Never Underestimate Fate (DA,XO,CC,MATURE) AN 04/08 [WIP]

[Calinia]

Hey everyone, sorry for keeping you waiting. I've been buys with school and - I might as well admit it - going out. So a lot of me free time has been spent sleeping. Add writer's block to the mix, and you get exactly 0 new parts. But I finally sat down and wrote the new part for you and it's extra-long to make up for the wait.

Since some of you mentioned it, Michael just isn't the straight forward type of guy. Besides, since Liz never told them the truth he assumes she won't do it now either, at least not before he has some hard facts. He will confront her about it sooner or later though.

And the storyline will go in direction of clearing the whole mess (or at least some of it) up pretty soon. Not in this part though. As I said, it's extra long, hope you like it!


Part 29

Tess was walking down the halls of West Roswell High, not in any kind of hurry to get to her next class. It was History. She hated History. What did she care about the history of a country, of a planet that wasn’t her own, that was just a temporary refugee, a hiding place until they could go home and claim their rightfull place as the leaders of a planet, their planet.

She sighed. Blending in sometimes really sucked.

When Tess noticed Pam Troy ahead of her, she slowed down even more, even stopped to take a sip of water. Despite their mutual dislike for Liz Parker, she couldn’t stand that bitch. She was as annoying as humans could be, arrogant, haughty and full of herself. Then she realized that Pam was following her other favorite human, Liz. Tess knew it was nasty, but she couldn’t help herself. She quickend her pace, not wanting to miss the exchange. At least something to brighten up her day.

She was sick of seeing everything fall into Liz’s lap. First Kyle, then Max, then Kyle again. Then she got pregnant, which admittedly probably didn’t fall into that category, but even now everything was working out as well as it could for her. Liz’s parents seemed fine with the situation, Jim had gone from raging bull to pet lamb within a day…she just always seemed to get what she wanted. Tess just needed to witness the one nuicense in Liz Parker’s life, just to prove that even her life wasn’t picture-perfect.

Liz suddenly stopped walking, then turned and went into an empty classroom, Pam on her heels. A moment later Tess could hear muffled voices, but she was too far away to make out the words. Then Pam’s voice, already shrill as it was, started shrieking. Tess winced. She sounded like a fucking siren. She thought she heard her name being mentioned, but she wasn’t sure. Must have misunderstood something, she decided. Why should Pam Troy mention her while trying to get a rise out of Liz?

Then suddenly there was a loud crash that came awfully close to sounding like an explosion. Tess froze, she could hear glass shattering, wood splintering. Her heart missed a beat before she rushed to the classroom. Despite the situation, she still had the foresight to glance around and make sure that nobody else was in the hallway. Thank God that it was deserted.

When Tess reached the classroom, Pam started screeching, yelling something about freaks and lunatics and how she was going to call the police and the press and the principal. It only took a moment for Tess to figure out what had happened. What used to be a cabinet was now a pile of wood, shattered glas and other rubble, Liz was as white as the wall, trembling, with green currents running up and down her arm, while Pam was still hysterical. She hadn’t even noticed her come into the room.

Good, Tess thought. She quickly closed the door and shut the blinds with her powers, then she closed her eyes and concentrated. A few seconds later Pam stopped screeching. She had a confused look on her face. Probably the one she was born with, Tess mused.

“What just happened here?” Pam asked glancing around, looking at the pile of rubble.

Tess smiled sugarly sweet. “Well, you just caught your boyfriend cheating-”

“Greg or Tony?” Pam asked, still looking confused.

For a moment, Tess just started. Was this girl for real?! “Um, both actually,” she said, figuring it wouldn’t harm to have a bit of fun.

“Those bastards!” Pam exclaimed, seething with rage. Her face turned red, her mouth transformed into a snarl and her eyes were practically buldging out of her head. Not a pretty sight, Tess decided. Definitely not a pretty sight.

“Yeah,” she agreed, sounding understanding. “You were so mad that you came in here and turned this cabinet into dust.”

Now Pam looked worried. “Uh oh. I’m gonna get in trouble for this.”

Tess smiled again. It would have surprised her if Pam had realized that her being responsible for the state the cabinet was in was highly unlikely. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it for you. Just go home. I’m sure you need to figure out how to get back at Greg and Tony, don’t you?”

Pam nodded, looking determined, and just a bit insane. “They’re gonna pay for playing me like that.” Then she stomped out of the room.

After she’d left, Tess went over, slammed the door. Then she turned to Liz. “What the hell just happened here?!” she exclaimed.

“I…I blew up the cabinet,” Liz said, her voice still shakey.

Tess started pacing up and down. “I can see that!” she said throwing her hands into the air. “How the hell did you do that?”

“I-” Liz took a deep breath. “I don’t have much control over them yet,” she explained looking down at her arms. The electric currents had grown faint, but they were still there. She winced. And they still hurt.

Tess narrowed her eyes, lowered her voice. “You have powers?” she hissed.

Liz nodded.

Tess was practically trembling with anger. “You have powers, but you didn’t think it was necessary to inform us? Are you insane?! Do you know what could have, would have happened if I hadn’t happened to be here?!”

Now Liz’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, I have a pretty good idea,” she said, her voice cool as ice. She had herself under control again. “And I did tell someone. Michael knows. We’ve been training together. We both thought it better to not tell anyone else yet. You all, especially Max, have more important things on your minds. We didn’t want to distract or needlessly worry you.”

“Well, it wouldn’t have been quite that needlessly,” Tess snapped. She was still angry, but some of her rage was ebbing away. She could see Liz’s point, even though she didn’t necessarily agree with it. She didn’t understand why Michael of all people had thought it a good idea to keep it a secret though. What the hell had gotten into him?

Liz looked at the cabinet. “I guess not.”

Tess walked over to it and within a few minutes it was as good as new. Then she turned to Liz, deciding that argueing with her was pointless, and not a priority right now. There were more important things to deal with. “We need to call a group meeting. I’ll get Max, Isabel and Michael, and you get the humans you all always insist on dragging into everything.” Her tone was only a bit annoyed. “We’ll meet…I don’t know where. How about the desert?”

“No, not the desert. We were out there training the other day, and some weird tourists were running around with a camera. Let’s meet at the Crashdown, we can use the back room. Nobody will disturb us there.”

~*~*~*~

Despite Liz and Tess both skipping their final class of the day, it took some time to round up the others. When they were finally all gathered in the back room of the Crashdown, Liz nerves were all on edge. She hadn’t planned to tell the others about her powers like this, she had wanted to tell them after she had mastered them. That way she wouldn’t have had to worry them, and – she might as well admit it – she would have proved herself, a mere human, worthy somehow.

Now it would be just the opposite, just another problem, another worry for Max and the others. Like they didn’t have enough of those already. And somehow Liz felt like she didn’t have the right to add to their burden. Not anymore, not after everything she had done. When she and Max had been dating, and even when they’d been apart, she’d always felt like she had a special position in the group. Like she had a right to be in the group in the first place. But ever since she had staged that scene with Kyle...that had turned into an outsider somehow, or at least she felt like it.

Liz glanced around the room. Maria and Alex both looked a bit apprehensive while they quietly talked to each other. Probably exchanging information, or rather the lack thereof, Liz mused.

Michael had his trade-mark scowl on his face, Isabel seemed annoyed. Tess’s face was strangely blank and Max was clearly worried. Only Kyle topped him when it came to that, but then, he was the only one who already knew what this was about, besides Tess of course, since he had given her a ride to the Crashdown and she had filled him in on the way.

“Is someone going to tell us why we’re here?” Isabel asked, not even trying to hide her irritation. “Some people here actually have lives, and therefore better things to do.”

Liz glanced over at Tess. The blond obviously had no intention of doing any explaining, so it was up to Liz to tell them what had happened. Inwardly, she sighed. Outwardly, she refused to show her emotions.

After carefully closing the door, she turned to face the others. “There was an…incident today at school,” she began. Then, not knowing how to best explain it all, she just came to the point. No matter where she began telling the story, she knew she wouldn’t be getting far before the argueing started, so she figured it best to start with a short version and only give them the key incidents. That way they would at least be argueing about something that made sense.

“I accidentally blew something up in an empty classroom right before the last period. Pam Troy was there, she saw it. Tess mindwarped her into forgetting it, then repaired the damage. Then we called this meeting.”

For a few seconds and almost eerie silence settled over the small room while they all just stared at Liz, then they all started talking and shouting at once. This time Liz did sigh. So much to handling this like mature adults.

Kyle rolled his eyes, then put two fingers in his mouth and whistled as loudly as he could. The others fell silent almost immeadiately. “How about one at a time?” he suggested.

Isabel glared at him, then jerked her head around to glare at Liz. There was fury in her face, but Liz could also see the fear in her eyes. “What do you mean you blew something up?! You have powers?! Alien powers?! Since when? How? When…?”

“Look, I’ll explain it all, but I’ll be faster if you don’t interrupt me. You can ask questions afterwards. Okay?”

Maria and Alex nodded, but Isabel glanced around instead. “Wait a minute.” She stared at Michael. “You knew!” she exclaimed after a moment. Then she turned to Kyle. “And you! God damn it, were any of you ever gonna tell the rest of us?! We have a right to know! It’s our lives that are at stake here!”

Liz had avoided looking directly at Max so far, but now she did it. Hurt and worry were equally evident on his face, and Liz winced inwardly, feeling as guilty for the one as for the other. When Michael stepped forward, she averted her gaze again and looked at him, surprised that he would try to handle Isabel. Liz had expected to be on her own here.

“Calm down Is,” he said, Michael himself surprisingly calm. “They just appeared. I was here when it happened, and we’ve been training together ever since. There haven’t been any other incidents like today’s.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?!” Isabel asked, not any less upset than before Michael’s input. “We had a right to know! Do you know what could have happened today? Max, Tess and I would have been totally unprepared! Do you know how dangerous that would have been for us! What if Tess hadn’t been there? What if Pam Troy would have told someone…or everyone? What then?!”

Max stepped forward, layed a hand on his sister’s shoulder. “Calm down, Is,” he whispered. Then he turned to Michael. “She’s right though, you should have told us. You put us all in danger here, for no reason at all.”

Now Liz spoke up again. “That’s my fault. It was my idea not to tell you yet. I thought it was better to figure out what I can do and start training before we told you about it. I didn’t want to worry you needlessly.”

“Needlessly?” Isabel exclaimed, not having taken her brother’s advice. “Needlessly? Look what happened! It would have hardly been needless!”

“I know that now too,” Liz replied, starting to lose her patience. It wasn’t like she had planned for any of this to happen. She’d been thrown into this insane situation having no idea what to do or how to deal with it all, and yet everyone seemed to expect her to just handle it, like she always did. She was growing so sick of it. She wasn’t perfect. She made mistakes. Why was that allowed for everyone but her?

“And why does Kyle know?” Isabel asked, still glowering at Liz.

“That’s not her fault,” Kyle said quickly. “Nancy called me after Liz blew up something in their living room.”

Isabel was stunned. To her, it seemed to take forever until she found her voice. “Your mom knows?” Some of her anger was replaced with hurt, but the fury was still there, sparkling in her eyes. Liz had expected this kind of reaction, which was why she had intended to not mention it until everyone had calmed down a bit, but it was just a well. In the end, it hardly made a difference at which point she revealed that small detail.

“Oh my God, your mom was there?” Maria asked, her mind realing, her tongue going a mile a minute. “Did she see you blow something up? How did she react? What did she say? Does your dad know? What did you tell her? Did you tell her the truth? Did you think up some story to cover it up? Did she believe you? How did she react?”

In the mean time, Isabel had sunk down on the couch, and Alex was sitting beside her, gently rubbing her back hesitantly. Not that she seemed to notice. He knew how much she’d always wanted to tell her mother the truth, and what a blow it must be to hear that Liz’s mother now knew while her own mother was still clueless. Despite the fact that they hadn’t exactly gotten along lately, he hated seeing her like this. The least he could do was offer her a bit of comfort.

Max had been strangly quiet up to now, leaving most of the talking to the others, but he moved forward now. He avoided looking at Liz directly, instead he turned to the others.

“Guys, this isn’t getting us anywhere,” he stated, sounding more weary than anything else. “Let’s just let Liz tell us what happened and then, if something is still unclear, we can ask questions to fill in the gaps.” Maria’s mouth closed and even though Isabel was back to glaring at Liz, she didn’t say anything. “Okay?” Max asked.

When everyone nodded, Liz started speaking. “Okay. They showed up about…two weeks ago. I, well, I sort of got into an argument with my mom, and the next thing I knew I had this weird, uncomfortable feeling in my right hand, sort of like electricity, and then suddenly the magazines on the couch table blew up.”

Maria frowned. “You argued with your mom? You two never argue,” she pointed out, ignoring the no-quesitons rule.

“It wasn’t really an argument. I was upset and I guess I snapped at her,” Liz explained, feeling slightly uncomfortable explaining this in front of the whole group.

“Upset?” Maria asked.

“Look, I had a sucky day. Can we move on now?” Liz asked impatiently. She had absolutely no intention of explaining why she’d been upset. Her fight with Kyle, the bad news from Jim, even seeing Max and Tess together, she couldn’t have told the others about any of this anyway, even if she’d had wanted to.

“Fine,” Maria said waving her hand. But Liz knew her best friend, she knew that she wouldn’t just drop it.

“Anyway,” Liz began right when they were interrupted by her mom’s voice calling her. A minute later Nancy poked her head into the room.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said. “Don’t you kids want to go upstairs? You’d have more privacy there. After all, anybody could come into this room and surprise you.”

“Yeah, okay,” Liz said, glancing around to see if anybody objected. They all seemed a bit stunned, but nobody protested against moving this upstairs.

They started filling out of the room when Nancy touched Max’s arm. “Max, could I have a minute with you?” she asked.

“Um, sure,” he said, watching the others leave. His eyes met Liz’s and she shrugged, indicating that she didn’t know what her mother wanted either.

When they were alone, Nancy smiled at the boy. “Don’t look so worried Max. I just wanted to thank you. I can’t even express how grateful I am to you for saving my baby the day of the shooting. It was a very brave and selfless thing to do, and Jeff and I feel deeply indepted to you. So if there’s ever anything we can do for you, anything at all, you just have to ask.”

Max still looked uncomfortable, but there was also a smile on his face, and a slight blush tinging his cheeks. “It really wasn’t that big a thing,” he said, slightly embarrassed. “I didn’t think, I just reacted.”

“Well, I’d say that just shows what a big heart you have, Max.” Nancy smiled again. “But then, Liz has always had a knack at picking her friends, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” She paused for a moment, and when she continued to speak her voice took on a more earnest tone. “I hope you know that you mean a great deal to her, despite how difficult things are between you at the moment. She’s very grateful for your support, you know? She needs all the friends she can get right now.”

Max just nodded, not knowing what to say to that. His relationship to Liz was a sensitive subject, and he had no idea what he should say to Liz’s mom about it.

“I should let you get back to the others,” Nancy said, sensing Max’s discomfort. “Would you guys like some snacks?”

~*~*~*~

Half an hour later the whole gang was sitting in Liz’s living room, empty plates and glasses from the Crashdown food Nancy had brought up earlier stacked on the couch table. Liz was finally done filling the others in on what had happened with some help from Michael and Kyle regarding their practice sessions and her abilities and from Tess regarding the incident with Pam Troy. Right now they were discussing how to handle the situation.

“How often have you been training so far?” Max asked.

Liz thought about it. “About twice a week. It’s difficult fitting the sessions into our schedules since we work on different days and everything.”

“Okay. Would you have time for more sessions?” he asked Liz.

“I guess, if I cut back on my shifts a bit. My parents have been hassling me to do that anyway.”

Max’s gaze dropped to Liz’s stomach. “Maybe that’s not such a good idea after all.”

Kyle stood up, for once in his life agreeing with Max. “He’s right. You’re load is big enough without extra training sessions, Liz. You’re overdoing it.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “I am not overdoing it, Kyle. I’m fine. I can handle a few extra training sessions a week, especially if I work less to make up for it.”

“Liz-” Kyle started to protest, but he was cut off by her.

“Look Kyle, a little extra stress isn’t going to kill me, but another incident like today just might. The faster I get my powers under control, the better.”

He opened his mouth, shut it again, not knowing how to argue with that. She was probably right. Training sessions had to take a prioirity now. Not that that was going to prevent him from making sure Liz got enough rest.

“Okay, so we’re gonna arrange more training sessions from now on,” Max said. “There are four of us, and we can all help you with your powers, so there’s no point in you just training with Michael. Is that okay with you?”

Liz nodded, even though she didn’t exactly like the idea. She wasn’t looking forward to training with Tess or Isabel, and even the thought of training with Max made her nervous. But then, everything that involved Max tended to make her nervous. It always had, actually, but the nervousness wasn’t as pleasant as it used to be.

“When is your next session scheduled?” Max asked.

“Tomorrow afternoon,” Michael replied.

“Okay, I don’t work tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll come along.”

“Me too,” Maria said in a tone that indicated that she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Liz shook her head anyway. “No you won’t. Maria, I really don’t have my powers under control yet. The more people that are there, the more dangerous it is for everyone. I’d really prefer you to not come along, at least not yet. It’s hard enough concentrating on getting it right without worrying about endangering others.”

Maria wanted to argue, but seeing the pleading look on Liz’s face, she sighed. “Fine. But you won’t keep me away forever, chica.”

Liz smiled. “I hardly thought I could.”

Alex cleared his throat. “Um, I hate to be the one to bring it up, but has anybody wondered whether this could affect the baby?”

Silence fell over the group as everybody’s gaze seemed to be drawn to Liz’s middrift, making Liz feel more than just slightly uncomfortable.

Kyle sighed heavily, wearily. “Yes, we’ve thought of that, but so far there’s been no indication that something might be wrong, or that it might have an effect on the pregnancy. Of course, we don’t know anything for sure, so we’re careful.”

“And if the baby’s changed too?” Alex asked.

“That’s the least of my worries right now,” Liz said, surprising everyone. “If that really is the case, well then we’ll just have to deal with that once the baby is here. Right now I’m more concerned about my powers…and finally deciding on a stupid name,” she said, muttering the last part.

After that, the meeting started to break up. They finialized their plans for the next day and started gathering the things and leaving. Max hung back helping Liz with the dishes even after everyone else had left.

“I’m really sorry for this,” Max suddenly said.

Liz looked up startled. “For what?” she asked confused.

“If it weren’t for me-” Max began, but that’s as far as he got.

“If it weren’t for you I’d probably be dead now, Max. Don’t beat yourself up for something you have no control over. You didn’t even know you’d be passing on your powers when you healed me, and even if you had, would that have changed your decision?”

“Of course not!” Max exclaimed, sounding shocked.

“Well, then…” Liz trailed off. “Look Max, I’m very, very grateful for what you did for me that day, despite alien powers and everything. I really am. You know that, right?”

Max was quiet for a moment before he nodded. It didn’t make him feel less guilty, but it was good knowing that she didn’t blame him or anything.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Max asked now, even though he suspected he didn’t really want to hear the answer. He tried to keep the hurt out of his voice, out of his eyes, but it shimmered through all the same.

Liz sighed, guilt settling over her heart as well as her features. “I didn’t want to keep this from you, Max.”

“So why did you do it?” Max asked, the hurt more evident now than before, mixed with frustration and something else Liz couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“I just didn’t want to add to your burden. I know that you have a lot on your mind after everything that happened in the past month. Nasedo dying and the Skins showing up…I didn’t want to give you another thing to worry about.”

“We never used to keep secrets from each other,” Max whispered, echoing the words he’d said to her when he’d gone after her in Copper Summit.

Guilt pierced Liz’s heart. That might be true for Max, but is wasn’t for her. She’d never told Max the truth about herself, about being an X5, even after he’d told her the truth about himself. And it especially wasn’t true now. She was keeping so many secrets form Max, it was getting hard to keep track of them all.

“I’m sorry,” Liz whispered. She was, for all the lies and secrets she been keeping.

Max shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway, now does it?” His tone was bitter, almost harsh and Liz had to look away. A second later she heard the apartment door closing. He was gone.


tbc

[Calinia]

Guys, I am so so very sorry for the wait. This story has been giving me some trouble, not so much because I don't know what I want to happen but because my muse was just so occupied with my other stories. This one has sort of been put on the backburner. I'm really going to try and update once a month from now on but with school starting in a few days, I don't want to promise anything. But I'll try.

Thank you all for your wonderful feedback and bumps. To make you all feel a bit better, this part is a big step closer to Liz's secret (I mean the one that she's an X5) being revealed. The next part will work on getting to the point where the Liz/Kyle thing is cleared up and consequentally, the Max/Tess thing.


Part 30

“Um…aren’t you forgetting something?” Max asked Michael, one eyebrow raised, after his friend had climbed into the jeep.

Michael gave him a blank look, teetering on annoyance.

“Liz?” Max suggested slightly exasperated. “Sort of hard to train with her if she isn’t there.”

“Maria’s giving her a ride.” Michael’s voice was more or less even despite the fact that it almost came out as a growl. “They’re at the mall…gab fest…whatever.” Michael rolled his eyes, but Max saw right through his mock indifference.

“Maria and you still fighting, huh?” he asked sympathetically.

Michael scowled. “Let’s not talk about it.”

“Okay.” Max backed off. Michael and Maria were…well, Michael and Maria. Meddling was pointless, so if Michael didn’t want to talk about it…

They were quiet for a minute. It was Max who broke the silence “Michael…” he began, then stopped again, seemingly indecisive if he should continue.

“Spit it out already, Maxwell,” Michael growled out, annoyed to begin with and now even more annoyed by Max’s hesitancy. Everything seemed to annoy him these days, even more so than normal. And that said a lot.

“I was just wondering…when you told Liz’s mother the truth…about us I mean. How did she react? I mean, how bad was it…her reaction?”

Michael shrugged. “Not that bad.”

Max suppressed a groan. Getting information out of Michael was like pulling teeth sometimes. But he forced his voice to remain calm. He knew that Michael wasn’t in the best of moods right now and that pissing him of wouldn’t give him the answers he wanted so badly. “Define ‘not that bad’.”

Michael sighed exasperatedly. “She was shocked at first. No screaming though, no fainting, no threatening to turn us in. She recovered pretty quickly. Hence, it falls into the ‘not that bad’ category.”

Michael saw the look on Max’s face. The dreamy, hopeful, I’m-getting-stupid-ideas look. “Don’t even think about it,” Michael warned, his voice more a hiss than anything else.

The expression on Max’s face changed to one somewhere between guilty and defensive. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We’re not telling them,” Michael said forcefully. Max could act as clueless as he liked, he wasn’t fooling him. He knew exactly what was going through that delusional brain of his so-called king. He’d seen the exact same expression on Isabel’s face one too many times to not recognize it. “There are already way too many people in on this. The more people that know, the more dangerous it is for us.”

Max gave up pretending he didn’t know what his friend was talking about. “Michael, I think you’re exaggerating the threat my parents could pose. Besides, I’m not thinking about telling them.”

Michael gave him a “yeah, right” look, not believing a word he was saying.

“I’m not! I’m just…wondering. There’s nothing wrong with wondering. I’m maybe…considering to…consider telling them, okay? I’m not planning to do anything about it. I’m just…thinking about it in a very…abstract kind of way.”

Michael snorted. Max could twist the truth any way he liked, that didn’t change the facts. Max was thinking about telling his parents. Great. Just what they needed right now. Wasn’t it enough hat the Parkers knew? Why risk telling yet another set of parents? Max didn’t know how his parents would react, no matter how much he wanted to believe that they would be okay with it. What if they freaked, did something stupid? It could threaten the lives of all of them. Why couldn’t he see that, accept that?

“We agreed not to tell anyone,” Michael reminded him through clenched teeth, fear creeping up on him and sinking it’s fangs into his heart. “We agreed that if we did ever tell anyone, it would only be if all three of us agreed on telling someone. Have you forgotten that? Do all the rules we set up suddenly not count anymore?”

Max sighed. “No. Of course not. I haven’t forgotten our promise. That still stands. But think about it, Michael.” His voice took on this imploring, convincing tone that normally worked so well because Max himself was so unshakably convinced of his own words, Michael realized with a sigh.

“So far no one has turned against us,” Max went on. “Not Liz, not Maria, not Alex. Not the Valenti’s. Even Liz’ parents are okay with it. They haven’t alarmed the authorities, haven’t even forbidden Liz to keep on being friends with us. Why should my parents be the first ones to break the pattern? They’re my parents, Michael. I know you find that hard to believe, but a parent’s love is unconditional, no matter what.”

Michael groaned and let his head fall back. He knew that arguing with Max about this was pointless. He also knew that if Isabel and Max teamed up there would be no stopping them. And it would only be a matter of time before they did. Great. Just great.

~*~*~*~

Liz wiped the back of her hand over her forehead where beads of sweat were starting to gather. It was warm for February, but not necessarily hot. Still, she felt like she was melting. The sun seemed to be beating down on them relentlessly, heating up the dry sand and the rocks surrounding them. They were in the desert, but in a more secluded area this time, just to be on the safe side. None of them wanted to risk an incident like the last time with someone almost catching them. Exposure was not exactly on any of their most-wanted lists.

“Okay, now try blowing up the small rock over there, but just that one, not the others,” Michael instructed. So far they’d been working on the simple things like changing colors and heating up water. Now they’d started working on her blasts and it was going surprisingly well.

Liz took a deep breath, then raised her hand. She wasn’t sure why, but today it just worked. She was hardly even trying. Compared to her last training session, the difference was one to a million. She felt an almost eerie calmness inside of her. She hadn’t felt like that since…before her pregnancy, she suddenly realized. It was like she was her old self again. Alert, strong concentrated…in control. And that control had transferred itself onto her ability to control her powers. She hadn’t even realized how messed up she had felt throughout most the pregnancy so far, how off. Until now.

She concentrated and in the next moment the rock blew up, turning into a cloud of fine dust while leaving the surrounding area unharmed.

Liz smiled in satisfaction. This was the best blast so far. Hell, it was practically as good as any of Michael’s, she just needed to work on them to make them stronger. Her aim was perfect. That was a reason to be proud of herself, right? It wasn’t like her ‘instructor’ was heavy on the praise, she thought almost smiling wryly. But the thought was accompanied more by affection than annoyance.

Michael was…Michael. He could be harsh and annoying up to the point where you wanted to scream, but she knew the reasons behind his behavior and that his heart was in the right spot. There was his childhood, the role of the group protector that he’d been all but forced into. Michael did what he thought right, no matter what other people thought or told him. He had a certain cocky arrogance, but she of all people knew that a soldier needed a good portion of confidence. And, despite his lack of training, Michael was a soldier.

Liz had long since reached the point where she was just itching to change that, train with Michael to bring out all of his potential. But she could hardly do that without revealing her true identity, now could she? Too bad. Michael would probably be one hell of a student.

Her musings of what a training session with Michael could be like were interrupted by Max’s voice. “You’re getting pretty good. How about we take a break? I have some drinks in the jeep. You look kind of hot.” His eyes widened in shock. “That didn’t come out right! I mean…you look like you’re hot-warm…you know what I mean.”

Liz couldn’t help but smile at Max’s stuttering. She nodded. “I know what you mean. Something cool to drink would be nice.”

Michael just shook his head at Max’s questioning glance and so Liz and Max headed over to the jeep alone. Max got two bottles out of the car before handing one of them to Liz. She clasped the bottle and concentrated on cooling the liquid inside. It only took a few seconds this time. Pleased with herself she smiled while twisting the cap off.

“You’re really adjusting well,” Max commented with a soft smile on his face. It was such a relief that Liz was handling the whole situation so well, that she didn’t resent him for passing along his powers to her. It amazed him how calm and unruffled she seemed, despite everything going on.

Liz shrugged, a smile lurking in the corners of her mouth. “Well, if you think about it, having powers is pretty handy. I now have a built-in microwave, unlimited possibilities when it comes to accessorizing…and I can, um, turn stones to dust.”

Max grinned. “I’m sure that last one will be especially useful.”

Liz laughed. “Just wait…I’ll find some use for it sooner or later.”

“Um, Liz?” Max shifted his weight to his other foot, hesitating for a short moment. “I wanted to, uh, apologize…for snapping at you yesterday. I was really out of line and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have, it was wrong for me to-”

“It’s okay Max,” Liz said interrupting him. “Don’t worry about it. Emotions were running high yesterday, which was mainly my fault. I can hardly blame you for being upset.”

“That’s still no excuse,” Max insisted.

Liz smiled. “Max,” she said gently but forcefully. “Forget it, really.”

Max opened his mouth as if to say something, sighed, closed it again. “Okay. But I owe you one.”

Liz grinned. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll collect. I always do.”

~*~*~*~

Michael held back a frustrated growl, but just barely. He was back at the library continuing with his research. He’d typed the word “Manticore” into Google, but so far he hadn’t found anything. Well, that actually wasn’t quite true. He’d found tons of stuff, but none of it was pertinent to his search for Liz’s big secret. Google just spat out junk and cursing it didn’t seem to change that one bit.

There was an open source hardware design for a 3D graphics accelerator called Manticore. There was a company called Manticore Technologies that had to do with online marketing analytics. There was the Swedish Manticore Fund. There was Manticor, a company for area rugs, flooring and hardware. There were Manticore skateboards. There was a band called Manticore. There was a book by Robertson Davies called The Manticore. There was Manticore records. Michael ignored it all, deciding that as scary as the music of Emerson, Lake & Palmer was, it could hardly be what Liz was hiding from.

There was also a mythological monster called Manticore. According to monsters.monstrous.com, a Manticore had the body of a red lion, the face and ears of a blue-eyed human and a tail ending in a sting like that of a scorpion. The mouth contains three rows of teeth – Michael had no idea how the hell that was supposed to work, but whatever – and there were poisoned spines along the tail that could be shot, like arrows, in any direction. In the middle ages, the Manticore became the symbol of tyranny, disparagement and envy and ultimately the embodiment of evil.

That was an interesting piece of information. Interesting and slightly unnerving, but it still didn’t help Michael solve the mystery otherwise known as Liz Parker.

Getting fed up with Google, Michael switched to an online newspaper archive to see if that site spewed out less junk. Luckily, there was a two day trail registration, so Michael could read all the articles the computer found and not just the headlines. There were over a hundred articles that mentioned the word ‘Manticore’. Whatever this Manticore thing that Liz and Kyle had been talking about was, he figured chances weren’t bad that it had been mentioned in one of these newspapers at some point or another.

Sifting through the articles proved to be as frustrating as going through the websites Google had found. Most of them were about some corporation or other that had the word “Manticore” in its name. There were a few that mentioned the lion-like beast, others that mentioned the book by the Davies guy. Some were about Manticore Records and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, making Michael shudder in disgust.

It wasn’t until the very end of the list that he stumbled across something…an article in the National Enquirer. Normally he would have passed over it with an exasperated roll of his eyes, but since the serious newspapers hadn’t once mentioned anything that brought him a step closer to solving the riddle called Liz Parker, why not try the gutter press?

It was only a short article, the source a person very close to a government insider. Yeah, right, Michael thought, but read it anyway.


Government planning genetically engineered soldiers!

In the wake of the National Security Bill recently passed by the Senate, a source close to one of the country’s most powerful men has disclosed this shocking revelation.

A secret government group that, according to the source not even the President knows about, is working on diverting millions of tax dollars from other government programs to fund secret experiments in genetic engineering, also known as “Project Manticore”. The goal: to create the perfect soldier.

“These creatures will not look human or act human,” the source – who passed a polygraph test – Told the ENQUIRER in an exclusive interview. They will be designed in a way that enables their creators to “control them via electro-magnetic impulses”. Their brains will be designed to receive these impulses which will force them to immediately follow their orders. This will give us national security on a level we have only dreamed of up to now.

So far the project is only in the planning phase, but the ENQUIRER will be keeping a close watch on further developments to keep our readers informed.


Michael read through the article twice. Normally, he would have laughed at the stupidity of people who actually bought the paper and believed any of this junk, but with everything he’d seen, he wasn’t quite as fast to dismiss it as nonsense. Could it be that Liz was one of these “genetically engineered soldiers”?

The National Enquirer was not exactly a newspaper that could be called a legitimate source, but hey, even a blind man may sometimes hit the mark. While she looked human and didn’t seem to be controlled by “electro-magnetic impulses”, Liz being genetically engineered could be the grain of truth in the article. She was stronger than she should be, seemed to have enhanced senses…this was the most logical explanation he’d come up with so far. And so he’d go down that path, see if he could find out some more stuff to either confirm his theory or rebuff it.

~*~*~*~

When Michael left the library two hours later the beginning of a headache was sneaking up on him. He messaged the bridge of his nose to ward it off, knowing all to well that his efforts would be fruitless. He’d been working on the computer for close to four hours and it had drained him. He wasn’t used to staring at a screen for so long.

He’d been researching genetic engineering for the bigger part of these past two hours, but nothing he had found suggested that it was possible to actually do anything even close to what the article had claimed the government was planning. On the other hand, if the government’s research was really top secret, should it surprise him that he found nothing to confirm his theory?

But normally there were leaks. Every organization, no matter how meticulously planned and how firmly controlled had leaks – people who had to brag, people who dropped hints without even knowing it, people who left documents lying around, others who felt the need to suddenly confess their sins due to some life-altering occurrence. People who forget about keeping it a secret because they just got laid.

Decades had passed and he couldn’t find one shred of proof or anything that at least hinted at the possibility of Manticore existing. Of course, said proof could have been destroyed by the Pulse. But the article in the National Enquirer had survived. What were the chances of that but nothing else surviving? If there was anything else in the first place, he reminded himself.

Michael almost growled in frustration. All this work because of some stupid article in the most unreliable magazine ever and he was pissed because he came up empty-handed. Duh.

But there were the things he’d seen. He couldn’t dismiss that. As much as he was willing to dismiss what the Enquirer had said, he couldn’t just ignore things he knew to be facts. And while he hadn’t found any proof to confirm his suspicions, he wasn’t about to drop the theory. He hadn’t found any proof that his theory was wrong either. It made sense to a certain, slightly insane degree. He had borrowed some books on genetic engineering and was planning to go through those before he decided in what direction to continue his research.

Michael was so lost in thought, he didn’t see the person standing there when he left the library and plowed right into her.

“Hey, can’t you watch where you’re- oh, it’s you.” Michael scowled at the chilled and slightly appalled tone her voice had taken on after realizing who had almost knocked her over. “What are you doing at the library?”

“None of your business, Maria,” Michael growled, still scowling.

“Well, excuse me for being surprised that you’re suddenly showing interest in anything that has to do with this planet,” Maria spat.

Great, Michael thought. Now she was pissed. Just what he needed.

“Whatever,” he muttered and turned to leave.

“A normal human would have apologized,” Maria called out after him, barely managing to hide the hurt in her voice.

“If you would watch where you’re going that wouldn’t be necessary,” Michael replied, never breaking his stride. He heard something between a muffled scream and a gasp coming from behind him but didn’t turn around. So she was pissed at him…nothing new there. At least now, she had a real reason to be.

Okay, so he’d acted like a jerk. But right now, he didn’t need her trying to worm her way back into his life. Best to keep that idea out of her mind. He would deal with the mess he created…later. He had other things to deal with, to focus on. He had no use for all the drama Maria brought with her. Just like he had no use for the guilt and regret that was trying to sneak into his heart and yet there it was. He slammed his wall down, closing himself off from the emotions she always managed to stir inside of him. He had other things to concentrate on right now and his…thing with Maria would only stand in the way if he let it. And so he wouldn’t let it. Simple as that.


tbc

[Calinia]

Hey guys, another author's note. So, have I been working on this story? A bit. Do I have a new part for you? Not really. Am I going to update soon? Hardly.

I'm really sorry that I don't have better news for you. My muse for this story has just been kind of...lacking. But I should finish up WTRBTF soon and then I promise that I'm going to sit my lazy as down and work on this. I do want to finish it, I really do.

So, let's hope my muse is good and comes back to me soon.

...Kat