what was left of her senses. There standing in front of her trying to hurt her best friend was the man who visited her when she was asleep and who haunted her when she was awake. A paradox of emotion rushed over her. She knew what he was doing, that he might hurt Serena, that he might hurt her; she knew she needed to run from him, to get help, something, but she also wanted to run to him and have him take her in his arms like he did at night in her dreams. An eternity seemed to pass, then, as if by instinct she spoke. “Max?”

The seconds seemed to take eons to pass. She was frozen in time until she heard Serena’s voice. “RUN GAIL!!! PLEASE RUN!!!”

Gail snapped out of her stupor. She knew what she had to do. She might have feelings about this man but with all that was happening those feelings didn’t make sense. She reverted back to what she knew. If she didn’t get away there would be no one to get help, they both would be at the mercy of these men. She couldn’t risk that what she felt was wrong. Serena was trapped and there was nothing she could do about it, so she turned and ran.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max watched Liz as she ran off. The doctor seemed to notice too. She had started to struggle more. Though it wasn’t like she was trying to get away, it was as if she just wanted to buy Liz more time. Michael wasn’t helping, he just stood and watched. He couldn’t believe that Michael would let Liz run off like that. Was that they way Michael treated traitors?

“DAMMIT, MICHAEL!” He threw his captive at Michael. “You deal with her!”

He saw Michael grab the woman as he took off after Liz.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gail’s chest was pounding. She felt as if she had been running forever. She heard one of the attackers closing behind her. She was staying by the river but she knew if she was going to get away she would have to find her way to the crowds. She turned and headed towards the Quarter. She kept telling herself she was almost there. Just over the levy. She could here the footsteps getting closer. He was going to catch her. She knew it. She stopped and turned towards him. She might not have a chance but he wasn’t going to take her without a fight. She glanced around for something to use as a weapon. There was nothing. She looked up and saw that he was just a few feet away. She held out her hands, ready to fight or at least ready to defend herself.

She felt a force flow up, through her body to her hands. All of a sudden a bolt of energy came out of her and flung the man, she had called Max, through the air and into the river. She looked at her hands amazed. How did she do that? She didn’t have long to contemplate it, he was further away now but he had gotten up and was coming towards her again. She put up her hand; she prayed that it would work again. This time he lifted his hand and what looked like a green bubble surrounded his body, separating them. The energy went out of her again but it had no effect. Whatever he was doing was shielding him. She heard some people walking through the Quarter – she really was almost there. She turned and ran.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max walked back to where he had left Michael, to find him sitting on a bench next to the sleeping doctor.

“What the hell happened to you? Did you drown her?”

Max looked angrily at Michael, “No I did not drown her. She got away.”

Michael started to laugh. “Are you telling me that little Liz Parker got away from the mighty king of Antar?”

“I really think it would be in your best interest to stop now, Michael!”

Michael’s humor disappeared almost immediately. “So what happened?”

“She has powers.” Max said matter-of-factly, “Now what did you do to Dr. Baptiste?”

Michael lifted a syringe and grinned. “Rohypnol – the drug of choice for alien abductions.”

Max was not amused. “What the hell were you thinking!?! We need her for her mind! What if that drug damages her?”

“Well, Max I was thinking that if it did – YOU could just heal her. You do remember how to heal don’t you?”

Max ignored the comment, as his anger elevated. “Then why the hell didn’t you use it earlier!?!”

Michael stood up and looked at Max squarely in the eye. He was going to challenge him then and there, but then, in his mind, he saw Maria’s face. He couldn’t take the chance that he would lose and she would be at Max’s mercy, so he backed off. “Hey, I’m sorry, but if you would have told me what was going down, that we were going to meet up with your traitor of a girlfriend, I probably would have been a little less surprised and a little more help.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She walked down the corridor of black lights and straight to the bar. “Shot – tequila – the good stuff.” She would decide what to do after the liquor calmed her. The bartender smiled and handed her the drink. She drank it down, not bothering with salt or lime, walked past the cages to the far corner of the bar, sat down and waited for it to work.

She had ducked into The Dungeon, figuring that it was as good a place as any to hide. It was dark and (at least at this time of night) crowded. She didn’t know exactly what had happened, but whatever it was it wasn’t normal. Why could she do what she did? Was it related to her psychic abilities? And Max had some kind of supernatural power too. Were they the same? Well, whatever they were gave them a common goal and this would keep her safe while she was there. She instinctively knew that neither she nor Max could risk being exposed.

She felt the tequila working but her mind was still going a mile a minute. She had known him. She called him Max. She had just looked into the face of the man she saw in her dreams; the man who saved her every night from the terror, but this man was so different, tonight, he had been the terror. She thought about his eyes; they had not been the soft, loving, eyes of her dreams. They were vacant, cold, and angry. She started to go over the whole scene in her mind. The first moments were muddled but Max’s friend had yelled something at him about this all being about Liz. Was she Liz? And the way the man had said it – like it was a disease or something. He had looked directly at her as he said it. She must be this Liz, but why couldn’t she remember her own name? Hell, his name had rolled off her tongue like it had been ingrained in her since birth. Max . . . Max Evans. She had known it as soon as she looked into his face and seen those calloused eyes. She wanted to remember more but she couldn’t, not tonight. She was too scared, too tired and thinking about it was too frustrating. She closed her eyes, she would relax for a minute and then go and find a safe place to rest. Tomorrow she would have to figure out what to do; she would have to find a way to get Serena away from them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Fred]

Part 5

It had been an hour since they had gotten the doctor into the “borrowed” car and started their way back home. Max was tired and his mind filled with jumbled thoughts about Liz. How the hell did she get powers? She had cut her hair. Were they a side effect of the healing? It looked nice. He should have been ready for anything. Had her skin always looked so soft? She shouldn’t have gotten away. Where had she been for the last 6 and ½ years? Had she been in New Orleans the whole time? Why had she betrayed them? She was a little too skinny. Had she blamed them for Alex’s death? Her eyes had aged. Did she even know how he died? But they were still beautiful. Did she know about Tess and the baby? Hell, that had been her own fault.

He felt a twinge of regret come over him when he remembered how she had looked at him in terror. She had never, even during the most turbulent times, looked at him with that much fear. Though, she would have been stupid not to be scared. It was in her best interest. He realized what was happening. It rarely happened anymore, but occasionally he still had to contend with his human side. He didn’t give a damn about how she looked, or how she’d been, she was just another human. One who had betrayed them all for what she wanted. As soon as she was gone, his last connection to humanity would be gone too. He just wanted a few answers first.

“So are you planning on telling me what the hell just happened? Did you know that Liz would be there?” Michael couldn’t keep silent anymore. He had tried but there were too many questions.

“Yes.”

Michael waited for Max to say more but he obviously wasn’t going to elaborate so Michael asked “and?”

“Langley had shown me a picture of her with Dr. Baptiste. No I didn’t think I needed to tell you. I thought you would handle the situation better then you did.”

Sarcasm flowed from every pore of Michael’s body. “Yeah Max, your right. Hell, I haven’t seen the girl’s face in over 6 years. In that time she has gone from being your soul mate to our enemy. How was I supposed to handle the situation? Kill her? Would that have been ok?”

Max shrugged nonchalantly. “I wouldn’t have blamed you if you had, although she may have information that could be useful to us. She did go into the enemy’s camp.”

“So, picking this Dr. Baptiste, was it all about Liz?”

“No it wasn’t. We needed a scientist; the traitor being involved is just a fortunate by-product.”

Michael started to say something else but Max had quit listening, he wasn’t going to let his second-in-command keep questioning him. He was the one who made the decisions and they were final. Michael just needed to deal with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gail woke up in an unfamiliar bed, gasping for breath. The dream had come during the night in a different form. The terror had arrived as always, but her savior, who she now knew as Max, didn’t take her into his arms and calm her fears, he came and created more destruction, more evil, and more pain. He didn’t disappear this time either; he stood firm in front of her, rejoicing in her pain, his cold, empty eyes filled with amusement.

The dream was paralyzing. She knew she needed to get it out of her mind but she couldn’t get her bearings. The sheets on the bed were wet from sweat but she was shivering. She looked around the sparse room and tried to remember how she got there. She climbed out of the bed and walked over to the tiny bathroom. She needed a shower.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serena’s head was pounding when she awoke. It didn’t help that her hands were tied behind her back or that the sun was streaming through the car window into her eyes. She was struggled to focus but she was still groggy, and whatever they had given her made her mind wander. The two men who attacked her and Gail were in the front seat, seemingly unconcerned with whether she was awake of not. “Smug bastards.” She thought.

She moved a little, trying to wake up her arms. “Cassandra darling, I’m going to kick your ass when I get a hold of you.” She mumbled. The man driving looked back in the rear-view mirror. The other turned around and said something, although with her head pounding and her vision blurry, she couldn’t really make out what he was saying.

The bigger guy, the one in the passenger seat repeated himself. “I SAID – I’M GLAD TO SEE THAT YOU’RE AWAKE.”

“Shit – no need to yell.” Serena tried to bring her hand up to her eyes but was reminded that her hands were tied. “What did you give me?”

“Just a little Rohypnol.” The man said.

“What did you slip it into?”

“I didn’t, I injected it.”

“SO – YOU’RE TRYING TO KILL ME?” She let out a yelp and started muttering. “Can’t yell, can’t yell – hurts too bad.”

The other man looked at her again in the mirror, he looked perturbed. “There is no need for you to yell and no – he wasn’t trying to kill you.”

Serena’s rolled her eyes at him; at least she thought she did, she wasn’t sure. “Oh – I’m sorry.” She looked at the idiot who gave her the Rohypnol. “I didn’t mean to imply that you might be a killer. You’re just a kidnapper and probably a rapist. Much better.”

“Look I knew what I was doing and I am not a rapist!” Man, this girl had a mouth like Maria, maybe worse.

Serena’s head seemed to be getting worse. She didn’t know if it was the effects of the drug or being in the car with morons. “No one knows enough about what they are doing to crush a pill, mix it with water, and inject it. Do you know what happens if a tiny little piece doesn’t dissolve and then gets into your blood stream? YOU COULD FUCKING DIE! – Shit – pain, this sucks. Hey pharmacy man do you have some aspirin?”

The man looked in the glove compartment and found some. “It’s Michael. Here.” He started to hand her a couple.

Serena just glared at him. She had no tolerance for asinine mistakes or people when she felt like crap.

The man looked at her arms. “Oops - sorry.” He grinned and then held the pills up so he could drop them in her mouth.

Serena chewed them up and then closed her eyes to block out the light. “You know – I would really appreciate it if you would tie my hands up in front of me.”

“Maybe – when we stop – if you behave.” Michael answered.

Serena nodded her head and drifted back to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Although it seemed unreal, like a horrible dream, the night before started to come back to Gail. Serena had been taken and she was still in danger. She felt it. She had left The Dungeon and wandered around before deciding where to stay. She had known that it wouldn’t be safe to go back to her apartment or to Serena’s house. The airport and bus station were both deserted at night, making it hard to leave undetected if someone were watching, so she decided a hotel, right in the middle of the Quarter, would be the safest. She had picked this particular one because there was more then one way out of each room.

She looked at her hand. Did she really make that man, Max, fly through the air with them? Where the hell had that come from? She wanted to try again. To see if it was real or if it was some kind of hallucination but she knew that she couldn’t try there. What if it really had happened? What if she did something like that again and someone saw it? They would probably think she was a witch or something. People tended to panic when they didn’t understand something. They might very well hunt her down and try to kill her, or at best, imprison her, study her – try to find out why she had these abilities. Her imagination started working overtime. Would they try to burn her at the stake? She didn’t take much comfort in the fact that it was illegal. God, she was scaring herself. She started to shake. What the hell was she? She chastised herself. “You have to get a grip Gail!” She thought about her talking to herself – that wasn’t a good sign. She snorted out a half laugh. She didn’t even know what her name was. She had gone by Gail – and that was all she knew but they had called her Liz and they had known her. She was sure of that. “I guess talking to yourself isn’t quite as bad when there are two people engaged in the conversation. So, whatever your name is - get a freakin grip.” She would have to worry about her supernatural powers later. She needed to save Serena.

She got out of the shower and dried off, putting on the clothes she had slept in. She couldn’t stand the feeling, but she didn’t have anything else to wear. At least she had gotten a shower. She stuck her hand in the pocket of her jeans and pulled out the envelope that Serena had given her in case of something like this. She thought about Serena’s attack in Ohio. Was Max the one behind it? She looked at the name on the front. Louie Hagan. Serena had made Gail promise to go to Louie if anything happened. She had said that he would know what to do, but now Gail doubted it. She was convinced that this had nothing to do with Serena. It had to do with her. The money inside might help but Serena’s friends couldn’t – she had to do this on her own. She had to find out who she was and how she was connected to these people.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had stopped at an old deserted gas station to use the “facilities”. Michael had decided they all could use something to eat and had taken the car, alone, to a small sandwich shop they had passed a few miles back.

Serena came out of the bathroom where Max (she had finally caught his name) was standing watch, waiting for her. “You really know how to pick them.” She said sarcastically.

“I would think you would be thanking me. I found you some privacy.”

Serena’s eyes were rolling again. “Oh, I’m sorry – thanks so much for the shit hole you found.” She held her hands out in front of her. “I’ve been a good little captive.”

“I’ll leave your hands untied for now. You won’t get away.” Max said matter-of-factly.

Serena looked out over the landscape. He was right about that. There was no where to go, no where to hide. Barren fields of dirt and sand seemed to spread for miles. She wasn’t sure where they were but she knew it was somewhere in the desert. She ran a little ways and looked back. He didn’t even bother to follow her. She did a cartwheel; it felt so good to stretch her arms.

Max showed no emotion but starred in amazement as she frolicked in the field. Even though she had been drugged and taken against her will she didn’t seem to be bothered. It was as if nothing could dent her armor. He respected that.

She ran back to him. “So why did you kidnap me? Does it have to do with Gail? I saw how you and your sidekick looked at her. You definitely know her.”

For a brief moment, confusion swept over Max’s face. “Gail? You mean Liz.”

“Her name is Liz?”

“You don’t know her name?” The confusion was back.

“Hell, she doesn’t know her name. She only remembers the last few years.”

Questions ran through Max’s mind, but he stopped himself from asking. Any answers he wanted would come soon enough. She asked again about why she had been taken but he ignored her. He did not intend on telling her anything, at least not yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gail walked down Toulouse to Royal. There was an internet café there and she needed to get online. She had spent a good portion of her free time during the last few years at this place, looking through missing person reports. She had always known that she had been missing from somewhere but never new exactly from where. She knew there were other ways to find out this kind of information but she had always been leery about going to the police or the news stations. She had an inherent feeling that she should not be in the public eye. Now with someone after her, she understood why. Well, now she knew her first name or at least part of it, and with Max Evan’s name maybe she could narrow down the search. Maybe she could find out who she was and where she came from.

She got a cup of coffee, walked to the far corner, where she would be hidden but still see the comings and goings of the café, and sat down at a computer. She didn’t know if this would work but it was the best lead she had ever come across. She found the search site she was looking for and started to type. Name – Max Evans, Age – she guessed – 25 (the search did add and subtract 5 years) Last known address – unknown.
She took a sip of her coffee while she waited for the search to finish. There were 37 Max Evan's that came up. “Well, you better get comfortable; you’re going to look at each one.” She told herself.

Two hours and 5 more cups of coffee later she got to Maxwell Evans, Roswell, New Mexico. She typed in Liz on the missing person’s reports in Roswell, and her face immediately came up on the screen. Elizabeth “Liz” Parker, last seen – Roswell, NM, missing since – May, 2001, Age then – 17, Age now – 24, height – 5’ 3”, hair – Brown, eyes – Brown. That was all that was written on the scanned poster but that was enough. She had found herself. She was definitely Liz Parker from Roswell, New Mexico and she was going home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Fred]

Part 6a

Liz was on edge when she departed the plane in Roswell. She kept checking to see if anyone was following her. She had been so excited yesterday when she had found her picture on the internet – she had just known she had to go home. That if she went to Roswell and found the answers to the questions that had gnawed at her for the last 3 and ½ years she would be able to help Serena.

This morning she finally had come to her senses and realized that she should have planned a bit more before rushing off. Instead of postponing her trip she decided to disguise herself, at least as best as she could. She went to a thrift shop on the way to the airport and found some frumpy clothes and a huge hat that hid her face.

When she hadn’t seen Max or anyone else suspicious at the airport in New Orleans she started getting nervous. Sitting on a plane for 6 hours gave her time to think, and intensified the feeling. She realized that Max had known her. She could only imagine that he knew her from her home town. What if they assumed she would go there? Hell, what if they still lived there? She couldn’t save Serena if they caught her. She kept questioning, why she could see other people’s futures but not her own.

This morning the disguise seemed clever enough, now, on the ground in Roswell, she was sure it wasn’t.

Liz walked outside and got into a cab.

“Where to Lady?” the cabbie asked.

She didn’t know. “Great Liz, were you always such a planner?” She thought sarcastically to herself. She knew her name but nothing else. She hadn’t thought about it before but her family might not even live here anymore.

The cabbie was not a patient man. “Lady – you have to give me a destination.”

She said the first thing that came to her mind. “Don’t you all have a UFO Museum? How about there.”

She heard the cabbie mumble something under his breath about tourists. She had to laugh – people are the same everywhere, no matter where you go. She and Serena had always complained about the tourists during Mardi Gras.

The cab let her off in front of the UFO Museum. She turned to pay him.

“Thanks lady. Watch out for the aliens.”

She smiled as he drove away. She looked down the block where there was a sheriff’s office. She could go in there – they would know what to do, but, just like all those years in New Orleans when she didn’t know her name, something kept her from it. She looked across the street. There was a small restaurant. She read the name, the Crashdown Café. Well, she had to eat sometime. This was as good a time as any. She could figure out what to do afterwards.

*He watched her walk towards the café. He knew he would be blamed for this but there was nothing he could do. He had discovered her destination too late to stop her. He turned to leave. He would file his report and await his orders.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serena woke with yet another headache. She couldn’t believe that they had drugged her again. “You really need to be a little more suspicious of food from kidnappers.” She thought.

She was no longer in a car, she was thankful for that. There was only a small light coming through a window in the door but she could see that she was in a small room. She focused her eyes and turned on a light she found by the bed. She looked around to see that this room was set up like some kind of like a college dorm room. There was a desk, a dresser, a bookcase and a small bed. She got up and walked to the door with the window. She tried to open it but it wouldn’t budge.

“What do you expect Serena? They wouldn’t have dragged you half way across the country just to let you go once you got here.”

She walked over and opened another door. It was a very small bathroom. On the sink was a glass with two aspirin in it.

“Well, at least the pharmacy man thought about the consequences of drug usage.”

She took the pills and sat down on the bed. She tried to remember how she had gotten there but couldn’t. She must have been out the whole time. She laid back and closed her eyes, waiting for the headache to subside.

She was startled by a presence in her mind. Someone was trying to get in. Had they tried this while she was drugged? Concern crept over her; she could only hope her innate ability to shut people out was strong enough; that it kept them from discovering where Gail/Liz was. How was she supposed to fight against them and the drugs at the same time?

After thinking it through she relaxed, if they were still trying, they must not have gotten what they wanted. With the end of that thought she shut down, blocking them from their answers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After seeing Maria, Michael decided he needed to talk to Isabel. He walked into her room to find her packing. “So you talked to Max and he’s letting you leave.”

Isabel gave him a look that said that was not the case. “It doesn’t matter what Max says, I’m leaving – for good. I will not live under the tyrannical rule of my brother anymore!”

Michael was noticeably surprised. He had known that Max had gone too far, that Isabel wouldn’t take it anymore but he didn’t think she would act so soon. He understood but part of him needed her to stay. “He will hunt you down. – and – What about Jesse?”

“I have talked to Jesse about it. He’s aware of the danger and no matter the cost he wants to be with me. We will leave the country; go some place where Max can’t find us. Liz has done it for years and she doesn’t have powers – I assume that I have a better chance then she does.”

“He found her and she has powers.”

The color drained from Isabel’s face. “When? – How? – Where? Did he kill her?”

“Two days ago, in New Orleans. She’s a friend of the scientist we just brought in. He didn’t kill her – I think he wanted to bring her here first, but her powers caught him off guard. She got away. I don’t think he’ll make that mistake again.”

“How did she get powers?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

Isabel could not believe what she was hearing. “He just left her there – he didn’t try again?”

“I did try to ask if he wanted to stay. I could’ve brought the doctor here alone. When I did he said something about there not being a point. Maybe he knew something I didn’t. Who knows what goes through his head nowadays.”

Isabel nodded she was still stunned but she was also determined. “Well, good for him. Maybe he can excise that demon but it doesn’t change anything for me – Jesse and I are taking our chances. We would rather live a year together, free, then the next fifty apart, under Max’s thumb!”

Michael was quietly thinking about Isabel leaving. It might be for the best. It was time that Max realized that although this might be a monarchy – they all still had a voice – and now some, if not all of those voices were ones of dissent. He nodded his head and looked sadly at Isabel, his voice quivering just a bit as he asked, “Please – take Maria with you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ava walked over to the granolith cave and down to, what Max called the cages. He called them that because they were used to house humans and to Max, humans were animals, and animals lived in cages. She had been ordered to make sure their new guest was alright. This was usually Isabel’s job, but she was on strike and Max seemed to be letting her get away with it. The cages were actually more like small bedrooms used to house the scientists they brought in. She hated them though. It didn’t matter how nice they were – they were still cages.

Ava always thought about Zan when she came down here. Actually, the cages made her remember how different Zan was from Max. How Zan had been so good. He might have been a bit rougher around the edges but he could never have done the things that Max had done. He never would have kept people locked up; he never would have forced servitude. After Liz had betrayed them and Max was overcome by his anger, she had made the mistake of telling Max what she thought of him and how (in her eyes) he compared to Zan. He had told her that she was welcome to join him if she would like. She hadn’t known where the courage had come from but she had stood her ground. Thankfully they had to have a complete set of four to fight and Max knew that. He could not kill her. Instead he had yelled that Zan had been weak, that was probably why the other’s killed him, and being weak had gotten them all killed on Antar and he had no intention of repeating past mistakes.

Even though Langley had explained her duties when he first found her and brought her to them, she had meant to leave after that conversation. At the time she had been with them for over two years but, Antar still wasn’t important to her, nothing was – not since Zan had been killed, but something made her stay. Maybe because she thought it was her best chance to live or maybe because she just wanted to belong. But now she believed that her duty was more important then having a place to belong. That it was even more important then her life. She had to save her home and the people there. That was her destiny and Max was her King. So, here she was doing Max’s bidding as she always did. It just made her miss Zan that much more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max sat at his desk trying to go over reports from the last few days, but his mind wouldn’t focus. It kept drifting back to Liz and her powers. He was angry at himself; he had been caught off guard. If he hadn’t she would be here now – begging for his mercy. As it was, he knew once she got away that she would be more cautious. Even if she had lost her memories, which he wasn’t convinced she had, she wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t find her until she let her guard down – and that might take more time then he was willing to give. That was why he had ordered his people to get into Serena’s mind. He was sure she knew where Liz would go.

He thought more about the powers and how she might have gotten them. He had convinced himself that they had to have something to do with the healing but he didn’t know how that was possible. Maybe it was because she was always an evil vixen who could suck the life force and therefore the powers out of him. God – he had to stop, he was tired and that was causing him to regress. He knew he had to find the answer but thinking like a stupid jilted human boyfriend wasn’t going to help. Or maybe it was – his last thought went through his mind again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Fred]

Part 6b

The diner was fairly empty but Liz was still nervous. She stood near the door, looking around for any sign of Max and his friend. She heard a crash coming from the back and looked up. A tall man who looked to be about 50 came running out. “Lizzy! Your home!” It seemed, to Liz, that it only took a moment for him to cross the room and engulf her in his arms.

Liz was confused but the hug felt so right. She hugged him back, just a little. She looked up at his face. His eyes were filled with tears but he was grinning from ear to ear. She started feeling self conscious and pushed away. “I’m sorry – I don’t know you.”

The man’s face turned from joy to bewilderment. “You don’t know me?”

“Please don’t be offended.” She seemed to want nothing more then to please this man. “I don’t know anyone. I just found out who I was and where I was from a few days ago.”

Jeff Parker looked at his little girl with mixed emotions. How could there be sadness on such a joyous occasion. His little girl was alive, she had come back home, but she was also broken and confused. He smiled a bit and said, “Honey, I’m your daddy.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serena sat in his cell engrossed in a book that she had found in the bookcase. It wasn’t actually a book – more like a scientific journal. It was amazing. It had schematics of a machine that she had never seen or even heard about. “This is amazing.” She thought.

She heard the door open and looked up to a small blondish girl carrying a tray.

“Hi, I’m Ava. I brought you some food.”

Serena got up and walked over and looked at the food. It was a sandwich and a drink. “So am I going to sleep another eight hours when I eat this?”

Ava knew what she was talking about. “No – they don’t need you to be drugged anymore.”

Serena smiled. “So who are ‘they’? Max and Michael?” Serena noticed as Ava started to nod.

Ava stopped her head from bobbing up and down. “I’m really not supposed to answer questions.”

Serena shrugged. She had just wanted to know who was in charge and Ava had first response had told her. “So what are you? Are you a prisoner here too? Am I playing some part in a freakin harem fantasy?”

Ava smiled but controlled her laughter. That thought seemed ridiculous. “No – nothing like that. Someone will be down later to explain.”

“Great - Something to look forward to.” Serena mumbled under her breath.

Ava turned around as if she was leaving. She doubted they would need to use it until they released the doctor, but she had to try the mindwarp to see if it would work.

A few moments had passed when Serena grabbed Ava by the arm. “You won’t get in so I would appreciate it if you would stop trying.”

Ava was noticeably flustered. She hadn’t even gotten into the first layer. How had this woman known what she was doing? “I have to go.” Ava said as she rushed out the door.

Serena watched as she left. She took the glass and smelled it. It wasn’t liquor. “No use to me.” She walked to the bathroom, dumped it out and filled it with tap water.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max sat in his office, waiting for Ava with Isabel and Michael.

Ava finally walked in. “I just got back from seeing the new scientist.” She looked at Max. “We need to talk.”

Max nodded. “We’ll talk about her later.” There was a more important item on the agenda. He looked at Ava and Isabel. “I don’t know if Michael told you but the traitor was in New Orleans. She has powers.” Isabel just nodded and Ava didn’t look surprised so Max continued. “I am still unsure but I believe when I healed her she received some of my power. Any thoughts?”

Ava chimed in. “From what I know – when a person is healed they are changed.”

“Changed how?” Max asked.

“I really don’t know. Something about you having to use your energy to fix them. It kind of mixes with their DNA or something.”

Max wasn’t really sure about her explanation but it helped to solidify his hypothesis. “I want to make sure. I am going to go into Roswell to see Kyle. I want to know if he has powers.”

Isabel couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “What are you going to do Max? You made it clear to Kyle and his father years ago that you no longer trusted them and you wanted them to stay away from us. Do you really think he’s going to talk to you? And what if he does and he has powers? What will you do then? Bring him here? You probably couldn’t if you wanted to. From what I understand you couldn’t bring Liz here. And what if you can are you going to put him in one of your cages? Make him one of your subjects? Maybe he doesn’t want to serve a king?”

Max glared at her. “Isabel, you can stop now! I might bring him here – hell I might even kill him. Do you have a problem with that?”

That statement did nothing to improve Isabel’s demeanor. “No Max, no problem at all. You’re the king. Do what you want – you will anyway.”

Silence followed for almost a full minute, until Michael couldn’t take it anymore. “Look, Isabel has some valid points. I doubt Kyle will come quietly. You need to take at least one of us with you.”

Max thought about it. Michael was right. “Fine – we can all go. We’ll be gone less then a day. I’ll put Langley in charge. Maria and Isabel can go see their families while we deal with Kyle.”

Michael was surprised that Maria was invited.

Isabel was livid. “Our families? What about yours? Once upon a time my parents were your parents too.”

Max wore a determined look on his face. “My family is in this room and on Antar! No one else matters.” Then he looked at all of them. “We’ll leave in a few days. Since, I’ve been gone; I have some things to do here first.”

Isabel walked out, slamming the door as she left.

Max started walking towards his room. “I’m tired, I’m going to bed.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I am not leaving you! That’s final!” Maria was hysterical. She couldn’t believe after all they had been through that he wanted her to go.

Michael tried to wrap his arms around her but she pushed him away. His frustration level was elevated. “Maria, PLEASE! It’s for your own good. Max is out of control. You’re not safe anymore!”

“Max may be screwed up but he isn’t going to hurt me.”

Michael looked at her determined to make her understand, even if it meant alienating her forever. He could live without her – he knew that - but he could never live with her death. “Dammit – He has threatened to kill you! And HE WILL!!! He doesn’t care anymore – not about any of us – he only cares about his damn mission! He will do whatever he has to in order to accomplish that mission. I have to fight him – I have to make sure the world is safe from him – if you are here I can’t do that. You have to disappear. Isabel is the only one that can make that happen. The day after we get back from Roswell – you WILL leave with Isabel – she will keep you safe and you will NEVER come back here. Do you understand!?!”

Maria was crying. She couldn’t believe that this was happening. Her relationship with Michael was the one thing she believed she could count on. She thought he depended on her as much as she depended on him. Now she was questioning it once again. How could he just insist that she walk away? Through her tears she nodded her head in agreement and ran out the door to cry alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Onuris was waiting for Max when he walked into his room. “Your Majesty.” He bowed low.

Max would never get use to that. He accepted that Langley would address him formally occasionally but he never bowed. Maybe it had something to do with Langley being away from royalty for so long. For Onuris it had just been a few years. “What is it?”

Max’s mother had sent Onuris to them, with Asim, four years ago. From the message that accompanied them, Asim had been sent to replace Nasedo, while Onuris, his mother’s most trusted servant, had been sent to help with the war. The message informed them that their homecoming was drawing near. Their strength had increased enough that they would soon be able fight Khivar face to face. Onuris had brought a transport with him; one that could accommodate all of the Antarians, on Earth, loyal to the true king of Antar. At first Max had not completely trusted these new men and he had still been holding on to his naïve fantasies that Liz could never betray him. He had declared to Onuris that he would not abandon these humans. He would not leave until they were safe from Khivar and any other alien threat.

Onuris had seemed to understand. He had used his considerable power to help them search for Liz so they could be assured of her safety. That was when Max realized that Onuris as well as Langley and Asim had to obey him. It was ingrained in their psyche.

Time had passed, things had changed. Max now realized that he should have gone. That he should have ordered them all to go, but humans had made him weak, they had kept him from his mission, from his purpose for living. In the time between Onuris and Asim’s arrival and proving Liz’s betrayal the transport had been destroyed by their enemies, leaving them stranded once again. Now Max could only hope that his mother knew their dilemma and was sending another.

“Sire, the human woman, the one you brought back, cannot be entered. I have tried continuously since you brought her here. Drugged, asleep or awake, I cannot get through to her mind. The Queen has also tried her mindwarp unsuccessfully.”

“It is Ava – not the Queen."

“As you wish. I believe that you may be the only one who is strong enough to get through.”

“As you very well know – that is not an option. I do not connect with humans. What about my sister – she also has this powerful royal blood you’re always talking about. Has she tried?” With the exception of him ordering her to the meeting of the four, Isabel had been avoiding Max since his return.

“You are correct, she is stronger then the - - Ava or myself but she has refused to try.”

Max nodded, knowingly. He would have to deal with Isabel later. “You realize this scientist killed 2 of our men. They were human, but they were still ours.”

“Yes sire, I am aware of that, although, forgive me but wasn’t Langley unsure if she actually killed them or not.”

Max dismissed his last observation. “I want to know if she is human.”

“I believe she is sire. I did scan her when she first came in and she appears completely human but if she is not, she is not from any planet in our system.”

“I would like you to continue your efforts but Ava is to stay away from the woman for now. She tends to blame herself if the mindwarps don’t work and the end result is not what she hoped. This may be one of those situations.”

Onius nodded but waited for more.

Max looked at him, obviously Onius was finished and Max just wanted to sleep. “Dismissed.”

Onius bowed deeply as he walked backwards towards the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Fred]

Part 7

Liz walked around “her” room as her parents stood watch over her. She was happy that her parents cared but at this particular moment she felt like she was suffocating. She wanted them to leave – let her investigate on her own.

She picked up a picture of her with a blonde girl and a lanky boy.

“Those were your best friends in high school. Maria and Alex. Do you remember them?” Jeff had watched Liz walk around the room. Hopeful that something would trigger a memory.

Liz just shook her head. She felt like a voyeur looking in on someone else’s life. Nothing was familiar.

Jeff put his arm around her. “That’s alright honey it will come to you eventually.”

Nancy Parker was still standing at the door. She was so glad that her daughter was home but she saw Liz’s face. It didn’t matter if Liz had been gone for years – she was still her daughter. She knew Liz wanted, probably needed, to be alone for this. “Jeff honey, why don’t we let Liz get some sleep?” Then she looked at Liz. “Is that ok with you?”

Liz nodded. She was thankful that her mother was astute enough to know she would prefer to do this privately.

Nancy gave Liz a hug. “We’ll see you in the morning. Call me if you need me.”

Liz smiled and nodded that she would.

Jeff gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. “We’re so glad your back home.”

“I am too, dad.” Liz walked behind them as they left and closed the door. Now she could explore her past without distractions.

She walked over to her desk and picked up an old school book. Biology. She flipped through it and found a note. “Eraser room – 6th period?” It meant nothing.

She walked over to her dresser. There were pictures of her with a group of people – all dressed up – like they were going to homecoming or prom or something. She picked one up to take a closer look. The boy with his arms around her was Max. Except this Max looked so different. He looked so much younger; clean cut and innocent. He also looked like a guy in love. “Was he in love with me?” She asked herself.

The other guy who had been in New Orleans was also in the picture, but he wasn’t dressed up. She also recognized the two from the other picture; Maria and Alex, but the rest were a mystery. She put the picture down and continued walking around the room – looking for something that might help her remember.

Her father had said that she spent a lot of time on the balcony when she was younger. Maybe something out there would help. She opened the window and climbed out. There were some lawn chairs and a table. She walked around touching everything. She had to laugh at herself. Did she really think she could get a psychic premonition from an inanimate object?

She sat down on one of the lawn chairs, closing her eyes she tried to take in the sounds and the smells, hoping something would help. Nothing. She was starting to get frustrated, and she knew that probably wouldn’t help. “I guess I better go to bed. Maybe something will come to me tomorrow.”

She stood up and started walking towards the window when something caught her attention. There was a loose brick. She had seen a movie once where someone had hidden something in a wall behind a loose brick. “Probably me just being stupid.” But she had to check. She walked over to it, pulled out the brick and peered in. There was something in there.

She reached through the cobwebs and pulled it out. It was a book. She opened it and started to read. “September 23rd. Journal entry one. I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. After that, things got really weird....” This wasn’t just any book it was a journal. Her journal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Max ignored the guards saluting him as he made his way down to the cages. It was time that he had a talk with their new guest. He had a few questions and it was time the doctor got started on her work. He opened the door to her cage and walked in. “Dr. Baptiste.”

Serena looked up from her book. “Hi – this is truly fascinating. Is this why I’m here?”

Max walked over and looked at the book she was studying. He wasn’t surprised that she seemed completely at ease. “Yes.” He took the book from her and set it aside. “I’ll take you to the granilith in a bit.”

“You have this machine here?” When he nodded she practically jumped out of her seat. “Let’s go.”

“Not now. I have some questions first.”

Serena was getting impatient. “Am I here to answer questions or be a scientist?”

“You’re here for whatever reason I decide!”

“Really now – that’s interesting. What the hell are you – king of the fucking world?”

Max smiled slyly. “Not this one.”

“Oh.” Serena sat back down. She was dumbfounded – she now understood why the design of the machine hadn’t made sense. It wasn’t technology from this planet. “You’re an alien.”

Max was pleased. This was the first time the doctor had shown any weakness. “What I want to know is, are you?”

Serena recovered quickly from her momentary lapse of reason. “Why would you think that? Because your freaks can’t read my mind? They can’t read my mind because I won’t let them. Mo va pas pre:e vous baton pu casse mo latete.”

Max wondered, but not enough to ask. He just stood there with the question still on his face.

Serena finally answered. “It’s not alien – it’s just a gift. Why don’t you just ask me what you want to know?”

“Humans tend to lie.”

Serena started to laugh at his ridiculous remark. “Really now – just humans. How did your race get rid of that particular vice? Did you kill all the liars; breed it out – what? Maybe we could do the same, here on earth.”

Max ignored her sarcasm. “And Liz?”

“She’s not alien either – at least I don’t think so.”

Max was getting agitated. “I want to know how you know her and what you know about her!”

“You don’t have to get all riled up about it.” Serena had understood his inquiry, but she didn’t know what exactly she should tell him, plus it didn’t hurt to make him work a little for his answers. She had a feeling that this man got his way far too easily.

Finally she decided the truth couldn’t hurt. “I’ve known her a little over three years. A friend of mine found her on the streets in the Quarter. She didn’t know who she was – so she took her in. When it comes to what I know about her – I’m guessing you know a lot more then I do; hell you might even know more then she does. You did know her name.”

Max stared at her. Was she telling the truth? It had been a long time since he had to rely on human insight. He didn’t trust it and he didn’t trust her, but, for now, he would let it go. At least until he saw Kyle. After that who knows. Torture was not completely off the table; he might even get some pleasure out of breaking this girl.”

Serena watched Max stand there, wondering what the hell was going through his mind. She decided that she could care less. She wanted to see the alien technology. “Can I see the machine now?”

Max nodded and signaled for her to follow him. He led her out of her cage and down a long hall. On the way he pointed out the guards, all equipped with large guns. Although some of the guards were Antarian, they still carried the guns for show. It seemed to impress upon the humans their inability to escape.

They turned and walked a little farther to a small door. Max opened it. Serena looked in amazement as she went inside. “So you call this a granilith?”

Max nodded.

She walked over to it and touched its smooth surface. She couldn’t believe she was getting such a close look at this alien device.

Max watched her for a minute and then started to explain. “We don’t know a lot about it. Basically just what was in the journal in your room. We want you to help us figure it out. We want to know what it does, how it works, things like that.”

“and this granilith – this is why you kidnapped me?”

Max nodded.

Serena looked at him and smiled. “You could have just asked.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was 6am and Liz was still awake. She was captivated by her journal. Her more practical side kept thinking that this was some kind of fictional story she had made up but then she would remember being near the river; how she had made Max fly through the air. She had seen Max’s powers. It seemed so preposterous, but then again, in a strange way, it made sense.

One passage was about a future version of Max who came and told her that she had to make Max fall out of love with her. She thought about seeing him in New Orleans. She had obviously succeeded. Chills went up and down her spine as she read a small footnote to the saga. “Serena will be a friend of mine someday.” She tried to understand. Not only was Serena her friend now but she had been her friend in another timeline. Was Serena predestined to be her friend? Would it have made a difference how they had changed the world?”

Liz’s head was starting to hurt thinking about all the possibilities of this new revelation so she stopped thinking and continued to read.

She read about her friend Alex and how he died but then the entries stopped and turned into notes. Notes that indicated that she had been sure that Alex had died by extraterrestrial means. Then the journal ended abruptly. Was that when she vanished? Did her disappearance have to do with Alex’s death? The journal seemed to create as many questions as it answered. She went back to her dresser and picked up the pictures, trying to put a face on each person she had just read about.

She took a shower, got dressed, and walked down the stairs to the restaurant. Her father was already there.

“Good morning Lizzy.” He said happily.

She went over to him and kissed his cheek. “Good morning.”

“So what does my girl want for breakfast? I’ll make you anything.”

“Coffee is fine.” She saw that her father looked disappointed. “I guess I am kind of hungry. How about whatever use to be my favorite.”

He smiled and turned towards the grill. “So what would you like to do today?”

“I was thinking about looking up some old friends. Maybe it will help me to remember something.”

Jeff motioned with his eyes towards the restaurant’s door as it opened. “You can start now.”

Liz turned around to see the aged face of one of the boys in her picture. The man stopped and starred at her for a moment, but then recovered his senses and walked over to her. “Liz?”

“Kyle?”

Jeff couldn’t believe it. “You remember him?”

Liz shook her head. It hadn’t been a memory just process of elimination but she didn’t want to explain her thinking to her father so she just said the first thing that came to her mind. “I found a yearbook. “ Then to answer Kyle’s obvious confusion she explained. “I don’t remember anything before three and a half years ago.”

Kyle was amazed. “You’re kidding!”

Liz shook her head. “No, not at all. I was hoping to look up some of my old friends. Maybe it would help me remember something.”

“Here I am.” Kyle ginned. “I’m the only one left in Roswell.”

“Well, I’ll let you kids talk.” Jeff said as he walked away.

Kyle sat down next to Liz. “So you don’t know anything?”

Liz didn’t know how to approach the subject. “I read my journal.”

“So you know about Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess?”

Liz nodded.

They talked for hours, eventually deciding to go for a ride where they could talk more freely about aliens. Liz still had trouble comprehending the whole situation. Kyle tried to fill her in as best as he could while he took her on a tour of some of the more important sites of her teenage years, finally ending up near a rock formation that, even though they could not enter, Kyle swore was the pod chamber that Liz had read about in her journal.

They sat a while on top of a large rock when Kyle asked, “So are you remembering anything?”

“No, I thought I would but it doesn’t seem to be working.”

Kyle smiled a little, acknowledging what Liz must be going through, and then changed the subject. “So, Can you do things?”

Liz didn’t know how to answer that. “What do you mean?”

Kyle lifted his hand and a bolt of energy blasted out, making sand out of a nearby rock. “Like that.”

Relief spread over Liz. At least she wasn’t alone in this. She raised her hand and concentrated. She had wanted to try this since that night at the river. She didn’t even feel it happen but it did. She made the next rock disappear in a cloud of dust. “I guess so. Why do you think we can do that?”

“Who knows? I will never understand all this freaky alien shit, but I guess it has something to do with being healed by Max.” Kyle looked at his watch. “Hey, I gotta take you home and get to work. We can continue this later if you want.”

Liz smiled. “I would like that.”

“It is so great to have you back in Roswell.” Kyle said as he hugged her.

Visions flooded her mind as soon as he touched her. She saw Kyle arguing with Max and Michael and then Max putting his hand on Kyle and Kyle falling over. Over Kyle’s head was a calendar. The date on the calendar was tomorrow’s. She tried to process this information as they walked to the car.

“You got quiet all of a sudden.” Kyle stated a few minutes after pulling away from the rock that housed the pods.

Liz hadn’t known how to start. “When was the last time you spoke to Max?” .

Kyle thought for a minute. “I’m not sure – it’s been years.”

“Kyle, I have psychic abilities.” She glanced over at Kyle, when she saw that this didn’t faze him she continued. “I might have gotten them when Max healed me. When you hugged me I got a vision of Max. He’s coming to see you.”

Kyle laughed. “Max doesn’t come into Roswell anymore. I think your visions are whacked.”

Liz couldn’t just tell Kyle that Max might kill him. “Kyle, he’s coming tomorrow and I’m going to be there.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was late in the evening and Michael was walking past Isabel’s room when he heard her calling him.

“Michael, come here a sec I need some help with something.”

Michael turned around and stuck his head in her door. She was re-packing a small duffle bag. “What’s up?”

Isabel pulled him into her room and shut the door. “We’re leaving tomorrow. I convinced Max to let me take my car to Roswell.”

Michael hadn’t been ready for this news. It gave him one less night with Maria. “How did you do that?”

“I told him that I needed to run some errands and do some shopping before seeing my parents. Then I told him that if we went in a few hours before you all, Maria and I could finish up and still meet you all early enough to help out if there were any problems.”

Michael was kind of surprised. “And he bought it?”

Isabel nodded. “I don’t know if you noticed but Max has been a little distracted lately and anyway, I also told him that it would be too crowded in one car if he decided to bring Kyle back.”

“Are you still going into Roswell?”

Isabel shook her head. She was upset, she would have liked to see her parents one last time. She didn’t know if she would ever be able to come back. “We can’t take the chance. We have to get as far from here as possible before he figures out that we’ve gone.”

“Where are you going to go? Never mind don’t answer that. It’s better if I don’t know.” Michael thought for a moment and added. “You aren’t going to Boston though – are you?”

Isabel shook her head again. “No, I spoke to Jesse, he will meet us somewhere else.” She looked at her watch. “In fact he should already be on his way.”

Michael was satisfied that Isabel had thought everything through. “What time will you be leaving?”

“You all are supposed to leave after Max’s morning meeting with his minions. What time is that? 9:00 or 9:30? We’ll leave a few hours earlier. Tell Maria to be ready around 6:30am. Oh, here,” She threw him the extra key to her car, “Make sure you put anything that Maria wants to take in the trunk tonight. I don’t think Max will pay any attention to us in the morning but just in case we can’t be carrying luggage with us when we leave.”

Michael walked over to Isabel and pulled her into a big bear hug. “I’m going to miss you Iz. I love you.”

Isabel hugged him as tight as she could. Through her tears she whispered into his ear. “I love you too. Please don’t get killed.”

Michael let go. “Hey, I’ll be fine – as long as you and Maria are safe. Keep in touch if you can.”

“I will.”

Michael gave her a half smile. “Well then – Maria will be ready.” He started walking towards the door, then stopped and turned to look at Isabel. “Thank you.”

She was nodding as he walked out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael walked into his room to find Maria sitting on their bed staring out the window. He hadn’t wanted to destroy the last night they would ever have together with sadness, so he had waited to tell her that she would be leaving, until after making love last night.

The night hadn’t been ruined, it had been beautiful, but now she was hurt and angry. He stood there, absorbing her form in his heart for one long last moment.

He walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She shrugged away from him and stood up. She hadn’t let him touch her all morning.

“It’s almost time to leave.” Michael said softly.

Maria nodded and stood up.

Michael saw the tears brimming in her eyes. He stood in front of her and reached up to touch her cheek with his hand. She was his ideal. Beautiful, funny, compassionate; she was the only one he had ever let see him, the only one that ever understood him completely, and amazingly, she had loved him.

But now he would watch her leave. He would probably never see her again. He could feel the lump in his throat. It was going to be hard to get through the next few minutes without breaking down, but he was determined to be strong. He couldn’t let her know how much it hurt him to see her leave. It would be easier for her that way.

Maria looked at him defiantly she didn’t want to leave but he had made his decision. “I’m ready.” She rushed past him towards the door to their room.

Michael knew he couldn’t walk her to the car; anything out of the ordinary would have made Max suspicious, but he couldn’t let this be the last he saw of her. “Maria – wait – please.” He pleaded.

Maria stopped at the door and turned around. Even with the tears in her eyes, she had made her face hard. A prerequisite for hardening her heart.

Michael walked over to her. He had expected the anger but he wasn’t going to let her shut him out – not yet – not during the last few moments that they might ever have together. His eyes were burning. He pushed back the tears, as he put his arms around her.

Maria’s arms were glued to her side. She wasn’t giving in.

Michael put his hand to her chin and lifted her eyes to his. There was so much he wanted to say but the words wouldn’t come. He choked out his final words. “I love you.”

Maria’s face softened as the tears rolled down her cheeks, but her arms stayed glued to her side. The words were powerful but she didn’t know if she believed in them anymore. She loved him more then she ever imagined, in all of her childhood fantasies, was possible, but he was still letting her go. She had hoped he would change his mind but he hadn’t. . She had hoped he would change his mind but he hadn’t.

Michael felt her relax. He leaned down and kissed her softly, tasting her salty tears. He felt her arms reach around his back as she gave in one last time. He put his hand on the small of her back and pulled her closer deepening their last kiss.

They grasped desperately for each other until the last possible second and then it was time; she had to leave. He let go reluctantly and watched as she walked out of the room and towards her life, without him.

Michael watched from his bedroom window as the car with his other half, pulled away.

“Damn you Max.” He said to himself. His tears flowing freely, his heart breaking, and his only comfort was that soon – very soon – once he knew she was safe – he would destroy Max Evans.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Fred]

Part 8a


Liz left just after daybreak to go to Kyle’s apartment. She hadn’t been able to decipher her visions enough to tell an exact time but she was confident that Max would arrive during daylight.

She knocked on the door, coffee in hand, and waited.

Kyle finally answered in his boxers, with sleep still in his eyes. “Oh – hi.” He said as he moved out of the doorway for Liz to come in.

“So you’re still asleep?”

Kyle looked at her confused. “Oh – yeah – still asleep – yeah.” He muttered.

“I brought you some coffee.” She handed him the cup.

“Thanks. I live on this stuff.” He took a big gulp. “I’ll be better company after I take a shower.”

Liz nodded as Kyle walked into the bathroom.

She sat down on the couch to wait. She turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. Nothing interested her. She turned it off and started to wander around the apartment.

His living room and kitchen were one big room, consisting of a couple of bar stools, a small couch, a large leather recliner and a bunch of electronic equipment. He had socks on the floor, dishes in the sink and cobwebs in the corners. There were only two pictures that she could see. One was of Kyle, his father and an older man, probably a grandparent, and a large picture of him and a woman in a very nice frame. The picture looked like it had been placed there by the girl. “Typical bachelor.” She thought.

She picked up the picture of the woman. She was a very pretty blonde.

“Tracy.” Kyle had come out of the bathroom to see Liz looking at the picture.

”Is she your girlfriend?”

“She was my fiancée.” Kyle answered quietly. “She died two years ago – cancer.”

Liz carefully placed the picture back. “I’m sorry.”

Kyle shrugged. He had received enough sympathy when it first happened. “It was a long time ago.”

Liz could sense that he still loved her and was a long way from accepting the loss but she also could tell that he didn’t want to talk about it. “So, I could make you some breakfast.”

Kyle shook his head and turned on ESPN. “I don’t want anything. I went out with some guys from work last night and drank a little too much.”

“I know how that is. Serena, a friend in New Orleans, would drag me out on a tequila binge at least three nights a week. Excedrin and a lot of water always worked for me.”

“I usually just sleep it off but since I had an early visitor today . . . “Kyle was teasing but Liz didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m sorry. If you want to go back to bed, I’ll be fine. I just sit out here and watch – what is this? – Sportscenter?”

Kyle had to laugh. Liz watching Sportscenter seemed absurd. “No, no, I’m awake now.”

Kyle and Liz sat in his living room talking most of the morning. Liz filled Kyle in on what she remembered about her life. About New Orleans, Cassandra and Serena. Finally she told him about the last few days.

“A few nights ago, Serena was kidnapped by Max and Michael. Max came after me, that is when I found out I had these alien powers.” She waved her hand around. “Michael called me Liz and for some reason, I remembered Max’s name.”

Kyle listened quietly until she was finished. “I suppose if you were going to remember anyone it would be Max.”

”So we were as close as my journal indicated?”

“Closer – you all had some kind of freaky connection or something. Well, that is until he found us in bed together.”

“My journal said that we didn’t . . .”

Kyle shook his head. “No, we didn’t have sex. It was a set up. At the time, I figured Max had done something to piss you off but Maria eventually told me why. Was that in your journal?”

Liz nodded as Kyle continued. Let me tell you, Liz that whole situation seemed unreal, even to me.”

Liz was bewildered. “If Maria told you then she must have told Max. If she did, why did he seem so hell-bent on hurting me the other night?”

Before Liz’s vision yesterday Kyle hadn’t wanted to upset her unnecessarily, so he had kept a few things to himself, but now Liz was playing with fire and it was best that she knew everything. “She never told him. At first, she worried that if she did, then the world would end, but later she didn’t tell him because she was convinced that you betrayed them.”

Liz had heard of people who lost their memory and changed completely. Had she? After reading her journal, Liz couldn’t believe she would ever betray them, but she had to ask. She didn’t know enough about herself to be sure. “So did I?”

“Did you betray them?” Kyle asked thoughtfully. “Honestly Liz, I don’t know. I know the person you were and if you did, I always figured you had a damn good reason. You have to understand about the others though; you took off, without a note or anything. Max and you were at war, at least philosophically, and by the time all this came out no one had seen you for years; no one knew where you were or who you had become.”

“How do they think I betrayed them?”

“They believe you told Khivar, where the granilith was.”

Liz didn’t understand why but she was upset that these people (who she could not even remember) could believe that she had done something so horrible. “I guess that makes sense, why Max looked like he could have killed me in New Orleans.”

“No, Liz, I don’t think that’s all of it.” Kyle could see that Liz was already taking all the blame, whether it was hers or not, onto herself. He couldn’t let her. “Max and Tess got together. Was that in your journal?” Liz indicated it had been so Kyle continued. “Well, Tess screwed with Max’s head for a few years. They had a child and he tried to be the perfect father, but then he discovered that Tess had been the one who killed Alex. He killed her and gave the baby, who was then a toddler, away. He wasn’t right after that.”

“The baby isn’t alien?”

”No it was completely human.”

Liz looked at the ground. Understanding if not forgiveness overwhelmed her being. “He’s been through so much.” She stopped; she couldn’t believe she was saying this about a man who had abducted her only friend.

Kyle couldn’t accept what he was seeing in Liz’s eyes. She still cared about him, even though she could not remember him. He couldn’t let her thoughts continue in this direction. Her ignorance would get her killed. Max might have once been a wonderful person but no more. “It doesn’t matter what he’s been through, Liz. He has turned bad. He doesn’t care about anyone or anything anymore. He doesn’t care who he hurts in his pursuits. He is plain EVIL!”

Maybe he was but she had read the journal. It was in her own handwriting. He had not been evil then; maybe there was a part of him that wasn’t evil now. “He saved my life, Kyle.” She said softly.

Kyle was angry. Memories of Tracy raced through his mind. Max hadn’t killed her but he had let her die. “That doesn’t matter anymore! He might have saved your life once upon a time but now he would just as easily take it! He doesn’t have any regard for human life. Hell, Liz your friend might be dead already!”

Kyle’s speech worked. Liz’s was frightened for her friend. “Do you really think he’ll hurt Serena?”

Kyle regretted saying it as soon as he saw her fear but she had to know what she was dealing with. “I honestly don’t know, but from what I do know he has become ruthless. As long as he needs someone he won’t hurt them but when they have served their purpose he has no trouble throwing them away.”

Kyle’s answer did nothing to alleviate Liz’s fears. She knew, when they came she would go with them. She might not have the memories but she at least had knowledge, hopefully enough to save Serena.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Fred]

New Disclaimer: “Sad But True” was written by members of Metallica. It is not mine. I didn’t download it – so don’t sue.

8b

“You really suck at this, Liz.” Kyle was laughing as he won another game.

Liz stuck out her tongue playfully. “Well, I usually don’t have time to play video games. I have a life you know.”

“Yeah – sure – but whose life?”

Liz grabbed a ragged old pillow from the couch and hit Kyle over the head. She could see that Kyle was contemplating retaliation. “Ok – ok, you win.” She said in hopes of deterring him. “I suck.”

“Oh no you don’t. You’re not getting off that easy.” He smiled devilishly and grabbed the other pillow, but in mid swing he stopped. Someone was coming up to the door.

As they made their way to the door Max heard Liz’s laughter. There was no mistaking it. At one time, it had been his sole source of joy but now, it was a haunting reminder of his humanity.

He couldn’t believe that she was that stupid. He had assumed, after the night in New Orleans, she would run far, far away. But here she was, pretty as you please, like nothing was wrong.

Max’s anger got the better of him. He didn’t knock he just barged in. “Look what we have here, Michael? Little Miss Traitor ran to her lover for protection.”

Kyle was already on his feet. “And aren’t we the lucky ones. We have the king himself favoring us with his presence.” He bowed slightly.

Max was looking into Liz’s eyes but said to Kyle. “You couldn’t protect her if you wanted to.”

Liz stood up and walked between Kyle and Max. She was not running this time. “I don’t need protection.” She said firmly.

“Don’t you?” Max was amused that she would think such a thing.

“No Max I don’t!”

Max laughed in her face. She hadn’t changed. Even when the odds were stacked against her, she still fought.

Liz was pissed. “So, is Serena still alive!?!”

Before Max could answer her question, or was it more of a demand, he saw Kyle staring at Ava. “What’s the matter, Valenti? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Kyle continued to stare at Ava. “So you brought another blonde bitch to mindwarp me!?!”

At first, Ava was taken aback. She walked over to him. “I’m not here to mindwarp you.” She lied.

Kyle wasn’t listening. He pushed Ava away. “Get the fuck away from me you freak!”

Ava stepped back, confused, looking towards Max for direction but Max’s attention was back on Liz.

Michael was the only one not on edge. During all the drama he had gotten a drink, plopped himself onto Kyle’s couch and started playing the game that Liz and Kyle had been playing when they walked in.

Max was too engrossed in his battle with Liz to notice what Michael, or anyone else for that matter, was doing. “I think you should be worrying more about what I’m going to do to you, then about your friend!”

Liz was not backing down. “IS SHE FUCKING ALIVE!?!”

Max was actually dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe that Liz was cursing. Maybe she had changed. “She’s alive, for now.”

Liz nodded. “I want to go back with you. I want to see her.”

“Do you think I give a shit what you want?” Max asked.

“I think you want to punish me for whatever I did. What better place then the rock you live under?”

“I am not taking you to our compound so you can run to Khivar and sell us out again.”

Liz quietly answered him. “I’m assuming I won’t be allowed to leave.”

“You’re damn right!” Max had to stop himself. This is what he had wanted, why was he trying to change her mind? “Fine, go get in the car. We will be out in a minute.”

“No – I’m not leaving until you do and I’m sure that Kyle’s ok.”

Kyle was worried now. “What the hell do you mean, you have to be sure I’m ok? Did you see something in your vision?”

Ava saw Kyle’s fear. For some unexplained reason she felt the need to calm it but she knew she couldn’t, she was probably causing him more stress just by being in the same room.

Max raised an eyebrow. “Now you’re trying to protect him? Don’t worry about him.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Liz asked.

Max didn’t answer. He had finished with Kyle. Liz would supply him with the answers that he wanted and he knew that as long as Kyle didn’t remember seeing Liz, he was no threat. He signaled Ava that it was time for her to do her job, grabbed Liz by the arm and walked out of the apartment as Michael followed.

*He watched as three of the royal four got into the car with the subject. He had thought his last report would be the end but he had been ordered to continue his surveillance. As they drove away he got into a car and headed back to his residence.*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The four of them sat in the car, outside of the diner, waiting for Isabel and Maria. Max didn’t think that Liz would be any trouble since she had insisted on coming with them but he wasn’t going to take the chance that he was wrong.

Metallica blared from the CD player. Max had made the mistake of letting Michael pick the music. Well, at least they didn’t have to talk.

Hey, I'm your life
I'm the one who takes you there
hey, I'm your life
I'm the one who cares
they, they betray
I'm your only true friend now
they, they'll betray
I'm forever there

I'm your dream, make you real
I'm your eyes when you must steal
I'm your pain when you can't feel
sad but true

I'm your dream, mind astray
I'm your eyes while you're away
I'm your pain while you repay
you know it's sad but true

you, you're my mask
you're my cover, my shelter
you, you're my mask
you're the one who's blamed
do, do my work
do my dirty work, scapegoat
do, do my deeds
for you're the one who's shamed

I'm your dream, make you real
I'm your eyes when you must steal
I'm your pain when you can't feel
sad but true

I'm your dream, mind astray
I'm your eyes while you're away
I'm your pain while you repay
you know it's sad but true

hate, I'm your hate
I'm your hate when you want love
pay, pay the price
pay, for nothing's fair

hey, I'm your life
I'm the one who took you here
hey, I'm your life
and I no longer care

I'm your dream, make you real
I'm your eyes when you must steal
I'm your pain when you can't feel
sad but true

I'm your truth, telling lies
I'm your reasoned alibis
I'm inside open your eyes
I'm you
Sad But True

The song was over and Max had, had enough. He pressed the eject button on the player, pulled out the CD and threw it out the window.

Michael wasn’t going to say anything. Each minute was another minute further Maria was from Max. Without a word, Michael slowly got out and walked around the car. He picked up the CD, waved his hand over it to fix the damage Max had inflicted, got back into the car and put the CD away.

Max watched Michael retrieve his CD but didn’t comment on it. Within moments he knew it had been a mistake. In the silence thoughts started to cloud his head. The traitor hadn’t said a word since she had gotten into the car. He played back the scene in Kyle’s apartment. He could still hear her laughter. It was mocking him.

He felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck. He couldn’t see her since she was sitting behind him but he knew that she was staring at him. He could feel her anger, but there didn’t seem to be any hatred with it. He didn’t understand that. She would be wise to hate him. Hell he hated her. That thought brought with it a memory. Something, someone he knew use to say. That love and hate were two sides of the same coin. “The hell they were.” He thought to himself. There wasn’t any love left between them.

The traitor didn’t deserve this much thought. He tried to push them out of his head. He looked at his watch. Isabel and Maria were over an hour late. Something was wrong. He looked at Michael. “Where are they?”

Michael shrugged. He knew it had been too good to last.

Max pulled out his cell phone and dialed Isabel’s cell. After the sixth ring he hung up. “They’re not answering.”

Ava was tired of waiting and sitting in the back with the person who tried to get them all killed was not making the wait anymore pleasant. “Maybe you should call their parents and see when they left.”

Max nodded and picked up the phone.

Michael reached over and took the phone from Max. He knew the calm, if you could call it that was over. “They’re gone.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 9 added because it was pruned or something.

Max didn’t say a word. He just started the car, put it in gear and pulled out of the parking lot. Angry, furious, pissed off, none of these words described what he was feeling. Isabel was gone; there were only three of them. Their fate was sealed. He knew it in his gut.

He pushed on the accelerator. He got up to 90 mph and then 100. The car kept going faster and faster while he looked straight ahead. He could feel his blood run cold. This was the second time someone he trusted completely had betrayed him. He pushed that from his mind. He couldn’t care. He had to get Isabel back. The four of them had to be together no matter the cost.

Michael, holding on for dear life, looked over at the speedometer. “Are you trying to kill us!?!”

Max answered but his words were spoken with an eerie calm. “No, Michael, thanks to you, we are already dead. No need to be redundant.”

Ava was worried. She had never seen Max so out of control. “Please slow down a little.” She pleaded.

The road to the compound was just ahead so Max answered by slamming on the brakes, causing the car to swerve erratically. “Better?”

Ava kept quiet.

Max turned the car into the small dirt road leading up to the buildings and pulled to a stop.

“We are not going to die – unless YOU kill us!!!” Michael said as he jumped out of the car.

Slowly, Liz and Ava also exited the car. Ava wanted to walk inside but she didn’t know what Max wanted to do with Liz so she waited.

“Aren’t we?” Max got out and slammed his door. “We don’t have a complete unit anymore. You, by helping my loving sister escape, have sentenced us to death.”

Liz didn’t know what she was supposed to do either so she stood there going over in her mind Max’s statements. She knew that he was right. Not just because of her journal but because she felt it in her being. It was like a memory, not of something tangible, but of a feeling. Being without Isabel would have the same effect as being without Tess.

“Max is right.” Liz said softly before realizing that she probably should not get involved in this dispute. She was relieved when no one responded. “Maybe they didn’t hear.” She thought to herself.

Michael had known how Max felt about humans but he was talking about his sister – an Antarian. “ESCAPE!?! Do you hear yourself!?! You don’t give a damn that you were keeping her against her will!”

Max words were no longer calm. “I HAD TOO!!! If I hadn’t she would have gone to Boston with her stupid human a long time ago and gotten us all killed in the process! That includes Jesse, Maria and countless others!!!”

“Don’t you dare bring Maria into this. You didn’t do any of this to protect Maria! Hell, you threatened to KILL HER!!!” Michael’s anger was rising exponentially. “You did it for your precious Antar! A fucked up planet, millions of light years from here!”

Max tried to calm down. He turned away for a second only to see Liz standing there. He remembered enough to know that she was disappointed in him. With rage in his eyes, he screamed at her. “DON’T YOU DARE SIT IN JUDGMENT OF ME!!! Not after what you did!!!”

Liz jumped back confused, she hadn’t said a word.

Michael continued. “You didn’t have to keep us hostage, Max! We would have followed you willingly to the ends of the Earth, even to Antar if you would have let us have a little peace in our lives, but because your traitor of a girlfriend left you, you couldn’t bare for any of us to be happy! I might have helped Isabel escape but YOU are the one that lost her!!!”

”Get out of here, Ava! Take the traitor down to her friend.” Max wanted them gone. He knew he didn’t have anymore control over Michael and a fight was imminent.

Liz didn’t know why but she felt like she needed to stay.

Ava was not so inclined. She just wanted to get out of there, let them work this out for themselves. She walked over to Liz and pulled her towards a cave in the distance.

Max didn’t wait for them to go he immediately went for Michael’s throat. Michael held up his hand, blasting Max. Max fell backwards, knocking the wind out of him. He caught his breath and stood up. “YOU WANT TO PLAY WITH POWERS? FINE!!!”

Max lifted his hand and sent a bolt of energy towards Michael, throwing him into the air. Max didn’t hesitate he pounced on Michael, punching him repeatedly.

Michael wasn’t letting Max win. Not this time. He felt the adrenaline and the strength that came with it. “Thank God for my human side.” He thought. He pushed Max off of him; jumping up as Max did the same. He plowed into Max, punching him in the gut. Max raised his hand to use his powers but Michael used one hand to grab Max’s arm and twist it in another direction, while he lifted his other hand to blast Max, he was going to kill him. He was going to do humanity a favor; he was going to rid Earth of one of the evils of Antar. Max Evans.
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Ava tried to hurry her but Liz had walked slowly, watching the scene unfold. When she saw Michael get the upper hand she instinctively knew what was going to happen. Unexplained panic engulfed her. She broke away from Ava and ran towards Max and Michael. She had to stop them.

Michael felt the energy of the blast hit him. He felt his body fly through the air and then hit with a thump. “What the hell?” He knew that Max hadn’t been in a position to blast him. He got up, taking inventory. There had to be broken ribs. He didn’t know if it was from the fight with Max or the blast.

Michael’s confusion only lasted a second. When he looked up he saw Liz standing near to where the fight had taken place, he knew what had happened. She had stopped him from killing Max. He didn’t know why she had done it and he knew that it didn’t prove anything but at that point he started to question the veracity of Liz Parker’s betrayal.

Max didn’t realize what had happened either, until he got off the ground. Standing in front of him was Liz, judgment no longer filling her eyes. His mind blanked. For the briefest of moments he could feel the weakness, but then he noticed how she was looking at him. Her pity ignited his anger once again. He turned away from her, memories of her betrayals flashed in his mind. “You can keep your pity for yourself! You’re going to need it.”

Ava ran up to them. Out of breath, she apologized. “I’m sorry; I didn’t know she would take off.”

Max nodded, strengthening his resolve once again. “Just get her away from me!”

Ava grabbed Liz by the arm and dragged her off.

Michael walked up to Max and looked him in the eye. Max’s words were still harsh but Michael saw something in Max’s eyes that he had thought was long dead. He saw the tiniest glimpse of Max’s humanity.

Michael knew then that death was too good for Max. Max needed to suffer, long and hard and Liz Parker might just be the catalyst needed to accomplish that goal, but he was done. He was washing his hands of Max Evans. “I’m leaving.” He said firmly as he turned and walked away, leaving Max alone.
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