Time Will Tell (AU,M/L,TEEN) Ch 27 - 08/22/04 [WIP]

[Ashton]

~ chapter 19 ~

October 30, 2003
Drake's office


"She's pregnant." The announcement was made solemnly.

Tess' face broke into a wry smile. A few slow claps of congratulations filled the air. "Good going, Drake. Your mother will be so very pleased with a human bastard for a grandchild."

Not missing her sarcasm, he cast her a disdainful look. "It's not mine."

"Oh." Tess' face fell before her eyes narrowed warily. "Wait. If it's not yours then who…"

"Max."

There was a moment of silence, then Tess burst into laughter. Drake tented his hands in front of him as he patiently waited for Tess' hysterics to dissolve. Once they did, he took a calming breath knowing the next several minutes with a devious and ambitious Tess was going to be…interesting.

His blue eyes met hers. "You find that…funny?"

Merriment dancing in her eyes, Tess nodded emphatically. "Oh, Drake. You poor, misguided alien." Batting her lashes, Tess leaned back in the chair and began inspecting her nails. Waving one hand over the other, she instantly changed her nail color from pale pink to bright red. Her lips pursed, her entire focus seemed to be on that one task.

Drake rolled his eyes. "Would you care to explain why I'm so misguided?"

Blue eyes snapped up to meet his as a look of disgust shifted through her expression. "Because Max is screwing Serena. Has been for a while. Once you do an alien, you never go human. Liz Parker hasn't got a prayer now." Her victorious smile slipped away as her thoughts turned to another rival. "Though I have to say, I have no idea what he sees in Serena…"

"Serena." Drake interrupted thoughtfully. His mind instantly scanned the names and faces of his enemies logged categorically in the files of his mind. He came up with nothing. "I don't know a Serena."

"Not surprised." Tess answered flippantly as she crossed her legs. The short nightie she wore rode up high on her thigh and Drake's gaze was instantly captured. Then she shifted lower in the chair and leaned her head back. His gaze shifted to the curvaceous figure barely hidden beneath her lacy negligee. A finger began to absently twirl one of her bouncy blonde curls as she continued. "She's nothing more than a low born alien slut who's obviously sleeping her way up to the top. She's been with Michael in the past and has found a way to move on to Max. Not a bad move, if I say so myself. After all she's going up the ladder instead of down." Her eyes met Drake's meaningfully. "Like I did."

Drake's eyes turned steely. His voice turned cold. "You wanted to bed the heir to the throne, Tess. That's exactly what you've done."

"Actually…" Tess uncrossed her legs seductively and rose from her chair, her eyes never leaving Drake's. "…what I really want…" Finger languidly running across the surface of Drake's desk, Tess pursed her lips and edged her way around the corner of his desk. "…is to be queen. And if that means…" Turning the corner of the desk closest to Drake, Tess slid her body along the surface till she reached where he was sitting. "…bedding the two top contenders for king…." Placing a hand on each arm of Drake's chair, Tess pushed the chair back till she could stand between him and the desk. "…then that's what I'll do."

A sardonic smile traced Drake's lips as he leaned back in his chair and gazed up at Tess, non-plused. "Ah, but…how do you know which bed to fall into before the battle's done?"

"Max. Yours." Tess shrugged slightly. "It's all the same to me."

"Except…you've never been in Max's bed." Drake reminded her callously. "Not even on Antar."

Unfazed, Tess shrugged. "It'll happen. Max'll get tired of his alien wench and start looking for the real thing. Of course, I'll be readily available to meet any of his needs." Leaning forward, Tess' eyes locked with Drake's as her voice lowered to a husky whisper. "Until then, I've got you to play with."

Drake's gaze shifted to the abundant cleavage staring him in the face. "But what if I don't want to play?"

A hand dropped to his lap and slipped inside his silk robe. Drake's eyes drifted closed in pleasure. "Don't tell me you don't like what I do to you, Drake. Because I know you do."

Drake licked his lips. "Only because I'm a horny alien with a great imagination and very little taste." His eyes opened to meet hers.

Feeling the insult, she instantly removed her hand from its previous task and attempted to step back. Drake grabbed her arm and with one swift move parted her legs and pulled her down on top of him. Hands landing on her hips, Drake's lips curled into a triumphant smile as he pulled her against him and felt a responding shudder through her body. "Let's not pretend we really care what the other thinks of us, shall we? Or that there is any real feeling between us. We both know there isn't."

Wrapping a hand around her neck, he pulled her completely on top of him and sent a heated whisper into her ear. "I see his face in your mind every time I take you over the edge."

Tess pulled back abruptly. "And I see hers in yours. Every time you come with me." She answered back with a saucy shake of her head. A blonde eyebrow rose in knowledge as Drake’s gaze shifted. "Little Lizzie Parker…" Her hands slipped up his chest to wrap lightly around his neck. "You want her so bad you can taste it." She rocked against him teasingly. "Just the very thought of Max being the one touching her…drives you insane."

An unreadable mask lowered over Drake's expression as his hands dropped to her hips and stilled her movements. A steely gaze snapped up to meet hers. “Stay out of my mind, Tess, or our little deal is over.”

"Touch a nerve, did I?" Tess asked coyly as she pursed her lips.

Drake continued speaking as if she hadn't. "Liz Parker is a means to an end for me. Just like you are. You and I both know the purpose of our arrangement is purely physical and political. You meet my needs, give me information on Max's operations, and I'll put you on the throne once Max has been defeated."

"If he's defeated." Tess challenged.

"You'd better pray, he is, my dear. Because I can guarantee you right now…Max Evans will never let you get this close to the family jewels." Shifting beneath her only emphasized his point.

A devious smile curved her lips upward as Tess leaned forward, her body brushing against his. Her breath was warm against his skin and her whisper sent shivers through him. "As long as I end up with the crown, I don't give a damn who's jewels I have to polish."

"Liar." Drake whispered.

"Takes one to know one." Tess whispered back. Her lips brushed his teasingly. "So, what'll it be? Are you going to talk about being king or are you going to show me what it's like to really rule something?"

The taunting challenge irked Drake. "Oddly enough …" He shrugged nonchalantly and rose from his seat, dumping Tess unceremoniously on the floor. "…I'm just not in the mood."

As Drake started to walk away, Tess made a statement that stopped him dead in his tracks. "I'd bet you'd be in the mood if I were Liz Parker."

"Since there's no chance of **that** happening and since you claim to want to be queen one day…" Drake's voice was threateningly low. "…it might be good for your health to just not mention her again."

Clucking the roof of her mouth with her tongue disapprovingly, Tess didn't get the message. "So protective of the little human. So…admiring. I wonder what your mother would say if she knew you were pining away for a piece of human scum that wouldn’t give you the time of day…"

Drake spun on his heels, took two strides back to where Tess was now standing and nearly picked her up off the floor when he tightly grabbed her arms. His blue eyes were flashing dangerously. "Now you listen to me and you listen good. The subject of Liz Parker is closed. Mention her again and our deal is off."

A taunting, devious smile touched Tess' lips. "I could make her want you, Drake. I could make her beg to be with you." She leaned close, her voice conspiratorially low. "Just say the word. Just tell me how much you want her, and I'll make it happen."

Drake's grip on Tess loosened. His question was barely breathed. "How?"

Tess' soft chuckle sent a shiver through him. "Oh, Drake, baby…" Her smile widened. "…alien powers working on a weak human mind…" Running a finger down the center of his chest, Tess' eyes never left his. "…let your imagination run wild."

The suggestion had irresistible appeal. Still, Drake Banner knew Tess Harding. Swallowing hard, Drake's eyes narrowed. "What do you want in exchange?"

Coyly shrugging her shoulders, the corners of Tess' lips curled deviously upward as her eyes danced with new found power. "I'll have to get back with you on that one." Her gaze dropped his half exposed chest. Running her hands down his chest, she played with the tie on his robe. "But for starters…" In one smooth motion, the knot was untied and it fell open as her hands slipped between silk and skin. Her gaze, edged with vulnerability, raised to meet his. "…show me how much you want her."

Drake opened his mouth to respond. Tess shook her head. "I don't care if you have to pretend I'm her. You do that anyway and I still keep coming back for more." Hands moving upward, Tess slipped Drake's robe from his shoulders before pressing her body into his. Her heated whisper danced across his skin. "I want to feel it, Drake. I want to feel every aching desire. I want to know…"

"How much Max Evans worships her?" Drake finished for Tess with an unexpected question.

Her irritated gaze snapped up to meet his. "I told you. Max is sleeping with…"

"Serena." Drake finished for her. "Jury's still out on that one. Say…about seven months from now. Liz's kid should be all the answer we need."

Tess' gaze shifted uncertainly. "Who is she saying the father is?"

"Kyle Valenti."

Tess' eyes snapped to his. "Kyle? But…but he's the whole reason…" Her face registered clear disgust as her eyes flashed with a hint of jealousy. "She is such a fool."

Drake shrugged. "Depends on the truth, I guess. Which brings me back to Max." An eyebrow raised pointedly. "Regardless of who is sleeping with whom, we both know he still loves Liz." Drake answered simply. "We both know you may manage to trick him into bed one day, but you haven't a snowball's chance in hell of getting him to actually stop loving her."

Tilting her face upward with a firm grip, Drake's eyes scanned her expression. "It must be killing you to be usurped by a human. Royalty found lacking when compared to human swine. Always…second best."

Anger raced through her eyes. Jealousy screwed up her face. She stiffened instantly and attempted to push herself out of Drake's arms. He grabbed her and crushed her body back against his. "You want to know how Liz feels in the arms of an alien?" His heated whisper against her lips ended in a light, teasing nip. "You want to know the passion she's stirred deep inside of him? Of me?" A sweep of his tongue against her lips quickly followed as he backed Tess up a few steps.

Heated lips slid over hers as his tongue plunged relentlessly into her mouth, sweeping and exploring. Delving deeper into the depths of awakening passion. Breathlessly, he pulled back leaving her lips red and swollen. "You want to know what it's like to make love to someone who adores you?" Pushing her down on the top of his desk, he gazed down at her with blazing blue eyes. "Close your eyes…" Tess obeyed, her chest beginning to rise and fall with anticipation.

Drake took quick advantage. With a wave of his hands over her hands and ankles, Tess was securely bound to the desk, held by an ancient alien power. Her eyes popped open in surprise and she instantly struggled against her invisible ties.

A devious grin flashed through Drake's eyes as he leaned over her, instantly capturing her angry attention. "Keep dreaming, babe." Stepping away from her, Drake retrieved his robe from the floor and slipped it back on before heading to the front of his desk. Leaning down, he sent a heated whisper into Tess' ear, temporarily stilling her frustrated struggles. "What you want, Tess…to feel what it's like to be adored like Liz Parker is…it'll never happen. For that…you'd actually have to have a heart…"

Exiting the room to the sounds of Tess' screams of frustration, Drake stopped long enough to give the guard at his door a command. "Let her loose, but only after you've made it clear you're there for her every wish, need, desire…"

The guard's eyes flashed with confusion. "Sir?"

Patting him on the shoulder, Drake flashed him a smile. "It's ok. Enjoy yourself. She's a great lay. Just don't expect it to last longer than the after glow…"

Shaking his head in amusement at how quickly his guard disappeared inside, Drake's wry smile shifted into a frown as the sultry night air settled on his skin. His eyes scanned the dark sky as a chill raced through him.

Another storm was coming again.

And for some reason, an uneasy feeling knotted in the pit of Drake's stomach…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 30, 2003
11:00 pm

Muffled sobs were coming from the large bed as Maria and Alex slipped into one of the rooms Max and Liz used in the tunnels under her house when they wanted complete, secret privacy. They glanced at each other. Alex shrugged. Maria took a deep breath and approached.

Gently sitting down on the bed next to Liz's reclining form, Maria patted her back. "Shhh, Lizzie. It's going to be ok. Alex and I are here so if you need anything…"

"I…I need…" Another wail went straight into her pillow. "…Maaax…."

Alex gave Maria a 'told ya so' look and rolled his eyes when she scrunched up her face at him. Given the fact they had a hushed but heated argument the entire time they were looking for Liz, Maria had to grant Alex a few points. He had said they'd find her only to discover it was Max she wanted after all…

"Come on, Liz…" Maria teasingly tried to coax Liz's tears away. "…you promised to tell us how this all happened. And now that we're here to get the full scoop, you're just going to toss us to the side for a hunky piece of alien?" She turned to Alex. "I feel rather…offended, don't you?"

"Oh. Uh…yeah. Yeah, I’m totally feeling the offense." Alex answered completely unconvincingly.

His tone prompted a muffled giggle. Maria winked at Alex encouragingly.

"Yep." Alex pulled up a chair next to the bed. "Rejection seems to be running rampant for poor Alex Whitman these days. Why even the bag lady that walks up and down Fifth Street refused my half-eaten Big Mac."

"Ewww." Liz sniffled then giggled again.

"I know! Pretty bad when a bag lady threatens to call the police on ya!" Alex continued in mock indignation. "Not fairing too well with the alien species either. Isabel's still the untouchable princess and Serena can't seem to take her eyes off of Kyle…"

Gulping back another sniffle, Liz turned over till she was facing Alex and Maria. Her face was stained with a flood of tears that she quickly tried to wipe away in her newly established curiosity. "Really? I…didn't notice."

"Well, of course you didn't." Maria jumped in. "You have three aliens of your own to keep an eye on now."

“Alex. Maria…” Liz's hand immediately drifted to her stomach as her eyes clouded with fresh tears. "I am so terrified right now…"

"Oh, Liz." Maria hastened to reassure her friend. "I'm sure you are, hon. I mean…a human having an alien set of twins. God, who knew it was even possible? You must have a million questions right now. Like what will they look like? Are they going to come out three feet tall with bulging eyes and ears like their father?"

The vision washed over her. Even in the midst of the horror, Liz Evans knew one truth. "They're perfect." Liz's quiet answer brought a light of pride and love to her eyes. "Perfect and beautiful. Just like Max."

"Hey now." Alex quipped. "Don't give the royal Czech all the credit. I have it on pretty good authority you turn quite a few heads yourself."

Liz's smile of gratitude turned to a wince of inner pain as haunting questions kept assaulting her. She bent her head in uncertainty as fears began to tumble forward. "I'm so scared that I've totally screwed everything up for Max. That I've been so…horribly stupid." Eyes averted, Liz began asking out loud the silent questions raining in her heart. "I didn't plan this. I swear I didn't. We were so careful. But to get pregnant now of all times…" Her tear-filled gaze met those of her two best friends. "Even so…I want these babies so very much. Is that…so wrong of me?"

"Oh, Liz." Maria covered Liz's hand. "Of course not. You're not stupid or wrong for wanting a family with the alien you love."

"Maria's right, Liz." Alex's voice lowered with seriousness. "I don't know how the two of you have managed it, but one thing is very clear…you and Max love each other now more than you did even back in high school. To want a family to pass that love on to…well, it's the most natural thing in the world." He tossed her a crooked smile. "No matter what species you are."

Liz's grateful smile washed away the pain in her eyes for a moment. Until Liz's thoughts drifted to her husband. "But…what about Max? He probably thinks I’m being the most selfish…"

"Then so is he.” Alex interrupted quickly. “Look. Max wants these kids, Liz. You know he does." Alex continued quietly. "He's just scared right now. Just like you are. But he's doing the right thing. He's getting all the facts and after he does, he promised to find you so you can talk." Alex gathered Liz's other hand in his. "He loves you, Liz. He's so afraid you don’t know that right now."

"I do know. I've never doubted that." Eyes tearing up again, Liz bit down on her lip to keep them in check. "And…and I know how much we both want these babies."

"Probably the most wanted babies in the universe." Alex winked at her.

"We're going to work this out." The firmness of her conviction rippled through Liz’s words. “We have to. I just…I can’t imagine my life without Max now and there’s no way I’m giving up our kids. Ever.”

"Of course you aren’t. You and Max will find a way." Maria nodded encouragingly. "And we're all going to help in any way we can."

A genuine smile lit Liz's dark eyes as her gaze drifted down to her tummy. "Here that, my little angels? You've already got the best people in the world on your side. And an amazing daddy who can be a bit dense sometimes, but oh…is his heart in the right place. His heart is with us. Just like ours is with him. With that kind of love, how can we ever
fail?" Her smile deepened as her eyes drifted closed. "The most wanted babies in the universe. Now we just have to wait for daddy to come and prove that to us…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 31, 2003
1:00 am


“Buy you another drink?”

Serena glanced up from her half full glass to see Kyle Valenti’s blue eyes sparkling down at her. She grinned and inclined her head in an accepting gesture.

Kyle slid into the booth, facing Serena. “So, what are you having?”

Serena grinned at him then tapped the glass in front of her. “Anything non-alcoholic. I tried to buck the staunch alien boycott of alcohol one night last summer.” Shaking her head with a frown, Serena's wide dark eyes sparkled with laughter. "Not such a good idea."

“Yeah, I’ve had first hand experience with your king on that particular alien oddity. In fact, I’ll bet if you ask him, he’ll tell you that little incident lead to the boycott.” Kyle chuckled at the inside joke, then ordered himself and Serena a couple of sodas. Once they had arrived, Kyle took a gulp then leaned back in the booth and eyed his companion.

She was attractive. Actually, more than attractive. In fact, Kyle had begun to wonder if Antar was capable of producing a bad looking alien woman. With her long, straight black hair and snapping ebony eyes, Serena reminded him of a painting of a Mexican princess he’d seen once. He’d been enthralled then…as he was now.

The faint blush rising on her smooth, olive cheeks alerted Kyle to the fact he was staring. Snapping himself quickly back to the present, he flashed her a conspiratorial grin. “So, I take it you’re here to celebrate our impending parenthood.”

Serena grinned in response as she nodded. "Yep. Though I must admit, I'd always imagined it…different…somehow."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Kyle took a sip of his drink. "I always kinda figured I'd at least have all the fun creating the little tyke, but since I've never really slept with the mother…"

"Oh, I know. Instant parenthood without the pleasure totally sucks.” Serena agreed readily as she leaned forward. "On the other hand, I was expecting morning sickness, aching back, weight gain, excruciating labor…" Shrugging she leaned back. "But hey…who am I to complain?"

Kyle chuckled before growing serious. "I admire what you're doing. Although Liz was a bit…overwhelmed…tonight, I know she appreciates it too."

Gaze shifting uncomfortably at the compliment, Serena's fingers nervously played with the glass in front of her. "I'm just, you know. Doing what's best for the future of my people."

"You care about Max, don't you?" Kyle's sudden question brought Serena's open, innocent gaze to his face.

"Of course I do. He's my king. And he's become my friend." Shrugging, her voice lowered meaningfully as a subject close to her heart was revealed. “He's a good, fair man who is the only choice to lead our people. We’ve not had a real leader in so very long. Max…is just what we need. What we’ve always needed. If I’d only known that before…" Realizing she’d alluded more to her alien past than she’d intended, Serena turned the tables on Kyle. “You know, it's pretty obvious you care about Liz too."

Kyle flashed Serena a smile and repeated her own words back to her. "Of course I do. She's always been a good friend to me. Loyal and kind. Even when she broke up with me back in high school."

"Ah." Realization flitted through Serena's eyes. "So, that's why Max ha…" Abruptly stopping her words, Serena sent Kyle an apologetic look and quickly corrected her vocabulary. "….has an issue with you."

"You can say it.” He smiled in appreciation of her effort. “Max hates me."

Hastening to soften the blow of her impetuous words, Serena shook her head. "Oh, I wouldn't go that far, Kyle. He's not…happy…with your involvement, but I'm not so sure he **hates** you." Her confidence sounded much more forced than she intended. She cleared her throat. “So. You and Liz were an item in high school and Max…” She cast him a knowing look. “…**dislikes** you because of it?”

Kyle shook his head. "Nah, that's not why he…” Mirroring her choice of words, Kyle grinned. “…**dislikes** me.”

“Well, then…why?”

Kyle took another drink from his glass before leaning back with a sigh. “Because Liz came to me first.”

Shaking her head, Serena’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I mean…whenever Liz has needed any kind of help regarding Max, it’s me she comes to first.” Seeing Serena’s increasing confusion, he attempted to clarify by sharing a bit of Liz and Max history. "About three years ago, Liz broke up with Max. And, true to Max fashion, he wouldn't let her go. Kept pursuing her, trying to get her to reconsider. Well, true to Liz's heart…it worked. She almost reconciled with him, but just when she was ready to give them a chance again, she found out that if they got back together, it would cause the end of the world."

"Wow. No wonder everyone was so freaked tonight about…"

"Yeah." Kyle agreed quietly before continuing his tale. "So, in order to stop Max cold in his tracks, Liz came to me and asked me to help her set Max up. On a night that she knew he was going to show up on her balcony, she and I slipped into her bed and made it look like we had just slept together."

"Oh my God." Serena's horror etched itself on her face. "How…horrible for…both of them."

Nodding silently, Kyle's blue eyes clouded with a hint of guilt. "It tore it her up. To hurt him like that. She tried so hard to hide it, but…I knew."

"And that's why Max can't stand you." Serena stated quietly.

Pulling in a deep breath, Kyle's gaze shifted. "Actually, I think it's more because Liz trusts me. Back then, just as she does now. She knows I'll do anything to help her. And now, Max…and their family." Pausing, Kyle attempted to put their situation into words. "See, it's not easy for a man to admit there's a part of the woman he loves that another guy understands as well as he does. That there's a part she willingly trusts to someone else."

"So, he's jealous."

"No." Kyle quickly shook his head. "No, he's not jealous. At least not of anything romantic with Liz and me. He has no reason to be. He's had Liz Parker's heart since day one and he knows it. But…" Holding up a finger, Kyle made his final point. "…his first born son will call **me** daddy. Alien or not, that has to hurt."

Contemplating Kyle's words and applying them to her own situation, concern edged Serena's voice. "Do you think Liz will feel that way? About me?"

"I…don't doubt this is going to hurt her." Kyle answered slowly. "But there's one thing you have to know about Liz Parker…she will always put others first. And now that she's married and going to have her own children…you can bet your life she'll sacrifice anything to keep her family safe. And what's more…I'll bet you'll never hear a word of complaint out of her. No matter what she has to give up."

Serena swallowed hard at the high praise Kyle lavished on Liz. "She sounds…perfect. No wonder Max loves her so much."

Kyle grinned at Serena's impression of Liz. "Not perfect. But if you're looking for the right queen to help lead your people…you've found it in Liz Evans."

A soft smile was Kyle's response. "Thank you. For explaining things a little more. I've…really enjoyed talking to you."

"Yeah, well…" Kyle's slow smile lit his eyes. "I've enjoyed talking to you too."

A faint blush began to spread over Serena's cheeks as her gaze wavered shyly. "So, uh…" Licking her lips, Serena's mind raced to find another topic to discuss. Whatever it was she was feeling in that moment with Kyle Valenti, she didn't want it to end. "…why don't you tell me about the rest of the human-alien contingent."

Kyle winced apologetically. "Wish I could, but…" He glanced at his watch. "…I've got an early shift tomorrow. I'm already going to be dead on my feet."

"Oh." Serena's disappointment echoed in her voice.

"Hey." Kyle leaned forward, his intimacy of his tone pulled Serena's gaze to his face. "Let's save it for tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night?" Hope danced in her dark eyes.

"Yeah. I figured we could maybe order a pizza, discuss our mutual roles as parents and as an added bonus, I'll tell you the rest of the Roswell Six's history. What do you say?"

Serena's smile lit the room. "I say…it's a date."

Kyle smiled back and nodded. "It's a date."

After paying the bill, Kyle disappeared through the door with one last wave and a flash of a smile. A warm feeling of contentment began to fill Serena up. Her thoughts shifted to Max and Liz and how they were doing after what had to be one of the most emotional nights of their lives.

Sudden thunder began to rumble in the distance. Lighting forked in the midnight sky. Rain began to fall.

Serena downed the rest of her drink and smiled to herself knowingly as a brand new storm rained down on Roswell...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 31, 2003
12:30 am


Fingers raking through her hair, Max pulled back from a gently devouring kiss to gaze into Liz's eyes only once air was crucial for living. Gulping in much needed air, Max leaned his forehead against hers. "I am so very sorry, Liz. I…I can't even begin to tell you…"

Liz placed a silencing finger against his lips. "Then don't." Her gaze lowered and she swallowed hard as she reluctantly pulled back and removed herself from the comfort of Max's arms. She rocked back on her heels and wrapped her arms around her knees before speaking slowly, deliberately. "As much as I love you, Max…I need to make one thing very clear to you."

Her determined, serious gaze met his. "I am your wife. Not one of your subjects. Not one of your soldiers." There was a pause. "Don't ever make a decision about our family and our future without consulting me. Never again. I will love you and sacrifice for you until the day I die, Max, but I will not blindly follow orders without question. I did that with Future Max and look at the pain it caused."

"Liz…"

She held up her hand, stopping any explanation he might have begun. "I know you were terrified. After seeing what you saw, Max, I understand that better than anyone." Liz's gaze shifted painfully. "But your solution…to get rid of our…" Liz's hand absently, protectively covered her stomach. Her eyes snapped back to Max's pained expression. "…it was wrong, Max. It was a knee-jerk reaction that was simply wrong."

Max's head bent in acknowledgement.

Liz continued, gently driving home her point. "If we ever hope to have it all, Max…to be standing hand in hand as a family at the end of this war…" Liz slipped her hand through his. "…honey, we have to start thinking things out together. As equal partners. We can't react first and think later and make demands neither of us are ready to carry out. Especially since we're making decisions about things we don't fully understand yet. It's much too important now…"

"Like I did." Max stated softly.

"Like we both did." Liz responded, equally quiet. “I shouldn’t have shut you out, Max. Or jumped to conclusions about what you want for our babies’ futures. I shouldn’t have run out on you before we heard everything. I’m sorry for leaving you there to deal with it on your own. For hurting you...”

“Shhh.” Max laid a gentle finger against her lips. “You have nothing to be sorry for. Tonight has been easily one of the most joyous and devastating nights of our lives. And as Maria explained to me…” A small smile began to light Max’s eyes. “…you have all those mommy hormones taking control of your emotions now. Guess I’m going to have to start getting used to expecting the unexpected from you…”

A radiant smile began to spread over Liz’s lips. Fingers tangling in her long silky hair, Max’s eyes began to glow with love as his voice lowered tenderly. “You need to know, Liz. You need to understand just how much I want these babies. How horrified I was at just the thought of…” He swallowed hard, still unable to bring himself to say the words. “I don't…I don't want you to ever doubt that tonight was one of the happiest nights of my life. When I got your note…when I read the words…” Max’s face split into a radiant smile. “A father, Liz. And…and twins. You’ve…given me the greatest gift I could ever…”

Blinking rapidly, Max’s gaze lowered as his voice dropped to an awed whisper. “I've never wanted anything in my life the way I want them. Except for you. I just…" Running a hand through his hair, Max swallowed hard and shook his head. "…I don’t have the words."

"I know, honey. I feel the exact same way." Liz gathered his hands in hers and echoed his sentiment. "You know, Alex said these would be the most wanted babies in the universe. I’m so glad he was right.”

Capturing Liz’s face in his hands, Max’s fingers gently caressed her skin as the truth of his words bore deeply into her heart. “He was very right.”

“Very.” Curling her fingers around his hands, Liz nuzzled her nose against his before lightly brushing her lips against his. Pulling away, Liz whispered another gratitude. “I'm so glad Serena showed up when she did."

"I'm just glad she's on our side." Max responded with a nod.

There was a moment's pause. "She's very devoted to you."

Gaze snapping up at the tone of Liz's voice, Max's brows furrowed in confusion. "No more than she is to Isabel."

A wry smile touched Liz's lips. "I don't know, Max. Seems more to me."

Max's eyes widened as a thought struck him. "You can't possibly think…I mean, you don't really believe that Serena…"

Liz silently pushed herself off the ground. Max watched with growing dread as Liz wordlessly headed back toward the bed and eased herself wearily down onto the mattress. "Liz. Honestly…tell me you don't think there's something going on…"

Letting out a sigh, Liz shifted her legs up onto the bed and lay down. "No, honey, I don't. I know you too well to even suspect you of being unfaithful to me and I didn't get a romantic vibe from Serena toward you at all." Her gaze met Max's from across the room as she reached out her hand to him.

Max stared at her hand uncertainly. Hesitantly. As much as he wanted to go to her, Max Evans simply didn't feel he deserved the right. Husband or not. Not after everything he'd already put her through. Not after the pain he'd caused. They’d reached such a tender understanding. He was terrified of screwing up again.

Until…

"Max…sweetheart, come here. Your family needs you."

With a lump in his throat and a moistness in his eyes, Max rose and reached her side in a heartbeat. His hand clung to hers as his lips pressed grateful kisses against her palm. "I love you…so much."

"I love you too." Liz whispered as her hands captured his face. A gentle smile touched her lips as her eyes met his meaningfully. "Now, get into bed, Max Evans. Your list of crimes tonight alone is already a mile long…"

A flash of a knowing grin was her response before Max slipped into bed behind Liz. Wrapping an arm around her stomach, he instantly pulled her close to him, savoring the feel of her warm skin against his. Despite her teasingly suggestive words, Max Evans knew the one thing his wife needed the most was the comfort of his arms, not the passion of his kisses. And there was one thing he was determined to do or die trying…give her exactly what she needed. It was, after all, the very least the mother of his children deserved.

Once settled in place, Max propped his chin against Liz's shoulder, one question still burning in his mind. "What are we going to do?"

Max's quiet question caused Liz's heart to ache. Shaking her head slightly, Liz closed her eyes feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders once more. "I don't know." She felt his lips brush her bare shoulder before he rested his head against hers. Liz smiled, taking courage in his closeness. "We'll figure it out. Whether we go with Serena's plan or something else…" Her smile deepened. "…we'll figure it out…together."

Max squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Yeah…together." There was a pause, then Max made another request born of uncertainty. "Talk to me, Liz. Tell me what you're thinking about Serena."

Liz entwined her fingers through Max's and let out a sigh of contentment as she snuggled back against him. Her first words put Max's fears to rest. "I think we can trust her, Max. She wants us to make it. She wants us to win. That much, I would stake my life on."

"But…"

"But there's something more." Liz continued quietly. "Something that's driving her to be so loyal. Something that's…" Shaking her head slightly, Liz shifted so she could look up into Max's eyes. "…I don't know. It's like she's trying to make up for something."

"She is." Max commented softly. "She betrayed me on Antar."

"How?"

"I don't know. I don't remember." Max shrugged before reaching up to push a stray piece of hair from Liz's eyes. "I don't even think she does."

Liz's large brown eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Max instantly noticed. Brushing his lips against her hair, he sighed and pulled her even closer. "What?"

"She knows things, Max. How does she know so much when she can't remember?"

"I don't know." There was a moment of silence. "I can tell you one thing though. Her loyalty and devotion extend to you and the babies now too. What she did tonight…showing her allegiance to you like she did…Liz, that was completely voluntary."

"I know." Liz nodded as she contemplated the events from earlier. She let out a weary sigh as the events and emotions of the evening began to make an impact on her physically. "Right now, I'm just…" Gaze shifting upward to meet his again, Liz ran a finger down his cheek. "…I'm just very grateful. For whatever it is. It saved our babies lives tonight."

Max swallowed hard and buried his face in the crook of Liz's neck. She barely heard his whisper. "No thanks to me."

Pulling out of Max's arms, Liz turned to face him. The regret and pain in his eyes nearly brought tears to hers. Reaching out to gently stroke the planes of her husband's face, Liz freely offered to Max the healing balm he so desperately needed. "When will you finally get it, Max Evans? Without you, I would be nothing. It's because of you that I'm a wife. That I'm going to be a mother. It's because of you, Max, that my dreams are coming true."

"But tonight…"

"Tonight you goofed. Tonight…you were human." Liz patiently interrupted. "Tonight it could have just as easily been me coming to you completely freaked out about something I didn't understand. Terrified to death and reacting to that fear. It could have been me asking you to do something you knew in your gut was wrong."

Running his fingers through her hair, a look of awe entered his eyes. "How can you be so forgiving right now? After everything…"

"Because I know you. I've felt just how much you love me…how much you want to be a father. Because I know what you were asking was going against everything you've ever wanted." Her caresses paused as her eyes locked with his in pointed determination. "And because I know it will never happen again."

"It won't." Max promised quietly. "I swear to you…never again."

A sly smile ghosted Liz's lips. "You know…you really need to watch what you say to me. What promises you make." She placed his hand over her stomach once more to emphasize her point. "I have witnesses now."

A responding grin drifted over Max's lips as his gaze lowered. "Yeah? Well…we can change that…" Shifting lower on the bed till he could comfortably address his unborn children, Max lifted Liz's top so his fingers could gently caress Liz's stomach. "Hey there my little podlettes. I'm your daddy. Now, I know that you're going to get pretty chummy with your mommy in the coming months because she's giving you a nice warm little home to grow healthy and strong in, but that doesn't mean you can forget who put you in there in the first place. So, it's only right for you to be on Daddy's side once in a while."

Liz chuckled as her fingers raked through Max's hair. His gaze, so full of awe, raised to meet hers. He swallowed hard at the beautiful woman lying next to him, offering so much…sacrificing every day…just to love him. "You've made me so happy. I can't even express…" Max's whisper against Liz's skin created goosebumps and her smile disappeared as her eyes locked with his. "All of you." Max's lips gently touched her skin as his eyes drifted closed. "My babies. My wife. In such a short time…I've gone from being an empty shell of nothing to…"

"Everything I've ever wanted." Liz's whispered finish pulled Max's softening gaze up to meet hers.

A faint smile drifted over Max's lips. "Here that, my little ones? Daddy may have given you a seal that makes you royalty, but Mommy…your amazing, beautiful, brave mommy just gave Daddy something absolutely priceless. Her seal of approval. Her seal of love. And that…" Eyes locked with hers, Max moved back up the bed. His fingers gently grazing Liz's cheeks before burying themselves in her hair as his eyes roamed every inch of her perfect face in complete awe. "… **that** is worth any sacrifice. Any pain."

Forehead leaning against hers, Max's eyes drifted closed. "I'll die fighting for it…because it's the only thing I've ever really lived for…" Hand drifting once more to cover his unborn children to emphasize his words, Max Evans erased the beginning of the night with two final words. "…until now."

"Until now." A silver tear slipped unbidden down Liz's cheeks as her hand covered his. Her voice lowered softly, intimately. “Make the earth move for me, Max.”

“But what about…” Instant worried creased Max’s brow.

An amused light danced in Liz's eyes. "It's ok. It's safe. Besides, I've already told them all about their daddy's amazing, legendary alien powers."

An eyebrow rose. "Legendary?"

"Uh-huh." Liz nuzzled her nose against his and pressed her body against his hard toned muscles. "Huge, in fact."

"Well." Max's voice lowered huskily as he languidly wrapped his arms around his wife. "In that case, I guess I have a reputation to keep up, don't I?"

Brushing her lips against his, Liz readily agreed as her fingers deftly began to unbutton Max's shirt. "Hence the 'making the earth move' request."

Max stilled Liz's hands. Gazing into her eyes, his teasing words held the solemnest promise. "Why stop with the earth, Liz Evans…" Gently tracing her lips, Max's gaze dropped to a well-loved target as his heated whisper electrified the air between them. "…when we have the power to move heaven too?"

And as the first kiss exploded between them, the walls of heaven began to shake…

Tbc…

[Ashton]

~ chapter 20 ~

April 2001

"You're pathetic."

Drake smirked and shifted under the satin sheets, his gaze sweeping over the curvaceous, thinly covered body of Tess Harding as she stood against the open French door looking out into the night. "You weren't saying that ten minutes ago."

Tossing Drake a saucy glare over her shoulder, Tess' voice sharpened. "Ten minutes ago you weren't actually suggesting Liz Parker's child should live."

Rolling his eyes, Drake sat up in bed and propped himself against his pillows. "I honestly don't see what the problem is, Tess. If, as you say, the child isn't Max's…then what's the point in killing it? It will be one hundred percent human and of no use to us."

Holding up a finger of silence as Tess spun to face him, her mouth poised to speak, Drake raised an eyebrow. "And if, as I say, the child is the wannabe king's…it's better off living and usable for a time of our choosing."

"I want her to suffer." There was no attempt to hide the hatred in Tess' voice as she crossed her arms in front of her.

"And I want to be king." Drake shot back. "Frankly, my dear, that takes priority over your childish, petty rivalry with Liz Parker."

Tess' lips curled into a cruel sneer. "Only because you love her."

A forced smirk hit Drake's lips. "Who says? You?" Drake began to chuckle as his eyes met hers. "Tess, you wouldn't know love if it was gift-wrapped and handed to you on a silver platter." "

Oh, I see. And you would?" Tess flippantly responded as she stepped away from the door and headed toward the desk by the wall.

"I would because I have loved." Drake's voice was unexpectedly soft. "Once upon a time. On Antar."

Turning to face him, Tess paused, her expression filling with curiosity. "You remember loving someone on Antar?"

Realizing his slip, Drake's hardened eyes snapped up to meet hers. He stiffened, his jaw tightening with irritation. "Don't concern yourself with the details, Tess. Just know it wasn't you."

Tess took a step toward the bed. "Then who was it?"

"None of your damn business." Agitatedly tossing the sheets to the side, Drake got out of bed and headed for his clothes. Hastily grabbing them up, he began to dress.

Tess took another step forward. "Drake? Come on. Tell me who this woman was that you were so in love with on Antar. Is it someone I know?"

"No." His tone was hard and closed off as he pulled his pants on and reached for his shirt.

Tess' hand stilled his task as she stepped in front of him and gazed up into his face inquiringly. He refused to meet her gaze. The sheer pain in his eyes nearly threw Tess for a loop. "Oh my God. This is it, isn't it? This is the reason you hate Max so much. What did he do?" An almost jeering smirk touched her lips. "Steal your girl?"

Eyes blazing with loathing, Drake nearly pulled Tess off the floor as his fingers bit into the flesh of her arms. "Let. It. Go."

Nearly dropping Tess in a heap, Drake pushed her to the side as he continued to dress. Taking a cautionary step forward, Tess persisted her guesses hitting closer to home than Drake would have liked. "She was yours first then Max came on the scene. He took her from you. Used her and tossed her to the side…"

"It wasn't like that." Drake shot back defensively, a floodgate of remembered pain having been opened by Tess' incessant prompting. "Max never touched her. Which is precisely why she killed herself. Because of Max. Because he dismissed her without a second thought. He had eyes for only one person. A piece of scum that wasn't even fit to touch the hem of Eden's skirt."

"You want to know why I hate Max so much?" Rising to his full height, Drake was practically shaking with rage, his features twisted in utter contempt and loathing. "He took everything from me on Antar. My throne. My love. My life. And now…now, I plan to take his. And if that means allowing Liz Parker's child to live long enough to destroy Max Evans, I will do it."

A wicked smile curled his lips into an evil sneer, his gaze shifting into a future Drake had been envisioning since the day he found out Liz Parker was pregnant. "What better way to cut him open than to know his only son is being raised by his bitter enemy? To know his lover is sharing a life with a man he wants to put in the ground. To watch the woman he loves…and his only son…choose me over him in the end. **That** will be the ultimate revenge, Tess. And I will **not** have that satisfaction stolen from me. Not by my mother. Not by Liz Parker herself. And certainly not by you…"

"Oh, Drake…" Tess sidled up to Drake and ran her hands up his chest. "…I just love it when you get all hungry for power. For revenge." Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed her body into his. "It's such a turn on."

"Yeah?" Steel blue eyes met hers. Leaning forward, Drake's lips teasingly brushed the air above hers before he abruptly, forcefully pushed her away from him. Tess landed on the bed with a bounce as Drake's smile turned into a cruel sneer. Unexpectedly, he casually tossed his jacket over his shoulder and headed to the door, leaving Tess with one last infuriating thought. "Thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to remember that the next time I see Liz Parker."

His devilish laugh echoed through the slamming door followed instantly by Tess' scream of frustration and the shattering of glass against the wall. ~~~~~~~~~~~
"Serena…" Liz glanced up from her Parenting magazine just as Serena re-entered the room where Liz was sitting, feet propped up on a ottoman, blanket draping her overly-expanded stomach and a carton of Superman ice cream sitting half eaten on the table next to her. Having her alien companion's complete attention, Liz let out a sigh. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

Serena flashed Liz a smile. "Did you run across another parenting quiz you need help answering?"

Liz chuckled and shook her head as she tossed the magazine on the floor. "No, actually this really is a personal question."

Serena pulled her hair up into a ponytail as she plopped down on the couch opposite Liz's chair. "Ok. Shoot."

Liz shifted her considerable weight in the chair in order to get comfortable, if there is such a thing for a woman carrying twins in the middle of her seventh month. Liz's probing question matched the inquisition in her eyes. "Did…you and Michael ever…"

Seeing how Liz's eyebrows rose meaningfully as she allowed the sentence to trail, Serena quickly picked up the rest of the question and answered. "Yes, we did. It was…very intense. And very short-lived.”

Liz nodded as if she'd already known the answer. “What happened?”

Shrugging Serena responded in her usually blunt manner that was so refreshing to Liz, a woman whose entire world consisted of subterfuge upon subterfuge. “He said I was a distraction. That I got in the way of his second-in-command duties.”

“Oh. I see.”

Serena continued as if Liz hadn’t spoken. “The truth is, he’s never gotten over Maria.”

Eyes dulling with understanding, Liz nodded her voice softening. “I see.”

Sensing her queen’s sympathetic gaze, Serena smiled at Liz. “Don’t look so sad. I’m not hurt. Not any more. We're friends now and I honestly have no desire to go back to where we were."

“And could that be because of a certain human…” Eyes brightening, a teasing smile raced across Liz’s lips. “…whose name begins with ‘K’ and ends in…”

“Don’t you dare go there!” Serena warned with laughter dancing in her eyes. Not for the first time in the past three and a half months that Serena and Liz had been living in the same house did Liz bring a blush to Serena’s cheeks. All because of one name. Serena tried to stop a smile from spreading over her lips, but failed miserably.

Clearly not wanting to get caught up in yet another discussion of her own personal love life, Serena cleared her throat and attempted to steer the conversation back to Liz’s original inquiry. “So, what’s this sudden interest in my relationship with Michael?”

“Well…” Liz’s gaze faltered as her own blush rose on her cheeks. The real purpose for her sudden inquiry was about to reveal itself. "When the two of you were together…" Liz paused. "…did anything odd…" Hastening to correct herself, an almost shy smile lit her eyes. "…wonderful, but odd…ever happen?"

A knowing smile was Liz’s immediate response. "You mean…thunder, lightning, earth shattering storms?"


Excitement danced in Liz's ebony eyes as she sat up a bit straighter. "Yes!"

"No." Serena answered back promptly.

Liz's face fell. "Oh."

Blinking in confusion, she slumped back into her chair, tilted her head and scrutinized Serena. "Then how did you know?"

Serena's coal black eyes glittered with a hint of devilishness. "Antar."

Liz's eyebrows raised in understanding. "Oohh."

Crossing her legs Indian style, Serena leaned forward and lowered her voice conspiratorially. "The royals on Antar…they had a…special place they went to when they were especially in the uh…” Serena wiggled her eyebrows. “…mood to be together physically."

Liz was suddenly all ears. "Really?"

Head bobbing up and down, Serena continued. “It was this protected place where they…well…you know.”

"Protected?" Liz asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. So that they wouldn't destroy Antar too much." Serena answered casually.

A second eyebrow raised. "Destroy Antar."

"Uh-huh." Serena's coy smile lit her dark, dancing eyes. "There's just something about the royals when they do it that rocks whatever world they happen to be in." She shrugged. "I guess its their bonding rituals that make the difference."

"Bonding rituals?"

"Yeah. I don’t remember much about them, I just know they were different than other Antarians. And whenever a bonding occurred, well…the planet always spun a little bit faster than usual. Shook a little more. Stuff like that."

"Really.” Liz’s mind began to spin with questions. One of which she asked. “Like what kind of bonding are we talking about here?"

Shrugging, Serena pushed a few loose strands of hair back from her face. "Marriages, first nights together, conceptions…that kind of thing."

Picking up a pillow from the sofa, Serena hugged it to her chest and case Liz a knowing grin. "In fact, I think I know when those two little podlettes of yours were conceived."

"Oh, really?" Liz began to grin. "And when exactly would that have been?"

"Well...” Serena let out a sigh with an air of confidence. “By my calculations it had to have been the night of September twenty-fourth."

Liz gasped. "How did you know that?"

"Because we had more than a few pretty heavy duty storms that night. All completely unexpected. And all somewhat supernatural in nature." Serena's grin deepened. "Besides, Max couldn't wipe the grin off his face for an entire week after that night. He was one seriously satisfied E.T."

Liz began to chuckle as her eyes danced with laughter. “Yeah, well…he wasn’t the only one. I’m telling you, the lies I had to come up with to explain my own extended 'afterglow' from that rendezvous…” Liz shook her head in mock remorse. “….absolutely shameless.”

Serena’s laughed joined Liz’s for a moment before she let out a light gasp. “You know…I just remembered something. If you're really interested in Antar…” Jumping off the couch, she headed over to the bookcase where she pulled out a book Liz had never seen before.

Presenting it to her sovereign and friend, Serena began to explain. "This is a journal I used to keep. A memory here or there. A dream that feels remarkably like home…" Serena paused, her voice softening with emotion. "It was beautiful there, Liz. You would have loved it. Everything was so tangible, but ethereal at the same time."

Flipping reverently through the pages, Liz began to smile. The moment her fingers touched the words Serena had written, a vivid visual image appeared on the page corresponding to Serena's description. Realizing she was getting first hand, personal look at Antar, Liz's voice filled with awe and her eyes met Serena's in gratitude. "This is amazing, Serena."

"Yeah. I uh…I found the best way to capture the images were through a little alien voodoo." Serena grinned as she sat back down on the couch and leaned forward, her voice softening with reflection. "Whenever I get lonely for home, I just read my memories and…" She let out a sigh. "…it's like I'm there."

"So, do you have something about this protected place in here?" Serena's eyes widened in apparent shock. "Oh, no. That place was only for the royals."

"Oh." A cloud of pain dulled Liz's eyes. "So, Max probably spent time there…with Tess."

Serena scoffed. "There’s only one kind of ‘royal’ that describes Tess…a royal pain in our collective asses." Sobering as Liz's chuckle filled the room, Serena leaned forward, her gaze fixed on her folded hands in front of her as she became semi-serious. "Truth, Liz?" Serena asked, quietly waiting till Liz's inquiring eyes turned to her with permission to speak. "I don't think they ever got that far."

Liz's brows furrowed with confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…I don't think Max and Tess were really married on Antar."

Liz's attention was instantly captured. "You…don’t? Well, what…what makes you think they weren't?"

Serena shrugged. "Well, for starters, I don't remember them together. And that's not all. I mean…there's something really off about them. Even here on earth. There's not the…" Pausing in search of the words she was looking for, Serena shook her head. "…there's no energy between them. No connection. No instinctive click when they look at each other. Nothing to indicate they intimately knew each other on Antar."

She raised a dark eyebrow. "Same thing with Michael and Isabel."

"But Tess was his mate. Engineered to be his bride." Liz slowly reasoned, trying not to let hope spring in her heart that she was Max Evans' one and only wife. "They ruled together and were sent here. Together. As husband and wife."

"Did Max tell you that?" Serena asked curiously.

"No, I heard it myself. In the cave. Years ago. Max, Tess, Isabel, and Michael activated these orbs from Antar. When they did, a vision of their mother appeared with a message for them. She explained that their king, Max, was sent with his bride, Tess, and his sister with her fiance’, Michael. That Antar was in the middle of a civil war and they were to return as soon as possible to save their race."

Serena sat a moment lost in thought before responding. "That's…interesting. Max’s mother wasn’t…” Pausing abruptly, Serena’s gaze shifted uncomfortably.

“Max’s mother wasn’t what?” Curiosity on overdrive, Liz's inquiry was instant the moment she saw Serena’s averted gaze. Squeezing her eyes shut, Serena tried to conjure up an image…any image…that might explain and support the intense doubt coursing through her at the incongruity of Liz's statements and what she instinctively knew to be true.

Nothing came.

She shook her head slowly, her regretful eyes opening to meet Liz's. "I'm…sorry, Liz. I don't remember. I don't think it's possible for Max's mother to have sent a message to him in a vision…but at the same time, I can't tell you why I think that."

"So, this is just another impression of yours, right?" Liz commented softly. Seeing Serena's head bob slowly in affirmation, Liz's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "What do you base these impressions of yours on, Serena?" Liz inquired, doubt edging her voice. "I mean…do you actually remember any of this specifically or are these just feelings you have?"

Suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious, Serena's gaze shifted as she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly. "It's…it's really hard to explain, Liz."

Liz's eyes narrowed warily. "I see."

Liz Evans lied.

She didn't see at all.

As much as she liked, admired and trusted Serena there were still things that never quite made sense. Like these impressions of hers. And the things she knew but couldn't explain how she remembered. Like the cloaking ability she was using to, in essence, hide one of the twins. Or the spells she used for their own protection against the Seer…

Deciding not to press the matter any further and make her newest friend and confidant more uncomfortable than she already was, Liz cleared her throat and decided to change subjects. "So, about Kyle…"

Liz was interrupted by the sound of a familiar and loved voice. "Ah. I see I arrived just in time to stop the two of you from a incredibly boring discussion.”

“Max!” Liz’s entire being lit up with energy and happiness when she saw her other half leaning casually against the door of the living room. “Honey, what are you doing here?"

“Giving you a better topic of conversation, it seems.” Flashing Liz and Serena a teasing grin, Max entered the room heading straight for his growing family, the sincerity of his voice lowering as he gave her the real reason for his visit. “Truth is…I missed my little frog and couldn’t wait another moment to see her.”

Chuckling at their own private joke, Liz's face broke into a radiant smile as their eyes locked meaningfully. Max's hands lovingly cupped her face as he leaned down for a lingering kiss. Whispering a tender "Hi" against Liz's lips when he pulled back, his eyes softened with love. Wrapping her fingers around his wrists, Liz's echoed "Hi" was just as tender as she gazed up into his eyes.

Instant joy turned to cautious concern as Liz looked beyond Max's smile to the weariness in his eyes. Beyond his casual demeanor to the pain weighing his shoulders down. The question in her eyes was answered by the plea in his. To not question. To wait. To let him have this moment. To let him soak up the strength that came with being in his wife's presence. Far from war. In the center of love.

Tearing his gaze from Liz after a moment of intense silence, Max placed his hand lovingly on Liz’s expanded stomach, leaned down and placed two gentle kisses there, one for each changing baby. “And how are my little podlettes?” His tone was soft as he pulled up an ottoman next to Liz's chair and sat down.

"They're fine. Active." A hint of worry still haunted her eyes, though Liz grinned as her hand instantly covered his. "But mostly they miss their daddy. Just like mommy has."

"Missed you too." Max whispered candidly. Openly. Without reservation.

The intimacy that descended on the room was palpable as Max and Liz gazed at each other. The energy surrounding them was almost visible. The love…tangible.

Sensing her presence was no longer needed, Serena made a move to leave the two newlyweds and expectant parents alone but was stopped by the command of her king. "Not so fast, Serena."

Catching a movement out of the corner of his eye, Max finally turned to address his wife’s companion of the past several months. “I thought you were supposed to be keeping my family safe and entertained, and here I walk in to find you discussing…” Max scrunched up his face in exaggerated disgust. “…Kyle, of all people.”

“Hey, now.” Serena warned as she sat back down on the couch, her dark eyes dancing with laughter. “It was your wife who brought Kyle up. I was simply going to…listen.”

“Riiiight.” Max teased before turning back to Liz as he reached up and swept a strand of hair back from her face, his fingers trailing a path down her neck where they began to gently, absently massage her knotted muscles. His brow furrowed in concern. Though his attention was clearly on his dear wife, he spoke to his subject. “She's tense. And she looks tired. Haven't you been taking care of her at all?" "

Max…" An upraised eyebrow accompanied Liz's warning voice, bringing a smile to Serena's face. "…stop."

"Stop what?" Blinking innocently, sincere confusion raced through his eyes.

"Stop talking like I'm not here and ignoring the obvious fact that I know perfectly well how to take care of myself." Liz pulled his hand from its task and raised it to her lips for a gentle kiss. Reaching out to caress his face, Liz tilted her head with a sigh. "I adore you for being overly protective, but it's not necessary. Serena has been taking wonderful care of me."

"But…"

"Honey, we go through this every visit. And every visit you know I win. So…" Lower lip jutting out in a pretty pout, Liz batted her long lashes. "…let's not waste precious time together arguing about whether I’m being taken care of when you know I am. Or at least as much as I can be without you." She gently stroked his face giving him one more pleading look. "Ok?"

Serena nearly burst out laughing at the way Max literally melted at Liz's gentle prompting. His adam's apple bobbed up and down as his eyes brightened with love just before his gaze lowered sheepishly, his shy embarrassment hidden behind a row of thick lashes. If only the rest of the camp could see their fearless and sometimes fierce leader in the presence of his wife, he'd certainly have a hard time controlling the troops. Not for their lack of respect. But for the obvious teasing he would surely endure for being such a whipped puppy.

Liz was right.

They did go through the same routine every time Max came to visit her. For the first fifteen minutes or so, he'd get all the details of her condition. How she felt. How the babies were. What she'd been eating. What grand schemes had been occupying her time. And he was never, ever satisfied until she'd told him how much she missed him…at least four times.

Miraculously, on this occasion, Max didn't pursue the issue too much. Apparently, he really had missed his wife. Serena's grin deepened as she watched Max gaze up into Liz’s face with complete adoration and submission. Just the way Liz liked him. Pliable and willing to do whatever she asked.

Serena had to admit, her king was quite entertaining to watch when he got in his overly-protective moods. But before total surrender, there was one last issue. "Alright then." Max's expression was scrutinizing. "One question and I'll let it go. How are you really feeling?” He wagged a finger at Liz for emphasis. “And don't even think about lying to me. You know I know you too well.”

With the beginning of a grin, Liz bobbed her head back and forth in a so-so motion. “Lots of waddling going on, a little bit of glowing here and there, and the alien chatter of these two little imps of yours keep me up hours on end, but besides that…” Liz shrugged her shoulders. “…I'm perfectly fine."

Max’s eyebrow rose. “I’m dying to see the waddling. The glowing we’ll have to talk about and…” He began to grin as his eyes lit up with excitement. “…they’re actually talking to each other? Can you understand anything they’re saying?”

Running her fingers through Max’s hair, Liz shook her head, her eyes dancing with teasing as she contradicted her visual response. “Uh-huh. How do you think I knew they missed their daddy?"

“Oh. Well. In that case…” With gentle, lingering caresses, Max leaned forward, his lips only a whisper away from the womb housing his growing twins. "Alright, my little ones. You need to listen to daddy now. It’s very, very important for you to limit your chatter to daytime hours so that mommy can get enough sleep so when the two of you finally make your appearance…”

Max's lecture was interrupted by the sudden, powerful kick that was even visible from Serena's distance. "Whoa." Max practically jumped back, his eyes wide with surprise and wonder. "That was huge. Which one was that? Kaleb or Kennedy?"

Still wincing, Liz ran her hand over her stomach trying to calm her active offspring. "Try both."

Max blinked his eyes growing wider. His hand joined hers. "Both?"

Nodding, Liz began to chuckle. "I told you they missed you. This is their welcome home."

"Aww…that's so…" Max's expression softened with love then swiftly shifted to concern. "…but, ouch. I mean…huge ouch."

Serena and Liz both burst into laughter. Max's lips instantly turned downward in an offended pout. His gaze shifted from his wife to his friend back to his wife, slight irritation lacing his glare. "I don't see what's so funny about my children kicking their mother. Am I missing something here?"

Biting down on her lip to rein in her laughter, Liz reached out and took Max's face in her hands. "Oh, sweetie. You are just so cute about all of this."

Max stiffened, a dark eyebrow raising in mock offense. "Cute? I'll have you know that I've been many things in my life, Liz Evans. Cute is not one of them." Turning to Serena, Max held up an authoritative finger. “And if I even hear one whisper of this conversation back at base I’ll know exactly who to blame…”

Liz's laughter erupted throughout the room with even more joviality than before. "Forgive me, love. I forgot we've got an audience and I can't compromise your royal authority by calling you such a girlie name."

“Damn right you can’t.” Max answered back curtly though his eyes began to shine with hidden laughter. His gaze dropped to her stomach where ripples of movement could still be seen. “So, these little podlettes are missing me huh?”

Max moved his hand once more to cover his unborn children. The twins instantly stilled at the touch of their father's hand as a faint, unearthly glow shimmered between Max’s hand and Liz’s stomach. Warmth spread through both Max and Liz as their eyes met in awe at the hum of vibrant life suddenly electrifying their bodies.

Liz’s quiet comment prompted a slow smile from Max. “See? Glowing.”

“When did this start?”

“A couple of weeks ago.” Without taking her eyes from Max, Liz included Serena in their intimate family moment with a question. “Or has it been longer, Serena?”

Quickly flipping through a journal Serena was keeping to chronicle all of Liz’s pregnancy oddities, she ran her finger down a page. “Actually, it was last month." Serena’s gaze raised to the couple sitting before her, the significance of her statement not lost on the pair. “Right after the last time you were together.”

Max’s gaze snapped to Serena’s face. “Together…together?” Max’s meaning was clear in the way a faint blush spread over his cheeks. “Or…just together?”

A slight smile hinted on her lips. “From what Liz said, the first one.”

“You don’t think…” Liz’s question gained Max’s immediate attention as she directed hers toward Serena. “…did we bond again in some way?”

Serena shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s very possible. I mean…” Glancing back down at her trusted book of details, Serena nodded. “…yeah, it’s very, very possible. It seems that’s when they started conversing with each other too. And the ache…” Snapping her mouth shut, Serena’s eyes met Liz’s apologetically.

Max was instantly alert. “Ache? What…what kind of ache? What’s she talking about, Liz?”

Letting out a deep sigh, Liz turned to Max resignedly. “Honey, it’s no big deal. I just…I get these cravings, but they’re not really cravings. They’re more like these dull but very intense aches.” T

he concern in Max’s voice matched the panic racing through his eyes as he shook his head in confusion. “Sweetie, you’re not making sense.”

Attempting to calm her husband’s fears, Liz covered Max’s hand lovingly. “Sweetheart, I’m serious. This is no big deal. I just…ache for certain things sometimes. Things that…” Lowering her voice, Liz’s face flushed with embarrassment. “…that only you can…” Her eyes met his meaningfully as she emphasized one important word. “…**do** to me.” As if a light had been switched on, Max’s eyes brightened with

understanding. “Oooh.” Seeing that Max had finally caught on, Liz nodded her head once and continued. “Right, so…when I get these aches….your children just happen to glow. And when they do…I feel…” Liz paused searching for the right word. The only one she could come up with seemed rather lame for how their babies made her feel when they did whatever they did to cause a light glow to surround her. "…appeased."

"Appeased." Max repeated, his eyes narrowing. "That's it? You feel…appeased."

“Yeah. Like, not really satisfied but not as achy any more either. I mean, it's not like I feel after we've…” Pausing, Liz wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "…but its not like I’m craving you as much either." Liz's nose scrunched up in an adorably uncertain expression. "I don't…really know how else to explain it."

“I see.”

Max’s gaze swept over his wife as the glow under his hand increased. “Any aches now?”

The hint of a knowing smile haunted his lips as his eyes darkened with instant hunger that clearly came from a man who'd not seen or touched his wife in weeks.

Voice lowering suggestively, Liz’s eyes began to shine, matching the desire staring her in the face. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I feel a very intense ache coming on."

"Yeah?" Max leaned forward, his gaze focused on one important target. He unconsciously licked his lips in anticipation. "Uh…how intense?"

Pulling his face toward her, Liz's gaze dropped to Max's lips. "You tell me."

Her whisper sent an electric shock across his lips a heartbeat before her kiss stole his heart all over again. The blaze that swept through Max would have knocked him off his feet had he been standing. With each powerful stroke of her tongue against his, the fire in the pit of his stomach intensified. The warm, shimmering glow under his hand increased. Max began to drown in sensations he'd never felt before. A current of tantalizing pleasure sparked across every nerve ending.

As Liz's fingers slipped downward to unbutton his shirt, it was made perfectly clear exactly what his wife wanted. What they both wanted. What they both needed…

Breathless and painfully aware they were both quickly getting aroused, Max pulled back and attempted to issue a command since it was obvious the time for privacy had come. “Serena, it might be a good time to…”

Liz stopped Max’s suggestion with a finger against his lips and a knowing smile. “She left two minutes ago.”

“Oh." He glanced toward the couch. It was empty. His gaze shifted back to Liz, a sheepish grin spreading over his lips. "I didn’t notice.”

“She’s very discreet.”

“That’s not why I didn’t notice.” Max captured Liz's lips once more in a heart-stopping kiss that ended much more abruptly than Liz wanted, prompting a groan of protest. Max merely grinned as he leaned his forehead against hers. “Think I should tell her Kyle’s waiting for her in the guest house?”

“She’s a smart girl." Liz nuzzled her nose against his. "She’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah?" Nipping at Liz's lips, Max swept her hair back from her face and gazed teasingly into her eyes. "Is there anything you think I need to figure out?”

Grinning devilishly, Liz nodded as she slipped her arms around his neck. “How to get your whale of a wife upstairs without breaking your back.”

"I think I can manage that…" Groaning with exaggerated teasing, Max deftly swept his wife up in his arms and was rewarded with a playful slap and bubbling laughter that filled the house. Until he kissed her. Until he carried her up the stairs. Until his gentle touch chased away aches and need and left in their place…overwhelming love.

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

Slamming the door behind her, Tess stormed into the Seer's quarters unannounced. "I want her dead."

The Seer's black eyes crackled with delight as they focused on Tess. "Finally." A slow, evil smile haunted her lips. "You're ready to kill. That beautiful black cloak of hatred has not only covered you, it is at this very moment seeping into your heart."

"Cut the psychoanalysis." Tess commanded uncharacteristically. "Just tell me what I need to do to put Liz Parker in her grave."

Hands steepled in front of her, the old crone's laughter rang through the room. Motioning for Tess to sit in front of her with a wrinkled hand, the Seer leaned forward, her ancient features only inches from Tess' face.

Wickedness danced in her eyes as a cold, bony hand reached out to cover Tess'. "Help me find the seal."

"The seal?"

One silent nod. There was a tightening of cold, claw-like fingers around Tess' slim hands. "The seal of power must be found. Once it is…" The Seer's face nearly cracked with devilish delight. "…Liz Parker's life will be yours for the taking…"

Tbc…

[Ashton]

~ chapter 21 ~


Everyone reaches a breaking point.

No matter how firm the commitment. No matter how sacred the promises. No matter how deep the love…


September 2007

The flying book nearly hit her as she stepped into his office.

Serena ducked for cover just as another swirling volume brushed her nose. The tornado of bound words came to an immediate stop as a thunderous thud echoed in the room when every air-born object fell to the floor. After a moment's hesitation, Serena slowly raised her head to look in the direction the literary missiles were being launched from.

The path was littered with broken furniture, scattered correspondence and overturned lamps. Drops of maddening misery and agonizing rage hung heavily in Max's eyes, permeating the atmosphere with an overwhelming sense of defeat.

Sensing her immediate safety was secure since Max obviously realized another being was in the room, she gingerly picked the book off the floor. Cautiously standing and taking in the title before holding it out to her obviously enraged king, Serena's sarcastic comment was risky given his current state of mind. "Shakespeare's Sonnets are good, but I prefer getting knocked in the head by Poe. Just for future reference."

Max scowled at her. "Get the hell out. I'm not in the mood." Turning his back to her, Max angrily kicked yet another book that had suffered a similar fate as the one in her hand.

"Not a secret there, Max. In fact, the whole camp is discussing the foul mood you've been in for the past week or so." Serena stated levelly as she placed the book on a nearby table and advanced into the room. "Which is precisely what I'm doing here. They all think you need to get laid so at least help me make this look good…"

Whirling on her, Max eyes flashed with fury. "Don't you know how to follow orders the first time? Get. The. Hell. Out!" His entire body rigid with frustration when Serena didn't bow and obey, Max's fists clenched and unclenched by his side. "I swear, Serena, if you don't leave this instant I'll…"

"What? Hurt me? Kill me? Bury me under a pile of dancing books?" Shaking her head slowly, she advanced another step. "No, I don't think you will." Serena responded confidently as she lowered herself into the one chair in Max's office that hadn't been disturbed by his obvious tantrum. "You and your family need me too much."

Growling furiously, Max spun on his heels and headed straight for his desk. Plopping into his chair, he decidedly turned it toward the window effectively closing the door to any reasonable conversation.

Serena ignored the visual hint. "So, Max. What is it? Did you and Liz have a fight? Are you not getting to see her enough? Is something going on with one of the kids?" When all of her suggestions were met with deafening silence, Serena continued to push. "Come on, Max, it either has to be Liz or the twins. Nothing else could make you this upset."

Stubborn disquiet filled the room.

Serena sighed inwardly. She'd been looking forward to a nice, peaceful afternoon. A quick nap. Maybe an indulgent stroll into the pages of a good mystery. Perhaps even re-read Kyle's latest letter. Yes, the letter, with all of it's humor and subtle hints of hidden dreams for the future between them, was definitely a must. The very last thing she wanted to be doing was sitting here in the middle of chaos coddling her obviously repressed king.

But she was the chosen one. Isabel had demurred stating she'd promised Kennedy a story before her afternoon nap. Michael contended that he'd washed his hands of Max's emotional forays into lunacy years ago. Besides, he stated, he didn't think he could give Max what he really needed anyway. The insinuation in his wiggling, upraised eyebrows was enough to shift the responsibility to Serena's assumed shoulders.

Letting out a sigh, Serena stood and approached Max. "Max, I'm not leaving till something is settled. Everyone outside that door thinks the problem is with you and me and until we get something worked out…" What she saw when she reached his side, surprised her.

Blinking rapidly, Max was struggling to keep tears in check. Tears of anger. Hurt. Resentment. And, from the very depths of his soul, heartbreaking loneliness.

Averting his gaze, Max continued to stare out the window as his shoulders slumped in defeat. There was obviously no way he was going to get out of this conversation. Suddenly, he wasn't so sure he wanted to. He'd been holding all these emotions, questions, in for so long now. He had to unload to someone. Serena seemed the most obvious choice. He licked his parched lips and pulled in a ragged breath. When he finally spoke, his voice was full of pent up frustration. "She's blocking me."

Serena leaned against the window ledge, scrutinizing Max's expression. For the first time since Max's attitude shift over a week ago, Serena saw past the hardness in his eyes. The depth of his pain was profound. "For how long?"

"Ten days, fifteen hours and thirty-four seconds." Max's eyes drifted closed as his quiet answer detailed just how much he was suffering without the permeating connection he and his wife had established between them.

Tilting her head to the side, Serena's mind began to whirl. "So, what happened ten days ago?"

"We had a fight."

An upraised eyebrow was his response. "What about?"

Shaking his head, Max ran his hand over his face before leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees. He studiously stared at his hands. "Damned if I know."

"You're kidding me." Serena ran her fingers through her hair. "You've been mad at each other for ten days and you don't even know why?" She stared at him in disbelief. "Then what are you still doing here?" Serena asked abruptly. "Go, Max. Find your wife and figure out why you're mad at each other."

Anger flashed in Max's eyes as his gaze snapped upward. "I know **why**, Serena. I just don't know **why**."

Serena's face scrunched up in confusion. "Huh?"

Letting out a sigh, Max jumped up from his chair and immediately began to pace next to desk. "She thinks I'm lying to her about something. Or at least that's what she says. That's why we fought. **What** she thinks I'm lying about is where I start to get a little lost because I have no idea what she thinks she knows. And she won't tell me."

Max's rant began to gain in momentum as he shook his head emphatically. "Oh, no. No, she won't do that. Because, you see, to actually **tell** me what she's talking about would be easy thing to do. It would be logical. It would be like admitting she's wrong. Because it would, in essence, be her way of saying that I must not know whatever it is she thinks she knows, hence I'm not actually lying to her or keeping secrets. You see, if I were lying, she wouldn't have to tell me what I was lying about because I would already know."

His pacing picked up in speed as his direction changed. "Then, of course, there's the other option. That she doesn't think I’m lying to her and is only using that as an excuse to cover up whatever the hell is going on with her."

"That doesn't sound like Liz." Serena commented quietly.

"Not the Liz you and I know." Max confirmed before throwing in a twist showing exactly what had been going through his mind. "Then again, do we really know her at all?"

"Max, what are you talking about?" Serena practically scoffed. "You know Liz better than anyone in the world. In case you've forgotten, you have an out-of-this-world connection with her."

"Maybe. Once." Shaking his head vehemently, Max's jaw tightened with anger. The answers to his questions were obvious, but that didn't stop him from asking as he whirled to face Serena. "Do you know that Liz and I are married? That we have two children together? And do you know that we never once had dinner together as a family? Not once, Serena."

"And when it's just Liz and me, we don't have time to just **be** together, you know? We're always trying to make up for lost time or…or planning for our next clandestine meeting. There's never enough time to be everything we want to be to each other. Never. There is something seriously wrong with that picture. And I think Liz is finally seeing that. I think she sees it and…and she's tired of it. She's…done."

Brows furrowing with instant concern and confusion, Serena's question was direct and simple. "What are you saying? Are you saying you think Liz wants out?"

His pacing abruptly halted. Max swallowed hard. Gaze averted, the slight nod of his head and the faint tremble in his lips gave his answer away. "She's always wanted something normal. I'm…this…us…is anything but."

"Max, you can't be seriously thinking…"

"It's over." The words leaving his mouth came with difficulty. "I think…I think we should get a divorce."

"A divorce." Serena repeated in disbelief. "After everything you've been through to be together? Have you gone insane?" Taking a few steps toward him, Serena began to lay out her case. "Max, Liz knew what she was getting into when she married you. She **knew** it. She married you anyway because she loves you more than life itself."

A quick, defeated shrug. "Sometimes love isn't enough."

"And sometimes it's all you need." Serena pressed. "Tell me what's really going on here, Max, because I've been there, ok? I've seen you and Liz together. I've seen you apart. Every second you're not together, she's dreaming and working for the time you will be. Every beat of her heart is for you and those children."

"It used to be."

"Used to be?" Incredulous, Serena's voice jumped an octave. "What has gotten into you?"

Passing his hand over his eyes, Max turned his back on Serena as silence descended between them. His shoulders shifted as his chest expanded with a deep breath. Hand dropping heavily by his side, Max's answer came out in a mere whisper. "She thinks I'm falling for you."

Serena's reaction was instantaneous: she laughed.

Slowly turning to face her, the sadness in Max's eyes chilled Serena to the bone as her laughter choked in her throat. Her expression registered alarm as her eyes widened. "You…can't be serious."

Max remained silent, his expression saying everything he couldn't.

"No." Shaking her head emphatically, Serena's denial was firm. "No, something else is going on here. Liz knows that you and I…that this…" Gesturing between them, Serena's speech faltered. Panic raced through her eyes. "Max, she can't think that. You have to…to convince her…"

"I've tried." Max responded solemnly. "That's why she's been blocking me. She doesn't believe me." A wry, mirthless smile tightened Max's lips as he crossed his arms in front of him. "Truth is, I don't think she wants to. You see, my adoring wife is the one flirting with the idea of having an affair."

"What?" Blinking rapidly, Serena was trying her best to process the new information Max was throwing at her. She wasn't doing too well. "With who?"

"Drake."

"This makes no sense, Max. None." A sudden thought occurred to Serena. She asked a probing question. "Do you block her?"

"No." Max stopped his pacing as his immediate answer altered as his gaze shifted guiltily. "Maybe."

"Max…"

"I don't let her in on everything I'm feeling ok?" Defensive fire was dancing in his dark eyes as he whirled on Serena. "This whole situation…our secret marriage, separation from Kennedy…it's all hard enough on her without her having to experience all of my frustrations with the troops or this aching loneliness I have whenever I'm away from her for too long. Or how I worry about her and Kaleb just about every second of the day. She has enough of her own things to deal with, she doesn't need the extra burden of all my emotions too."

"Don't you see, you idiot? That's what's going on." Animatedly, Serena seemed to finally find the explanation for the unexplainable. "You're shutting her out, Max. She thinks it's because there's something you don't want her to know. Which is true, except she assumes it's me. So she's trying to get your attention with this Drake crap. It's no more real than you and me!" She paused to take a breath. "When's the last time you tried to connect with her?"

"Just before you came in. Obviously it didn't work. That's why I…" Waving his hand toward the destruction in the room, Max allowed his explanation to remain unfinished. There was no need. His anger and frustration at the maddening situation was obvious.

Crossing her arms in front of her, Serena issued an order. "Try again. Right now."

"No." His response was emphatic and determined.

"Max…"

"This is her issue. She's the one that broke off the connection." Max stiffened stubbornly as his gaze hardened. "She knows how to contact me when she's finished being stubborn."

Rolling her eyes, Serena threw her hands up and pushed herself away from the window ledge. "You're the one that's so damn stubborn, Max. You know what your wife is upset about and you're just going to…what? Let this fester between you until it explodes? Until it destroys you both? Until you have nothing left of your love?" Letting out a deep sigh, Serena's tone softened. "Listen, Max, you and Liz do not have the luxury of living together. So, talking it over at dinner tonight or making up in the morning aren't options readily available to you. You're going to have to make an actual effort to get this straightened out."

Max shrugged as the excuse he'd been using for the past week easily slipped out. "I can't leave the troops, Serena."

"Here's a news flash, your Highness…the troops want you to leave." Serena stepped up to Max and looked up into his face daring him to deny the truth of her words. "Trust me, Max, when I tell you…as a leader, you are useless without Liz. You're beyond unpleasant to be around. In fact, Kennedy asked me just yesterday why you were acting like Beast in her fairy tale." Pausing a moment to allow his own daughter's accusation to sink in, Serena continued. "For the sake of your troops, for your friends…your **family**, Max…you have to get this worked out."

"Why should it be me, huh?" Frustration fueled by Kennedy's relayed words, Max shot back angrily as he crossed his arms in front of him. "Why should I be the one to make the first step when she's the one that won't talk to me?"

"Because your pride isn't worth losing the woman you adore." Giving him a sympathetic smile, Serena shrugged. "Come on, Max. You love her. You miss her. You're aren't you without her. Even your daughter says so."

"None of that matters, Serena." Pulling in a ragged breath, Max's shoulders sagged with apparent defeat. "Believe me, what I'm doing now…letting Liz go…it is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. But it's over. There's nothing else I can do." Shaking his head, Max turned his back on Serena as his voice hardened with determination. "Nothing except win this war and get on with the rest of my life…"

The burning ripped through the scar in his hand. A faint hum began dancing on the edge of his consciousness. He struggled to keep his voice steady as a connection began to needle its way into his mind. He pushed it away forcefully. "Now, do as I ask and get the hell out. I have plans to make."

Soft, retreating footsteps and the click of the door signaled Serena's exit. The moment he knew it was safe, Max Evans focused on shutting himself down. Turning off emotions. Relinquishing his heart.

Then, and only then, he gave in to the connection…


Everyone reaches a breaking point.

No matter how firm the commitment. No matter how sacred the promises. No matter how deep the love…

Max Evans was never quite prepared for the rush of the connection. The waves of intense emotions. Or the agony permeating the actions of an ever-faithful wife…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Drake's camp


Tears bubbled in Liz's eyes.

Drake reached over and covered her hand in his. "Max is trying to reach you again?"

She nodded and a tear escaped creating a path down her cheek. Reaching up, Drake brushed it away with his finger. Liz gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you, Drake. I don’t…I don't know what I would have done without you through all of this. Your understanding has been…" She paused as if searching for the right word. Nothing came. "…beyond."

He returned her smile before wrapping an arm around Liz's shoulder. "I know what it's like to love someone and lose them, Liz."

Sniffling, she glanced up at him inquisitively. "You do?"

Nodding, Drake's eyes took on a faraway look. "Her name was Eden. We were to be married on Antar." A hardness edged his voice. "That is until she fell in love with someone else."

"Like Max has done with Serena." Liz commented softly as her expression registered instant pain. "God, I can't believe I've been so stupid. All the time he said they were just friends…"

"Shhh, Liz. Don't dwell on it." Drake's fingers lightly ran through her hair. "You know the truth now."

"So do you." She shifted to gaze up into his eyes. "How can you not hate me right now knowing that I've been lying to you all this time? That I've been plotting to betray you."

Shrugging, Drake masked the inner turmoil boiling deep inside of him. "I told you, Liz. It didn't take me long to realize Kaleb was Max's son. That you still loved him. That you were on his side. And I knew, if I was patient, that one day you'd find yourself here. In my arms, crying your eyes out over a broken heart." Lifting her chin with one finger, Drake's eyes met hers. "Max never deserved you, Liz. I knew you'd realize that. In time…"

Nodding, Liz's large doe eyes began once more to fill with tears. "You're right. I just…I wish I knew how to make this emptiness go away."

"Don't you know? The cure for emptiness is to…" A coy smile haunted Drake's lips. "…fill it with something else. With someone who knows how to truly make you a queen." Drake's gaze drifted suggestively from her eyes to her full cherry lips as his hands gently captured her face. "Let me be that someone, Liz. I've wanted you for so long…"

Her lips met those of the enemy.

And Liz Evans prayed her husband was ready for what he was about to see…


Tbc…

[Ashton]

~ chapter 22~


August 2007


In every relationship, there comes a time…to iron.

Iron out major problems. Smooth out annoying wrinkles. Plan for the future.

After four years of marriage, Max and Liz's time had finally come…

Her reluctance to meet with him in person had been obvious. So was the emotional distance growing between them. Their connection, abruptly broken more than once at her prompting.

Her silence was becoming…unbearable.

He'd known for a while now. For at least two weeks, Max had felt a growing uneasiness in his connections with Liz. He'd sensed the change in her. Felt the added hum of energy pulsating through their connection. When realization of the cause hit him, his initial reaction had been pure, unadulterated joy. That joy was quickly dampened by an overwhelming wave of despair.

A see-saw of emotions had ruled him from that moment on. One second he was walking on a cloud of delight. The next, his brow was furrowed with apprehension.

It was distracting to say the least.

Which led Max Evans to only one conclusion: he and his wife needed a serious talk.

Because it was her uncertainty that he was feeling. Her frustration that raced through him. Her tense, anxious tremors of doubt that would unexpectedly flood his senses. From the moment they'd met again in their secret hideaway, those sensations of fear had only skyrocketed. Liz had kept as much physical distance between herself and Max as humanly possible without prompting overt concern. It was increasingly obvious that she was clearly blocking their connection even as they sat in the same room. Oh, she'd let him hold her, but not for too long. Her kisses were surface and distracted. Her answers to his inquiries, reserved and hesitant.

In the intimacy of their surroundings, Liz Evans couldn't have been farther from Max than if she'd been on Antar.

Not long after their late dinner, she feigned a headache and went to bed. Max didn't bring up the fact he could heal her as he watched her head up the stairs. There was no point. Not only did she obviously know that fact, he instinctively knew she wouldn't have let him if he tried. Giving her the space she indicated she wanted, Max agitatedly paced downstairs for what seemed like eternity before finally joining his wife in bed. She was pretending to be asleep. He would have been amused at her attempt to fool him had the ache for her touch not been so acute.

For the first time since his marriage to Liz Parker, Max understood how Drake Banner must feel in her presence. So close, but so far. Breathing the same air, but living in two different worlds. Just a touch away, but a million miles from actually reaching her…

Sleep didn't come easily, but it did come. Until he woke with a start and a permeating ache that simply wouldn't go away. He reached for Liz. She was gone.

Yawning, Max rubbed his eyes sleepily as he stumbled down the stairs and into the dim light of the living area of the small cottage they often borrowed on many of their impromptu rendezvous. What he saw there caused him to pull up short and blink. He squinted at the clock on the fireplace's broad mantle and wiped his eyes again before turning his gaze back to the sight that stirred amusement into the mixture of churning emotions he'd been trying to suppress.

Standing at the foot of the stairs, Max debated how far to push his normally rational wife. He recognized all the signs of Liz running scared from something huge. Something, in this particular case, that he was more than willing to embrace with open arms of love. Though given the last time they went through this, he didn't blame her one bit for the fear that must be twisting a knot in her stomach. He'd hoped she'd be the one to broach the subject. But now, hours after seeing him again, she still hadn't said a word. Pulling in a deep breath, Max realized he had only one choice.

It was time to bring her face to face with her latest secret.

"Liz? What are you doing?"

Liz's head shot up to see Max standing at the bottom of the stairs looking at her like she'd lost her mind. In addition to looking all-boy adorable. With his hair rumpled from sleep and his eyes still a little unfocused, Liz fought the urge to abandon her chosen task and attack him with all the energy that had been building up in her over the past several weeks. She didn't remember this feeling ever being quite so intense. Not even last time.

Which reminded her of exactly what she was doing up at…she glanced at the clock…three thirty in the morning. Her voice was more curt than she would have liked when she answered. Her troubled gaze dropped to her task, her hands moving with renewed vigor. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

An eyebrow raised at her response. "Well, I'd say it looks like you're ironing."

"Then I guess that's what I'm doing." Came back the frosty reply followed by a wall of silence.

"But…" Max took a few slow steps into the living room and paused, his hands on his hips. His eyes narrowed as they focused on Liz's obvious victim. He blinked as if to make sure the scene in front of him wasn't just a sleep induced vision. It wasn't. So he pursued the issue, his tone trickling with amused confusion. "…Liz, you're ironing my underwear."

"And your point?"

"Right." Pursing his lips, Max lazily scratched behind his ear and shook his head as he eyed her carefully. "No point really."

The irritation in her voice increased when Max didn't move from his spot. She didn't even have to look up to know he was still standing there staring at her like she'd lost her mind. "Max. I'm fine. Just…go back to bed."

"You're not fine, Liz." Max responded quietly before pointing out the obvious. He took one more step closer. "Sweetheart, you're ironing underwear at 2:30 in the morning. That's simply not normal…"

Liz's head snapped up, her eyes blazed with irritated fire. "Oh, and I guess you have that particular market cornered, don't you, Mr. I'm-an-alien-king-in-the-middle-of-a-war-who-has-out-of-this-world-connections-with-a-wife-who-doesn't-exist-and-children-he's-pretending-he-doesn't-have-while-he-enjoys-playing-footies-with-a-beautiful-alien-who-everyone-thinks-he's-secretly-bedding-every-night?" Liz's sharp interruption chilled the room to a tense sub-zero temperature.

Ignoring her insinuations and biting back a smarting retort, Max took a deep breath and forced his voice to remain calm. "It isn't normal by anyone's standards, Liz. But it's especially not normal for you…"

Setting the iron down on the ironing board with a loud thud, Liz glared at Max. "Max, I mean it. I don't want to fight. Leave now before I say something we both regret."

Nodding slowly in defeat, Max held his hands up in an attitude of surrender before backing up a few steps and turning to head back upstairs. Liz watched him go with tears bubbling in her eyes. The moment he'd disappeared, she plopped down in the chair closest to the fireplace and buried her head in her hands, instantly releasing a flood of tears.

She had no idea what was happening to her. The mood swings were normal for her condition, but everything seemed so much more intense this time around. Her frustration level was off the charts. Her increasing anger beyond unbearable. And the jealousy. Oh, the jealousy was what was killing her this time.

All she had to do was think about Serena and Liz could feel her insides start to burn with an overwhelming hatred. Which was completely irrational. She adored Serena. Through their imposed seclusion during the latter part of Liz's pregnancy, Serena had become one of Liz's closest, most trusted friends. Furthermore, the birth of her twins had created a bond between them and Liz wouldn't have trusted Kennedy to any other living soul on Earth. Yet the sound of Serena's name could send Liz into an envious tirade unlike anything she'd ever experienced before.

Never had she despised and cared for someone so much in the same breath.

And now, she was taking it out on Max.

Her dear, loving Max. The man who suffered perhaps more than anyone in this arrangement of theirs. He was the one out fighting every day. He was the one risking everything for her, their children. For their future. He was the one with the weight of the world on his shoulders now.

And she was treating him like the enemy.

She was so wrapped up in all the questions, all the emotions racing through her mind that she hadn't been able to voice. She didn't hear the soft footsteps. From behind the thick wall she'd forcefully put up to shield Max from experiencing her tumultuous emotions, she didn't feel him re-enter the room. Then…he touched her. Her tear-filled eyes flew open to the sight of her gentle, understanding husband's face as he knelt in front of her, face upturned, eyes burning with love.

She instinctively reached out to him. "Max. I'm…sorry…" Lips trembling with tears, they were the only words she uttered before Max stopped her apology with a finger against her lips. There was so much more wrapped up in those two words than just an apology for her outburst.

She was sorry for so many things. For adding another complication to their lives. For not telling him the moment she learned of their newest acquisition. For breaking their connection time and time again over the past few weeks. For forcing him into emotional seclusion. For making him feel just as alone as she felt by trying to start a fight...

"Shhh, sweetheart. It's ok." Max smiled into her eyes as his voice softened to an excited whisper. "I have something for you. Something that will make everything alright. I promise." Liz blinked in wide-eyed wonder when Max produced a large, frilly gift bag from behind his back. The grin on his face was inextinguishable as he placed it in her hands. "Go ahead. I figured you might like something 'normal' to iron."

Her hesitant gaze shifted from Max's beaming face to the bag in her hands. The anxiety knotting her stomach began to ease as she blinked away unwanted tears. Swallowing hard, Liz reached in and removed the thin tissue paper her husband had so carefully placed in the opening to cover his surprise. One look inside was all it took for Liz's eyes to fill with renewed tears.

Her gaze instantly snapped up to meet his. "How…how did you know…"

A lopsided grin brightened Max's eyes. "How do you think?" The chuckle in his voice was obvious though he was clearly trying not to rock the precarious boat in which they were currently sailing. "What can I say? I'm the alien king with an out of this world connection with his adored wife. Not to mention…" An offhanded shrug and twinkling eyes put all of Liz Evans' deep seated fears to rest. The warmth of his hand covering her stomach and his soft, knowing words brought an instant smile to her face. "…all three of his amazingly beautiful babies."

"Oh, Max." Catapulting herself forward, Liz threw her arms around his neck and let go of the flood of confusion and frustration that had been welling up inside of her over the past several weeks. In their place she found relief and overwhelming love.

Max pulled her close and began to rock her back and forth, whispering comforting words in her ear. "It's alright, sweetie. We'll figure it out, I promise." He pulled her down onto his lap and continued to stroke her hair and rock her till her tears began to subside. The warmth of his promise washed over Liz. "She's going to know both of us, Liz. Both of us. We'll find a way to be together. We've got to. For her. For Kaleb and Kennedy." Max pulled back and looked into Liz's eyes, his soft smile and gentle touch making Liz Evans believe anything was possible. "For all of us."

Through her tears, Liz smiled and nodded before repeating Max's renewed promise. "For all of us." Her fingers stroked his face before her lips gently brushed against his sealing their understanding with a sacred kiss.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Liz snuggled into Max's warmth and allowed herself to feel whole once again. After a few silent moments of comfort, Liz's soft confession whispered against Max's skin. "I've been so stupid. Blocking you. Trying to deal with all of this alone…"

Fingers languidly running through Liz's hair, Max took a deep breath before responding. "You're far from stupid, Liz. You've just been scared, that's all. And though I understand that better than anyone, we do need to talk because…" Taking another deep breath, Max's tone shifted from reassuring to candid. "…it's pretty obvious I need to make something perfectly clear to you."

Max waited till Liz had pulled back enough to look up into his eyes. The look of uncertainty in her eyes only prompted him to tease his wife for her outrageously insane behavior. He quirked an eyebrow as a hint of a smile tripped over his lips. "I have no problem with you ironing at 2:30 in the morning."

Liz's eyes began to sparkle with amusement before being hidden behind a veil of long, thick lashes as her gaze lowered shyly.

Struggling to keep certain urges under control as the embarrassed flush on her cheeks sent desire skyrocketing through his body, Max continued. "Odd though it may be, I don't even mind that you've chosen my underwear to take your frustrations out on."

She tried to bite back a smile, but it broke free as a demure gaze met his.

Seriousness claimed Max's expression as the sincerity in his eyes reached his voice. "What I do mind, however…" Max paused as his finger ran the length of Liz's face while his eyes remained steadfastly gazing into hers. "…is you shutting me out. Especially on something as important as this. And I mind you thinking I wouldn't want and love this baby every bit as much as I love Kaleb and Kennedy."

Liz opened her mouth to answer. Max continued as if he didn't notice, the tone of his voice registering a hint of disappointment as he brought up something he'd chosen to ignore earlier. "I'm also going to chalk up the comment about me playing footies with Serena as a hormonal moment where your thinking was clearly impaired. You know me better than that, Liz. You know Serena. You know there's absolutely nothing going on between us. Everything we do to continue this crazy charade is just that…a charade. A lie. A cover to protect the only woman that owns my heart and the children that we've created out of our extra-ordinary love."

"I know that." Liz answered slowly, her gaze suddenly avoiding his. "I do. But…but sometimes…" Burying her head once more, Liz mumbled against Max's shoulder as her fingers gravitated to his chest, resting right over his heart. "…knowing it and feeling it are two different things."

Pausing a moment, Max asked a quiet, probing question that wasn't really a question at all. It was a statement of fact. "So, the hints of jealousy I've been feeling these past few months…that's been real. You really are jealous of Serena."

Without a word, Liz nodded slowly.

"Sweetheart…" Running his fingers through his hair, tucking a strand behind her ear, Max's eyes began to glow with so much love it made Liz's heart ache. "She may be the one in the camp with me, Liz, but you're the one in my heart. Do you have any idea what you do every time you shut down our connection? Any idea? Do you know how much it hurts? Liz, you shut us off…"

"It hurts me too, Max. But knowing she's with you..." Liz softly interrupted the beginning of Max's lecture. "…with Kennedy…that hurts more. All the time. She's sharing your lives. Watching our daughter grow. She gets to help you teach Kennedy all the little things I should be teaching her. Like brushing her teeth and how to put her shoes on. Or fixing her hair on special occasions. Serena watches you live your life every single day, Max, while all I get…" Swallowing hard, Liz buried her head further into Max's shoulder as her arms wrapped more tightly around him. "…are brief moments like this."

"But, Liz…" Max pulled back to look into Liz's eyes. His warm hand brushed against her skin. "…honey, these brief moments…this is what's real to me. It's what gives me the strength to play the part of king for all those prying eyes and wagging tongues. Without these moments, I would have no peace. Without these moments, I'd have no direction. No hope."

Gaze shifting from Max's penetrating eyes, Liz blinked back a sudden, unwanted film of tears. "It's…not enough." Lips beginning to quiver, Liz hung her head as shame colored her cheeks. "Not for me. Not any more." Tears began to slip unbidden down Liz's face. "I…I can't…I don't want to do this again."

Max's heart froze. For the first time in a very long time, Max had no idea what his wife was thinking or feeling. Or exactly what she meant.

Fortunately, Max wasn't as guarded as Liz had been. Liz immediately sensed the dread gripping his heart like an ice cold vise. Heard the question ringing in his mind. She gasped and instantly pulled back to gaze into his eyes. "Oh, God, Max…I would never…that's not what I meant. I want this baby. I want her so very much. I just…"

Lowering his head in relief, Max released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. The touch of Liz's warm hand on his face brought his gaze back to hers as she hastened to explain, the plea in her dark eyes breaking his heart. "I don't want to do this again without you. I can't, Max. It was…it was hard enough with the twins. But now…now that we have this connection…this deep bond, I honestly don't think I can carry her to term without you being there. Max, I'm terrified I'll lose her if you're not with me."

Covering her hand with his, Max tried to sound more confident than he felt. "Then we'll just have to make sure that I'm with you for this pregnancy."

Seeing the truth of their situation in his eyes, Liz's lips began to quiver as she asked the one question Max couldn't answer. "But…how?"

Max paused. For a split second he considered lying to her. The thought was a blip. Not only would she be able to sense his lie in their connection as well as his eyes, she was no fool. Liz knew the truth of their circumstances. The imposed lies. The hiding. The secrets. Which is precisely why she'd been struggling with her latest news. He couldn't lie to her. Not even to make her feel better. What was more, he didn't want to.

That wasn't the Max and Liz Evans way.

Shoulders shrugging slightly, Max shook his head as a hint of defeat entered his eyes. "I have no idea." Swallowing hard, Max's admission was soft. Difficult. Heavy.

Gauging her husband's expression, Liz Evans knew the one truth larger than their difficult lives. A truth she'd forgotten in her recent apprehension and fears. Her hands slipped up his chest to wrap lightly around his neck. "It doesn't matter. I believe in you. In us." Leaning her forehead against his, Liz's eyes drifted closed as her confidence brushed his lips. "We'll figure it out. Together."

Nodding, Max breathed a sigh of relief as a smile began to haunt his lips. "Yeah. Together." Their lips met in another gentle kiss of promise.

"In the meantime…" Liz pulled back as a smile began to lighten her expression. She reached for the bag he'd given her and pulled out a pair of pink booties and a dress made of delicate lace fit for a princess. A newborn princess, that is. "…tell the truth. Did you really pick this out by yourself?"

Max began to chuckle. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I did."

"And you know it's a girl because…"

Max rolled his eyes. "Puhleeease. I can feel the hormones from here."

Biting her lip to keep in a chuckle, Liz ran her hands over the soft material. "It's so beautiful. Dainty. Girly." Her dubious gaze met his. "You're sure Isabel didn't help…"

"Hey, what is this?" Max asked in mock-offense. "You think my sister is the only one with fashion sense in the family?"

"Sweetheart." Liz gave him a 'look'. "The best suit you've ever worn in your entire life is your birthday suit…" Her dark eyes raked over his half naked body before her eyes snapped back to his, punctuating her mocking insult. "From what I understand of your alien roots you didn't even pick **that** one out…"

"Why you little…" Liz's squeal filled the room as Max pounced on her in retaliation, an unexpected tickle attack. Struggling to break his hold on her, Liz's chuckles erupted into full-blown laughter, a perfect harmony to Max's. Tears of mirth rolling down her cheeks, Liz finally begged for mercy. Her breathless husband instantly complied as he gently rolled from on top of her to her side, his own chuckles coming in erratic spurts as he molded his body along hers.

Letting out a contented sigh, Max placed a loving hand on Liz's stomach as he propped himself up on one elbow. Eyes dancing with happiness, a smile dimpled his cheek. "So, do you think we're ready for this?"

A hand found its way to caress the side of Max's face as Liz gazed up into his eyes, a light, teasing smile playing on her lips. "What? You mean all those dirty diapers…"

"All the smiles." Max countered quickly.

Liz scrunched up her face in mock-disgust. "The baby spit and drool."

"The giggles and dreams." An upraised eyebrow punctuated Max's statement.

"The…"

"All of it." Stopping her flow of teasing negatives, Max's eyes filled with love. "Liz, I wouldn't trade my time with Kennedy for all the world. The connection I have with Kaleb is so strong I don't feel that we've ever been apart." His hand drifted back to cover the womb protecting his newest child. "And this one…well, she's going to have the best of everything. Because she's going to have you. And me. And her big brother and sister. With her, all the time. Like a normal family."

Liz's voice dropped to a hopeful whisper. "Do you really mean that?"

Hand drifting upward to cup her face, Max's whisper was confident and gentle. "With all my heart."

Capturing his hand, Liz pressed his palm to her lips as a smile began to spread. The smile turned to a giggle as something Max had said earlier zipped through her mind. Teasing light danced in Liz's ebony eyes and Max Evans instinctively knew what was coming. He just didn't know what path his insatiable wife would take to get there. Given the fact certain well-known alien pregnancy cravings were kicking in, Liz didn't make him wait long. "So you don't mind me taking my frustrations out on your underwear huh?"

"Well…I would prefer if next time…" Max grinned as his eyebrows wiggled suggestively. "…I was actually wearing them."

"Yeah?" Without preamble, Liz's hand found its way to the top of Max's CK's as she deftly moved to straddle him. Eyes locked with his, her actions mirrored her words. "Well, I'd prefer that you weren't…"

A pair of discarded briefs tossed to the side. A quick, teasing question. "Sure you don't want me to get the iron?"

Gaze sensuously focused on a target. An answer laced with innuendo. "Ironing sucks." Eyes snapping up to meet Max's, a devilish grin played on Liz's lips just seconds before they crashed into his with a force that rocked him to his very core. His groan of protest turned to a purr of pleasure when Liz abruptly ended the kiss to begin a new assault of an entirely provocative kind.

Max Evans did the only thing he could do: he closed his eyes, leaned back against the couch with an anticipatory sigh, and let the sensations of their intimate bond take him over.

Because of all the people in the world, Max knew that in every relationship, there comes a time to iron. In every marriage there comes a time to plan. But most of all, in every great love, there comes a time to just…reconnect.

Tbc…

[Ashton]

~ chapter 23 ~


August 2007
4:30 am

Dancing across tangled sheets, beams of moonlight shining through the window captured the entwined forms of a pair of lovers and held them in its silvery, protective light. The silence in the room was profound. The intense bond unfathomable. The amalgamation of two souls had never been so spectacular.

"Tell me what it'll be like."

Liz's whisper broke the tranquil silence. Max dropped a gentle kiss on her bare shoulder and let out a sigh as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tighter against him. "What what will be like?"

"Freedom." Her dark eyes began to shine as she shifted in his arms, rolling onto her back. Concentrating on the dancing patterns above them, Liz's voice softened. "I don't think I remember that."

After agreeing to perhaps the riskiest sacrifice he'd ever asked of her, Max Evans knew what his wife needed most. Reassurance they were strong enough to make it. Hope in the future. Dreams of 'someday'. Eyes drifting closed, Max nuzzled her hair planting a feather-light kiss before propping himself up on one elbow and answering with a gentle smile. "Laughter. Lots and lots of laughter.”

Liz began to smile. Max's heart tripped missing a beat as he took in her profile. So delicate. So strong. So perfectly Liz. "Can we do everything and nothing together? Like a real family?"

"Absolutely." Raising her hand to his lips for a gentle kiss, Max's whisper warmed her skin. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"We'll be safe to take vacations. Or go to the store. Anywhere we want…we can go. Together. With all the world watching." Excitement beginning to dance her eyes, Liz's dreams began tumbling unbidden. "And we can take the kids to the park every day."

"Every day." Max echoed.

"Or maybe…maybe we can even buy a house. One that has a back yard where they can play."

Smile deepening, Max's fingers began an unconscious journey through her hair as his gaze shifted to a future neither of them had touched yet. "Definitely a large house with a large back yard for a swing set. Maybe a sandbox. And a tree house. We just have to have a tree house."

"That'll make Kaleb happy. He was in his element in the one Kyle made for him, laughing and smiling the whole time. He truly is a son of the stars. The higher he got, the happier he was." Memories filled Liz's mind and her smile deepened. "God, I love Kaleb's smile. It's always so unexpected. So rare. And when those serious eyes of his start to twinkle, I just…" Entwining their fingers Liz expressed everything she was feeling in one wordless sigh.

"I know." Max whispered intimately. Some things don't need to be explained. They're simply shared in companionable silence. "Kennedy makes me feel the same way." His smile deepened. "She has the best giggle, Liz. I can't wait for you to hear it. It's like…like a beautiful song you never get tired of listening to."

Liz’s smile slowly disappeared as her eyes clouded with uneasiness. “Max…" The hesitancy in her pause was deafening. "…what if…what if she doesn’t like me. If we…don't get along. You know, when we're finally together for good. For that matter, what if you and I end up hating each other once we have to actually live with each other.”

Tempted to laugh outright, Max pulled away from Liz, a disbelieving smile haunting his lips. “You’re kidding me, right?” When Liz’s solemn eyes shifted to meet his, Max’s expression sobered. “You’re not kidding.” Reaching up to brush the hair away from Liz’s face, Max shook his head as the previous chuckle wouldn’t be held back. “Do you know how much I love when you’re pregnant?”

Blinking in confusion, Liz’s voice instantly registered a level of injury. “What has my being pregnant have anything to do with anything?"

Eyes twinkling, Max couldn't stop a smile from spreading through his expression. "Because when pregnant, you…my normally sane wife…become adorably irrational." He leaned in for a kiss.

It never happened. Pushing Max back with one determined hand, Liz propped herself up on her elbows and frowned. "I don't think there's anything irrational about what I just said."

"You didn't find anything irrational about ironing my underwear at three-thirty in the morning either." Max responded as he tweaked her nose playfully. "Which is precisely why you're so adorable."

Rolling her eyes, Liz flopped back onto the bed. "You're just trying to avoid the question."

"That's because it deserves to be ignored." Max responded dismissively. The way Liz's gaze shifted and a pout began to form on her lips, Max braced himself for a fit of raging hormones and opted for a logic course of pacification. Getting her attention by tilting her chin toward him with his index finger, Max tried his best not to sound condescending. "Sweetie, come on. Even you know it's a ridiculous question. I mean, look at where we are. How long we've been in love even when we weren't together. What we've had to do to get here. How can you even think we'll fall apart once we're free? Once all of our dreams come true?"

"That's not what I'm saying…" Shaking her head slightly, Liz let out a sigh. Her worried eyes met his. "Look, Max, I know we love each other. I know we love our kids. And they love us right back. I'm not doubting any of that."

Emotions flickered and faded then flared again in the depths of her eyes. "But there are people in this world….a lot of people…that start out loving each other and end up with just as much hate between them. They wake up one day and realize the person sleeping by their side isn't the person they thought they were. That their husband or wife isn't even someone they like. Kids end up hating their parents. Mothers and daughters who are too much alike can't stand to be in the same room. Sons rebel against fathers. That's why there are so many divorces and broken homes and…misery."

"And it can start out with the smallest things, Max. Like…" Tucking her hair behind her ear in agitation, Liz continued with her maelstrom of fears. "…like squeezing the tube of toothpaste from the middle and not the end. Or…or drinking milk out of the carton. Not picking socks up from the floor. Little things that turn into issues about unfulfilled needs and not really listening to each other." Her disturbed gaze lowered as her voice softened with painful doubt. "How can you be so sure we won't end up being those people, Max? I mean, we may have had a wedding four years ago but we're a long way from having a real, honest-to-God marriage where we exist in the same space twenty-four-seven."

A moment of silence followed in which Max contemplated her words. A flicker of pain flashed through his eyes and a regretful Liz expected the hurt to work its way to his voice. When he spoke, his statement and tone were completely unexpected. "When you get home, tell Maria the next time I see her, I'm going to probe her for a brain. Or a heart. Take your pick because she seems to be lacking in both."

Liz blinked in surprise. "What? Why are you bringing Maria into this?"

"Because it's obvious you've been talking to her. Only Maria could make the scenario you just gave me apply to us." Sitting up, Max ran his fingers through his hair as he let out a frustrated sigh. "You know, I know she's your best friend and I love Maria like a sister, but sometimes…"

"Max, come on. Maria didn't…"

"Sure she did." Max shot back, without venom. "Honey, the only time you really doubt us is when you've been talking to Maria. Now, at the beginning of all of this, I can understand her hesitancy to jump on the 'Max-and-Liz-forever' bandwagon. And despite her definition of a real marriage…"

"Max, I didn't mean…"

Holding up his hand to silence her, Max immediately resumed his thought. "…here we are four years, a set of twins, and a baby on the way into this and she still doesn't believe we're going to make it."

"That's not it at all." Seeing the disbelieving eyebrow raised in her direction, Liz hastened to explain. "All of this has been hard for her."

"For her? For her??" A mirthless half-snort, half-chuckle echoed in the room. "I love how loyal you are to your friends, but to even suggest that's she's suffered more than you…"

"She doesn't have anything, Max." Liz interrupted, her eyes pleading him to understand. "And I have it all. I have you, our amazing connections and our wonderful kids. In comparison, she only has the dream of what could have been with Michael."

Without missing a beat, Max pursued the self-imposed defense of his wife. "And I am genuinely sorry about that, Liz. If I could gift wrap Michael and give him to her, I would. But I can't. No one can. Least of all you. And it's pretty selfish of her to make you feel bad or unsure or hopeless about our situation just because she feels that way about hers."

"It's not selfish, Max. It's human." Liz stated quietly. "To realize someone else is living the life you were supposed to live. And it hurts her to know the man she can't stop loving ranks her second best to some duty he thinks he's supposed to fulfil. While you…" Liz sighed as a bittersweet smile touched her lips. "Max, you and I both know you'd willing drop everything if I so much as said one word."

"Yes, I would." Affirmation dancing in his eyes, Max's statement was made with absolutely certainty. "And that's the problem, Liz. I'm not Michael. You're not Maria. And what we have between us is anything but normal. It's time Maria stopped comparing our situations. It's not like you've taken something from her. You aren't living her life. Or some imaginary life she was supposed to live. You're living yours. Ours. And I'm tired of her making you feel guilty for it. With everything you have to deal with every day, Liz, Maria's feelings of inferiority shouldn't be one of them."

Sensing Max's growing agitation, Liz hastened to close the conversation. "You know what? I'm sorry. This really has nothing to do with Maria. You were right. I'm just being…" She forced a smile and rolled her eyes. "…completely irrational." Reaching for him, Liz glanced up at him coyly. "What was it you were saying about loving me when I’m pregnant…"

Shaking his head emphatically, Max's expression hardened with determination. Gently, but firmly unhooking Liz's arms from their locked position around his neck, a dark eyebrow rose knowingly. "Uh-huh. Not going to work. You brought it up, so we're going to talk about this. And we're going to do it now before we head into the next phase of this plan. Especially after what we decided tonight. There's no way we're going forward with this if you're doubting what it'll all be for in the end."

Sighing deeply, Liz propped herself against her pillow and pulled the sheet around her body. Clearly not thrilled about the turn of events, Liz avoided eye contact with her husband as she absently played with an invisible snag in the sheet.

Gaze softening, Max's tone became a tender caress. "Do you have any idea how much our little girl adores you? She can't wait to grow up and be just like you, Liz. She asks me all the time. She asks if she can be like mommy when she gets bigger." He reached out and stilled Liz's nervously occupied hand. "I've told her how amazing you are. How you're my best friend. That I really don't function without you. Because you are the one woman I can really talk to. I can tell you everything, Liz. All of my hopes and fears. You're the only person I lay myself open to. Because you are the only person who understands the real me. All of me."

Leaning forward, his amber eyes taking in the flush of Liz's cheeks, the slight tremble of her lips, Max continued. "And if that wasn't enough, I like you, Liz Evans. I mean…I genuinely **like** you. You're intelligent, you're funny…and you have the best insight of anyone I know. Not to mention, the biggest, bravest heart." Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, the smile haunting Max's lips made it to his voice. "I like how you dress. I like how you dance in the kitchen when you're making breakfast and you think no one's looking. I like your taste in movies and music and books. I like that you laugh at the same jokes I do and cry at the sappy parts in every love story you see. I just…" A shrug of delighted defeat accompanied his smile. "I just really like you."

Droplets of tears began forming behind Liz's lowered lids.

Scooting closer to her, Max gathered her hands in his and brought them to his lips for a tender kiss. "And if you think for one moment that after time traveling aliens and sleeping without you by my side every night while separating our own children just to stay alive, that I'm going to allow toothpaste and milk cartons to break us, then you really have lost your mind."

He was rewarded with the beginning of a smile tugging on Liz's lips. The light spreading through her still averted gaze began radiating through her expression. Max felt an intense warmth return to her hands as she rapidly blinked back tears.

"How can I be sure we won't end up like all of those people you talked about?" Lifting her chin till her eyes were meeting his, Max made a solemn promise. "We won't end up like them, because we…" Letting out a light sigh, Max began caressing Liz's soft cheek as his eyes burned with so much love it took Liz's breath away. "…we are Max and Liz: unbreakable."

"Unbreakable." Whisper full of conviction, Liz's eyes glowed with the gentle radiance of a most powerful love as one stubborn tear slipped down her face.

He caught her tear. He coaxed her smile. He prompted a swell of overwhelming love from the deepest parts of her soul. Lips searing the promise into hers with a kiss that set her insides on fire, Max's arms wrapped her in a cocoon of love as he gathered her to him. His lap became her haven of safety as caresses eased the worries from her body and after a few short moments, an eternity of peace wrapped itself around them. Protecting their union of souls. Holding them in the silence.

Wrapped in his embrace, embarrassment began coloring her cheeks as Liz mumbled against his shoulder in mortification. "You must think I've gone completely off the deep end. I have been so insane this trip." Raising regretful eyes to meet his, she reached out for his hand and entwined their fingers together. "I'm so sorry."

The beginning of a smile took hold of Max and he shrugged with a wink and pulled her more firmly onto his lap. "It's ok. As long as we're not insane at the same time, I think we'll probably make it." Fingers running through Liz's hair, Max kissed her temple before pulling her head down onto his shoulder and resting his cheek against her hair. Pausing a moment in contemplated silence, Max made brought up an obviously sore subject. "Liz. About Maria…"

Letting out a sigh, Liz pulled back from him, her gaze lowered. "Max, please. I don't want to fight. Not now. Especially not about Maria."

"Me either." Sincerity laced his gentle smile. "Which is why I was thinking…after this is all over, I'll uh…I'll see what I can do about Michael and Maria."

Eyes snapping upward to meet his, energy rippled through her expression. "You will?"

"Yeah." Nodding, the gratefulness that rushed through Liz's eyes was not lost on her husband. Neither was her beaming smile. "I can't promise anything because Michael rarely listens to a word I say, but…who knows? Maybe he'll see how happy we are and realize how amazing it can be to let go and you follow your heart."

Capturing his face in her hands, Liz kissed Max hard on the lips and pulled away just as abruptly. Shaking her head, her gentle sigh breezed against his skin. "You are such a good man, Max Evans." Her fingers stroked his face. "Such a good man." Leaning her forehead against his, her smile brushed his lips as her eyes drifted closed. "I love you so much."

"Good. Because I'm never letting you go." As his lips met hers in a gentle kiss, need and desire rippled through their bodies. The kiss deepened. Embraces tightened. Intensity began to build.

Liz soaked him in. Savored the moment. Fed the growing passion shimmering in the air between them.

Then…

Pulling back, her eyes dancing deviously, Liz nuzzled Max's nose as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "So, does this mean you're not going to probe Maria?"

The double meaning of her words was not lost on Max. He fought a grin. A dark eyebrow raised pointedly. "I should make it clear that only one person in the entire universe owns exclusive rights to my probing expertise. Maria is not that person."

"Probing expertise, huh?" Fingers dancing through his hair, Liz's eyes began to darken with teasing. "You sound pretty sure of your…" She ran a finger teasingly across his lips. "…ranking."

His hands dropped lightly to Liz's hips. His voice lowered confidently, seductively. "I've had no complaints in the past."

A nonchalant shrug. A doubtful pursing of her lips. "Perhaps that's because you have no competition."

"Oh, no." Shaking his head, Max instantly dispelled that myth. "No, you see, this woman with exclusive rights…she's pretty demanding."

"Oh?" With one swift move and an inquiring quirk of her eyebrow, Liz straddled Max and rocked against him.

Electric desire shot through his body. Max bit back a groan. His eyes became two coal-black beads of passion. Chest expanding as a ragged breath filtered through his voice, Max tried to maintain some control. "Yeah. Sometimes she wants things like…earth shattering storms. Thunder. Lightning. Universe moving. That sort of thing."

Arms languidly wrapping around his neck, she tilted her head to the side, her focus on a pair of lips only a breath away. The devious innocence of her question nearly did him in. "And do you deliver?"

Hands floating up her back to tangle in the long strands of silky hair, an arrogant smirk. "Every time."

Fingertips brushing against his jaw, Liz's voice became a breathless whisper as her eyes locked with his. "And what if…she wants you…to just love her."

He read her every thought in that look. Her every question. Every doubt. Every fear that still danced along the edges of her mind. For the final sacrifice she was willing to make for him, Max Evans was humbled. In awe. Grateful.

He owed her more than his body. Even owed her more than his heart. Or his soul. He owed her everything he was. Beyond who he was. Everything she believed him to be.

He would not fail her. Not now. Not ever.

"Well, that particular request…" Gaze softening, Max's whisper was equally breathless. "…is the easiest of all. And it usually…" Slowly lowering Liz backward onto the bed, Max's answer brushed her lips as his body covered hers. "…goes like this…"

He held nothing back. Not his soul. Or his heart. His mind, his memories, his dreams. They were hers like nothing had ever been before. When he locked their scared hands together and felt the familiar burning sensation rip through them, their world began to spin out of control.

As the fierce tenderness of his torturous caresses brought stinging tears to her eyes and a moan of pleasure from a place so bone deep it was shocking, an intensely penetrating kiss pulled him into her. Liz Evans wrapped herself around her husband and clung to him with desperate craving. Holding on to the memory of their spectacular union. The intense intimacy. The overwhelming sensations. The staggering love. Holding on to the future wrapped up in their combined dreams. The powerful visions Max held deep inside of him. Of her. Their children.

They would be all she would have left for a while. For a monumental decision had been made. To save the world, their lives, their future…

Liz Parker Evans would sacrifice everything, once again.

But this time…she wouldn't be alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 2007
3:30 am

The chessboard was set.

The game was already in play.

The enemy was positioned well. With four pawns, two bishops, one rook, a knight and the most powerful piece on the board: the queen…his nemesis appeared unbeatable.

Now, pitted against such a dark opponent, it was his move.

Intense concentration revealed many possible strategies. Some would hand him victories. Maybe. In time. All would keep his noble queen safe.

All…except one…

Sneaking up behind him, her fingers feathered through the hair at the base of his neck. One hand slipped over his shoulder, down his chest to lightly trace haphazard patterns against his bare skin. Lips finding the sensitive spot behind his right ear, she planted a soft, teasing kiss before whispering against his skin. "How am I supposed to take out my frustrations on your underwear when you won't stay in bed?"

Max chuckled as he laced his fingers through hers and leaned back into her embrace. "You're a highly creative woman, I'm sure you'll think of something." Kissing the back of the hand he was holding, Max lightly ran his other hand up her arm creating sparks of fire against her skin.

Despite his best efforts to keep his tone light, Liz noticed the subtle frown creasing his brow and instinctively felt a 'talk' coming. Especially since he'd not taken his eyes off the chessboard in front of him. She gently kissed his cheek as she hugged him tightly from behind and willed him to feel every drop of love she had for him in her embrace. "After that energetic workout we had earlier, I thought you'd be out till noon of next week. Whatcha doing up?"

"Couldn't stop thinking."

"Thinking, huh?" Slipping onto his lap, Liz's teasing eyes met his as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "It had better be about the top fifty ways to pleasure your oh-so-insatiable wife."

Adoration danced in Max's dark eyes as his fingers slipped through her hair. "I was going for a hundred ways, but hey...if my oh-so-insatiable wife wants to lower our standard..."

A flash of a grin as a dark eyebrow raised, Liz's fingers found occupation in playing with the hair curling around Max's ear. "So, what are you really thinking about?"

"Our future."

They shared a quiet smile. Leaning in for a soft kiss, Liz nuzzled Max's nose as she leaned her forehead against his. "I like the sound of that already." Pulling back, Max's expression returned to a seriousness that Liz instantly picked up on. "Or not." She blinked as a new uncertainty rippled through her. "Max, what's going on?"

Gaze fixed steadfastly on the chessboard on the table in front of him, Max's tone was light though his meaning was not. "I've been sitting here wondering if the fastest way to lose at chess is to use every last piece protecting the queen."

"What?" Liz's breathless question caused Max's gaze to snap up to hers.

Without missing a beat, Max continued his thought process. "Eventually, the pieces will be taken and all that will be left standing are the king and queen. Now, if the bad guys don't have a queen and the good guys do, especially one willing to sacrifice everything for her king…who do you think will win?"

A hint of secret knowledge haunted Max's eyes as the question hung heavily in the air between them. There was a disconcerting possibility in that look and Liz's gaze shifted guiltily as she unconsciously stiffened in his arms. Liz barely recognized the raspy voice that asked a probing question she wasn't at all sure she wanted the answer to. "You saw, didn't you?"

A wry smile touched Max's lips as he tilted Liz's chin till she was looking in his eyes. "Liz, I didn't need to see that night to know my enemy is in love with my wife."

"What?" Liz blinked incredulously at Max as she shifted to fully face him. "Max...how can you say..."

"Because its true." Steady. Soft. Compellingly honest.

Shaking her head emphatically, Liz began her protest in earnest. "No, Max. That's not...that's not what that night was about." Pushing her hair back from her face, she let out a sigh that indicated how frustrating the very subject made her. "Drake had just gotten back from a battle. One where you had defeated him pretty soundly. He lost his right hand man that night, Max. His Michael. He just...he was hurting, he drank too much and I was there. It had nothing to do feeling anything special for me..."

"I don't blame him. After all, I've been head-over-heels since the day I laid eyes on you." Reaching up to caress the side of her face, Max's smile was bittersweet as his eyes roamed her face before meeting her confused gaze with seriousness. He answered the unspoken questions in her eyes. "We've been through hell to be together, Liz. Sometimes I think the only reason we've made it this far is because we're so brutally honest with each other. Let's not start lying to ourselves or each other now."

"But, Max..."

"He's in love with you, Liz." Max cut her off. "Somewhere inside of you, you've known it all along." His fingers warmed her suddenly cool skin as he continued to gently caress her cheek. "Look, I need you to understand something ok? I'm not upset. I'm not hurt. Or...or threatened by your relationship with him. You did nothing wrong that night. You listened. You comforted him." Pride edged his voice as a slight smile hovered over his lips. "You kicked him out of your room the second he tried to make a move on you."

Eyes softening with relief, Liz's entire demeanor relaxed. Max's smile deepened as his gaze held hers. "I know you love me more than your own life. That you will do anything for me. Anything. God, you've proven that so many times…" Fingers dropping to lightly trace patterns against Liz's bare shoulder, Max's gaze shifted as he struggled to steady the tremor in his voice. "And I know that if given the choice, you would have nothing to do with Drake." His eyes met hers with complete sincerity. "I trust you, Liz. Never once have I doubted your faithfulness or loyalty to me."

"But..." Liz prompted, sensing there was more.

"But..." Max's gaze lowered, the admission more difficult than he'd imagined. His words were chosen with deliberate care. "...there's a part of you that cares about Drake. And that's ok with me. I don't know how or why it is, but it is." Max's shoulders rose and fell in a quick, uncertain shrug. "Who knows? Maybe its because I know if anyone can find the good in someone else, it's you. Or maybe...maybe its because I used to care about him too. He was one of my inner circle, Liz. My friend." Shaking his head slightly, Max continued as his eyes held a hint of guilt. "I'm ashamed to say I'm relieved that even after all he's done…I can't hate him. He's been good to you. To Kaleb. And for that alone..."

Liz's soft whisper prompted Max when his speech faltered. "What is it, Max?"

"I'm grateful to him." Swallowing hard, Max's next statement was laden with regret. "Which makes what I'm about to suggest all that more ironic."

"And that would be?" A rumbling of uncertainty knotted Liz's stomach as she watched the various emotions play out on Max's face.

"Drake has a weakness, Liz." His steady, unfaltering gaze met hers. "And that weakness is you. We'd be fools not to use that against him."

The catch in her throat indicated how alarmed Liz was becoming. The flicker of distance in her eyes revealed a growing dread. "What are you talking about?"

A wry smile haunted Max's lips. "Remember when we were talking earlier? That promise I made that we'd be together for this baby?" Liz simply nodded. "Well, I think I know how to do it."

"You do?"

"Yeah." Gathering Liz's hand in his, Max tone softened though the determination in his amber eyes remained steady and strong. "But it's risky. And dangerous. It will test us like nothing we'd done up to this point. To pull this off, Liz, you and I will have to be wildly, insanely reckless. And if we fail…" A light squeeze of her hands. "…I can pretty much guarantee that we will be captured and probably put to death."

Liz sucked in a cold, searing breath. "Al-right." Clearing her throat, she squared her shoulders and rose to the challenge her husband was obviously laying before her. "So...I know what we'll lose, which is pretty much everything." A hesitant pause. Her inquiring eyes clouded with uncertainty. "What can we win?"

Capturing her face between his hands, Max's eyes blazed with hope. Anticipation. Longing. "Us. Together. Free." Each word fell like soft, refreshing rain on heart that was triple-hammering against Liz's chest.

"How?"

"You sure you're ready for this? It's a pretty radical concept." The quirk of his lips belied the excitement growing in Max's eyes. It nearly took Liz's breath away. At the slight nod of her head, it was his response that truly knocked her for a loop. "We tell the truth."

"The…truth." Liz repeated as a dark eyebrow shot up. Mind instantly jumping to the obvious conclusion, Liz pulled her face out of Max's gentle hands. Her eyes edged with doubt. "Max…you can't mean…"

"You said Drake already suspects Kaleb is my son…"

"**Maybe** suspects. I'm not sure he does."

"Sweetie, come on. Anyone who's paying attention can see how much Kaleb is like me. Believe me, no one pays attention more than a man in love. In all this time, you honestly think Drake hasn't put two and two together?"

Exasperation began to flood Liz's senses. "Maybe…" She slipped off of Max's lap and began to pace in agitation as she tucked her hair behind her ears and began chewing on her lower lip. A million fears descended on Liz. Thoughts of her children, born and unborn. Of their future. Their friends. Consequences of Max's suggestion beginning to press down on her. The tightrope she'd be required to walk. The connection she'd have to deny. The lives that would be put on the line. "But telling the truth, Max. It's…it's so…"

"Risky. Insane. Unpredictable." Max filled in for Liz as he watched her in earnest. "I know. It's all those things and so much more. Which is precisely why we won't do this if you aren't one hundred percent sure. I need you behind me on this all the way, Liz, or it will never work." Max shifted in his seat and leaned forward as he gazed up at his pacing wife. "Look. If you can give me two months, Liz...just two months...I can have this war ended. You and I and the kids will be together before our little one is ever born."

Liz stopped her pacing abruptly and spun to face Max, the first light of hope edging into her eyes. In all of his promises, all of his reassurances, all of his hopes and dreams, Max had never given her a timeframe before. "Two months? But how can you be so sure?"

Staring at his hands, Max's voice was thoughtful. "Because there's something that's been bothering me for a while now. One question that I've not really wanted to ask. Mainly because I didn't want to face the inevitable answer." He took a ragged breath as his gaze raised to meet hers. "I'm finally ready to face it."

Leaning against the arm on the couch behind her, Liz crossed her arms in front of her and tilted her head to the side. Through her shifted view, Max took on an entirely different perspective. And it was just as fascinating to her as every other discovery she'd ever made about her husband.

Because of their imposed separation, it was rare that Liz Evans got to watch the workings of her husband's strategic mind. When they were together, he never wanted to discuss the war or strategy unless absolutely necessary. He'd protected her in many ways from the horrors he faced every day. But even more, he was protecting himself. In their rare times together Max just wanted to soak his wife into his system. Fill himself up with her healing love. Cover himself with her eternal faith. It was the only way he was able to face the rest of his life without her. Now, for the first time perhaps, she was getting to see her husband…the warrior, the king…in action.

It was hard for her to think past the awe filling her heart as Liz's automatic question was a much needed prompt. "What's that?"

Encouraged by her question, Max plunged ahead. "Why has this war gone on so long? Drake's troops are no better equipped than mine. They don't have better powers. They're no more loyal than my troops. In fact, mine go beyond loyalty sometimes. I have literally watched my own people jump in front of me, take the brunt of a blast...even a bullet...just to protect me. They're fiercely loyal, Liz. It's a loyalty I can't turn my back on. Frankly, it's the only reason I'm still fighting." Max continued thoughtfully as he opened his heart and mind to Liz. "So, the question remains…why so long?"

"And have you found the answer?"

Max nodded. "Because Drake has nothing to lose and everything to gain, while I…" A gentle smile filled Max's eyes and his voice softened to an intimately confident whisper. "…I have you. Deep inside of me every second of every day. In a memory. Or a sensation. A whispered word of love in the back of my mind. You make me who I am, Liz. I would literally be nothing without you."

His smile deepened. "And the kids. So brave, with little hearts so full of love for parents they've never really touched. I have everything I've ever wanted, Liz. Despite our circumstances. Regardless of how difficult it can be sometimes, I wouldn't trade what we have now to go back to the way I was without you." As quickly as the smile came, it disappeared. "Which makes me all the more cautious in battle. I don't take the large risks required to win **because** I have everything to lose."

Nodding in the direction of the chessboard, Max clarified his thoughts. "Just like the game, I use all of my pieces to protect my queen. While Drake doesn't have a queen to defend." Pausing, Max took a deep breath. "My plan will change all of that."

"How?"

"By giving Drake what he wants most. Once he has it all, he won't want to lose it. Just like I don't now. Which means, he'll be cautious. To hold on to what he thinks he has, he'll do anything to keep it. Including risk everything to get it back when I threaten to take it from him. That's when he'll make the mistakes that will destroy him."

Liz swallowed hard. "And uh…what exactly do you plan on giving him?"

Max licked his suddenly parch lips as his gaze met hers. "We'll give him you."

"Give him…me." Liz repeated back, her eyes growing wide. Her back stiffened as a hardness edged her voice. "And how exactly do you propose to do that, my darling husband? What? Work out a schedule where I'll be split between the two of you or are you just going to hand me over lock, stock and barrel?"

Not missing her obvious sarcasm, Max tilted his head to the side and gave Liz a silent, pleading look. Her shoulders sagged as her gaze lowered guiltily. With a nod, she gave her silent consent for him to continue.

Which he did. But not before he'd crossed the distance between them and gathered her hands in his. "Hey." Ducking his head in an effort to gain her attention, Max placed a finger under her chin and lifted it till she was looking into her eyes. "You are **my** wife. I share you with no one. Ever. No matter what we decide or what parts we have to play."

Blinking back tears that were suddenly stinging her eyes, Liz's voice wavered. "Then…what are we talking about here? What is it you want me to do?"

Relieved that possible storm had blown past with relative ease, Max let out a sigh. "We'll tell him what he already knows. That you and I have been together. That Kaleb is our son." Holding up a finger for emphasis, Max continued. "That's where the truth ends and our own version begins."

"And that would be…"

"That I've only been using you to bring Drake down. That this whole time I've actually been in love with Serena. You just found out, we had a huge fight about it and I threatened to take Kaleb from you. Given our circumstances, Serena and I could get full custody. Of course, it wouldn't hurt to embellish the story by saying Serena and I plan on getting married which will strengthen my custody case. Naturally, you're terrified I might actually go through with all of it. All you want to do now is take our son and get as far from me as possible. And that you not only need but you want Drake to help you."

Confusion raced through her eyes. "How is that going to give him what he wants?"

A knowing smile turned Max's dark eyes to an admiring amber. "You really have no idea what kind of power you have over a man, do you?" Fingers gently tracing the lines of her face, Max's quiet confession blew across Liz's skin. "Those eyes of yours bring me to my knees more than I care to admit, Liz Evans. Especially when you cry."

Understanding flashed through Liz's eyes. "He isn't you, Max."

"No, he isn't." Max conceded with a slight shake of his head. "But he is a man. And he is in love. And, for whatever reason, he has a serious drive to prove he's better than I am." A slight shrug and a haunting smile. "So, let him. My guess is you won't even have to suggest that you marry him to keep Kaleb. He'll come up with it all on his own."

"Marry him?" Voice nearly jumping an octave, Liz pulled her hands from Max's as if she'd been stung. "Have you lost your mind?"

"It'll never get that far." Max captured Liz's face as his earnest gaze met hers. "I promise."

"But…"

"Do you remember when your grandmother died?" Abruptly shifting gears, Max gently recaptured Liz's hands tugging her forward. He led her to the couch and eased her down before sitting next to her. His inquiring gaze never left hers as he lightly rubbed the back of her hands with his thumbs.

"Of course, I do." Liz answered once settled.

"Do you remember how distant I was to you?" Biting her lower lip, Liz nodded slowly not sure where Max was taking this conversation. She soon found out. "How cold and unavailable I seemed? Do you know why?"

Liz shrugged. "Because you were afraid to bring attention to yourself."

"That was part of it, yes." Max responded quietly. "But mainly…I was desperate to be there for you, Liz. I wanted to be the one you turned to when you needed to cry or talk. You have no idea how it felt to know I was the one you chose to call that night from the hospital. That's why I came. I couldn't resist…I had to see if I had the power to make you feel better. Especially when you were at your lowest."

"But I was also terrified. To…allow you to count on me. To care too much. To learn what it would be like to make you smile after I'd wiped your tears." A gentle smile radiated through his entire expression. "By choosing me to lean on, you made me king of the world, Liz. Nothing I'd ever experienced up to that point had been so satisfying. Had made me feel so complete." Taking a deliberate breath, Max's eyes darkened with conviction. "If Drake can feel that…just once…Liz, I know we can beat him."

Contemplating Max's words for a moment, her answer was a slow protest of the mechanics, not the concept. "I know…you believe that, Max. But…" Choosing her words carefully, Liz reached up to caress Max's face. "…honey, I don't think I make anyone else feel that way. No one else but you. It's you that I connect with. You're the one that I relate to. I can't make Drake feel like he's the king of the world when you're the only king of my heart."

"He doesn't have to be in your heart for this to work, Liz. Just the illusion that he is will break him. Trust me on this." He paused a moment to gauge her reaction. She was obviously dubious. "Look. Think about it this way. Assume Drake knows about us. He knows about Kaleb. He's not said anything. To you, to the Seer, to anyone. Why is that? Hmm?"

"I don't know." Liz answered, her voice growing soft.

"One of two reasons." Max raised one finger. "He's either biding his time and waiting for the perfect moment to use it against us. Or…" Raising a second finger, Max continued. "…he's done the unthinkable. He's fallen in love with his enemy's wife and he doesn't know how to let you go. So he drags the war on for as long as he can, buying time to be with you. All the while he's hoping you'll realize that's it's really him you love. In Drake's version of the future, he'll have defeated me, taken my wife and will be raising my child as his own. Now of the two of those scenarios, I'm banking on the second one."

"What if that's the wrong one to bank on?" Worry and fear ruled Liz's expression. "Max, what you're suggesting…just telling Drake the truth…this has major backfire potential. I could lose you. We could lose our kids. I can't…" Tears began to well up in Liz's eyes. "…I can't lose any of you, Max. Can you promise me that I won't?"

Gaze lowering, Max's jaw tightened. "I not going to lie to you. You're right. This could cost us everything." A plea flickering in his eyes, Max leaned forward, his voice lowering. "But sweetie, if this works the way I think it will…God, Liz, we'll be free of all of this. The war. The lies. The separations." Hand raising to caress her face, Max's voice was soft and pleading. "Please, baby…just think about it. We owe it to our kids, to each other, to at least consider it."

Fifteen minutes of questions and detailed planning were followed by fifteen more minutes of concentrated silence. When the stillness was finally broken, it was Liz Evans who spoke from her perch on the window ledge as she stared up into the midnight sky. "What if I’m not sure?"

"Then I'll take you, Kaleb and Kennedy and we'll leave this place." Max responded from his seat on the couch. "Right now. Tonight. We'll run so far and so fast that no one will ever find us. I'll give it all up. The throne, the battle, everything. I mean it, Liz."

Turning to face him, Liz shook her head her eyes full of regret. "Max, you can't just..."

"What? Stop fighting for something I never wanted? Be with the woman I love, with our family? Keep my promises to you?" Leaning forward, his blazing eyes burned in the semi-darkness of the room. "Liz, you are the strongest person I have ever known, but this life of ours is tearing you apart. I can see it in your eyes. I feel it in your touch. I can't stand to see you sacrifice like this any more."

Shoulders slumping with the weight of the world, Liz shook her head as her determined gaze met his across the room. "No, Max. What you can't do is just abandon your people. I won't let you." Slowing turning back to the window, she hung her head at his quiet confession.

"You're killing me here, Liz. I just…I just want to make this right for all of us. I don't know what else to do." The pause was pregnant with frustrated sorrow. His voice shook in a quiet whisper. "Just…just tell me what to do, Liz. Whatever it is…I'll do anything for you."

The plea in her husband's voice broke her. All questions and fears were pushed to the side in favor of the love she held in her hands. Her heart. Her entire being. Her hand slipped over her stomach as the energy from their unborn daughter began pulsating under her fingers. Each beat sent strength flowing through Liz. Encouragement. Love. As a tear slipped down Liz's cheek, she slowly began to speak, her decision having been made. "No one can know. I'll need to feel isolated or I'll never be able to pull this off."

"Alright. No one will know." Having sensed the shift in Liz the moment she began caressing their baby, Max promised with a whisper. "Not Isabel. Not Serena. Alex, Kyle or Maria. Until we're ready, it's only the two of us."

"You'll have to make it look real. Really real. Like we're really having problems. Even to Serena and Isabel. We have no idea when and if someone is listening and reporting things to Drake."

"Our performances will be flawless."

"We wouldn't be able to connect unless absolutely necessary." Her voice was trembling, full of emotion.

Max's hesitation was obvious in his pause. Recognizing the further sacrifices she was willing to make, the risks she was contemplating for him, Max conceded with a deep sigh of reluctance. "If that's what you need."

Liz's tone hardened. She swallowed hard. "I draw the line at being with that man."

"So do I." Voice equally hard, Max added a condition he was unwilling to forego. "Which is why I'll be mindwarping him when the two of you are together. Our vows will never be compromised, Liz. Never. He even touches you once and I'll kill him, I swear to God I will."

Turning to face Max, Liz's question was soft and trembling. Her fingers dug into the wood of the windowsill behind her. "You promise?"

Max was off the couch in a heartbeat. Liz was in his arms the next. "With all my heart. I promise." Wrapping her arms around him, Liz's tears began to fall. Max pulled Liz closer and whispered against her hair. "Shh, honey. We're doing the right thing. I feel it. I know it. If we can make it through this last test, we'll be free, Liz." His whispered full of hope breezed across her skin as he pulled back to look into her hopeful eyes. "We'll finally be free…"


The chessboard was set.

The game was already in play.

The enemy was positioned well. With four pawns, two bishops, one rook, a knight and the most powerful piece on the board: the queen…his nemesis appeared unbeatable.

Now, pitted against such a dark opponent, it was his move.

Intense concentration revealed many possible strategies. Some would hand him victories. Maybe. In time. All would keep his noble queen safe.

All…except one…

And that was the one they chose. Together.


Tbc…

~ chapter 24 ~


Antar November 2007

"Why is that land over there so barren? So desolate?" The observation was made through narrowed eyes of ebony. After weeks of being cooped up in the black-sand castle centered in the valley behind her, the regent-elect known as Eden relished the open landscape spread out before her. A slender hand pointed in the direction of the distant desert while the sea at her back sent a cool wind to whip her long chocolate hair across her face.

The petite girl at her side bowed her golden head in reverence before speaking. "It's been cursed, Milady."

"Cursed?" A wry smile touched perfectly bowed lips.

"Yes, Milady."

Amused by the concise answers, Eden turned to her servant, Daria. "Well? Tell me the story."

Daria relaxed under her mistress' indulgent but fleeting smile. A smile that only ever touched her lips. Never her eyes. And never for more than a moment.

Unless she was with her children.

Or she was dreaming.

Though having only served her for a month, Daria already admired the future Queen of Antar greatly. Her beauty was ethereal. Her kindness, unparalleled. The care and concern she showered on her children was foreign to the watchful eyes of the usually austere and uninvolved Antarians. And though her memory had suffered during her journey to her new home, there was a keen intelligence shining out of her almond shaped eyes.

"Years ago, there was a civil war among our people." Words stilted, Daria tried to shake the fear that usually ruled her when speaking to members of the royal house. "Brother fought brother. Slaves rose up against their masters. Hatred ruled many hearts. Honor ruled many others. Those who won now sit in the palaces of Antar. Those who did not, were cursed. Banished to Novala, the place that you see in the distance. A dreary, barren land with no means of escape or sustenance. Though they have certainly died out by now, the curse remains in place. As a reminder."

"How convenient." The droll comment brought Daria's gaze to her mistress' face.

Her jade green eyes clouded with confusion. "You sound as if you don't believe."

"In the story, yes.” Eden paused as her gaze shifted from Daria to the desert land beyond. “In curses?" A defiance shadowed her expression. "No. I do not."

"Then…” Pausing as if to gather her thoughts, Daria’s scrutinizing gaze never left her mistress’ face. “…what do you believe in?"

Ebony eyes drifting closed, her expression softened as her lips curled into an evocative smile. “Passion. Promises.” Her mind vibrated with the sentiment of each spoken word till her voice was a mere whisper on the wind. A fierce echo of a million cloaked memories. “Love.”

“Love, Milady?”

Peering into a distant and shadowed past, the elusive images dancing along the edges of her mind stirred a wistfulness in the timbre of her voice that couldn’t be masked. “Yes. It's something we humans hold very dear. We live for it.” The pause was pregnant with hidden meaning and inexplicable conviction. “Sometimes…we even die for it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What could I possibly gain by lying to you?”

Max Evans’ question silenced the disgruntled murmurs.

His sharp gaze moved from elder to elder. Young. Old. Middle aged. Their various colored robes signifying their rank, their experience in the tribe. With a wall of rock at his back and the members of the alien council seated in a semi-circle around him, Max was clearly the center of attention.

The center of speculation.

The center of suspicion.

Having their undivided attention for the first time since the council meeting began, Max seized the opportunity to make his case to the skeptical ruling body. “I don’t want to rule you. I don’t even want to lead you. I just want to find my wife, my children, and take them home.”

“If you truly are the King of Antar, then this is your home.”

“Once, maybe.” Max readily answered the unidentified speaker. “But that was before I was sent to Earth to find a brand new life. Which I have successfully done.” He paused, his gaze moving among his listeners trying to gauge the shifting atmosphere of doubt. “Look, I don’t remember. The civil war. The fighting. Winning or losing. The reason for it any of it.” The nonchalant shrug of his shoulder punctuated his words. “And frankly, I don’t want to. I just want my family back.”

“What then?” A younger man in the back row shouted out.

“Then I take them home.” A dark eyebrow raised to emphasis his point. “To Earth.”

“There will be a war.” An old man on the front row spoke, his piercing crystal eyes hard with suspicion. “If what the Old One says is true, your woman is with another. And not just any other. She is with the one now claiming the throne. He calls himself Lorcan, Lord of all Antar. The Most Excellent of the Most High, glorified beyond all other Powers.” Casting a glance toward his companions, he received nods of encouragement from various quarters. “Doesn’t sound like he’s one to bow to anyone’s will.” Turning back to Max, the man’s lips curved into a mocking sneer. “Least of all a half-human like yourself.”

His insolent jab was greeted with a spattering of laughter and disgruntled murmurs.

Max stiffened, his eyes darting from one self-appointed judge to another. Raising his voice to be heard above the general hum, Max’s deadly tone silenced the crowd. “I don’t expect him to bow. I expect him to break. Anyone who doubts the power of a human, has never seen one fight for love.”

He turned to his original detractor. “And you’re right.” His blazing gaze shifted to each and every man, the finality of his statement evident in his eyes. “There will be a war.” His jaw tightened with determination as his voice hardened. “But it’s **my** war. And I will wage it on **my** terms.”

"You will die.” The shouted response came from the center of a huddle.

Max’s chin raised. “Then, I die.”

"Have you died so many times that life means nothing to you?" A nameless man from the far edge of the crowd inquired with narrowed eyes.

"Life with my family means everything to me. Everything." Jumping onto a large flat stone tablet behind him, Max began to pace as his voice rose and fell with conviction. "But to live…to love…to be free…sometimes we have to be willing to fight. Even die. Don't you see? If it hadn't been for those people who stood against tyranny back then you wouldn't have this place. You wouldn't have your lives. You wouldn't be free."

"And yet for you own selfish goals, you want to throw us back into the arms of slavery." The old man on the front row spoke again. "Yes…yes. You're sounding more like a king every second."

Hoots and howls greeted the old man's pronunciation.

Max held up his hands begging for silence. "Look. I know what I'm saying sounds…contradictory. And I don't blame you. In fact, if I were in your position, I would be asking the same questions. Thinking the same things." Taking a deep breath, Max made his intentions clear. "That's why I don't want to involve any of you in my plans. I said before that this is my war and I meant it."

"Then what do you want from us?"

"I just want provisions for myself and my people. And I want a guide. Someone who will take me into the land where my wife is waiting for me to find her."

"What if she doesn’t even want you?" Another shouted out. "After all, she did leave you for him. She’s living by his side, eating his food." He paused, a mocking sneer lacing his words. "Sleeping in his bed..."

Max firmly, unwaveringly rejected the unspoken implication. "**Not** my Liz."

"Oh? Is she so different as to not be captured by the lure of the throne?"

"Yes. She is." Firm conviction rippled through Max. A pervading doubt filled the air. So Max changed tactics. "I cannot expect you to know what I know about my wife. How devoted, how loyal she is. How she will do anything to be with me. Anything." Pulling in a ragged breath, Max continued. "So for sake of argument, let's say she could be lured by the promise of the throne." He noticed a few bent heads snap upwards. "Why should she want a prince when she already owns a king? She'll own him forever. And she knows that. Her ambition is not to wear a crown or rule a people. She just wants to be my wife, the mother of my children."

"Then why is she not here with you now?"

Swallowing hard, Max's voice grew raspy with emotion. "**I** made her walk away. It was my command that sent her here. If she'd had her way, she would have stood and probably died by my side." Shaking his head, Max's jaws tightened. "I couldn't bear that. So, I made her leave with him. To save herself and our children. To save us all."

Though Max's words seemed to silence the crowd, it was only for a moment. Another challenge was leveled.

"If you truly are the king, show us proof."

Confusion raced through Max's eyes. "Proof? What kind of proof?"

"The King of Antar would know." That same mocking voice called out.

Sensing the test in the man's words, Max nodded then raised his voice. "If it's the seal you want, I don’t have it any more. According to the ancient customs of Antar, the king passes his seal to his first-born child. In my case, the seal was passed on to my twins…Kennedy and Kaleb. Conceived and born at the same time, my seal was split between them. It is with them both that the power of Antar rests."

"Two simultaneous heirs?" Shaking his old head, a man in the front raised his bushy brows. "This is unheard of."

"Yes, well…" Shrugging his shoulders, Max prompted a few grins in his audience. "…so is a half-human king."

"But their mother…" The same old man spoke. "…she is human, is she not?"

"Yes."

"Then how do we even know the power of the seal can be activated? The children are more human than alien. And the seal is split between them. So must the power be."

Crossing his arms in front of him, Max stood firm. "**I** know because I saw it with my own eyes. It was their combined energy that pulled them from my world into this. While I and my people had to use the Granolith, my wife and my enemy were born here by the power of my children."

"Forget the seal." An obviously impatient alien entered the council circle dragging a young woman behind him. "There are other ways to prove you are the King of Antar." Eyes fixed on Max, he shoved the whimpering girl in front of him. The implication of his actions were backed up by his words. "So, prove it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Serena. Can you tell what they're saying?" Michael Guerin's question broke the strained silence.

"Not with you jabbering, she can't." Maria shot back from her perch on a make shift cot. With her legs pulled up under her and her back against the wall, Maria DeLuca filed her nails. Blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes, she gave no indication she was having trouble adapting to the alien planet that had been their home less than a week.

"Me?" A scowl appeared on Michael's face. Arms cross defensively over his chest, Michael couldn't hide the sudden life dancing in his dark eyes. It was a life that only appeared when he looked at Maria. "You haven't shut your mouth since the day you were born."

Rolling her eyes, Isabel addressed Michael and Maria with the air of a mother scolding her children. "Stop it, you two. Your constant bickering is not helping anyone." Letting out a sigh of frustration, she turned back to Serena who was staring intently into the distance. "Serena, can you tell what's going on out there?"

"If I had to guess..." Serena's eyes narrowed as she watched Max point an emphatic finger in an elder's face before shaking his head and storming out of the council circle. "I think the Council wants Max to prove himself."

Kyle Valenti looked alarmed. "Prove himself? What do you mean?"

Straightening, Serena sighed and sank back against a crudely made table. As Kyle wrapped an arm around her, she leaned against him for support. Her gaze slipped to every occupant in the room before she spoke. "They’ll want proof he's the king of Antar."

"What?" Rising from his seat, Alex Whitman joined the inquiry. "How is he supposed to do that? He's already passed his seal on to the twins. And they're…" Sweeping his arms in a wide, open arc the group's combined frustration was effectively punctuated. "…only God knows where."

Serena shrugged her shoulder. "I don't know." Expression darkening with a disturbing thought, her voice was tainted with uncertainty. She chewed her bottom lip. "Unless…"

"This is bull!" Max Evans exploded into the room like a flash of white lightening. Quick. Powerful. And dangerous. "I'm not going to do it! I don't care if I have to face Drake and his entire army alone, I will **not** be unfaithful to my wife!"

"Unfaithful…" Isabel shot a glance in Serena's direction, her face registering concern. Seeing Serena's fears were obviously confirmed by the resigned look on her face, Isabel turned back to Max. "Max, what are you talking about?"

Max ignored her.

The tension in his pacing frame descended on the group with the force of a sudden summer storm. Like a tightly wound cobra, Max's barely controlled rage threatened to strike out at the very band of people most loyal to him. Mumbling under his breath, Max's pacing stopped abruptly as he spun on his heels and headed to his make-shift bed. He began to repack what little he'd used in his short time on his home planet.

"What…what are you doing?" Alex's question was the first to broach the subject of Max's erratic actions.

"I'm getting my family then I'm getting the hell off this cursed planet!"

"Max! You…you can't go off by yourself. Now stop. Stop and think of what you're doing. We don't know what you could be walking into. Max, we don't know anything about this place…" Isabel's caution went unheeded. The panic clouding her eyes echoed through her voice. "Damnit, Max! Would you just calm down!?"

"Calm down?" Max spat the suggestion back with all the vehemence he was feeling. He stuffed a few items in his pack and closed the top with a bang. "Why? So I can sit here and twiddle my thumbs while my wife and children are in danger?"

"Max." Serena attempted to get through to her king. Her friend. Her comrade in arms. "Isabel's right. You’ve got to get a grip."

"Oh, I'll get a grip alright." Max snarled back, his hands forming fierce claws of danger. "A nice, firm one right around Drake's neck."

"Max…"

"What?!" Max spun to face Michael. Instead, an elder from the Council stood in the door. Long, gray beard nearly touching the floor, the elegance of the man's countenance demanded instant respect. He got it. All eyes, except Max's, lowered reverently. Even Maria stood at attention in deference to the aging sage.

He bowed slightly. "Forgive my intrusion, my Lord."

Swatting his apology away with a wave of his hand, Max took a step forward, pushing past Michael. The determination flashing dangerously in his eyes raged through his voice. "If you're here to talk me into this insane plan the Council has cooked up…"

"Max." Attempting to turn the tide of a rising storm, Michael stepped in front of Max with a challenge. "What the hell happened out there?"

"What happened?" Max snapped back, he gaze sweeping the room. "I'll tell you what happened!" Gesturing with frustration, Max practically spat out his explanation. "They want me to sleep with one of their women to prove I'm their long awaited king."

"What? But…how would that…" Alex's question was halted with a look. A pointed, knowing look. From every person in the room except Max, who looked like he was on the verge of tears. Alex's shoulders slumped. "Oh. Right."

"How could you even ask that of him?" Horror filled Maria's voice. She turned on the elder, eyes snapping with defiance. "Do you have any idea what Liz has been through for this man? What he's been through for her?" She took a forceful step forward. "They have suffered separations and lies and…**hell**…just to be together. And you…you want him to just throw it all away to satisfy your curiosity?" Standing toe to toe with the elder, Maria's denunciation of the plan was swift and lethal. "Well, let me tell you something, buster. Love **means** something on our planet. So do vows between a husband and his wife. He won't betray his just so you guys can have a little storm shake your world."

"It wouldn't work anyway." Serena's voice cut the strained silence with a sharp knife of reason.

All eyes turned to Serena.

Her eyes glued to the elder, Serena slowly began to explain to the inquiring minds in the room. "Max and Liz have a bond now that is…unbreakable. They're in each other's blood. Literally. I don't think he can shake any world with anyone but Liz."

"Doesn't matter if I could." Max responded tersely, his entire body stiff with determination. His steady, unwavering gaze met the elder's. "I will not cheat on my wife. With anyone. For any reason. So if you were sent to change my mind…"

"No. I was not." The elder, known as Faron, raised his chin in equal determination. "I believe you."

Max blinked. "What?"

A twinkle turned steely blue eyes into sparkling waters. "You have the vision and boldness of your father. The devotion and heart of your mother. I believe you are he. The King of Antar."

The breath seemed to leave Max's body. It was Isabel who spoke for the both of them. "You…you knew our parents?"

Faron's gaze shifted to his questioner. He paused, seeming to study her. Trying to divine her true identity. When he spoke, his answer was both cryptic and revealing. "I knew the father you shared. **Your** mother, however, was the sworn enemy of my people.”

“Enemy? But you just spoke of her devotion. Her heart…”

“Yes. Zan’s mother was the most devoted among us.”

“Zan’s mother.” The gasp that filled the room signaled Isabel's understanding. She shook her head as tears sprung to her eyes. "No. No, that’s not true.”

“Yes, my child. I’m afraid it is.” His gray eyes were sympathetic. “There will be time to explain everything. But for now…there are more important things to discuss. For the one who now calls himself Lorcan.” He turned to face Max. “The one you call Drake Banner is planning on taking the throne very soon. And with it, he will take a wife.”

Max's jaws tightened. "Liz."

Faron nodded slowly. "Come. We must council together. For if you are to defeat Lorcan and save your family, there is much that you need to know…"
~~~~~~~~~~~
Peering into a distant and shadowed past, the elusive images dancing along the edges of her mind stirred a wistfulness in the timbre of her voice that couldn’t be masked. “Yes. It's something we humans hold very dear. We live for it.” The pause was pregnant with hidden meaning and inexplicable conviction. “Sometimes…we even die for it.”

Such a new thought previously unthinkable, Daria’s voice filled with horrified awe. “And would you, Milady? Would you die for this…love…you speak of?”

“Yes.” Instinctively, the answer rolled off her tongue as if she’d been expected the question. She hadn’t. But how else is one to respond to a question she’d asked herself a million times?

And had answered.

In her dreams.

“Max. Please don’t make me do this.” Tears spilled down her cheeks. Her lips trembled as her pleading voice shook with intense emotion. “Don’t make me leave you. I'll…I'll die if I have to. At least…at least we'll be together, Max." Her fingers feverish traced the lines of his face as tears fell between them. "Please. Please let me take my last breath with you. ”

“And leave our babies to their mercy?" Max shook his head slowly as his jaws clenched in determination. "Never." Swallowing hard, Max's voice grew raspy with emotion. "We have no choice now.” Cupping her face with a fierce gentleness, his tear-filled eyes blazed with golden promise. “I will find you, Liz. I swear I will. No matter where Drake takes you, no matter how far…to whatever universe, whatever galaxy…I pledge on my life I will follow you.”

“But what if they…” Unable to finish the unthinkable, Liz’s question faltered. So did her gaze.

Leaning his forehead against hers, Max gathered from his wife the strength and courage needed to combat her own wave of fears. “They won’t.” His breath was as hot as their passion. His promise was as solid as his faith. His whisper, as fierce as their love. “Don't you remember? We are Max and Liz, unbreakable. Not even death can stop me from getting to you. My wife. My love. My soul…”

“Milady." Breaking into Eden’s thoughts, Daria's expression lighted with sudden excitement. "If you know this, you must remember something of your former life. Has Lord Lorcan helped you to recover your memories?"

"No." At the sound of his name, Eden's face clouded with inner doubts. Her gaze lowered. "Lord Lorcan has not."

"Then…you are remembering on your own?" Noting her mistress' darkened expression, Daria cautiously questioned.

Eden shook her raven head. "Nothing…concrete."

Daria's brows furrowed. "Then how do you know of this thing called love?"

"It's an…intuition." Eden answered softly, her searching gaze once more returning to the horizon in the distance.

"An intuition?"

"Yes.” Searching for the right words, Eden turned to face Daria. “I have this…feeling…this…inner knowledge, images of something great happening in my life once. Something…profound. I just cannot yet grasp exactly what that was."

There was a pause as Daria gathered her courage to ask a highly dangerous question. The question alone was a breach of privacy punishable by death. "This…something profound. It is not Lord Lorcan…is it?"

Understanding the risk of not only the question, but her answer as well, Eden kept her silence though her answer was written on her face.

"Is it then this love you would die for?" Daria inquired in newly whispered tones.

"Yes." As Eden turned her gaze once more to the desolate land beyond her reach, her whisper intensified. Aching to be heard across the distance. Longing to reach out to the one who held the key to her soul. “I know he’s waiting out there for me, Daria. Just…waiting…for me to come home…”

tbc…

[Ashton]

~ chapter 25 ~


“They are afraid.” The obvious, yet profound words were the first spoken by their host since arriving at their destination.

Ever in charge, Max was the first to respond. “Of what? I told them I don’t expect them to fight a war that isn’t theirs. I don’t want to involve them.”

“Involve them, you will…” Faron’s words were laced with warning. “…if you attempt to find her.”

“How?” Serena prompted as she watched her king visibly steel himself to fight yet another obstacle blocking him from his family.

"It is by your life force that we are now protected." Faron's cryptic words were directed to Max, who sat across from him on a low bench made vines. The flickering flames from the tree stump in the center lit the faces in the circle surrounding it. Kyle stared at the fire absently wondering how it could burn yet not consume the stump that gave it fuel. "And by that of your true love that you now live."

"If I have to hear how much of a saint Tess was, I think I'm going to be sick." Maria commented from the sidelines, making a face that left no doubts she would indeed follow words with action.

"Tess?" The sage's blue eyes narrowed as he turned to Maria.

AMax=s queen here on Antar.@ Serena leaned forward to take a cup of drink from the table. "From what we understand, her Antarian name was Ava."

The scowl that crossed the old man's face gave Maria hope.

Faron's piercing eyes met Max's troubled gaze. "She was not your queen. And she was certainly never your love. She was your enemy. A willing pawn in the Seer's game."

"Well, it's good to know some things don't change no matter what planet you're on." Alex spoke for the first time since arriving at the old man's quarters deep in the forest. It had taken the crew the better part of an hour to reach the cabin made of cool stone and warm wood.


AForget Tess. She=s dead.@ Dismissing the subject matter as callously as he=d dismissed the person, Max leaned forward eager to hear more of the past that would lead him to his future. "Explain what you mean by my life force protecting you."

A bushy gray eyebrow rose, as the old man held up a crooked finger. "First, you must understand your history. Only then, can you know your future.@

AI already know my future. It=s with my family.@ Max=s jaws tightened with that now-familiar determination. AWhat I need now is to know how to find them.@

ANot until you know the danger of seeking them.@ Faron responded cryptically. He hoisted himself from his seat. ACome now. You must sleep.@

Max stiffened. ASleep? Now?@ His gaze snapped to the faces of his friends. He saw the same confusion he was feeling registered in their expressions. He stood suddenly, his golden eyes burning into Faron. ALook. I don=t know what the hell you=re trying pull, but I don=t have time for your games.@ He turned to his crew. ACome on. We=re leaving.@

Max brushed past Faron, who stood silently and watched him go.

UntilY

Max reached the door. And Faron spoke. AHave you exchanged blood?@

Max=s head snapped up. Hand on the doorknob, he paused. Slowly turning to face Faron, Max=s eyes narrowed. AWhat?@

Faron took a step forward, his knowing gray eyes gauging Max=s response. AHave you and your queen exchanged blood?@

AEw.@ Maria=s face was scrunched in disgust. AWhat kind of a question isY@

AYes.@ Max=s quiet answer knocked the rest of Maria=s question into silence. AYes, we have.@

Nodding as if he=d known the answer all along, Faron=s lips parted into an approving smile. AIt is finished then. The bonding is completed.@

Max=s hand dropped to his side. For the first time, he was fully captivated by the subject. He took an unconscious step forward. ABonding? So, Liz was right. It was some kind of Antarian ritual. WhatYwhat do you know about what happened to us?@

Faron=s answer was slow, deliberate. AI know you=re inseparable now. That you=re one person. With thoughts, feelings, souls merged into one. I know that one will never live without the other. It is impossible for one to breathe when the other does not. It was designed that way.@


ADesigned?@

AYes, my lord.@ Faron nodded once, his blue eyes riveted on Max=s face. Gauging his king=s reaction. Seeking a hint of remembrance in Max=s expression. AThe ritual was ordered by you, the king. It was a ceremony that would bind you and your love for eternity. You demanded it be unbreakable. Untouched by time or spaceYeven death.@

“Why?” Max’s whispered question echoed in the hushed room. “Why would I be so specific in my demands?”

Seeing his own defeat in the determination of his king’s eyes, Faron’s shoulders slumped as he turned once more toward the only light in the room. He eased himself back onto his bench and issued a promising command. “Come. I will explain.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lorcan said he was their father. Yet, she couldn’t see even a trace of him in their features. For her daughter, that fact was easy to reconcile. She was, after all, a miniature of her own self. The same long, dark hair. The same almond shaped eyes. The same easy, but incomplete smile.

But her son…

Her son was different. His solemn expression, the long lashes that shyly hide soulful, amber colored eyes, the quiet way he observed everything around him. Taking everything in, analyzing it, tucking it away in a heart he rarely revealed.

The setting sun captured their small forms in a protective blue glow as they drifted into a land of dreams. Their future positions as rulers of Antar afforded them each their own separate room, their own separate beds. Yet, side by side they slept. Unwilling or unable to be separated from each other for even a moment, they were a living testament to a connection so deep, so instinctive, it could not be denied.

She felt that connection deep in her soul.

Reaching out to caress her little boy’s cheek, a gentle smile touched her lips. His skin was soft and warm. Smooth and unscarred by the ugliness surrounding them. As her thumb lightly traced the details of his features, her eyes drifted closed in hope.

Just once.

Just once she wanted to touch the face of another. A face, vague in detail, floating just on the edge of her mind. Like an image in a fogged mirror, or a dream. Elusive. Unreachable. Fading into darkness whenever the light of reality appeared.

Her only connection to that face was her son.

He was there every second. In her son’s expressions, his glances. Coaxing a memory. Begging her to find him. Every time she tried, every time she reached out to him, he’d dance away into obscurity leaving the cruel taunt of his existence to rip away at her heart.

At times, it was more than she could bear.

She stiffened perceptibly when she heard the floor creak beneath a stealthy step behind her. Expecting the low voice of her captor returned early, she breathed a sigh of relief when Daria’s soft voice sounded in her ear. “Milady. I must needs speak with you.”

“Then speak softly and away from here.” Her whispered answer caused her servant to retreat into the darkness. Eden rose reluctantly, her loving gaze resting one last time on the two faces that summed up her life, her past. Whatever it had been. Whomever she’d shared it with. Leaning forward, she brushed a gentle kiss on each forehead, lingering just a bit longer to kiss the image of the man she could not remember.

Meeting with Daria in the hallway, Eden’s impatience was clear. “What is it? You know I don’t like to be disturbed when I’m with the children.”

“I’m sorry, Milady. It’s just…” Daria’s eyes were downcast and her hands nervously fingered the edge of a shawl draped over her shoulders. Whatever it was Daria had come to say, it was obviously difficult. “Do you…” She glanced up at her mistress then back down at her hands. “…wish to remember?”

“You know I do.” Eden’s impatience disappeared as hope sprang unbidden to her eyes.

With the change in her mistress’ tone, Daria’s confidence grew. “I may know of a way.”

“How?” Eagerness now formed every cell of Eden’s body.

“There is a place. A secret place. A magical place. But it’s dangerous to reach and…”

“Where is it?”

“Beyond the castle walls.” Daria answered quickly, a fear growing in her large blue eyes. “Milady, I can’t be sure it will work and punishment for moving beyond the walls is death. Lord Lorcan has made that clear.”

Ignoring the obvious warning, Eden’s mind was in motion. “When does Lorcan return from the Outer Ridge?”

“Tomorrow morn.”

“How long does it take to reach?”

Daria glanced out the large window, gauging the time. “Just after the sun sets.”

A decision having been reached long before Daria’s confirmation, Eden seized the opportunity in her grasp. “Then I leave now.” Side-stepping Daria, Eden headed toward her room issuing a backward command. “I want you to draw me a map…”

“Nay!” Daria’s refusal was as much of a surprise to her as it was to Eden. She began shaking her blonde head before Eden had a chance to turn and face her. “Nay, Milday. I will not let you go alone.”

“Daria.” Eden closed the distance between them and lowered her voice. “Daria, I appreciate your loyalty, but you said it yourself. If Lorcan finds out that you went beyond the walls…” Placing a hand on her Daria’s shoulder, Eden continued. “…Daria, not even I could save you. I cannot allow you to go.”

Daria’s chin raised in defiance. “Then I will not give you the location. We go together…” Pulling in a breath of determination, Daria continued. “…or you go not at all.”

Eden bit back a smile at the stubbornness she recognized all to well. It was a stubbornness forged in loyalty. Friendship. A devotion beyond death.

Eden nodded once and placed a gentle hand of protection on Daria’s head as a small smile began to form in her eyes. “When do we leave?”

Tbc…

~ chapter 26 ~


Faron’s measured voice pulled them all into a time and a world that no longer existed. Into a past only half of them experienced, and none of them remembered.

"As the true heir, you, Zan, were connected to the elements of this world. Your tears brought the rain. You smiled and a new sun was born. Your laughter pulled flowers from the ground just as your anger split stones. This was involuntary. Uncontrollable by your own vices.”

He paused, remembering. “This, we knew. This, we were prepared to control.” His gray head began to shake. “What we did not expect was the love you bore for another. For a human. Or the power that intimacy would breed.”

“A human?” Max questioned, not sure he’d heard Faron correctly.

Faron nodded, confirming he had. “She was royalty in her world, a slave in ours. You cared nothing of her creed, her station. But you knew of those who would seek to destroy her because of them. So, you devised a plan of secrecy. In the dark of the night, the shadows of the day, you breathed her in. In the light, you denied her existence. Just as she denied yours.”

Suspicion narrowing Max’s eyes, he asked an obvious question. “Who was she?”

Faron held up his hand. “Patience, my lord. All will be revealed.”

Not liking the answer, but seeing he didn’t have any other choice, Max’s jaws worked in frustration as he leveled a command not to be disobeyed. “Get on with it then.”

And so Faron did. “You were not the only who felt the sharpness of her beauty pierce your heart. There was another. Your brother. Born the first son of Antar, he was your inferior in every way. Age. Power. Heart. He felt the weight of your greatness and bucked against it every chance he got.”

“I…I don't understand.” Kyle interrupted for the first time. “If Max was older, how could his brother be the first son of Antar?”

Kyle’s question hung in the air as Faron’s blue eyes shifted into a distant past. A painful past. A past he would not relive for anything. Anything, that is, except his king. “Danar, king of Antar, loved only once in his life. And that love produced a son the whole of Antar would be proud to claim as its own.” His gaze shifted back to Max. “Zan. Had Danar known of the child, he would have held him up to the sun in honor and love.”

Max straightened perceptibly. “What do you mean…had he known?”

Swallowing hard, Faron took a slow drink from his earthenware cup. The group exchanged glances, sensing they were either about to be handed a piece of the ever growing puzzle at their feet or given yet another reason to hate this cursed planet.

Faron placed his cup on the ground at his feet. His head remained bent, his eyes closed as he continued with the obviously painful history lesson. “Rainia, Danar's love, was of low birth. The daughter of a mere herdsman, she would never walk the Halls of Vollon, the Antarian palace.”

“Danar’s love for her was so great that he vowed to renounce the throne, deny the destiny that lay before him. For this, his enemies sought his life and Danar had to flee in order to live. At the time, Rainia was heavy with child and could not follow. So, Danar left with the promise to return in time to see the child of their love born.”

“Fate had other plans.” Faron paused and swallowed hard, the memories still fresh even after a few lifetimes. “Rainia's labor was difficult. Zan knew his mother's love long enough to be named and given to the care of his grandfather.”

The silence in the room was palpable.

“When Danar returned to find his love dead, he demanded to know what happened to the child. When told his son had died as well, he nearly went insane with grief. It was then that his enemies fell upon him.”

“But in the midst of their victory, they had a problem. The people of Antar adored Danar and would not quietly accept the rule of another. If Danar was not returned to the throne, his enemies would have a civil war on their hands. This they could not afford”

Faron’s aged hands shook as his eyes raised to meet those of his king. “So they tortured Danar. With a heart already crushed under the weight of grief, in the midst of his suffering, he succumbed to their will. His memories were stripped away. For Danar, there was no more Rainia, no child, no love.”

“What happened then?” Isabel’s soft whisper prompted the sage to turn his hazy eyes on her.

“He was married to an evil he would have previously destroyed and bore children that would one day betray everything he lived for. His love. His honor. His throne. In essence, he lost his soul…his heart…and became a pawn in a deadly game of power.”

“Who…” Swallowing hard, Isabel’s question was voiced in a whisper. “…did he marry?”

Faron’s voice was emotionless as he delivered the already suspected news. “Your mother.”

“So, Max is…”

“Your half-brother.” Feron finished for her.

“And you’re saying that I…” Unable to finish the thought, Isabel’s eyes begged Feron to dispel her fears.

“Betrayed Zan.” Feron confirmed her fears instead. “Along with your brother, Lorcan.”

“Lorcan?” Max instantly grabbed hold of a name her recognized as a rival even today. “You mean Drake? That lying, murdering scum of an alien is her brother?”

Feron nodded once.

Isabel bit down on her lower lip to stop the tears that instantly sprang to her eyes. Alex wrapped a loving arm around her and she leaned into him gratefully as her gaze shifted to Max. He looked as stunned as she felt.

“Feron…” Ever the strategist, Serena tried to bring the focus of the room back to the questions of the moment. The immediate mission. To gain facts that would aid them in getting back their queen. “…I don’t understand. Danar believed his child was dead. But…who would have told him such a lie?”

“It was I.”

And the surprises just keep coming.

“You??” The shock in Max’s voice was electric. “But why would you…”

“I thought it best. At the time.” Feron interrupted his king’s inquest. Guilt and remorse laced every word. “Had I known the evil that would follow, I would have gladly given you up to your father to be the true heir of Antar from your first breath.”

“But…” Shaking his head, Max sprung up from his seat and pointed an accusing finger at Feron. “Who are you? What were you to him? That my father, a **king** would believe your word alone…”

Feron rose from his seat to face Max. His chin rose in pride, in defiance. “I am Feron of the Tribe of Nishi. Son of Pantikar and Getiva. Brother to Shivnar the cobbler and Zulfna the baker. Husband of Sapina. And…” As his ancestral litany came to an end, Feron’s eyes locked with Max. …your grandfather.”

Tbc…

~ Chapter 27 ~

She was grateful for the light of the three moons.

The pitch blackness of the world beyond the castle walls was more than just what she could not see. It was a feeling. A nagging desperation in the pit of her stomach. An anxiousness whispering through her mind. A subtle but palpable terror pressing down all around.

She’d be crushed beneath the weight of it, had it not been for the moonlight.

And the hope of seeing him. Just once.

Daria pulled up short and Eden almost ran into her. Though they were far beyond the castle walls and in turn, any danger of being caught, Eden instinctively lowered her voice to a whisper as she spoke. “What it is, Daria? Why did you stop?”

Maybe it was the exertion of the trek or the excitement of having reached their destination, the exhilaration of slipping through the certain danger that had stolen Daria’s voice. Whatever the reason, her only response to her mistress was a silently raised hand.

Eden’s gaze followed the pointed finger as her eyes narrowed to see through the darkness. It only took a few moments for the faint outline of the structure to become evident. Drawn to it with increasing curiosity, and a sudden sense of belonging, Eden moved as if in a trance. Daria followed close behind.

Lost, but found. An alien slipping into unfamiliar skin, finding a perfect fit. A wanderer, come home.

A visual scan of the smooth, onyx surface yielded no entrance. At least, not to the naked human eye. Daria, however stepped right to the center of the oblong structure and placed her hands against the shell. Her hands began to glow and a smile began to spread.

Eden’s body tensed. Her breath stopped. Her entire being was focused on Daria’s movements. Her past, her future all came down to this one moment. This one roll of the die. All of the answers to all of her questions lay behind that wall. She knew it.

Instinctively. With primal recognition.

Daria pushed against the façade only to have it remain stoic and silent. She tired again, to no avail. A third time yielded the same results and Daria swore under her breath.

Eden stepped forward, concern and disappointment lacing her voice. “Daria? What is it?”

Shoulders hitching with a slight shrug, Daria shook her blonde curls. “I don’t know. He told me where to find the door. What to do.”

“Who?”

”My uncle.” Daria answered simply. “He’s the one who knows the secrets of this place.”

“And how does he know?”

“He was once the king’s guard. Back when the king was good and…” Stopping herself from saying more than she should, Daria turned to face her mistress. “Our king came here often. With his…” Her cheeks flushed in the darkness as her gaze faltered.

Guessing the reason for her pause, Eden filled in the gap. “His mistress.”

“No.” Daria’s head snapped up, her eyes registering insult. Her voice echoed a reverence Eden had rarely heard from Daria. “She was so much more. She was his…life, his soul. His very breath. There are stories still whispered about their love.” Her gaze shifted into a distant past. “Legends so beautiful, so full of devotion and sacrifice…”

Daria’s voice trailed away as another’s voice whispered through Eden’s mind. It was a voice she’d never heard, yet was so familiar she felt tears spring to her eyes at the sound of it. It was calling to her.

Her gaze focused on the structure before her as she moved toward it slowly, deliberately. The voice grew louder the closer she came. Her heart thundered loudly in her chest, but it wasn’t enough to drown out that voice. To silence the beckoning murmur pulsating through her body. Closing her eyes, she concentrated, listening only to that voice.

L’fael.

That’s all he said. One word. Undecipherable. Ancient. Like a loop in her mind, he kept repeating it.

Moving without thought, Eden placed her hands against the cold, polished rock. She felt a crackle of electricity as skin met stone. Her hands began to vibrate. She felt her entire body shiver as a familiar warmth entered her body and spread through her like wildfire. Then, her hands began to glow.

Like a far away echo, she heard Daria’s gasp of shock behind her. The terror lacing her voice. “Milady! Milady, what are you doing?!”

A fierce wind blew the hair back from her now illuminated face and Eden began to speak in a voice that was beyond herself. In a language she didn’t know. Echoing his word. Claiming her destiny.

“L’fael.” The glow in her hands increased as a surge of power ripped through her arms. She repeated the word, her voice rising in intensity. “L’fael …”

Daria was beside herself with terror, and awe. She didn’t know what to do. To intervene and perhaps save her mistress from certain death. Or stand back and watch a miracle unfold.

Fear instinctively took over when a flash of lighting ripped through Eden’s body. Her gasp of pain propelled the servant forward only to be tossed to the side like a discarded rag doll when she tried to touch her Queen’s shoulder.

A protective shell now surrounded Eden. The elements were gathering to shield her from harm, from interference. She was part of them now. The wind, the fire, the night. They recognized her and embraced her in their gathering storm.

And that embrace grew more powerful with each new word she spoke. The shield became thick with energy. Impenetrable. Locking her into a vortex of swirling colors.

‘L’fael serf tumardi.” Eden’s voice surged with authority as one word became a phrase. “L’fael serf tumardi. L’fael serf tumardi…”

The glassy surface of the hideout shimmered in the moonlight then melted around her fingers until there was nothing.

Nothing but a black hole of emptiness that swallowed Eden whole.

Tbc…