Exposure (M/L Mature) Anothers Note 7/1/07 [WIP]

[rie482]

Heya guys! Here is the next part!

Thank you to the following for their feedback:
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Part twenty one

“Liz?” She stilled completely the moment she heard her name being called through the speakers. Hoping she was imaging it all she curled herself up tighter into a ball and brought her hands over her head. She grasped at her hair as she continued to cry.

“Liz.”

The voice was firmer now – more realistic so she started to unfurl herself and tempted fate by looking straight at the person who was standing on the other side of the glass. There behind it was the kinder appearing man, who was still holding a gun to Matthew’s head.

“What?” She asked, surprising herself with how hoarse her voice sounded. Had she really been crying for that long?

“Matthew – he won’t stop crying.” The man stated, an uncomfortable expression coming across his face. “I can’t seem to get him to calm down.”

Liz sat up straight and laughed out loud. A look of pure disgust crossed her features as she stood up. “I think it might have something to do with the fact you have a gun pointed to his head.” She bit sarcastically. “It does tend to shake people up – you know, make them upset.”

“I know.” He said in a whisper, something that shocked Liz. The tone of was one of guilt and the expression on his face was matching. He honestly looked like he didn’t want to do this at all, so Liz sighed and moved towards the glass.

“Ok.” She said, “I’ll help you. But only for Matthew’s sake.” She knelt down onto the floor so she was at Matthew’s eye level and silently pressed her hands against the glass. She caught his eye and asked gently, “Matthew, can you put your hands over the glass for me? Can you place them over mine?” She smiled as his hands fell over hers. “Good. Now I want you to breath in time with me. Can you do that?”

“Yes,” His reply was small and scared, yet the look of trust on his face made Liz’s heart constrict.

“Ok, so take a deep breath in.” She said as she took a deep breath in. “And hold it. 1,2,3. Now let it out slowly.” Matthew started to visibly calm slightly as he let his breath out. “Good, Matthew, that’s good.” She shifted slightly, yet her gaze remained focused on the little boy before her. “Now Matt, can you close your eyes for me? That’s a good boy, now I want you to think of your Mummy and Daddy. I want you to think about when they used to take you to the park.”

She looked up at the man that was stood behind Matthew and smiled. “He seems to have calmed down.” The man stated. “Thanks.”

“I wasn’t doing if for you.” She said quietly as looked back at Matthew, who was now in a world of his own thanks to Liz using her powers slightly. “This little guy means the world to Max; I owe it to him to keep Matthew safe – after all he’s going to be the only part of his family he’s going to have left soon.”

They remained in complete silence, watching over Matthew for a while. Liz could see his eyes flicking around under his lids and sighed with relief as she witnessed him smile slightly. It was as she did this that she realised she already felt so much for this small boy, the son of her soul mate. His existence had caused so many problems for her, had her awake at night tears in her eyes at the way Max had moved on so easily to Tess. But as she rested hands over the pane of glass that was separating them she realised that her before her was a strong little man, a young boy who was a part of Max. She couldn’t hate him if she tried; she was almost on the brink of loving him unconditionally and she was about to be taken away from him.

The only consolidation she felt was that at least he would still have his mother.

“I’m sorry.”

Liz almost jumped out her skin at the sound of his voice invading her thoughts. She snapped her eyes up and instantly met his and her hard expression instantly softened.

“I’m so sorry.” He whispered, tears in his eyes. He looked as if he were to break down as he looked down upon her.

“It’s ok.” Liz replied gently.

“No. No it’s not.” He declared angrily. “You have done nothing wrong but Nicoli seems to think you deserve to be ‘punished’ for your ‘sins’.” His voice softened. “The only thing you are guilty is for loving your family enough to endanger your own life.”

Liz lowered her gaze down to the floor, her memory turning to the day when she killed Khivar. “I don’t know about that. I killed a man – maybe I deserve this.”

“No.” The man stated firmly and with conviction. He lowered the gun from Matthew’s head and moved nearer to the glass. “He was going to kill Tess and hundreds of innocent people. In my eyes you are a hero – not a murderer.”

“Then how come you are holding me like this?” She asked softly, not completely believing what he was saying to her. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I have no choice.” He replied just as softly with resignation in his voice.

“There’s always a choice.”

“Not when your livelihood and family are at the hands of an alien.”

This made Liz’s expression turn to horror. “What?”

The man turned to a chair that was in the corner of the room and dragged it to the window. Once he sat down he started to explain, “About three years ago this organisation was going under. It was my fault – I had passed my company to Nicholi, my step son, four months before hand and he completely screwed it up. Anyway, out of no where came this woman who said that she could provide funding to renovate the whole company and put it back on its feet, without having to pay her back. I didn’t think it was a good idea but Nicholi knew best. It turned out to be the best decision for the company and its profits went up. But after a while I noticed that Nicholi was spending more and more time with the woman and was slowly changing.” He shrugged. “I thought nothing of it – he has a thriving business so if the company had to change, he did too.”

He paused for a moment and ran his hands through his hair. “Then he was firing the workmen that were here. These were good, hard working, decent people and he was firing them all for no reason and replacing them with other people. These were weird people. Religious people, people with little emotion expect condemnation. I heard them talking yesterday, in small slight whispers. They didn’t realise I was there. None of them did. What I over heard was something that shocked the hell out of me.”

“What was it?”

He looked Liz straight into the eye. “They were talking about the ‘assignment’ that had been given. Turns out this company is being used as way of getting rid of the ‘problem.’”

“Problem?” Liz asked, knowing full well what the reply would be.

“You.” He sighed. “I should have noticed that the benefactor had been coming in a lot recently.”

“But what makes you think she is alien?”

“Well, once I had heard this I stormed into Nicholi’s office to find she was there, her hand over the back of his head whispering.” He spread his hand over the space in front of him acting out the woman’s actions for a few seconds before placing them on his knees in a nervous and uncomfortable gesture. “She was talking about a back up plan if strategy A didn’t go to plan and he was sat there in a complete trance. She had complete control over him. When – when she realised I was there she threatened that if I were to go against the plan she would turn him into a vegetable.”

Liz knelt on the floor her expression one of contemplation. Something in the pit of her stomach sparked a thought and she snapped her attention back to the man. “What’s her name?”

“Jo Starling. Why?”

* * * * * * * * * *

8 hour, 39 minutes.

RETRIBUTION SHALL FIND US ALL.

MURDER SHALL BE PUNISHED.

WE SHALL BE SAFE.

They sped across the screen every couple of minutes, a constant reminder of what they were watching before them. Liz was still sat in the middle of the floor, crying her heart out frantically. It made Isabel’s heart break to watch it, but something inside compelled her to keep her eyes focused on the screen, and this time she wasn’t going to ignore the feelings she got. Her feeling outside Max’s room was one that had proven right, so this she wasn’t going to dare to ignore. Liz’s life and her niece or nephews life were at stake.

“How is she?” Alex’s soft voice asked from her lap. He was curled into her lap, holding their daughter close to his chest, seeking comfort the only good thing that was currently in their life.

“Still the same.” She whispered, as she stroked his hair. This was just proving too hard for Alex this time and she could totally understand it. It was ok when he wasn’t being given a visual of Liz’s condition but now it brought the situation into full blown reality and it was difficult. He wanted to jump through the TV screen and hold his friend but he couldn’t.

He tried the one thing he had thought would save them.

It hadn’t been a surprise when, once he had been showed the channel, he had turned uber geek on everyone and screamed for the signal to be traced. There was a moment of earth shattering hope that spread through out the group as they watched him type away at the keyboard of his computer, a look of determination set upon his face as he worked. For one brief second there was a feeling that maybe this will all turn out okay – that there wouldn’t be a problem. That they’d get Liz and Matthew back safe and sound and they’d be able to get on with their lives as reasonably as possible.

Maybe everything would be okay.

But that hope disappeared the minute Alex let out a sob from his pursed lips and broke down before the eyes of everyone else. He could only say “They’ve encrypted the signal.”

Now he was lying in Isabel’s lap, much like she was with Liz just a couple of weeks, maybe even a month, ago. He couldn’t dare to look at the TV screen, yet he too felt the need to be nearer the Tele, as if it he were to leave he’d miss something important.

“Crap.” Was all he said as he snuggled closer and deeper into Isabel’s lap as he sought comfort. “Why can’t I just be useful for once?” He grumbled into Sophie’s short and soft hair that was wet with tears.

“You are useful Alex,” Isabel whispered as she looked away from the TV to him. “Don’t ever doubt that you are.”

Alex turned his attention to Isabel, his expression one of scepticism. “Yeah. Like I’m any good with anything other than a computer.” He said with sarcasm. “I’m useless to the group. I haven’t got any skills useful to the situation.”

“But Alex, you’re human.” Isabel emphasised the word human. “You don’t have the same skills as us but you still have your uses.”

Alex sat up, clutching his daughter close to his chest as he did so. “Kyle has his powers, Maria has her ways of calming Michael before he blows up the TV. What do I have? Nothing.”

Taking his hand she swung round to face him. “You can’t say you have nothing. You have me and you have Sophie; you have this family. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be the frozen witch of the west. Without you Toplosky may have brought us into the FBI. We may not actually be alive – or we could have ended up as lab rats in the white room. Without you we wouldn’t have been able to kill the Gandruim. Don’t forget – you and Kyle mucking about with the bottle and the matches gave Michael the idea to suck the air out of the room to save Laurie, Liz and Max.” With a smile she lowered her head as she blushed slightly, something that didn’t occur often. “You’re the one who captured my heart, Alex. Without you to turn to, I’d be nothing. I’d still be this woman who wouldn’t let a soul in. I wouldn’t be a mother, a wife or part of this large family. You are the one we all turn to.”

“I – what?” Alex gasped as in the corner of his eye as he noticed movement on the TV. “Iz.” He gripped on to Isabel’s hand getting her attention and pointed at the telly.

There on the screen was Matthew, Liz knelt before him. Edging nearer the TV, they watch in fascination as Liz shot a pointed glance at the camera as if telling something to the viewers. They hadn’t even been aware Liz had known about the camera in the first place.

“What is she doing?” Alex asked out loud, his thoughts erupting out on to his lips.

“She’s trying to tell me something.” Isabel answered as she sat directly in front of the screen. Her hand hovered over the glass for a second as she waited for Liz to move and she almost shouted in surprised as she watched Liz connect with Matthew.

Only those alien enough to have actually connected knew what it was like and there was a sense of power that surround the two.

“Are you?”

“Yeah.” Isabel said as she let her finger drop on to the image of Matthew, her eyes slipping shut instantly.

* * * * * * * *

“HIGHER!” He shouted to Tess from the swing as he gripped onto the steel holding it in place. He smiled broadly as he was once again pushed into the sky, the wind flowing through his floppy hair. He loved the swing, sure he liked the slide and the roundabout, which often he and Max pushed too fast making Tess sick, but he didn’t like them as much as the swing. They weren’t as freeing or as relaxing as the swing. This is what he liked the most about the park – the feeling that he could fly as high and as far as he wanted.

He turned his head and smiled even more as he looked down on his parents. They were both there pushing him higher and higher. But what made him smile the most was the fact that they weren’t together and miserable – they were together, with their real loves stood next to them.

Liz had her arms wrapped around Max’s middle and Kyle leant against a leg of the swing, watching Tess as she pushed. This was his family, and he wished that it could go back to that.

Turning his head back round to look at the sky, his smile faltered as he noticed Isabel stood by the bench.

“You want me to go back?” Matthew yelled across the park.

Isabel moved forward towards him and shook her head. “No need to Matthew.” She said with a smile. “Liz is the one I need. Not you.”

He turned his head round to look at Liz in confusion. He could have sworn that that Liz was a figment of his imagination, but he gasped as he watched Liz unfurl her arms that were around his father and moved towards Isabel.

She shot him a smile and waved. “Don’t worry, you can stay here.” When he nodded Liz quickly took Isabel’s hand and they suddenly disappeared.

[rie482]

I am so so so so sorry for the long wait for this part. My computer decided to give me hell so I had to wait for that to be fixed... but I'm back just like I promised. I would have posted this tomorrow but unfortunately I'm not here tomorrow so... I'm posting it now.

Thanks to the following for their comments:
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Timelord31
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maya
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tequathisy
Flamehair


Part twenty two.

“Nicholi, my step son.”

****

“There’s always a choice.”

“Not when your livelihood and family are at the hands of an alien.”

****

“What’s her name?”

“Jo Starling. Why?”

****

“Shit. I should have known!” Zan growled seconds before he stretched out his hand and blew up the television. It sent sparks across the room, most landing on his skin; but he didn’t feel the pain of the sparks digging their way into his skin. All he felt was the anger.

“I say we go to the office.” Michael declared from his spot against the doorframe, his body tense. “We barge down her door and kill the bitch.”

Feeling a soft hand on his arm, he looked down to see the open and teary eyes of his fiancé. “If you do that - you may never find her.” Maria cried softly. She really couldn’t lose Liz. There was the hope that maybe she could come back to them and Michael was almost getting her really killed by being reckless.

“Then what do we do?” He asked more softly this time, his eyes roaming intensely over her face. “I have no other idea.”

“We still go to her office.” Isabel mumbled quietly from the sofa where she was currently laid, her head in Alex’s lap feeling his hand softly play with her hair. “But we don’t kill her. We confront her.”

“She won’t give any information willingly.” Serena stated from the window seat. “She’s not just going to go ‘oh here you go. She’s here.’” She said this with a little sarcasm that had everyone turning their heads in shock. Usually it was Kyle that bit out the sarcasm in these situations. Once again Serena was showing a side of herself no-one saw.

“I didn’t say that we all go.” Isabel exclaimed in frustration. “I meant we go confront her. Find out who and what she is. She’s alien and she’s going about herself to rid the world of a certain Liz Parker. I want to know exactly why she’d want that and I’m betting she has something to do with the attack earlier. She’ll have the answers to what is wrong with Max.”

“What about Liz?” Tess asked, her already tired and tear stained expression in a frown. “From what you are telling us, we aren’t really going to be doing anything to stop those sick bastards.”

Isabel sat up, pulling her long blonde hair over her shoulder as she did so. She paused for a moment just to look at the floor, and for a brief second the words ‘when did I become the leader?’ came across her mind. Shaking those thoughts out her mind she thought about her brother who was currently laid out on a bed upstairs, his eyes staring at nothing but thin air. All of a sudden she felt it was right that for once people were calling on her for the answers; this being the one time she was willing to take the weight of it on her own shoulders.

“It will be me, Tess and Michael. We will head in that direction. The rest of you will look into finding any reference to a Nicholi. You’ll find him, find the place he is keeping Liz and you will get her out of there. Hopefully, Tess can mind warp long enough for me to get an address. If not Michael will distract her enough for me access her mind. Like what we did with Pierce.” Isabel placed a kiss on Alex’s forehead before standing up. She looked at Zan, “Once you find the building you’ll take Serena, Kyle and several Locack’s and get Liz and Matt out of there. Your soul purpose is to get them out - I don’t want any one killed. We have an advantage but I don’t want a single person hurt. Do you hear me?”

“Yes ma’am.” Zan exclaimed as he looked towards Kyle and Serena, a silent signal for them to follow him out the room, which they did so. This left Tess, Michael, Maria and Alex with Isabel.

“What about us?” Maria’s soft and devastated voice croaked. “What do we do?”

“You stay here.” Isabel stated.

Alex shook his head as he stood up from the sofa, a look of horror on his face. “No. You can’t just expect us to stay here and do NOTHING can you?”

“Yes.” Isabel said coldly as she moved towards the bag that was sat on the table by the window. Both Alex and Maria stared at her retreating back in complete shock.

“We can’t just sit by and watch the two people we love the most in the world go and face Stalin!” Maria exclaimed in complete anger and frustration.

“You’ve done it before.” Michael reminded Maria, his tone gentle as he came up behind her placing his hands lightly on her shoulders. “And you have to do it again.” Maria turned to Michael, fire in her eyes. A fire which calmed the moment she locked eyes with Michael’s. “I can’t risk losing you. This whole thing is screwed up and I don’t want you to be added to the list of screw ups.”

“But - we can’t just stay here.” Alex whispered pleadingly at Isabel whose grip was now firmly on the bag she held. He watched her sigh and turn to look at him.

“You have to. You have to stay here and watch Sophie and Max.” She moved to him slowly, cautiously. She stopped just in front of him then brought her hand to his cheek, caressing it caringly. When she spoke her voice was a mere whisper, only barely heard by anyone else. “You have to do this. You have to stay safe. Alive. For me.”

* * * * * * * *

“So remind me what we are doing now?” Kyle asked as he leant back on the back legs of the chair he was currently sat in.

Serena gave him a sideways look before shaking her head in frustration and amusement. “You always seem to look bored in these situations.” She commented as she turned her attention back to the computer screen.

“It happens, you know, when you have no idea what to do.” He mumbled as he placed the chair legs back on the floor. He leant forward into his hands and sighed. “It was so much easier when his royal highness was here.”

This time it was Zan who threw him the sideways look. “Well, he is kinda. I’m here.”

Kyle looked up from his hands and smiled sadly. “Sorry mate, but it just isn’t the same. You’re not Max.”

“I know.” He to turned back to the computer. “So tell me, what is it that my bro would be doing right now?”

Kyle leant back in his chair and smiled again. This time in thought of Max. This was strange as for a while he loathed Max with every fibre of his being. He had turned him into this half human freak show and had taken the woman he loved away. But now, now he was thinking about him fondly and it felt strange.

“He’d be doing the exact same thing as this.”

“So what’s so different about it being me - not him?” Zan questioned.

Kyle leant forward again on to his elbows. “It’s Max.”

“I’ve got it!” Serena exclaimed in excitement, almost jumping out of her seat as she watched the details flash across the screen in front of her. There in front of her was the picture of the man who had addressed Liz. “Nicholi Jamieson. He owns the Liquidization Institution that’s 30 miles outside of Roswell, New Mexico.”

“How long?” Zan asked as they all ran for the door.

“An hour. Tops.”

* * * * * * * * * *

“No. I want that information on my desk now.” She screeched at the young nervous boy that was stood before her desk. She glared up at him from her green eyes with such fury that even Isabel would have felt scared of her, even if she didn’t know about Jo Starling’s alien status.

Now that she was watching her, she almost felt guilty at the way she hadn’t noticed the weirdness about her. She should have noticed by the way she came on so strongly to Max and the way she hated Liz. She just should have realised because now, as she was standing watching the truth, it was so obvious to see.

Isabel, Michael and Tess stepped back as the boy that was stood at Jo’s desk, ran out almost crying into the papers he came out holding onto. They all shot each other an uneasy look as they watched him run away down the corridor, almost tripping over his own feet in order to get as far away as possible.

"Ok, so this woman is slightly scary." Tess mumbled under her breath to Isabel. Turning to Michael she muttered, "You're gonna have to watch out for Isabel just in case this doesn't work."

"It will do." Isabel stated quietly. "It worked on Whitaker why not her?"

"I just get this feeling from that room." Tess admitted under her breath again. "It's like there is something powerful there."

"Well that's why I am here." Michael interrupted. "If she figures anything out I'll blast her one."

Tess frowned. "I just hope we can get the stuff as quickly as possible and then run for it."

"We still need to confront her." Isabel reminded Tess slightly as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Tess mumbled. "I think we get in and then out with no time to stop and exchange pleasantries."

"Ok." Michael nodded noticing the way Tess seemed almost adamant that they shouldn’t confront her. "But once we figure this all out - we confront her and get her to help Max."

"Ok." Tess nodded. "Get ready." She whispered at Isabel and Michael as she slid her eyes closed and started to warp Jo.

Isabel grabbed Michael's hand and moved towards the door. She slowly poked her head out from behind the wall and looked at Jo. She was sat reading the sheets in front her, her focus completely on them, her fingers drumming on the cool steel of her desk.

Looking at Michael she quickly stepped into the room and towards Jo, whilst Michael stood at the door his hand pointed at the alien sat at the desk.

She crept towards the desk, pausing for a moment when Jo’s drumming fingers stilled for a moment and she moved back in her chair, the paper now in her hand. Isabel stood frozen as she waited for Jo to lift up her eyes and see her standing there, a statue in front of her desk. But for a second there was nothing and Isabel calmed slightly. The warp was working, giving Isabel the confidence to move round to the edge of the desk and look around at the back of the room.

There was a pin board with a few select pictures of Jo with royalty and with Max. Isabel shivered slightly at the way Jo’s arm hung protectively around Max’s waist, her bright eyes staring through the picture right back at her. It was as if she was watching Isabel as she stood by the desk, the real Jo sat just inches from her. This made Iz side step away from the desk and look back at the real Jo in horror.

The reality of the situation was sinking firmly into her gut.

So she smoothed her hands down her trousers and breathed a slight breath of encouragement and moved forward towards the cabinet. She nervously ran her hands over the handle of the filing cabinet and quickly shot a look back at Jo who was still unaware that there was anyone in the room with her.

For now the warp seemed to be holding, so Isabel turned back to the cabinet and pulled it open as quietly as possible. Flicking through the details one by one she looked for the name Nicholi.

A sharp cough had Isabel practically jumping out of her skin as she skimmed the names in the cabinet. She stumbled slightly, grabbing hold of the draw to support herself. She froze completely, her hands resting on the drawer, with her eyes wide with fear. She could have sworn she heard Jo move up from the chair and was just about to blast her in the back. Her whole body tensed; a reaction to the blast that would sear itself in to her skin.

But then she heard the tapping of keys. Flinging a look over her shoulder she looked at Jo who was typing away at the keyboard of her computer, seemingly unaware anything was amiss. Her gaze met Michael’s to see the same look of fear and nervousness reflected back at her.

Quickly she turned back to the cabinet, eager to get out of the room. Tess was right, there was something powerful there.

After a minute she found the details of a Nicholi Jamieson and she pulled it from the drawer quickly. Pushing it under her arm she quietly placed her hands on the drawer and pushed it back into the cabinet. Once the soft click sounded, she turned back to Michael and smiled slightly with relief. One that faltered slightly as she remembered Jo was still in the room, just 3 metres away from her.

Cautiously she started to pad towards Michael, hardly breathing as she crept past Jo whose eyes emerald eyes were focused on the computer she was staring at intently. Even though she was in the warp, Isabel was still uneasy about being so close to someone. She could almost reach out and ruffle Jo’s blonde hair from where she was stood and she was conscious of the fact she was breathing quite a bit too heavily for her liking. So she was cautious as she padded away from the desk and towards the door.

When she met up with Michael, they both started to walk out a bit quicker than before, desperate to get out of the door – out of the building. They both had a smile of relief as they neared the door.

“Wasn’t this the part where you confronted me?”

The door slammed shut.

[rie482]

I'm sorry this is late but real life is getting in the way at the moment.

Thank you to the following for their feedback:
Asabetha
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Sternbetrachter


Part twenty three

“So this is what we are goin’ to do.” Zan started as they all unloaded themselves from the van about a mile away from the building. There stood Kyle, Serena and several loyal Locack’s looking intently at Zan who stood by the front of it, a map in his hand.

“This,” He pointed at a circle that had been drawn around the map of the area. “Is where any look out’s will be found. They are often found in small buildings that usually hav a black car in.”

Kyle looked at Zan, confused and half amused. “I thought we were dealing with some alien controlled company – made of normal human beings. Not the FBI.”

“Nah – we’re not. But that’s the thing… they all seem to have black cars.” Zan said with a smirk. “Seem to think it’s less conspicuous goin’ round in a black car.” When Kyle looked at him incredulously he shrugged. “Rememba I was part of the FBI for a few years. I know how these people work. If they are a company – especially a large one they will hav a few houses about a mile away from their base as look outs. This is why we are here first. We need to split in to two groups. One of us will scope round the front with a car, alerting the other to which houses should be hit as the others will go around the backs of the houses and goin’ into the ones they feel necessary. We will have a few hit or misses. That’s why we need the second group to be round the back to look for signs of life. If there is none – ya go in and knock them out… keepin’ them alive please. I don’t want Max on my arse for this.”

“Okay.” Serena nodded as she leant herself against Zan for a source of comfort or support. “Who am I taking?” She asked softly.

“Ya taking a group of five locack’s. Ya’ll go round in groups of three, one on either side of the road. The rest of us will be out the front, both me and Kyle will search for evidence of a look out while the other two locack’s will watch our backs.” He went into the car for a second and brought back a few walkies. He threw one to each Locack and to Serena. “Ya keep these on ya at all times. Once ya hav found a look out I’m gonna need one of ya to stay put – to watch the guards and listen in to what is happening on their walkies.” He looked at everyone by turn before asking, “Ya got me?”

When people nodded in agreement, he nodded as well scratching his ear as he thought about what was going to happen. They had six hours to get in and out with everyone alive and called for.

This was going to be interesting.

“Right.” He boomed as he signalled to Kyle to start walking with him. “Get to it.”

* * * * * * * *

“I need you to watch the Parker girl for me.” Nicholi stated as he walked into the room, a folder in his hand.

“Why?” Jack asked angrily as he continued to hold the gun to Matthew’s head, his nerves frayed.

“Because I can’t do it. I have to collect Jo from her office in an hour.” He snapped frustrated as he snapped the folder shut. He glared at the man who was sat to the young boy. “What’s wrong with you?” He spat.

“I have a gun to a young boys head Nicholi,” Jack replied calmly in comparison to the way he was feeling. “I’m just getting a bit nervous about what’s going to happen to me once we’ve finished with her.” That was a lie. He was nervous about what he was going to do. For the briefest moment, he had been thankful that Nicholi was leaving the building – so he could get Liz out of the room and get her and Matthew out safely. But now it seemed more risky to do it this way. He was planning to knock him out and get them out whilst he was unconscious, but now, now he risked losing his Step son as he was going straight to Jo. He’d be with her when she realised Liz was missing.

It wasn’t going to be pretty.

Nicholi’s expression softened for a moment and a real look of sympathy flashed across his face. This was uncommon with most of his movements and feelings recently being all about himself. For the slightest moment Jack felt that maybe he could get through to him.

But the sympathetic look was gone. “It’s only for another six hours Jack. Then you’ll go down in history as a saviour of our planet from that murderous woman.” Grabbing his jacket off the back of the door he grumbled, “I’ll be back in about two hours. Be sure there is no funny business. You can never trust that woman.”

He lowered the gun from Matthew’s head the moment he heard the door behind him close and let his head lull forward. That was probably the last time he was ever going to see his step son. “Bye Nicholi.”

* * * * * * * * *

“So.” She asked sarcastically as she stood up from her leather chair and moved round to the front of the desk. “Do you want to confront me now? Or are you going to sulk away and try to save Liz first?” Gripping on to the edge of the desk and she sat down on it and looked intently at the two in front of her. When she was met with silence she exclaimed. “Oh come on! I was expecting so much more from you damn royals!”

With a flick of her hand she sent the two backwards into the sofa that was sat by the door.

“Now, tell me how you’re going to kick my arse.” She demanded in a cheerful glee, half wanting them to try it. When she was once again met with silence her sarcastic cheerfulness disappeared and her expression hardened. “You royals think you are so fantastic don’t ya? You think since you have these powers that you can defeat everyone.” She stood from the desk and moved towards the door. Sighing she opened it and looked pointedly at Tess who was round the corner, her head peeking round it. “Come in Ava.”

Tess walked in nervously, looking at Jo weirdly as she wasn’t shot down or murdered in cold blood right there on the floor. She sat down next to Michael and watched as Jo closed the door, sealing it shut with her powers then turning to the three sat on her leather sofa. She went and sat back down on the edge of the desk.

“If I didn’t need you – I’d kill you for your stupidity and naivety to think that you could take ME on.” She said this not in an evil malicious way, but in one of wonder and disbelief. It was said with some affection in her voice as she shook her head. “You don’t have the experience or the power.”

“We defeated Khivar didn’t we?” Tess rebutted.

Jo smirked. “You didn’t do that. Liz did. She was the only one who can out of you lot in the state you are in.”

“What do you need us for?” Isabel asked. “Why kill Liz if you need us?”

“I need you to go back home, Vilandra.”

“Why, so you can kill us in public?” Michael bit at her.

Jo shook her head slightly. “No, so you can take back the planet that is now in disarray.” Jo stood up and moved towards the pin board and flipped it over to reveal a series of charts and numbers. Or that’s what the others thought. They were all in Antarian. “Once my brother was killed it left the planet in up roar. No one was willing to pick up where he left it… so crime and death has sky rocketed. Once I knew he was dead I came here to get you to come back…”

“But you should have known that we wouldn’t come quietly?” Isabel asked disbelief in her tone. “We are at home here. We really wouldn’t want to leave.”

“I know.” Jo stated. “I did realise that that is why I was hoping I’d be able to do this without you and Rath having to be involved. Yeah, sure it’d be nice if you came home, it would help matters, but I wasn’t focusing on you.”

“It was me and Max.” Tess interrupted as she listened to Jo. “That’s why you wrote that hate article. You thought that if you persuaded the world we were supposed to be together – then Liz would be forced to see it as well. You wanted to use our exposure to break Liz into stepping away from Max.”

Jo nodded. “The planet sees you and Zan being the key to its survival. You’ll be able to get the planet back to its former glory.”

“You could have just asked. He may have come back with you.” Tess refuted as she stared intently at Jo. Something seemed awfully familiar about her.

“He needs to be with you… That’s why I needed Liz out of the way. He won’t go without her… or he just won’t leave all together.”

“That’s why you sent the Gandarium.” Michael stated in horror. “You almost killed Max and Liz all for the sake of ‘Antar’!” He roared as he stood up from the sofa.

“I know you don’t remember it Rath, but that place is my home! It’s YOUR home… It means a hell of a lot more than that woman does.” Jo shouted in frustration. “I didn’t want to kill Zan, my intention was to turn him back into the King he once was.”

“So yeah – that’s why he’s currently staring at the ceiling as if it’s the most interesting thing on the planet.” Michael growled as he neared Jo, his hand clenching and unclenching by his side as he approached her.

“He’s fine! He’s going to come out of it at some point… but thankfully he’ll be out of it long enough for Liz to be dealt with.” Jo stated, clearing not bothered by the fact Michael was nearing her, an attack evident on his mind.

Isabel stood up this time and grabbed Michael by the hand, pulling him back slightly. She pushed past him and approached Jo cautiously. “We won’t let you do this Jo.”

“You haven’t a choice Vilandra.” She said with a sad smile. “If it weren’t for my brother getting himself killed in the first place – I wouldn’t be doing this.”

“Brother?” Tess asked confused.

Jo looked past Isabel and Michael at her, a look of disgust on her face. “I wish he weren’t. But he was… and thanks to him and his greed he has fucked up my home. It was all fine before he did what he did to you lot. We had a person in royalty giving our family a good name and wealth – but he wanted it all. He wanted the power of the world at his feet when he just wasn’t made for it. Zan was a true king – a rightful one, but he couldn’t stand it.”

Tess stood up off the sofa and joined the others, her arms crossed. “You say that you had family in the royalty. Who?” She kind of dreaded this answer, but for some reason she felt compelled to ask it.

Jo looked at her intently for a second and answered, “You.”

Tess’ face dropped into shock and horror. “You mean I’m related to killers?!” She shrieked as she stepped back.

Jo stepped forward and grabbed Tess by the shoulders. Looking her in the eyes she whispered, “You are not a bad person Ava, we aren’t the killers our brother was. He was blinded by greed, something our step father instilled on him. He pushed him towards power, making him hungry for it. Where as you and I, we are different. We have compassion in our veins. You ruled our planet fairly and justly. We are not the killer he was.”

Tess shrugged the grip that was on her shoulders, pushing Jo across the room with her mind. “Yeah. Like you have compassion in your veins!” She snorted down at Jo who was now huddled on the floor. “You preach that you aren’t the killer Khivar was – but you’re doing the exact same as him! You’re killing an innocent expectant woman for the sake of the ‘planet’ when all you probably want is the same thing our ‘brother’ wanted. Power.”

Jo shot her a look as she stood up off the floor where she had landed. Stepping closer to Tess, her eyes darkened. “You’re the same as you always were Ava. You thought of the fucking individual when you should be thinking of the whole. There are millions of people dying as we speak. Riots are destroying our home planet and here you are thinking about the whore that stole your husband – your betroved.”

“That is compassion for you.” Tess growled. “Something you obviously lack. But it’s ok… you won’t get your wish. You’re not going to get to Liz.”

Jo smiled. “Oh no?” She moved nearer the desk. “Why not? You’re going to stop me?”

“Not us.” Michael smirked. “We were the distraction.”

Jo smile broadened as she sat down at her desk. “You think I didn’t know that at this moment you have sent Zan, Kyle and Serena to save them?” Leaning back into her chair, a smug smile on her face, she continued. “The thing is… I’d know if they were heading towards the building. I have men; I have watch outs.”

Michael smirked back at Jo the same smug smile as he strode to the desk and lifted the phone up out of its cradle. “Ring them.” He stretched the phone out, as he leant on the steel desk with one hand.

Jo stared at the phone, completely frozen, one eyebrow quirked up as she looked at it. Snapping out of it, she thrust her hand out and dragged it out of his. She quickly brought it to her ear and typed a number. She sat there listening to the ringing.

A ringing that kept going and going with no answer.

She shot a look at Michael before hanging up and dialling another number. She sat there listening to the ringing.

Slamming the phone down she shot a slight glare at the royals. “Oh well.” She mumbled, her glare disappearing. “I’m just going to have to do it sooner than I planned.”

Suddenly she stood up and hit something under the desk.

Isabel moved round to the desk and looked underneath. She gaped in horror at the button she found underneath Jo’s slender fingers. She stood up. “What did you just do?” She shouted.

Jo shrugged. “Just sent the orders to kill her.”

[rie482]

Heya guys, a bit of warning - a few of you won't like this part...

Just have faith in me okay?

Thank you to the following who left feedback - I love ya all
begonia9508
Jennifer24
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tequathisy


Part twenty four

“Ya have three houses in on Serena’s side. All ‘bout four houses apart” Zan whispered into the walkie as he scoped the whole street. “And two on the other side, about the same distance away from each other.”

“Don’t you think that they would have seen us by now anyway?” Kyle whispered to Zan as they walked quickly but quietly down the street.

Zan threw a smile over his shoulder. “Ya’d think so wouldn’t ya? It’s not what happens these days.” He turned back to the pavement. “Have ya noticed I’ve been walking a bit weirdly?” He asked as he stepped in a zigzag pattern.

“I didn’t like to say.” Kyle admitted as he followed Zan in the walking. “It just looks like you’re either pissed or you pissed yourself.”

Zan’s smile broadened further. “Yeah – it does don’t it? Anyway, it’s cos there is a sensor placed in a zig zag pattern down this whole street. It starts right from that pink one back there.”

Kyle stopped for a second and looked at Zan “You mean that looks out are THAT lazy these days?” He asked incredulously.

Zan stopped and nodded at him. “Yeah. Why rely just on look outs who are a waste of space anyway? If ya have the money – ya use it to get the job done properly.”

* * * * * *

Liz sat huddle in the corner of her cell, making little shapes in the padding with her nail. It was entertainment, yet sweet torture because all she could draw was either the little figure of a girl or a boy reminding her what she was going to be losing sometime soon. The worse part was the fact she didn’t know when it was going to happen and it was making her powers hard to maintain under control. Lying there on the padding was all she could do to stop herself slipping into her mind forever; yet it was acting as another form of torture.

She just prayed that the group managed to get to her quickly because she was already sensing that it wasn’t long until things happened really quickly.

* * * * * * *

Serena sent a slight shock into the back of the mans head, letting him drop to the floor, before turning back to the others giving them a thumbs up for them to move onto the other houses. She lifted the walkie to her lips and whispered, “Done here. Other two being sorted.”

“Good one doll.” Was Zan’s reply. “Just sit tight and then I’ll be in contact.”

She didn’t bother to reply, she just placed the walkie back into her jeans before moving around the room, looking at what was in the room with her. By the looks of things they had been living here for a while. The lounge was set out nicely as if ready for a family and the house was neatly decorated; care obviously went into this house. You wouldn’t have known anything out of the ordinary was going on in this house if there hadn’t been three men all wearing black uniforms with guns in their back pockets. The CCTV was also a dead give away, but luckily Zan knew what he was doing and he and Kyle were yet to show up on the screen.

She moved round to one of the unconscious men and proceeded to drag him to the cupboard. Pulling a load of rope out her pocket she bound his hands and then threw him inside. She did this with the other two before closing the door and sealing it shut with her powers. Knowing that would hold them she went round to the rest of the house to find no one else lurking.

She moved back to the lounge and just watched the screen in front of her, settling herself in for what she knew was going to be a long half an hour.

* * * * * * * *

The moment Jack knew Nicholi was gone he was up and out of his seat. He checked outside the door before turning to Matthew, a kind smile on his face.

“Now mate, I promise you I’m going to get you out of here… but I need you to do something for me.” He knelt beside Matthew. “I need you to pretend that I’ve still holding you hostage… I’m going to be holding the gun to your head again – BUT – it won’t be loaded.”

“The what?” Matthew asked with his eyes wide. “What about Liz?”

Jack stood up and took him by the hand towards the door. “We’re just going to get her now. I plan on getting you both out of here.”

* * * * * * * *

“So – all the look outs are down.” Zan declared down the walkies. “Those of ya in a house, stay were you are. Anyone free I need back into the street and back in the van. Ya got me?” When several locacks waved out the windows of several houses Zan nodded before turning to Kyle. “Right, ya with me.”

He moved towards the van with Kyle running to catch up with him. “So I take it, this is where … we you know…”

“Save suga?” Zan asked out of the corner of his eye as he turned the ignition on. When Kyle nodded he put his foot on the accelerator. “Yeah.”

* * * * * * * *

Liz shifted onto her back with a groan, her back sore from the position she had been curled into previously. She lifted her hand to her slightly swelled stomach as she stared out at the white padding of her cell.

Her thoughts instantly turned to Max who was probably lying in the same position as she had left him in. What was going through his head right now? What was he thinking? Was he actually thinking or was he brain dead like she had previously thought?

If he was thinking – was it of her? Matthew?

Tess?

She shuddered at the mere thought he’d want someone else, especially Tess. She KNEW that Tess wanted Kyle – not Max – yet there was still a part of her in denial, just waiting for the destiny message to come and haunt her by Max and Tess suddenly jumping each others bones.

Her thoughts turned back to the prophecy that Khivar had hounded her for.

*Flashback*

“That does not answer my question... Do you believe the prophecy? Do you believe there will be a woman twice healed by the true and great King, baring the knowledge and the soul of a brilliant Queen, who with the help of her child, will either unite Antar and the Royal Council ... or will destroy all that Zan had worked for. Do you believe that?

*Flashback*

She was supposedly carrying the child that would either save or break Zan’s Antar. Their child was going to be either the saviour or destroyer of his home planet. But was there such a prophecy? Part of her didn’t care because at the end of the day she wasn’t going to give away her child to this cause – this ‘prophecy’.

But, if it were true that would mean that the destiny message that Max had heard from his real mother was a complete load of crap. It would mean that in the end, she’d be with Max not Tess. She needn’t worry about Max and Tess suddenly finding their ‘destiny’ and start humping right there and then on the floor of their beautiful lounge – in front of Liz. It would be mean that the dream that haunted Liz for years wouldn’t become reality.

For a moment she felt the slightest bit of hope.

Which was instantly dispersed.

“It’s not like you would be alive for either to happen.” She whimpered to herself as she just allowed the tears to fall down her cheeks and onto the padding. Kicking herself for feeling any hope she moved back onto her side and curled tightly into a ball, openly sobbing into the pure white floor.

The tears of a young child had Liz jerking her head upwards, the tears stopping instantly at the sound. There in the doorway was Matthew, openly crying, pain etched across his face. Running towards Liz, open armed he cried her name.

The moment Matthew was in her arms she shot a look towards the man in the door. “What did you do to him?” She growled.

Jack slowly knelt down and placed the gun on the floor, then once stood up put his hands in front of himself. “I didn’t do anything. He was happy when we left the holding room. It was the second he was outside the door that he started to openly cry.”

Liz stared at him for a second, before looking at Matthew. “Shhh.” She cooed. “Don’t cry, it’s ok. I’m ok – I’m just a bit upset right now, I was missing you and your daddy.”

When Matthew’s crying started to lessen she looked back at Jack.

“I’m getting you out of here.”

* * * * * * *

Serena locked the door then started to unbutton her trousers. She slid them down and sat on the seat, staring at the door.

The second she heard the phone go she cursed loudly.

“Shit!” She mumbled to herself as she quickly fumbled for her trousers and ran to the door. Unlocking it awkwardly she ran out of it, staring down the stairs at the ringing phone that was on the kitchen counter.

She quickly ran down the stairs and towards the phone – just to freeze in mid air as it stopped completely.

“SHIT!” She hollered in frustration and fear. She fumbled for the walkie that was sat on the coffee table and pressed the button firmly. “Shit. We have a problem Zan.”

“What?” He snapped back.

“Someone has just rang us – I couldn’t get to it in time.”

“WHAT!” Zan’s angry voice yelled in her ear. “What happened to staying BY. THE. PHONE?”

“I went to the toilet – but that’s beside the point… It rang and I didn’t pick it up – you need to get there NOW!

* * * * * * * *

Zan threw the walkie angrily onto Kyle’s lap before ramming his foot on to the accelerator pedal.

“We are never going to make it,” Kyle exclaimed as the building just came into view. Even if they were only two seconds away they still had to make it inside the building.

There just wasn’t any hope.

“Neva say neva.” Zan screamed as he screeched towards the building, his mind completely focused on saving his brothers girlfriend. He couldn’t just let it happen, yet as he pulled to an abrupt stop outside the building he had a sinking feeling settling in his stomach.

One that was confirmed by the shot that was heard as he jumped out the van.

“Shit!”

* * * * * *

“We have to be quick,” Jack said as she helped Liz off the floor. “Nicholi maybe gone but that doesn’t mean everyone here is willing to help me.

Liz grabbed Matthew’s hand and looked at him questioning. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because you are innocent woman, I can’t just sit back and let this happen” His voice lowered to an emotion filled whisper. “no matter what the cost.”

Liz placed her hand on his shoulder and looked deep into his eyes. “We will be able to help him.”

“I…”

The sound of running alerting him to something wrong. Turning round to the open door he looked towards the three men now running down the corridor at them. They all had guns in their hands, each with determination on their faces – each of them were men Nicholi had employed just recently.

“Stay where you are!” One yelled angrily, his gun pointed at Jack.

Jack lifted his gun at the man, knowing full well it was empty, just to get shot at himself, the bullet narrowly missing his head. He could literally hear it whiz past his ear. Throwing his empty gun to the side he backed up, pushing Liz and Matthew behind him.

Liz shook her head and pushed out in front of them, her hand stretched out green whizzing around her hand as she focused on them. “Leave us alone!” She declared softly and threateningly. To her relief they slowed down to a halt, all three uneasy at the thought of Liz blasting them into small little pieces.

What she didn’t expect was the feeling of being thrown across the room onto the nearest wall. She tried to move her arms but found she couldn’t. Upon opening her eyes she realised she was dangling half way up a wall, her whole body pinned. She turned her attention back to the window and gasped.

There stood behind it was Nicholas. An evil, self satisfied and smug smile on his lips.

“Shoot her.”

She darted her attention back to the men holding the guns at her chest just meters away.

“After 3.”

“1” Liz looked at her hands, begging there to be green electricity to be running under her skin but couldn’t see it. She let out a sob as she realised this was it.

The end.

“2” She turned her attention back to Matthew, to take one last look at his beautiful face to find it tears stained and red making her want to reach out and touch it. Her whole body ached to hold him, but she just couldn’t move.

“3” She closed her eyes, opening the connection that had been a life line to her for years wanting to feel him there with her in the room. In that instant she latched on to his soul and held it to her chest, making her feel comfort and warmth for the first time in hours.

“Max,” She whispered.

Then the shots were fired.

[rie482]

Heya guys!!!! I'm finally back with a new part. I will warn you that from now on updates may be sprodic and may not be every monday. I apologise for this but I'm now at uni.

Thank you to everyone for their feedback - it's loved and adored


Part twenty five

Max was somewhere between what felt like being awake and being asleep. Everything seemed real, yet underneath it all he knew that what he was seeing wasn’t really there. He wasn’t really living the memories of a past he had once forgotten – he was replaying them seeing the man he was in the past, trapped in his own head.

He knew that he was currently in a state between life and death – not really dead but not really living either. He was faintly aware when people were around him and that he was lying on a bed, but that was it. He couldn’t step out of the living dreams yet he couldn’t focus on them directly and relive them. It was as if he was merely a passenger in his body as all his past memories were unlocked.

He skimmed his hand over the step he was currently sat on. It felt real to the touch, he could feel the rough grain under his fingertips but he knew that it was all in his mind – something that appeared out of no where at the simple thought of something to sit on. He had tried his hardest to force himself through into real life, to be able to walk and to talk with the people out there but once again found he couldn’t. All he had to make him feel alive to some extent was his own mind conjuring a small aspect of real life for him to touch. He still wished it were Liz’s skin instead.

Liz. That’s all that he had on his mind as he sat on that step as his mind played a scene in the Royal Court. What was she doing right now? What was she thinking? He had tried to open the flood gates on their connection but he found that an unsettling feeling washed over him making him more desperate to leave this forever lasting limbo.

Yet he couldn’t leave, so he had closed the connection to stop himself from going spare; the anger and the nervousness that it made him feel driving him to madness. All he could do was stay sat there, on a step in the middle of no where, as he watched his past life running on without him.

* * * * * * * *

“You know that they’ll just be a little while right?” Alex asked Maria as she sat staring out the window onto the desert. She had been quiet since the moment Michael and Isabel had left them in the lounge with just Liz on the television and Sophie in Alex’s arms. Now they were just sat in complete silence and it was irking Alex majorly, needing his best friend right now.

Maria wiped a few tears away from under her eyes with the ball of her fists as she nodded meekly. “Yeah – I know. But I just – I have this feeling that it won’t be all alright.” When Alex looked at her questioningly she swung her legs round and walked over to him. She sat down with a sigh. “I know that Michael and Isabel and everyone else will make it out fine… but there’s this, I dunno, feeling that summat is about to happen. It’s like one of those feelings you know?”

Alex shook his head with a small smile. “I have no idea what you are on about honey.”

Maria shifted round to face him. “You remember back when we were in high school and Liz was still around? She hadn’t run yet but something wasn’t quite right. I was the only one who noticed something was the matter, yet I just let the group faze her out anyway? Then you remember the night Liz run? Do you remember what happened that night?”

“You came to my room in hysterics,” Alex whispered not really understanding what Maria was getting at.

“Exactly. Do you remember I kept on and on saying that I didn’t know why I was like that – that it was just this feeling that felt like it was almost crushing me inside? Well – the next day once I realised Liz was gone, I knew that was what the feeling was about. It made sense to me that on some level I had the best friend sixth sense. I KNEW something was wrong, something was about to happen, but I couldn’t place my finger on it.”

“So… now…” Alex asked questioningly, not really wanting to know what Maria was feeling right now.

“Something’s going to happen Alex. I can feel it.”

* * * * * * * * * *

“CALL THEM!” Isabel screamed at Jo her hand pressed an inch for her skull, her eyes wide and demanding. She wasn’t in the mood for this.

“I can’t.” Jo whispered; fear evident in her eyes and the way she spoke, her voice almost breaking under the strain. “It’s-it’s set that once I press the button they are to under no circumstances obey anyone… even if I were to tell them myself face to face they still wouldn’t stop and obey me. Because for all they know I could be a shape shifter.”

Isabel looked at Jo for a moment and saw the flash of truth in her gaze. Jo wasn’t lying; she could tell that at the end of the day no matter how twisted she was – she wasn’t one to lie about something like that.

She dropped her hold on Jo and stepped back, a look of regret on her face.

Tess stumbled forward. “What about Matthew though?” She cried, tears in her blue eyes. She couldn’t lose both of them and that was evident in the way she stared at Jo her eyes piercing her for the truth.

“He’ll be fine Ava. After all he’s the heir of Antar.” She stood up and straightened herself out. “Plus you’re my sister, making him my family. I may not have loved Khivar and I may not be as human as you, but I wouldn’t do that to family.”

“Family?!” Tess screeched at Jo as she flung her hands in the air. “You have no idea about FAMILY. You didn’t love your own brother and you’ve just killed a part of MY family!” She moved nearer to Jo, anger written across her face and her hand barely remaining by her side. “So why the hell should I trust you that you won’t kill him too?”

Jo straightened up and moved closer to Tess, but the presence of Michael’s hand paused her. “I have NEVER betrayed family – unlike some of the Royalty!” She growled the last word in Isabel’s direction.

Isabel stepped back, taken aback by the exclamation, with tears springing to her eyes in an instant. “Don’t bring the past into this Jo!” Michael grumbled as he swung her round to look her in the eyes. “This is about NOW and right now you’ve just killed one of the most important people in Tess’ life and you EXPECT her to trust you with her son’s life?”

“Blood is thicker than water.” Jo mumbled weakly.

Michael shock his head in disgust and pushed her onto the sofa harshly.

* * * * * * * *

“You know what?” She said in a teary whisper. “When I first noticed you watching Liz I knew – I just knew that you were going to be some huge part of Liz’s life.” She took his hand and wrapped hers around it as she looked up at him, hoping for some sign of life behind those lifeless eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, when I found out about you guys I was seriously freaked out! Come on, I ran down the street screaming.” She smiled at the memory of Liz’s words ‘he healed me when I shot by a bullet. He’s an alien.’ “Back then I was so convinced about what I knew that it freaked me out to find that the one thing I thought was an impossibility, was in fact a reality. So yeah I was freaked. Majorly. But when I actually stepped back, when I actually saw you for you I just knew it’d be okay.”

Maria moved out of the chair and kneeled on the floor, her hands still holding Max’s tightly. “You remember that time when you came to me, ranting and raving about how you HAD to leave just to save Liz from everything that could and would kill her if they got the chance?” She waited a moment as if waiting for a reply before she continued. “It was just after Nasedo died. What he said had really shaken you, the thought that there was someone out there had always been in the back of your mind but it wasn’t a problem ‘til then. All you were worried about was my Chica. See, that’s what I have figured out recently… that no matter how crappy a situation can get it will be okay in the long run.”

“That’s why that even though I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that something is going to happen, I know it will be okay because I have faith in you guys. I know what you are thinking, if you’re even in there somewhere, and yes, it’s an impossible situation. But what’s new? About five, six years ago I found out the impossible – there ARE aliens on this planet, something I thought was impossible. And then you know, then there was the White Room and the FBI. We thought it was impossible to get you back, yet here you are – admittedly right now you’re a bit spaced – but here none the less. Then there was Liz, disappearing. I thought I was never going to see my best friend ever again, yet she showed up. What I’ve realised over the years is that this group is blessed with miracles. We may face some horrors but we have always made our way out of situations that we deemed impossible… so what’s new now?”

She laid her head onto the bed and stared up at Max quietly, a silent tear tracking down her cheek. “I need you to do something Max because if you don’t we’ll lose the hope. We’ll lose Liz.”

“I need the hope Max. I need it just as much as you need Liz.”

* * * * * * * *

He was leant against the wall, watching as he danced with Ava engrossed by the tenderness his past self seemed to show towards the woman. It felt weird to watch the display of affection he showed her, something he found hard these days, as it seemed almost natural. For a moment he felt a connection between his past self and him today. They seemed to love with such intensity that it blew everyone away, their eyes taking in the way he showed such tender as he was oblivious to all.

It was a foreign concept for Max to treat Tess like the love of his life. Even when he was married to her, Max didn’t display such gentle affection; he’d reserved it all for Liz til death do them part.

Max froze in mid air, as he tried to sit down on the step, by the sound of Maria’s teary voice piercing the silence of his prison.

“You remember that time when you came to me, ranting and raving about how you HAD to leave just to save Liz from everything that could and would kill her if they got the chance?”
He looked around him, searching for Maria half feeling that she was there with him holding his hand tightly. As he stood back up, his gaze settled on a door way that seemed to be on the other side of the vision his mind was presenting him. It stood there invitingly open so he took a few steps forward, the whole time listening to Maria’s voice piercing through.

“It was just after Nasedo died. What he said had really shaken you, the thought that there was someone out there had always been in the back of your mind but it wasn’t a problem ‘til then. All you were worried about was my Chica. See, that’s what I have figured out recently… that no matter how crappy a situation can get it will be okay in the long run.”

As he walked straight through the people of his vision Maria’s voice became louder, more realistic as if he was there with her listening to her – just that his eyes were closed and he couldn’t see her.

He ran, tears of emotion in his eyes, towards the open door as he realised that something was starting to appear in it. At a closer glance it seemed to be the ceiling of his bedroom and it made him pick up speed as hope seemed to spark off in his chest.

“I need you to do something Max because if you don’t we’ll lose the hope.”

Now he could literally feel the desperation as he came to the door and for a second he stopped, looking out into the real world. For a second he wavered, wondering if he was strong enough to face what was out side it because from the devastated tone of Maria’s voice it was serious – that made him nervous. What was out side that was so bad?

“We’ll lose Liz.”

He frowned in confusion, then the sound of Liz’s last cry of his name seemed to pierce through it and without thinking he opened the flood gates to their connection and stepped through the door embracing everything that was Elizabeth Parker.

He gasped out loud.

* * * * * * * *

His hand moved slightly, the slightest flicker of life radiating under his skin. It was so small no one would have thought twice about it, but Maria knew that no one should ever ignore these things. It was so small, so important that it couldn’t be ignored.

She sat up for a second by Max, leaning over him her eyes eagerly watching his face. For a moment there was nothing, just Maria waiting with bated breath for something she was suddenly unsure would happen.

Then there it was. The glimmer of life in Max’s black eyes, the darkness draining out of them being replaced with the healthy brown.

Suddenly he gasped out loud and sat up straight, almost colliding with Maria as he did so. Maria sat shell shocked, her mouth wide open half scared to move and hug him just in case she had been dreaming. He was sat there, his eyes focused on the wall in front of him but this time he was there in the room with her.

“Max?” She whispered.

Max snapped his head to look at Maria. He grabbed her by the shoulders, looking her in the eyes before whispering one name.

“Liz.”

Then disappearing into thin air.

[rie482]

I am sooooooooooo soooooooo sorry this is VERY VERY late... Real life is a bitch...

Anyway, thanks to the follwing for their feedback - thank you so so so so so much. You have no idea how much it means to me.
vampyrax - always nice to see someone who read A wish! Thanks for commenting
Dream Weaver
Timelord31
Buffsteraddict
Jennifer24
tequathisy - thought u'd like that Maria bit
begonia9508
maya

Part twenty six

“3” She closed her eyes, opening the connection that had been a life line to her for years wanting to feel him there with her in the room. In that instant she latched on to his soul and held it to her chest, making her feel comfort and warmth for the first time in hours.

“Max,” She whispered.

Then the shots were fired.

Nothing. There was nothing. Not a sound, not a feeling of pain.

Just nothing. Nothing bar the sound of her name on someone’s lips.

“LIZ!” It resounded the walls, piercing through the sound of the blood rushing through her ears at a thunder pace. It filled her chest with hope and comfort to the point where she just flung her eyes open to witness someone appearing out of no where as the bullet flew towards her.

In an instant, it stopped completely in mid air as it suspended itself on the spot. It hovered slightly, just in front of the outstretched hand of the man who had just appeared leaving Liz’s mouth open.

There in mid air was a bullet suspended by the power of a hand. There was no shield, there was nothing pulling it back – it was just stuck there. It stayed there for a moment before it just dropped onto the floor with the slightest ping that was heard by everyone. Silence followed, the only sound made was the sound of the man’s breathing.

It was hard, raspy and loud.

“Liz?” A voice said softly after his breathing had slowed. It was said so softly as if in pain or just in anguish at what had just happened.

Liz shook herself mentally at the idea it was Max stood there before her. It couldn’t be Max – surely?

She had to be sure.

“Max?”

The man slowly turned around, his eyes on the floor as he moved his tense and prepared body around towards her. Then he did it. He looked up and their eyes meet and for the first time in hours Liz burst into tears with happiness at the sight of her soul mate stood before her, not comatosed or brain dead. He was stood there.

And it was Max. Not Zan, or anyone else. It was Max, her Max looking back towards her with those healthy looking hazel eyes. There was life there staring back at her behind those tears. He was there, right at the moment she needed him.

Then he was gone as Max was flung across the room, his body slamming hard against the padded wall of the cell. He crumpled onto the floor into a ball, his arms wrapping themselves around him protectively as he rolled to a stop.

“You think that being all flashy is going to save her?” Nicholas’ young voice sounded in the room. He walked in slowly, a small sadistic smile on his face as he watched his king curled in a ball on the floor. Max hadn’t moved from that position, he just looked up at Nicholas out of the corner of his eye.

He remained silent as Nicholas looked at him, as if giving him permission to speak. But he said nothing.

“You’re awfully quiet considering I have you like this and I have your bitch hanging.” Kneeling down he grabbed the back of Max’s head and twisted it round to look at him properly. “Have you finally given up the ghost Max?” Nicholas smirked. “Have you finally gotten it into your small head that you can’t get rid of your past?”

Still Max remained in silence, just staring at him with those hazel eyes that Liz loved so much.

“Speak.” Nicholas ordered, the silence unnerving him completely. It was those silences that told him something wasn’t right; something was going on right under his nose. When Max just continued to look at him Nicholas screamed in frustration as he rammed Max’s face into the floor.

It smacked down with a crack that had Matthew screaming the word ‘Daddy!’ across the room from his place from behind Jack’s leg. Liz watched silently, wishing Nicholas would forget her long enough so she could get free from the hold he had over her, but this man seemed to know what he was doing and she wasn’t moving.

So all she could do was open up their connection further and almost sigh in relief at the feeling of him there somewhere. This made her frown because on one level he was there – she could feel him over the connection. Yet, he wasn’t there fully. It was as if he was laying dormant, waiting. Well, that’s what Liz hoped was happening because she was still scared he’d disappear deep into his mind again.

Nicholas looked down at Max, expecting to see a whimpering mess but that’s not what he got. He got Max turning his head back round, his nose broken, blood pouring down on to the floor. Nothing in his manner had changed; he just continued to stare at him with those blank eyes.

Nicholas smiled slightly, trying his up most to calm himself down now that causing Max pain wasn’t working. “Ok. So you want to play it that way huh?” He said as he looked around the room at the people in it. His gaze turned to Liz and once again he started to smile, this time it was more realistic – he meant it. He snapped his gaze back to Max as he stood up and moved towards Liz. “Unfortunately I can’t kill you… I’d take so much pleasure out of it… but this one here,” His hand rested on Liz’s arm as he smiled up at her. “This one here is disposable.”

Liz shivered under his touch, something reminding her of the last time she had been touched by him. The last time she was pinned up against the wall, him ready to have fun with her.

It ended up Liz finding herself in hospital, she made it out alive but she was bruised from head to toe.

Her eyes darted to Max to see him staring at her, the look full of anguish. Not that Nicholas could tell that; the only thing he could see was Max still staring at him blankly. Liz sobbed when Nicholas’ hand ran up to cup her cheek, as she could feel the malicious power that rested underneath his fingers. Something about it made her wish that she’d just retreat in to her own mind.

It was less scary.

“So Max… what should I do first?” His voice was warm and milky, his lips shaped into a sarcastic and sadistic curl. His fingers brushed over Liz’s lips. “Should I take her, right here, right now? Or would you like that a bit too much? They say it’s erotic to watch a man taking your woman violently.”

“Don’t you dare touch me.” Liz spat at him, her eyes spitting fire at him. Max stayed silent, his eyes focusing on Nicholas.

“I can have what I want Liz,” Nicholas barked. “Nothing can stop me from having what I want.” His hand roughly grabbed Liz’s crutch something that made Liz sob out loud and flinch. “Oh do you like that?” He rubbed a bit, which just made her almost puke. “Oh you do.”

Tears leaked from her eyes as she closed them, turning her head away from him. She waited for more, expecting him to continue his ‘fondling’.

But the low, warning made her freeze a smile creeping on to her face. “Don’t ya DARE touch her.”

Nicholas snapped his attention to the door where Zan stood, Max some how by his side. Both had a fierce look upon their face, neither in the mood to be ignored or messed with. “Let her go Nicholas.”

Nicholas smiled. “You think that you can ‘talk’ to me about this?” He said incredulously as he shook his head. “You forget she’s here and you’re over there.” His hand slid up from her crutch to her chest where he pressed his hand to her heart. “In a second she could be dead.” He smiled at Max. “Which you prefer? I just rape her or kill her?”

“Neither.” Max said calmly. “Because you’re not going to have a chance to do either.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” He growled as he pressed his hand into her chest and went to send a blast, just to find he couldn’t.

He couldn’t move. He frowned and tried to move but found his body was completely frozen. Looking back at Liz he saw the smile that was on her face. “What are you smiling at bitch?” He growled. “Don’t think just because I can’t move that you are saved.”

He closed his eyes, summing his power to enter Liz’s mind. He was going to damage the bitch from the inside out; burning away at her mind so either she was a vegetable or died. He wasn’t going to let Max Evans get the best of him. So he drew the power, feeling it build within his mind.

He opened his eyes to focus with Liz’s, just to find instead of releasing it; it just continued to build within him. “What the hell?” He cried as the pain started to fill his skull, cracking and burning at his mind.

“You think you’re so damn powerful don’t you?” Max’s voice whispered from behind him. It was only then did Nicholas realise that Max’s hand were rested on his skull, the pressure of them being masked by the pain he felt. “You didn’t even realise I was mind warping you!” Max laughed slightly as Nicholas frowned again. “Yup, that’s right – You may have seen me at the door, but I wasn’t there. I’ve been stood right here since you decided you’d touch up the woman I love.”

“How?” Nicholas managed to mumble out confused despite the pain that was starting to form beads of sweat on his brow.

“By sending those Gandrium ya awakened a part of Max he had long forgotten.” Zan added from the corner where he was holding Matthew in his arms, soothing the poor boy. “And since you entered the room he’s been mind warpin ya and striping ya of ya powers. Pay back is a right bitch ain’t it?”

But Nicholas didn’t hear him; all he could feel and hear was the pain in his mind. It was raging inside his head now, a searing pain that was taking over completely. If he could scream he would have but it was so bad all he could do was open his mouth wide, his lips stretched into something that looked like a scream.

Then in an instant, he was on the floor. His body laid there unmoving, his eyes wide and his mouth still formed into that scream. It was as if he was frozen in time, forever destined to live in pain in that one moment.

Everyone, besides Matthew, watched the body, waiting for some moment with bated breath. Waiting for the next part of the fight, so holding their breaths they waited. They released in one go as his body started to crumble and turned to a fine grey dust, which landed lightly on the floor where his body once was laid.

Everything was silent for a moment, everyone looking down at the dust in either horror or contemplation over the fact they had just killed a man. No matter how often this happened, or how ‘prepared’ they had been in the past, it was still a nightmare to have to kill a person. They had found it with Pierce, Whitaker, Ava. Everyone that they had to kill in order to save themselves still weighed heavily on their minds.

This was to be no different.

Liz landed onto the floor with a huge thump as Nicholas’ hold on her finally let go. She landed hard on her backside making her holler, disturbing the silence of the moment. She remained shell shocked on the floor, just looking down on the padding as everyone looked at her.

Slowly, under her hair she looked up and there found a waiting hand willing to help her up on to her feet. Her gaze darted to the man whose hand it was and she smiled slightly at the sight of her Max Evans looking back at her, love and affection resonated in his gaze.

“Zan?” Serena’s voice echoed around the room.

“Yeah?”

She took the hand willingly.

“What happened?” Serena asked, her voice choked with tears. “Kyle said that you had heard shots – that you were too late.”

Zan smiled slightly as he watched Liz stand up on to her feet, her gaze not once leaving Max’s eyes. These two were the perfect match, so in love with one another that they didn’t notice the world when they had each other.

His fingers pressed the button and whispering in the walkie he smiled, “Suga isn’t dead.”

There was a brief moment of silence when a happy voice asked, “How?” This time it was Kyle, tears and emotion evident in his tone.

“Max.”

“Is Liz okay?” Kyle asked again, not really wanting to be explained to about how on the Earth Max had managed to save her.

Zan looked over at the couple. “Is now.” He replied as Liz flung herself into Max’s arms.

[rie482]

eeeeeeeeeep... so I'm so so so sorry about lack of updates... but I'm having trouble balancing my time... so apologises my dear people...

anyway, thought I'd warn you this is either the part before the last part or there will be a few more. It does depend on the route that I will decide to take in regard to the ending... so far there is two possibilities...

Thank you to the following for your wonderful feedback - this part is for you.
Flamehair
maya
Buffsteraddict
Timelord31
tequathisy
begonia9508
Dream Weaver


Twenty seven.

“Max?”

“Max.”

“How?” Michael asked quietly into the phone on the otherside of the door. His hand propped him up against the wall as he listened to Kyle relay the message.

“I dunno. All I know is that Max managed to save her.”

Michael smiled slightly with relief, his brother was okay and so was Liz. He shot a look inside the room to see Tess sat at the desk, a pale and vacant expression on her face as she watched Jo like a hawk desperate not to allow her near the button, just in case other push would kill her son. “What about Matthew?” He asked the second Tess’ piercing gaze met his own.

“He’s fine.” Kyle replied quickly, feeling a bit guilty that earlier his thoughts lay with Liz rather than Matthew, Tess’ son. “A bit shaken I think… but I’m not sure you know? I haven’t really seen them.”

Michael nodded his head. “I know.”

“What about your end? Was it Jo?”

Michael scratched his eye brow as he moved to the window to check that Jo was still sitting there on the sofa where he had left her. “Yeah – it was.”

There was silence.

“What do you want me to tell Max?”

Michael stepped towards the door and his hand stopped in mid air. He paused for a second before shaking his head. “No. Not yet… I don’t want to ruin the one moment with Liz.”

He could almost picture Kyle nodding in agreement to that last statement. It was as if it was an unspoken rule that Max and Liz needed to be together before anything else got in the way like it always did. They deserved that. “Is Tess ok?”

“She’s fine… I think I should tell her about Matthew now, may make her look less like she’s gonna chuck.”

“That’s my girl,” Kyle laughed. “Go tell her space boy, we’ll keep you filled in.” The phone went dead as Michael opened the door and stepped in the door.

“So?” Isabel was the first out of her chair, her arms wrapped around her middle as she braced herself for what ever was about to come.

Michael stood there, completely still for a moment a blank and unreadable emotion on his face. For one second he was over come with the fact that both of them were fine, completely and utterly fine and it took his breath away.

“Michael.” Tess’ strained voice pleaded as she stared at the spot on the floor just above her feet. She just couldn’t take the silence any more.

“Matthew’s fine, they’re all fine.” Michael finally managed to mumble, as if indifferent to it all. “Max managed to save Liz in time.”

“Max?!” Isabel and Tess cried at the same time, their eyes searching Michael’s expression for a reason as to why. The last time either of them had seen Max, he was staring up at the ceiling, and black had replaced brown hazel that everyone adored.

He just shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Jo smiled. “The transformation must be complete then.” She said with a slight bit of excitement. “That’ll make it easier for Max to come home.”

“He’s not coming with you Jo.” Michael stated as he slipped a hand behind her head. In an instant her head lolled forward, her body unconscious.

“What do we do with her?” Isabel asked as she just stared out the window at a man who looked vaguely familiar.

“We take her with us.” Tess stated as she too watched the man move towards the room. “Nicholi?” She asked Isabel unsurely.

Isabel nodded as she opened the door to greet the man who walked in. She pressed a hand to his chest and whispered, “If you dare move an inch closer I WILL kill you.” The man looked down at her with fiery eyes, his face contorted into an expression of disgust but he didn’t move. He remained where he was as Isabel slipped her hand round the back of his head and did the same thing that Michael did to Jo.

* * * * * * * *

“Is it really you?” She asked quietly to the man who was sat on the same sofa as her. Some how, she didn’t really understand how, they had managed to end up at the hotel lounge and both were now staring at each other still holding their hands as if too scared to let go. It almost seemed like she was looking at a painting, the rich hazel eyes staring back at her as if newly seen. It was as if she was looking upon him for the first time in her life and it seemed to overwhelm her slightly with the beauty of him.

“As real as I’ll ever be,” Max whispered in return as he ran his thumb over the back of her hand relishing in the ability to feel again. “For a minute there I didn’t feel it.”

There was a silence, a gentle calming one. It was the sort that fell over people when there was just pure peace. A moment that only Max and Liz could have. But it wasn’t a pure peace for Liz, all she could think about was the fact she almost lost the man of her life. Yes, sure, he was sat right in front of her, but was he still the same man she had known before? Was he Zan? Was he pure Max? Or was he a bit of both? Man? Zax?

Thing?

What was he now?

But even though this was deep in her thoughts, the main factor that remained was the fact she had almost lost him. If she thought long enough, she could still see his body lying on that bed, those black lifeless eyes staring endlessly. In her mind he had been dead.

“Where were you?” She mumbled through fresh tears. “I thought you were gone.”

Max waited a moment to answer, wondering how on the earth he was going to answer the question. He had been there, he had been aware of some things but then again he wasn’t. “I was – I was – in this dream… a weird dream. It was as if I was reliving my whole life, but it wasn’t MY life.” Max caught Liz’s eye as he emphasised, “It was someone else’s.”

The tears stopped for a moment and Liz’s mouth opened slightly. Now was the moment she had been dreading since they had managed to get on that sofa. Who was the man sat in front of her? Nervously she brushed her hair behind her ear and asked, “Zan’s?” She paused for a moment before asking, “Or Max’s?”

Max’s body tensed completely and shock was evident on his face as he looked back at Liz. They had obviously thought he could have turned into Zan, it would have made sense considering he was being forced to watch his memories. But something must have happened in the process to make render it incomplete. “Zan’s”

“So, you haven’t … changed?” She asked, her gaze scrutinizing his whole expression and demeanour.

“No…” Max replied, his tone defensive. “Why would I?” He replied with a slight edge of anger, something that made Liz grimace.

She shrugged slightly, blush painting her cheeks for a second. “Well… what about those new powers? It’s not exactly normal to appear out of no where and be able to mind warp Nicholas!!”

“What about yours?” He quipped. “You did the exact same thing! Where did they come from?” Liz’s hurt expression made him calm slightly. “I know… they were all from me.” He said softly then with a shrug he carried on with, “I think they were always a part of me, it would make sense as to why you could move yourself from one spot to another. They were just awakened I suppose by what ever happened to me. I think it was trying to prepare me for something…” He said the last part with a frown; one that deepened when she sucked in a breath. “What?”

Liz looked in his eyes a moment and Max couldn’t help but notice the new tears that were emerging. “Lurcan planted a set of Gandruim in both of our rooms to change both of us. I was to become more human, then they probably aimed to kill me off quickly. Then there was one for you… to make you more like the man you were.”

“Zan”

Liz nodded. “Yeah, Zan. The idea was that they were going to reprogram you, turn you back into Zan so you’d go home.”

Max frowned again, confused as to why the process hadn’t worked. “But I’m still me… so what happened?”

There was a pause where Liz thought about whether or not telling him what happened. She had no idea how he would react at the thought of what Michael did in order to save them both, after all they died that day. “Do you remember how Michael managed to destroy the Gandruim that were after Laurie?”

“He sucked the air out of the room…” His gaze narrowed on Liz, questioning her. “but there wasn’t anything human there in the room then…”

“Max, we both died on that day…” Liz said quietly, as she just let the fat tears roll down her cheek. “I managed to come round, but you, you stayed in this state…” She rubbed the tears away with the ball of her palm before looking at Max, her heart and her soul in her eyes. “I thought, thought you were dead Max.”

Tears turned into sobs as Max dragged her into his arms, pressing her to his chest to soothe her. The pain of the last few days was now fresh in her mind, taking over after hours of thinking she was just about to die. Max knew that at some point it was going to bubble over, but as he held her shaking body it seemed unfair to him that such a wonderful person should suffer so much because of him. “It’s ok,” He whispered into her hair. “I’m here now.”

“But how long for?” Liz asked; her voice laced with sorrow as she clutched at his shirt for comfort. Her ear was pressed to his chest, listening to the beating of his heart taking in the fact he was there, alive.

Max remained silent for a moment staring out into the room. Could he really promise her he wasn’t going to go any where? The last couple of months were proof that his life was unpredictable and anything could happen at any time. “I don’t know.” He answered gently, his voice thick with emotion as he thought about it. “But do you know what I do know?”

Liz lifted her head so she could search his face questioningly. “What?”

She sighed as he brought his hand to her cheek, caressing her soft skin. “I know that I can be with you now. I can’t say to you that I’ll be here forever because at the end of the day that just isn’t possible… but I can promise you right now. THIS moment. The one right here.” Taking her hand he looked her in the eyes. “Nothing seems to go right for us because we are always so worried about other people. If it isn’t my family, it’s Tess, it’s Matthew, it’s me. We haven’t really said – this is about us. That’s going to change. Right now, because if we don’t start living in the moment who knows whether or not we shall get another?”

He paused, his mouth open as he tried to form words that were reluctant to flow past his lips. “Max?”

His focus came to him and sliding back a lock of her hair he whispered, “Liz, with out you I am so unbalanced and unhappy it’s unreal. I’ve been using everything as an excuse to keep my distance, to not hurt you and the people around me but at the end of the day being apart from you makes it so much worse. If today has shown us anything it’s that we can’t start taking things for granted and I keep doing that – thinking that you’ll always be there for me on some level. But now I’ve realised I’ve got to stop doing this – live in the now because that is all I can promise you.”

“Max…” Liz started, but Max rested a finger to her lips.

“Marry me Liz,” He whispered.

[rie482]

So tell me you love me... because I have the new part. I feel there will only be two more parts to this one guys, and I will strive to get them finished while I still have time. Thank you so much to those who have stuck by this story, I know I'm messed you lot about a bit, it means so much that you chose to do so

Anyway...

Part twenty eight

“You sure it was her?” Max asked tentatively, his voice strained with anger as he looked at Jo who was slumped in the chair before him. Looking over her body she looked human, her eyes closed and her lips slightly parted that making her seem at complete ease. He knew full well that she was far from normal, she was an alien just like him, just knocked unconscious but she still looked like she was merely human and asleep. It scared him slightly as he took in the sight because once again it affirmed the knowledge that he had no clue who was alien or human any more.

It was a dangerous position for the whole group.

“She admitted it herself.” Michael stated from behind Jo. He was sat in the library on the window seat, Maria sat in his lap. “Repeatedly, as if she was chuffed with herself.”

Isabel moved in beside Max slowly, her arms crossed around her chest. “She had Larcan plant the Gandarium so she could eliminate Liz and change you back in to Zan, so you’d go back and fix everything at home.” She said in a tone that clearly displayed her distress, the slightest quiver underneath her speech had Alex touching her shoulder gently with support.

His gaze didn’t leave Jo’s body, the only sign that he had heard Isabel at all being the way in which his jaw clenched in seething anger. Not only had this woman tried to enslave him to his former self but she was going to destroy the one thing that meant the world to him – Liz. “She could have just asked.” He said angrily, knowing full well he wouldn’t have gone even if she had been polite enough to do so. The fact of the matter was; he would have rather had the option then the choice be made for him. They wanted him to be this leader, their king, yet Jo just didn’t consider the fact a king was supposed to make his own decisions, whether or not he wanted the throne in the first place.

Michael chuckled, “Like you would have gone!” Max’s gaze faltered for a second to look at Michael, the look telling Michael was indeed correct.

“What are ya gonna do with her?” Zan’s voice demanded sharply from beside him, his gaze also fixed on the body that was tied to the chair before them. There they stood side by side staring down at this woman, everyone else to the side. From people outside the group they would see the power that was contained between the two of them. Their stances were the same; their arms down their sides with hands clenched, their jaws set in an angry hard shape and their gaze unwavering. Both were two different men; one from Roswell New Mexico, a straight A student, the other a New Yorker, brought up in the sewers.

Yet at the same time, they were the same people; same person. Zan, former Antarian King.

“We wake her up.” Max declared as he walked over to Jo, slipping a hand in her hair at the back of her head. Zan’s eyes flamed with anger as he watched his other half do this, his body quivered with rage at the thought of allowing the woman to live. She had tried to ruin everything, take the life of another – surely she should pay for this?

“Why?” He demanded as he stepped forward in frustration. Max snapped his eyes back at Zan for a second. “She tried to kill Liz, rememba?”

Max’s jaw tightened further. “Don’t you think I know that?” He growled under his breath. “I watched as Nicholas tried to hurt her… tried to kill her.”

“Then why wake her up?” Zan agrued. “Why not just end it all?”

Max paused for a second and stepped back from Jo, his focus completely on the man before him. It was still weird for him to be talking to his ‘twin’ because it was just like looking in the mirror, yet at the same time he saw the differences. Max had the conscience, the soul; the tentative need to tread cautiously and fairly. Where as Zan; Zan was his other half. He was the irrational side, the one that wanted pure unadulterated action. He was the type to hit out without thinking. He supposed, in that moment, that was why they were both sent to Earth. To complete the man they once were because from what Max had figured from the original Zan; he was a fair and just ruler, but when it came to his family and the matters of the heart he was impulsive, exactly like Zan. He loved fully and hard; willing to do anything to end the suffering caused.

He would kill anyone if it meant that they would be safe.

“Because it wouldn’t be the end of it.” Max whispered tearfully and pleadingly to his dupe. “Don’t you see that? It’s never the end of it. We escaped the FBI to just be attacked by the skins. We killed Nicholas just for him to return so many bloody times. We killed Ava, but Khivar still followed. We killed Khivar, but his memory still haunts Liz. We killed him and here is his sister; the sister that tried to kill Liz.” Stepping forward, resting his hand back in his original position, he never took his eyes off Zan. “It’s never the end of it all, Zan. I can’t end it because if we don’t do this properly then it’ll be someone else to come to us; to restart the whole circle again.”

Zan stood there, his jaw firm and his stance unmoving, but after a tense and silent moment he merely nodded to Max giving him the signal that this was the way forward.

In an instant, Max’s hand glowed slightly beneath the hair of Jo and a second later her eyes flickered open.

She groaned and brought her tied hands to her head in agony. “You bastard!” She growled bitterly. “I would have come willingly.”

“Like fuck you would have!” Maria shouted at her as she tightened her hold on Michael in fear he’d stand up and do something rash. But it didn’t happen that way, he was clearly smirking at his handy work.

“It’s my sign of appreciation for everything you have done for us over the last couple of days.” He said cheerfully, a wave of happiness flowing over him as he saw the pain his powers caused her. For once his powers didn’t kill anyone and had come to some serious use.

“Fuck off.” She grumbled as the sound of his voice hurt her head more than she would have liked. It just made his smirk widen.

Max moved back round to stand side by side with Zan and just looked back down on Jo. After a moment or two Jo opened her eyes slowly, peering through her hands at the men before her. “What?” She snapped. “You gonna just stare me to death?”

“What’s ya real name?” Zan asked, ignoring her comment completely.

Jo straightened up, a state of disbelief written across her face at the scene before her. “Revana. Not that you would ever remember that one.”

“You are Khivar’s sister, elder sister of Ava.” Max cleared up for the rest of the group who watched quietly. This took Jo aback a bit, evident in her face at the thought they would have remembered.

After a moment she composed the look of horror and surprise into a placid one, the one to be used around royalty, or that’s what Max assumed. “My majesty.” Jo bowed her head slightly. “I didn’t realize that it was you.”

“I’m not Zan if that’s what you are thinking Jo.” Max said boldly. “The Gandaruim didn’t work completely; all you did was gave me the memories of Zan.”

Jo still remained with her head bowed. “But even so, with the memories of Zan you are now in all sense and purposes the King of Antar.”

There was a silence as everyone’s eyes fixed on Max. Maria and Michael still sat in the window seat, Isabel and Alex stood behind Max, Serena and Zan stood by his side. They all waited for something but didn’t know what. Was it the declaration of taking the throne that he was indeed the King of Antar? Or was it him turning it down? Were they waiting for him to slap the hell out of her face? To be honest, no one knew what was going to happen next as Max’s eyes remained focused on Jo for a few seconds of horrible silence.

“No.” Was all he said. His tone was strong and it was forceful, yet at the same time quite quiet. It left everyone still just plainly staring at him.

“What?” Jo asked, not knowing what to do or say to the one word.

“No.” He said again and paused. “No, I’m not the King of Antar.”

“I beg to differ.” Jo started eagerly, desperate to get her voice put forward.

“Shut it!” Max ordered loudly with his hand lifted as a signal for her to not even try to speak again. “I am no King of Antar, I’m Max Evans.”

Jo stared up at him for a moment completely and utterly gobsmacked. “You cannot be serious?!” She laughed in utter disbelief and hysteria. “You are refusing to accept a part of who you are?!”

Max shook his head. “No, I’m not refusing to accept a part of who I am because Zan isn’t who I am. He isn’t a part of me. He never has been. He was kind and considerate, I give you that one, he was almost human – but there was something alien about him; he was one not to care about the consequences of his actions. He would act impulsively and without fear – that isn’t who I am. People make mistakes that way and he did. He royally screwed up.”

“How did he screw up?!” Jo exclaimed passionately. “Like you said he was kind and compassionate, it’s more than what we got with Khivar!”

“But it was Zan that started the riots!” Max stated in frustration. “He wanted the monarchy out and look how it turned out! All there was, was death and destruction. If he had only thought about it from the cultural point of view first you wouldn’t be in this mess!” He stepped nearer to Jo, his eyes pleading with her to understand. “How can I go back to a place where Zan allowed a man like Khivar take control? How can I go back to a place Zan destroyed?”

“You can help rebuild it! We need action, strong and decisive.” Jo said strongly. “We need that right now, we need the word of a leader. We need you.”

Max stood there for a second and looked over at Zan and Serena. “Then I’m not the man you want.” He said as he turned his attentions back to Jo. “Zan is.”

This took Zan aback a bit making him step back in complete shock. His hand instinctively took Serena’s and squeezed it hard. Him, be king? How on the earth was that to happen – his set were the reject set – the defectives. How could he be king when there stood the one that was exactly the leader people expected?

“Bro.” Zan mumbled in confusion. “I’m just ya dupe.”

“You are the real king, Max.” Jo looked at Zan from the corner of her eye. “Zan was too alien so we sent you in replacement. You are everything we need. You are kind and considerate.”

“But I won’t be the right person.” Max interrupted as he turned to look at Zan again. “You act. You take the steps of a military leader; just look how you acted in saving Liz. It was precise and direct; no mistakes.”

“But bro, no matter how much I may want this, and I think I do, I can’t escape the fact I’m not you. I am not a leader.” He paused for a second, something lurking behind his eyes. “I’m not kind or considerate; I’m no you.”

Max laughed. “You have got to be kidding me right? With Liz all you have ever been is considerate, in times when she needed me – you were there. You knew the reasons behind her actions and her feelings, I had NO clue. I was so wrapped up in my own little world that I just didn’t take a moment to notice anything was - was wrong. But you, you have what it takes…” His eyes drifted to Serena. “And in all honesty, when you find the woman of your dreams, that one person who will love you unconditionally, then you have what it takes to be a leader because she will never let you go astray.”

“No.” Jo shook her head furiously. “This isn’t right, he isn’t the right one. He’s too alien; too defective of the original design.”

“But I’m too human Jo.” He grimaced. “I feel too much, I feel too hard. I take step backs out of fear and irrationality. When I was sent here, I was made to blend in… to be human. Zan was too defective, yes, but at the end of the day he’ll think like the king you will all want. He-he is more like you, the people of Antar then I’ll ever be.”

Jo sat on the chair looking up at Max, her stare vacant. “This is because of that woman isn’t it?” She stated angrily, a death glare in her eyes.

“You mean Liz?” Max snapped in response. “Yeah, definitely because of Liz. She is part of me you know – the human side.”

“But that’s the thing, you aren’t human Max.” Jo retorted with a snort. “You’re meant to be with Ava – not her… you are just too different. Alien.”

“I don’t care what you think or what you are gonna say next. Just know that I will be making contact with Antar later this afternoon and you will be going back with Zan and Serena. Zan WILL be standing in my place as King, as I officially give away my title, my throne and that whole part of my life.” Max declared to the woman and to the whole of the group surrounding him.

“Bro.” Zan interrupted. “Are ya sure about this?”

Max smiled at him slightly. “Deadly. I don’t want the responsibility of a planet I have little love for. This is where I belong, not there.” He paused for a second and took in the appearance of Zan who stood strongly, Serena’s hand in his own. “Plus, I have a feeling you will make a better King than I would have.”

For a moment there was just silence again, the force of his words hitting everyone into speechlessness. Then in silence started to turn for the door of the library to where he knew Liz was waiting for him. The woman he loved.

“You won’t give this up for long Max.” Jo stated as she watched him leave. “The alien side of you, Zan, will come back and you’ll want to take the throne. You may think you are human – but you’re not.”

He paused for a second and rested his hand on the door frame, leaning forward slightly, weary of this conversation. He turned his head round slightly so he could just about see her. “I’m human Jo.” He replied coolly. “You’ve just spent the last 5 minutes reaffirming that I was made to be so… So don’t dismiss my decision to do the human thing. I’m just doing what I was designed to do - living my own life, breathing solely for one person and… and by loving.”