Genesis (AU,M/L,MATURE) Pt 7 - AN 07/27/04 [WIP]

[Majesty]

Title: Genesis

Rating: MATURE for now.

Category: AU M/L and CC

Author: Majesty (majesty0000@hotmail.com)

Summary: Sequel/Epilogue/Companion/Whatever to Serendipity – Every Path Leads To You. You should probably to read that first, or you might be lost.

You can catch up here:

Serendipity – Every Path Leads to You

This is a POV piece, M/L/Mi/Ma/A/I. I am adding some insight to the other couples, because people wanted to know what happened between them, but this is really Dreamer-centric. I just didn’t want to end Serendipity where it did. Now the gang picks up the pieces while dealing with the discoveries from the crystal.

Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters from the show or the books, and honestly I wouldn’t want to. You can keep them, thanks. I am just borrowing them and trying to fix them up a bit.

Author's Note: I haven't gotten anywhere near as far as I wanted to with this, because I scrapped about 30 pages I had written in favor of making this a POV piece. I will try to update again ASAP, but my main concentration right now is on Flagellation, since I finally made some pretty significant progress on that. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the first part of this. I will be updating some of my stories at The Boardello and Fics4Fans.


Easy To Please - Coldplay

Love; I hope we get old,
I hope we can find a way of seeing it all.

Love; I hope we can be,
I hope I can find a way of letting you see
That I’m so easy to please, so easy.

Love; I hope we grow old,
I hope we can find a way of seeing it all.

Love; I hope we can be
I hope I can find a way of letting you see
That I’m so easy to please, so easy.



Genesis - I.

Desert – Santa Fe, New Mexico



*~Max~*

I must have been crazy. I had to be, knowing what I knew. But I couldn't let her walk away.

I just couldn't.

I don't know what the future holds, and I'm terrified, but I'm more terrified to be without her. I know what it's like to belong to her, and I know what it's like to have betrayed her. Those versions of me weren't me; not really, but I felt everything that they felt as if it were.

I don't know what made me think I could let her go, for each step she took away from me was killing me, killing my heart.

She was there, and she was holding on to me like she was afraid I might disappear, that I might run, but I couldn't run anymore.

I didn't want to. I was tired of running; tired of hiding everything that my heart screamed was right. I couldn't hurt her again. I'd hurt her enough to last three lifetimes, and even in this one, I wasn't able to spare breaking her heart with what I did in the train station that night.

My head told me that I should have let her go. I didn't have anything to offer her. I was a displaced extra-terrestrial King with no prospects. Technically, as a human, I didn't even exist anymore as far as the United States government was concerned. My parents thought I was dead.

I felt a moment of pure panic, seconds where I felt that everything that had happened, and the uncertainty of what might happen was going to drown me.

Still, something was telling me to follow my heart, because every time I listened to what my head was saying, everything went wrong.

So as terrified as I felt, as I was feeling still right at that very moment, I listened to my heart, and my heart was telling me that the two of us were meant.

She felt so small in my arms, so fragile, and yet her diminutive body encased such a mighty heart, one that was fiercely loyal, accepting and forgiving.

When her lips danced against mine, I could almost believe that the possibilities for the future were endless. I wanted to believe it.

I felt her pull away, and when she looked up at me, I could almost believe that I could be half of what she saw in me.

But it was always that way when I was with her in those other realities, wasn't it?

I held her for a long time, my cheek pressed against her hair, much like I remembered those other version of me had done.

I could smell the clean scent of it, and it was somehow familiar, though I had never done it in my lifetime.

I don't know how much time passed, and at the time, I didn't care. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the feeling of Liz in my arms, her hands grasping the fleece that covered my back.

Neither of us said anything. We didn't have to.

The sun was beginning to set before we decided to leave the clearing. Liz helped me to pick up the drawings that were scattered across the ground, the only thing that kept me sane in the weeks before she came back.

"They're beautiful, you know," she said, looking at the last one she picked up off the ground.

I couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable watching her study the fruits of what had been my obsession since I'd returned to New Mexico.

In a way it was a little embarrassing. Though I was pretty sure she didn't think it, I couldn't stop the thought from crossing my mind, that she might think that all of those drawings of her were strange.

But that thought was gone as she looked at me, and I saw that she didn't think it strange all.

"I only put on paper what I see," I tell her, and I am only able to meet her eyes briefly before I have to look away.

And now she was embarrassed, her cheeks turning pink. I thought to myself that maybe I shouldn't have said that. But I didn't regret it.

She didn't realize what I've always known.

"Max, that's sweet, but I don't see that." She blushed further as she handed me the drawing.

I couldn't hold back.

"This is what I see every time I've ever looked at you," I answered, glancing at the drawing before my eyes drifted to hers once more.

"But you never saw what every one else saw in you," I told her. "That was always one of the things I loved about you. You're so beautiful, but you were so completely unaware of it."




*~Liz~*

There was something about the way Max had captured me on paper. Technically it was perfect, but there was something more. Was it the shading of the pencil he used that seemed to draw on some inner beauty that I didn't see in myself? I don't know, but what I saw on that paper left me in awe.

I looked at the way he captured the crinkles at the corner of my eyes as I smiled, the shy expression on my face, the luster of my hair, the tiny scar above my brow. He captured it all, in loving detail.

I didn't know how to react to Max's answer when he told me that the beautiful drawings before me were what he saw in me. I'd never seen myself as particularly pretty. In fact, I thought I bordered on the plain side.

But in Max's eyes, I was beautiful.

His eyes drifted from the drawing to mine before he looked away, shrugging in self-effacement.

He was exactly the same way that he described me. He never saw the beauty within himself that I had always seen.

"We make quite a pair," I thought to myself.

But I did believe that he truly did feel that way about me. I had seen those visions, and I felt what he felt.

He took my hand, tucking the drawings under his arm as we began to walk. I couldn’t contain the thrill that raced up my spine at his touch.

Oddly, there was an awkward silence between us. Our souls had been laid bare to each other through the power of the crystal, but the emotional toll it had taken on us left us without words, our shyness left in its wake.

I knew it was silly; after all, we knew more about each other from other lives than most could ever hope to know about another person. We'd seen the events that had changed and shaped our own separate lives. Still, we knew none of the seemingly unimportant things about each other.

When we did finally speak, it was simultaneously.

“Liz, I-"

“Max, what should we-“

We both blushed and I couldn't stop the giggle that escaped my lips.

“You first,” I said, biting my lip with a grin.

He was quiet for a minute, and I waited patiently for him to continue. This was the Max I remembered, carefully considering every action, every word.

“ I’m just...I’m not really good at this,” he said. “It’s like I have all these feelings, my own feelings, and then there’s everything from those other timelines, and it’s just...”

“Confusing,” I finished with a nod. I knew exactly what he was talking about.

“Yeah,” he replied, his voice so low that I barely heard him. “What are we supposed to do with all of that?”

“I don’t know,” I answered with a shrug, looking at the ground, because I was just as clueless as he was. Those memories were both a blessing and a curse.

So I tried to explain my feelings in the best way I was able.

“I know how we felt about each other then. I felt it like it was me. But it wasn’t, not really. And it wasn’t you either,” I said.

He nodded at me, and I saw he understood what I was trying to say.

“I want to know this ‘you’,” he said. “I...I’ve wanted that for a really long time.”

“Me too," I answered, and I couldn't hide the smile that broke over my lips.

He returned it with a small grin, that small smile seeming to take years off his face.

But there was still something we had to talk about, something that I need to talk about before we can move forward. I needed to be sure that Max understood how I feel about everything that happened.

“Max, about Tess,” I started, and his footsteps faltered, his fingers pulling against mine, and I stopped, turning to face him.

That name brought the all the evil she had done to the surface again. I could see it in his face.

“Liz, you lost so much because of me,” he said, shaking his head.

I felt the familiar stab of grief at the mention of my parents, but it then, knowing what I knew, it was mixed with the new heartache that Max had taken the blame on himself. He still believed it was his fault.

The thing was, I didn't blame Max. I never did, not once, even after I found out the truth. I can no more blame him than he blamed me in another lifetime, when he risked everything to save me, and my bloody waitress uniform brought the FBI to his door.

Things just happen. Things we have no control over.

I looked into his eyes, and I saw the burden he taken upon himself, and shook my head.

"Max, that's not why I brought her up," I said, trying to explain.

"You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened. You didn't tell her to go and do what she did. She did that all on her own, and she did it to hurt you. It wasn't me she wanted to destroy back then, not really."

It had always been about Max. I was just the girl who stood in the way.

"I don't doubt that it was an added bonus for her, but my pain was just a result of what she was doing to you. She wanted you to bend to her will, and you weren't playing along. She thought that by murdering my parents, she would ruin me, and her connection to you would make sure that you would never have me," I said.

"Max she hurt you. She was unbelievably cruel to you. Don't you see that?" I asked as I met his eyes.

But I already knew he didn't see it quite the way I did.

In all of the time that had passed since he'd left Roswell with Tess, she suspected he hadn't really thought about. His main concern had always been for the people he loved.

He looked away from me, but I saw the tears he was blinking back before he hid his eyes from me.

"Liz, can we not-" he said, breaking off, and I could see that he was struggling to keep control over his emotions.

I knew was too soon now to talk about what Tess had done to him, but I wasn't going to forget it. I wasn't going to let him keep that bottled up inside forever. I had to somehow make him realize that. But there was time. All we had left was time, and each other.

"Ok," I said, squeezing his hand. "We don't have to talk about it."

He nodded, without saying anything, and I felt the bitter bile of hatred rising in my throat for the girl who had almost summarily ruined all of our lives.

I turned to look at my Max, who had been through the worst imaginable nightmare I could possibly conjure. It had changed him, both on a physical and psychological level. How could it not?

My heart wept for him, for all of those lonely years of heartache, for all of the horrible things he’d been subjected to at the hands of Tess and Khivar.

He was barely a man when he’d left Earth to ensure the safety of his loved ones, and his eyes bore the scars of his ordeal.

I wanted to tell him how unfair it was that we’d all been through so much in multiple incarnations of our lives, but I sensed that he wasn’t ready for any of that yet.

So many things were different in this one. Max had never slept with Tess. His son was not out there somewhere in the cosmos, waiting to be found. Alex was alive. Jesse Ramirez had no idea that Isabel would have been his wife if the cards had been played differently. The dupes were dead, as were Khivar and Tess.

But my parents were dead too. I had met and lost Justin, something I’d thought a lot about since I’d seen the truth. I learned that single actions or events can set one’s path on a completely different course. Would Justin have been alive today if I had not come into his life? Would he have been working that day?
I'd never know.

Kyle and the Sheriff had no idea that aliens existed on Earth. The Evans had no idea that they had raised children from another cosmos.

It was a lot to accept, and even more to deal with, and Max didn’t look like he was ready to deal with much more at the moment.

I knew what it had taken for him to come after me only a few moments ago. I knew that in spite of the fact that he had taken the leap, he was still dealing with unspoken demons and his sense of culpability in everything that had happened, both in this timeline and the others. We would all eventually have to deal with our parts in it.

But as we took their first tentative steps together into an unknown future, we were doing it with knowledge of the past, the consequences of our actions in other lives, and that alone was enough to weigh heavily on us.

Yet even that wasn’t enough to dim the sense of rightness I felt with my hand clasped in his. I felt as if I’d finally come home, as if I had finally found my place in the world, and that place was at Max’s side.

And then something occurred to me.

"Max, there is something you need to know before we get back to the house," I said, slowing to a stop.

When he turned to me, I could see the uncertainty in his eyes, as if he were waiting for the other foot to drop.

I smiled at him, to convince him that what I was about to tell him wasn't bad. At least, I didn’t think it was....

I hesitated and then just decided there was no other way to do it but to come right out with it.

"I'm not the only one who knows," I blurted quickly. "You know, about you Michael and Isabel."

Fear flashed across his face, his instinctive protectiveness for Michael and Isabel rising to the surface.

"Alex and Maria know everything," I continued. I was afraid that if I didn't tell him everything, I would lose my nerve after seeing the expression n his face.

"You told them?" he asked me in a trembling voice.

I could see the fear in his eyes, and I knew exactly what he was thinking. Though Maria and Alex had found out their secret in those other lifetimes, the circumstances were different. I knew he what he was afraid of. He didn't know if they would react differently this time.

I knew I had to convince him that they wouldn't pose any threat to the three of them.

"I had to tell Maria," I explained.

"She knew something was up when you ran off that day, and I was afraid that she'd call someone in Roswell, you know, tell someone that she'd seen you. She didn't know about your, um, what you are. I didn't know then either. But she knew you were the one who healed me, and she knew something was different about you, aside from the face that she thought you were a ghost," I said sheepishly. "I think you being an alien is much easier for her to accept."

Max just stood still, not saying a word, and this time, his face was unreadable.

"I needed someone to talk to after I'd seen everything in the crystal. I told Maria. Don't worry, you can trust her. You all can," I said.

"What about Alex?" he asked, in a careful voice.

I couldn't lie to him. In other times, we had kept the truth from each other, and the result of that was disastrous. I wasn't going to make that mistake again, consequences be damned. I knew what I was about to tell him was going to shock him even more than what I'd already revealed, but he needed to know. And maybe the truth would set him at ease.

"I didn't tell Alex," I said in a low voice. "Isabel did."

"What?" Max exclaimed. He sounded completely confused.

"Has she gone insane? All my life, she's been insistent about not telling anyone our secret. But she's not only told you about the crystal, but she's told Alex what we are? Why would she do something like that?" Max asked, shaking his head.

I knew why she'd done it. She'd done it because she realized everything she'd missed out on, because she'd been afraid. She'd seen that they'd been accepted once, and she took a chance that Alex would accept her again. I can't really say that I blame her. I came here with the same purpose, taking a chance that Max would accept me.

"Because she saw what was in the crystal too Max," I answered softly. "She saw that you all trusted us in another lifetime. She saw how good he was for her, what her life was like when he wasn't there. She loved him Max, and she realized it too late in that other timeline. I think she's trying to make up for lost time, or hoping to at least."

"Alex doesn't know that they were...involved. She didn't want to spring that on him like that, and I don’t blame her. But they've been talking... a lot on the phone," I told him. "I think she wants to tell him eventually, but...she said that all hinged on what happened with you and I."

"Michael's seen what's in the crystal too," I said quietly.

I watched him carefully, noting the myriad of expressions that crossed his face. It was understandable, because everything he thought he knew, everything he'd done to make sure that the people he cared about stayed safe and free from the pain of the memories the crystal held, had all been turned upside down.

"Don't be angry at Isabel. She and Michael had a right to know," I said, squeezing his hand. "It was their lives too."

He looked at me with a small smile.

"I'm not angry with her. I'm just a little shocked. I just never thought she would tell anyone else. But I'm not mad. Not really. If it weren't for her," he paused then.

"I was too much of a coward to go back to New York, to face you," he admitted, lowering his eyes. "I saw what was in the crystal, and....I felt so smothered by all of the things that I'd done. I didn't want anyone to know."

"Max, I know it sounds a little cliché, but no one is perfect, even human hybrids," I said, and another smile teased his lips.

"But Isabel and Michael do know what happened now, and they still love you Max. She came to my apartment and showed me the crystal, and exposed herself to me, because she loves you. I know how hard that must have been for her to do that. They're both worried about you," I said, searching his eyes.

His throat clenched and I watched him swallow hard.

"I know they were." He looked down at the ground, away from my eyes, ashamed. "I...I'm going to have to apologize to them. It wasn't my right to keep things from them."

My heart twisted a bit, for though I knew that what he was saying was true, I still felt for him. His protective nature was such a part of who he was. As much as it hurt me that he didn't come to me, I don't know that I wouldn't have done the same thing were I in his shoes.

"Max, the thing is...we can't change the past. We can't change what's already happened. All we can do is move on from here, and learn from the mistakes we made. I think that was the whole point of the test, you know, the Granolith putting all of those memories in the crystal. We're supposed to learn from it," I said.

He nodded, and I saw the torment in his eyes, and I decided to drop it, for the time being at least.

"Come on," I said, taking his hand once more. "They're probably wondering what happened to us."

The reassuring warmth of his fingers entangled with mine was like a familiar friend, and I welcomed it.

"So, what now?" he asked, glancing at me as we once again began to walk.

I shrugged.

It didn't really matter. I didn't really have a care for what happened even five minutes into the future. It was enough that Max was with me, my hand clasped in his, the hum I felt whenever he was near a balm to my heart.

I didn't want to think about what could happen. I realized that we had done that too much in other lives, and I wanted to relish each and every moment I had with my Max.

"I'm just thinking about right here and now," I said. "The rest of it can wait."



*~Max~*

I loved that about Liz. She could live in just the moment. I had lived mine in anticipation of other moments, of possible captures and catastrophes, and old habits are hard to break.

"I don't think we should ever tell the Sheriff or Kyle," I said.

It was strange to know that in his lifetime, I'd despised Kyle Valenti, yet in the others, he had been one of my biggest allies, and a good friend.

I hoped Liz would understand. I knew Kyle was her friend.

But as much as I knew keeping it from him would be my loss, I knew it was safer this way. Whether any of my enemies still existed or not, it wasn't fair to drag either Kyle or his Dad into this, and I wasn't really sure that the Sheriff would be so receptive even if we did. After all, I had brought his son back from the dead the last time.

There were no guarantees he wouldn't just call the FBI if we told him. Either that, or I 'd be arrested for faking my own death.

"I don't think so either," Liz said, to my relief. "They were sort of dragged in by default."

"So were you," I said sadly.

The Valentis weren't the only ones. I remembered those times that other versions of myself had lamented over the fact that Liz had been involved at all. It was one of the reasons I'd changed those timelines.

Liz shook her head.

"It's different Max. I have a personal stake in this...you. So might Alex and Maria if Michael and Isabel tell them everything. The Valentis don't, not really," she said.

I couldn't help but feel a thrill race up my spine as she said that. I still couldn't believe that she was here, never mind that she didn't loathe me. That she wanted to be with me was a pure miracle as far as I was concerned, one I was sure I didn't deserve.

The weight of her words left me with none of my own, so I just nodded once again. So much had happened since the day I’d healed her on that platform, and the time I had spent with her had been so short, and I was too worried about her and what could happen to her that anything else was put to the backburner. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to talking about what I am so matter-of-factly, despite knowing that it had been a commonplace occurrence in those other timelines. It was still strange to me then.

We didn’t say much as we walked the rest of the way back to the house. What had happened between us out in the desert was still fragile, still new. I don’t think either one of us was willing to do anything to threaten it. There would be plenty of time for talking later. Right then, just being with Liz, holding her hand, and feeling that slight pull on my soul that I knew was she, was enough.

I think a sense of peace settled between the both of us; at least it did for me. Back in high school, even being near Liz made me forget about all of the alien angst, all of the questions I had about myself, about who I was, and what my purpose was to be. I guess that still hadn’t changed.

So when we walked into the house, the last thing I expected was to hear arguing.

I turned to find Liz looking at me apprehensively, as I shut the sliding door behind her.

"...so what, you actually think that your friend has had it worse than ours? I think you'd best just take a big step back, buddy!"

Liz cringed. We both knew this wasn't going to be good.

"That's not what I was saying!"

"Oh yes it was!"

"Look, all I was trying to say is that Max has been through a lot, and he's not having an easy time dealing with things. I just don't want to see Liz-"

"Michael, don't..."

"Oh I see, and Liz hasn't been through a lot? Give me a break! Were Max's parents killed by some interstellar bitch from hell? Um, that would be a NO! No wait, that'd be a HELL NO!"

I knew Michael was only trying in his bull-in-a-china-shop way to explain himself and to protect me, but I winced hearing Maria’s words, because I knew there was more than a grain of truth in them.

Liz gentle fingers squeezed my arm, trying to reassure me.

"She doesn't mean what she's saying," she said.

"Yes she does," I answered, shaking my head. "But I understand. She doesn't know everything that we do."

"We'd better get in there, before one of them says something they're going to regret," Liz said in a low voice.

She was right. Someone had to intervene before it got out of hand. We started toward the living room.



*~Michael~*

I don’t even know exactly how I started fighting with Maria Deluca. I had good intentions, but you know what road those tend to pave.

Whatever.

One minute, we were all making nice in the living room, and the next she was at my throat like a rabid Chihuahua.

It’s still freaking me out knowing that I was with this girl through some pretty bad times in those other lives.

I mean, I’m a rock. Michael Guerin, the guy who didn’t give a crap what anyone thought. I wasn’t human; not really, and the humans I was around either sucked ass or were so nice, they made me want to vomit.

Actually, that’s a lie. I just told myself that Phillip and Diane Evans made me want to vomit, because if I didn’t, then I would have to admit just how bad Hank was. It was easier to pretend that I didn’t care.

But I did care.

Until a few weeks ago, everyone else except for Max and Isabel fell into the “sucked ass” category. At least, until I saw what was in the crystal.

I never understood Max’s obsession with Liz Parker, but honestly, I didn’t really want to. I guess I do understand it now. Maybe he just had more faith in humans than I did right from the beginning.

Being distrustful is part of my nature. But come to think of it, me being distrustful was how I wound up in the foster system and then with Hank. All because I wouldn’t take Max’s hand that first night in the desert.

I’m starting to think that maybe he was right about a lot of things, more than I wanted to admit at the time.

I guess it was just so unbelievable to me that Maria pretty much accepted me for what I was after the initial freak-out, and then she actually cared about me, even when I walked all over her because I was afraid to get hurt. It was Maria that took me in that night in the rain when Hank started in on me. I treated her like crap, but she put all of that aside and let me in without questions, and she didn’t say anything. She just was there.

I messed up a lot of things, and I saw it all…all of it.

And yeah, I’m overprotective about Max, but I think that has something to do with who I was before I was Michael Guerin. It was my job to keep him safe. Maybe I was better at it as an Antarian, because I did a crap job of it in those other lifetimes. I haven’t changed all that much from those guys.

Max always said that I was too impulsive, and maybe I am. But he accepted that about me, and maybe that’s why as much as I thought Liz wanted to do the right thing by coming out here, I still wasn’t sure that it wouldn’t mess Max up more than he already was.

And he was messed up, taking those walks alone at night, locking himself in the bedroom doing God-knows-what.

So when the inevitable conversation came up about what was going on out there in the desert, I shot my mouth off without thinking, as usual. It’s my M.O. Everyone knows that.

Well, not everyone….

"Would you let me finish?" I snapped, irritated, which only pissed her off further.

"Fine," she said, her eyes flashing, as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Shit.

Alex was looking from her to me, and then back to her again, and I’m guessing he thought either she was going to come over and rip my head off, or I was going to fry her with my powers.

Yeah, he looked worried.

"Guys..." he said, trying to be the peacemaker. But neither of us was having any of that.

"No, I want to hear what Space-Boy here has to say," Maria quipped, glaring at me.

What the…?

"Space-Boy? SPACE-BOY? I swear..." I said in a warning tone. She was really pissing me off now.

"What, are you going to incinerate me with your death ray powers now?" she said.

She was trying to goad me, and I bit, hook, line and sinker.

"Don't tempt me," I warned, and I raised my hand.

"MICHAEL!" Isabel said in a raised voice.

I wasn’t going to do it. Really. I was just going to scare her a little.

But then Max stepped into the room, effectively stopping me in my tracks, which in hindsight, was probably a good thing.

[Majesty]

Genesis II.

*~Maria~*

I thought I was doing pretty well, considering I was sitting in a room where half the people in it were aliens.

I always thought Michael Guerin was a little weird. Well, a lot weird, actually. The fact that he turned out to be an alien didn’t surprise me as much as you might think. Personally, I think it explains so much.

I always wondered what got stuck up his ass in high school, because he walked around with a perma-scowl, when he decided to show up, that is.

People stayed away from him. Well, people other than Max and Isabel. Back then I never understood that whole friendship, but knowing what I know now, it's pretty much a no-brainer.

Everyone knew that his foster dad drank, and sometimes he'd come into school with a shiner, and you kinda guessed where he got it from. I say "guessed" because nobody could even talk to him. He was anti-social and bit anyone's head off who dared to attempt conversation with him.

After awhile, you can only feel so sorry for someone who seemed to be a major-league jerk in his own right.

I did try to talk to him once, in class, and he nearly bit my head off. Everyone in class had a good laugh over it, and I was mortified. After that, I wrote him off.

Now, knowing what I know, I guess I understand it a little bit more. What I don't understand is how he got into that situation in the first place, and why he didn't get himself out of it.

His foster dad died in our junior year, and Michael was able to emancipate himself, with the help of Max's father. There were a lot of jokes going around, kids saying they wished they could do the same thing, like, divorce their parents. But I wondered how much more went on, that we didn't know.

I'd been thinking about all of that, but when he started talking about Liz hurting Max, well, then that’s when what he was became completely beside the point.

I wasn’t looking at it from an alien/human standpoint. I was looking at it as a best friend, and everything I know says that Max hurt Liz, not the other way around.

So the fact that Michael had the nerve to say that Max had been through a lot galled me. I’m not saying he hadn’t, but Liz had been through a lot too. I mean, how often do you find out that your parents were murdered by some heinous alien bitch because she was pissed off that the alien guy she liked, loved you, a human girl?

I would bet my life that it doesn’t happen often.

But, I’ve got to give Max some credit. If he hadn’t been on that platform that day, Liz would be dead, instead of out in the desert, trying to convince him that they should give the boyfriend/girlfriend thing a chance.

My whole point was, they’ve both been through a lot. I didn’t completely understand Liz’s insistence on chasing after Max. I mean yeah, what he did was noble and all and I know she liked him in high school, but still…

There were times when I thought that there was much more to it than she was telling me.

I admit I was guilty of trying to hook them up in high school. But I didn’t know what he was, and if I did, you can bet your ass I wouldn’t have kept on about it. But anyone who knew Liz at all, knew that once she made up her mind about something, there was no changing it. And I had always said that I had her back, and I wasn’t going to desert her just because I didn’t necessarily agree with her decision. At least if I was there, I could help her pick up the pieces if something went wrong, and there were no guarantees that anything would go right.

To tell you the truth, she was scaring me a little.

Even Alex was starting to scare me. When Alex freaked about Liz trying to find her homeless guy, well, that was Alex being normal. And when he kept giving her the lectures about the dangers she might not know about when he found out what Max, Michael and Isabel were, and that Liz was going to come out here, well that was just normal too.

But the way he was acting from the minute he walked into that house, well that wasn’t Alex. Yeah, he had a crush on Isabel too in high school. Damn, everyone who had the slightest trace of testosterone running through his body did. But I would have thought that her being an alien, and possibly green and slimy under that perfectly made up face and blond hair might have given him pause.

I was wrong.

I had started to think that maybe they did have some kind of mind control ability. There was no explaining my two best friends’ behavior. But there was no way anyone was going to get control of mine, and I was holding my own, because I wasn't smiling and playing nice with Michael, even though I had to admit there was something remotely...attractive about him, in a sloppy, I-don't-give-a-crap-what -I-look-like-or-that-I'm-acting-like-a-jackass sort of way.

Liz should have been proud of her best friend. I was handling the whole alien things so well. There was no drama, no freaking out.

She and Alex think I don't realize that they called me a drama queen. Well, wouldn't you be if you knew what I knew?

Besides, they didn't grow up under Amy Deluca's roof. My mother invented the term "drama queen".

I was freaked out, but I held my cool, though I had a million questions running through my head. I played the "I'm not sitting in a room with ET's thing" to perfection. But it was surreal. So we turned the conversation to Max and Liz, something we could all relate to, and everything went to hell in a hand-basket, and I forgot the alien thing in favor of concentrating on Neanderthal Guerin, who was really starting to piss me off.

The "Space-Boy" thing just popped out; I swear. I didn't even think about it before it was out there.

I couldn't take it back, but I admit I got some small satisfaction out of seeing that it pissed him off. Who did he think he was? Alien or not, he and the other two were no better than us and their problems and their feelings were no more important than ours.

I dug the hole a little deeper with the death ray comment. I couldn't help it. It just slipped.

I didn't and still to this day don't have any control over my words when it comes to Michael. He pushed my buttons, what can I say?

But thinking back on it, it was a stupid thing to say, and I can't lie, I was a little scared when he raised his hand in my direction.

We'll never know what he would have done, because Max walked in and saved the day, and probably my ass.


*~Max~*

I knew that Michael wouldn't hurt Maria, but I wouldn't have put it past him to scare her a little, especially with the look he had on his face.

Liz and I were barely together, and our friends were at each other's throats. This wasn't good.

In one way, I understood Michael's defensive behavior. He knew everything. He'd seen those other lives, and it was that I think which was motivating his need to protect me. But Maria had no idea about any of that, and from her perspective, with the knowledge she had, her viewpoint was completely justified.

I knew Liz didn't want any of them arguing over me, over us. What was between Liz and I was just that, and we would deal with the consequences of our decisions.

I saw it in her face, that this wasn't what she was expecting when we returned, and above all, I didn't want anything to cause her to be upset. It was this that motivated me to speak up.

"This stops, now," I said, with a vehemence that surprised even me, as Liz stepped alongside of me, taking my hand.

That small action didn’t go unnoticed by Isabel. She looked at Liz and what she saw in her face and the tired, stressed expression I had gotten used to seeing on her face was replaced by a pure look of happiness.

She fairly beamed at me, and I couldn't do anything about the heat that I felt cross my face.

She and Michael knew about my feelings for Liz, they all knew now. But this...being with her there, with them in the room, was strange. I was always a private person, and this was all new to me. And even more strange was that my sister was happy about it.

Talk about a bizarro universe...

Their shocked expressions made my confidence falter, but there was no going back after that.

"Neither Liz nor I need anyone defending us. You're all our friends, or at least I hope you will be, and neither of us want to see anyone fighting over us," I said quietly, glancing at Liz, feeling myself relax at the tender smile she gave me.

Michael seemed to be shocked that we were together, and he must have been surprised by my demeanor, and I knew that what I had said was going to be enough.

But when the apology to Maria came from him, it still shocked me.

"Sorry," Michael grumbled, looking toward the window.

Only Isabel and I knew what that must have taken for Michael to do that. It's against his nature to defer to anyone, least of all a human.

My guess was that the crystal had a lot to do with his response.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, one in which Maria, who felt justified, wasn't going to give in. I saw the stubborn set to her jaw, and I almost laughed, thinking that some things hadn't changed at all.

Liz was staring at her friend, waiting for her to respond, her eyes narrowing when Maria didn't.

"Maria," Liz said in a warning voice.

Maria let out an exasperated sigh, and again I had to stifle a grin.

"Ok fine. I'm sorry too," she said, keeping her eyes averted.

Alex broke the tension by moving across the room to hold his hand out to me.

"Hey Max, long time no see," he said.

Alex.

I hadn't seen him since high school, and knowing what I knew, that he had died in an alternate time, made me realize that not everything had turned out for the worst.

This was the guy who had given his blood to cover for me, without even knowing why. He was the guy who'd stuck by my sister though she continued to push him away, and when she'd realized the gift she'd been given, it had been taken away from her.

He'd been there without question, put his life in danger for all of us so many times. We'd barely ever thanked him for it, and then it was too late to.

I can't begin to explain what it felt like to see him standing there, smiling in his slightly goofy way, alive and well.

And it was then that I realized that I knew almost nothing about him as he was now. But I would make a point to. I was not going to take anything for granted.

I smiled and shook his hand.

"Hey Alex. Yeah, it's been awhile," I said.

"I'd ask how you've been, but," Alex faltered, not knowing what to say. I could tell that whole situation was still a little strange to him. Though I knew Isabel had told him and there were probably quite a few conversations about it, I was betting that seeing his old schoolmate who had been dead to him for so long, was a little weird. Add the alien factor to it, and it probably bordered on downright bizarre.

I felt like I needed to diffuse the weirdness.

"Long story you've already heard," I said, in an offhanded gesture.

"Anyway, things are looking up," I added, looking down at Liz.

Alex was studying Liz.

I wondered what he saw. When I looked at her I saw the beauty that had captivated me from the first moment I'd laid eyes on her.

But Alex was looking for something else. He had been with her through all of the heartaches she'd experienced.

"You ok?" he asked, concern in his eyes.

"Yeah," she said, nodding with a smile. "I will be."

He seemed satisfied with her smile, and returned a grin of his own.

"Max," Isabel said, "I'm going to start dinner. I'm guessing everyone's probably starving."

"Need help?" Alex asked, and Isabel looked at him, a little startled.

"What?" Alex asked. He was clearly confused at her reaction, but I understood it.

Isabel shook her head.

"Nothing. Sorry, that just shocked me. You know, living with these two and all," she joked, motioning to Michael and I.

"Excuse me?" Michael said, acting indignant.

Maria snorted from where she was looking at photos on Isabel's mantel, and Michael glowered in her direction.

"Kidding," Isabel said, rolling her eyes with a smirk, while Alex struggled to keep a straight face. "Anyway, I'd love some help."

I suddenly had the feeling that despite the friction between Maria and Michael, we didn't have to worry about our secret anymore. I knew Liz had said that we could trust them, but there had still been some lingering doubt.

Still, it worried me, their involvement with us. So far, they were safe, but could we ever be sure?

"Michael, try to be civil, would you?" Isabel warned over her shoulder as Alex followed her out of the room.

Michael's jaw tightened in annoyance as he leaned on his cane, but he said nothing.

I wished more than anything that I could have healed Michael. Part of the reason was because I wanted to take away the memory of how he'd gotten the injury in Copper Summit, because he'd gone there alone after communication had broken down so badly between us, and I know he felt guilty about that. But another part was purely selfish, because I wanted to wipe out any reminder that I'd deceived them, and gone on to Antar without them.

But there was nothing I could do about it, as much as I wanted to. My powers had receded to almost non-existent.

I sensed the tension in the room, and wished there was something that I could do to ease it. As in other timelines, Michael and Maria had had a rocky introduction, and were rubbing each other the wrong way. I wasn't really sure if this was a good or a bad thing.

Maria leaned against the mantle, and Michael studiously ignored her.

Liz cleared her throat, her fingers stroking my palm, and I felt myself relax visibly under her touch.

"Why don't we all sit down? Maria, maybe there's some questions you'd like to ask Max and Michael?" she asked, and I could have kissed her. Well, I didn't need any excuse to want to kiss her, but her idea was a good one. Maybe taking the mystery out of what we were might make Maria feel a little better.

"Fine," Maria huffed, and sat on the couch. Michael limped over to the chair the furthest away from her, and seated himself.

I was a little bit nervous about being under scrutiny. Though my heart knew that Maria had accepted me, and we'd even been friends in those other lifetimes, I wasn't used to opening up about myself in this one.

Liz reluctantly let go of my hand to sit on the couch next to her Maria, and I took the seat adjacent to Michael's.

I knew Michael wasn't going to volunteer to start, and I wasn't sure where to begin either, and truthfully, I was afraid that if I answered the wrong way, it might make things worse.



*~Liz~*

We were seated across from each other, humans on one side, and aliens on the other, and I couldn't help but think that this was a defensive arrangement, though coincidental.

When I looked over at Max, I saw that familiar fear in his eyes. Fear that I knew shouldn't be there. I had no doubt that Maria would come around, and when she understood a little more, she wouldn't be so defensive.

"Maria, I know you had questions. You had a million of them on the trip out here. So why don't you ask them? I think everything will seem a little less...strange if you just ask," I said, giving her an encouraging look.

Max looked at Maria, and by the reassuring look he was giving her, I could tell he hoped he was setting her at ease.

Maria looked at me, and then Max with narrowed eyes. And then I knew we were in trouble.

"Yeah, actually I do have some questions," Maria said, her eyes trained on Max. "What makes you think that being with you is going to be safe for Liz?"

I caught Max's eye. It was a legitimate question. She needed to know that there was very little chance that anyone was going to come after Max and the others.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that no one is going to come after us here on Earth," Max started. "Seeraynah and Kal-"

"That's not what I meant," Maria interrupted. "I meant how do you know that being with you is safe for Liz? How do you know she won't get sick or something?"

Max's face reddened as he caught Maria's meaning, and so did mine. I stared at her in disbelief. This was uncomfortable enough for everyone without bringing that into the mix. Max and I had barely even kissed!

"Maria!" I snapped, glaring at her.

"What?" Maria said, exasperated. "It's a legitimate question!"

"How do you know that being with a human isn't going to make us sick?" Michael retorted, coming to Max's defense.

I winced.

This was quickly getting out of hand.

I knew that Michael knew it was safe. He'd seen himself with Maria, and knew that being intimate caused no one any harm, human or alien. And because I knew he knew it, it was plain he was goading Maria.

"Maria, Max is human, in every way that counts," I said, my face feeling as if it were on fire, if that was possible, as Max gave Michael a dark look, warning him to keep his mouth shut.

Maria's mouth dropped open and I realized what she was thinking.

"Oh my God, I don't even want to know how you know..." Maria sputtered.

"That's not what I meant!" I said, exasperated.

God, could I stick my foot any further into my mouth? It was like a nightmare!

In one instant I was feeling like a complete fool, and in the next tears sprang to my eyes when Max spoke again.

"Liz is right. It's true," Max said quietly. "I know it because I was captured by the FBI, and they did a lot of tests...and they confirmed it."

I saw the shadows in his eyes, and I can only imagine what it must have taken for him to dredge those memories up. The fact that he did, to reassure Maria, spoke volumes. I remembered the pain and terror I'd seen Max experience in the White Room. That he could sit here and even discuss it so unemotionally was a minor miracle. But I also had to hazard a guess that he hadn't really dealt with any of it either.

"So?" Maria said.

"Our skeletal structure is human. Even our abilities, they're all essentially human. Most people will be able to do everything we do now...after a further few thousand years of evolution. It's only our blood that's different. Our DNA accelerated evolution of our human donor cells for us. But we are human, in every way that counts," he said.

That seemed to mollify Maria a bit, and I breathed a silent sigh of relief.

By the look on her face, it was obvious that something was bothering her, and Max waited for her to voice it.

"Max, you healed Liz, right?" Maria asked.

Max nodded slowly.

I was confused as to what she was getting at.

"So...how come you haven't healed those scars on your arms, or the Gimp's leg then?" she asked, smirking at Michael's glare.

Though Maria had been my best friend for most of my life, I could have cheerfully punched her right then. She wasn't making things any easier.

Max pondered how to answer her, but by the look in his eyes, I already knew there wasn't a clear-cut answer for that.

"I'm not really sure myself," he admitted.

"I almost wished he hadn't been so angry with Kal before we left Baltimore, because there were things I should have asked him," Max continued.

"I've thought about it over the past few weeks and I've drawn my own conclusions," he said.

"I think I've...I don't know, regressed a little," Max admitted quietly.

"Did Liz explain the whole "King" thing to you?" he asked, and Maria nodded.

He looked at his clasped fingers as he leaned forward.

"I've been thinking about this, and I think I know why I'm different now. I was told that my powers would never come back like I had them, and they haven't. I died when I came back to Earth with the Granolith, and when I was brought back by Seeraynah, I wasn't Zenshai...the keeper of the Granolith anymore. I didn't have the seal that bound me to the Granolith. Seeraynah said she did what she could, but I'm more...human now. The healing power I had came from the seal Michael and Isabel never had it. When I broke the bond with the Granolith, I think it was lost. I'm more...human now than I was. I don't know if it was intended, but it's the only explanation I can come up with," he shrugged.

"So you can't do any of that E.T. stuff now?" Maria asked.

"I can do some things, I guess. I can still manipulate things, but on a much smaller scale, and for shorter periods of time. I am still able to use my shield, but that's only been recently, and I can't maintain it for long. And when I try to do any of those things, I'm exhausted afterward," he said.

"The energy Seeraynah used to bring me back wasn't mine. It was temporary power, and it would have eventually killed me. But when I healed Liz in the station that day, I gave her energy, energy that stayed with her until she gave it back to me when I was dying. But the energy wasn't ever my own," he said.

"Are you sorry about that?" Maria asked.

"Not really," Max said in a low voice, looking at me, and I felt that familiar hum once again. "The only reason I would ever want to use them is to protect the people I care about."

I glanced at her Maria and saw sympathy marking her features, and it was then that I was sure that Maria was starting to get it. But it was what Max said next and the tears that sprung into Maria's dark eyes that convinced me that everything was going to be all right.

"I never really wanted any of it. All I had ever dreamed of was being normal, like you," Max said meaningfully, looking at Michael.

"I think that's what we all wanted. I can't explain what it's like to have to hide who you are, to be afraid that at any moment, someone would find out and we'd be locked up, to be poked and prodded for the rest of our lives," he said, his attention turning back to Maria.

"I would have been perfectly happy with normal, or even mundane," Max said. "All I ever dreamed about was having friends, not having to hide, going away to college, having a girlfriend..."

He looked at me and then down at the floor. I couldn't stop the tears that welled in my own eyes, and truth be told, I didn't want to.

I wanted him to know how much his words, the way he felt about me, meant to me.

"We couldn't do any of that," he continued.

"It wasn't safe for us to separate, and moving too far away from Roswell wasn't something that we could have done, not with the Skins around," he shrugged.

"Our parents don't even know what we are. We couldn't tell them, put them in danger like that, and I don't think either one of us would survive them shunning us, or being afraid of us," he faltered.

Somehow I had the feeling that Max and Isabel could have told their parents in this lifetime, and not under duress as they had in the other timeline. I wondered if Max was thinking about that time, and the acceptance he had in the end, received from them. I wondered if he felt regret, after seeing it.

"You should tell them," Maria said suddenly.

Nothing could have shocked me more.

Max looked up to see Maria looking at him, her eyes glistening with tears.

"We sort of think our lives depend on keeping the secret," Max said.

Maria shook her head, wiping a tear from her cheek.

"Let me tell you a little something from my experience," she said. "You have people in your life, people that think you're special. They've loved you and nurtured you all along. I always thought you guys had the perfect family. You could just see how proud your parents are and how much they love you. There's no way they're going to run from you because your cells are a little different. My father took off when I was ten. He left my mom and I. But I know my mom loves me unconditionally. Your parents stuck around, Max, and I think they'd stick around after the truth, if you let them know it."

Maria had, without knowing, had described exactly what happened in that other timeline.

The irony wasn't lost on either of us.

"They think I'm dead," he said in a low voice.

"So imagine how thrilled they'll be when they find out you're alive," Maria said.

Max started to shake his head, but Maria wouldn't let it go.

"They chose you and Isabel, Max. Out of all those kids, they chose you. You don't know how lucky you are. Some of us wound up with deadbeats, like my Dad," she said with a sigh, and caught Michael's eye.

She remembered Hank, and the bruises Michael would show up with on some days during high school.

"Some of us weren't lucky at all, and didn't deserve what they got," she said. "Some of us...deserved a fair chance."

I waited for Michael to look away, and when he held Maria's gaze.

The conversation had taken a turn. I'm not even sure when it happened, but I was glad that it did.

It was the opportune moment to excuse ourselves, and when Max asked me if I wanted to freshen up, I readily accepted.

Not a word was spoken between Michael and Maria before we left the room, but I wasn't worried about leaving them alone any longer.

[Majesty]

First, I just wanted to thank everyone who voted for my stories on the fan fiction awards. I had no idea that so many people enjoyed Serendipity. That said, being nominated at all was awesome, but I so appreciate the feedback you all take the time to leave on the threads. So thank you, for continuing to read when things get hairy, for being patient with my frequent bouts of writer's block, and for being so supportive.

Secondly, yes, I am working on Flagellation. I've been working on it. I want to have a definite plotted ending for it before I begin posting on it again, as I don't want to leave it hanging for such a long period of time, as I have this time around. I do have over 40 pages written, but I want to be completely happy with a plotted ending before I start up again.

I'll shut up now. Here's the next part of Genesis.

Genesis III

*~Isabel~*

After all of the phone calls Alex and I had shared, you would think that I would feel more comfortable than I did.

Having him in my kitchen, leaning against the counter while I made a salad, was a bit surreal.

I could tell he was nervous too, but it was probably the whole alien thing that was making him that way.

For some reason, I got the feeling that I was making him feel awkward.

Alex had nothing to be nervous about. When I knew him in that alternate universe, we'd been in high school, and he'd had that sort of awkward comic earnestness that matched the awkward body he was growing into.

I hadn't even noticed him when we went to Liz and Maria's apartment that morning before Christmas, I'd been so consumed with the hope of finding my brother. But when I'd come to see Liz with the crystal I'd taken a double-take. He'd grown into that body quite nicely. Tall and broad-shouldered, his hair cropped short, with sparkling blue eyes, I noticed that New York had definitely agreed with him.

When we'd started talking to each other on the phone, I'd come to look forward to the deep tone of his voice. It made me feel safe, that familiar feeling I had experienced once before and had come to count on.

I'd always been pretty shallow in high school, and I never would have looked at Alex twice back then. I know that sounds pretty egotistical, doesn't it? But popularity wasn't the only reason. If I had noticed Alex, it would have drawn even more attention to us. And back then, that was the last thing I wanted.

High school was all about hair and makeup and the latest clothes. I did well in school, but those were my niches. Being an untouchable among the untouchables was a godsend. I didn't have to worry about relationships, because the girls I used to hang out with were shallow, and I just acted too good for all of the boys.

But I sacrificed having real people in my life, and I regret that now, knowing what I know.

How can I explain what it feels like to be able to talk about science, and what we are, with someone who isn't scared, someone who is truly interested from a scientific standpoint, as well as from my own viewpoint?

Alex wanted to know all about me. What my likes and dislikes were. How my abilities affected my physiology. What my thoughts were on how we were created.

I'd never spoken to anyone about that besides Max and Michael, and I found that I liked it, that I didn't have to pretend that I was stupid or shallow, or that I had to act like a bitch.

I was tired of it all. Tired of pushing people away, especially after we found Max.

You know how people say that your tastes change as you get older? Like this girl once said to me that what attracts you in your teens will be completely different a few years down the road?

Well, they're right, sort of.

Liz told me that Alex was coming with her for moral support, and I felt...disappointed.

But what was I expecting? That he would have the same high school crush on me that he had once?

It was one thing to be one of the popular girls at Roswell High, but Alex had lived in New York. I'd seen the beautiful, almost emaciated women who seemed to be everywhere I looked.

How could I expect to compare to that?

Before Alex even arrived with Liz and Maria, I had already realized I was starting to feel things, just based on our conversations.

I didn't want to get my hopes up that Liz would come around. I know how hard it was for her to see all that the crystal showed her. It's one thing when you're in the thick of it, and quite another to be an observer. It puts everything into perspective.

It was hard for me too, to see what happened to Alex, and the horrible way I treated people, as well as the horrible way Max treated all of us.

I couldn't imagine him acting like that, not the Max that I know. But he had acted like that, and he had slept with Tess, and got her pregnant. He had shoved me around and threatened me. He had dropped everything in search of a son, only to give that son away.

I had been unbelievably cold and self-absorbed, and that wasn't much different from the way I'd acted to date in this lifetime.

I'd thrown myself into that relationship with Jesse Ramirez out of my own self-loathing and need to blot out what had happened to Alex, because in a way, we were indirectly responsible by association. I felt much the same way that Max feels about the death of Liz's parents in this lifetime.

What made it worse was that I deceived Jesse, until it was almost too late. It had caused so many problems between us. In the end, I knew he loved me, but that love had been tainted by what I had kept from him. I should have given him a choice, and I didn't. On some level I wanted Max and Michael to forbid me to tell him, because I didn't want to deal with the fall-out.

Khivar only worsened the matter, and the unnatural alien attraction I'd felt toward him terrified me. I can't tell you the relief I felt when Max told me that he had died on Antar.

When Liz told me she'd decided to come out with Alex and Maria, I was beside myself. I was hoping for the best, because I'd been so worried about Max. But I was also hoping for the best for me. It was one thing to talk to an alien on the phone, and quite another seeing one face-to-face, especially having known said alien since the third grade.

The feelings I was starting to have for Alex were so much stronger, knowing what I had lost, what I had taken for granted. He knew what I am and he didn't run. He talked to me like a person.

But Alex had always been like that. It didn't matter who you were, in his eyes, everyone was the same. He had the same jokes to tell whether you were popular or a geek.

So I was shocked when, nervously shredding lettuce, I looked up to find his eyes on mine and it seemed as if he could see right into my soul.

I quickly looked down again.

Shred.

Shred.

Shred.

You look...really good Isabel," he said.

That made me pause for a minute.

Shred.

Shred.

Shred.

Who was he kidding?

Though I tried to make myself presentable, I knew I looked like crap warmed over. I had huge bags under my eyes due to lack of sleep and worry over Max, and my hair desperately needed to be cut, which is why I had it pulled back.

Since Max had returned to Santa Fe with Michael and I, I had become remarkably vanity-free. Now I was regretting that.

"Alex, don't humor me," I said dryly. "I know I look like crap."

I turned back to the lettuce.

Shred

Shred

Shred

I heard him snort, and I looked up again.

"Isabel, you could shave your head and wear a plastic bag and you'd make it look like a fashion statement," he chuckled.

I smiled.

Shred

Shred

Shred

"Maybe back in high school I could have," I said with a nervous laugh. "Though now, I'm thinking aluminum foil would fit the whole alien-themed thing I've got going on."

Shred

Shred

Shred

Suddenly I'm afraid now that I've brought up the alien topic. Talking with someone on the phone is different. You're sort of disconnected. But here...now, I wonder once again if it was freaking Alex out. And I'm afraid that the longer he's here, the stronger my feelings are going to get, feelings that in all likelihood he might not return.
Shred

Shred

Shred

My breath froze in my throat as I felt his fingers on mine, halting my agitated hand.

"If you rip that lettuce up any more, it's going to disappear," he said with a wink.

I looked down to see what he was talking about.

Oh God, I was such an idiot. I didn't even realize I was staring at his hand.

He started, and pulled his hand away quickly.

I guess he forgot for a moment exactly what he was touching. I wonder what he expected? For my skin to feel scaly? It looked normal enough, but there's no telling what he thought.

"Is....there anything you want me to do?" Alex asked me, taking a step back.

I knew it. He was repulsed. What was I thinking? Maybe for a minute it slipped his mind, but now...now I knew my alien status was right back up there.


*~Alex~*

I've got to be the biggest dork that ever walked the planet. I thought that maybe I'd changed, adopted some sense of coolness, but I was so wrong, and it only took five minutes in a room with Isabel Evans, the most beautiful girl that probably ever walked the halls of Roswell High, to remind me of it.

When Liz broke the whole "Max is alive and he's an alien" thing to me, at first I didn't believe it. In fact, I laughed. But when she put me on the phone with Isabel, who would have no reason to lie to me, well, then I started to realize that it wasn't some joke. And I had to decide whether I thought that Liz and Isabel were seriously deluded, or...they were telling the truth.

Maria's much more open to the funky and weird. I'm not saying that knowing that Max, Michael and Isabel are aliens doesn't freak her out, but she was ready to believe in the possibility of it way before I was. Then again, she'd thought Max was a ghost too.

I guess it's all that new age junk her mom's been feeding her all those years. Or maybe she bought into the whole Roswell myth more than I did.

But I needed explanations, proof, and Isabel gave them to me. She got into my dreams. Me! Alex "The Geek" Whitman. I know that you can't possibly understand what a momentous thing that is, but had you gone to West Roswell when I did, you'd just know that it's a big deal. Isabel hadn't even looked at any of the guys in school. She dated college guys. Ok, so maybe I'm still caught up in the high school thing, but dammit, Isabel talking to me in my sleep was the shit. Thank God I wasn't having that dream where I'm playing dodge-ball naked, and Tina Watson, the Captain of the Field Hockey team, wings the ball at me so hard that it leaves a huge red mark on my ass, which everyone on my team seems to find hysterical.

So? I had insecurity issues. What can I tell you? People say high school scars you for life, and I think on some level that they're right. I used to have that dream a lot. Now I only have it once in a while, so I guess that's progress.

But I digress.

So I was standing in a kitchen with a girl who consumed quite a bit of my thoughts way back when, and I couldn't stop staring at her.

She must have sensed it because she looked up and caught me. That was bad enough, but then I blurted out how great I thought she looked.

So much for playing it cool, Whitman. Dumbass.

She shook her head, and asked me not to humor her, as she continued to shred the lettuce she had in her hands, dropping it into a colander.

Was she nuts? Didn't she know how amazing she was? I thought to myself.

To my horror, I heard myself snort. Yes, I did.

She glanced up at me.

Embarrassed, I tried to recover.

"Isabel, you could shave your head and wear a plastic bag and you'd make it look like a fashion statement," I said with a laugh.

"Maybe back in high school I could have," she answered, dismissing my compliment with a laugh.

"Though now, I'm thinking aluminum foil would fit the whole alien-themed thing I've got going on," she said.

Good one. Score for me. I managed to bring up the tension in the room another notch, which was the last thing I had wanted to do. I should have just kept my mouth shut. I was never good at this stuff, always managing to let the worst possible comment fly from my mouth before I even realized it.

See, and you wonder why I had the naked Alex dreams...uh huh.

I never had anything else to rely on but my dorkish tendencies. Maybe that's why I spent most of my time with Liz and Maria, instead of on dates.

I thought quickly, trying to find a way to redeem myself, but my brain was wiped clean. Alien or not, Isabel was still the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen.

I sensed her agitation as she continued to decimate the lettuce on the counter, and I didn't think, I just reacted.

I reached out and laid my hand on hers, and she immediately ceased the lettuce slaughter.

"If you rip that lettuce up any more, it's going to disappear," I said, winking at her, hoping she'd forgive me.

She looked at me, and then down at my hand. And then she just stared at it.

I was touching her. She didn't want to be touched. The staring must be a polite hint for me to remove my mitt.

I quickly pulled my hand away, stepping back. I had overstepped my bounds.

What in the hell had possessed me to think that it was ok for me to touch her?

I asked her if there was anything else I could do, and by her response, I knew the damage was done.

"You can get some dishes out of the cabinets if you want. Just lay them on the table," she said, turning away from him.

The dishes and the table were across the room.

Yeah, I got it.

I took the dishes out of the cabinet, and started putting them around the table, mentally beating myself up for my lack of couth.

Why couldn't the Gods smile on me, just once?

"So," she said, "about Max and Liz. How do you feel about that?"

What was I supposed to say? I was already batting 0 for 2, and I didn't want to go there again. I know Isabel wanted Liz to come out here to see Max, but I wasn't really sure how she really felt about the whole thing. They'd always kept themselves separate from everyone else in high school. I know she was worried about Max, but was this what she really wanted for him deep down? There were some guilt issues flying around. I knew that she felt guilty for what Max had been through on his planet.

His planet. I was still getting used to that.

Anyway, we'd talked about that on the phone, and she'd said she'd do anything to snap Max out of this funk he'd been in since he'd left New York.

I wondered about that a lot before we came out here. I wondered if she would have done anything for Max, regardless of her personal feelings on the human/alien issue.

I mean, they were more advanced than we were. That's obvious. And they were royalty for cripes sake! No wonder she never stooped to dating high school losers.

Who could blame her?

Having a relationship with one of us was probably like stepping a few miles down the food chain.

I was pretty sure that there was definitely going to be a period of adjustment between Max and Liz, regardless of the whole "looking into each other's souls" thing that they seemed to have going on between them.

Before they came back from the desert, I wasn't completely sure I was ok with that whole situation, but seeing Liz's smile, seeing the hope in her eyes that had been missing for so long, well...that's all I ever wanted for her, so how could I argue with that?

I still hadn't answered Isabel's question.

"If they're happy, then I guess that's all that counts," I said finally, shrugging my shoulders. "I can't judge them. Nobody really can choose who they love, right? All you can do is just fight for it, even if it's not going to be easy."

A safe answer, I thought.

Isabel went from being in the room, to seeming like she was a million miles away. I wondered what was going through her head.

"Penny for your thoughts," I said, leaning against the table.

She seemed to snap out of whatever she was thinking about.

"You have no idea how true those words are," she said, and I knew there was some meaning to that which was going completely over my head.

But if it involved another guy, well then, I was pretty sure I didn't want to know.


*~Max~*

When we left Michael and Maria in the living room, Liz followed me to the room I had occupied since I'd arrived here.

Though I was glad that things had gone the way they had, Maria's questions had unsettled me more than I let on.

While it was easy enough for me to at least have an expectation that things might at least wind up somewhat amiable between Michael and Maria, I couldn't help the feelings of fear that still had themselves deeply rooted in everything I felt for Liz.

We didn't have a very good track record. And despite our talk and the optimism I knew Liz was feeling, I couldn't shake the sense that I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

On some level I guess I resented that everyone else's wellbeing in those other lifetimes fell solely on Liz and my own shoulders. And really it was more on just me, because I was a King, as if that somehow made me more important. The thing was, I never wanted to be important. All I'd ever dreamed of was being just Max Evans. I knew it was an irrational thought, and incredibly unfair of me to think of it that way, and I hated myself for feeling it.

Back in the desert, Liz had said that now I was just Max, and she was just Liz, and I really wanted to believe that. With all of my heart I wanted to, but so much had happened, I couldn't help but think that I was living on borrowed time.

The quiet hum that I sensed when I was around her, the hope and the newness of what was between us dampened those feelings. I recognized it for what it was. It was a form of the connection we'd had between us in alternate universes, but it was different, muted.

I didn't know if that was because of the mutation of my abilities, or if it was something else, but that worried me too.

Everything had been so...intense between us in those other lifetimes. What if who I was now didn't measure up?

What if what I was then was the very reason she was drawn to me in the first place?

I didn't even know if she was feeling the same connection I was, and truthfully, I was afraid to ask her, for fear of what her answer would be. So instead, I picked a different subject.

"Do you think it's safe to leave them in there?" I asked, as I opened the door to the room.

Liz smiled as she walked in behind me and shut the door.

"Max, you worry too much," she said. "They'll be fine."

If only she knew.

She took off her jacket and laid it over the chair at the desk.

I unzipped the fleece I was wearing and tossed it on the chair.

I stood in the middle of the room, the room where I had rendered my dreams on paper, believing that was all I would ever have. And yet here she stood in front of me, in the flesh, real, breathing, and looking at me the way she had in so many incarnations, looking at me in the way that made every nerve in my body sing.

It was strange and wonderful and terrifying all at the same time.

She stepped closer to me, so close that I could smell her perfume, the scent that was uniquely Liz.

I looked into her eyes and I wondered what she saw when she looked at me.

Did she see the man that she had once loved, or was I merely a shell of who I could have been?

A tiny frown creased her brow. She was worried about me. I sensed it.

"You look so tired Max," she said gently.

Truthfully, I hadn't even looked at myself in weeks, and I could only imagine what she saw. Still, I didn't want to admit that I was weary, both physically and mentally.

I hadn't had much sleep, but the alternative was the nightmares that were sure to greet me if I did.

I'd had them, and most times I didn't even remember them when I woke in a sweat in the dead of night, gasping for breath, so I tried to do it as little as possible.

But suddenly it seemed as if years of worrying, fighting, being terrified, had suddenly caught up to me. I felt...ancient.

"I'm ok," I said, shaking my head, but she took my hand and led me over to the bed. She sat and tugged on my hand, a signal for me to sit beside her.

"No, you're not, and neither am I," she said scooting across the bed. "I haven't really slept since that night at Penn. Lie down and talk to me."

I suspected that her request was more for my benefit than hers.

I hesitated and then pulled my legs up onto the bed, turning to face her. Our faces were so close, only inches apart yet our bodies did not touch, and the way she lay on her side, her arm bent and tucked under her head was painfully familiar and yet foreign all at the same time.

"This is so strange," she mused. "I feel like we've sort of...done this before, you know, just laid like this and talked. But I know that's crazy..."

I shook my head.

"No, I feel the same way," I answered.

I'd never been this close to another human being, not in this lifetime, but somehow, with her, it felt as if another piece of my life was falling into place, as conflicted as I was.

"Are you ok with all of this?" she asked in a low voice. "I mean, with Alex and Maria? I'm sorry she was so...blunt out there."

"It's ok," I said. "She's looking out for you. I can't fault her for that. And if she knew what we do about the crystal, I think she would have been even harder on me."

Liz shook her head.

"I don't think so," she countered softly after a pause. "I think if she saw what we went through to be together, she'd know how special it is."

A lump formed in my throat hearing those words. I didn't think I would ever get used to hearing her say that. I didn't think that some part of me would ever let go of the belief that she would be better off without me.

I was so torn. On one hand, having Liz there with me was the fulfillment of every fantasy I 'd ever wished for. But I was terrified that she would pay for my selfishness in the end.

She, with her chocolate hair and luminous eyes, was what had bound me to this planet from the moment I first laid eyes on her all of those years ago. It was she that had sparked my dreams of being a normal human boy, with normal human cares.

Despite her conviction that we should be together, my head still screamed at me to end this before it was too late.

But in that moment, I could no more let her walk away then stop my own heart from beating. It was as it had always been. While I cursed myself for not setting her free, I somehow knew that if I did, my life would effectively be over.

But when she said that Maria would understand why what we had between us was so special, I wasn't so sure about it. I knew she would see why Liz was so important to me, but I somehow doubted she would see the benefit for Liz, for all I had done for her was to break her heart and become the catalyst for her losing everyone that was dear to her. And I had done it again in this lifetime.

Her thoughts were on a different subject.

"Do you think Michael..." she trailed off.

I knew what she was thinking.

I shrugged.

"I don't know. He's different now than he was then. Things are different for all of us," I said, leaving the obvious unspoken. Some for the better, and some for worse.

"He has a choice now," she said quietly. "He can choose to tell her the whole truth, or he can walk away."

I nodded.

"I hope he tells her," she said. "I hope he finds the courage to let her see."

I wondered if Michael ever would. For even if they became close in this lifetime, which was nowhere near a certainty, to show her what the crystal contained would be to reveal the truth, warts and all. I know how I felt about Liz seeing all of that. And if it had been my choice she never would have. But Isabel had taken that choice away from me, and in doing so, she'd brought back to me what was most precious to my heart, Liz.

Though I was grateful, I wouldn't take that choice from Michael. I would not meddle with his decision.

"I hope so too, but I can't...I won't," I began.

"I wouldn't want you to Max," Liz answered. "It isn't up to you or me to do that."

"But Isabel-"

"Yes, Isabel did take that choice from you. But our circumstances were different," she said simply. "Tess had already interfered with us. But no one has done that with them, or Alex and Isabel for that matter. As much as I hope that things work out for them, its up to them to work it out...or not."

I couldn't help but feel a little awed that we felt the same way about all of it.

But then again, we'd almost always been in tune with each other, at least in one of those timelines.

The calming hum of her presence chased away all of my reservations, at least for the moment, and my body and mind grew heavy with a sense of comfort and peace I hadn't experienced in all of my time here.

I wished that I could freeze time, freeze that one moment lying there with her, where nothing else mattered save the two of us.



*~Liz~*

I sensed something off in Max from the moment Maria started asking questions in the living room, but at first I thought it was me, that it was my imagination.

But that feeling of unease had grown stronger when we were alone in his room.

I sensed fear, and conflict, and I could feel it as clearly as I saw it on his face.

I knew some of it had to do with worrying about the others, but I had a sense that a lot of it had to do with the two of us.

I hadn't expected a happily ever after when we left the desert. Too much had happened, and Max had been through too much.

I would have been surprised if there hadn't been lingering hesitation.

Still, I believed that with time, we could work everything out, that Max would heal. And he did need to heal, even if he didn't realize it. I knew that in helping Max to heal, I'd be helping to heal myself.

I knew he hadn't even begun to deal with everything that had happened to him, nor the decisions that still lay ahead. Like, what he was going to do from here on out, about his life, about me, about his parents.

But I brought up none of that. For now, it was enough that he had taken those steps toward me in the desert, and all I wanted in that moment was simply to be with him. The rest could wait, for the time being.

Everything was catching up with him, and despite his denial that he was tired, I could see that he was exhausted.

Lying beside him, I felt the tension he had been feeling slowly ebb away, along with my own.

As his features relaxed, I caught a glimpse of that boy I had fallen in love with so long ago.

He did nothing but look at me, his tired honeyed eyes gazing into mine, and everything else faded away.

"Can....I touch you, Max?" I asked, for though we'd kissed and he held my hand clasped in his, lying there, I felt that I needed to ask.

He nodded slowly, and I reached out to smooth his hair, my thumb brushing across his temple. His eyes closed as my fingers stroked his hair, and contentment embraced me, only it wasn't mine, it was his.

My fingers brushed his cheek and I felt his shoulders rise and fall in a silent sigh.
It was such a simple gesture, but I knew its importance. I knew the simple joy he felt to be touched by another being, someone who knew what he was, and was not afraid.

I could only imagine what it must have been like, fear being the only thing he'd ever known.

I wanted him to know without a doubt that I was not afraid, that touching him did not repel me, that he deserved that simple human comfort.

His hair was so soft, much as I'd imagined it would be when I used to dream of running my fingers through it.

Yet so much had changed since I'd left Roswell after graduation. Max was not the boy I once knew. His eyes were darkened, faceted with the terrible things he'd experienced.

His body bore the scars of them. Faded burns and scars marred his forearms, and he remained painfully thin.

A sculpted jaw replaced the once boyish roundness that had once been there.

My heart ached for him, for the horrific things he'd been through.

I felt him slip into sleep, my fingers continuing to brush against his skin in a soothing motion, needing to touch him as much as he needed my touch.

Lying there, watching him sleep, I vowed that somehow I would find a way to make things right, to help us both get past what Tess had done to us.

She had come so close to destroying the two of us.

I wouldn't allow her to win.

[Majesty]

So, a couple of things.

A special thanks to Elizabeth for ripping through this part, which I actually had finished ahead of schedule (will the wonders ever cease). You've been a wonderful beta Elizabeth, and I can't thank you enough.

And I'd like to thank everyone who voted for Serendipity and Senseless in Round 4 of the Fan Fic awards. I'm still blown away by it. Serendipity was pretty special to me for a variety of personal reasons, and I was terrified when I started to post it that it was crap, because I had such a hard time with it.

Senseless was special also, in that it was my first fic. That one pretty much flew out of my head onto the screen. The writing process for the two was like night and day, but both are equally close to my heart for very different reasons.

Serendipity was written with my dearest friend in mind, and though I didn't dedicate it publically to her, she was in my thoughts the entire time I wrote it. So the fact that people actually liked it, means more to me that I can tell you.

So, thanks everyone. In the end, it's really awesome that I got nominated at all, but even more important to me was the feedback you all left on it. Thanks for taking the journey with me, and for continuing to follow the gang's adventures in this one.

I know things may seem to be moving a bit slowly now, but they will pick up, I promise.

I hope you enjoy the next part.



Genesis IV.

*~Maria~*

So we'd been in New Mexico for a week, and I have to admit I was getting a little restless. The whole situation was setting my nerves on edge, and everything was so tense between everyone, even Max and Liz.

I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting out of that trip, but I sure as hell wasn't expecting to find myself attracted to a scrubby, surly guy that I used to know in high school who, incidentally, was an alien.

I could have had my pick of men in New York, and yet here I was, driving myself insane over little jibes Michael threw at me knowing they would annoy me.

I thought we'd sort of come to an understanding that first day. Well as much of an understanding as you can come to with someone like him. I thought he got it, that I understood why he acted the way he did. I thought that knowing that, he might let up a little.

Nope.

I'll get to all of that later. First things first.

The truce lasted through that evening. Liz had gone off to Max's room and left Michael and I alone in the living room. Nice friend, huh?

Michael and I spent the next few minutes looking at everything in the room but each other.

I didn't know where to even begin a conversation with him, and the last one hadn't gone well. I wasn't exactly ready for another round. I was still trying to process everything Max told me.

I picked up my bag and pretended to rummage through it, looking for something. What I didn't know, but I would find something in there.

Finally, Alex came and rescued me from the tension tidal wave.

I remember even then thinking that there was a funky vibe going on between all of us. I couldn't put my finger on it, and back then I had written it off as alien mojo, but...somehow I knew there was some tie between all of us, something that had brought us together.

It was logical to think that we should all try to get along, for Max and Liz's sake, though I had no clue how they were going to make whatever it was between them work.

Still, I couldn't help but feel that there was something more going on.

Alex and Liz would call it suspicion. I call it intuition.

There was something weird about the way Michael and Isabel acted toward Alex and I, some...familiarity in their eyes, which was really weird, because they never looked twice at us in high school, unless they were looking at us like we were pond scum.

I'm a vibrator, so I'm sensitive to stuff like that.

Alex and I wound up going for a walk when the uncomfortable vibe turned to unbearable. I knew something was up the moment he walked into the living room, and a few minutes of the three of us, Michael, Alex and I, just looking at each other, was enough for me.

"Alex," I said, and he looked at me in desperation.

"I'm still stiff from the flight. What do you say we go for a walk, to stretch our legs?" I said.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Alex said, sounding a little too grateful.

"You don't mind, do you?" I asked Michael, daring him to say anything.

"No, do what you want," he grunted.

As if I should have expected any other answer.

Alex and I got our coats. I could tell something was on his mind, and I was just glad to get away for a few minutes. We started up the street.

"What's up Slick," I said, taking his arm and breathing in the cool air with a sigh of relief.

"Do you have any idea how far off base that name is?" he answered, bumping my hip with his own as we walked.

"What, you? Mr. Suave and Debonair? Please," I snorted with a teasing grin. "What did you do to her?"

Alex groaned in embarrassment.

"Maria, you have no idea," he said in a mournful tone, shaking his head.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad," I said.

"Oh -ho, yes it can," Alex insisted, with a humorless laugh.

"So spill it," I said.

"Well, in the space of two minutes, I completely humiliated myself. She caught me staring at her, and I think she thought I was staring at her because of the whole alien thing, which by the way wasn't the reason at all," he said.

Big surprise there. Seems not much changes once you leave high school, after all.

"Then I tried to salvage the situation by saying she was pretty and wound up bringing the whole alien thing front and center...BAM! Just like that," he said.

"Well, it sort of is the issue of the moment," I interjected.

"Yeah but, we talked about it so much over the phone, that I didn't think it would be. It was like, I accepted it, and when I saw her today," he said shaking his head, "God, she's still so gorgeous, and that was all I was thinking about. But I guess I must have given her that impression that the alien thing bothered me, because you could have cut the tension in the room with a knife."

I sighed.

"Alex, everyone and their mother knew that you had a crush on Isabel in high school. Even she knew, I think. So if you were looking at her the way I think you were, with those puppy dog eyes, then I can't see how there could be any misunderstanding," I said.

"But," he started.

"No buts Alex. If she read something else into it, then that's her thing, not yours. And if you're crazy enough to still be drooling over a girl who you now know is an alien, then you have my sympathies. You and Liz both," I finished shaking my head.

I'm such a hypocrite.

But in my defense, I wasn't ready to admit that Michael had started to get under my skin, that the penetrating looks he had been giving me since I'd gotten there were...unnerving. Something in the way he looked at me spoke to me, and I didn't really understand it then, but I sensed it.

Alex glared at me, and I rolled my eyes.

"Look, if it helps you out any, I think this is Isabel's issue, not yours. Seems to me like she's projecting her own insecurities onto everything you did. I've known you for, like...ever Alex, so I have a pretty good idea of how you acted after seeing the way you were with her when we first walked in the house. There was no "ick, an alien" look written all over your face," I said.

"There wasn’t?" Alex asked hopefully. "Because sometimes I have this thing going on where people completely take me the wrong way."

I scrunched my nose and sniffed.

"Alex, you know I love you, but there's no way to take you the wrong way, unless someone has some serious issues. You wear your heart on your sleeve. That's what I love about you," I said.

"Great," he muttered. "So much for tall, dark and mysterious."

"But she got tall, dark and dorky. Two out of three ain't bad, friend," I said.

I wasn't surprised when his arm looped around my throat in a mock chokehold.

"I swear Maria, if you weren't my best friend," he said indignantly.

"You know you love me. Now, bend over and kiss the mistress's feet for making you see the light," I quipped.

That made him laugh, and I was glad. We hadn't done enough of that lately.

*******

Dinner that night was tense, but uneventful, well except for the disgusting reminder that Roswell aliens really, really like hot sauce.

On everything.

God I remember them always asking for it when I worked in the Crashdown, but I had no idea they used so much of it. Bleh.

I spent most of the meal studiously avoiding Michael's eyes, though at times, I swear I could feel them burning my skin. What was up with this guy? Somehow I couldn't believe that he suddenly had this instant attraction to me.

It was setting me on edge. If he had something on his mind, I wished he would just spit it out.

Max and Liz came out of hiding about an hour and a half after they deserted us in the living room.

Ok, I'm going to sound really cheesy saying this, but watching those two was sort of like watching one of those after school specials, you know saturated with shy smiles, tentative hand-holding, blushes in all of the appropriate places. Only it was sort of backward with them. See, those shows usually start with the cute relationship, and some catalyst happens to break them apart.

With them, the horrible things happened first, and now they're together, if that makes any sense.

It's cute to watch, in a way. I've no doubt that Liz could have a good effect on Max. She has a good effect on anyone in her life. That's just the kind of person she is. I never got to meet Justin, but I'd bet that he saw that in Liz too.

She's just...pretty and smart and I don't know...grounded, I guess. A perfect foil to moi, who is also pretty, with a propensity for drama, and admittedly flighty.

Max...well, he was so grounded, he'd dug himself a hole to lay in. He had to, because of what he was. Thinking about it now, I think the only dream he'd ever allowed himself was Liz, and that was a dream I don't really believe he ever thought he would attain.

So I guess I cut him some slack for sitting there looking more than a little shell-shocked.

Honestly, I thought he looked like shit the first time I saw him walk into the living room. He was way thin, pale and he looked exhausted. He even had some gray hair. He's all of...what? Twenty-three? Twenty-four, maybe?

But Liz looked at him like he was the most handsome thing that ever walked the planet. And despite whatever was going on inside his head, he of course couldn't stop looking at her like the sun rose and set by her very existence.

Yep, the kind of looks that every girl dreams of. I wanted that too, you know? Who doesn't?

Isabel seemed to get over herself a little and she and Alex managed to carry on a pretty mundane conversation considering the circumstances; you know, who's been up to what, jobs, life in general, etc.

Max didn't add much to the conversation, but I don't think anyone really blamed him. The past few years for him had just been like, Outer Limits, and I don't think that anyone wanted to broach that.

Michael added his obligatory grunts when prompted by Isabel. I found out that he worked as a groundskeeper, which was kinda weird to me. I always thought he'd wind up doing something different. I don't know what, but not that. Picturing him chugging around on a John Deere mower just didn't fit.

Isabel.

For awhile I couldn't quite tell what was going on in that girl's head, which was nothing new. She never gave off so much as a vibe through that cool veneer even back in high school. But after dinner, when she was putting out cake, and hot sauce of course, I saw it.

Ah hah!

I never thought I would see the day when I was witness to one of the most naked expressions of longing in my life. And on the Ice Queen's face, no less. And for Alex! I almost peed my pants, I swear.

It was only an instant, and he of course didn't notice it, the dumb dolt, but she did. But she looked at him like...a classic play on the line Sandra Bullock said in Miss Congeniality comes to mind.

She wants to kiss him. She wants to hug him. She wants to date him.

Ok, so the movie sucked, but that little song rocked.

Poor Alex, he was so clueless. I was going to have to have a little talk with him later. But then, did I want another one of my best friends involved with an alien? I decided I'd have to think about it some more.


*~Max~*

Waking up next to Liz, I wasn't sure that I wasn't dreaming. That is, until I heard Isabel screaming that dinner was ready. Then I knew I wasn't.

She was awake. I don't think she slept at all, despite her telling me she was tired.

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was her face, resting against her forearm, and she was just looking at me.

I blinked, and then realized that she was still looking at me.

I felt my face start to color and I turned my head into the pillow.

"How long have I been asleep?" I mumbled against the pillow.

"About an hour," Liz said.

I turned and rolled over on my back.

"I'm sorry," I said in apology.

I couldn't believe I passed out on her.

"It's ok," she said in a low voice. "You were tired."

"I thought you were too," I pointed out, turning my head to look at her.

"I was, but...I liked watching you sleep," she said softly.

I must have looked at her like she was crazy, because she laughed.

I can't tell you how good it felt to hear it, even if it was at my expense.

"You were dreaming," she said, reaching out to stroke my cheek with her fingers. "Do you remember any of it, Max?"

I closed my eyes, dismayed. I didn't remember anything.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Did I..."

"You didn't talk in your sleep or anything, but I could tell whatever it was, wasn't good. I was going to wake you up, but then it seemed like, I don't know, it passed."

I swallowed hard.

"MAX!" Isabel shouted again, and I groaned.

"Coming," I called out, and shook my head.

"It's going to get cold!" Isabel replied.

"Yes, Herr Evans," I groused under my breath, and Liz muffled her laugh behind her hand.

"We'd better get up," Liz said, and I sighed, sitting up. She crawled to the edge of the bed and stood up.

I got up and started toward the door when Liz's hand on my arm stopped me.

"You might want to..." she trailed off, running her fingers through my hair a bit. I turned toward the mirror and looked.

My hair was sticking out every which way but the right one.

It was quite a sight.

I shook my head and turned to her, embarrassed.

"Hold on, I'll be right out," I said

She grinned as I went into the bathroom.

I pulled off my t-shirt before wetting my hair so I wouldn't get it wet, and I leaned over the sink, looking at my reflection.

"Good one Max," I mumbled as I turned the faucet on and wet my hair, trying to tame it into some semblance of order.

When I was marginally satisfied, I grabbed my shirt off the counter and walked back out into the room.

Liz had her back turned to me, looking out the window, and I couldn't help but pause to just look at her.

Her arms were wrapped around her waist, and her eyes had taken on a far-off look as she gazed out over the stark landscape.

She looked so beautiful in that moment, and I wanted to freeze it, capture it in my mind. It was almost instinctual, because I had been rendering her expressions for weeks. But none of them, not one, came close to the real thing.

She turned, realizing I was standing in the doorway, and her eyes widened slightly, before she looked down at the floor, her cheeks turning pink.

It took me a minute to realize that in my Liz-induced haze, I'd forgotten to put my shirt on. I looked down and winced realizing what she must be seeing.

I was basically skin and bones. The skin I had left exposed was cross-hatched with scars and burns. I could only imagine what it looked like in the light of day.

I wasn't left to guess. I felt a dull pang of distress, and then embarrassment coming from her.

My hands shot up to try to cover myself.

"I'm sorry," I said, horrified. "I wasn't thinking and I..."

Her head snapped up.

"Oh no Max, you weren't thinking that...."

"MAX!" Isabel shouted once more, sounding more than irritated.

I pulled the shirt over my head quickly.

"We'd better...." I said, ineffectually motioning at the door.

The truth was, I was relieved. I don't think that I could have born the conversation that was sure to follow, the one where Liz would attempt to explain her reaction. It would have been embarrassing for the both of us.

She looked like she wanted to say something more, and then closed her mouth.

"Ok," she said, finally, with a wan smile.

She reached out and took my hand. The feeling of her hand in mine was something I was sure I would never get used to.

As I looked down at our entwined fingers, I wondered what it was about me, the Max I was now, that made her want to stay, to want to take a chance on me.

I might have asked her, but I was afraid of what the answer might be.

I remembered what she said in the desert.

"I’m saying that I want to know you again. I want to know this you. I want know if we can have again what was once between us."

But could we? Had too much happened? Were we too changed?

I hadn't even given my appearance much thought over the past weeks, but as I stood there, for the first time I saw how my shirt swam against my ribs, and felt the looseness of my jeans around my waist.

I no longer had the power that I once did. I was a mere shadow of who I once was. Though I don't regret any of it, and wouldn't change anything I had done, I wondered if just being Max Evans would be enough.

Liz had lived a completely different life, a life that, up until two months ago, didn't include me at all.

I knew that she wanted this chance for us, and I knew I desperately wanted it too, despite my fears, but I was afraid that I might somehow fall short.

I had always hated my alien-ness, but the irony of it all was that when I no longer had those abilities, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to protect her.

I saw that she was upset, but I wouldn't have had to look at her face to know that. I sensed it.

I lifted her hand, still entwined with mine, and kissed her fingers before guiding her out of the room.


*~Liz~*

It was so strange, the familiarity mixed with the awkwardness between Max and I.

And the misunderstandings...I wasn't expecting that, for though I had a hazy sense of his emotions, it was not as sharp as they had been in our alternate lives.

I didn't know why, and truthfully I didn't want to dwell on it too much.

Maria and Alex had gone out for a walk, and had just gotten back.

We all sat down and started to eat. I tried to concentrate on the conversation, but I couldn't get what had happened in Max's room out of my head.

I had been startled for a second when I turned and saw Max standing in the doorway of the bathroom. When I saw the scars...the horrible scars he had because of Tess, I couldn't help my reaction. I only vaguely noticed them in the dim of my room in the apartment that night in New York. I had been too consumed with just making sure he lived through the night. But the harsh light filtering in from the window made it impossible not to see them.

It was upsetting. I wanted to throttle her, and were she still alive and standing before me in that instant, I would have gladly done it.

I realized I was staring, and I looked down, embarrassed. And Max must have thought that the sight of his scars repelled me, because he started to apologize.

I knew instantly that he had misunderstood my reaction. I could never be disgusted. He was and always had been beautiful to me. A few pounds and scars could never change that. In fact, he looked more beautiful to me now, after everything he'd fought for, and everything he'd been through, than I could ever have possibly imagined.

It wasn't what remained of the mental and physical wounds inflicted on him. None of that mattered to me. What mattered is that I knew the pain, the heart-wrenching horror he went through when those wounds were new, and it was that which upset me.

I knew that the physical wounds had healed, but the damage inflicted on his psyche, his confidence, his sense of self, and his belief in us was still fresh.

I wanted to try to explain that, but Isabel called us again. I sensed Max was relieved, which made me feel even worse for the misunderstanding.

I took his hand in an effort to convince him without words that none of it mattered to me, and when he lifted my hand and kissed my fingers, I felt a spark, a jolt, a rush of feeling coming from him. It was only for an instant, but it left me reeling.

Max seemed unaffected, and it wasn't really the right time to bring it up. Maybe he hadn't felt it at all.

I looked across the table to see Maria studying everyone with narrowed eyes. I could almost hear the wheels in her head spinning, trying to figure everyone out.

She was so busy doing that, that it was easy for Michael to watch her when she wasn't looking at him. It was almost humorous. Maria was trying so hard to pin down what was going on with everyone else, that she couldn't even see who was trying to figure her out.

I leaned against Max's shoulder, and he turned his head toward me.

In his eyes I saw regret and peace. Regret that we all were not what we once were to each other. But I could also see his sense of contentment that we were all together once more.

I smiled at him, and he smiled back, and we needed no words. I was glad too.

Too soon dinner was over, and we needed to go check into our hotel.

Isabel insisted that we could stay with them, but the logistics of that were just too complicated with only three bedrooms in the house.

Besides, I sort of thought that maybe Max needed some time to absorb everything that happened today. They all did.

We helped to clear the table, and then got ready to say goodnight.

Isabel was finishing up in the kitchen, and Alex asked Michael if he would mind starting the rental while he used the bathroom, and Michael shrugged.

"A man of many words," Alex deadpanned as he handed Michael the keys. His comment earned him a scowl.

Michael walked out to the car, and Maria watched out the window, her arms crossed over her waist.

She craned her neck to see what he was doing in the driver's seat.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"I don't know," Maria said with a frown.

"Oh wait!" she exclaimed. "Alex didn't tell him about that button under the ignition. If he doesn't hit that, it's not going to start."

Her frowned deepened and she sighed in irritation.

"I'd better go out there before he gets pissed off and fries the engine," she said, putting her coat on.

"Thanks Isabel!" she called out.

"Max, I'm sure I'll be seeing you around," she said with a smirk, as she walked out the door.

I shook my head in mock exasperation as I looked at Max.

"I'm not ready to say goodnight," he said in a low voice.

I smiled at him, ridiculously happy that he'd said that.

"I'm not either, but you need some sleep, and Alex and Maria need some away time. I think too much Isabel and Michael at once will make their brains explode, for different reasons," I chuckled.

Max's mouth lifted on one side in an uncharacteristic lopsided grin. I thought it looked wonderful on him.

I pulled a card out of my pocket.

"My cell number is on here, in case you need to reach me," I said, handing it to him. He took it, looking at it for a minute before putting it in his pocket.

He stepped closer to me, and my heart started to beat faster in anticipation.

"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" he asked in a low voice.

I nodded, looking up at him.

I could feel his breath on my face, his lips lowering to meet mine, something I'd been waiting for him to do again all night.

But I wasn't prepared for that same jolt of emotions coming from him when his lips brushed against mine. It was turbulent, confusing, so many feelings at once; fear, longing, sadness, regret, love, desire....

I felt like I couldn't breathe with the intensity of it, but I didn't even care, because I was feeling Max, my Max, and it wasn't dulled, or harnessed. It was just… him.

His tongue caressed my lips and I didn't hesitate, and met it with mine.

I don't think there was, or ever will be anything to compare with kissing Max Evans.

"Hey, are you ready?"

Alex.

We practically jumped apart, but I couldn't take my eyes off of Max.

"Did you..." I started to asked.

"What?" he asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

I shook my head. Now wasn't the time to get into it.

"Nothing." I mumbled, turning to Alex, who was clearly embarrassed for interrupting us.

"Sorry," he mouthed.

At that moment, Michael came storming into the house.

"Michael?" Isabel said, coming out of the kitchen drying her hands with a towel.

He just shook his head and brushed passed her headed for his room.

We all looked at each other in confusion.

Max shrugged.

"Well, I guess we should go," I said reluctantly.

"Thanks for having us Isabel," Alex said, shoving his hands in his front pockets.

And then, it was like one second she was standing there, and the next she had her arms around him.

"Thanks for coming," she said quickly, backing away. Alex's shocked-yet-goofy expression was not lost on me.

I was reluctant to let Max's hand go, and I was pretty certain he felt the same way, but I couldn't think of any excuses to linger any longer.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Well goodnight," I said, stepping back. He held onto my fingers for a second before letting them go.

"'Night," he said softly.

I smiled at him and followed Alex out the door, glancing one back one last time to meet his eyes, and I thought to myself that it was going to be a long night.

[Majesty]

I barely had a moment to think about it, because Maria was looking at us impatiently from the front passenger seat.

She barely kept her indignant growl in check until after we closed the doors.

"Argh!" she hissed, furious.

"Ok, why are you going all PMS on us? What happened?" Alex asked, starting the car.

"Ugh, I don't even want to discuss it. Just get me the hell out of here," Maria hissed.

I stifled the urge to laugh, which I knew would only set Maria off again. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Michael had found some new way to tick her off.

With an indignant huff, Maria turned the radio up, and we drove the short distance to the hotel.

Alex caught my eye in the rearview mirror, and grimaced.

I bit my lip and turned away, looking out the window. I knew Maria would tell us when she was good and ready and...coherent.

We checked into the hotel, and found our room. We all decided to share, since half the time we were at each other's apartments anyway.

We unpacked our stuff and just hung out on the bed watching movies.

Maria gradually came out of her funk but she still wouldn't talk about whatever had happened outside Isabel's house. Alex and I knew better than to push it.

It took us getting through all of "X-Men 4" and half of "Dead Man Walking" before they finally caved and asked me about Max. I had to give them credit. I didn't think they'd last that long.

It wasn't that I didn't want to talk about Max...but, well I didn't want to really talk about it too much just yet. It was too close, too new.

I couldn't hold out on them though. They'd traveled halfway across the country with me.

"So, are we going to sit here all night, or are you going to tell us what happened?" Maria finally asked from the other bed, impatient.

I sat up and leaned against the headboard.

Alex was looking up at me in curiosity from his spot lying next to me.

I sighed.

"Obviously, we talked," I said.

"And?" Maria prompted.

"And nothing. We're going to give it a try," I said, shrugging.

"That's all? That's all your going to tell us?" Maria asked, completely exasperated.

"I don't know what else there is to tell," I said, pulling on a piece of thread that had come loose on the comforter.

Maria looked at me infuriated.

"Ok, ok," I said. "It was kind of touch and go for a little bit. Max thinks that he might be putting me in danger because of what he is."

"Well, we don't know that isn't true," Maria said.

"Maria," Alex said in a warning tone.

"What?" she snapped. "We don't know for sure..."

"Anyway," I interjected, "we talked, and....I think that there's a chance for us. Max has been through a lot, and the whole thing is really complicated. I'm just going to take things day by day."

"And what about your job? What about your life Liz?" Maria asked. "What about that?"

"Maria, I can't think past tomorrow. I'm not worried about that right now. I'm on a leave, so it's no big deal," I said.

"She has a point, Liz," Alex said, squinting up at me. "I mean, what happens if this whole thing doesn't work out? What then? You can't drop your life for him."

"I thought you guys were on my side," I said, suddenly angry.

"We are on your side!" Alex said, clearly offended. "Why do you think Maria's asking you? Because she wants to rain on your parade?"

I felt my anger deflate. I knew they were only looking out for me, trying to be the friends I had always counted on. But they didn't know everything, and it wasn't my place to tell them.

"I'm not going to drop my life guys, I promise," I said quietly. "I just...I need some time. I need some time with Max, and then I'll figure it all out along the way."

"We just don’t want to see you hurt, Liz," Maria said. "I like Max. I really do. But I like you more, and I've known you longer. You're like a sister to me."

"I know," I said, feeling my eyes fill with tears. This whole keeping the truth from them was going to be harder than I thought.

"Ok," Alex said, holding his hands up, "it's getting way too emotional in here. I think we're all overtired and should get some sleep."

It was a mutual unspoken agreement to let it go for the evening and we all decided to turn in. Alex turned the light off, and soon I was the only one awake.

As tired as I felt earlier, I couldn't seem to fall asleep. I just couldn't stop thinking about Max, and everything that had happened earlier.

I nearly jumped when my cell phone started to ring.

I picked it up quickly, afraid that it was going to wake Maria and Alex.

"Hello?" I whispered.

"Hey."

I couldn't help the smile that broke over my face hearing Max's voice.

"Hey," I answered in a low voice. "Can you hold on a sec?"

"Sure."

I crept to the bathroom, turning on the light and shutting the door. I slide down to the floor against the cabinets.

"Is everything ok?" I asked, concerned.

"Yeah. I just couldn't sleep," he said.

"Me too," I answered.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. It's just been an eventful day I guess."

"Yeah, it has."

There was a short silence where neither one of us knew what to say, and then he broke it.

"I was going to ask, but I never got the chance. How long are you going to stay?"

I closed my eyes, thinking of the strange parallels between this conversation and the one I had just had with Alex and Maria.

"I don't know," I admitted. "When I decided to come out here, I didn't really think about it. I took a leave from work, but I didn't tell them how long I'd be gone. I didn't really plan this out well. This isn't like me."

"What isn't like you?" he asked, sounding curious.

"This...being spontaneous. I'm usually the one with the plan," I said sheepishly.

I heard him laugh over the phone.

"What?" I asked, suddenly feeling indignant.

"You weren't always like that, Liz Parker," he said.

"Come on Max. I was always the one who was prepared for class. I was the only one who had everything done early," I said.

"I wasn't thinking about that," he said softly.

"What were you thinking about?" I asked, truly curious.

"I was thinking about Graduation day," he said. "When you were giving your speech. You were looking at me when you gave it. I wasn't completely sure until the end. And when I came and found you, I felt so stupid standing there, because Kyle was there. I would have just left, but you..."
"Yeah," I said, remembering my spontaneous embrace.

"I was so jealous of Kyle," he admitted.

"We were broken up by then," I said.

"But I didn't know that," he chided. "As far as I was concerned, he had everything I ever wanted."

I smiled, feeling a blush creep up my cheeks.

"I was jealous of Tess too," I admitted.

"There was never anything between us," he said.

"I know that now, but I didn't know then. I thought that...maybe if I was impulsive that one time, if I just put myself out there," I said.

"It wasn’t you, it was me," he said with a sigh. "You have no idea how long I thought about those few seconds, how many times I thought about it when everything else was falling down around me."

"I thought about it too, for a long time," I said, feeling a pang of loss for that missed opportunity.

He didn't say anything, but I knew what he was thinking.

"I'm glad I came out here Max," I said, chewing on my lower lip.

"I'm glad you came out too," he said softly. "Go get some sleep. I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

"You too," I said. "I'll see you tomorrow Max."

I wanted to tell him I loved him. I already had once today, but I don't know, I guess I was afraid that it would be too much.

"I miss you," I said instead.

"I miss you too," he replied, and I heard a slight crack in his voice.

"'Night," he whispered.

"Goodnight Max," I said softly, and hung up the phone.

[Majesty]

Genesis V

*~Michael~*

How does everything go from calm to an argument so quickly? The answer: when it has anything to do with Hurricane Deluca.

It was all over a stupid button. And now, I can admit it a lot of it was my fault, but then, well, I was so confused and pissed off I couldn't even think straight.

I don't know anything about foreign cars. I ride a motorcycle. So how was I supposed to know about the stupid button under the wheel?

All I know was that I was trying to start the damned car and the key wouldn't turn. First I thought it was the steering wheel, that it might have been turned too much and it locked the steering column. I sat there like a dumb-ass trying everything I could think of, and nothing worked.

Then Maria just casually strolls out and opens the passenger door and sits down.

She has this look on her face.

"Problem?" she said, with that smirk and lift of the brow that drove me nuts.

I was stuck. Yeah, there was a problem, but I didn't want her to know that there was one.

I was ready to use my powers before she came out, to try and figure out the problem, but I didn't want to freak her out. Besides, my head was all over the place with her sitting next to me, and I was afraid I might do more damage than good.

So I attempted it the normal way.

I tried turning the key, praying that some miracle would happen and it would turn the engine over, so I wouldn't look like an asshole.

The Gods weren't smiling on me.

I saw her trying not to laugh, and that pissed me off even more.

I'd been so confused then, not knowing what to do with these new feelings, or old feelings I guess. I didn’t know what kind of feelings they were.

On some level I couldn't believe that those other versions of me had gotten involved with her.
I had never in this lifetime felt anything for anyone the way that I now know I felt for her. I know that Isabel and I were supposedly married on Antar, but thinking of her as anything other than a sister was inconceivable to me.

I had been, for all intents and purposes, alone all my life. I knew that Max and Isabel cared for me, but they couldn't really understand what it was to be me, to be living my life. I didn't really blame them, though sometimes I resented them for their picture-perfect life with the Evans.

I didn't think I was capable of loving anyone the way that I had loved Maria. And the thought that I did, that I had put my heart in her hands, in anyone's hands, was terrifying, and I didn't know how to handle it.

With a few words and an understanding look earlier, she told me that she understood. But I didn't want her to understand. I didn't want anyone to.

I never really looked at her twice in high school, but I couldn't help watching her at dinner. Her hair was short again, and she...I don't know, she glowed. How else can I explain it? I'm not that good with words. I never was.

Going out to start the car was an excuse to be away from her. Because each minute I spent near her, reminded me more of all the things that had attracted me to her in the first place.

I hadn't counted on her following me outside. Damn car....

"Need help?" she asked, leaning back against the seat with a teasing look.

"I'm not stupid," I growled. "I can start a freakin' car."

I tried to twist the key again, and it wouldn't budge.

"Dammit," I cursed under my breath.

She reached over under the steering column, and pushed something.

"Try it now," she said, smiling.

I gritted my teeth and turned the key, and the engine started right up.

"There's a button under there," she said, and I could hear the laughter in her voice. She was mocking me.

That did it. I had been humiliated by a fucking button.

I shook my head trying to get a hold of my irritation, which was just about at the breaking point, and then I made my biggest mistake, by turning to glare at her.

"I can see that...now," I managed to get out.

She frowned.

"What's your problem?" she said.

"You let me sit here like an idiot, knowing...forget it," I muttered, looking out the windshield.

"Lighten up Michael. It was just a little fun. You do know what fun is, don't you?"

I don't know why that comment made me so angry. But it did.

"I guess I don't. I didn't have the luxury of messing around," I said, irritated. "I was too busy making sure I stayed alive."

I felt her eyes like they were burning holes into my skin, but I didn't look at her.

"That's pretty sad," she mused, finally.

"It was the way things were," I said, shrugging noncommittally, though inside I was feeling anything but.

"That doesn't mean it was fair," she pointed out quietly.

I swung my eyes toward her.

"Whoever said life was fair?" I snapped. I guess more than anything, I was angry that she had me talking about it.

"Life isn't fair. That's a lesson I learned right from the beginning," I said, and immediately realized I'd said too much.

I hadn't planned to have a discussion like this with her.

"Ditch the attitude," she sniped. "I'm just trying to say that I understand."

"No, you don't," I said gruffly. Maybe she understood the stuff with Hank, but she couldn't even begin to comprehend what my life had been like, what this life had been. And I wasn't about to tell her.

She crossed her arms over her chest angrily and I mentally cringed. I had started the fight all over again.

"Fine I don't. I don't know what it's like to be left behind. I don't know what it's like to feel inferior to your friends. I don't understand any of that," she seethed.

That hit a little too close to home.

"Who said I thought I was inferior to anyone?" I returned.

She shook her head, and I shut my eyes, knowing this had gone way too far. In my need to be defensive, I'd made her angry. I knew I should have just kept my mouth shut.

"Let me tell you something, you prickly son of a bitch," she said.

"I understand more than you think. You and I were a lot alike, as much as you don't want to believe it. The difference is, I didn't let it rule my life. You still are. You’re mean and nasty to people because you figure you'll hurt them before they hurt you. I'm not trying to hurt you. And you are not going to treat me like you did in high school. I don't let people treat me like that anymore. You don't like me? Fine! I'm not even sure I like you as a person. You're not exactly Mr. Personality either. Maybe if you attempted to be civil-" she ranted.

I sat there watching her work herself into a frenzy, running her mouth off, and I felt it. That exasperating tightness in my chest, that urge to kiss her and shut her up at the same time.

So I did.

I didn't even make a conscious decision to do it. It just happened.

I knew it was a mistake, but I couldn't stop. I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest, it was pounding so hard. That feeling of annoyance and attraction all at the same time was strange, but not exactly unfamiliar.

I had feelings of victory for a minute, that I'd actually shocked her into complete stillness.

My lips moved against hers, and her eyes fell closed. I don't even remember my hand reaching out to touch her neck, because all I could feel, sense, taste, was her. For an instant, she seemed like she was into it too, and then in the next, she pulled away, slamming me in the chest.

"Ow!" I said, rubbing my chest.

"What the hell was that? Who told you that you could do that?" she asked, outraged.

She was really pissed. She must have been, because she was breathing really hard.

"Someone had to shut you the hell up," I said, saying the first thing that came to mind, because the truth was, I didn't really know why I'd kissed her, and it terrified me.

I seriously thought fire was going to shoot out of her eyes, they were burning so green.

"I can't believe you!" she said, shaking her head. "How dare you!"

"You didn't exactly seem like you hated it," I said, dismissing her, my hand running through my hair.

But the truth was, I had no idea how she felt about it. Did she? Did she hate it?

"I was trying to be nice to you," she sputtered.

"So that's what they're calling bitching people out now?" I asked, with a snort. "Being nice?"

"You ...you...egotistical asshole!" she yelled. "What made you think that you would want to be kissed by...by a-"

"What, an alien?" I fired back.

"Don't put words in my mouth!" she returned.

"Whatever," I said angrily. "I get it."

I didn't want to hear anything else, and didn't want to wait around to hear about how much I repelled her.
So I got out of the car, her frustrated growl muffled as I slammed the door.

It was a mistake. What I did was a huge mistake.

Monumental.

She was right. What the hell had I been thinking? The truth was, I didn't know. I hadn't been thinking straight since I'd found out the whole truth. And it was scaring the hell out of me.

I didn't even look at anyone when I went into the house.

As I sat in my room that night, furious at myself for giving in to my human emotions, I realized that when it concerned Maria, all roads led to disaster.

She was freaked just because of what I was, and that was only the tip of the iceberg.

If she knew the truth, the whole truth, about the crystal, she'd run screaming. And the thought of that bothered me more than I wanted to admit, even to myself.


*~Max~*

I dreamt of Tess that night. That she was not dead, but still a part of my consciousness, taunting me, torturing me. That she would never leave me alone.

I dreamt that she was going to come for Liz.

I dreamt of Pierce, calling me a monster, while those men cut me, and Tess was there watching, taunting me.

I woke up in a sweat, terrified that it was all real, because I knew that Tess would have killed Liz without a second thought.

It took me a few minutes to realize that it was only in my mind.

My head knew that she was dead, but my heart...that was another issue altogether.

The first coherent thing that had popped into my head was that the whole day before had been a dream. That I was going to get up only to find my drawings and the cold, hard truth that I was still alone, that I would always be alone.

And I realized that terrified me more than anything, for all of my thoughts the day before of trying to push Liz away.

I needed her. I needed her more than I had even wanted to admit to myself.

Thinking back on it now, I messed up so many things that first week, we all did, the three of us.

I hadn't spoken to Liz, but Isabel had talked to Alex and they had made plans for all of us. She didn't bother to ask Michael, who hadn't emerged from his room since the night before.

I still didn't know what happened outside between him and Maria and by the furious look on his face when Isabel told him that they were coming over, I knew that whatever happened hadn't been good.

Isabel, Michael and I sat down for breakfast, and it was then that she told us that she'd spoken to Alex.

Isabel had invited them over for a cookout. And then she announced that she was taking the week off from classes.

Michael just shook his head.

"What?" she snapped, throwing an irritated look in his direction.

"You're getting pulled in Isabel," Michael growled.

"Getting pulled into what?" she asked. "I want to spend time with him while he's here."

"And what's going to come of that? Huh? Are you going to tell him the truth? Are you going to tell him that we got him killed in another lifetime? How do you think that's going to go over?" Michael snapped.

"Michael," I said in a warning tone, but it was too late.

Tears were already forming in her eyes. She stood abruptly and left the table.

"What's wrong with you?" I fired at him. "Why do you have to ruin this for her?"

"I'm trying to save her from getting hurt," Michael said angrily. "I thought you of all people would understand that."

It was a low blow.

"What's your problem?" I asked angrily.

"I don't have a problem. It seems like I'm the only one who's thinking sanely around here. Max, I know Liz cares about you, but what good is going to come of any of this?" he asked, shaking his head.

"Maybe being happy," I said quietly. "Don’t you want that, Michael, to be happy? You were, you know."

"And look at the price it came with," he retorted.

"This world isn't the same as those others," I said.

"And none of us are the same people either," Michael said, and I sensed there was more to that comment than he was saying. "So you got lucky. Liz accepted you for what you are...again. She knows the whole truth and she's ok with it. But that doesn't mean that Alex or Maria would be. They died in those other lifetimes, Max. They died because they knew us, because they loved us."

"You died too," I pointed out.

"It's different, and you know it," he said.

"What happened yesterday Michael? What's got you acting like this?" I asked, truly confused. Michael had always been the cynical one, but even this was over the top for him.

I had really thought that maybe seeing everything would make him realize everything all of us had gone through to get to this point.

"Nothing," he said, getting up. "I'm going to work."

"But-" I started.

"I'm going to work," he repeated angrily, not allowing me to say anything more.

The day hadn't started off on a good note, and suddenly I was afraid that it was only going to get worse as it went on.


*~Liz~*

I had no idea Alex had been up early talking to Isabel. I must have been so tired that I didn't hear the phone ring. Or maybe he called her. I found out later about the plans he made.

Though I must have slept deeply, it wasn't a peaceful sleep. I kept dreaming of Max strapped to that table at the Army compound. I dreamed of all the horrible things Pierce did to Max, things that no living being deserved to bear. And I dreamed of Tess. It was as if she weren't dead, and she was here because of Max. She hated him and she wanted him dead.

When I woke up, I was a little disoriented, and I felt as if I hadn't slept at all.

I was the only one in the room, but I heard water running in the bathroom. A moment later, it shut off, and Maria came out of the bathroom, toweling her hair.

"Morning," she said grumpily.

I wondered if her mood had carried over from the day before, or if this was because of something new.

"Where's Alex?" I asked, my legs dropping over the side of the bed as I sat up.

"He went to get some coffee and breakfast," Maria said, flopping down on the bed.

Her face was hidden by the towel on her head as she vigorously rubbed her hair with it.

"Want to talk about it?" I asked, and the rubbing ceased.

"I don't even want to think about it," she said from under the towel.

Just then Alex came into the room with a tray of coffee cups and a bag.

"Breakfast is served," he announced grandly, bowing at the waist.

I couldn't help but laugh. There's no way I can even begin to explain how much I love Alex.

He's my friend, my confidant and my soul-brother all in one. I wanted to see him happy, because he deserved it. I just hoped that things worked out with Isabel, for both of them.

"Give it here," Maria said, peeking out from under the towel with her hand out. Alex passed her a coffee, and she disappeared under it again.

"Oh no," I said, "you're not getting off that easy, Maria. If something's got you in this much of a funk, you'd better start explaining."

"Just drop it," Maria said. She didn't realize how comical she looked with the hotel towel draped over her head. I had to stifle my laugh, because I knew that if I did, it would only make things worse.

Alex set the coffee and bag on the dresser and reached over and plucked the towel from her head.

"I haff vays to make joo talk," Alex said in some kind of fake foreign accent.

She pursed her lips in an irritated gesture.

"Come on Maria. We let you have last night. You didn't really think we were going to let it go, did you?" I asked. "Tell us what happened."

Her shoulders slumped and she shook her head.

"Michael Guerin is the most obnoxious, irritating....bohunk I've ever met in my life," she said.

"Bohunk?" Alex said with a laugh, and Maria shot him a look.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"It's not like that's breaking news. Tell us something we don't know," he said, sitting down next to her.

"I don't even know what to think...what to...he kissed me," Maria burst out.

Whoa. I guess Michael moved fast in this lifetime too.

"And?" I prompted, not knowing what her reaction would be. Sure I knew how she'd reacted in alternate universes, but those people aren't the Maria sitting in front of me now.

"And he was completely out of line!" Maria sputtered. "One minute he was treating me like I was a piece of dirt, and the next he grabbed me and kissed me."

Alex bit the side of his mouth to keep from laughing. I shot him a warning glance.

"And?" I asked again.

"And I pushed him away and smacked him! Then he got all pissed off because of something I said, and he just stormed into the house," she said.

"What did you say?" Alex prompted.

"I didn't even get to finish what I was saying before he just like, threw words in my mouth," she said.

"What were you going to say?" I asked.

"I started to ask him what made him think that I wanted to be kissed by a...and he finished the sentence for me," she said.

"An alien?" I asked, cringing.

"Yeah," she said.

"And you weren't going to say that?" Alex asked.

"No I was," she said, shaking her head. "But I probably would have made it sound more politically correct."

"Maria," Alex groaned.

"I'm sorry, you know that stuff just comes out of my mouth. And anyway, I didn't say it, he did," she said.

"But you were thinking it," Alex said.

"So why are you mad at Michael? Because he said what you were thinking?" I asked.

Truthfully, I was a little disappointed in Maria. I thought that she would be more accepting. I thought she would be more like the person she was. But the next thing she said restored my faith.

"I wasn't thinking!" Maria snapped. "That's the whole point! It was a knee jerk reaction, because I wasn't expecting him to kiss me!"

"Maria, you're not making any sense," I said.

"I know!" she retorted. "One minute we're arguing, and the next he was kissing me, and he's so...so aggravating, and if he'd asked me I would have said no...and that kiss it was so...hot..."

Whoa again.

She groaned and shook her head.

"God, I'm so confused," she said, covering her face with her hands.

"Maria, does it really bother you? You know, what he is?" I asked.

"Yes...no, I don't know," she said miserably, looking up at the ceiling.

"That whole thing is so complicated Liz. Yes, for some god-forsaken reason I'm attracted to him. But hun, he's got issues. Major ones. The whole human/alien thing would be hard enough to deal with, without his attitude, or whatever you want to call it. I can't explain it. I felt something walking into that house yesterday, when I saw him. I don't know what it was, but there was something different about him," she mused. "Like, I had this feeling that he knows me, more than he could possibly know me. It was vague, and it sounds crazy, but I swear, that's what it was like."

For the first time, I wondered if Maria really did have a gift of sensitivity, like she claimed all those years. Alex and I humored her, but now I wondered. Could she have been getting some vague sense of those other lifetimes? From Michael? Or was Michael projecting it without even knowing it?

"So what are you going to do about it?" I asked.

"Nothing!" Maria said, looking at me as if I was crazy.

"Maria, obviously there's something there," Alex pointed out.

"He said he kissed me to shut me up," Maria grumbled.

"And you believe that?" I asked rhetorically.

"Look Liz, this isn't Max we're talking about here. Michael's just," she said, pausing.

"Different," I finished for her.

"Yeah," she sighed.

"I think you should talk to him," Alex piped up. "And you'll have the perfect opportunity to do it, because we got invited over for a cookout."

"Alex!" Maria said, exasperated. "You didn't even bother to ask me if I wanted to go. When was this planned?"

He shrugged.

"This morning when I talked to Isabel," he said.

"And when did you find the time to do that?" Maria asked.

"I was up early, and so was she," he said.

"Anyway, it's too late to back out now. She's probably already gone out to shop for the food. It would be rude of you not to come," he finished.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Maria said. "I'm staying here."

"You're going," Alex said. "The least you can do is straighten out what happened yesterday. I know you Maria. I know it's gonna eat at you. And if you're just friends, then you're just friends."

She sighed heavily.

"Fine. But if World War Three breaks out, don't say I didn't warn you," she muttered.


*~Max~*

I watched from the kitchen table as Isabel unpacked her groceries.

"Isabel," I said in a low voice, and she turned toward me with an overly bright smile. That smile fairly screamed that she was upset.

"Don’t let Michael get to you," I said.

"Where is he?" Isabel asked.

I sighed.

"He went to work," I said.

She shook her head. I could tell that it upset her, but she didn't say anything.

"Isabel, I know we didn't get to talk much last night, but," I paused. "I just wanted to say thank you, for going to see Liz, for trusting her with the crystal. If you hadn't-"

She put her hand up.

"Max, after everything you've been through, you deserve to be with Liz. You both deserve to be happy," she said.

"So do you," I said, as she averted her eyes.

She shrugged, not looking at me.

"It's all just...complicated," she said, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face.

I nodded.

She didn't need to tell me how complicated things were. I was the King of complicated.

"But you have feelings for him," I said.

She dropped her hands into her palms.

"Yeah," she paused. "God this is such a messed up situation. I know I do, but how can I feel this strongly? We've talked on the phone, but yesterday was the first time we've really even spent any time together. My feelings are all tied up in those other lives, and I don't even know if he could feel that way about me now. It's different; the situation was different. Then we sort of all had to stick together. But we don't now, and, he doesn't know everything, and I don't know if I can show him."

"Just take it day by day Isabel. That's what I have to do," I said. "If I look too far ahead, I think I'll be paralyzed. It's too frightening, the thought of what could happen."

"What about Michael?" she asked a touch of anger in her voice.

I sighed.

"Michael's got to do what's good for Michael," I said.

A knock at the front door interrupted us, and Isabel got up to answer it.

My heart was racing just in the anticipation of seeing Liz again.

I had decided that today was the day I would start my new life.

Nothing, none of it mattered, as long as I had Liz.

I didn't care about the past, or anything that had happened before. I wanted to live in the moment, to simply be. I had spent so much time worrying about what had happened, what might happen. I wanted to forget all of it, as if it never existed.

I heard their voices in the hall, and I heard Liz's laughter, and my heart sang.

I stood in the doorway of the kitchen unobserved for the moment, and just drank in the sight of her. She was talking with Alex and Isabel, smiling that beautiful smile that had always made my soul sing.

She laughed again at one of Alex's jokes, and then she noticed me standing there, and her smile grew, lighting up her eyes.

She was more beautiful to me in that moment than she had ever been.

She broke away from the others, her eyes never leaving mine, and it was as if everything else faded away but her.

"Hi," she said softly, looking up at me.

"Hey," I answered, as she shyly rose on her toes, her eyes falling closed as our lips met. My hands seemed to move of their own volition, sliding through her hair to the back of her neck.

It had always been so easy to lose myself in Liz Parker, and today was no exception. I hadn't been able to stop thinking of her since the moment I woke up. The feel of her lips against mine, her hair falling over my fingertips, her hands at my waist, were a welcome distraction from the worries that had plagued me this morning.

She broke the kiss and moved into my arms, her fingers clasped loosely at the small of my back. I rested my cheek atop the silky hair at the crown of her head, and closed my eyes, not wanting to do anything further than to simply be. For having Liz in my arms was as close to perfect as my life could possibly get.

It was Maria's voice that broke the spell.

"Where's Michael?" she asked, and I pulled away from Liz regretfully to glance over at Isabel.

This wasn't going to be good.

[Majesty]

I know, I know, there isn't too much M/L in this one, but this is the way this part wrote itself. I am going to need a good part of the next installment to deal with what happens between the two of them in this one.

As always, thank you to Elizabeth for her wonderful beta skills.


Genesis VI.

*~Isabel~*

I don't think either Max or myself knew what to say when Maria asked about Michael.

"Um...he had to go into work," Max said slowly.

"Will he be back later?" Alex asked me.

"Maria has something she wants to talk to him about," he continued pointedly, glancing at Maria before he turned back to me.

I couldn't speak for a moment, forgetting what he was asking me when his mischievous blue eyes met mine.

How could I have missed them in high school? How could I have passed him every day in the hallway, not realizing just how special he was? Those broad shoulders had always been there for me to lay my head upon, and he had always, without a thought, opened his arms to me when he knew I needed his embrace.

I no longer had the luxury of any that.

His mouth quirked up in a lopsided smile, waiting for me to answer...what was it he was asking me?

Michael, yeah.

I bit my lip. Leave it to Michael to disappear, leaving us to pick up the pieces. I was still angry with him for what he said earlier, and this didn't make me like him any more.

Plus, I knew something had happened between him and Maria last night. He wouldn't tell us, but it was the only conclusion, bringing up what he did this morning. And Maria wanting to talk to him only confirmed it.

"I don't know," I admitted. "They're behind over there already. Two guys called in sick this week."

It wasn't a lie. Michael had told us that two guys weren't in. I didn't, however, think that Michael taking his vacation would have really left them in that much of a lurch at the school. Most sports were indoors at that time of year, so it had been a good time for him to take it.

"Does he get a dinner break?" Liz asked, and Maria shot her a murderous look.

"Yeah, usually around six," Max said, looking down at her.

"Good," Liz said. "Then maybe Maria can bring him dinner."

"I don't think-" Maria started.

I caught on to what Liz and Alex were trying to do.

"That would be great Maria," I said, with a smile. "He ran out of here this morning without his lunch, and they aren't allowed to leave the school for break, so I'm sure he'll be starving. Besides, he'd probably love the company."

I backed her into a corner. So I laid it on a little thick about Michael loving company....

Her mouth opened and closed, and I could see her trying to think of a way to get out of it.

"Ok, yeah, I can do that," she said finally.

"Great," I said.

*****

Max had offered to take Maria and Liz out to show them the hills behind the house, but I knew he'd done it to give Alex and I some time alone.

Alex had offered to barbecue everything, and a half-hour later, we found ourselves in the backyard while he started the grill.

I sat at the small table we still had outside despite the cold weather, wrapped in a fleece jacket, Alex crouched at the grill trying to figure out why the pilot wasn't working.

He paused and looked around the grill at me.

"You ok?" he asked. "You're kind of quiet today."

I shrugged.

"It's just been a lot to take in....you know, that past few weeks. I guess I'm just...tired," I said, resting my head on my palms.

"That had to have been weird, you know, finding out that Max was alive after all this time, and then the whole thing with Tess," he said.

"Finding Max was a good kind of weird," I said.

Finding out about Alex, and what he was to me was another good kind of weird, but I of course kept that to myself. Because, for all the wonder it brought me, Michael was right. How could I tell him the truth; that he died because of us?

"I still haven't really dealt with how Tess betrayed all of us. I don’t know if I'll ever really come to terms with it," I said.

Alex nodded.

"Understandable," he said. "I never liked her. I mean, not that I knew her that well, but there was something about her...something not right."

He didn't know the half of it.

"Yeah well, I wish we'd been as perceptive as you were," I said, dismissing it. I really didn't want to get into a deep discussion about Tess, considering she was his killer in another lifetime.

"Are you sorry that you can't go back? You know, to your planet?" he asked, squinting his eyes against the sun, looking up at me.

I took a deep breath and thought about it before I answered. There were so many emotions tied up in my feelings for what had once been my home.

"I don't think so," I said finally. "After what happened to Max there, knowing what our lives had been like, I don't think going back would have been anything but disastrous. Besides, my family, the people I care about are here. I don't think I could leave them, not anymore."

"Yeah," Alex said wistfully. "I was panicking leaving my family for New York, and that's only a couple of hours on a plane. Light years have got to be in a completely different realm as far as homesickness goes. I mean, it's not like you could say 'You know what? I'm missing my mom's cooking. I'm just going to take the keys to the ship, I'll be back in a few years.'"

I smiled at him.

"The only thing I wouldn't miss is my mom's cooking," I said with a guilty laugh.

"Ah, so Mrs. Evans is "The Terminator" in the kitchen, huh?" he asked with a grin.

"You have no idea," I said, rolling my eyes.

He disappeared behind the grill again, and a moment later he was muttering incoherently.

"What's going on?" I asked, rising from the table and walking over to stand beside him.

"I don't know. It's like the pilot is clicking, but it won't go on. There's definitely propane in here," he said, frowning, clicking the igniter again.

"Let me have a look," I said, crouching beside him.

I peered up under the grill, as Alex hit the button again.

"I doesn't look like it's getting a spark," I said.

Looking back on it now, I know it was a mistake, but I wasn't thinking rationally. Maybe some masochistic part of me wanted Alex to see what I was, what I could do. Like, I needed it to be real for him, if he was ever going to be prepared for the whole truth anytime in the future.

I used my energy to create a spark, and then a flame at the end of my finger, much like Michael had done for Hal Carver. Alex had this sort of transfixed look on his face as I stuck my finger near the pilot, and then it ignited. I didn't realize how high Alex had turned the propane up, and a small wave of blue flames shot from the grill, hitting Alex's wrist.

He jumped up as his sleeve caught fire, waving it around trying to put it out. I grabbed a hand towel that was on the table and threw it around his forearm, putting the flame out.

"God Alex! I'm so sorry," I said in a shaky voice.

He shook his head, stepping back.

"It was my fault," he said, with a wince. "I had the gas up too high. I wasn't paying attention."

"Let me see," I said, stepping close.

"It'll be fine," he said, trying to dismiss it. I could see that he was embarrassed.

"Please," I said quietly, meeting his eyes.

He paused, and then took his hand off of the towel.

I took it off carefully, and couldn't stifle my gasp. His wrist was already blistering.

"Oh Alex," I said.

I was so angry with myself. Tears welled in my eyes at my own stupidity.

What had I been trying to prove?

"It's nothing," he said.

"It's not nothing!" I said. "This could be a third degree burn!"

I shook my head.

"God, what's wrong with me?" I said angrily, swiping the tears off of my cheek, looking at the blistering on his wrist. "I can't believe I did that. I can't even do anything about this. I can't even heal you!"

I knew he must have been in a lot of pain, so I was shocked when he tilted my chin up with his finger.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Isabel," he said softly. "I'm going to be fine."

I looked into his eyes and saw no fear, no accusation, only the gentle trust he had always had in me. Trust that I hadn't deserved.

It hurt to look upon it.

"When Max gets back, I'll ask him to look at it. He can still heal small things," I said, lowering my eyes. "In the meantime, at least let me clean and wrap it."

He nodded, and followed me into the house. I went into the bathroom looking for burn cream and bandages, and took a moment to pull myself together. I couldn't believe what had happened.

When I returned, Alex had seated himself on the counter.

Without a word, unable to even look at Alex, I began unwrapping the bandage. After taking off a piece, I wet it with cool water.

"This might hurt," I said, as I pressed it on to his wrist. I heard the slight hiss as the cotton hit the burn.

"Sorry," I mumbled, feeling another round of tears ready to fall.

I opened the tube of cream, and squeezed some of the medication out onto some gauze.

I cradled his wrist palm up in my hand, and I just...froze. I had worked myself up to the point where I couldn't function, in trying to maintain what little control over my emotions I still had.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered again, in a hitched sob, my eyes trained on his wrist.

"Hey," he said softly. I was stunned to feel his fingers glide through my hair at my temple. I was afraid to look at him, but more afraid not to.

I raised my head slowly to meet his gaze, and my breath caught in my throat.

"It's all right," he whispered with a gentle smile. "I'm fine. Ok?"

Being this close to him was wreaking havoc on me. My heart was thundering so hard, I thought for sure that he could hear it.

His smile faded a bit as he looked into my eyes, and my own eyes fell to his lips. I don't know which of us leaned toward the other, maybe it was both of us, but my eyes fell closed, waiting to feel his lips on mine, for real, for the first time, this Alex, and this version of me.

He was so close I could feel his breath fanning my face....

"Alex!"

My eyes snapped open, as I moved away from him quickly, my head snapping toward the voice.

"Oh my God, what happened to your wrist?"


*~Liz~*

Our walk was pretty uneventful, not that I minded.

Max quietly pointed out different wildlife while the three of us took our walk, but Maria had been silent pretty much the whole time.

I guess she was mentally trying to prepare herself for seeing Michael. I could tell she was really freaked out about it. You knew Maria was beyond when she wasn't speaking.

Max held my hand, and I felt his warm presence next to me, though he, too, didn't say much.

I didn't care. I was content with the way that our arms bumped companionably when we walked, the way that he adjusted his gait to fit mine.

I looked up at Max's profile in wonder. This quiet man had loved me so much that he risked everything to save my life.

I still couldn't get my head around that.

I now knew that Seeraynah had manipulated events to an extent in this lifetime. She had hired the man who had stabbed me.

She had put Max in that same position once again, one in which he could choose to save me, or let me die, and he'd healed me without a second thought, just as he had that first time in the Crashdown.

I didn't want to think of the consequences if things hadn't played out the way they did. If he hadn't healed me, he would have failed his test. Had he not given me that energy, it would have killed him, and if I had chosen to ignore the letters, Max too would be dead now, by Tess' hand. That had to mean something.

I couldn't help but feel a little resentment toward Seeraynah and the Granolith for that. Then again, if she hadn't interfered, I'm certain that Max would be dead right now, and I would never have known the wonder of his love.

But I was glad that Seeraynah was gone, that she had gone back to Antar. I was glad that we were finally free to be just who we were, and I knew together we could be something amazing. But Max needed healing, and not the physical kind. I wondered if he would ever fully recover from what he'd been through. I could see the scars of it in his gaze.

Still, I knew what a big step it was for him to even be here with me.

It was sweet of him to give Alex and Isabel a way to have some time together. We hadn't really talked about any of the others, but I knew Max wanted both Isabel and Michael to be happy.

When we returned from the walk, the grill was on, but neither Alex nor Isabel was outside.
Maria opened the back door, and I paused to lift my hand to his cheek, stroking it with my thumb. So much feeling passed between us without words. A touch, a look said plainly what we didn’t voice.

He took my hand and pressed it to his lips, before lowering both to his side, following Maria inside.

We walked in to find Isabel jumping away from Alex, a guilty blush on her face.

Leave it to Maria. She hadn't even seen what she'd interrupted. All she was Alex's partially bandaged wrist.

She rushed over to look at Alex's hand, and Max looked at Isabel questioningly.

"Alex...Alex got burned. Max, do you think you could take a look at it?" Isabel stammered.

I felt Max's arm stiffen. For an instant, I felt his discomfort as clearly as if it were my own, his fear that Alex might not want to be healed by him, that he would be frightened by the idea of it. And just as quickly, it was gone, as if he'd flipped a switch.

I decided that I had to talk to Max about it, when we were alone.

"Um...yeah. Yeah I guess," Max said. "If Alex is ok with it."

Alex shrugged.

"Hey man, if you can fix it, more power to you," he said.

Max's hand relaxed in mine, and I knew it was going to be all right.

"What happened?" Maria asked, clearly worried.

"It was an accident," Alex said, looking at Isabel. "It's not as bad as it looks. I burned it on the grill."

Max walked over and looked at the burn.

"I don't know if I can heal the whole thing," he admitted. "My powers..."

"Yeah, Isabel told me," Alex said. "It's ok. Whatever you can do is cool."

Max laid his hand over the burn, and Alex winced.

"Sorry," Max said in apology.

"Um...you're gonna have to look at me," Max said. "It's the only way it works."

Alex nodded, and they seemed to stare at each other for a long moment. Then Max's hand began to glow.

At first, it was amazing to watch him. Each moment with him, each time I saw him give of himself, I fell a little more in love with him.

But then his breathing grew harsh, and his skin seemed to go chalk white almost instantaneously.

"Max," Isabel said, growing concerned. "Max, stop."

But he didn't stop. The glowing of his hand wavered and then grew steady again.

I could see what it was taking out of him to heal Alex, yet he wasn't letting go. When his body leaned hard against the counter, I had seen enough.

I rushed to his side, seeing that he still hadn't let go. Alex was looking at me, almost scared, seeing what was happening to Max because of the healing, and tried to pull his wrist away, but Max kept a hold on it.

"Max," I said. "Let go."

It was as if he hadn't heard me, his eyes glazing over.

"Man, it's all right," Alex said, looking at him. "It's a hundred percent better, I swear. You can stop."

He ignored all of us, and when his breath turned into gasping wheezes a few seconds later, I moved in front of Alex, blocking Max's view.

I touched his arm, and immediately felt dizzy. It was then that I saw the full implication of what he was doing. I felt what he was feeling, and it was literally killing him, draining his life-force in healing Alex, and if he didn't stop soon, there would be no turning back.

"Max please," I pleaded, feeling the room sway before me. "Let go. Don't do this."

"Max!" Isabel cried, pulling on his shoulder. Maria stood by, ashen-faced, her hand over her mouth in disbelief.

"Max, let go," I whispered. "It's enough."

His gaze grew focused for a second, and then his knees buckled. I caught him before he fell to the floor. Alex jumped off of the counter.

"Is he all right?" Alex asked, concern lacing his features.

"Max," Isabel said, looking for any response, but he seemed dazed, unfocused.

I reached out and touched his cheek, and his eyes locked on my face.

"Liz," he said weakly, and I got another surge of emotion from him, like an electrical current. He didn't want to be a spectacle. He wanted me to take him away from the others.

"He's ok," I breathed, still feeling it traveling the circuits of my brain.

"I'm just going to take him inside," I said. He leaned heavily on me, and I put my arm around his waist.

"Just make sure that Alex is ok," I said over my shoulder.

I helped him down the hall to his room, kicking the door shut behind me, easing him on to the bed. His skin was clammy, and too pale.

I brushed his sweat-drenched hair from his head, and he swallowed convulsively.

"Max, what were you thinking?" I asked desperately. "You could have killed yourself."

"I had to," he said, between ragged breaths.

I could see that he was extremely upset about something, but I didn't know what it was.

"Max, it was just a burn," I reminded him. "You went too far. You can't heal like you used to."

"You don't understand," he croaked, shaking his head. "I had to."

He took a labored breath.

"When I connected with him Liz, I saw him. I saw him like you see him, like I'd known him all of my life. I saw who he is, the kind of person he is. I never knew in that other lifetime, what he was like, why he was so special to you and Maria. He was dead, and I never even knew," he said in a hitching sob, his face crumpling. "He gave his life for us, and I barely knew him."

"Max, what was this supposed to be? Payback for whatever happened in that other lifetime? You have to let it go. We can't change any of it," I said, pressing my cheek against his hair, fighting my own tears.

"Alex is here now. He's alive," I whispered. "And you have the chance to know him now, if you want it. But you can't do this. It's going to kill you."

I leaned my head lower to see his face, running my fingers through his hair.

"Max, please...talk to me," I pleaded in a whisper.

Isabel knocked on the door.

"Liz?" she called.

"Max is ok, Isabel. Just give us a few minutes," I called to her. I heard her footsteps retreat back down the hall.

And then, Max did something I never expected.

He leaned forward, burying his face against my chest, and I wrapped my arms around without a second thought, horrified at what he'd almost done.

I felt his shoulders shaking with silent sobs, and my heart went out to him. He was carrying so much guilt on his shoulders some of it things he had no control over, and I knew that there was nothing I could say that would lessen any of it.

So I did the only thing I could do. I held him, my tears falling with his.


*~Michael~*

The last person I expected to see walking across the field was Maria.

I cut the motor on the BobCat as she got closer.

I had no idea what the hell she was doing, but I didn't want her there. Everything seemed to get muddy when she was around, and I couldn't afford that. Things were messed up enough as it was.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, not even bothering to try to hide the fact that her presence was unwelcome.

"I brought you dinner, from Isabel," she said.

"Just leave it," I said, starting the BobCat again.

"We have to talk Michael!" she shouted.

I cut the engine again, keeping my eyes on the grass in front of me.

"I'm not in the mood for a conversation," I said, surprised at how angry I sounded. "Besides, I'm on the clock."

"Well I have something to say to you, and don't even try to tell me you don't get a dinner break, because I've already been inside, and the rest of them are taking one," she said.

I shook my head.

"What do you want?" I asked, turning toward her angrily. The fact that she looked beyond hot today, dressed in low-rider jeans and one of those tiny shirts that showed off her belly pissed me off even further.

"Do ya think you could down come out of that thing?" she snapped, looking up at me.

That was the last thing I wanted to do.

"What, are you afraid of little old me?" she goaded.

"Fine," I muttered, swinging out of the seat. I jumped out, leaning against its metal side.

"What?" I barked. "I don't have all day."

She shook her head, her mouth scrunching up into that weird shape just like it always did when she was frustrated.

She began to pace back and forth in front of me, another habit I remembered.

I sighed, irritated, and she suddenly turned to face me.

"I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. I didn't mean...well I sort of did, but it wasn't really that, you know, the alien thing that had me freaked out," she blurted, a frown crossing her features. "Well, I don't know if it's alien-related, but it's not the alien thing per se-"

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, exasperated.

She was making absolutely no sense.

She took a deep breath, and looked up at the sky.

"Look, I don't know how to say this, because I know it sounds crazy," she faltered.
She shook her head almost violently.

"Screw it, I'm just going to anyway. I've been getting these vibes from you," she started.

"Vibes?" I scoffed.

"Let me finish! You have this habit of cutting me off, and I don't like it. So just...shut up for a minute, and when I'm done you can say what you want," she snapped.

I folded my arms across my chest.

"This ought to be good," I thought.

"Go ahead," I said.

"Yesterday, I got this feeling, like there was something different about you," she said.

"Without stating the obvious...hello! The alien thing?" I said.

"Quiet!" she retorted.

She paused.

"I don't mean that. The alien thing. Michael, back in Roswell, we were strangers to each other, right?" she asked.

I nodded without a word, fearing her wrath if I spoke.

"Right," she mused. "But yesterday, I got this feeling like we weren't. Something was different, something in your eyes, the way you were looking at me. Like you knew things about me, things that nobody knows."

At this point, my heart was pounding furiously. She couldn't know what I knew. She couldn't have sensed that...could she?

"You can't read minds, can you?" she asked, a little fearfully.

I shook my head.

"No," I said gruffly, shifting my feet.

"Good," she said, clearly relieved.

And then her frown reappeared.

"But you not being a mind-reader doesn't explain away any of what I just said," she said.

It must have been me, some look I was giving her, some expression on my face that was letting her know that I knew more than I was letting on.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said flatly. "Just because I'm not all human, doesn't mean that I'm some Swami guy. I can't read your mind, and I don't think I'd ever understand the way your mind works anyway, so don't have a cow over it."

I wasn't exactly lying. I couldn't read her mind. But I had seen parts of her life through flashes in the crystal. Not this life, but still....

I had to be more careful.

She just stood there and stared at me.

"What?" I finally burst out, unable to stand it any longer.

"It wasn't only me that was afraid yesterday, was it?" she asked in a low voice.

"Again...I have no clue what you're talking about," I snorted.

"I wasn't expecting you to...kiss me," she said. "But you weren't either, were you?"

There were two ways I could have gone here. I could have either stuck to my story that I had planned it, to shut her up, or I could tell the truth, that I had no idea why I had done it, that it was spur of the moment.

I didn't know which was the right one.

"It just happened, didn't it?" she asked, stepping closer, and I glared at her.

"Because for some strange reason, I'm finding myself attracted to you. There's something about you..." she trailed off, her forward gaze meeting mine. For the first time, I felt like she could see me. The "me" I hid from everyone, and it scared the hell out of me.

"When I look at you Michael, I see a guy with...issues. Lots of 'em," she said. "And that scares me more than what kind of cells you've got growing in that bod of yours."

She stepped even closer, so close that our bodies were almost touching. I had nowhere to go, backed up against the Cat.

"I know there's something you're not telling me," she said. "There's something else going on here, because you never once looked at me like you did yesterday when we were back in high school."

"You're nuts," I breathed.

"You're scared," she retorted softly.

"But that’s ok," she whispered, and her fingers framed my face. "I'm scared too. I don't want to get hurt, Michael."

"Then why are you here?" I asked, cursing the wavering I heard in my voice.

"I don't know," she said softly, and her eyes fell to my lips. "I didn't want to come at first. I tried to get out of it. But now that I'm here..."

I wasn't thinking straight. I wasn't thinking at all really, save the shock that she was standing here, this close to me, and she was making a move on me.

"Now that you're here, what?" I asked, knowing I sounded lame. Exactly how many times was I going to repeat the word "what"?

"Now that I'm here," she whispered, and her hands slid around my neck, and her lips were on mine.

The entire front of her body was pressed against mine, so warm and soft. It seemed so natural when my hands fell on the soft skin of her lower back, pinning her against me.

Her low moan as my tongue slid against hers made my blood race.

The feeling was so familiar, and then the other times I had felt the same adrenaline rush flashed through my mind. Like on the floor of the Crashdown after closing during a heat wave, in the eraser room at the high school, at the old soap factory, making love in my apartment.

When she pulled away from me suddenly, I was disoriented.

"What was that Michael?" she said, gasping for breath, stepping away from me.

"What?" I asked, trying to catch my own breath.

"I saw you and me...the two of us together, what was that? What's going on?" she asked.

I heard the fear in her voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, looking away.

"I saw it Michael, at the Crashdown, in the eraser room...your apartment. Now I know that never happened, and it didn't come from me. But it felt real. Tell me what the hell that was!" she practically shouted at him.

I couldn't tell her. I realized that I couldn't bear what I knew her reaction would be if I told her everything, what we had been to each other, and what that had done to her, to everyone she loved.

"Just...leave it alone," I growled.

She laughed incredulously.

"You can't expect me to see something like that, and just drop it!" she said. " I knew it! I knew something was up with you."

I closed my eyes and lowered my head.

"Maria, I can't tell you," I said, defeated. "Please. Just believe me when I tell you that this...you and me, it would be a mistake. I know I'm the one who started this-"

"Yes, you did," she said angrily.

I knew she was angry, and she had every right to be. I had really dug myself into a hole.

"I'm sorry!" I burst out.

She winced at my shout, and took a step back from me.

"Is that the way you see me, Michael? Because I felt the way you felt about me," she said. "But you barely know me, and I barely know you..."

"No, you don't," I said in a low voice.

"Yet you're saying we'd be a mistake. Those images, they say something completely different. God, do you have any idea how weird this is?" she exclaimed. "Yesterday was the first time I'd seen you in probably five years, and we spent about half the time fighting. But I couldn't stop thinking about you last night. I don't do this kind of thing. It's crazy!"

"I don't either," I snapped.

"Then tell me what's going on!" she half pleaded, half yelled.

"Maybe it was just something I was thinking about," I said. "Maybe it was something that could have been. Maybe you just picked up on it."

"Could have been," Maria said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Michael, is that what you want? Is what I saw like, a fantasy or something?" she asked.

"Kind of, I guess," I said. I wasn't being truthful, and she knew it. Maybe now it was a fantasy, but it had been real once upon a time.

And the thing was, having her in my arms I already knew I was going to lose this battle. If she stuck around, there was no way that I would be able to push her away for long.

Even though everything I knew was telling me that it would be a mistake, I wanted it. But how could I have that without telling her the truth? How long would I be able to live a lie?

"There's more to it," she said, suspicious.

I sighed.

"Maybe there is. But it isn't something I want to talk about, ok?" I said.

She just looked at me, and without saying anything I knew she was disappointed in me.

I gritted my teeth

"What do you want from me, Maria?" I asked, indignant and angry.

"I think I should be the one asking you that, since you've got some weird fantasy life with me playing in your head," she said, with a raised brow.

"I don't need this," I growled, getting ready to hoist myself back into the Cat.

Her hand on my arm stopped me. I stilled and looked at it.

"How about we just start with dinner?" she asked.

I lifted my head, noting challenging glare she was giving me.

I looked up at the sky and shook my head.

"Ok, fine," I said, grabbing my cane off the Cat.

I wondered where taking this one step was going to take me. But I finally came to terms with what I'd been struggling with since I held the crystal, the fact that I wanted to find out. I just had to figure out a way that I could live with keeping the truth to myself.

[Majesty]

Sorry for the delay guys. I will do my best to update what I can in the coming weeks, but with the move I can't make any promises. Once again, thanks to Elizabeth for being a wonderful beta.

Anyway, here's the next part....


Genesis VII.


*~Max~*

I hadn't meant to break down in front of Liz. But then, I never expected to see what I saw when I connected with Alex.

The one thing that I have come to appreciate, which so many humans can't, is the beauty within people. I have learned that there are all kinds of beauty. Liz was a different kind of beautiful than Maria, who was a different kind of beautiful than Alex.

What I mean to say is that every person is special in his or her own unique way.

Each human life is precious. I don't think human beings can truly comprehend what a gift each and every life is. People tend to ignore it, abusing their bodies, abusing each other. A stranger's life is lost, and it has no effect on most. Children die of hunger, people die of disease, or their lives are taken in some senseless act, and humans say "oh, that's too bad," and then they go on with their lives, never truly realizing that something truly precious was lost.

I saw the souls of the children I healed in that hospital. There is nothing more pure or more beautiful than the heart of a child.

I remember healing Kyle, healing the Sheriff, and even when I tried to heal Clayton. Each one of them had a light, one that was unique to them, and it humbled me that I was able to behold it, even for a short period of time.

The last time I touched Alex in that other lifetime, I felt nothing but darkness and blood, and....silence. When I tried to heal that burn on his wrist and I connected with him, it hit home just how brightly his spirit burned.

Some conscious part of me knew that Alex was ok, but in the face of witnessing the very essence that made him what he was, that part of me was smothered, overtaken by my heart, and my heart told me that I needed absolution.

I know it wasn't rational, but I wasn't able to think rationally in those moments, because all I could think of was the sheer injustice of Alex dying in that other lifetime, of the loss that we all experienced because of Tess's manipulations. And on some level I still believed it was my fault.

Knowing me, knowing what I was, had killed Alex. Yes, albeit indirectly, but it was still the truth.

I probably would have used all of my energy until there wasn't anything left of me, if only it would take that away.

In those moments nothing else mattered but making things right. I wanted so badly to make things right.

I felt my life force draining from my body, but it was almost as if it was happening to someone else.
It was only Liz that brought me out of it.

Liz who had saved me from myself, just as she always had.

It was she who had instinctively known what I was trying to do.

I tried to explain, and I knew she understood, though I also knew it scared her to death.

Everything seemed to be crashing down on me, the enormity of everything that happened made me feel as if I were drowning, made me question whether any of this could possibly end well, for any of us.

Past history demonstrated that the odds were against us.

And I was so tired...so very tired.

Tired and terrified.

All of my life I had been different, yet wished to be normal. I had always felt that what I was set me apart from everyone else but Michael and Isabel. There was no one else in this world like us.

Now, I was as close to a being a normal human being as I was ever going to get, and I was terrified. For as long as I could remember, I hated my alien side, wished it gone, but now the parts that mattered were almost non-existent, I was...terrified.

My healing ability was the one good thing about my alien-ness, and now that it was severely hindered, I felt vulnerable, useless even.

The one thing I had always prided myself on in those other lifetimes was my confidence that I could protect those I loved with the curse I was afflicted with.

But now I was left without any real ability to protect anyone. I couldn't even heal an ordinary burn.

Now that I had finally gotten what I had always wanted, I was left with the aching feeling of inadequacy.

But how could I tell this to Liz?

I couldn't, and the sheer hopelessness I felt poured from me in great, wracking sobs.

And she, she who barely knew me, and yet remembered a love so great that it ripped a hole through time, held me, and cried with me.

Her hands were a balm to my battered heart, holding me, stroking, comforting.

Her lips brushed against my hair, my forehead, my cheeks, my lips.

After a time, we wound up side by side, her fingers stroking my cheek as her eyes traveled my face, reflecting her own worry, her fear for me.

It hurt to look at her, to know that I was causing it.

It was a long time before I spoke. She didn’t push me, merely waiting.

"I'm sorry," I said finally.

She shook her head.

"Max, you're not going to be able to live, to really live, until you let go of the things you can't change," she said softly.

"I know," I said in a low voice.

And I did know.

Every word she said was true, but knowing something was true and accepting it were two very different things.

"Alex doesn't know about the crystal," she said.

"But he might, soon," I said. "I wouldn't ask Isabel to keep that from him if she wants to tell him."

"But if she does, it wouldn't change anything," Liz said.

I swallowed hard.

"How will I be able to look at him?" I asked in a hoarse voice. "How will I be able to face him, knowing that he knows what happened, that he was murdered because he got involved with us?"

She sighed heavily.

"Max, Alex made his choice. He knew what he was getting into, and he knew it was dangerous. We all did. But he cared enough about Isabel that it didn't matter; just like I cared about you. Just like you cared about me," she said.

"What happened to Alex was Tess's doing, not yours," she continued.

"But it happened because she wanted me," I protested. "She wanted me to go back to Antar with her."

She looked at me with her wise eyes.

"Alex will understand, Max," she said. "Believe me. I've known him long enough to know."

"Promise me you won't do anything like that again," she said, her eyes filling with tears. “Promise me you won’t do anything that’s going to take you away from me.”

It was then that I realized how very much I had scared her.

I had been so caught up in fixing things that couldn't be fixed, that I hadn't thought about what it might do to her.

I knew that I had been given a gift, a second chance to live the life I'd always dreamed. And the greatest gift I had been given was Liz.

The knowledge that she was still here with me, that she could care for me after seeing the devastation my presence in her life had once wrought, was something that I was still coming to grips with.

I wondered how or why I deserved it.

I knew that I shouldn't question it; that I should just accept it for the miracle it was, and it would have been easy to do that if I didn't know what I now knew.

I had to find some way to live with knowing what I knew while still holding on to Liz, because I was now certain that I couldn't be without her. Not now, not after I had felt the very realness of her, the sensation of her skin touching mine, the knowledge that she thought she could love me again.

I knew it was selfish to feel that way, to hold here there when I knew without a doubt that her life would be so much easier without me in it.

Perhaps I hadn't changed much at all from my former self.

Perhaps I was blessed, or cursed, depending on how you viewed it, bound to being in her life for better or worse.

There were so many things I had to think about, so many things that still needed to be dealt with.

My parents, my life, and what I was going to make of it.

The very thought of it was overwhelming, smothering, terrifying.

Some small part of me had just resigned itself to just fading away. I had walked away from Liz in New York, had hurt her as no one ever deserved to be hurt. I hurt her with the truth.

I never expected to see her again.

I was fading, slowly dying, with each pencil stroke I had made, each mark a painful reminder of what I would never have.

But now, suddenly I did have what I dreamed of, my most secret wish. Suddenly I had hope, the prospect of a future, a future with Liz, and I didn't know what to do with that.

I knew what I wanted, I knew what I hoped for, but I had no idea how to begin the journey toward it.

One thing stuck in my mind, something Liz said that was repeating itself over and over in my head.

Max, you died in that tunnel! Seeraynah brought you back and gave you another chance, and you’re just going to let that go? You’re just going to pretend that it doesn’t mean anything? You’re not a King now. You’re just Max. That was what you always wished for and now you have it.

And I did. I was just...Max. Max with a clean slate. Maybe that was the whole point of this, to start completely new, to leave everything else behind.

Suddenly, that didn't seem like such a bad idea.


*~Liz~*

I felt the change in Max; it was as if his whole body slowly went slack.

I suddenly felt a peace surrounding me, and it was coming from him.

He raised his head, his glistening eyes looking into mine, so faceted, so beautiful that the very sight of them took my breath away.

My hand slid from his cheek to his chest, feeling his heart pounding so strongly beneath my fingertips.

He looked at me with such a range of emotions, love, desire, fear, hunger...sadness. It made my whole body fall still. I think for a moment I forgot to breathe.

"I'm sorry I scared you," he said in a cracked voice. "I'm sorry for all of this."

I started to shake my head.

"Max, you don’t-"

His fingers on my lips stopped me from finishing.

"I love you, Liz. I love you so much that it hurts. I want this...us. I want us to have a new start, and I swear, I'm going to do everything I can to make you happy, to try to make it right this time. This is a new beginning and I'm not going to let anything ruin things between us this time," he said.

"A new beginning," I said softly.

"For the two of us," he whispered, his fingers caressing my cheek.

He leaned closer, his thumb running over my lower lip, and my blood began to race.

Nothing would ever match the anticipation or the feelings Max's touch aroused in me. There was nothing in heaven or on Earth that could come close.

When his lips brushed mine I shivered, every nerve in my body coming to life.

His nose brushed against mine, as feather light fingertips danced against my throat.

And it was a dance, this thing between us, a beautiful and amazing dance between our hearts. It was at times slow and melodic and at other times powerful, fiery and consuming.

It was this that had drawn me back to New Mexico, his heart calling out to mine like a beacon, to continue our endless dance once more, and he hadn’t even known it.

His lips traced a path of fire to my mouth, capturing it in a heated embrace, his tongue sliding against mine, a promise, an unspoken avowal of my effect on him.

And he had the same effect on me. Nothing else had ever come close.

The intangible aura of the depth of his feelings for me hit me like a freight train, leaving me gasping, awed.
How could someone feel this way about me?

Me, ordinary Liz Parker.

Just as quickly as it washed over me, it was gone.

I wondered what, if anything, he was feeling from me.

When the kiss broke, we were both breathless, his forehead resting against mine, eyes closed.

How I had wanted this. How I had dreamed of this, being a part of Max's life, knowing that he would be a part of mine.

I could sense his weariness; I saw the slump of his shoulders, the heaviness of his eyes and the dried tracks of his tears that had streaked his cheeks.

I knew in that moment that this man was my heart, and I would protect it, him, with everything I had, just as he had always tried to do for me.

I wanted to share everything with him. I wanted to help him let go of his demons, to help him free himself from them.

My heart was so full with what I was feeling for him that I wasn’t sure that it could possibly contain all of it.

It was instinctive to reach out to stroke his hair. His cheek nuzzled against my palm, eyes falling closed.

“Sleep Max,” I whispered, pressing my lips to his cheek.


*~Alex~*

Talk about feeling like the guy who ruined the party.

After Liz took Max into his room, I just stood there. I didn’t know what to say to Isabel.

I looked at my wrist, and back to Isabel.

I would never have admitted it, but the burn was pretty bad. It had already started to blister before Max did what he did.

But it was gone, only a trace of pink remaining. It didn’t hurt, and the blisters had disappeared as if they were never even there.

Isabel was pretty shaken up.

“That burn was really bad. I thought Max said he couldn’t do the healing thing anymore?” Maria asked Isabel.

Leave it to Maria. Thinking of something to say was never an issue for her.

“He tried with Michael, to mend the bone,” Isabel said quietly. “Michael knew right away that there was no way Max could do it. He wouldn’t let him. This is my fault. I didn’t think it would hurt to try. I thought a burn would be different than healing a bone. This is my fault,” she said, shaking her head.

“No,” I said quietly, stepping toward her. “Isabel, I feel pretty awful for what Max did, but I don’t think he would have tried if he didn’t think he could do it.”

“You don’t understand,” Isabel said, shaking her head.

“He probably would have killed himself trying if Liz wasn’t here, wouldn’t he?” I asked.

“He wasn’t stopping,” Isabel said, turning away. “He knew it was too much, but he didn’t stop.”

“Why?” I asked, confused.

I couldn’t understand why Max would endanger his own life. He barely knew me.

Isabel turned back toward me.

“That’s just the way he is,” she said evasively.

I felt Maria’s eyes on me, but I didn’t turn toward her.

“I’m….just going to check on him,” she said, backing away. “I’ll be right back.”

As soon as she left the room, Maria pounced.

“There’s something really strange going on here Alex,” Maria said.

“What are you talking about?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “You mean there’s something going on other than the fact that they’re aliens?”

“Ha ha,” she said without a trace of humor. “Come on, don’t you feel it? The three of them….I don’t know, I’m getting a weird vibe from them.”

“Maria, you’re crazy,” I scoffed.

I loved her to death, but sometimes she tended to make something out of nothing.

She shook her head.

“I’m telling you Alex,” she started and then her mouth snapped shut when Isabel walked back in.

“Liz says he’s ok,” Isabel said, slumping against the counter.

There were questions I did want to ask Isabel, but I didn’t want to do it in front of Maria.

Maria didn’t have much to say after Isabel came back into the room, but I could see the wheels in her head turning, and I knew there was something she was trying to figure out. I also knew it had something to do with the weird “vibe” she was getting.

A short time later, Liz came out into the kitchen, and said that Max had fallen asleep.

We all decided to cook the dinner as we’d planned.

Liz had insisted that she wanted Max to eat and try to regain his strength when he woke and Maria had already agreed to take Michael’s dinner to him.

Liz didn’t say much while we all set to making the dinner, but I could see that something was weighing heavily on her mind.

The fact that every time I turned around, I found her looking at me only reinforced my suspicion that something was wrong. Isabel barely said a word, except when someone addressed her directly.

What Max had done and what had almost happened to him hung in the air around us, a silent thing pressing on all of us, and I started to get the feeling that maybe Maria was right. Maybe there was a lot more going on than it seemed.

Maria left with Michael’s dinner, and Isabel told Liz to let Max sleep as long as he needed to. If she wanted to wait for Max to wake up to eat, then she’d just put theirs in the oven.

Liz looked at Isabel gratefully and went back into the room to stay with Max, leaving me alone in the kitchen with Isabel. I could have kissed and killed my oldest friend all at the same time.

I had almost kissed Isabel two hours ago, and now we were back to the awkward silences again.

“Do you want to tell me what’s going on? Because I know there’s something you’re not telling me,” I said finally.

She opened her mouth as if she wanted to answer and then shut it.

I wanted so badly for her to trust me, to feel like she could talk to me...about anything. For as long as I’d known Isabel Evans, I had thought that nothing fazed her. How wrong I turned out to be. And I was happy that I had been wrong. I liked this Isabel so much more. As cliché as it sounds, the fact that things did after all bother her humanized her in my eyes. And I liked it. I liked it a lot.

“Isabel, you can trust me you know,” I said, willing her to see the sincerity in my eyes.

“I know, she said, her eyes glistening with tears. “It’s just...not that simple.”

“Why? What is so complicated? What could be more complicated than your alien status? I’m still standing here, aren’t I? I’m not going to run. You don’t scare me.”

She sighed.

“I can’t explain it. I can’t, not to you,” she said, her voice trembling.

Her words were like a slap in the face, a bucket of cold water over my head. I’d thought we had made some progress, but at the time, all that progress seemed like it flew out the window.

“I see,” I said, my voice carefully indifferent, or at least I thought so.

Her eyes widened as if she realized what she’d said.

“Oh Alex, it’s not what you think,” she started.

I held up my hand and shook my head. In all honesty, I didn’t want a further explanation as to why I suddenly wasn’t good enough to confide in.

“Forget it,” I said, leaving no room for argument. “Let’s just eat.”


*~Isabel~*

I had once again managed to screw everything up, and I didn’t know how to fix it.

Wait, that’s not exactly the truth. I knew exactly how to fix it, but I was terrified to do it.

Alex and I had this tentative thing, this wonderful, new and sweet friendship growing between us, and I didn’t want to lose it. Not when I thought it might develop into something....more.

How I wanted that. How I wanted what I never had in that other lifetime. It’s ironic, isn’t it? I didn’t appreciate what was between us in that other lifetime, and it was that which now stood between us.

I was caught in my own fear, and every path out of it seemed as if it would end badly. I couldn’t see Alex just taking his death and our culpability in it from that other lifetime, in stride. Yet, how could I keep that from him? How could I knowingly not tell him what being involved with us, with me, could mean to him?

I shouldn’t have asked Max to try to heal Alex. It was selfish and had I been thinking straight, I would have thought of what that might do to Max. I realized too late how Max would feel in healing Alex. I knew that he felt just as guilty as I do for his death in that alternate universe. He’d almost killed himself in his effort to heal a past, now non-existent wound that could never truly be mended.

My own guilt overpowered my common sense and forethought, and now my brother was lying in his room completely drained, and I was standing there in the kitchen trapped by my own actions.

The way Alex looked at me, when I said I couldn’t tell him...the disappointment in me that I saw in his eyes, it cut me to the bone. He was right to feel that way, because he and I had cultivated a friendship in the past few weeks, had talked about some of my deepest secrets, and now I was cutting him off.

But I wasn’t ready to tell him. I didn’t know if I would ever be, if I would ever be able to face his judgment if he knew the truth. I thought at the time that it didn't matter what I did, whether I told him or not. I would lose him either way.

How was I supposed to explain that I married Jesse Ramirez not six months after he died? How could I explain that?

The two of us ate in uncomfortable silence, and it was almost painful.

We’d gone from the thought of all of us having a nice dinner together, to disaster in the space of a little over an hour.

As soon as Maria came back with the car, Alex wanted to leave. I didn’t know what to say to him. I didn’t know how to make any of it better. And I wanted that in the worst way.

Liz had decided to stay with Max for the night, and I could tell that neither Maria nor Alex were that thrilled with it by the looks that were exchanged between them. But to their credit, they didn’t argue with her.

After an awkward goodnight, I was left alone in the kitchen.

Liz came out of Max’s room a short time later, and sat wearily at the table across from me.

“Is Max all right?” I asked shakily.

She nodded.

“He’s just exhausted,” she said, running her hand through her hair. “I think he just needs a lot of rest. He’s been through a lot.”

I nodded, picking at the grain of the wood on the table, my own guilt threatening to crush me.

“Are you ok?” she asked, squinting as she looked at me.

I looked up at her, my vision blurred with the tears that welled in my eyes. I wanted someone to talk to desperately, someone who knew what I knew, someone who would understand. But I didn’t even know where to start.

So she did.

“You’re feeling badly because you asked Max to heal Alex,” Liz said, resting her chin on her hand.

I nodded.

“Isabel, it wasn’t your fault,” Liz said quietly.

“He went too far,” I said. "I should have known."

Liz sighed heavily.

"What is it about you guys that makes you feel like everything's your fault? Why is it that when something happens lately, it's a contest between you all over who's most responsible?" she muttered.

I was a little taken aback at that.

"Isabel, it was Max's decision to do what he did. You had nothing to do with it, so you need to stop beating yourself up over it," Liz said.

"I asked him," I answered.

"And he could have said no," she countered. "You guys have all this...misplaced guilt. That life, the one you feel guilty over, it doesn't exist anymore. Those people don't exist anymore."

"It doesn't change the mistakes we made," I said. "And it doesn't make any of us any less scared that it could happen again."

"Then you're cheating yourselves," Liz said softly. "Isabel, despite the previous circumstances, we only have one life to lead now. This is it. I plan on making the most of it. I plan on taking chances, because no one knows what could happen tomorrow. You all need to figure out your place in the world all over again, and I can't imagine how hard that's got to be. But second chances only come once in a lifetime, and you have the opportunity to fix everything that was broken, with everyone. Don't waste it."

I couldn't look at her. I just couldn't, because I was afraid she would see it in my eyes, that I was a coward.
She'd been braver then all of us, always, and she hadn't changed a bit.

I heard the chair scrape against the floor as she got up and left the table

I knew she would fight for Max, would fight for their relationship, for his healing, for the new life and the possibilities that lay before them.

I just wished I had her courage.