EYA Part 71
“’Wanna play with us?’” Max mocked, flinging himself on their bed. He scrubbed one hand over his eyes and sighed. “Go Fish. They were playing Go Fish!”
Liz tried to contain her laughter, knowing that Max had burst into Isabel’s bedroom fully expecting to be traumatized for life. This was a serious situation, and Max would not appreciate her mirth at the moment.
“It could have been worse,” she comforted, running her hand up and down the strong muscles of his arm. Max rolled his head sideways and stared at her.
“Well, they could have been doing…something else,” she emphasized the last two words with raised eyebrows and a small smile.
“Uhgg!” Both hands over his eyes now and a shudder ran through his body.
“Oh! Poor, baby Maxie boy,” Liz cooed in a sing-song voice, trying to make him laugh. She scooted down to lay beside him, running her hand over his chest. “Did that mean Isabel play a nasty wasty joke on you?”
“Liz!” Max’s chest heaved slightly as he tried to contain his laughter.
“Come on, Max! Go Fish could be fun!” Her smile was blinding as he turned to check out how serious she was.
“Come on! Work with me here, Max,” Liz directed. She rolled so that her front was completely plastered against his side. “Now, let’s see,” she pretended to consult her ‘cards’. “Do you have any kings?”
Max shook his head and laughed.
“No cheating here, Max!” Liz tickled his stomach until he rolled with laughter. “I see a king right here.” The tickling turned into smooth caresses that changed his laughter into a long, low moan. “King me, Max.”
“That’s checkers,” he laughed.
Liz play pouted. “Are you going to give me your king or what?”
“I’m all yours,” Max gave in with a sigh of happiness turning to capture her lips in a long, slow kiss, muffling her moan with his mouth.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Tess hung up the phone with a satisfied smirk. Nacedo’s list of contacts from his FBI days had sure come in handy. She’d almost felt sorry for Liz until she remembered what had been done to her. If Liz Parker hadn’t been around Tess would be living it up in the lap of luxury on Antar right now. She glared around the small room she was staying in. I really should get back to Vegas, she thought vaguely. It’s easier to blend in there, and I’ll have no problem making some extra money at the tables.
She stripped out of the clothes she was wearing, deciding that she needed a shower. She carefully turned her face away from the mirror as her skin was revealed. The pain was gone now, mostly, and the scars on her face and hands were finally only barely visible, but the rest of her body…she shuddered in distaste. Thick ropy scars covered every inch of her skin from her neck to her ankles. The ugly red and purple tissue was warped and twisted where her skin had basically melted away in Max and Isabel’s attack on her. Her limited healing ability allowed her only a very slow recovery from her affliction. It had taken her literally months to be able to walk around in public in long-sleeved attire and not wince in pain at every slow step she took.
She turned on the shower to a luke-warm temperature and slowly stepped in. The water couldn’t be too hot or too cold or it would be sheer torture on her sensitive skin. The water rushed over her and she flinched at the initial contact once again fuming with rage over what had been done to her. She turned her face up into the spray and determined to leave for Vegas in the morning. She would heal some more and come back to Roswell to get her revenge on Michael and Maria. There’s no way those two weren’t guilty up to their necks for what had happened to her! She’d have to think of some special way to pay them back for that.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
The next night. Evans’ house
Max and Isabel settled into their chairs in the living room to watch the tape from the previous nights surveillance. That was the only problem with the surveillance, they were always one day behind because it had to be pre-recorded onto a tape. Liz was working in the den on ‘lawyer stuff’ as Max liked to call it. It was the sibling’s turn to review the tapes and make sure their world was still safe.
Max shot Isabel a sly look under his lashes. She didn’t appear to be embarrassed or concerned about the joke she had played on them the night before. He prayed it really had been just a joke and that Isabel didn’t really want two boyfriends.
“So,” Max started carefully, shooting a direct look at his sister’s innocent face. He fidgeted nervously in his seat, smoothing his hands over his worn jeans. “You and Kyle?”
Isabel smiled softly back at her brother. “Yeah,” she glanced down at her hands before meeting his gaze again. “That’s okay, isn’t it?” It had been meant to sound challenging, like ‘you have no say in this anyway, and I’m only asking to be polite’, but it came out sounding a lot more like ‘tell me I’m doing the right thing’. She scowled briefly at her hands again and waited for Max’s response.
“Just Kyle, right?” Max teased gently, but still really wanting to be sure.
Isabel snorted out a laugh at the expression on Max’s earnest face and reached out to smack his knee. “Yes ‘just Kyle’! You are such a dork, little brother. I swear it was really too easy. Plus, you totally deserved it for all your public displays recently!”
“Isabel!” Max blushed a fiery shade of pink and hit ‘play’ on the remote control. The tape rolled on the now familiar scene at the cave entrance and they both turned their attention to the monotonous scene.
“I wonder if Jack will show up tonight,” Isabel pondered out loud a half-hour later, thinking how boring their lives were now if all they had to look forward to on a summer evening was hoping a little rabbit would hop through the frame of an un-exhilarating surveillance tape. She advanced the tape a little faster, ready to pause quickly if anything moved within the frames.
“We can always hope…” Max’s eyes widened as the camera angle tilted and the screen went black. Isabel quickly paused and rewound the tape, carefully letting it play again at regular speed.
“Do you think Jack jumped over the rocks?” Isabel speculated as they stared at a close-up of a rock on the ground.
Max’s breathing was already accelerating as he rubbed his sweaty palms over the soft fabric of his jeans and stood. “I don’t think we can count on that,” he stated, abruptly leaving the room.
He skidded to a stop in the doorway to the den that was Liz’s office while she was on duty for his parents. His breath hissed out in a sigh of relief as he saw her diligently typing away on the computer. She turned to face him quickly as his anxiety transmitted itself to her and she rose to her feet before she realized she had moved.
“What?”
“It’s…We were watching…and it went blank…and I think that…” Max couldn’t finish and couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.
She closed the distance between them quickly and wrapped her arms around him snugly. “You really think it was her?”
“We can’t take the chance that it wasn’t.” his anxiety was reaching new highs as he considered ways to keep her safe.
“We need to go out there and find out where she is.” Liz grabbed a light sweater off the back of her chair and moved to the door, snagging Max’s hand in hers as she went.
“I just want to get you away from all this,” Max whispered in such a low tone that without their connection Liz would never have heard.
She turned to face him and Max was absurdly proud of how strong and calm she could be in the face of imminent danger. And then he understood, as she allowed him to see, that physical action was always preferable to her than sitting around in fear waiting for events to unfold. He tightened his hold on her hand and they walked out of the room side-by-side.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Alex knelt in front of the pile of rocks and saw the new tilt of the camera. “Yeah, it’s just tipped over in there.”
“Don’t touch it,” Isabel cautioned nervously from behind him.
“I know better than to disturb it before Liz has a chance to get the vibes off of it.” Alex stood and hugged Isabel in comfort before moving over to make room for Liz.
Liz looked pale and a little drawn as her concentration focused on the task at hand. Max held one of her hands tightly in his as she reached out her free hand to touch the camera. Her hand trembled slightly. She already knew. She’d felt it the minute she’d set foot out of the Jeep and hiked towards the cave entrance. Tess had been here. This was just a confirmation. This would hopefully tell them where she was heading when she left in frustration. And she had been frustrated. Enraged even. Exactly as she had seen in her vision weeks before.
Liz’s body stiffened on contact with the camera and she was lost once again in the vision of Tess, visibly healed and enraged beyond rational thought as the pod chamber rejected her forcibly. She felt again Tess’ evil intent to call the FBI and wreak her revenge on Liz and Max’s child for all that had been done to her.
Michael stepped closer in a bid to protect Liz when he saw how her small body shuddered uncontrollably as the vision consumed her. Isabel took his hand in hers to remind him not to touch Liz at this delicate moment when all her concentration was needed to find out where Tess was staying so they could eliminate the threat before she had a chance to implement her plan. A soft moan escaped Liz’s throat and she swayed into Max’s embrace. Tears were already tracking down Max’s cheeks and Michael couldn’t take it anymore.
Closing the distance that separated him from them, he wrapped them both into a tight hug from behind and was immediately swept into the vision.
Flash
“I swear to God I’m telling you the truth! Last year Max Evans was taken into custody by your Agent Pierce. He was an alien…No! No, he’s dead now, but…stop interrupting! I’m trying to tell you that he got a human girl pregnant before he died…Yes! Yes, her name is Liz Parker and she lives in Roswell. She’s a junior at West Roswell High and she’s carrying his alien baby. Yes, I definitely believe her child is a danger to society. Who knows what effect alien spawn would have on unsuspecting human populations! …Yes…Yes definitely I think you need to do something about it…Well, I wouldn’t have access to your cell phone number and passwords if I didn’t have proper clearance, now would I? …Just do something about this as quickly as possible. No! You can’t afford to wait on this one. We don’t know how long alien pregnancies last…She coulda had it already!”
Tess hung up with a satisfied smirk and moved to take a shower. She shuddered in disgust at the sight of her mangled skin and trembled in pain at the first touch of the water to her sensitized skin. They heard her thoughts as she planned to return to Vegas and plot her revenge on Michael and Maria.
Flash!
Tess slammed out of the ratty hotel room and glanced quickly to the right and left, scanning for spies. She quickly climbed into her car and sped down the road toward Vegas.
Flash
Liz whimpered in pain as the restraints were tightened around her wrists and ankles.
“Stop struggling or you’ll draw blood,” Dr. Clark threatened. “I’ll keep tightening them until you’re still.”
Liz froze in place, recognizing that it wasn’t an idle threat. “What do you want from me?” Her voice cracked and came out hoarse, but at this point she was glad any sound emerged at all after all the screaming she had done hours earlier when she was first abducted. She clenched her hands into fists hoping to renew the circulation in her fingers. They slowly went numb despite her efforts.
“We want to study you, Liz. We want to find out what you’ve got inside you. We want to study the alien you’re carrying and figure out how a human girl can carry a hybrid baby. We’re going to find out everything you know about the alien you were involved with and what their plot is concerning Earth. And you’re going to stay here until we’re satisfied that you’ve told us the truth.” His words came out cold and unfeeling and Liz knew for a certainty that they would never let her go. His warm hand traveled familiarly up Liz’s exposed thigh and she renewed her struggles. Dr. Clark clamped his hand down hard over her wiggling leg and she knew there would be bruises later. “Do you want the restraints tighter, Liz?” She froze again and he straightened up with a satisfied smirk. “I didn’t think so.” He rubbed his hand up over her hip and finally left the room. Liz turned her head to the side and sobbed silently.
Flash
“What’s wrong with her?” Dr. Clark demanded, rushing into the room and taking in the scene of doctors huddled around Liz as her body shook and her temperature rose impossibly higher.
“Her temp has gone up over 102, Dr. Clark. We don’t know why,” one of the men answered nervously.
“Liz. Liz! Look at me,” Dr. Clark demanded. Liz rolled her head to face him, her eyes glassy and unseeing. “What’s wrong with you, Liz? Is it the baby?”
“The baby,” Liz repeated, lost in the fever. “The baby needs to be fed.” She barely registered where she was at this point. The fever had raged all night and her body was no longer satisfied with the ice packs and cold drinks these people foisted on her.
“Fed?” Dr. Clark looked to his associates and found them just as confused as he was. “What does the baby need, Liz? What does it eat?”
“Max’s sperm. We need Ma…,” her fevered rambling cut off abruptly as she realized what she had said. She shook her head. “We don’t need anything. We’re just fine. Go away.” She closed her eyes and lost herself to the darkness waiting for her.
“Max’s sperm?” Dr. Clark looked at everyone around him in confusion. “I thought Max was dead?”
Liz writhed on the table and her blood pressure dropped alarmingly. “Dr. Clark? We need to do something now. She’s not going to make it through the day if we…”
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Liz?! Liz wake up! Oh my God! Liz!” Michael shook Liz’s still form and turned her to lie on her back on the hard ground. Isabel rushed up to Max and gently turned him over as well.
“It was too much for them,” Michael panted out. “It was too much.” He still shook from the visions he had witnessed, as real as if they were there.
Max groaned and reached for Liz before his eyes even opened. His hand found hers beside him and he sighed as the connection built and grew into a living thing surrounding them in a cocoon of peace. Liz tightened her hold on him and allowed him to coax her back to consciousness. Her haunted eyes opened and locked on his.
“We’re already too late,” she whispered in despair.
TBC
Everything You Are (CC,M/L, Mature) AN PG 15 5/3/07 [WIP]
Moderators: Anniepoo98, ISLANDGIRL5, truelovepooh, Forum Moderators
EYA Part 72
“We’ve gotta leave town,” Max said urgently, he looked around their bedroom in a shock of barely contained panic. His head reeled with the images they had seen. Over and over his mind played out the horror that was in store for his Liz and he would not, could not, accept that reality. They had to change it quickly. Irrevocably. He hauled a large suitcase from the jumble in the back of their closet and unzipped it on the bed. Liz sat in a daze in the chair across from the bed and watched numbly as he began tossing in random items of clothing. His and hers, as tumbled and tangled together as their emotions were at the moment. Michael and Isabel stood in the doorway watching his frantic movements.
“I’m coming with you,” Michael decided suddenly, stepping resolutely deeper into the room, closer to Liz, who looked like she would fall over any second if the chair back hadn’t been propping her up.
“Me too,” Isabel chimed in determinedly. After hearing the horrors of the vision they had experienced she was convinced that they needed to stick together.
Max looked up abruptly. “You two want to…” he stopped and nodded, short and choppy. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” His eyes unfocused for a moment and Isabel realized with a start that he was checking in with Liz. She had been completely silent after her initial outburst at the pod chamber entrance. Isabel watched Liz’s face tense and then relax as Max continued to communicate with her.
He crossed the room in four long strides and was suddenly kneeling in front of her. Her arms went up to wrap around his broad shoulders and she lay her head down against him in perfect trust.
Isabel choked on a sob at the emotions she could see racing across their faces. She and Michael turned away and went into the living room to allow the couple some privacy to regain their strength.
“We need to have a plan. We don’t even know where we’re going,” Isabel stated, pacing and trying to get back to business.
Michael shook his head. “How much money do we have?”
“Probably not enough.” She paced the room restlessly. She paused, thinking about their next step. “We’ve got to tell Mom and Dad that we’re leaving. Maybe they know a place…” She grabbed Michael’s arm and pulled him out the door with her.
“Mom? Dad?” Isabel called out as she walked through the Evans’ kitchen. “Are you home?” Sometimes they worked late and she didn’t remember if she’d seen their car when they’d pulled in earlier.
“Isabel? We’re in the den,” Phillip called back, concerned by the urgency in his daughter’s tone. He stood in the doorway and watched in growing alarm as Isabel retained her tight clutch on Michael’s arm and crossed the room in resolute strides towards him. The look in her eyes was one he had never seen before. It was a glimpse into the woman, the leader, she had been and would become again.
Diane spun in her chair at the computer desk and her eyes widened in alarm as Isabel and Michael stopped in the middle of the room.
“Honey, what is it?”
“We have to leave town and we need a place. A safe place that no one knows about where we can hide out for a while until we can figure out our next step.” Her words tumbled over each other in a breathless tone that panicked Diane more than the words themselves. Isabel stepped back when her mother rose to embrace her.
“Mom, we have to leave. Now. Liz has had another vision and Tess has already told the FBI about Liz and Max’s baby. They’re going to come for her and we can’t be here when they do.” Isabel ignored their horrified gasps, needing to finish, needing to get everything out now, before she could think about what this was going to mean to their lives, their families. She turned to her father. “We need money. We need a place. Do you know of anywhere we could go?”
Phillip’s jaw had dropped at each new revelation but he pulled himself together when Isabel looked to him so trustingly. Like she knew he could fix this. He moved decisively to the closet in the den and squatted down to reach into the back. He quickly opened the fire-safe they kept there and pulled out a thick stack of currency. Turning, he handed the money to Isabel and strode across the room to his desk. Opening the shallow drawer in the middle of the desk he found the slim, leather bound address book that he kept there. He flipped through several pages and picked up the phone.
Isabel and Michael exchanged puzzled glances and waited to hear what Phillip was going to do.
“Hello, Bill? Yes. This is Phillip…Yeah, we’re great here…Wonderful!…Yes, well, I was remembering that you said you had a cabin up on Lake Suni and I was wondering if your offer to use it whenever we wanted still stands?…It does?…That’s great! Yeah…we just want to get away for a while, you know take a summer vacation?…Great…Yeah, maybe a month or more…We’d be leaving right away…Wonderful! Well, we really appreciate this, Bill, and anytime you’d like to borrow the boat again just let us know. Uh huh, alright. Thanks again, Bill. Bye.”
Phillip cradled the receiver and turned to face the stunned faces around him. “There should be about five-thousand dollars there in cash,” he gestured to the money that Isabel held in her trembling hand. “Bill is a business associate of ours that we’ve spent more than one long conference with. We arranged awhile back to be able to use his cabin in exchange for him being able to use our boat, we’ve just never taken the time to give ourselves a vacation, but when you said you needed a place,” Phillip shrugged.
Isabel launched herself into her father’s arms and gave him a fierce hug. She pulled back and kissed him, the tears already streaming down her cheeks. “Thank you, Dad. You’re amazing!” She hugged her mom as well and pulled her from the room. “Help me pack?” Diane nodded and hurried out the door after her daughter.
Phillip and Michael stared at each other for a long moment. Phillip crossed the room and hugged Michael. Michael’s arms hung awkwardly at his sides for a moment before seeming to move of their own volition to embrace his pseudo-father. “Take care of them, Michael,” Phillip whispered gruffly, knowing he could depend on Michael to do just that.
“I will,” he answered, the only way he could.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max leaned away from Liz and cupped her tear-streaked face in his palms. Liz had broken the connection between them with an almost inaudible sob.
“Liz?” Max queried, even more worried now that he could no longer sense her jumbled thoughts.
“Max…it’s just…I’m so sorry!” Liz cried again, covering her face with her hands. She couldn’t stand the tormented look in Max’s eyes when he stared at her, and his thoughts…she shuddered. His thoughts were a nightmarish mix of the horrors she had envisioned and the actuality of what Max had already endured from the FBI. Those thoughts were a weight on his soul and she wished with everything in her that he wouldn’t have to dwell on that horrific time in his life for another moment.
“Sorry?” Max was confused and frustrated. They had to leave. Get out now, before anything unspeakable occurred. Something they couldn’t prevent if they stayed here and waited for a response. His mind reached out to make the connection again and was rebuffed by her.
Liz shook her head. “It’s too hard, Max. Please…it’s just…I’m sorry that you have to relive the FBI and what they…what they did to you. I’m sorry that I didn’t get a vision sooner so we could be there when Tess showed up and eliminate the threat. I’m so sorry that we have to leave now and run like this. This isn’t what I wanted for you…it’s not…” Max interrupted her with a hard kiss to her trembling lips. The connection slammed back into place and Liz raised her hands to steady herself on his broad shoulders. Unconditional love, acceptance, and support rolled into her in strengthening waves, and she knew, beyond all doubt, that Max would do anything for her. Absolutely anything that was required to keep her and their child safe and well. And he would do it all gladly.
Max broke the kiss and stood, taking her hand.
“Help me pack, we have to leave soon.” Liz nodded and stood on legs that had strengthened with the affirmation of his love.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“We have to stop at the Crash,” Liz stated into the silence of the Jeep. They had said their teary goodbyes at the Evans household and were sitting in front of Michael’s building so he could run in to pack.
“What? Why?” Isabel asked quickly. Michael climbed out of the Jeep, but waited to see what they would do before walking away.
“I want to tell my parents I’m going on vacation for awhile, so they won’t be worried when I don’t meet Mom for lunch on Saturday.”
Max and Michael exchanged worried frowns.
“You can’t cry and act like you’ll never see them again,” Michael stated bluntly, worried about her state of mind. She seemed stronger now, more stable after her talk with Max earlier, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t break down again.
“I know that, Michael.” Liz drew in an impatient breath. “I just can’t up and leave without seeing them one more time, okay? I’ll be fine.” Her look pleaded with Max to allow her this.
Max nodded, making up his mind. He turned to Michael. “You go up and pack. We’ll swing by the Crash so Liz can say goodbye and then come back to pick you up.” Michael nodded and turned reluctantly to go to his apartment.
Max pulled up in front of the Crash and glanced at Liz. She appeared composed, and he could feel her pulling in every ounce of self-control she possessed so she could face her parents and not break down. They hopped out of the Jeep and entered the restaurant together.
Nancy was manning the cash register, which was unusual as she didn’t normally take part in the day to day operations of the restaurant. She looked slightly frazzled when she saw the three approaching her, but offered them a genuine smile nonetheless.
“Liz! I didn’t expect to see you here today! How’s summer vacation treating you so far?”
Liz dredged up a real smile and moved around to hug her mother. “That’s what I came to talk to you about. Isabel, Michael, Max, and me are all heading out to Yosemite to go hiking and camping for a few weeks. I just wanted to let you know that I wouldn’t be around for our weekly lunches for awhile.” Liz forced the lie and smiled brightly.
Nancy gave her an odd look. Liz wasn’t big on camping, and she knew for a fact Isabel wasn’t really the outdoor type herself, but she couldn’t exactly tell them not to go, so she smiled instead. “This is kind of sudden, isn’t it?”
“Not really. I just forgot to mention it last week, and time is going by so fast now that school’s out.”
Nancy hugged Liz again. “Okay, honey. Just be real careful out there. Do you need anything?”
Liz shook her head and looked around. “Where’s Dad? I’d like to say goodbye to him too.”
Nancy’s eyes traveled to the ceiling and rolled. “He went upstairs an hour ago and said he’d be right back. He’s looking for the sales figures from last January for some kind of auditing error,” Nancy laughed. “You know how he gets about the numbers!” Liz smiled with her mother.
“I think I know where those books are,” she offered. “Maybe I can hurry him up for you!” Nancy looked relieved. “That’d be great, honey. I’m not sure how much longer I can fake my way around down here.” Liz laughed again, knowing how her mother hated Crashdown duties. She turned to head into the back.
Nancy reached out a hand to stop Max from following. “You should stay down here, Max,” she cautioned softly, noticing Liz looking back at him inquiringly. “Liz’s dad is still really upset, and if you go up there with her then she won’t have a very pleasant send-off.” Nancy winced at her own words and the tormented look on Max’s face. “I’m sorry.”
Max dredged up a smile for her. “I’ll just wait at the bottom of the stairs then,” he replied, slipping out of Nancy’s grip and following Liz to the back. He and Isabel settled on the bottom step after explaining what they were doing to Liz.
Liz tried not to cry again in the face of her father’s obvious rejection of her chosen mate. She realized that it was true that if her father saw Max at this time that he would never wish her well on her vacation, and she couldn’t bear to have another traumatic scene with him right now.
“Dad?” She called out as she entered the apartment. The room was a bit messy, with drawers pulled out and papers stacked on the coffee table. She smiled slightly. Her dad never could find anything when he needed it. He probably had depended on her for that more than he knew. She turned down the hallway and peeked into Jeff’s bedroom to make sure he wasn’t there before proceeding down to the office. She shook her head again as she headed down the hall. Her mom wouldn’t be too happy at the mess he had left behind.
She swung the partially open door a little wider and stepped in saying, “Mom’s gonna be upset at the mess you’ve…” she gasped in horror. Her father was bound and gagged to his office chair and his eyes were wild, pleading with her to turn and run away. “Dad!” She rushed into the room to release him without thinking of any consequence to herself.
And then all she saw was black.
TBC
“We’ve gotta leave town,” Max said urgently, he looked around their bedroom in a shock of barely contained panic. His head reeled with the images they had seen. Over and over his mind played out the horror that was in store for his Liz and he would not, could not, accept that reality. They had to change it quickly. Irrevocably. He hauled a large suitcase from the jumble in the back of their closet and unzipped it on the bed. Liz sat in a daze in the chair across from the bed and watched numbly as he began tossing in random items of clothing. His and hers, as tumbled and tangled together as their emotions were at the moment. Michael and Isabel stood in the doorway watching his frantic movements.
“I’m coming with you,” Michael decided suddenly, stepping resolutely deeper into the room, closer to Liz, who looked like she would fall over any second if the chair back hadn’t been propping her up.
“Me too,” Isabel chimed in determinedly. After hearing the horrors of the vision they had experienced she was convinced that they needed to stick together.
Max looked up abruptly. “You two want to…” he stopped and nodded, short and choppy. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” His eyes unfocused for a moment and Isabel realized with a start that he was checking in with Liz. She had been completely silent after her initial outburst at the pod chamber entrance. Isabel watched Liz’s face tense and then relax as Max continued to communicate with her.
He crossed the room in four long strides and was suddenly kneeling in front of her. Her arms went up to wrap around his broad shoulders and she lay her head down against him in perfect trust.
Isabel choked on a sob at the emotions she could see racing across their faces. She and Michael turned away and went into the living room to allow the couple some privacy to regain their strength.
“We need to have a plan. We don’t even know where we’re going,” Isabel stated, pacing and trying to get back to business.
Michael shook his head. “How much money do we have?”
“Probably not enough.” She paced the room restlessly. She paused, thinking about their next step. “We’ve got to tell Mom and Dad that we’re leaving. Maybe they know a place…” She grabbed Michael’s arm and pulled him out the door with her.
“Mom? Dad?” Isabel called out as she walked through the Evans’ kitchen. “Are you home?” Sometimes they worked late and she didn’t remember if she’d seen their car when they’d pulled in earlier.
“Isabel? We’re in the den,” Phillip called back, concerned by the urgency in his daughter’s tone. He stood in the doorway and watched in growing alarm as Isabel retained her tight clutch on Michael’s arm and crossed the room in resolute strides towards him. The look in her eyes was one he had never seen before. It was a glimpse into the woman, the leader, she had been and would become again.
Diane spun in her chair at the computer desk and her eyes widened in alarm as Isabel and Michael stopped in the middle of the room.
“Honey, what is it?”
“We have to leave town and we need a place. A safe place that no one knows about where we can hide out for a while until we can figure out our next step.” Her words tumbled over each other in a breathless tone that panicked Diane more than the words themselves. Isabel stepped back when her mother rose to embrace her.
“Mom, we have to leave. Now. Liz has had another vision and Tess has already told the FBI about Liz and Max’s baby. They’re going to come for her and we can’t be here when they do.” Isabel ignored their horrified gasps, needing to finish, needing to get everything out now, before she could think about what this was going to mean to their lives, their families. She turned to her father. “We need money. We need a place. Do you know of anywhere we could go?”
Phillip’s jaw had dropped at each new revelation but he pulled himself together when Isabel looked to him so trustingly. Like she knew he could fix this. He moved decisively to the closet in the den and squatted down to reach into the back. He quickly opened the fire-safe they kept there and pulled out a thick stack of currency. Turning, he handed the money to Isabel and strode across the room to his desk. Opening the shallow drawer in the middle of the desk he found the slim, leather bound address book that he kept there. He flipped through several pages and picked up the phone.
Isabel and Michael exchanged puzzled glances and waited to hear what Phillip was going to do.
“Hello, Bill? Yes. This is Phillip…Yeah, we’re great here…Wonderful!…Yes, well, I was remembering that you said you had a cabin up on Lake Suni and I was wondering if your offer to use it whenever we wanted still stands?…It does?…That’s great! Yeah…we just want to get away for a while, you know take a summer vacation?…Great…Yeah, maybe a month or more…We’d be leaving right away…Wonderful! Well, we really appreciate this, Bill, and anytime you’d like to borrow the boat again just let us know. Uh huh, alright. Thanks again, Bill. Bye.”
Phillip cradled the receiver and turned to face the stunned faces around him. “There should be about five-thousand dollars there in cash,” he gestured to the money that Isabel held in her trembling hand. “Bill is a business associate of ours that we’ve spent more than one long conference with. We arranged awhile back to be able to use his cabin in exchange for him being able to use our boat, we’ve just never taken the time to give ourselves a vacation, but when you said you needed a place,” Phillip shrugged.
Isabel launched herself into her father’s arms and gave him a fierce hug. She pulled back and kissed him, the tears already streaming down her cheeks. “Thank you, Dad. You’re amazing!” She hugged her mom as well and pulled her from the room. “Help me pack?” Diane nodded and hurried out the door after her daughter.
Phillip and Michael stared at each other for a long moment. Phillip crossed the room and hugged Michael. Michael’s arms hung awkwardly at his sides for a moment before seeming to move of their own volition to embrace his pseudo-father. “Take care of them, Michael,” Phillip whispered gruffly, knowing he could depend on Michael to do just that.
“I will,” he answered, the only way he could.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max leaned away from Liz and cupped her tear-streaked face in his palms. Liz had broken the connection between them with an almost inaudible sob.
“Liz?” Max queried, even more worried now that he could no longer sense her jumbled thoughts.
“Max…it’s just…I’m so sorry!” Liz cried again, covering her face with her hands. She couldn’t stand the tormented look in Max’s eyes when he stared at her, and his thoughts…she shuddered. His thoughts were a nightmarish mix of the horrors she had envisioned and the actuality of what Max had already endured from the FBI. Those thoughts were a weight on his soul and she wished with everything in her that he wouldn’t have to dwell on that horrific time in his life for another moment.
“Sorry?” Max was confused and frustrated. They had to leave. Get out now, before anything unspeakable occurred. Something they couldn’t prevent if they stayed here and waited for a response. His mind reached out to make the connection again and was rebuffed by her.
Liz shook her head. “It’s too hard, Max. Please…it’s just…I’m sorry that you have to relive the FBI and what they…what they did to you. I’m sorry that I didn’t get a vision sooner so we could be there when Tess showed up and eliminate the threat. I’m so sorry that we have to leave now and run like this. This isn’t what I wanted for you…it’s not…” Max interrupted her with a hard kiss to her trembling lips. The connection slammed back into place and Liz raised her hands to steady herself on his broad shoulders. Unconditional love, acceptance, and support rolled into her in strengthening waves, and she knew, beyond all doubt, that Max would do anything for her. Absolutely anything that was required to keep her and their child safe and well. And he would do it all gladly.
Max broke the kiss and stood, taking her hand.
“Help me pack, we have to leave soon.” Liz nodded and stood on legs that had strengthened with the affirmation of his love.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“We have to stop at the Crash,” Liz stated into the silence of the Jeep. They had said their teary goodbyes at the Evans household and were sitting in front of Michael’s building so he could run in to pack.
“What? Why?” Isabel asked quickly. Michael climbed out of the Jeep, but waited to see what they would do before walking away.
“I want to tell my parents I’m going on vacation for awhile, so they won’t be worried when I don’t meet Mom for lunch on Saturday.”
Max and Michael exchanged worried frowns.
“You can’t cry and act like you’ll never see them again,” Michael stated bluntly, worried about her state of mind. She seemed stronger now, more stable after her talk with Max earlier, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t break down again.
“I know that, Michael.” Liz drew in an impatient breath. “I just can’t up and leave without seeing them one more time, okay? I’ll be fine.” Her look pleaded with Max to allow her this.
Max nodded, making up his mind. He turned to Michael. “You go up and pack. We’ll swing by the Crash so Liz can say goodbye and then come back to pick you up.” Michael nodded and turned reluctantly to go to his apartment.
Max pulled up in front of the Crash and glanced at Liz. She appeared composed, and he could feel her pulling in every ounce of self-control she possessed so she could face her parents and not break down. They hopped out of the Jeep and entered the restaurant together.
Nancy was manning the cash register, which was unusual as she didn’t normally take part in the day to day operations of the restaurant. She looked slightly frazzled when she saw the three approaching her, but offered them a genuine smile nonetheless.
“Liz! I didn’t expect to see you here today! How’s summer vacation treating you so far?”
Liz dredged up a real smile and moved around to hug her mother. “That’s what I came to talk to you about. Isabel, Michael, Max, and me are all heading out to Yosemite to go hiking and camping for a few weeks. I just wanted to let you know that I wouldn’t be around for our weekly lunches for awhile.” Liz forced the lie and smiled brightly.
Nancy gave her an odd look. Liz wasn’t big on camping, and she knew for a fact Isabel wasn’t really the outdoor type herself, but she couldn’t exactly tell them not to go, so she smiled instead. “This is kind of sudden, isn’t it?”
“Not really. I just forgot to mention it last week, and time is going by so fast now that school’s out.”
Nancy hugged Liz again. “Okay, honey. Just be real careful out there. Do you need anything?”
Liz shook her head and looked around. “Where’s Dad? I’d like to say goodbye to him too.”
Nancy’s eyes traveled to the ceiling and rolled. “He went upstairs an hour ago and said he’d be right back. He’s looking for the sales figures from last January for some kind of auditing error,” Nancy laughed. “You know how he gets about the numbers!” Liz smiled with her mother.
“I think I know where those books are,” she offered. “Maybe I can hurry him up for you!” Nancy looked relieved. “That’d be great, honey. I’m not sure how much longer I can fake my way around down here.” Liz laughed again, knowing how her mother hated Crashdown duties. She turned to head into the back.
Nancy reached out a hand to stop Max from following. “You should stay down here, Max,” she cautioned softly, noticing Liz looking back at him inquiringly. “Liz’s dad is still really upset, and if you go up there with her then she won’t have a very pleasant send-off.” Nancy winced at her own words and the tormented look on Max’s face. “I’m sorry.”
Max dredged up a smile for her. “I’ll just wait at the bottom of the stairs then,” he replied, slipping out of Nancy’s grip and following Liz to the back. He and Isabel settled on the bottom step after explaining what they were doing to Liz.
Liz tried not to cry again in the face of her father’s obvious rejection of her chosen mate. She realized that it was true that if her father saw Max at this time that he would never wish her well on her vacation, and she couldn’t bear to have another traumatic scene with him right now.
“Dad?” She called out as she entered the apartment. The room was a bit messy, with drawers pulled out and papers stacked on the coffee table. She smiled slightly. Her dad never could find anything when he needed it. He probably had depended on her for that more than he knew. She turned down the hallway and peeked into Jeff’s bedroom to make sure he wasn’t there before proceeding down to the office. She shook her head again as she headed down the hall. Her mom wouldn’t be too happy at the mess he had left behind.
She swung the partially open door a little wider and stepped in saying, “Mom’s gonna be upset at the mess you’ve…” she gasped in horror. Her father was bound and gagged to his office chair and his eyes were wild, pleading with her to turn and run away. “Dad!” She rushed into the room to release him without thinking of any consequence to herself.
And then all she saw was black.
TBC
EYA Part 73
“…hit her so hard! Dr. C is going to have your ass for this!”
Muffled voices rushed past her, escalating her confusion. She couldn’t force her eyes open even when someone pushed her onto her stomach and handcuffed her hands behind her back.
“I didn’t know it was her! How was I supposed to know she’d coming rushing in like that! He said she didn’t live here anymore!” The second voice was raspy and sounded slightly desperate. Hands were rolling her over quickly onto her back again.
“You better hope you didn’t hurt her too bad or there’ll be hell to pay!” She was picked up roughly and slung over a broad shoulder. She couldn’t suppress a moan of distress as the running motion caused a sick pain to roll over the back of her head where she had been hit. Wait. Hit?! There was something she needed to do…someone to help her…the black rolled through her again, engulfing the pain into the sweet oblivion of darkness.
The men were already heading down the ladder from her balcony to their waiting van.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max and Isabel watched the stairs as Liz ran up to quickly say goodbye to her father.
“She’ll be alright,” Isabel comforted, noting the worried look on Max’s face.
“You don’t know what he’s like, Isabel.” Max looked down at his knees his fingers playing with the frayed edges of a hole there. He met his sister’s eyes. “He really hates me. The thought of his daughter being with me. And he doesn’t hesitate to pound in his disapproval. It tears her up inside and she’s got enough to worry…oomph!” Max gasped out and grabbed the back of his head. Pain flashed through him in sick waves even as he rose unsteadily from his position on the stair. His feet were pounding upwards before a conscious thought had entered his brain.
“Max! What’s going on?” Isabel’s voice barely registered as he pushed through the front door of the apartment. He staggered, dizzy, before pushing through the living room and down the hallway. Isabel’s hand touched his back, giving her support as she carefully scanned around them.
“Liz?!” Max shouted as he raced down the hall. He checked through the open door to Liz’s parents room and pushed on toward the office. He ran through the doorway and stopped in shock at the sight of Jeff Parker bound and gagged in his office chair. Max scanned the rest of the room and, not seeing Liz, turned on his heel and sprinted for the only room left. He ran through Liz’s old room and his stomach dropped at the sight of the open window, curtains fluttering in the slight breeze. He leaped over the sill and barely caught a glimpse of a windowless silver van racing away down the night-darkened alley.
His grip on the brick wall tightened in fear until it cut through the skin of his palms. He dropped to his knees and vomited violently onto the ground. Too late! Liz is gone and I was too damn late! The sick feeling still raged through him, but he didn’t have time for it.
He made himself stand back up. He needed to find her. Now. He wiped his mouth on his shirt sleeve as he raced back through Liz’s room and out into the living room area trying to think of what to do next. He grabbed the phone and dialed Michael.
“Yeah?”
“Michael! Call Valenti. They got her. They took her away in a silver van. They were heading west.” Max panted, trying to stay coherent enough to give Michael the details he would need as he headed out the front door.
“What the…” Michael got a grip, “How long ago?”
“Just now! Right this minute! I just saw the van leave.” Max was already halfway down the stairs with the cordless phone clutched in his hand. “Call Valenti. Start a search. I’m taking the Jeep and going after them.” Max flipped the phone off and tossed it aside as he ran through the Crashdown.
“Max?” Nancy called after him. The boy had looked…desperate. She glanced back the way he had come and made a swift decision to find out what had happened. She locked the till and headed into the back. “Agnes? I’m heading upstairs. I’ll just be a minute,” she called out as she passed the crotchety old waitress.
“Whatever,” Agnes answered, desultorily waving her order pad over her shoulder.
Nancy ran up the stairs, knowing better than to leave Agnes downstairs alone for too long. She was likely to take a break and leave the customers to fend for themselves!
Nancy took note of the mess the living room was in and shook her head. She wished Jeff had just let her search for those sales figures instead of tearing the house apart looking for them. She walked quickly down the hall and into the office. She gasped in shock as she took in the sight before her.
Isabel Evans was behind Jeff’s office chair working on freeing the knots that tied his arms behind it. She had already removed a gag that was now lying on the ground by his bound feet.
“Jeff! What happened!” Nancy knelt and began working on the knots holding his feet together, but Jeff’s next words stopped her cold.
“They took Liz! Call the police! They hit her on the head and knocked her out and carried her out of here!”
“Max already called Michael and told him to call Valenti,” Isabel rushed to put in. The knot came loose with a little alien intervention and Jeff pulled his arms forward to assist getting his feet free.
“They came in and surprised me. Or I surprised them, I guess. They didn’t expect to see me. They roughed me up a little and asked where Liz was. I didn’t tell them. I said she didn’t live here anymore. I thought they’d leave and give us some time to warn her.” He cradled his head in his hands and Nancy took note of the bruises covering her husband’s face. “Why?” Nancy took him into her arms and Isabel quickly left the room. She needed to call Kyle and Alex and help with the search.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
A low moan escaped her lips and she felt a rocking motion all around her. Nausea rolled sickeningly through her and she breathed deep and swallowed convulsively several times to hold it down.
“She’s coming around,” a man’s voice sounded from the blackness all around her.
Her eyes tried to open, but seemed to be sealed shut. She tried to move her hands to rub them, but found them restricted behind her back. Her situation started to become real to her and she realized that she had been taken. Blindfolded and handcuffed and racing through the night in the back of a vehicle.
“Here, he said to just stick this in her arm,” another voice interjected.
“I’m not gonna do that! You do it,” the first voice sounded panicked.
“Wuss,” a brief shuffling noise. “Get outta the way. We gotta do this before we get in the air.” The second voice drew closer and Liz cringed back in fear. ‘Max!,’ she called out in panic. The sharp prick of a needle pierced her arm. ‘Max! Help! They’ve drugged m…’. She couldn’t even finish the thought before the darkness dragged her under again.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max almost slammed on the brakes when her sweet voice reached him. ‘Liz! I’m here! Where are they taking you?’. The second part of her panicked thought reached him. They’d drugged her! He tried to reach out to her again, attempting to think of the places they would take her. He shook his head and tried again. The place she had occupied just seconds ago was empty. The feeling crawled into the pit of his soul. He raced west down the highway, wondering if they would drive all the way or stop off and hide somewhere.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Hours later
“She’s gone! Where the hell is she?” Max screamed in anguish. They’d been searching Roswell all night and still no sign of Liz. Max sank down into a crouch and pulled his arms over his head, rocking back on his heels, unable to process the depth of his loss.
Michael put a hand on his shoulder and tears filled his eyes as he witnessed the despair of his friend.
“I can’t feel her,” Max confessed brokenly, voice raw and broken.
The admission rocked Michael back on his heels. This was even worse than he’d imagined. If Max couldn’t feel her then maybe she was…
“Do you think they…Is she…” Michael stumbled over the words, not knowing how Max would react to even the suggestion that his love was…
“What?” Max lurched to his feet, grabbing handfuls of Michael’s shirt. “Don’t even think it, Michael! Got that? She’s…she’s not…she can’t be.”
“Yeah, Max. I got it. It’s okay, man.” Michael tried to calm Max down. He placed his hands over Max’s on his shirt.
Max stared at Michael’s hands over his own and suddenly seemed to realize what he was doing. He leaned into Michael and the sobs shook his body as the reality hit him hard. Michael enclosed Max in a supportive hug and just held on as Max soaked his shirt.
“We’ll get her back, Max. I promise.” And Michael knew he would do whatever was in his power to make it happen. Not only for Liz, but because he knew if he lost Liz that Max would not, could not, go on without her.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Liz’s head rolled away from the noxious smell that was under her nose. It seemed to follow her though until she groaned in protest and her eyes fluttered open. She blinked into the bright light that was directly above where she lay and her brain slowly started to offer back the memories of what had taken place that night. She tried to force herself to pay attention to where she was. She noted that she was laying on a hard surface. Metal. She experimentally tried to move her arms and legs, studiously ignoring the pain flaring in the back of her skull where she had been hit. Her brief tugs revealed that her wrists were bound to the sides of the bed and her ankles were secured to the bottom corners. And she was naked. Just like her vision. Panic raced through her and she reached out for Max. Nothing! She couldn’t feel him at all. The place he had occupied in her mind for so many months was sickeningly empty. Terror swamped her when she finally realized that she was on her own here. No one could help her now.
“NO!” She struggled fruitlessly against the bonds that snagged her wrists and ankles. Pain shot through her skin as the metal bit into her tender flesh.
“You’ll only harm yourself,” a cool, patient voice intoned, maddeningly calm in the face of her struggles. His dispassionate gaze roamed over her naked form and he place a proprietary hand just above her knee, squeezing familiarly.
New panic washed over her at her vulnerable position and she froze in fright. She was staked out on the table, completely open and naked and this man could do anything to her. Anything.
His fingers rubbed over the tender skin of her inner thigh and his mouth quirked up in amusement at the fear in her eyes. He leaned in closer and his hot breath caused a wave of nausea to roll sickeningly through her stomach. What did he want from her? Where is Max!? Her eyes jerked away and took in the white walls of the room, the white floor and ceiling, the shiny surface of one wall that she knew, absolutely knew, contained people behind it. Watching them. Watching her.
“Wha…what d-do you want from me?” She stuttered out, swinging her gaze back and forcing herself to meet this man’s eyes levelly. Mud. His eyes were the color of mud, and he looked so…normal. How was it possible that he could look so average? This man who had stolen her away and ripped her from her life? From Max.
“Just some tests. No need to panic,” his voice reflected his satisfaction at her fear and his hand slid up her leg, over her hip and rested against her still flat stomach. He leaned closer, his mouth almost touching her ear. “We know, Liz,” he hissed, his hot breath making her gag.
“Ah ah ah,” he cautioned, watching her gag. “No need for that. We’ll keep you healthy. Don’t you worry. We just want to know about this baby you’re carrying. And about the baby’s father. Pity he’s dead now.” The doctor droned on and shook his head, not noticing the new tears tracking down Liz’s face. Wouldn’t have cared if he had.
Liz felt like she’d been punched in the gut. Totally blindsided. She couldn’t feel Max and now this Dr. Carter; yes, she recognized him from her vision, had confirmed her worst fear. They’d killed Max! She rolled her head to the side and stopped listening, completely shutting down. Her torment would be over sooner than this doctor could imagine. Without Max she and the baby literally could not live. Max! Her silent cry dropped into the emptiness inside her and that’s when she started screaming. Head thrown back, body arched off the table, she cried out her anguish into the unforgiving white glare of the room.
The doctor shook his head and walked out of the room closing the door behind him.
“Would you like us to give her another injection?” His assistant hovered unnecessarily close.
Dr. Carter shook his head. “No. Let her get it all out now. When no one comes rushing in to save her she’ll realize how pointless it is. Besides, we can only give her small doses of the neural inhibitor until we know what kind of affect it has on the baby. We don’t want to find out later that she’s capable of contacting other aliens.”
He stalked down the hall into his office and watched Liz on the monitor for several moments before cutting the sound and moving to lie on the couch he kept there. Better to sleep now, so he would be sharp for what was to come. He almost chuckled in glee. This was too good! His ragtag unit, all that was left after Agent Pierce had come back and completely discredited and disbanded them, would get back in the good graces of the FBI after a case like this. He couldn’t wait to finish this little project and present it to his former superiors. That would put the Special Unit back where they belonged!
TBC
“…hit her so hard! Dr. C is going to have your ass for this!”
Muffled voices rushed past her, escalating her confusion. She couldn’t force her eyes open even when someone pushed her onto her stomach and handcuffed her hands behind her back.
“I didn’t know it was her! How was I supposed to know she’d coming rushing in like that! He said she didn’t live here anymore!” The second voice was raspy and sounded slightly desperate. Hands were rolling her over quickly onto her back again.
“You better hope you didn’t hurt her too bad or there’ll be hell to pay!” She was picked up roughly and slung over a broad shoulder. She couldn’t suppress a moan of distress as the running motion caused a sick pain to roll over the back of her head where she had been hit. Wait. Hit?! There was something she needed to do…someone to help her…the black rolled through her again, engulfing the pain into the sweet oblivion of darkness.
The men were already heading down the ladder from her balcony to their waiting van.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max and Isabel watched the stairs as Liz ran up to quickly say goodbye to her father.
“She’ll be alright,” Isabel comforted, noting the worried look on Max’s face.
“You don’t know what he’s like, Isabel.” Max looked down at his knees his fingers playing with the frayed edges of a hole there. He met his sister’s eyes. “He really hates me. The thought of his daughter being with me. And he doesn’t hesitate to pound in his disapproval. It tears her up inside and she’s got enough to worry…oomph!” Max gasped out and grabbed the back of his head. Pain flashed through him in sick waves even as he rose unsteadily from his position on the stair. His feet were pounding upwards before a conscious thought had entered his brain.
“Max! What’s going on?” Isabel’s voice barely registered as he pushed through the front door of the apartment. He staggered, dizzy, before pushing through the living room and down the hallway. Isabel’s hand touched his back, giving her support as she carefully scanned around them.
“Liz?!” Max shouted as he raced down the hall. He checked through the open door to Liz’s parents room and pushed on toward the office. He ran through the doorway and stopped in shock at the sight of Jeff Parker bound and gagged in his office chair. Max scanned the rest of the room and, not seeing Liz, turned on his heel and sprinted for the only room left. He ran through Liz’s old room and his stomach dropped at the sight of the open window, curtains fluttering in the slight breeze. He leaped over the sill and barely caught a glimpse of a windowless silver van racing away down the night-darkened alley.
His grip on the brick wall tightened in fear until it cut through the skin of his palms. He dropped to his knees and vomited violently onto the ground. Too late! Liz is gone and I was too damn late! The sick feeling still raged through him, but he didn’t have time for it.
He made himself stand back up. He needed to find her. Now. He wiped his mouth on his shirt sleeve as he raced back through Liz’s room and out into the living room area trying to think of what to do next. He grabbed the phone and dialed Michael.
“Yeah?”
“Michael! Call Valenti. They got her. They took her away in a silver van. They were heading west.” Max panted, trying to stay coherent enough to give Michael the details he would need as he headed out the front door.
“What the…” Michael got a grip, “How long ago?”
“Just now! Right this minute! I just saw the van leave.” Max was already halfway down the stairs with the cordless phone clutched in his hand. “Call Valenti. Start a search. I’m taking the Jeep and going after them.” Max flipped the phone off and tossed it aside as he ran through the Crashdown.
“Max?” Nancy called after him. The boy had looked…desperate. She glanced back the way he had come and made a swift decision to find out what had happened. She locked the till and headed into the back. “Agnes? I’m heading upstairs. I’ll just be a minute,” she called out as she passed the crotchety old waitress.
“Whatever,” Agnes answered, desultorily waving her order pad over her shoulder.
Nancy ran up the stairs, knowing better than to leave Agnes downstairs alone for too long. She was likely to take a break and leave the customers to fend for themselves!
Nancy took note of the mess the living room was in and shook her head. She wished Jeff had just let her search for those sales figures instead of tearing the house apart looking for them. She walked quickly down the hall and into the office. She gasped in shock as she took in the sight before her.
Isabel Evans was behind Jeff’s office chair working on freeing the knots that tied his arms behind it. She had already removed a gag that was now lying on the ground by his bound feet.
“Jeff! What happened!” Nancy knelt and began working on the knots holding his feet together, but Jeff’s next words stopped her cold.
“They took Liz! Call the police! They hit her on the head and knocked her out and carried her out of here!”
“Max already called Michael and told him to call Valenti,” Isabel rushed to put in. The knot came loose with a little alien intervention and Jeff pulled his arms forward to assist getting his feet free.
“They came in and surprised me. Or I surprised them, I guess. They didn’t expect to see me. They roughed me up a little and asked where Liz was. I didn’t tell them. I said she didn’t live here anymore. I thought they’d leave and give us some time to warn her.” He cradled his head in his hands and Nancy took note of the bruises covering her husband’s face. “Why?” Nancy took him into her arms and Isabel quickly left the room. She needed to call Kyle and Alex and help with the search.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
A low moan escaped her lips and she felt a rocking motion all around her. Nausea rolled sickeningly through her and she breathed deep and swallowed convulsively several times to hold it down.
“She’s coming around,” a man’s voice sounded from the blackness all around her.
Her eyes tried to open, but seemed to be sealed shut. She tried to move her hands to rub them, but found them restricted behind her back. Her situation started to become real to her and she realized that she had been taken. Blindfolded and handcuffed and racing through the night in the back of a vehicle.
“Here, he said to just stick this in her arm,” another voice interjected.
“I’m not gonna do that! You do it,” the first voice sounded panicked.
“Wuss,” a brief shuffling noise. “Get outta the way. We gotta do this before we get in the air.” The second voice drew closer and Liz cringed back in fear. ‘Max!,’ she called out in panic. The sharp prick of a needle pierced her arm. ‘Max! Help! They’ve drugged m…’. She couldn’t even finish the thought before the darkness dragged her under again.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max almost slammed on the brakes when her sweet voice reached him. ‘Liz! I’m here! Where are they taking you?’. The second part of her panicked thought reached him. They’d drugged her! He tried to reach out to her again, attempting to think of the places they would take her. He shook his head and tried again. The place she had occupied just seconds ago was empty. The feeling crawled into the pit of his soul. He raced west down the highway, wondering if they would drive all the way or stop off and hide somewhere.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Hours later
“She’s gone! Where the hell is she?” Max screamed in anguish. They’d been searching Roswell all night and still no sign of Liz. Max sank down into a crouch and pulled his arms over his head, rocking back on his heels, unable to process the depth of his loss.
Michael put a hand on his shoulder and tears filled his eyes as he witnessed the despair of his friend.
“I can’t feel her,” Max confessed brokenly, voice raw and broken.
The admission rocked Michael back on his heels. This was even worse than he’d imagined. If Max couldn’t feel her then maybe she was…
“Do you think they…Is she…” Michael stumbled over the words, not knowing how Max would react to even the suggestion that his love was…
“What?” Max lurched to his feet, grabbing handfuls of Michael’s shirt. “Don’t even think it, Michael! Got that? She’s…she’s not…she can’t be.”
“Yeah, Max. I got it. It’s okay, man.” Michael tried to calm Max down. He placed his hands over Max’s on his shirt.
Max stared at Michael’s hands over his own and suddenly seemed to realize what he was doing. He leaned into Michael and the sobs shook his body as the reality hit him hard. Michael enclosed Max in a supportive hug and just held on as Max soaked his shirt.
“We’ll get her back, Max. I promise.” And Michael knew he would do whatever was in his power to make it happen. Not only for Liz, but because he knew if he lost Liz that Max would not, could not, go on without her.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Liz’s head rolled away from the noxious smell that was under her nose. It seemed to follow her though until she groaned in protest and her eyes fluttered open. She blinked into the bright light that was directly above where she lay and her brain slowly started to offer back the memories of what had taken place that night. She tried to force herself to pay attention to where she was. She noted that she was laying on a hard surface. Metal. She experimentally tried to move her arms and legs, studiously ignoring the pain flaring in the back of her skull where she had been hit. Her brief tugs revealed that her wrists were bound to the sides of the bed and her ankles were secured to the bottom corners. And she was naked. Just like her vision. Panic raced through her and she reached out for Max. Nothing! She couldn’t feel him at all. The place he had occupied in her mind for so many months was sickeningly empty. Terror swamped her when she finally realized that she was on her own here. No one could help her now.
“NO!” She struggled fruitlessly against the bonds that snagged her wrists and ankles. Pain shot through her skin as the metal bit into her tender flesh.
“You’ll only harm yourself,” a cool, patient voice intoned, maddeningly calm in the face of her struggles. His dispassionate gaze roamed over her naked form and he place a proprietary hand just above her knee, squeezing familiarly.
New panic washed over her at her vulnerable position and she froze in fright. She was staked out on the table, completely open and naked and this man could do anything to her. Anything.
His fingers rubbed over the tender skin of her inner thigh and his mouth quirked up in amusement at the fear in her eyes. He leaned in closer and his hot breath caused a wave of nausea to roll sickeningly through her stomach. What did he want from her? Where is Max!? Her eyes jerked away and took in the white walls of the room, the white floor and ceiling, the shiny surface of one wall that she knew, absolutely knew, contained people behind it. Watching them. Watching her.
“Wha…what d-do you want from me?” She stuttered out, swinging her gaze back and forcing herself to meet this man’s eyes levelly. Mud. His eyes were the color of mud, and he looked so…normal. How was it possible that he could look so average? This man who had stolen her away and ripped her from her life? From Max.
“Just some tests. No need to panic,” his voice reflected his satisfaction at her fear and his hand slid up her leg, over her hip and rested against her still flat stomach. He leaned closer, his mouth almost touching her ear. “We know, Liz,” he hissed, his hot breath making her gag.
“Ah ah ah,” he cautioned, watching her gag. “No need for that. We’ll keep you healthy. Don’t you worry. We just want to know about this baby you’re carrying. And about the baby’s father. Pity he’s dead now.” The doctor droned on and shook his head, not noticing the new tears tracking down Liz’s face. Wouldn’t have cared if he had.
Liz felt like she’d been punched in the gut. Totally blindsided. She couldn’t feel Max and now this Dr. Carter; yes, she recognized him from her vision, had confirmed her worst fear. They’d killed Max! She rolled her head to the side and stopped listening, completely shutting down. Her torment would be over sooner than this doctor could imagine. Without Max she and the baby literally could not live. Max! Her silent cry dropped into the emptiness inside her and that’s when she started screaming. Head thrown back, body arched off the table, she cried out her anguish into the unforgiving white glare of the room.
The doctor shook his head and walked out of the room closing the door behind him.
“Would you like us to give her another injection?” His assistant hovered unnecessarily close.
Dr. Carter shook his head. “No. Let her get it all out now. When no one comes rushing in to save her she’ll realize how pointless it is. Besides, we can only give her small doses of the neural inhibitor until we know what kind of affect it has on the baby. We don’t want to find out later that she’s capable of contacting other aliens.”
He stalked down the hall into his office and watched Liz on the monitor for several moments before cutting the sound and moving to lie on the couch he kept there. Better to sleep now, so he would be sharp for what was to come. He almost chuckled in glee. This was too good! His ragtag unit, all that was left after Agent Pierce had come back and completely discredited and disbanded them, would get back in the good graces of the FBI after a case like this. He couldn’t wait to finish this little project and present it to his former superiors. That would put the Special Unit back where they belonged!
TBC
EYA Part 74
Liz slowly came to the realization that panic wasn’t going to help her situation any. Her screams subsided into hiccupping sobs and she pulled against the bonds that restrained her. She could feel the stranger’s eyes on her and the shame of her nakedness washed over her again, bathing her pale skin a glowing pink. She struggled harder against her bonds, imagining that she could feel the metal braces loosening. She had to think of the baby. If she could get out of here she could still find Michael and he could save her baby…
Her head jerked to the side as Dr. Clark strode purposefully into the room.
“Now, now, Liz, no need to struggle like that. You’re not going anywhere, so you’re only hurting yourself.” He moved one hand over her upper arm and it stopped dangerously close to her breast. He enjoyed the feel of her soft young skin and it wasn’t at all hard to imagine what that alien, Max Evans, had seen in her. He jolted back to the present as he felt Liz renewing her struggles with increased vigor under his hand. His face tightened in anger that she still thought she had some control in this situation.
Methodically he moved around the table and began cinching each one of the restraints until they were more than snug against her pale skin.
Liz whimpered in pain at the increased pressure on her wrists and ankles, but she couldn’t make herself give up the fight.
“Stop struggling or you’ll draw blood,” Dr. Clark threatened. “I’ll keep tightening them until you’re still.”
Liz froze in place, recognizing that it wasn’t an idle threat. “What do you want from me?” Her voice cracked and came out hoarse, but at this point she was glad any sound emerged at all after all the screaming she had done hours earlier when she was first abducted. She clenched her hands into fists hoping to renew the circulation in her fingers. They slowly went numb despite her efforts.
“We want to study you, Liz. We want to find out what you’ve got inside you. We want to study the alien you’re carrying and figure out how a human girl can carry a hybrid baby. We’re going to find out everything you know about the alien you were involved with and what their plot is concerning Earth. And you’re going to stay here until we’re satisfied that you’ve told us the truth.” His words came out cold and unfeeling and Liz knew for a certainty that they would never let her go. His warm hand traveled familiarly up Liz’s exposed thigh and she renewed her struggles. Dr. Clark clamped his hand down hard over her wiggling leg and she knew there would be bruises later. “Do you actually want the restraints tighter, Liz?” She froze again and he straightened up with a satisfied smirk. “I didn’t think so.” He rubbed his hand up over her hip, letting his fingertips linger, before finally leaving the room. Liz turned her head to the side and sobbed silently.
Her skin flushed rosy as her temperature slowly began to rise and she stared at the white light above her, praying for a miracle. It wouldn’t be long now and her torment would be over. Strange, the new things she had to look forward to.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Everyone was staring at Max, expecting him to fall apart. He met each of their gazes defiantly, knowing what they were thinking. What they were waiting for him to accept. He paced around the room some more and shook his head before answering their thoughts.
“She’s not dead.” Max leveled a glare at Isabel, Kyle, and Alex all seated on his parent’s couch together. Their expressions tried to be supportive, but he could tell they thought he was deluding himself. He turned to his parents and Maria and Michael.
“I would know,” he told them simply. Maria stood and hugged him to herself, needing the comfort as much as he did. Tears rolled down Maria’s face, but when she looked at Max she saw that he was dry-eyed. He had shed all the tears he had earlier, and now it was time to come up with a new plan. Alex moved back to the computer and continued hacking into military sites to find all the military bases in use or abandoned within New Mexico and all the neighboring states.
Maria stepped back and rubbed her hands over her eyes briefly before addressing the group. “Max would know. Got it?” Slow nods greeted her announcement. “Liz is alive and we have to find her. Anyone got any more ideas?”
Kyle stood up. “We could check on helicopter traffic and rentals. That kind of thing. Maybe they lifted her out of here?” Phillip was nodding his head and already consulting his laptop to find out who rented helicopters and which areas around Roswell were capable of handling and fuelling ‘copters. Valenti had already taken the Parker’s statements and was driving out to the old site of Max’s kidnapping the previous year, hoping for evidence of renewed activity or clues to the new site.
And the slow, methodical search continued. Max’s stomach was knotted with worry and despair. He could not let himself believe that Liz wouldn’t be back at his side shortly and his mind rebelled at the suggestion that she could be dead. The gnawing emptiness in his mind where she had resided seemed to mock his confident statement that she was still alive, but until he saw with his own eyes…
He paced restlessly some more, waiting impatiently for another lead that would send him out into the early dawn hours again. The fever came upon him in a slow wave and for a moment he stood stock-still, a wave of relief at what this meant nearly buckled his knees and he could barely stand. He laughed involuntarily, a harsh and bitter sound, and Maria looked at him strangely. This was hardly the time for levity and maybe Max was too close to cracking. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the ruddy tone of his skin and she realized what it meant. The chuckles turned into harsh sobs as he sank to the floor and Maria and Isabel rushed to his side. She was alive…but without Max, or even Michael, how long could she last? They had twenty-four hours and they all knew it.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Eight hours later
“What’s wrong with her?” Dr. Clark demanded, rushing into the room and taking in the scene of his people huddled around Liz as her body shook and her temperature rose again.
“Her temp has gone up over 102, Dr. Clark. We don’t know why,” one of the men answered nervously.
“Liz. Liz! Look at me,” Dr. Clark demanded. Liz rolled her head to face him, her eyes glassy and unseeing. “What’s wrong with you, Liz? Is it the baby?”
“The baby,” Liz repeated, lost in the fever. “The baby needs…to be fed.” She barely registered where she was at this point. The fever had raged for hours and her body was no longer satisfied with the ice packs and cold drinks these people foisted on her.
“Fed?” Dr. Clark looked to his associates and found them just as confused as he was. “What does the baby need, Liz? What does it eat?”
“Max’s sperm. We need Ma…,” her fevered rambling cut off abruptly as she realized what she had said. She wasn’t going to tell them anything about Max, even if he was…gone. She choked on a sob and shook her head. “We don’t need anything. Go away.” She closed her eyes and lost herself to the darkness waiting for her. Infinitely preferable to what was waiting for her here.
“Max’s sperm?” Dr. Clark looked at everyone around him in confusion. “I thought Max was dead?”
Liz writhed on the table and her blood pressure dropped alarmingly. “Dr. Clark? We need to do something now. She’s not going to make it through the day if we…”
“How long? How long has this been going on?” Dr. Clark demanded. He’d turned off the monitor and gone to sleep for eight solid hours on his office couch.
“About eight hours now, Doctor,” the technician answered quickly.
Dr. Clark whirled on the man, shoving him back into a wall with a casual push. “And did you not think this was important enough to wake me up about?” His tone was calm, too calm. Quietly menacing and that did not bode well for the unlucky recipient.
The technician began to stutter, “We d...d...didn’t kn...know what it was. We thought it was a reaction to the the neural inh...inhibitors and we were going to wait for them to wear off. B…but it’s only gotten worse, sir.” Dr. Clark let his hand drop and the technician slid sideways and quickly away to stand behind the other doctor in the room.
“What was it she said she needed?” Dr. Clark demanded, snapping his fingers for a quick answer.
“Sperm,” Dr. Neri answered quickly. “Max’s sperm.”
“Alien sperm,” Dr. Clark mused, his mind clicking a mile a minute. “Maybe that’s how she’s maintained the pregnancy.” He paced back and forth restlessly.
“If Max Evans died when our contact said he did then how was she able to maintain the pregnancy? Unless she doesn’t need to do it that often…” he whirled back to the technician. “Find out what you can about Max Evans’ death. If he’s not really dead then I want him brought here ASAP. I can’t even begin all the tests until Liz is back to normal. I will not let this set back our research! Send the muscle that brought her here back to Roswell immediately.”
“Uh, Dr. Clark?” Dr. Neri interrupted nervously.
“What?”
“Um, I seem to recall that we had retained some physical material from our previous detention of Maxwell Evans and it did include sperm samples.”
Dr. Clark began to smile remembering the file he had reviewed on Max Evans after they had received the call that he had impregnated a human. “Yes. You’re absolutely right.” The evil grin spread further as he snapped at the other technician to retrieve the samples out of their frozen storage. The techie rushed to obey, glad to be out of imminent danger. “Yes,” he hissed out as recollection made him smile again, “Agent Pierce was very thorough, in his research, wouldn’t you say?”
Dr. Neri nodded nervously. “Yes, sir, I believe he took three separate samples during the time of Maxwell’s detention,” he affirmed quickly.
“Very good. Very good,” Dr. Clark chuckled again, rubbing his hands together. His cell phone rang as he stalked out of the room, surprising him. The only people that had this number were already here with him except… “Hello?…Tess! Did you know that Liz needs Max Evans’ sperm to maintain her pregnancy?…I know you said he’s dead…we don’t know how often…I happen to have a few samples here in the lab from last year when…What? I’m not giving you any of the…You, bitch! You can’t expose us now!…Fine! Where do you want me to send it?” He grabbed a notepad and scribbled furiously. He’d deal with her personally after they were reestablished with the FBI.
TBC
Liz slowly came to the realization that panic wasn’t going to help her situation any. Her screams subsided into hiccupping sobs and she pulled against the bonds that restrained her. She could feel the stranger’s eyes on her and the shame of her nakedness washed over her again, bathing her pale skin a glowing pink. She struggled harder against her bonds, imagining that she could feel the metal braces loosening. She had to think of the baby. If she could get out of here she could still find Michael and he could save her baby…
Her head jerked to the side as Dr. Clark strode purposefully into the room.
“Now, now, Liz, no need to struggle like that. You’re not going anywhere, so you’re only hurting yourself.” He moved one hand over her upper arm and it stopped dangerously close to her breast. He enjoyed the feel of her soft young skin and it wasn’t at all hard to imagine what that alien, Max Evans, had seen in her. He jolted back to the present as he felt Liz renewing her struggles with increased vigor under his hand. His face tightened in anger that she still thought she had some control in this situation.
Methodically he moved around the table and began cinching each one of the restraints until they were more than snug against her pale skin.
Liz whimpered in pain at the increased pressure on her wrists and ankles, but she couldn’t make herself give up the fight.
“Stop struggling or you’ll draw blood,” Dr. Clark threatened. “I’ll keep tightening them until you’re still.”
Liz froze in place, recognizing that it wasn’t an idle threat. “What do you want from me?” Her voice cracked and came out hoarse, but at this point she was glad any sound emerged at all after all the screaming she had done hours earlier when she was first abducted. She clenched her hands into fists hoping to renew the circulation in her fingers. They slowly went numb despite her efforts.
“We want to study you, Liz. We want to find out what you’ve got inside you. We want to study the alien you’re carrying and figure out how a human girl can carry a hybrid baby. We’re going to find out everything you know about the alien you were involved with and what their plot is concerning Earth. And you’re going to stay here until we’re satisfied that you’ve told us the truth.” His words came out cold and unfeeling and Liz knew for a certainty that they would never let her go. His warm hand traveled familiarly up Liz’s exposed thigh and she renewed her struggles. Dr. Clark clamped his hand down hard over her wiggling leg and she knew there would be bruises later. “Do you actually want the restraints tighter, Liz?” She froze again and he straightened up with a satisfied smirk. “I didn’t think so.” He rubbed his hand up over her hip, letting his fingertips linger, before finally leaving the room. Liz turned her head to the side and sobbed silently.
Her skin flushed rosy as her temperature slowly began to rise and she stared at the white light above her, praying for a miracle. It wouldn’t be long now and her torment would be over. Strange, the new things she had to look forward to.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Everyone was staring at Max, expecting him to fall apart. He met each of their gazes defiantly, knowing what they were thinking. What they were waiting for him to accept. He paced around the room some more and shook his head before answering their thoughts.
“She’s not dead.” Max leveled a glare at Isabel, Kyle, and Alex all seated on his parent’s couch together. Their expressions tried to be supportive, but he could tell they thought he was deluding himself. He turned to his parents and Maria and Michael.
“I would know,” he told them simply. Maria stood and hugged him to herself, needing the comfort as much as he did. Tears rolled down Maria’s face, but when she looked at Max she saw that he was dry-eyed. He had shed all the tears he had earlier, and now it was time to come up with a new plan. Alex moved back to the computer and continued hacking into military sites to find all the military bases in use or abandoned within New Mexico and all the neighboring states.
Maria stepped back and rubbed her hands over her eyes briefly before addressing the group. “Max would know. Got it?” Slow nods greeted her announcement. “Liz is alive and we have to find her. Anyone got any more ideas?”
Kyle stood up. “We could check on helicopter traffic and rentals. That kind of thing. Maybe they lifted her out of here?” Phillip was nodding his head and already consulting his laptop to find out who rented helicopters and which areas around Roswell were capable of handling and fuelling ‘copters. Valenti had already taken the Parker’s statements and was driving out to the old site of Max’s kidnapping the previous year, hoping for evidence of renewed activity or clues to the new site.
And the slow, methodical search continued. Max’s stomach was knotted with worry and despair. He could not let himself believe that Liz wouldn’t be back at his side shortly and his mind rebelled at the suggestion that she could be dead. The gnawing emptiness in his mind where she had resided seemed to mock his confident statement that she was still alive, but until he saw with his own eyes…
He paced restlessly some more, waiting impatiently for another lead that would send him out into the early dawn hours again. The fever came upon him in a slow wave and for a moment he stood stock-still, a wave of relief at what this meant nearly buckled his knees and he could barely stand. He laughed involuntarily, a harsh and bitter sound, and Maria looked at him strangely. This was hardly the time for levity and maybe Max was too close to cracking. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the ruddy tone of his skin and she realized what it meant. The chuckles turned into harsh sobs as he sank to the floor and Maria and Isabel rushed to his side. She was alive…but without Max, or even Michael, how long could she last? They had twenty-four hours and they all knew it.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Eight hours later
“What’s wrong with her?” Dr. Clark demanded, rushing into the room and taking in the scene of his people huddled around Liz as her body shook and her temperature rose again.
“Her temp has gone up over 102, Dr. Clark. We don’t know why,” one of the men answered nervously.
“Liz. Liz! Look at me,” Dr. Clark demanded. Liz rolled her head to face him, her eyes glassy and unseeing. “What’s wrong with you, Liz? Is it the baby?”
“The baby,” Liz repeated, lost in the fever. “The baby needs…to be fed.” She barely registered where she was at this point. The fever had raged for hours and her body was no longer satisfied with the ice packs and cold drinks these people foisted on her.
“Fed?” Dr. Clark looked to his associates and found them just as confused as he was. “What does the baby need, Liz? What does it eat?”
“Max’s sperm. We need Ma…,” her fevered rambling cut off abruptly as she realized what she had said. She wasn’t going to tell them anything about Max, even if he was…gone. She choked on a sob and shook her head. “We don’t need anything. Go away.” She closed her eyes and lost herself to the darkness waiting for her. Infinitely preferable to what was waiting for her here.
“Max’s sperm?” Dr. Clark looked at everyone around him in confusion. “I thought Max was dead?”
Liz writhed on the table and her blood pressure dropped alarmingly. “Dr. Clark? We need to do something now. She’s not going to make it through the day if we…”
“How long? How long has this been going on?” Dr. Clark demanded. He’d turned off the monitor and gone to sleep for eight solid hours on his office couch.
“About eight hours now, Doctor,” the technician answered quickly.
Dr. Clark whirled on the man, shoving him back into a wall with a casual push. “And did you not think this was important enough to wake me up about?” His tone was calm, too calm. Quietly menacing and that did not bode well for the unlucky recipient.
The technician began to stutter, “We d...d...didn’t kn...know what it was. We thought it was a reaction to the the neural inh...inhibitors and we were going to wait for them to wear off. B…but it’s only gotten worse, sir.” Dr. Clark let his hand drop and the technician slid sideways and quickly away to stand behind the other doctor in the room.
“What was it she said she needed?” Dr. Clark demanded, snapping his fingers for a quick answer.
“Sperm,” Dr. Neri answered quickly. “Max’s sperm.”
“Alien sperm,” Dr. Clark mused, his mind clicking a mile a minute. “Maybe that’s how she’s maintained the pregnancy.” He paced back and forth restlessly.
“If Max Evans died when our contact said he did then how was she able to maintain the pregnancy? Unless she doesn’t need to do it that often…” he whirled back to the technician. “Find out what you can about Max Evans’ death. If he’s not really dead then I want him brought here ASAP. I can’t even begin all the tests until Liz is back to normal. I will not let this set back our research! Send the muscle that brought her here back to Roswell immediately.”
“Uh, Dr. Clark?” Dr. Neri interrupted nervously.
“What?”
“Um, I seem to recall that we had retained some physical material from our previous detention of Maxwell Evans and it did include sperm samples.”
Dr. Clark began to smile remembering the file he had reviewed on Max Evans after they had received the call that he had impregnated a human. “Yes. You’re absolutely right.” The evil grin spread further as he snapped at the other technician to retrieve the samples out of their frozen storage. The techie rushed to obey, glad to be out of imminent danger. “Yes,” he hissed out as recollection made him smile again, “Agent Pierce was very thorough, in his research, wouldn’t you say?”
Dr. Neri nodded nervously. “Yes, sir, I believe he took three separate samples during the time of Maxwell’s detention,” he affirmed quickly.
“Very good. Very good,” Dr. Clark chuckled again, rubbing his hands together. His cell phone rang as he stalked out of the room, surprising him. The only people that had this number were already here with him except… “Hello?…Tess! Did you know that Liz needs Max Evans’ sperm to maintain her pregnancy?…I know you said he’s dead…we don’t know how often…I happen to have a few samples here in the lab from last year when…What? I’m not giving you any of the…You, bitch! You can’t expose us now!…Fine! Where do you want me to send it?” He grabbed a notepad and scribbled furiously. He’d deal with her personally after they were reestablished with the FBI.
TBC
EYA Part 75
Maria exchanged a worried look with Isabel and Diane. They had spent the entire day trying to get the boys as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. Max was practically delirious, mumbling incoherently with only an occasional ‘Liz’ or ‘gone’ making itself understood. His heart was clearly breaking and he’d never felt so helpless, so powerless, in his entire life. His brain was awash with the horrifying images of what they could be doing to her and of what they had already done to him.
Isabel shrugged her shoulders helplessly in an ‘I don’t know what else we can do’ gesture that echoed Maria’s thoughts exactly. It had been ten hours since the fever had started and three hours since their last hope was crushed when Valenti had reported back that there was no activity at the site of Max’s original kidnapping and no hint as to a new location. Isabel, who had taken the call, couldn’t hide the defeated expression on her face fast enough for Max not to catch it, and that’s when he collapsed across his bed and refused to let anyone touch him.
He writhed there in misery, his mind dredging up horrors and racing for any possibility of a place to start the search. He would do anything, give up anything, to make sure she was safe, and the fact that he was denied the option to even try to search was more crushing than he could bear.
“I’ve brought more ice,” Diane huffed as she struggled in the door with five large bags of ice cubes.
Maria grabbed two bags out of her hands and dropped them on the kitchen counter, already ripping one open. “Good. Michael’s up to 106 and we can’t get close enough to Max to take his temperature, but he looks like he’s even worse.” Maria scooped handfuls of the ice into large zip lock bags and sealed them closed. Diane’s worried eyes widened as she heard the new temperature and she grabbed two of the prepared bags from Maria.
“Max will just have to deal with his mother then,” she threw over her shoulder as she made her way determinedly into Max’s room. She stopped still in the doorway at the sight that greeted her. Max’s eyes were closed and his bare chest heaved in labored breaths of air. His skin was flushed rosy and dripping with sweat. He lay on his side, his arms and legs curled up into his body protectively, closed in on himself, trembling uncontrollably. And despite the sweat that glistened all over his body Diane knew those were tear tracks that dripped down from eyes that were closed in denial against the pain of his loss. She shook herself out of her reverie and crossed the room to his bed.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Maria’s eyes followed Diane’s progress into Max’s room and she silently prayed he would allow her to ease his discomfort. She hefted the two new bags of ice and made her way to the couch where Michael was attempting to sit up.
“Take it easy there, Michael,” Maria instructed, handing him one of the bags and using her free hand to try to ease him back down. Michael resisted even as he clutched the sofa arm to try to hold himself upright.
“I gotta see how Max is doing,” Michael insisted, using the sofa to try to leverage himself to his feet.
“Oh no you don’t, Michael,” Maria insisted, pushing him back down. “He hasn’t let anyone near him in three hours and Diane’s finally had enough. She just went in there a minute ago and I think he’s too out of it to protest right now, so let her do what she can. You need to rest too.” She firmly pushed him back down onto the cushion and he grimaced at the wet feel of the cloth-covered sofa. He put the bag of ice he was clutching behind his neck and upper back and hissed at the shock of welcome cold that stung his over-heated flesh. Maria sighed in relief at his apparent cooperation, knowing it was probably only temporary. She ran her bag of ice up over his calves and thighs hoping it would ease his discomfort to some small degree.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Where the hell is it?” Dr. Clark was in no mood for further delays. Liz had been in a dizzy fever, incoherent and rambling for the last two hours since he had ordered his technician to get the sample ready. The fever had gone on for a total of ten hours now. The technician cowered back in fear at the anger apparent in Dr. Clark’s enraged expression. He’d once seen Dr. Clark cold-bloodedly shoot a man in their old unit who had disagreed with him about his belief that they would one day be officially a part of the FBI again.
“Well?” Dr. Clark made a menacing move toward the tech, causing him to take a stumbling step back into the lab table and almost knock the precious sample over the edge. He turned just in time and with trembling hands caught the glass beaker before it could tip and fall to the floor.
“It’s almost ready, sir,” the tech mumbled out, breathing heavy and trying hard not to stutter.
“Almost? What does it take to get one sample ready?” Dr. Carter was advancing on him and the tech couldn’t back up any further. He dragged in a huge breath and braved on.
“We had to defrost it slowly so as not to kill anything in…inside the sample that may be a necessity to…to s…stop the fe…fever, sir,” he stuttered out quickly.
Dr. Clark raked a hand through his hair and turned his attention back to the window that clearly revealed a sweat soaked Liz lying limp on the table. She wasn’t even straining against her bonds anymore and he wondered idly if she was even conscious at this point. “When?” He snapped out impatiently, slanting a glare back at the tech who had turned back to the table and was carefully pouring the opaque fluid into a bulky plastic syringe.
He turned triumphantly back to the doctor and held out the syringe. “Now,” he answered, quickly handing it over to Dr. Clark.
“About damn time,” he muttered impatiently as his hand hit the door and he stomped out into the corridor that led to Liz’s room.
“I’m sorry,” a small voice startled the tech into whirling around so quickly he almost fell. He grabbed the side of the table again and sighed in relief when he found the owner of the voice.
“Nothing you could do anyway,” he tried to smile for the young physicist who had come in the side door. “That’s just the way he is.” He heard her sigh as she walked further into the room and stopped by his side.
“I know. I just wish I could…” she sighed again in defeat, her hand raised, almost touching the glass.
“It’s not your fault,” he said softly, resisting the urge to put a comforting arm over her shoulders as they turned to observe the activity in Liz’s room.
She sighed again and willed herself not to close her eyes against what she saw. It wasn’t her fault Dr. Clark was her father.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Liiiz!” A voice taunted her, sing-songing and detestable. She turned her head away from the sound, making a mewling noise of protest as a large rough hand pulled on the inside of her thigh.
“Max is here,” Dr. Clark taunted softly. He laughed softly as he saw her try to open her eyes and fail. Her whole body went from deathly still to restless movement and he chuckled at the power he held. He used one hand to prod her sensitive opening and quickly shoved the plastic syringe deep inside her.
“Ma…? Ahhhh!” Liz screamed out in sudden pain. Why would Max be so rough with her? Her nostrils flared as she sucked in a deep breath. Something was wrong. So, so wrong. She couldn’t sense him, she couldn’t smell him. No way he was here. What kind of game were they playing? She felt a wet spurt inside her and almost instant relief of the heavy fever that had overtaken her. Only one thing could make her fever go away. She struggled to overcome her fatigue and open her eyes. A door slammed loudly and when she looked around in groggy confusion she was alone in the room. Had Max actually been here? She lay her head back and stared at the ceiling. One hundred and thirty seven tiles. One hundred and fifty eight is you added together the half tiles used along the edges. Her eyes remained dry. She’d cried and sweated out all the tears she had inside her. What had they done to her?
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Liiiz! Nooo!”Max screamed out in anguish sitting up in a lightening fast move on the bed. Diane scooted away from him quickly so she wouldn’t get inadvertently knocked over with Max’s wild movement. Her startled eyes darted to the entry as Michael staggered into the doorway and leaned there pathetically as his eyes met Max’s. They both looked devastated and that scared her more than anything else so far.
Maria and Isabel ran up behind Michael and Maria scooted past him into the room, stopping midway between Max and Michael. Her eyes darted between them in trepidation as she tried to still her heart rate. “What?”
Michael staggered further into the room and collapsed onto the bed beside Max, pulling the broken man into his arms. Max leaned into Michael heavily, his arms dangling at his sides and his shoulders shook with the force of his sobs “Michael, I can’t…I can’t breathe…I can’t breathe without her.” Michael held Max closer to his chest and felt the breath hitch in his own throat before he attempted to address their anxious audience.
Diane stood quickly and held Maria’s arm beckoning Isabel to join them, still not sure she knew what was going on, but knowing they would need the support.
Michael raised his head from Max’s shaking shoulder and said simply, “The fever is gone.”
Isabel and Maria whimpered softly and finally let themselves cry, turning into Diane’s arms as she stood staring, shocked and scared, at her broken son.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
She stared through the glass at the small naked form shivering in fear on the table. She straightened her shoulders. She was going to ask.
“Shouldn’t we at least give her a blanket?”
“Your heart is too soft,” Dr. Clark scoffed. His daughter was a brilliant physicist, literally a child prodigy, but he despaired that she would ever be able to detach herself from her subject. That’s why he had taken her under his wing after she graduated top of her class at nineteen last month with a master’s degree in physics. He took in her cinnamon colored hair, neatly tucked into a bun and the pale skin that spoke of hours indoors studying to be the best, her white lab coat covered a slender frame that belied her true strength. She was beautiful, but he’d rather she was successful at his life’s work. She’d shown such promise as a child and he’d pushed her hard all her life to be the best at everything she did, but if she couldn’t get over her propensity for saving the underdog…well, he’d have to find a new place for her.
He tried another tack, not liking to put the hurt look in her dark blue eyes. “We have to run more tests, a blanket would be in the way.”
She nodded her acceptance. “I’ve got to get to work,” she stated as she turned away from him, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes. She knew she’d messed up again. Not met his expectations. It had taken a lot to work up the courage to ask him about the blanket, but she’d felt it was important. She’d keep her mouth shut next time. She sat down at her computer where everything made sense and she’d never disappoint anybody. She always found the solutions to life’s mysteries and this wouldn’t be any exception. She needed to figure out if there was anything special about Max Evans’ sperm. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she rapidly typed in the data they’d already extracted from the remaining two samples. Her mind shied away from thinking about how those samples must have been obtained, and what they meant to the girl behind the glass.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Liz tried to will her mind away from what they were doing to her body. She was beginning to lose her will to hang on, but then she would remember Zan, safely nestled inside her, completely dependant on her for his survival. If there was any possibility of escape, any hope at all that Max was alive or that Michael would be able to find her and get her out…then she had to remain alive and bear whatever they had planned for her. She winced as she felt blunt fingers probing inside her body and tried not to remember that the only other person who had ever touched her there was Max. Max with his long, strong fingered hands and gentle touch. Not like this impersonal poking and prodding. Cells were scraped from inside her body and she gasped at the pain.
Dr. Clark dropped the sample into a jar and sealed the lid. He hands moved over the instruments on the table. They’d already taken blood, saliva, sweat, skin cells, urine, feces, and cervical cells. He picked up a wand-like object and one of the two techs wheeled over a monitor. Time to take a look at the baby. He lubricated the wand and inserted it into Liz’s vagina, ignoring her gasp of surprise and the protesting jolt of her hips. He casually pinned her hip to the table with one large hand and felt her go still under his touch instantly. He smiled grimly. He knew his touch repelled her. That was part of the power that made this so exciting. He let his hand linger there and allowed the tech to turn on the monitor while he twisted the vaginal ultrasound device inside of her.
Liz heard a rhythmic thumping sound and realized with a start that it was Zan’s heartbeat. She closed her eyes and tears slipped silently down her face dampening her hair. The monitor was turned away from her. They didn’t care if she could see the baby or not, but she could hear him. It was so real. Her urge to protect him was visceral. The neural inhibitors prevented a connection between her and the baby and the loss had been deafening. This sound, this steady thump, thump, thump was all it took to renew her faith that she would get out of here no matter what it took.
“This can’t be,” Dr. Clark exclaimed in wonder. “Do you see that?” He turned to Dr. Neri. The other doctor was already shaking his head.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he concurred.
“The development is beyond anything I’ve ever seen for a baby of this size!” He turned to Liz. “How far along are you?” Liz turned her head further to the side and remained resolutely silent, eyes closed and her lips pressed shut in defiance.
Dr. Clark’s face suffused in color to an angry red. How dare this little whore think she still had any power. He brutally prodded her inside with the vaginal ultrasound wand and she gasped a pained breath, her eyes flying to his. “How. Far. Along. Liz?” His tone was menacing and promised a lot more discomfort is she didn’t answer right away and his grip on her hip tightened until she knew she would have bruises.
“Three and a half months,” she gritted out between clenched teeth. Dr. Clark turned back to Dr. Neri, already dismissing how he had extracted the information from Liz.
“I want to do an amniocentesis next,” he declared. He pulled out the instrument and lay it carelessly on a table, not noticing the traces of blood it was now smeared with.
Liz flushed hotly, scared for the safety of her child. She struggled wildly against her restraints until Dr. Carter got impatient and motioned for one of the techs to inject her with the neural inhibitor that would destroy her resistance. The needle pricked into the sensitive skin of her arm and her eyes rolled back. Her body started to tremble and her skin flushed all over. No! Nonononono!! The fever was back.
“What the…!” Dr. Carter turned back from the monitor that was tracking Liz’s vital signs and stared at Dr. Neri. “The fever’s back again.” He abruptly stood and left the room. He grabbed a chart in the observation room and noted the time. It had been only six hours since they had injected her with sperm. “Get another sample ready,” he snapped out at the second tech. The guy nodded and got to work.
“It’ll be ready in two hours,” he stated confidently, already retrieving the next frozen sample.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max and Michael remained wrapped together on Max’s bed for hours as the shock of their loss, and their people’s loss, washed over them. Isabel had joined them and the three embraced as if they would never let go. An occasional shudder and soft sob would escape and none of their observers could tell who it came from.
Maria, Kyle, Alex, Phillip, and Diane all sat around the room wishing they could do something, anything, to alleviate the pain that was pulsing over the three on the bed. Diane twisted her fingers together and sent countless silent prayers to the heavens that her son would be strong enough to survive the death of his love. Maria eventually fell asleep sprawled across Kyle and Alex and they leaned back against the wall shoulders touching, just needing the contact of friends and the reassurance that they weren’t alone in this.
The sun had gone down a long time ago and the only light in the room was what washed through from the open doorway. It was past midnight, but no one wanted to move. No one knew what to do once they all stepped out of the room again. So they all remained. Locked together in shared misery.
Max gasped in a loud breath and abruptly struggled to sit up, extricating himself from the huddle of arms and bodies surrounding him.
“Max? Wha…” Michael reached out to pull Max back to him again, concerned anew for his friend. His fingers met flesh heated with fever. His eyes widened in shock. “Oh my God!” His exclamation had everyone clambering to their feet and surrounding the bed.
“Max has a fever!” His smile was tremulous. It was impossible, but true!
Max looked around the room, his eyes sunken and his posture slumped over, but as he felt the familiar fever and desire wash over him a smile of pure joy spread across his face.
“Liz is still alive!”
TBC
Maria exchanged a worried look with Isabel and Diane. They had spent the entire day trying to get the boys as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. Max was practically delirious, mumbling incoherently with only an occasional ‘Liz’ or ‘gone’ making itself understood. His heart was clearly breaking and he’d never felt so helpless, so powerless, in his entire life. His brain was awash with the horrifying images of what they could be doing to her and of what they had already done to him.
Isabel shrugged her shoulders helplessly in an ‘I don’t know what else we can do’ gesture that echoed Maria’s thoughts exactly. It had been ten hours since the fever had started and three hours since their last hope was crushed when Valenti had reported back that there was no activity at the site of Max’s original kidnapping and no hint as to a new location. Isabel, who had taken the call, couldn’t hide the defeated expression on her face fast enough for Max not to catch it, and that’s when he collapsed across his bed and refused to let anyone touch him.
He writhed there in misery, his mind dredging up horrors and racing for any possibility of a place to start the search. He would do anything, give up anything, to make sure she was safe, and the fact that he was denied the option to even try to search was more crushing than he could bear.
“I’ve brought more ice,” Diane huffed as she struggled in the door with five large bags of ice cubes.
Maria grabbed two bags out of her hands and dropped them on the kitchen counter, already ripping one open. “Good. Michael’s up to 106 and we can’t get close enough to Max to take his temperature, but he looks like he’s even worse.” Maria scooped handfuls of the ice into large zip lock bags and sealed them closed. Diane’s worried eyes widened as she heard the new temperature and she grabbed two of the prepared bags from Maria.
“Max will just have to deal with his mother then,” she threw over her shoulder as she made her way determinedly into Max’s room. She stopped still in the doorway at the sight that greeted her. Max’s eyes were closed and his bare chest heaved in labored breaths of air. His skin was flushed rosy and dripping with sweat. He lay on his side, his arms and legs curled up into his body protectively, closed in on himself, trembling uncontrollably. And despite the sweat that glistened all over his body Diane knew those were tear tracks that dripped down from eyes that were closed in denial against the pain of his loss. She shook herself out of her reverie and crossed the room to his bed.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Maria’s eyes followed Diane’s progress into Max’s room and she silently prayed he would allow her to ease his discomfort. She hefted the two new bags of ice and made her way to the couch where Michael was attempting to sit up.
“Take it easy there, Michael,” Maria instructed, handing him one of the bags and using her free hand to try to ease him back down. Michael resisted even as he clutched the sofa arm to try to hold himself upright.
“I gotta see how Max is doing,” Michael insisted, using the sofa to try to leverage himself to his feet.
“Oh no you don’t, Michael,” Maria insisted, pushing him back down. “He hasn’t let anyone near him in three hours and Diane’s finally had enough. She just went in there a minute ago and I think he’s too out of it to protest right now, so let her do what she can. You need to rest too.” She firmly pushed him back down onto the cushion and he grimaced at the wet feel of the cloth-covered sofa. He put the bag of ice he was clutching behind his neck and upper back and hissed at the shock of welcome cold that stung his over-heated flesh. Maria sighed in relief at his apparent cooperation, knowing it was probably only temporary. She ran her bag of ice up over his calves and thighs hoping it would ease his discomfort to some small degree.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Where the hell is it?” Dr. Clark was in no mood for further delays. Liz had been in a dizzy fever, incoherent and rambling for the last two hours since he had ordered his technician to get the sample ready. The fever had gone on for a total of ten hours now. The technician cowered back in fear at the anger apparent in Dr. Clark’s enraged expression. He’d once seen Dr. Clark cold-bloodedly shoot a man in their old unit who had disagreed with him about his belief that they would one day be officially a part of the FBI again.
“Well?” Dr. Clark made a menacing move toward the tech, causing him to take a stumbling step back into the lab table and almost knock the precious sample over the edge. He turned just in time and with trembling hands caught the glass beaker before it could tip and fall to the floor.
“It’s almost ready, sir,” the tech mumbled out, breathing heavy and trying hard not to stutter.
“Almost? What does it take to get one sample ready?” Dr. Carter was advancing on him and the tech couldn’t back up any further. He dragged in a huge breath and braved on.
“We had to defrost it slowly so as not to kill anything in…inside the sample that may be a necessity to…to s…stop the fe…fever, sir,” he stuttered out quickly.
Dr. Clark raked a hand through his hair and turned his attention back to the window that clearly revealed a sweat soaked Liz lying limp on the table. She wasn’t even straining against her bonds anymore and he wondered idly if she was even conscious at this point. “When?” He snapped out impatiently, slanting a glare back at the tech who had turned back to the table and was carefully pouring the opaque fluid into a bulky plastic syringe.
He turned triumphantly back to the doctor and held out the syringe. “Now,” he answered, quickly handing it over to Dr. Clark.
“About damn time,” he muttered impatiently as his hand hit the door and he stomped out into the corridor that led to Liz’s room.
“I’m sorry,” a small voice startled the tech into whirling around so quickly he almost fell. He grabbed the side of the table again and sighed in relief when he found the owner of the voice.
“Nothing you could do anyway,” he tried to smile for the young physicist who had come in the side door. “That’s just the way he is.” He heard her sigh as she walked further into the room and stopped by his side.
“I know. I just wish I could…” she sighed again in defeat, her hand raised, almost touching the glass.
“It’s not your fault,” he said softly, resisting the urge to put a comforting arm over her shoulders as they turned to observe the activity in Liz’s room.
She sighed again and willed herself not to close her eyes against what she saw. It wasn’t her fault Dr. Clark was her father.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Liiiz!” A voice taunted her, sing-songing and detestable. She turned her head away from the sound, making a mewling noise of protest as a large rough hand pulled on the inside of her thigh.
“Max is here,” Dr. Clark taunted softly. He laughed softly as he saw her try to open her eyes and fail. Her whole body went from deathly still to restless movement and he chuckled at the power he held. He used one hand to prod her sensitive opening and quickly shoved the plastic syringe deep inside her.
“Ma…? Ahhhh!” Liz screamed out in sudden pain. Why would Max be so rough with her? Her nostrils flared as she sucked in a deep breath. Something was wrong. So, so wrong. She couldn’t sense him, she couldn’t smell him. No way he was here. What kind of game were they playing? She felt a wet spurt inside her and almost instant relief of the heavy fever that had overtaken her. Only one thing could make her fever go away. She struggled to overcome her fatigue and open her eyes. A door slammed loudly and when she looked around in groggy confusion she was alone in the room. Had Max actually been here? She lay her head back and stared at the ceiling. One hundred and thirty seven tiles. One hundred and fifty eight is you added together the half tiles used along the edges. Her eyes remained dry. She’d cried and sweated out all the tears she had inside her. What had they done to her?
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Liiiz! Nooo!”Max screamed out in anguish sitting up in a lightening fast move on the bed. Diane scooted away from him quickly so she wouldn’t get inadvertently knocked over with Max’s wild movement. Her startled eyes darted to the entry as Michael staggered into the doorway and leaned there pathetically as his eyes met Max’s. They both looked devastated and that scared her more than anything else so far.
Maria and Isabel ran up behind Michael and Maria scooted past him into the room, stopping midway between Max and Michael. Her eyes darted between them in trepidation as she tried to still her heart rate. “What?”
Michael staggered further into the room and collapsed onto the bed beside Max, pulling the broken man into his arms. Max leaned into Michael heavily, his arms dangling at his sides and his shoulders shook with the force of his sobs “Michael, I can’t…I can’t breathe…I can’t breathe without her.” Michael held Max closer to his chest and felt the breath hitch in his own throat before he attempted to address their anxious audience.
Diane stood quickly and held Maria’s arm beckoning Isabel to join them, still not sure she knew what was going on, but knowing they would need the support.
Michael raised his head from Max’s shaking shoulder and said simply, “The fever is gone.”
Isabel and Maria whimpered softly and finally let themselves cry, turning into Diane’s arms as she stood staring, shocked and scared, at her broken son.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
She stared through the glass at the small naked form shivering in fear on the table. She straightened her shoulders. She was going to ask.
“Shouldn’t we at least give her a blanket?”
“Your heart is too soft,” Dr. Clark scoffed. His daughter was a brilliant physicist, literally a child prodigy, but he despaired that she would ever be able to detach herself from her subject. That’s why he had taken her under his wing after she graduated top of her class at nineteen last month with a master’s degree in physics. He took in her cinnamon colored hair, neatly tucked into a bun and the pale skin that spoke of hours indoors studying to be the best, her white lab coat covered a slender frame that belied her true strength. She was beautiful, but he’d rather she was successful at his life’s work. She’d shown such promise as a child and he’d pushed her hard all her life to be the best at everything she did, but if she couldn’t get over her propensity for saving the underdog…well, he’d have to find a new place for her.
He tried another tack, not liking to put the hurt look in her dark blue eyes. “We have to run more tests, a blanket would be in the way.”
She nodded her acceptance. “I’ve got to get to work,” she stated as she turned away from him, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes. She knew she’d messed up again. Not met his expectations. It had taken a lot to work up the courage to ask him about the blanket, but she’d felt it was important. She’d keep her mouth shut next time. She sat down at her computer where everything made sense and she’d never disappoint anybody. She always found the solutions to life’s mysteries and this wouldn’t be any exception. She needed to figure out if there was anything special about Max Evans’ sperm. Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she rapidly typed in the data they’d already extracted from the remaining two samples. Her mind shied away from thinking about how those samples must have been obtained, and what they meant to the girl behind the glass.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Liz tried to will her mind away from what they were doing to her body. She was beginning to lose her will to hang on, but then she would remember Zan, safely nestled inside her, completely dependant on her for his survival. If there was any possibility of escape, any hope at all that Max was alive or that Michael would be able to find her and get her out…then she had to remain alive and bear whatever they had planned for her. She winced as she felt blunt fingers probing inside her body and tried not to remember that the only other person who had ever touched her there was Max. Max with his long, strong fingered hands and gentle touch. Not like this impersonal poking and prodding. Cells were scraped from inside her body and she gasped at the pain.
Dr. Clark dropped the sample into a jar and sealed the lid. He hands moved over the instruments on the table. They’d already taken blood, saliva, sweat, skin cells, urine, feces, and cervical cells. He picked up a wand-like object and one of the two techs wheeled over a monitor. Time to take a look at the baby. He lubricated the wand and inserted it into Liz’s vagina, ignoring her gasp of surprise and the protesting jolt of her hips. He casually pinned her hip to the table with one large hand and felt her go still under his touch instantly. He smiled grimly. He knew his touch repelled her. That was part of the power that made this so exciting. He let his hand linger there and allowed the tech to turn on the monitor while he twisted the vaginal ultrasound device inside of her.
Liz heard a rhythmic thumping sound and realized with a start that it was Zan’s heartbeat. She closed her eyes and tears slipped silently down her face dampening her hair. The monitor was turned away from her. They didn’t care if she could see the baby or not, but she could hear him. It was so real. Her urge to protect him was visceral. The neural inhibitors prevented a connection between her and the baby and the loss had been deafening. This sound, this steady thump, thump, thump was all it took to renew her faith that she would get out of here no matter what it took.
“This can’t be,” Dr. Clark exclaimed in wonder. “Do you see that?” He turned to Dr. Neri. The other doctor was already shaking his head.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he concurred.
“The development is beyond anything I’ve ever seen for a baby of this size!” He turned to Liz. “How far along are you?” Liz turned her head further to the side and remained resolutely silent, eyes closed and her lips pressed shut in defiance.
Dr. Clark’s face suffused in color to an angry red. How dare this little whore think she still had any power. He brutally prodded her inside with the vaginal ultrasound wand and she gasped a pained breath, her eyes flying to his. “How. Far. Along. Liz?” His tone was menacing and promised a lot more discomfort is she didn’t answer right away and his grip on her hip tightened until she knew she would have bruises.
“Three and a half months,” she gritted out between clenched teeth. Dr. Clark turned back to Dr. Neri, already dismissing how he had extracted the information from Liz.
“I want to do an amniocentesis next,” he declared. He pulled out the instrument and lay it carelessly on a table, not noticing the traces of blood it was now smeared with.
Liz flushed hotly, scared for the safety of her child. She struggled wildly against her restraints until Dr. Carter got impatient and motioned for one of the techs to inject her with the neural inhibitor that would destroy her resistance. The needle pricked into the sensitive skin of her arm and her eyes rolled back. Her body started to tremble and her skin flushed all over. No! Nonononono!! The fever was back.
“What the…!” Dr. Carter turned back from the monitor that was tracking Liz’s vital signs and stared at Dr. Neri. “The fever’s back again.” He abruptly stood and left the room. He grabbed a chart in the observation room and noted the time. It had been only six hours since they had injected her with sperm. “Get another sample ready,” he snapped out at the second tech. The guy nodded and got to work.
“It’ll be ready in two hours,” he stated confidently, already retrieving the next frozen sample.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max and Michael remained wrapped together on Max’s bed for hours as the shock of their loss, and their people’s loss, washed over them. Isabel had joined them and the three embraced as if they would never let go. An occasional shudder and soft sob would escape and none of their observers could tell who it came from.
Maria, Kyle, Alex, Phillip, and Diane all sat around the room wishing they could do something, anything, to alleviate the pain that was pulsing over the three on the bed. Diane twisted her fingers together and sent countless silent prayers to the heavens that her son would be strong enough to survive the death of his love. Maria eventually fell asleep sprawled across Kyle and Alex and they leaned back against the wall shoulders touching, just needing the contact of friends and the reassurance that they weren’t alone in this.
The sun had gone down a long time ago and the only light in the room was what washed through from the open doorway. It was past midnight, but no one wanted to move. No one knew what to do once they all stepped out of the room again. So they all remained. Locked together in shared misery.
Max gasped in a loud breath and abruptly struggled to sit up, extricating himself from the huddle of arms and bodies surrounding him.
“Max? Wha…” Michael reached out to pull Max back to him again, concerned anew for his friend. His fingers met flesh heated with fever. His eyes widened in shock. “Oh my God!” His exclamation had everyone clambering to their feet and surrounding the bed.
“Max has a fever!” His smile was tremulous. It was impossible, but true!
Max looked around the room, his eyes sunken and his posture slumped over, but as he felt the familiar fever and desire wash over him a smile of pure joy spread across his face.
“Liz is still alive!”
TBC
Angst alert!!
EYA Part 76
2:20am Evans house
The fever was gone abruptly leaving the boys wrung out and exhausted. Neither had slept since the night before Liz’s abduction over twenty-eight hours before. When the heat released its sweaty grip on Michael he collapsed on the sofa in an exhausted heap. He began to shiver uncontrollably, the room feeling unbearably cold after his temperature had returned to normal. Maria rushed to cover him in a blanket and he groggily pulled her down to his side as his eyes fell closed against his will. Maria burrowed in and closed her eyes with a sigh. There was nothing they could do for Liz if they were too exhausted to see straight.
Alex, Kyle, Isabel, and Phillip had been downstairs for hours trying to hack into the flight logs of the two small airstrips in Roswell. The airlines would not release flight information on military or privately owned aircraft and Alex was having difficulty trying to access the information they needed.
Max was attended by his mother and she cradled his head on her lap as he cried again when the fever left. As uncomfortable as it was it was still a reassurance of his connection to Liz. Diane stroked her hands through his tangled hair and softly hummed under her breath until her boy finally dozed into a fitful sleep.
Two hours later he woke up screaming.
“NO!!” He bolted upright in the bed arms flailing out as if to ward off an attacker. Diane quickly raised both her arms in front of her face in a protective gesture as Max swung around to the side.
“Max! Max, it’s me! Max, it’s your mother!” Diane cried out at the empty, haunted look that remained in Max’s eyes.
His breathing was released in harsh pants that gradually slowed as he realized anew where he was and what he was missing.
“Liz,” he sighed out, slumping back down onto the bed. His mom gathered him back into her arms. She leaned her head down to rest her cheek on the top of his bowed head.
“Why is this happening, Mom?” His voice came out plaintive and drained.
Diane knew instinctively that he was asking about the fevers coming and going.
“I don’t know, baby. I thought only you and Michael had what it takes to make the fever go away. Maybe the FBI has something…” Diane stopped speaking when Max abruptly stiffened in her arms. He sat up and scooted away from her until he was sitting on the edge of the bed. His mouth hung open slackly and his mind raced as he realized what was happening.
“They do have it. They’ve had it for over a year,” his voice broke into the silence. He scrubbed his hands over his tortured face trying to erase the memory. He stood up and pulled a T-shirt on over his naked chest. He was already wearing shorts and he crossed the room quickly to open his dresser and pull out white tube socks. He sat back down on the bed to tug them on.
Diane watched her son move around his room with jerky motions. She held out her hand to get his attention and he was barely able to meet her gaze before glancing away again. He grabbed his sneakers and pulled them on swiftly. “What? What do they have, Max?” Her tone was pleading with him to let her in.
“There are things…” Max broke off his speech, swallowed hard, continued, “You don’t need to know this stuff, Mom,” Max answered finally, still not looking up from the floor. He stood and moved toward the door one hand already touching the knob when her next words stopped him cold.
“I know that the FBI took you last year in May.”
Max’s hand dropped to his side and he turned to stare at his mother in shocked confusion. “You know? How…how can you know that?” His voice was pitched so low he was surprised she could hear him.
She rose and moved to his side reaching out to touch his arm. She tried to suppress the pang of hurt that flashed through her when he moved away from her touch and hugged his arms around his body protectively. “How long?” He demanded, louder now, his body hunched into itself, shaking again.
“Max, I…”
“HOW LONG?” He demanded in a near shout.
Diane could tell he was about to break and knew she needed to let him know when she had found out his secrets.
Her voice trembled as she confessed. “When you and Liz first got married, before you told us. I was up early one day and you’d been out running. I saw you heal her. I saw her comfort you. I saw what you shared with her that day about when the FBI captured you and…and hurt you like they did,” she paused realizing what she had actually seen and putting it together for the first time with the fact that Liz’s fevers were being treated by the FBI, “Oh, Max! I saw what they did,” she gasped out, her hands covering her mouth and her eyes brimming with tears.
Max recoiled, remembering exactly the graphic detail of what he had thought to only ever share with Liz. He hated that his mother was hurt and crying, and if he didn’t feel so dirty he would try to comfort her right now.
“Oh, Max!” Diane came toward him with her arms open in invitation, to offer and receive the comfort they both needed.
Max backed away from her quickly bumping into the side of the dresser before stumbling back into the wall. He shook his head in denial. “No, Mom. Don’t…you can’t…I just…need to get out of here for awhile.” His eyes darted behind her to the door and he started to edge his way out.
“Max? Max, look at me.” His mother’s voice was insistent. Not to be denied. Long years of conditioning had him meeting her eyes before he had a chance to process that he really didn’t want to. He saw the love, acceptance, and pain that she felt for him. It was too much and he couldn’t hold her gaze any longer. His eyes dropped back to the floor.
Another thought occurred to her abruptly. “Max?” Her voice was low. Her grave tone caught his attention. “Max, they’ve stopped the fever twice now,” she paused for a moment so he could realize where she was going with the thought. “How many…” Her eyes widened as Max brushed by her quickly, clearly needing to leave now.
Memory, flashback
He awakened from a drugged stupor, instantly aware that he was not alone. He jerked his head around and saw the last person he ever wanted to encounter again.
“Max, you’re awake. I knew you wouldn’t want to miss this.” Pierce tugged down the waistband of Max’s scrub pants, ignoring the limited struggles that his bonds permitted. “I’ve decided that I need more samples. I’m sure you understand, it’s all in the name of scientific discovery, right, Max?”
“Get your hands off me, pervert!” Max’s eyes were wild and he shifted around as much as he could to get away from Pierce’s offensive touch.
Pierce narrowed his eyes and glared at Max. He reached down and grabbed Max by the balls, squeezing harshly. “What did you say, boy?”
Max gasped in pain and then held his head up off the hard cot he was tied to so he could glare straight into Pierce’s crazed eyes. “Get. Your. Hands. Off. Me. PERVERT!” He hawked and spat right into Pierce’s smug face.
Pierce released him abruptly and wiped his face off with his hand. He stared at the liquid in his palm and grinned evilly before placing it over Max’s flaccid cock. “You’re going to regret that, boy.”
Max screamed.
End Flashback
He grabbed the door open and was halfway through before pausing with his eyes still trained on the floor. His mother deserved an answer. “Three. He took three…” he choked. He took a deep breath, swallowed hard to beat back the memories. “I need to…go.”
He strode quickly across the room, not even seeing Michael and Maria sleeping entwined on his sofa. He closed the front door softly behind him and took the stairs two and three at a time in his rush to release his frustration.
Diane sank slowly onto the bed, needing the support as the tears tracked down her pale face.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Thump, thump, thump
His footsteps beat the pavement in time with the heartbeat that had haunted his earlier dream. Zan’s heartbeat. Max’s heart. The tears streamed openly down his face as he took the familiar turns through his neighborhood. The nightmare of Liz’s torture had invaded his dreams and the whole time all he could hear was Zan’s heartbeat, beating steadily. An assurance of life and well-being. A taunting reminder that he couldn’t be there for either of them. His frustration raged through him at having no place to look. Any blind search he started now would be a waste of time and valuable energy until they had any slim clue to go on.
One more sample.
He knew that was all that was left. And the first one hadn’t lasted nearly long enough. His feet hit the pavement faster and faster, his fists closed tightly and his face set in an intense grimace of helplessness and fear.
Sweat trickled down his face and dripped down. Healthy sweat. Sweat he had created himself on his own power. Not a part of his alien connection to Liz and their baby.
Thump, thump, thump
A reassurance and a taunt.
His feet moved swiftly as he maneuvered his early morning route. Complete autopilot as his mind raced for anything, any clue to where Liz was, where she could be hidden.
Flaring heat at his neck made his step falter as the rhythm broke for a moment and he stumbled, nearly falling to the pavement. His hand grabbed at the necklace that encircled his throat. The stone was searing hot and he gasped in pain. And then he was mad. Furious that yet another alien part of himself would dare to inflict one more ounce of pain on him. He stopped right in the middle of the sidewalk, no more than a block away from his home and gripped the cord of the necklace in both hands pulling in a desperate attempt to rid himself of this alien thing.
His neck burned from the heat of the stone and the pull of the cord on his skin, but it would not come off. Max sank to his knees, exhausted and frustrated beyond bearing. His hand rested over the stone, allowing it to burn him as he cried out his frustration.
“Where the hell is she?” His voice broke as he voiced the only question on his mind. The one thing he desperately needed answered.
Flash!
Liz’s limp form bobbed inertly as a large man pulled her over his shoulder in her father’s office. They exited the office quickly and rushed through the house to Liz’s empty bedroom. The window already hung open, prepared for their quick exodus. Both men swung themselves out the window and ran across the balcony to the fire escape. A van waited in the alley and they slung Liz’s unconscious form carelessly into the back, one man climbing in behind her.
Flash!!
“Get her into the ‘copter. We gotta get her out of here right now.”
The other guy was already fitting the earphones over his head and turning controls that had the blades whirling and the engine roaring.
“Arizona, here we come!”
The co-pilot had finished securing Liz in the back, curled up on her side. He moved to his seat and unfolded a map. There was a small circle near the eastern border of Nevada.
End flash
Max’s inner vision narrowed in on the circled area of the map. His heart-rate accelerated as he realized he now knew where Liz was.
“Oh my God! Oh my God! Thank you, God!” Max was panting from excitement and exhilaration. We’re going to find Liz! A huge grin stretched across his face, feeling foreign and strange.
He stumbled to his feet, not heeding the scrapes on his knees where he had hit the pavement hard in his earlier desperation. He moved as swiftly as he could to close the distance to his home. He needed to wake everyone up, let them all know…
Max fell face first to the ground as his mind barely registered that he’d taken a sharp blow to the head. His initial surprise morphed rapidly into scared frustration that he wouldn’t be able to maintain consciousness. A sharp prick on his arm as the needle slid home and Max’s last thought was that he hadn’t told anyone where Liz was. The world went black.
“Got him.”
TBC
EYA Part 76
2:20am Evans house
The fever was gone abruptly leaving the boys wrung out and exhausted. Neither had slept since the night before Liz’s abduction over twenty-eight hours before. When the heat released its sweaty grip on Michael he collapsed on the sofa in an exhausted heap. He began to shiver uncontrollably, the room feeling unbearably cold after his temperature had returned to normal. Maria rushed to cover him in a blanket and he groggily pulled her down to his side as his eyes fell closed against his will. Maria burrowed in and closed her eyes with a sigh. There was nothing they could do for Liz if they were too exhausted to see straight.
Alex, Kyle, Isabel, and Phillip had been downstairs for hours trying to hack into the flight logs of the two small airstrips in Roswell. The airlines would not release flight information on military or privately owned aircraft and Alex was having difficulty trying to access the information they needed.
Max was attended by his mother and she cradled his head on her lap as he cried again when the fever left. As uncomfortable as it was it was still a reassurance of his connection to Liz. Diane stroked her hands through his tangled hair and softly hummed under her breath until her boy finally dozed into a fitful sleep.
Two hours later he woke up screaming.
“NO!!” He bolted upright in the bed arms flailing out as if to ward off an attacker. Diane quickly raised both her arms in front of her face in a protective gesture as Max swung around to the side.
“Max! Max, it’s me! Max, it’s your mother!” Diane cried out at the empty, haunted look that remained in Max’s eyes.
His breathing was released in harsh pants that gradually slowed as he realized anew where he was and what he was missing.
“Liz,” he sighed out, slumping back down onto the bed. His mom gathered him back into her arms. She leaned her head down to rest her cheek on the top of his bowed head.
“Why is this happening, Mom?” His voice came out plaintive and drained.
Diane knew instinctively that he was asking about the fevers coming and going.
“I don’t know, baby. I thought only you and Michael had what it takes to make the fever go away. Maybe the FBI has something…” Diane stopped speaking when Max abruptly stiffened in her arms. He sat up and scooted away from her until he was sitting on the edge of the bed. His mouth hung open slackly and his mind raced as he realized what was happening.
“They do have it. They’ve had it for over a year,” his voice broke into the silence. He scrubbed his hands over his tortured face trying to erase the memory. He stood up and pulled a T-shirt on over his naked chest. He was already wearing shorts and he crossed the room quickly to open his dresser and pull out white tube socks. He sat back down on the bed to tug them on.
Diane watched her son move around his room with jerky motions. She held out her hand to get his attention and he was barely able to meet her gaze before glancing away again. He grabbed his sneakers and pulled them on swiftly. “What? What do they have, Max?” Her tone was pleading with him to let her in.
“There are things…” Max broke off his speech, swallowed hard, continued, “You don’t need to know this stuff, Mom,” Max answered finally, still not looking up from the floor. He stood and moved toward the door one hand already touching the knob when her next words stopped him cold.
“I know that the FBI took you last year in May.”
Max’s hand dropped to his side and he turned to stare at his mother in shocked confusion. “You know? How…how can you know that?” His voice was pitched so low he was surprised she could hear him.
She rose and moved to his side reaching out to touch his arm. She tried to suppress the pang of hurt that flashed through her when he moved away from her touch and hugged his arms around his body protectively. “How long?” He demanded, louder now, his body hunched into itself, shaking again.
“Max, I…”
“HOW LONG?” He demanded in a near shout.
Diane could tell he was about to break and knew she needed to let him know when she had found out his secrets.
Her voice trembled as she confessed. “When you and Liz first got married, before you told us. I was up early one day and you’d been out running. I saw you heal her. I saw her comfort you. I saw what you shared with her that day about when the FBI captured you and…and hurt you like they did,” she paused realizing what she had actually seen and putting it together for the first time with the fact that Liz’s fevers were being treated by the FBI, “Oh, Max! I saw what they did,” she gasped out, her hands covering her mouth and her eyes brimming with tears.
Max recoiled, remembering exactly the graphic detail of what he had thought to only ever share with Liz. He hated that his mother was hurt and crying, and if he didn’t feel so dirty he would try to comfort her right now.
“Oh, Max!” Diane came toward him with her arms open in invitation, to offer and receive the comfort they both needed.
Max backed away from her quickly bumping into the side of the dresser before stumbling back into the wall. He shook his head in denial. “No, Mom. Don’t…you can’t…I just…need to get out of here for awhile.” His eyes darted behind her to the door and he started to edge his way out.
“Max? Max, look at me.” His mother’s voice was insistent. Not to be denied. Long years of conditioning had him meeting her eyes before he had a chance to process that he really didn’t want to. He saw the love, acceptance, and pain that she felt for him. It was too much and he couldn’t hold her gaze any longer. His eyes dropped back to the floor.
Another thought occurred to her abruptly. “Max?” Her voice was low. Her grave tone caught his attention. “Max, they’ve stopped the fever twice now,” she paused for a moment so he could realize where she was going with the thought. “How many…” Her eyes widened as Max brushed by her quickly, clearly needing to leave now.
Memory, flashback
He awakened from a drugged stupor, instantly aware that he was not alone. He jerked his head around and saw the last person he ever wanted to encounter again.
“Max, you’re awake. I knew you wouldn’t want to miss this.” Pierce tugged down the waistband of Max’s scrub pants, ignoring the limited struggles that his bonds permitted. “I’ve decided that I need more samples. I’m sure you understand, it’s all in the name of scientific discovery, right, Max?”
“Get your hands off me, pervert!” Max’s eyes were wild and he shifted around as much as he could to get away from Pierce’s offensive touch.
Pierce narrowed his eyes and glared at Max. He reached down and grabbed Max by the balls, squeezing harshly. “What did you say, boy?”
Max gasped in pain and then held his head up off the hard cot he was tied to so he could glare straight into Pierce’s crazed eyes. “Get. Your. Hands. Off. Me. PERVERT!” He hawked and spat right into Pierce’s smug face.
Pierce released him abruptly and wiped his face off with his hand. He stared at the liquid in his palm and grinned evilly before placing it over Max’s flaccid cock. “You’re going to regret that, boy.”
Max screamed.
End Flashback
He grabbed the door open and was halfway through before pausing with his eyes still trained on the floor. His mother deserved an answer. “Three. He took three…” he choked. He took a deep breath, swallowed hard to beat back the memories. “I need to…go.”
He strode quickly across the room, not even seeing Michael and Maria sleeping entwined on his sofa. He closed the front door softly behind him and took the stairs two and three at a time in his rush to release his frustration.
Diane sank slowly onto the bed, needing the support as the tears tracked down her pale face.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Thump, thump, thump
His footsteps beat the pavement in time with the heartbeat that had haunted his earlier dream. Zan’s heartbeat. Max’s heart. The tears streamed openly down his face as he took the familiar turns through his neighborhood. The nightmare of Liz’s torture had invaded his dreams and the whole time all he could hear was Zan’s heartbeat, beating steadily. An assurance of life and well-being. A taunting reminder that he couldn’t be there for either of them. His frustration raged through him at having no place to look. Any blind search he started now would be a waste of time and valuable energy until they had any slim clue to go on.
One more sample.
He knew that was all that was left. And the first one hadn’t lasted nearly long enough. His feet hit the pavement faster and faster, his fists closed tightly and his face set in an intense grimace of helplessness and fear.
Sweat trickled down his face and dripped down. Healthy sweat. Sweat he had created himself on his own power. Not a part of his alien connection to Liz and their baby.
Thump, thump, thump
A reassurance and a taunt.
His feet moved swiftly as he maneuvered his early morning route. Complete autopilot as his mind raced for anything, any clue to where Liz was, where she could be hidden.
Flaring heat at his neck made his step falter as the rhythm broke for a moment and he stumbled, nearly falling to the pavement. His hand grabbed at the necklace that encircled his throat. The stone was searing hot and he gasped in pain. And then he was mad. Furious that yet another alien part of himself would dare to inflict one more ounce of pain on him. He stopped right in the middle of the sidewalk, no more than a block away from his home and gripped the cord of the necklace in both hands pulling in a desperate attempt to rid himself of this alien thing.
His neck burned from the heat of the stone and the pull of the cord on his skin, but it would not come off. Max sank to his knees, exhausted and frustrated beyond bearing. His hand rested over the stone, allowing it to burn him as he cried out his frustration.
“Where the hell is she?” His voice broke as he voiced the only question on his mind. The one thing he desperately needed answered.
Flash!
Liz’s limp form bobbed inertly as a large man pulled her over his shoulder in her father’s office. They exited the office quickly and rushed through the house to Liz’s empty bedroom. The window already hung open, prepared for their quick exodus. Both men swung themselves out the window and ran across the balcony to the fire escape. A van waited in the alley and they slung Liz’s unconscious form carelessly into the back, one man climbing in behind her.
Flash!!
“Get her into the ‘copter. We gotta get her out of here right now.”
The other guy was already fitting the earphones over his head and turning controls that had the blades whirling and the engine roaring.
“Arizona, here we come!”
The co-pilot had finished securing Liz in the back, curled up on her side. He moved to his seat and unfolded a map. There was a small circle near the eastern border of Nevada.
End flash
Max’s inner vision narrowed in on the circled area of the map. His heart-rate accelerated as he realized he now knew where Liz was.
“Oh my God! Oh my God! Thank you, God!” Max was panting from excitement and exhilaration. We’re going to find Liz! A huge grin stretched across his face, feeling foreign and strange.
He stumbled to his feet, not heeding the scrapes on his knees where he had hit the pavement hard in his earlier desperation. He moved as swiftly as he could to close the distance to his home. He needed to wake everyone up, let them all know…
Max fell face first to the ground as his mind barely registered that he’d taken a sharp blow to the head. His initial surprise morphed rapidly into scared frustration that he wouldn’t be able to maintain consciousness. A sharp prick on his arm as the needle slid home and Max’s last thought was that he hadn’t told anyone where Liz was. The world went black.
“Got him.”
TBC
EYA Part 77
Michael heard a muffled noise and roused reluctantly from his exhausted sleep. He raised his head and looked around only lying back next to Maria when nothing appeared out of order. He’d almost dozed off again when the muffled sound of someone crying reached his ears. Carefully he separated himself from Maria’s slumbering form and got up off the sofa. Quietly he made his way to Max’s room as the sobbing grew louder. He swung the door open slowly, almost fearing what he would find. They were all on edge and this was just another outpouring of the emotional roller coaster they were all reluctant passengers on.
He didn’t know what he expected to find, but he knew it wasn’t Diane Evans crumpled on the floor sobbing her heart out alone in Max’s room.
“Um, uh,…Mrs. Evans?” He stepped carefully closer as Diane froze in place still staring at the ground. Caught crying like a child when she had remained strong for so long. Michael reached out a hand. “Diane? Are you alright?”
Diane’s tear-streaked gaze met Michael’s concerned eyes and she took a deep breath. Her smile was obviously an effort and just as obviously fake. She took Michael’s hand and rose shakily to her feet. Michael helped her to sit on the edge of Max’s rumpled bed and he moved to sit beside her.
“Do you uh, want to talk about it?” He winced at Diane’s surprised expression. He probably wasn’t known for his compassion. “I could get Max for you or…” He cut off his offer abruptly at the newly hurt look on Diane’s face at the mention of Max. The first stirrings of concern washed through him causing him to swallow quickly and shift restlessly on the bed. He looked around the room hoping he had just overlooked Max earlier.
“Where’s Max? Is he in the bathroom?” Please be in the bathroom! he thought anxiously.
Diane was already shaking her head in the negative. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and scanned the room quickly for tissues. She crossed the room quickly and grabbed several tissues dabbing at her eyes and nose as she turned back to Michael. “No. He was, uh, really upset and so he went out for a run.”
“What?” Michael stood up and was already moving for the door. “Did anyone go with him?” Diane shook her head, confused by Michael’s reaction.
“Michael, what…?”
Michael’s hand was on the doorknob already, but he turned to face Diane before exiting. “None of us should be alone right now, but especially Max. The people that took Liz know that Max is an alien. He’s definitely a target. He should have known better.” He stopped his diatribe when he saw how pale Diane was getting. He shook his head. “He’s probably fine. How long ago did he leave?” He was hoping he could still catch him.
“A…about ten minutes ago, I guess,” Diane rasped out. New tears were spilling down her face already.
“Don’t worry.” Michael wanted to reassure her. “I’ll find him.” He left the apartment quickly, trying to imagine the route Max would most likely take on a run.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Alex stood up and stretched his back into an arc. Satisfied with the loud cracking noises that signified the kinks leaving his abused back he turned to look around the room. Kyle was passed out on the couch snoring softly, and Isabel was nowhere to be seen. He pulled the blanket from the back of the couch over Kyle to keep him warm and walked slowly down the hall wanting to check on Isabel. She’s appeared exhausted earlier and had disappeared two times during the day before only to come back looking even more wiped out. He peeked his head into her room hoping to find her slumbering as well.
Isabel was lying on her bed drenched in sweat and making inarticulate noises of frustration. Alex moved swiftly to her side and shook her lightly, already knowing what she was doing. “Isabel! Isabel!!” He shook her harder as she stubbornly kept her eyes closed and her concentration sharp. He took both her shoulders into his hands and pulled her into a sitting position.
She reluctantly opened her eyes and glared at Alex. “What do you think you’re doing, Alex?” Isabel pushed his hands away from her and swung her legs over the side of the bed.
“I think the better question is what do you think you’re doing? You could have asked Kyle or even me to help you with this, Isabel! You don’t have to do this by yourself. I mean, look at you! You’re exhausted.”
Isabel raked her hands restlessly through hair that was uncharacteristically messy and whirled to face him. “It’s all I can do, Alex! This is supposed to be my gift…Surely you can understand…”
“I understand that you’re exhausting yourself!” Alex stood too and used his height to glare down into her set expression. Neither would back down an inch.
“All those times you disappeared yesterday? Is this what you were doing?”
“What does it matter what I was doing?” Isabel sank back onto the bed, not liking the strange feeling of being looked down on while she was standing.
“Why didn’t you ask me for help? You know that you always focus better when I’m holding you.” Alex tried to meet her gaze again, but she kept staring past him, shaking her head.
“It…you had other things to do. I should have been able to do this on my own and…God, Alex! It didn’t work and I didn’t want anyone to think the worst just because I couldn’t contact Liz. It could be any number of things that are keeping her blocked from me, but I couldn’t stand to see everyone looking at me with such hope and then not being able to deliver. I would have told you, but…you’re so busy with the technical stuff and that’s so important and I didn’t want to take you away from that so I…” She scrubbed her hand over her weary face and stopped speaking. If he didn’t understand right now then he never would anyway.
Alex sank down beside her on the bed and enfolded her in his long arms. “I love that you’ve been doing everything you can to contact Liz, but your health is important too. I would have taken the time to support you if you’d told me what you were doing, or Kyle...” He let his hands smooth soothingly over her tense back. “So…nothing huh?” He felt more than heard her sigh and she shook her head against his shoulder.
“I don’t know what’s wrong. I can’t feel her at all. It’s like she’s blocking everything out or something. It’s not even like when Max was drugged, because I could still at least find him, you know?”
Alex nodded understandingly.
“Um, hey, guys. What’s going on?” Kyle stood awkwardly in the doorway watching them embrace. He smoothed his wrinkled T-shirt over his chest and absently used one socked foot to scratch the opposite ankle.
Both looked up, startled out of their conversation.
“Kyle!” Isabel stood and crossed her room to hug a startled Kyle. “We were just commiserating over our lack of progress,” she explained quickly, leading him into the room. She pulled him down to sit beside her as she resumed her place next to Alex. Moving her hands over Kyle’s face her brow furrowed with concern. “You look too tired, Kyle. You should lay down in here and rest for awhile.” She pushed against his shoulders and moved a pillow under his head. Kyle pulled her down with him. “You look more exhausted than me, Isabel. Sleep with me.” Isabel snuggled into Kyle’s strong arms resting her head on his shoulder as his arms circled her body protectively.
Alex stood, looking at the two of them and started for the door.
“Alex?” Isabel’s soft voice reached him as he was almost to the door. “Come lay down with us.”
He turned back to the bed where his friends lay and a soft smile drifted over his face. “I’ll, uh, just lay down on the couch. I need more room, you know?” He shut the door swiftly behind himself.
He settled himself back into the office chair in front of the computer, knowing already that he wouldn’t be able to sleep anytime soon. He started tapping the keyboard swiftly as a new thought struck him about how he could access the flight records of the main Roswell airport. He rapidly typed in a sequence of numbers and hit ‘send’, sitting back as he waited for the results. A smile spread over his face as the records became available to him. He swiftly requested the records of each craft that came and went from the Roswell airport over the last several days. One helicopter had landed and left the day of Liz’s abduction. Alex zeroed in on that and typed in the serial numbers of the copter to find out where it was currently. He tapped his foot impatiently as the computer processed his request, and his jaw dropped when the information flashed across his screen.
“Son of a bitch! Hey! Max!!!” Michael’s yells broke the silence just as Alex received the shocking data. Alex spun around in his chair leaping to his feet and ran to the front door. Yanking it open he watched open-mouthed as Michael ran down the street after a windowless van that sped down the road. A ball of light blazed after the retreating van just as it rounded the corner and caught a small bush on fire. Michael stood in the middle of the street in shock.
He turned and ran back to the house seeing Alex in the door. “They’ve got Max. I saw them dump him into the back of that van about halfway up the block.”
Alex ran back to the computer. “A helicopter that was here the day Liz was taken took off at about the same time that it would have taken to get Liz from here to the airport. It arrived back at the Roswell airport three hours ago. I’m betting they’re going to take Max there too.”
“Good work, Alex,” Michael ran down the hall. “Isabel! Kyle! Get out here, we’ve gotta get Max back!”
Isabel and Kyle rushed into the hall stunned. Michael grabbed their arms and dragged them down the hall.
“They’ve taken Max. Alex found out that there’s a helicopter at the Roswell airport. We’ve gotta get there now and stop them.”
Kyle grabbed his jacket and pulled his car keys out of the pocket. “I’ll drive.” The front door slammed behind them as they ran to the red convertible.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
The convertible’s tires squealed as Kyle floored the gas around the last corner onto the tarmac. The airport was so small that it was mostly a large parking lot for small planes with two runways for incoming and outgoing crafts. They lurched out of the vehicle as it pulled abruptly to a stop and watched as a metallic gray helicopter angled its way into the sky.
Michael raised his hand instinctively to blast it, but Isabel pulled his arm back down swiftly. “You could kill Max,” she warned him urgently. The four stood, faces tilted to the sky as the helicopter turned westward and shot off into the blushing dawn.
TBC
Michael heard a muffled noise and roused reluctantly from his exhausted sleep. He raised his head and looked around only lying back next to Maria when nothing appeared out of order. He’d almost dozed off again when the muffled sound of someone crying reached his ears. Carefully he separated himself from Maria’s slumbering form and got up off the sofa. Quietly he made his way to Max’s room as the sobbing grew louder. He swung the door open slowly, almost fearing what he would find. They were all on edge and this was just another outpouring of the emotional roller coaster they were all reluctant passengers on.
He didn’t know what he expected to find, but he knew it wasn’t Diane Evans crumpled on the floor sobbing her heart out alone in Max’s room.
“Um, uh,…Mrs. Evans?” He stepped carefully closer as Diane froze in place still staring at the ground. Caught crying like a child when she had remained strong for so long. Michael reached out a hand. “Diane? Are you alright?”
Diane’s tear-streaked gaze met Michael’s concerned eyes and she took a deep breath. Her smile was obviously an effort and just as obviously fake. She took Michael’s hand and rose shakily to her feet. Michael helped her to sit on the edge of Max’s rumpled bed and he moved to sit beside her.
“Do you uh, want to talk about it?” He winced at Diane’s surprised expression. He probably wasn’t known for his compassion. “I could get Max for you or…” He cut off his offer abruptly at the newly hurt look on Diane’s face at the mention of Max. The first stirrings of concern washed through him causing him to swallow quickly and shift restlessly on the bed. He looked around the room hoping he had just overlooked Max earlier.
“Where’s Max? Is he in the bathroom?” Please be in the bathroom! he thought anxiously.
Diane was already shaking her head in the negative. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and scanned the room quickly for tissues. She crossed the room quickly and grabbed several tissues dabbing at her eyes and nose as she turned back to Michael. “No. He was, uh, really upset and so he went out for a run.”
“What?” Michael stood up and was already moving for the door. “Did anyone go with him?” Diane shook her head, confused by Michael’s reaction.
“Michael, what…?”
Michael’s hand was on the doorknob already, but he turned to face Diane before exiting. “None of us should be alone right now, but especially Max. The people that took Liz know that Max is an alien. He’s definitely a target. He should have known better.” He stopped his diatribe when he saw how pale Diane was getting. He shook his head. “He’s probably fine. How long ago did he leave?” He was hoping he could still catch him.
“A…about ten minutes ago, I guess,” Diane rasped out. New tears were spilling down her face already.
“Don’t worry.” Michael wanted to reassure her. “I’ll find him.” He left the apartment quickly, trying to imagine the route Max would most likely take on a run.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Alex stood up and stretched his back into an arc. Satisfied with the loud cracking noises that signified the kinks leaving his abused back he turned to look around the room. Kyle was passed out on the couch snoring softly, and Isabel was nowhere to be seen. He pulled the blanket from the back of the couch over Kyle to keep him warm and walked slowly down the hall wanting to check on Isabel. She’s appeared exhausted earlier and had disappeared two times during the day before only to come back looking even more wiped out. He peeked his head into her room hoping to find her slumbering as well.
Isabel was lying on her bed drenched in sweat and making inarticulate noises of frustration. Alex moved swiftly to her side and shook her lightly, already knowing what she was doing. “Isabel! Isabel!!” He shook her harder as she stubbornly kept her eyes closed and her concentration sharp. He took both her shoulders into his hands and pulled her into a sitting position.
She reluctantly opened her eyes and glared at Alex. “What do you think you’re doing, Alex?” Isabel pushed his hands away from her and swung her legs over the side of the bed.
“I think the better question is what do you think you’re doing? You could have asked Kyle or even me to help you with this, Isabel! You don’t have to do this by yourself. I mean, look at you! You’re exhausted.”
Isabel raked her hands restlessly through hair that was uncharacteristically messy and whirled to face him. “It’s all I can do, Alex! This is supposed to be my gift…Surely you can understand…”
“I understand that you’re exhausting yourself!” Alex stood too and used his height to glare down into her set expression. Neither would back down an inch.
“All those times you disappeared yesterday? Is this what you were doing?”
“What does it matter what I was doing?” Isabel sank back onto the bed, not liking the strange feeling of being looked down on while she was standing.
“Why didn’t you ask me for help? You know that you always focus better when I’m holding you.” Alex tried to meet her gaze again, but she kept staring past him, shaking her head.
“It…you had other things to do. I should have been able to do this on my own and…God, Alex! It didn’t work and I didn’t want anyone to think the worst just because I couldn’t contact Liz. It could be any number of things that are keeping her blocked from me, but I couldn’t stand to see everyone looking at me with such hope and then not being able to deliver. I would have told you, but…you’re so busy with the technical stuff and that’s so important and I didn’t want to take you away from that so I…” She scrubbed her hand over her weary face and stopped speaking. If he didn’t understand right now then he never would anyway.
Alex sank down beside her on the bed and enfolded her in his long arms. “I love that you’ve been doing everything you can to contact Liz, but your health is important too. I would have taken the time to support you if you’d told me what you were doing, or Kyle...” He let his hands smooth soothingly over her tense back. “So…nothing huh?” He felt more than heard her sigh and she shook her head against his shoulder.
“I don’t know what’s wrong. I can’t feel her at all. It’s like she’s blocking everything out or something. It’s not even like when Max was drugged, because I could still at least find him, you know?”
Alex nodded understandingly.
“Um, hey, guys. What’s going on?” Kyle stood awkwardly in the doorway watching them embrace. He smoothed his wrinkled T-shirt over his chest and absently used one socked foot to scratch the opposite ankle.
Both looked up, startled out of their conversation.
“Kyle!” Isabel stood and crossed her room to hug a startled Kyle. “We were just commiserating over our lack of progress,” she explained quickly, leading him into the room. She pulled him down to sit beside her as she resumed her place next to Alex. Moving her hands over Kyle’s face her brow furrowed with concern. “You look too tired, Kyle. You should lay down in here and rest for awhile.” She pushed against his shoulders and moved a pillow under his head. Kyle pulled her down with him. “You look more exhausted than me, Isabel. Sleep with me.” Isabel snuggled into Kyle’s strong arms resting her head on his shoulder as his arms circled her body protectively.
Alex stood, looking at the two of them and started for the door.
“Alex?” Isabel’s soft voice reached him as he was almost to the door. “Come lay down with us.”
He turned back to the bed where his friends lay and a soft smile drifted over his face. “I’ll, uh, just lay down on the couch. I need more room, you know?” He shut the door swiftly behind himself.
He settled himself back into the office chair in front of the computer, knowing already that he wouldn’t be able to sleep anytime soon. He started tapping the keyboard swiftly as a new thought struck him about how he could access the flight records of the main Roswell airport. He rapidly typed in a sequence of numbers and hit ‘send’, sitting back as he waited for the results. A smile spread over his face as the records became available to him. He swiftly requested the records of each craft that came and went from the Roswell airport over the last several days. One helicopter had landed and left the day of Liz’s abduction. Alex zeroed in on that and typed in the serial numbers of the copter to find out where it was currently. He tapped his foot impatiently as the computer processed his request, and his jaw dropped when the information flashed across his screen.
“Son of a bitch! Hey! Max!!!” Michael’s yells broke the silence just as Alex received the shocking data. Alex spun around in his chair leaping to his feet and ran to the front door. Yanking it open he watched open-mouthed as Michael ran down the street after a windowless van that sped down the road. A ball of light blazed after the retreating van just as it rounded the corner and caught a small bush on fire. Michael stood in the middle of the street in shock.
He turned and ran back to the house seeing Alex in the door. “They’ve got Max. I saw them dump him into the back of that van about halfway up the block.”
Alex ran back to the computer. “A helicopter that was here the day Liz was taken took off at about the same time that it would have taken to get Liz from here to the airport. It arrived back at the Roswell airport three hours ago. I’m betting they’re going to take Max there too.”
“Good work, Alex,” Michael ran down the hall. “Isabel! Kyle! Get out here, we’ve gotta get Max back!”
Isabel and Kyle rushed into the hall stunned. Michael grabbed their arms and dragged them down the hall.
“They’ve taken Max. Alex found out that there’s a helicopter at the Roswell airport. We’ve gotta get there now and stop them.”
Kyle grabbed his jacket and pulled his car keys out of the pocket. “I’ll drive.” The front door slammed behind them as they ran to the red convertible.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
The convertible’s tires squealed as Kyle floored the gas around the last corner onto the tarmac. The airport was so small that it was mostly a large parking lot for small planes with two runways for incoming and outgoing crafts. They lurched out of the vehicle as it pulled abruptly to a stop and watched as a metallic gray helicopter angled its way into the sky.
Michael raised his hand instinctively to blast it, but Isabel pulled his arm back down swiftly. “You could kill Max,” she warned him urgently. The four stood, faces tilted to the sky as the helicopter turned westward and shot off into the blushing dawn.
TBC
EYA Part 78
There are flashes of light and darkness behind his eyelids and muffled sounds that he’s pretty sure should be important, but the pain throbbing through his skull washes strongly over everything, pushing him back into shadow.
Eventually, he heard a pained groaning noise that made his eyes flicker open. He sensed movement at the same time he realized the sound was his. His eyes snapped shut against the onslaught of artificial brightness and he moaned again while he tried to register the meaning of the light and motion around him. He tried to move his arms up to cover his face and found they were bound to his sides. He tugged harder in sudden panic as he realized that he wasn’t home. That he wasn’t anywhere that he had chosen to be. His eyes slit open again and he strained to hear the low conversation going on over his head.
“Fucking heavy is all I’m saying,” the large man to his right whispered over his prone form as they swung him between them and up onto a flat surface. He heard the snick of the metal cuffs at his sides being fixed to the edges of his new location.
“Yeah, I got that already. Now stop whining about it and let’s get him to his room before he wakes up all the way. I don’t think we wanna be around for that.” The heavyset guy on the left sounded impatient.
The walls were flashing by and the green stripe that was painted high on the wall bent around the corners as they followed the maze of corridors. Max understood that he was on a gurney and being wheeled into his ‘room’. He flinched at the loud clang of the door being shut leaving him alone. He opened his eyes fully and his breathing accelerated in panic as he took in the white walls surrounding him. His eyes snapped shut again at the rush of memory that threatened to overwhelm him. Breathe, Max. Just breathe. He slowly turned his head to fully survey the room. Not the same room. He wasn’t sure why he took comfort from that, but for some reason it made him glad that he wasn’t still trapped with the sick bastard that had abused his innocence so long ago.
His confusion worried him. He was dizzy even though he was laid out flat on his back and even the sick waves of nausea couldn’t completely conceal the fact that he felt he was missing something important. Vitally important. What was more important than trying to get out of here? What was more important than his life? LIZ!!
“LIZ!!” He lurched up as far as his restraints would allow, his face contorted with the memory of why he was here. He had to find her. He had to keep her safe. “LIZ!!” His vocal chords strained as his scream echoed in the room and he fought his restraints with muscles too weak to obey. His breathing was coming in harsh pants and he knew he would hyperventilate in a minute it one of those restraints didn’t just…
The door concealed in one of the walls slammed open so hard it hit the wall behind it and almost bounced back in the face of the livid man who had opened it. Max sank back onto the gurney and saved his strength for a moment.
“Where’s Liz?” He growled out harshly.
“You’re not in any position to be asking questions, young man,” Dr. Clark replied with a scowl. “And I suggest you stop screaming in here because no one can hear you.”
“You heard me,” Max snapped back, raising his head again in defiance and glaring hatefully at the smug doctor.
Dr. Clark shook his head. They would obviously have discipline issues with this one. He watched the muscles bulge and flatten as Max strained once more against his bonds. “I heard you because I’m having this room monitored with audio and video surveillance. You’ve caused us a great deal of trouble.” The doctor made a motion with one hand and almost immediately a slender young man walked into the room and waited for instruction.
“This is my lab technician. I suggest you cooperate with him fully. The drug you have been given is a purified version of what we gave you the last time you were our guest. You cannot use your powers, and I recommend that you save your strength. You’re going to need it.” With that the doctor turned on his heel and quickly exited the room.
The technician that was left in the room eyed the subject warily. This alien was obviously much stronger than himself and he wondered if he should call in a reinforcement. He approached the gurney slowly and tried to project confidence and authority into his tone.
“Do I need to give you more of the drug or will you cooperate?”
Max just stared at the man and then rested his head back, closing his eyes, panting lightly to get his breath back. He knew he was too weak to do anything to stop this guy from whatever his job was. It had drained all his strength just to struggle against his bonds.
“Tell me that Liz is safe and I’ll do anything you want me to,” he whispered hoarsely, meaning it.
With his eyes closed Max missed the startled surprise that flickered through the technician’s eyes. He’d never thought of an alien having an emotional attachment like that.
“She’s fine. She’s in the next roo…” a loud buzzer cut off what the man had been about to say.
“Get on with your assignment, Jackson,” Dr. Clark’s voice spilled venomously through the intercom.
Max’s heart leapt at the thought of being so close to his love. His eyes had snapped to meet Jackson’s at the first words he had spoken and he saw that they were true.
Jackson flushed hotly at being reprimanded in front of their prisoner and he moved forward purposefully. “I’m going to remove your leg restraints and take off your shorts. If you struggle or fight me in any way I’ll put the restraints back on and just cut your clothes off you. Understand?”
Max swallowed a huge lump in his throat and tried not to flash back to another time and place where he had been stripped bare for the perusal of strangers.
Jackson shook his leg roughly. “I said, Do you understand?” Max’s eyes flew open and shut again immediately. He nodded stiffly and hoped that was enough. He feared opening his mouth to answer because of the nausea rising in his stomach.
Strong hands worked around his ankles one at a time as the restraints were released. His shoes and socks were pulled off in short order and landed with small thuds on the hard floor. Max winced as Jackson’s hands moved swiftly up his body to the button of his shorts. He felt the ‘pop’ of the button releasing and the smooth glide of the zipper as it was yanked down. He flinched before he could stop himself as the large hands returned and tugged at the waistbands of his shorts and boxers. A hand tapped his hip impatiently as the material got stuck. “Lift up,” Jackson snapped out.
Max lifted his hips reluctantly and felt the cool air wash over his newly bared skin. He cringed at the thought of what they could do to him. What they would do to him. His ankles were securely fastened again, the metal cold against his bared skin, and the impersonal hands moved to his wrists. Max rotated each wrist as it was freed and unconsciously covered his lap with his hands. He heard a hrrumph of protest as Jackson lifted the hem of Max’s shirt and pulled it up his chest. He pushed Max’s arms up and took his shirt off. Next he removed Max’s watch. He returned Max’s wrists into the restraints and them began gathering together the items he had removed, piling them into a plastic container he’d left by the door.
The intercom buzzed loudly before Dr. Clark’s voice once again flooded the room. “Don’t forget the necklace.”
Jackson turned back to Max after placing his clothing in a neat stack in the container by the door. The young alien was trembling visibly and Jackson couldn’t tell if it was from fear or anger. He kinda hoped for fear, because there was not telling what he’d do if he was enraged. He’d heard stories about these aliens, and they were utterly heartless, without conscience. He bent close to examine the fastening for the necklace. Not finding any apparent clasp he turned the cord slowly. “I’ll have to cut it I guess,” he muttered, still not finding a way to get it off. Jackson fingers brushed over the amber stone as he pondered the dilemma. A bright flash illuminated the room as a pulse of energy burst through Max and channeled into the stone. Jackson screamed as he was thrown back against the far wall of the room and his hand smoked where it had touched the stone as his eyes slowly rolled back in his head and he lost consciousness.
The door to Max’s room was thrown open suddenly and the two large men that had wheeled him in were suddenly leaning over Max menacingly close. The edges of Max’s vision were already darkening from the energy the stone had taken from him. He could vaguely hear the threatening, “What did you do to him?” before his eyes snapped shut and the world was peaceful and dark again.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“What the hell did he do to Jackson?” Dr. Clark ranted. He didn’t spare a glance at the injured Jackson, who was being attended by his daughter. He just wanted to find out how that alien had dared to attack a human.
Dr. Neri scratched his head as he read the vital signs that were now being transmitted into the control room. They’d wired Max with blood pressure, temperature and pulse monitors as soon as Jackson had been carried from the room. “He’s still unconscious.” He rewound the video tape of the incident and squinted against the brightness of the flash. He paused the tape and tapped the screen. “I think it was the necklace.” He got up close to the screen until his nose almost touched it and advanced the frames screen by screen. He stepped back after his close examination and nodded, satisfied. “It was definitely the stone in the necklace. And I think the subject was as surprised as Jackson here.” He clapped Jackson on the shoulder as he lay on the couch in the control room and the man cringed back in horror as every nerve-ending in his body was wracked with soul-searing pain at the motion.
Dr. Neri noted the man’s discomfort and swiveled a chair to sit beside the couch. He whipped out a notepad and calmly asked for Jackson’s ‘impressions’ of what had happened to him. Jackson’s eyes widened in disbelief that they were taking this so calmly. His ‘impression’ was that he was in so much pain he thought he might die soon. His ‘impression’ was that that freak alien in there was trying to kill him. His ‘impression’…Dr. Neri nodded and took copious notes.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
An hour and a half later…
Monitors began to beep alarmingly and Dr. Clark looked up to see which patient had caused the raucous noises. His eyebrows lifted as he saw that both patients temperatures had spiked simultaneously. He rubbed his hands together as he considered the options. Standing slowly he moved closer to the observation windows. He stopped at the bank of windows to his right and observed Liz’s head twisting in discomfort as she lightly tugged at her bonds. He knew her to be mostly unconscious from the amount of drugs they had injected her with only an hour earlier.
He walked slowly to the left and looked at the alien in the room adjoining Liz’s. Max hadn’t regained consciousness after the ‘incident’ earlier, but now he was moving restlessly on the gurney as small pools of sweat formed on his brow and dripped down.
“Doctor?”
Dr. Clark spun quickly on his heel and glared at Sims. “What is it, Sims?” He snapped out impatiently, tired of his assistant’s obsequious attitude.
“I…I…was j…just wondering if…if y…you wanted me to tha…thaw out the l...last s...sample, sir.” Sims cringed under the harsh gaze being leveled at him. He was one of only two assistants that were on this project and he’d seen how Jackson was treated. They had him bound in a room down the hall where he was currently locked in and being monitored for ‘aberrations’. He shuddered to think what Jackson’s life would be like from now on. They were only a tiny unit now. Broken off officially from the FBI since Agent Pierce had dismantled the group. Dr. Clark and Dr. Neri had put together this team of two doctors, two assistants, a physicist, and two guards themselves. This project would be completed on their own funding and once finished it would be presented to the FBI for their triumphant return to grace. Sims knew that Dr. Clark was hinging everything he had on this project and would tolerate no interference to getting the results he felt he needed.
Dr. Clark faced the window again and shook his head. “No. I want to save the last sample. I want to observe the interaction between the alien and the human and see if it makes any difference in the length of time between ‘feedings’ and the temperature of the subjects, etc.” He paced back to look at Liz.
“Get Larry and Joe to remove the restraints from the male subject and take him in to see the female. Warn them again not to touch the necklace. If he resists or tries anything tell him that we will make the girl suffer for it.” Sims’ eyes widened at the last threat, but he rushed out of the room to comply.
“This should be very interesting,” Dr. Clark muttered, running the back of his suddenly sweaty hand over his mouth.
“What’s interesting, Father?” A soft feminine voice intruded on his thoughts. He turned to scowl briefly at his daughter but was too enthralled by what he was about to learn to chastise her for addressing him as ‘Father’ in the workplace.
“They’ve gone into heat again. Both of them.” Dr. Clark spun an office chair over to Liz’s side of the window and he sat down to watch avidly, knowing the cameras would also be recording everything in the room for them to dissect later.
The girl’s eyes widened as she realized what was probably about to happen and she turned to leave the room.
“Stay,” her father’s voice rang out authoritatively without looking back at her. “I want to get your impressions.” He swiveled the chair around and stood suddenly. “I’ll be right back.” He swiftly exited by the door that led to Liz’s room.
Trapped, she took a deep breath and turned back toward the window, blinking back unaccountable tears.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max’s eyes were open when Larry and Joe cautiously entered the room. His head rotated to face them and he croaked out, “Liz needs me.”
“Yeah, yeah, buddy,” Larry sneered. “We’ll take you to her, but if you try anything. I mean anything, she’ll suffer for it. Got that?” Joe edged around the far side of the bed and rubbed his hands together, nervous about touching this strange man after what happened to Jackson.
Max nodded. “Yeah, I won’t try anything. I swear it. I don’t know what happened before. Just don’t touch the necklace, okay?” He’d do anything at this point to get to Liz. Both burly men nodded warily and began to loosen his restraints. Max sat up shakily, still feeling the dizzy effects of the drug they had given him and swung his legs over the side of the gurney. His feet and hands tingled as sensation shot painfully back through his limbs in sharps pins of discomfort. He ignored the pain and hobbled quickly between the two men toward the door he had seen them use earlier.
His arm was yanked back roughly. “Not that one,” Joe growled out, mad that he’d had to touch the alien. “Over here.” Max was hauled to another wall of the room and a buzzer sounded just before the door popped open in front of him.
Max’s heart leapt in his chest and began beating double time as he saw Dr. Clark leaning over Liz’s naked form as she lay strapped to an examination table.
“Max is here,” Dr. Clark whispered tauntingly before straightening up and smiling smugly at Max. “Don’t try anything. We have her hooked up to so much stuff we can kill her with one flip of a switch. We’ll be watching and we know what you need to do, so just get it done.” He left the room quickly followed by the two guards.
Max didn’t wait to see the door close behind them before he was at Liz’s side. His hands ran down her heated arms and he winced at the raw state of the skin at her wrists and ankles. She’d obviously put up quite a fight. A small proud smile flitted over his face even as his tears spilled over onto her smooth skin. That was his Liz. A brave fighter. She would never give in to these monsters.
He leaned down close to her head and cupped the side of her face in his palm. “Liz? Liz? Wake up, Liz! I’m here now.” Max’s soft voice drew a pained moan from Liz and she tossed her head restlessly. Her nostrils flared as she inhaled the cinnamon spice of his skin and she struggled to open her eyes against the heavy weight of the drugs.
“Ma…” Her voice slurred so badly that he knew she was heavily drugged. His anguish increased a hundred times as he realized they’d disabled his ability to heal her. More tears spilled over his cheeks as he heard her struggle to speak again. “Need you, Masss.” Her voice was a bare whisper with a message so powerful to Max that he immediately straightened up and began to undo her restraints.
The unwelcome buzz blared through Liz’s room and Max’s hands stilled instantly as his eyes flew around looking for the speakers. “Leave them on,” Dr. Clark demanded.
“I…I can’t. We can’t with these…” his tone was desperate as his eyes kept searching for the source of the voice that seemed to emanate from all over the room. He gave up and looked down at his hands where they rested on one ankle restraint.
There was a brief pause as if the doctor were contemplating his statement. The buzz sounded again, startling Max into jumping nervously. He looked up again, waiting for the verdict.
“Just her ankles.”
Max nodded, not wanting to delay Liz’s fevered suffering any longer. He pulled the thick fabric through the heavy buckles on each of her ankles and tried not to think of the observers behind the glass. He moved back up to Liz’s side, blocking the view on the whited-out glass side of the room and kissed her cheeks, her brow, and finally her lips as tenderly as he could. “I love you. I love you. I love you.” His whispered words were almost a chant. An apology for what had to be done. Max’s body had already responded to the fever and his proximity to Liz and her desperate need.
His hands stroked down her arms as he moved further down the narrow bed and finally crawled up onto it awkwardly between her parted thighs. He tried to angle his body so that he could obstruct the view as much as possible, but knew they were going to get a show regardless of his efforts. He didn’t even want to think of how many cameras were trained on them at this moment.
He felt like a monster taking advantage of Liz while she lay helpless on the bed, but he knew there was no other way to keep her and their child safe. He braced his arms in the narrow space on each side of her above her shoulders and leaned down to kiss her lips softly. Her body responded immediately to his proximity and her lips slid lightly over his as she arched up and tried to deepen the kiss. She mewled in protest as her wrists stung with pain when she tried to wrap her arms around him. As their lips slid together and mouths parted eagerly Max was lost in the sensation of being with Liz. The fever overtook them and Liz arched her hips up to meet him in an urgent plea for fulfillment.
Max guided his throbbing erection swiftly into her and plunged deeply with one swift stroke. Liz hissed in pain and stiffened briefly. Max was so shocked he stopped cold and rage ran through him as he wondered what they had been doing to her. Liz was the one who began a slow and tentative rhythm that increased in tempo as her need swamped her and the pleasure over-road the initial discomfort. Max held himself up on one arm and slid his other hand through her thick hair as he deepened the kiss, urgent to try to re-establish their mental bond. A heavy weight settled into him when he realized the only connection they were capable of right now was physical. Liz sighed in satisfaction at the craved contact even as her mind struggled to register what was happening on more than an instinctive level. The drugs were strong though and maybe this was just another dream…
Her body bucked up into his, her hips moving wildly and urgent noises began to spill from her throat. Her arms moved again in a struggle to wrap around the strong body that was arching over her and her voice filled the room with her moaning sighs and frustrated moans. Max’s hips moved faster over her, his groans matching hers as they were lost to the rhythm and the pleasure of being one again. Max’s kisses moved down the side of her neck and she arched up gracefully to accept them. Her head tossed back and forth and she knew, knew, that this time Dr. Clark hadn’t lied and that Max was really here with her. She clung desperately to the comfort of his nearness and wrapped her legs around his rapidly snapping hips. The movement deepened the contact and their release hit them both so strongly that they were locked together, all motion stilled, for several long moments as Max’s life-giving seed spilled into her body before he collapsed on top of her, utterly spent by all that had transpired that day.
He tried to keep his weight off her as much as he could and again made sure to angle his body to hide Liz from view of prying eyes as he realized again where they were. He brushed a stray hair off of her brow and gently kissed her all over her face. His breathing was still harsh and sounded loudly in the room with hers. He closed his eyes and stayed sprawled protectively over Liz with one arm and one leg angled over her body as exhaustion swamped him and pulled him under.
TBC
How we doin’ on the angst factor?
There are flashes of light and darkness behind his eyelids and muffled sounds that he’s pretty sure should be important, but the pain throbbing through his skull washes strongly over everything, pushing him back into shadow.
Eventually, he heard a pained groaning noise that made his eyes flicker open. He sensed movement at the same time he realized the sound was his. His eyes snapped shut against the onslaught of artificial brightness and he moaned again while he tried to register the meaning of the light and motion around him. He tried to move his arms up to cover his face and found they were bound to his sides. He tugged harder in sudden panic as he realized that he wasn’t home. That he wasn’t anywhere that he had chosen to be. His eyes slit open again and he strained to hear the low conversation going on over his head.
“Fucking heavy is all I’m saying,” the large man to his right whispered over his prone form as they swung him between them and up onto a flat surface. He heard the snick of the metal cuffs at his sides being fixed to the edges of his new location.
“Yeah, I got that already. Now stop whining about it and let’s get him to his room before he wakes up all the way. I don’t think we wanna be around for that.” The heavyset guy on the left sounded impatient.
The walls were flashing by and the green stripe that was painted high on the wall bent around the corners as they followed the maze of corridors. Max understood that he was on a gurney and being wheeled into his ‘room’. He flinched at the loud clang of the door being shut leaving him alone. He opened his eyes fully and his breathing accelerated in panic as he took in the white walls surrounding him. His eyes snapped shut again at the rush of memory that threatened to overwhelm him. Breathe, Max. Just breathe. He slowly turned his head to fully survey the room. Not the same room. He wasn’t sure why he took comfort from that, but for some reason it made him glad that he wasn’t still trapped with the sick bastard that had abused his innocence so long ago.
His confusion worried him. He was dizzy even though he was laid out flat on his back and even the sick waves of nausea couldn’t completely conceal the fact that he felt he was missing something important. Vitally important. What was more important than trying to get out of here? What was more important than his life? LIZ!!
“LIZ!!” He lurched up as far as his restraints would allow, his face contorted with the memory of why he was here. He had to find her. He had to keep her safe. “LIZ!!” His vocal chords strained as his scream echoed in the room and he fought his restraints with muscles too weak to obey. His breathing was coming in harsh pants and he knew he would hyperventilate in a minute it one of those restraints didn’t just…
The door concealed in one of the walls slammed open so hard it hit the wall behind it and almost bounced back in the face of the livid man who had opened it. Max sank back onto the gurney and saved his strength for a moment.
“Where’s Liz?” He growled out harshly.
“You’re not in any position to be asking questions, young man,” Dr. Clark replied with a scowl. “And I suggest you stop screaming in here because no one can hear you.”
“You heard me,” Max snapped back, raising his head again in defiance and glaring hatefully at the smug doctor.
Dr. Clark shook his head. They would obviously have discipline issues with this one. He watched the muscles bulge and flatten as Max strained once more against his bonds. “I heard you because I’m having this room monitored with audio and video surveillance. You’ve caused us a great deal of trouble.” The doctor made a motion with one hand and almost immediately a slender young man walked into the room and waited for instruction.
“This is my lab technician. I suggest you cooperate with him fully. The drug you have been given is a purified version of what we gave you the last time you were our guest. You cannot use your powers, and I recommend that you save your strength. You’re going to need it.” With that the doctor turned on his heel and quickly exited the room.
The technician that was left in the room eyed the subject warily. This alien was obviously much stronger than himself and he wondered if he should call in a reinforcement. He approached the gurney slowly and tried to project confidence and authority into his tone.
“Do I need to give you more of the drug or will you cooperate?”
Max just stared at the man and then rested his head back, closing his eyes, panting lightly to get his breath back. He knew he was too weak to do anything to stop this guy from whatever his job was. It had drained all his strength just to struggle against his bonds.
“Tell me that Liz is safe and I’ll do anything you want me to,” he whispered hoarsely, meaning it.
With his eyes closed Max missed the startled surprise that flickered through the technician’s eyes. He’d never thought of an alien having an emotional attachment like that.
“She’s fine. She’s in the next roo…” a loud buzzer cut off what the man had been about to say.
“Get on with your assignment, Jackson,” Dr. Clark’s voice spilled venomously through the intercom.
Max’s heart leapt at the thought of being so close to his love. His eyes had snapped to meet Jackson’s at the first words he had spoken and he saw that they were true.
Jackson flushed hotly at being reprimanded in front of their prisoner and he moved forward purposefully. “I’m going to remove your leg restraints and take off your shorts. If you struggle or fight me in any way I’ll put the restraints back on and just cut your clothes off you. Understand?”
Max swallowed a huge lump in his throat and tried not to flash back to another time and place where he had been stripped bare for the perusal of strangers.
Jackson shook his leg roughly. “I said, Do you understand?” Max’s eyes flew open and shut again immediately. He nodded stiffly and hoped that was enough. He feared opening his mouth to answer because of the nausea rising in his stomach.
Strong hands worked around his ankles one at a time as the restraints were released. His shoes and socks were pulled off in short order and landed with small thuds on the hard floor. Max winced as Jackson’s hands moved swiftly up his body to the button of his shorts. He felt the ‘pop’ of the button releasing and the smooth glide of the zipper as it was yanked down. He flinched before he could stop himself as the large hands returned and tugged at the waistbands of his shorts and boxers. A hand tapped his hip impatiently as the material got stuck. “Lift up,” Jackson snapped out.
Max lifted his hips reluctantly and felt the cool air wash over his newly bared skin. He cringed at the thought of what they could do to him. What they would do to him. His ankles were securely fastened again, the metal cold against his bared skin, and the impersonal hands moved to his wrists. Max rotated each wrist as it was freed and unconsciously covered his lap with his hands. He heard a hrrumph of protest as Jackson lifted the hem of Max’s shirt and pulled it up his chest. He pushed Max’s arms up and took his shirt off. Next he removed Max’s watch. He returned Max’s wrists into the restraints and them began gathering together the items he had removed, piling them into a plastic container he’d left by the door.
The intercom buzzed loudly before Dr. Clark’s voice once again flooded the room. “Don’t forget the necklace.”
Jackson turned back to Max after placing his clothing in a neat stack in the container by the door. The young alien was trembling visibly and Jackson couldn’t tell if it was from fear or anger. He kinda hoped for fear, because there was not telling what he’d do if he was enraged. He’d heard stories about these aliens, and they were utterly heartless, without conscience. He bent close to examine the fastening for the necklace. Not finding any apparent clasp he turned the cord slowly. “I’ll have to cut it I guess,” he muttered, still not finding a way to get it off. Jackson fingers brushed over the amber stone as he pondered the dilemma. A bright flash illuminated the room as a pulse of energy burst through Max and channeled into the stone. Jackson screamed as he was thrown back against the far wall of the room and his hand smoked where it had touched the stone as his eyes slowly rolled back in his head and he lost consciousness.
The door to Max’s room was thrown open suddenly and the two large men that had wheeled him in were suddenly leaning over Max menacingly close. The edges of Max’s vision were already darkening from the energy the stone had taken from him. He could vaguely hear the threatening, “What did you do to him?” before his eyes snapped shut and the world was peaceful and dark again.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“What the hell did he do to Jackson?” Dr. Clark ranted. He didn’t spare a glance at the injured Jackson, who was being attended by his daughter. He just wanted to find out how that alien had dared to attack a human.
Dr. Neri scratched his head as he read the vital signs that were now being transmitted into the control room. They’d wired Max with blood pressure, temperature and pulse monitors as soon as Jackson had been carried from the room. “He’s still unconscious.” He rewound the video tape of the incident and squinted against the brightness of the flash. He paused the tape and tapped the screen. “I think it was the necklace.” He got up close to the screen until his nose almost touched it and advanced the frames screen by screen. He stepped back after his close examination and nodded, satisfied. “It was definitely the stone in the necklace. And I think the subject was as surprised as Jackson here.” He clapped Jackson on the shoulder as he lay on the couch in the control room and the man cringed back in horror as every nerve-ending in his body was wracked with soul-searing pain at the motion.
Dr. Neri noted the man’s discomfort and swiveled a chair to sit beside the couch. He whipped out a notepad and calmly asked for Jackson’s ‘impressions’ of what had happened to him. Jackson’s eyes widened in disbelief that they were taking this so calmly. His ‘impression’ was that he was in so much pain he thought he might die soon. His ‘impression’ was that that freak alien in there was trying to kill him. His ‘impression’…Dr. Neri nodded and took copious notes.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
An hour and a half later…
Monitors began to beep alarmingly and Dr. Clark looked up to see which patient had caused the raucous noises. His eyebrows lifted as he saw that both patients temperatures had spiked simultaneously. He rubbed his hands together as he considered the options. Standing slowly he moved closer to the observation windows. He stopped at the bank of windows to his right and observed Liz’s head twisting in discomfort as she lightly tugged at her bonds. He knew her to be mostly unconscious from the amount of drugs they had injected her with only an hour earlier.
He walked slowly to the left and looked at the alien in the room adjoining Liz’s. Max hadn’t regained consciousness after the ‘incident’ earlier, but now he was moving restlessly on the gurney as small pools of sweat formed on his brow and dripped down.
“Doctor?”
Dr. Clark spun quickly on his heel and glared at Sims. “What is it, Sims?” He snapped out impatiently, tired of his assistant’s obsequious attitude.
“I…I…was j…just wondering if…if y…you wanted me to tha…thaw out the l...last s...sample, sir.” Sims cringed under the harsh gaze being leveled at him. He was one of only two assistants that were on this project and he’d seen how Jackson was treated. They had him bound in a room down the hall where he was currently locked in and being monitored for ‘aberrations’. He shuddered to think what Jackson’s life would be like from now on. They were only a tiny unit now. Broken off officially from the FBI since Agent Pierce had dismantled the group. Dr. Clark and Dr. Neri had put together this team of two doctors, two assistants, a physicist, and two guards themselves. This project would be completed on their own funding and once finished it would be presented to the FBI for their triumphant return to grace. Sims knew that Dr. Clark was hinging everything he had on this project and would tolerate no interference to getting the results he felt he needed.
Dr. Clark faced the window again and shook his head. “No. I want to save the last sample. I want to observe the interaction between the alien and the human and see if it makes any difference in the length of time between ‘feedings’ and the temperature of the subjects, etc.” He paced back to look at Liz.
“Get Larry and Joe to remove the restraints from the male subject and take him in to see the female. Warn them again not to touch the necklace. If he resists or tries anything tell him that we will make the girl suffer for it.” Sims’ eyes widened at the last threat, but he rushed out of the room to comply.
“This should be very interesting,” Dr. Clark muttered, running the back of his suddenly sweaty hand over his mouth.
“What’s interesting, Father?” A soft feminine voice intruded on his thoughts. He turned to scowl briefly at his daughter but was too enthralled by what he was about to learn to chastise her for addressing him as ‘Father’ in the workplace.
“They’ve gone into heat again. Both of them.” Dr. Clark spun an office chair over to Liz’s side of the window and he sat down to watch avidly, knowing the cameras would also be recording everything in the room for them to dissect later.
The girl’s eyes widened as she realized what was probably about to happen and she turned to leave the room.
“Stay,” her father’s voice rang out authoritatively without looking back at her. “I want to get your impressions.” He swiveled the chair around and stood suddenly. “I’ll be right back.” He swiftly exited by the door that led to Liz’s room.
Trapped, she took a deep breath and turned back toward the window, blinking back unaccountable tears.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max’s eyes were open when Larry and Joe cautiously entered the room. His head rotated to face them and he croaked out, “Liz needs me.”
“Yeah, yeah, buddy,” Larry sneered. “We’ll take you to her, but if you try anything. I mean anything, she’ll suffer for it. Got that?” Joe edged around the far side of the bed and rubbed his hands together, nervous about touching this strange man after what happened to Jackson.
Max nodded. “Yeah, I won’t try anything. I swear it. I don’t know what happened before. Just don’t touch the necklace, okay?” He’d do anything at this point to get to Liz. Both burly men nodded warily and began to loosen his restraints. Max sat up shakily, still feeling the dizzy effects of the drug they had given him and swung his legs over the side of the gurney. His feet and hands tingled as sensation shot painfully back through his limbs in sharps pins of discomfort. He ignored the pain and hobbled quickly between the two men toward the door he had seen them use earlier.
His arm was yanked back roughly. “Not that one,” Joe growled out, mad that he’d had to touch the alien. “Over here.” Max was hauled to another wall of the room and a buzzer sounded just before the door popped open in front of him.
Max’s heart leapt in his chest and began beating double time as he saw Dr. Clark leaning over Liz’s naked form as she lay strapped to an examination table.
“Max is here,” Dr. Clark whispered tauntingly before straightening up and smiling smugly at Max. “Don’t try anything. We have her hooked up to so much stuff we can kill her with one flip of a switch. We’ll be watching and we know what you need to do, so just get it done.” He left the room quickly followed by the two guards.
Max didn’t wait to see the door close behind them before he was at Liz’s side. His hands ran down her heated arms and he winced at the raw state of the skin at her wrists and ankles. She’d obviously put up quite a fight. A small proud smile flitted over his face even as his tears spilled over onto her smooth skin. That was his Liz. A brave fighter. She would never give in to these monsters.
He leaned down close to her head and cupped the side of her face in his palm. “Liz? Liz? Wake up, Liz! I’m here now.” Max’s soft voice drew a pained moan from Liz and she tossed her head restlessly. Her nostrils flared as she inhaled the cinnamon spice of his skin and she struggled to open her eyes against the heavy weight of the drugs.
“Ma…” Her voice slurred so badly that he knew she was heavily drugged. His anguish increased a hundred times as he realized they’d disabled his ability to heal her. More tears spilled over his cheeks as he heard her struggle to speak again. “Need you, Masss.” Her voice was a bare whisper with a message so powerful to Max that he immediately straightened up and began to undo her restraints.
The unwelcome buzz blared through Liz’s room and Max’s hands stilled instantly as his eyes flew around looking for the speakers. “Leave them on,” Dr. Clark demanded.
“I…I can’t. We can’t with these…” his tone was desperate as his eyes kept searching for the source of the voice that seemed to emanate from all over the room. He gave up and looked down at his hands where they rested on one ankle restraint.
There was a brief pause as if the doctor were contemplating his statement. The buzz sounded again, startling Max into jumping nervously. He looked up again, waiting for the verdict.
“Just her ankles.”
Max nodded, not wanting to delay Liz’s fevered suffering any longer. He pulled the thick fabric through the heavy buckles on each of her ankles and tried not to think of the observers behind the glass. He moved back up to Liz’s side, blocking the view on the whited-out glass side of the room and kissed her cheeks, her brow, and finally her lips as tenderly as he could. “I love you. I love you. I love you.” His whispered words were almost a chant. An apology for what had to be done. Max’s body had already responded to the fever and his proximity to Liz and her desperate need.
His hands stroked down her arms as he moved further down the narrow bed and finally crawled up onto it awkwardly between her parted thighs. He tried to angle his body so that he could obstruct the view as much as possible, but knew they were going to get a show regardless of his efforts. He didn’t even want to think of how many cameras were trained on them at this moment.
He felt like a monster taking advantage of Liz while she lay helpless on the bed, but he knew there was no other way to keep her and their child safe. He braced his arms in the narrow space on each side of her above her shoulders and leaned down to kiss her lips softly. Her body responded immediately to his proximity and her lips slid lightly over his as she arched up and tried to deepen the kiss. She mewled in protest as her wrists stung with pain when she tried to wrap her arms around him. As their lips slid together and mouths parted eagerly Max was lost in the sensation of being with Liz. The fever overtook them and Liz arched her hips up to meet him in an urgent plea for fulfillment.
Max guided his throbbing erection swiftly into her and plunged deeply with one swift stroke. Liz hissed in pain and stiffened briefly. Max was so shocked he stopped cold and rage ran through him as he wondered what they had been doing to her. Liz was the one who began a slow and tentative rhythm that increased in tempo as her need swamped her and the pleasure over-road the initial discomfort. Max held himself up on one arm and slid his other hand through her thick hair as he deepened the kiss, urgent to try to re-establish their mental bond. A heavy weight settled into him when he realized the only connection they were capable of right now was physical. Liz sighed in satisfaction at the craved contact even as her mind struggled to register what was happening on more than an instinctive level. The drugs were strong though and maybe this was just another dream…
Her body bucked up into his, her hips moving wildly and urgent noises began to spill from her throat. Her arms moved again in a struggle to wrap around the strong body that was arching over her and her voice filled the room with her moaning sighs and frustrated moans. Max’s hips moved faster over her, his groans matching hers as they were lost to the rhythm and the pleasure of being one again. Max’s kisses moved down the side of her neck and she arched up gracefully to accept them. Her head tossed back and forth and she knew, knew, that this time Dr. Clark hadn’t lied and that Max was really here with her. She clung desperately to the comfort of his nearness and wrapped her legs around his rapidly snapping hips. The movement deepened the contact and their release hit them both so strongly that they were locked together, all motion stilled, for several long moments as Max’s life-giving seed spilled into her body before he collapsed on top of her, utterly spent by all that had transpired that day.
He tried to keep his weight off her as much as he could and again made sure to angle his body to hide Liz from view of prying eyes as he realized again where they were. He brushed a stray hair off of her brow and gently kissed her all over her face. His breathing was still harsh and sounded loudly in the room with hers. He closed his eyes and stayed sprawled protectively over Liz with one arm and one leg angled over her body as exhaustion swamped him and pulled him under.
TBC
How we doin’ on the angst factor?
EYA Part 79
Serena watched her father leave the lab and go into Liz’s room just before they brought Max in to be with her. She clenched her hands together to stop their trembling and bit her lip to keep from screaming out loud at what she knew was about to take place. Her brow furrowed with concern as she saw her father whispering something to Liz, but the audio system didn’t pick up the faint sound and then Max was there and that look…That look in his eyes as he saw Liz for the first time since they had…done what they’d done to her, and Serena knew right then, beyond all doubt that she could not stand there and watch this. They were just kids! Not at all the evil monsters she’d been raised to believe were her enemies.
Her father let himself back into the room and sat eagerly close to the window to observe the interaction. She shuddered again, wondering if he’d just go ahead and press his nose to the glass. Her eyes flicked away from him in disgust and widened immediately as Max touched Liz so tenderly, with so much loving care…She turned swiftly, knowing she couldn’t stop what would happen today, but also knowing that she needed a plan. And there was no doubt that she was good at planning and strategy. That’s one of the reasons her father had adopted her all those years ago. The thought of raising a child prodigy, someone in whose reflected glory he could bask, well, that had been far too good of an opportunity to pass up.
When she first came to the government’s notice she had been seven years old and living in an orphanage. She’d far surpassed every child in their care in intelligence and artistic ability. Her caretakers had begun to show her off in local talent contests and one of those had made the news.
The first year she lived as a foster child with the government they’d tested her constantly, always finding new ways to challenge her intellect. She’d actually thrived scholastically, but emotionally…She’d needed a family. They’d eventually approached the Clarks, who agreed to adopt her, honored to be asked. Mrs. Clark had been a quiet woman. She couldn’t have any children of her own and she nurtured Serena with all of her love and pent-up motherly instincts. Serena had adored her mother. Her father…well, he’d always been distant emotionally and it was no wonder that her mother was so thrilled to have Serena there to pour her love into and have it returned to her happily. The government was happy because her new father could develop her gifts for their use and train her with the knowledge she would need to become a valuable asset to them later. And so Serena’s path was set.
Her mother died under mysterious circumstances and since that day Serena’s world had been dark. Her father shipped her off to special schools and kept her working in the labs with him on school breaks, all the while filling her head with stories of evil aliens that were here among them on Earth. He substantiated his stories with evidence that he took directly from the FBI files from an alien crash in 1947. Serena had studied the evidence herself and found it to be ‘not of this Earth’. And she’d had no reason to doubt her father.
When she’d received her doctorate at the age of nineteen, she’d been flattered when her father had asked her to join his team. She’s always fought to make him proud and hoped that one day he would notice her accomplishments and maybe tell her how proud of her he…well, maybe that was too much to ask. And maybe it was time to realize that not everything he told her could be true. He’d been wildly excited by a phone call from his special phone line and had immediately gone into action to retrieve Liz from her home and bring her here. To her father, Liz was just ‘the subject’ who would get him back in good with his former colleagues at the FBI. Serena knew now she could never be that detached.
She turned her back on her father and the room and walked quickly into her lab. She was disgusted by his absorption with what was going on behind the glass, and she knew he wouldn’t notice her absence. She grabbed a stack of papers and stared at them blindly for a moment. There was no doubt that the child Liz carried was not all human, and they already knew that Max’s cells were alien, but she knew instinctively that those two were not here to harm anyone. Sitting down at her computer, she started rapidly typing, the soft click of the keyboard was the only sound that filled the room for quite some time.
It was time to do something constructive.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Where Alex?” Isabel’s anxious tone reflected her tension and worry.
Alex stayed hunched over his keyboard, rapidly clicking the keys looking for an arrival destination on the chopper that had taken off earlier.
“Tannis airstrip. It’s small.” He swiveled his chair around to face the ring of worried faces that awaited his findings. “Both times that helicopter was scheduled to land there. The first time it obviously went somewhere else first, because the arrival time was several hours after the flight time they have logged in. They probably dropped Liz off somewhere and then turned in the aircraft.”
“Where is Tannis, airstrip Alex?” Phillip looked ready to drop, but was trying to stay strong for the family.
“Easter border of Nevada,” Alex answered quickly. He swiveled back to the screen and tapped a few keys. A map of Nevada came up and Alex highlighted the spot over the airstrip.
Kyle had been repeating their conversation into a cell phone to his father. He turned to Alex, “Anything else?” Alex shook his head.
“Alright, Dad that’s it for now. We’ll meet you out at the airstrip in Nevada then…Yeah…Me too,…Dad?…Stay safe, okay?… Alright, bye.” He hung up the phone. “Dad’s already on the highway. Who all’s going with me?”
The volume in the room increased as they all answered that they wanted to help.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max woke as rough hands grabbed his arms and rolled him off the bed he had shared with Liz. He stumbled as he tried not to fall to the floor and one of the large men grunted under his weight before steadying him and beginning to pull him from the room.
“No! Don’t take me away from her! Can’t you see she needs me?” The men paid no attention, just tightened their grips on his arms and dragged him out of the room as he struggled wildly to stay.
The door banged shut behind him and Max pounded on it until his strength gave out and he sank to the floor. He pressed his face to the cold surface of the door and let the tears fall.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Serena waited until Dr. Clark was occupied reviewing the tapes for ‘alien anomalies’ before she made her first move. She knew Dr. Neri was sleeping and Sims was assigned to check Jackson’s vitals and monitor him for the next hour before resuming his alien watching duties. It was a small thing she was doing, but it was all she could manage for now. She piled her arms with the items she would need and quietly made her way into the room where Liz slept. Standing next to Liz made it all the more real for Serena. She held back the emotion from her expression, knowing the cameras would record everything that she did, and quickly undid Liz’s wrist restraints. This girl wasn’t going anywhere, and there should be no reason for the extra precaution. Liz flinched back from the unfamiliar touch, but Serena couldn’t soften her expression.
Quickly she removed the monitors and wires that were still attached to Liz’s forehead and wrist and then reached to grab one of the items she had brought with her. She unfolded the hospital gown and draped it over Liz’s body threading her arms through the armholes and lifting her up to an unsteady sitting position so she could fasten it behind her. Liz was barely conscious through all these actions, just wincing and moaning in faint protest against the new intrusion. She was laid back onto the bed and sighed as a warm blanket was draped over her body.
Serena leaned down closer to Liz as she pretended to adjust the blanket and whispered, “I’m here to help you, Liz. You and Max.” Liz’s eyes fluttered open and locked with hers for a moment, filled with the confusion that surrounded her.
“Who…?” Liz barely whispered, her voice cracking so she had to clear her throat to continue. Serena’s eyes widened and she shook her head minutely. It was too soon to give away the plan, but she had wanted to give Liz some hope. Straightening, she pointed to a screened area behind her.
“There’s a shower, sink, and toilet behind there. Feel free to move around the room after you’ve rested. We won’t continue to drug you if you cooperate. Do you understand?” Her tone was cold, it had to be for the audience she was sure would be in attendance by now. Liz gave her a short nod and closed her eyes. She must have been dreaming when this cold woman had told her that she would help her.
Serena made her way back out of the room and through the corridor that led to the main entrance to Max’s room. She knew from her brief glance at the monitor before she entered Liz’s room that Max had fallen asleep leaning against the door that adjoined his room with Liz’s. Joe stood outside Max’s door and Serena straightened her shoulders, prepared to exert her authority.
“Joe! Did you set up the bed like I asked you?” Her imperious tone had him nodding quickly that, yes, he had set up the bed as she had directed.
“Do you want me to put it in his room now?”
“Yes. Right away.” Serena swept past him and entered the room as if it were an everyday occurrence. She stared at Max’s forlorn figure crouched uncomfortably against the opposite door and shook her head. She wheeled the gurney over to the main door and left it there for Joe to dispose of and then walked closer to Max. Her breathing accelerated as she neared him and she was intimidated to realize that he was a very well built man who could easily overpower her. A wave of panic had her wishing she had waited for Joe to enter the room with her, but she shook it off and thought again how she was there to help…
She didn’t register that he was not, indeed, sleeping until Max stood up and had her throat in his hand as he slammed her against the wall so fast that she knew the drugs were wearing off on him. Max was shocked by his own actions, especially when he noted the extreme youth and fragility of his captive.
“Who are you?” He ground out between clenched teeth, not prepared to trust anyone at this point.
“S...Serena,” she whispered hoarsely with the tiny amount of air she had left. “I’m here to help you,” she added, hoping he would ease up and scared out of her mind by the muscular enraged man that held her pressed up against the wall.
“How?”
Serena’s hands were scrabbling over his to try to gain a puff of air and her sight danced with black spots before he finally relented enough to allow her feet to touch the ground and some air to pass to her lungs. She dragged in a deep shuddering breath and pointed at the stack of clothes that she had left by the door. His eyes followed the direction she was indicating and widened at what he saw. He let his hand drop and turned back to face her.
“Give them to Liz,” he ordered authoritatively. “She needs them more.”
Serena was shocked by the need in his tone. She knew he had to crave the basic dignity of clothing and warmth, but he would sacrifice his pride for his love. She knew again that she had chosen the right side.
“I already gave some to Liz.” She gasped as he grabbed her chin in his hand and looked her in the eye, trying to see if he could trust her words. “I…I took off the restraints too. She can move around after she’s rested.”
Max seemed satisfied that she was telling the truth. Something about her expression…He crossed the room in three quick strides and swooped to pick up the hospital scrubs from the floor. He stepped into the pants first, tying the drawstring and then shrugged into the shirt. He was startled when the main door opened behind him and even more surprised when both of his beefy abductors, that he had nicknamed Frick and Frack in his mind, wheeled in a single bed made up with sheets and a blanket.
“Stand with your back against the walls, palms touching it when we enter the room,” Frack ordered with a glare. Max moved to obey quickly, remembering their earlier threats to harm Liz if he disobeyed their orders. Frick stayed in the doorway, barring any escape, while Frack positioned the bed by the wall that connected Max and Liz’s rooms as he was directed by Serena.
They both moved to stand in the doorway and waited for Serena to leave. She edged her way along the wall as Max watched her warily. Pointing to a curtained corner she directed his gaze to a screened area he’d paid no attention to before. “There’s a bathroom through there,” she managed to croak out before turning and leaving the room.
Max shook his head. It almost seemed like this Serena girl wanted to help them. He shook his head again and scrubbed his palms over his eyes. He turned back to the new bed and collapsed across it, utterly exhausted. He put one palm against the wall separating him from Liz and fell asleep again.
TBC
Serena watched her father leave the lab and go into Liz’s room just before they brought Max in to be with her. She clenched her hands together to stop their trembling and bit her lip to keep from screaming out loud at what she knew was about to take place. Her brow furrowed with concern as she saw her father whispering something to Liz, but the audio system didn’t pick up the faint sound and then Max was there and that look…That look in his eyes as he saw Liz for the first time since they had…done what they’d done to her, and Serena knew right then, beyond all doubt that she could not stand there and watch this. They were just kids! Not at all the evil monsters she’d been raised to believe were her enemies.
Her father let himself back into the room and sat eagerly close to the window to observe the interaction. She shuddered again, wondering if he’d just go ahead and press his nose to the glass. Her eyes flicked away from him in disgust and widened immediately as Max touched Liz so tenderly, with so much loving care…She turned swiftly, knowing she couldn’t stop what would happen today, but also knowing that she needed a plan. And there was no doubt that she was good at planning and strategy. That’s one of the reasons her father had adopted her all those years ago. The thought of raising a child prodigy, someone in whose reflected glory he could bask, well, that had been far too good of an opportunity to pass up.
When she first came to the government’s notice she had been seven years old and living in an orphanage. She’d far surpassed every child in their care in intelligence and artistic ability. Her caretakers had begun to show her off in local talent contests and one of those had made the news.
The first year she lived as a foster child with the government they’d tested her constantly, always finding new ways to challenge her intellect. She’d actually thrived scholastically, but emotionally…She’d needed a family. They’d eventually approached the Clarks, who agreed to adopt her, honored to be asked. Mrs. Clark had been a quiet woman. She couldn’t have any children of her own and she nurtured Serena with all of her love and pent-up motherly instincts. Serena had adored her mother. Her father…well, he’d always been distant emotionally and it was no wonder that her mother was so thrilled to have Serena there to pour her love into and have it returned to her happily. The government was happy because her new father could develop her gifts for their use and train her with the knowledge she would need to become a valuable asset to them later. And so Serena’s path was set.
Her mother died under mysterious circumstances and since that day Serena’s world had been dark. Her father shipped her off to special schools and kept her working in the labs with him on school breaks, all the while filling her head with stories of evil aliens that were here among them on Earth. He substantiated his stories with evidence that he took directly from the FBI files from an alien crash in 1947. Serena had studied the evidence herself and found it to be ‘not of this Earth’. And she’d had no reason to doubt her father.
When she’d received her doctorate at the age of nineteen, she’d been flattered when her father had asked her to join his team. She’s always fought to make him proud and hoped that one day he would notice her accomplishments and maybe tell her how proud of her he…well, maybe that was too much to ask. And maybe it was time to realize that not everything he told her could be true. He’d been wildly excited by a phone call from his special phone line and had immediately gone into action to retrieve Liz from her home and bring her here. To her father, Liz was just ‘the subject’ who would get him back in good with his former colleagues at the FBI. Serena knew now she could never be that detached.
She turned her back on her father and the room and walked quickly into her lab. She was disgusted by his absorption with what was going on behind the glass, and she knew he wouldn’t notice her absence. She grabbed a stack of papers and stared at them blindly for a moment. There was no doubt that the child Liz carried was not all human, and they already knew that Max’s cells were alien, but she knew instinctively that those two were not here to harm anyone. Sitting down at her computer, she started rapidly typing, the soft click of the keyboard was the only sound that filled the room for quite some time.
It was time to do something constructive.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Where Alex?” Isabel’s anxious tone reflected her tension and worry.
Alex stayed hunched over his keyboard, rapidly clicking the keys looking for an arrival destination on the chopper that had taken off earlier.
“Tannis airstrip. It’s small.” He swiveled his chair around to face the ring of worried faces that awaited his findings. “Both times that helicopter was scheduled to land there. The first time it obviously went somewhere else first, because the arrival time was several hours after the flight time they have logged in. They probably dropped Liz off somewhere and then turned in the aircraft.”
“Where is Tannis, airstrip Alex?” Phillip looked ready to drop, but was trying to stay strong for the family.
“Easter border of Nevada,” Alex answered quickly. He swiveled back to the screen and tapped a few keys. A map of Nevada came up and Alex highlighted the spot over the airstrip.
Kyle had been repeating their conversation into a cell phone to his father. He turned to Alex, “Anything else?” Alex shook his head.
“Alright, Dad that’s it for now. We’ll meet you out at the airstrip in Nevada then…Yeah…Me too,…Dad?…Stay safe, okay?… Alright, bye.” He hung up the phone. “Dad’s already on the highway. Who all’s going with me?”
The volume in the room increased as they all answered that they wanted to help.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max woke as rough hands grabbed his arms and rolled him off the bed he had shared with Liz. He stumbled as he tried not to fall to the floor and one of the large men grunted under his weight before steadying him and beginning to pull him from the room.
“No! Don’t take me away from her! Can’t you see she needs me?” The men paid no attention, just tightened their grips on his arms and dragged him out of the room as he struggled wildly to stay.
The door banged shut behind him and Max pounded on it until his strength gave out and he sank to the floor. He pressed his face to the cold surface of the door and let the tears fall.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Serena waited until Dr. Clark was occupied reviewing the tapes for ‘alien anomalies’ before she made her first move. She knew Dr. Neri was sleeping and Sims was assigned to check Jackson’s vitals and monitor him for the next hour before resuming his alien watching duties. It was a small thing she was doing, but it was all she could manage for now. She piled her arms with the items she would need and quietly made her way into the room where Liz slept. Standing next to Liz made it all the more real for Serena. She held back the emotion from her expression, knowing the cameras would record everything that she did, and quickly undid Liz’s wrist restraints. This girl wasn’t going anywhere, and there should be no reason for the extra precaution. Liz flinched back from the unfamiliar touch, but Serena couldn’t soften her expression.
Quickly she removed the monitors and wires that were still attached to Liz’s forehead and wrist and then reached to grab one of the items she had brought with her. She unfolded the hospital gown and draped it over Liz’s body threading her arms through the armholes and lifting her up to an unsteady sitting position so she could fasten it behind her. Liz was barely conscious through all these actions, just wincing and moaning in faint protest against the new intrusion. She was laid back onto the bed and sighed as a warm blanket was draped over her body.
Serena leaned down closer to Liz as she pretended to adjust the blanket and whispered, “I’m here to help you, Liz. You and Max.” Liz’s eyes fluttered open and locked with hers for a moment, filled with the confusion that surrounded her.
“Who…?” Liz barely whispered, her voice cracking so she had to clear her throat to continue. Serena’s eyes widened and she shook her head minutely. It was too soon to give away the plan, but she had wanted to give Liz some hope. Straightening, she pointed to a screened area behind her.
“There’s a shower, sink, and toilet behind there. Feel free to move around the room after you’ve rested. We won’t continue to drug you if you cooperate. Do you understand?” Her tone was cold, it had to be for the audience she was sure would be in attendance by now. Liz gave her a short nod and closed her eyes. She must have been dreaming when this cold woman had told her that she would help her.
Serena made her way back out of the room and through the corridor that led to the main entrance to Max’s room. She knew from her brief glance at the monitor before she entered Liz’s room that Max had fallen asleep leaning against the door that adjoined his room with Liz’s. Joe stood outside Max’s door and Serena straightened her shoulders, prepared to exert her authority.
“Joe! Did you set up the bed like I asked you?” Her imperious tone had him nodding quickly that, yes, he had set up the bed as she had directed.
“Do you want me to put it in his room now?”
“Yes. Right away.” Serena swept past him and entered the room as if it were an everyday occurrence. She stared at Max’s forlorn figure crouched uncomfortably against the opposite door and shook her head. She wheeled the gurney over to the main door and left it there for Joe to dispose of and then walked closer to Max. Her breathing accelerated as she neared him and she was intimidated to realize that he was a very well built man who could easily overpower her. A wave of panic had her wishing she had waited for Joe to enter the room with her, but she shook it off and thought again how she was there to help…
She didn’t register that he was not, indeed, sleeping until Max stood up and had her throat in his hand as he slammed her against the wall so fast that she knew the drugs were wearing off on him. Max was shocked by his own actions, especially when he noted the extreme youth and fragility of his captive.
“Who are you?” He ground out between clenched teeth, not prepared to trust anyone at this point.
“S...Serena,” she whispered hoarsely with the tiny amount of air she had left. “I’m here to help you,” she added, hoping he would ease up and scared out of her mind by the muscular enraged man that held her pressed up against the wall.
“How?”
Serena’s hands were scrabbling over his to try to gain a puff of air and her sight danced with black spots before he finally relented enough to allow her feet to touch the ground and some air to pass to her lungs. She dragged in a deep shuddering breath and pointed at the stack of clothes that she had left by the door. His eyes followed the direction she was indicating and widened at what he saw. He let his hand drop and turned back to face her.
“Give them to Liz,” he ordered authoritatively. “She needs them more.”
Serena was shocked by the need in his tone. She knew he had to crave the basic dignity of clothing and warmth, but he would sacrifice his pride for his love. She knew again that she had chosen the right side.
“I already gave some to Liz.” She gasped as he grabbed her chin in his hand and looked her in the eye, trying to see if he could trust her words. “I…I took off the restraints too. She can move around after she’s rested.”
Max seemed satisfied that she was telling the truth. Something about her expression…He crossed the room in three quick strides and swooped to pick up the hospital scrubs from the floor. He stepped into the pants first, tying the drawstring and then shrugged into the shirt. He was startled when the main door opened behind him and even more surprised when both of his beefy abductors, that he had nicknamed Frick and Frack in his mind, wheeled in a single bed made up with sheets and a blanket.
“Stand with your back against the walls, palms touching it when we enter the room,” Frack ordered with a glare. Max moved to obey quickly, remembering their earlier threats to harm Liz if he disobeyed their orders. Frick stayed in the doorway, barring any escape, while Frack positioned the bed by the wall that connected Max and Liz’s rooms as he was directed by Serena.
They both moved to stand in the doorway and waited for Serena to leave. She edged her way along the wall as Max watched her warily. Pointing to a curtained corner she directed his gaze to a screened area he’d paid no attention to before. “There’s a bathroom through there,” she managed to croak out before turning and leaving the room.
Max shook his head. It almost seemed like this Serena girl wanted to help them. He shook his head again and scrubbed his palms over his eyes. He turned back to the new bed and collapsed across it, utterly exhausted. He put one palm against the wall separating him from Liz and fell asleep again.
TBC
EYA Part 80
Liz waited until the door closed behind the young woman who had given her a blanket and gown before she cautiously scooted her legs over the side of the narrow bed and let her feet touch the hard floor. She winced briefly at the coldness of the tile against her bare feet and pulled the blanket from the bed to wrap around her wanting the extra layer of cloth to protect her from prying eyes on an instinctive level. She determinedly continued. That girl had said there was a shower and…she swayed wildly to the side as she took her first step away from the bed. One hand went to her head and the other grabbed frantically for the side of the bed. She breathed in deep, slow breaths to try to regain her strength and then continued on as swiftly as she could to the bathroom that was curtained off in the corner.
With only the thought of a hot shower she slipped behind the curtain and almost sobbed in relief that everything was there as promised. She didn’t truly trust anything anyone here had told her so far. After all they had told her Max was…was dead, and then they had told her he was here. Her mind and body had so many mixed messages running through it right now that she didn’t know what to believe. That fantasy of being with Max earlier had felt so real, but no, she shook her head, Max was dead, and if he wasn’t and he actually was here then she knew he would rather be dead than trapped here by the FBI like he had been a year ago.
Her head pounded as these thoughts raced through her and she turned on the shower in the tiny stall. Letting the blanket pool at her feet she quickly stripped off the hospital gown she was wearing and stepped in under the scalding hot spray of water. Sighing she began to wash every part of her body, using the soap and rough washcloth she found there to sanitize every inch of her body until her sensitive skin was bright red. She didn’t realize that she was crying until she sank to her knees when the sobbing took over her body and she could no longer hold herself up.
She sat back and wrapped her arms around her knees as the cries subsided eventually into small hiccups and her exhaustion swamped her. She knew the drugs were still swirling through her brain, but they couldn’t stop the memories of everything that had happened to her here in this place of hell. They had taken so much of her innocence. She mind clamped tighter around the things they would never get from her as she closed herself down harder from the inside. Let them do what they wanted with her body, her soul was hers…and Max’s.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“What the hell do you think you were doing going into their rooms by yourself like that?” Dr. Clark’s eyes raged fire as Serena stood calmly and waited for her turn to speak. “And giving them clothes? Who gave you permission to do that?” He pace back and forth in front of her and took a deep breath to continue his tirade.
Serena beat him to it. “Liz’s stress levels were very high, Dr. Clark. Part of that was from her exposure and so to preserve her health I gave her a blanket and clothing to give her the perception of privacy and warmth. We do want this baby to be born healthy, do we not? It is, after all, my duty here to monitor their health and well-being. I think that she will calm faster if a woman attends her.” Serena’s professional tone rang with a confidence she did not really feel as she gave the speech she had practiced all the while she had been planning how to help the young couple in their custody. “And the male subject’s nakedness was unnecessary. It offended me.” She tried to sound disdainful and hoped she would be believed.
Dr. Clark did not register that his daughter had finally stopped calling him father. He mulled over what she had told him and finally concluded that it made sense. He huffed a bit and finally demanded, “Just make sure you clear all future changes with me before you implement them.” He whirled back to face the windows, looking into Liz’s room. “She’s still in that shower.” His eyes flicked to the monitor in the shower and he could see her just sitting in the spray with her arms wrapped around her body.
Serena had breathed a sigh of relief that her actions would go unpunished this time. She knew that her future actions would be unforgivable to him, but she wouldn’t stick around to await whatever cruel punishment he could think of. She saw Liz crouched down in the shower and felt a deep pang of sympathy, knowing that it would be impossible to scrub away all that had happened to her here at their hands.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Alex was almost cross-eyed as he tried to make his eyes focus on the printouts he had made from his computer before leaving the Evans’ house so hurriedly before. He stifled a yawn and glanced around at his companions. Michael was driving, he refused to take a break, insisting that everyone get some rest and he would get them there safely. Maria was asleep with her head in Michael’s lap and one of Michael’s large hands was caressing her hair absently. Alex wondered if he even realized he was doing it. A soft sigh beside him turned his attention to Kyle and Isabel beside him. Isabel sat in the middle and had curled up on the seat leaning her head against Kyle’s body. Kyle’s arms were wrapped securely around her and his chin rested on his chest as he slept also. Alex winced at the thought of the neck pain Kyle would have when he awoke later.
Glancing down at the papers again he squinted to try to read them better and muttered at the lack of good light in the car.
Michael glanced at him through the rear-view mirror and keyed his voice low. “Anything?” His voice held reluctant hope.
Alex glanced back up, startled at the voice in the quiet that had reined for several hours. His fingers dug into his eyes and he leaned his head back on the seat. “There’s several places we need to check out. I think that Isabel should try dream-walking Max again when she gets her strength back. For some reason she can’t reach Liz. She’s tried several times, but it’s like Liz is blocking her or something. Max would never do that. I just hope that he was conscious enough to be aware of where they took him, because if he wasn’t…” Alex trailed off, not wanting to continue the bleak thought. They could be anywhere within several hours of the airstrip. He looked over his printouts again. Maybe one of these military bases would yield what they were looking for.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“We never should have let them go off on their own like that,” Diane worried out loud for the hundredth time that night. Phillip wrapped his arms around her and let her cry on his shoulder. No tears, those had been exhausted long ago, but long wracking sobs that pulled and ached through her until there was nothing left but the cold despair of the knowledge that their children were in danger.
“Shh,” Phillip soothed, and said no more. They had already gone over and over why the children thought they should stay behind. They needed to maintain normalcy. They didn’t have any special powers. They had no experience fighting against the enemies their children were constantly battling. They needed to stay by the phone in case Max or Liz was able to call or if the other’s needed their assistance in any way…None of that sounded reasonable anymore as the hours dragged by and they were left helplessly to await news of their children’s fate.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max dreamed. He saw him and Liz in the happier times of their lives. Laughing and loving and sharing all the little moments that made them together so special. He sighed and rolled over. The motion and the unfamiliar feel of the scratchy blanket combined to rouse him from his slumber. His small smile vanished and he dragged in a ragged breath as the realization of where he was and what was happening to Liz washed through him in a sickening torrent.
He sat up and his shoulders shook as he tried to hold back the sobs of despair. He couldn’t give his captor’s the satisfaction. He stumbled as he stood on shaky legs and held onto the wall as he headed into the bathroom. His eyes fell on the shower and his breath left him in a soft huff. He stripped his clothes swiftly and folded them neatly before he turned the tap on ‘hot’ and climbed in. He faced the spray and let it run down his body in shocking waves. The heat pinked his skin and his tears trailed unnoticed as they mixed with the spray. His mind shied away from what they had done to him in the past. What was happening to Liz here now. He would be useless in his despair if he let those thoughts taunt him now.
He opened his mind and tried to concentrate on being open to Isabel if she should try to contact him. They had to know he was gone by now. They had to know that he wouldn’t leave them willingly. They needed to find out what was happening to Liz so they escape.
They had to get out.
TBC
Liz waited until the door closed behind the young woman who had given her a blanket and gown before she cautiously scooted her legs over the side of the narrow bed and let her feet touch the hard floor. She winced briefly at the coldness of the tile against her bare feet and pulled the blanket from the bed to wrap around her wanting the extra layer of cloth to protect her from prying eyes on an instinctive level. She determinedly continued. That girl had said there was a shower and…she swayed wildly to the side as she took her first step away from the bed. One hand went to her head and the other grabbed frantically for the side of the bed. She breathed in deep, slow breaths to try to regain her strength and then continued on as swiftly as she could to the bathroom that was curtained off in the corner.
With only the thought of a hot shower she slipped behind the curtain and almost sobbed in relief that everything was there as promised. She didn’t truly trust anything anyone here had told her so far. After all they had told her Max was…was dead, and then they had told her he was here. Her mind and body had so many mixed messages running through it right now that she didn’t know what to believe. That fantasy of being with Max earlier had felt so real, but no, she shook her head, Max was dead, and if he wasn’t and he actually was here then she knew he would rather be dead than trapped here by the FBI like he had been a year ago.
Her head pounded as these thoughts raced through her and she turned on the shower in the tiny stall. Letting the blanket pool at her feet she quickly stripped off the hospital gown she was wearing and stepped in under the scalding hot spray of water. Sighing she began to wash every part of her body, using the soap and rough washcloth she found there to sanitize every inch of her body until her sensitive skin was bright red. She didn’t realize that she was crying until she sank to her knees when the sobbing took over her body and she could no longer hold herself up.
She sat back and wrapped her arms around her knees as the cries subsided eventually into small hiccups and her exhaustion swamped her. She knew the drugs were still swirling through her brain, but they couldn’t stop the memories of everything that had happened to her here in this place of hell. They had taken so much of her innocence. She mind clamped tighter around the things they would never get from her as she closed herself down harder from the inside. Let them do what they wanted with her body, her soul was hers…and Max’s.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“What the hell do you think you were doing going into their rooms by yourself like that?” Dr. Clark’s eyes raged fire as Serena stood calmly and waited for her turn to speak. “And giving them clothes? Who gave you permission to do that?” He pace back and forth in front of her and took a deep breath to continue his tirade.
Serena beat him to it. “Liz’s stress levels were very high, Dr. Clark. Part of that was from her exposure and so to preserve her health I gave her a blanket and clothing to give her the perception of privacy and warmth. We do want this baby to be born healthy, do we not? It is, after all, my duty here to monitor their health and well-being. I think that she will calm faster if a woman attends her.” Serena’s professional tone rang with a confidence she did not really feel as she gave the speech she had practiced all the while she had been planning how to help the young couple in their custody. “And the male subject’s nakedness was unnecessary. It offended me.” She tried to sound disdainful and hoped she would be believed.
Dr. Clark did not register that his daughter had finally stopped calling him father. He mulled over what she had told him and finally concluded that it made sense. He huffed a bit and finally demanded, “Just make sure you clear all future changes with me before you implement them.” He whirled back to face the windows, looking into Liz’s room. “She’s still in that shower.” His eyes flicked to the monitor in the shower and he could see her just sitting in the spray with her arms wrapped around her body.
Serena had breathed a sigh of relief that her actions would go unpunished this time. She knew that her future actions would be unforgivable to him, but she wouldn’t stick around to await whatever cruel punishment he could think of. She saw Liz crouched down in the shower and felt a deep pang of sympathy, knowing that it would be impossible to scrub away all that had happened to her here at their hands.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Alex was almost cross-eyed as he tried to make his eyes focus on the printouts he had made from his computer before leaving the Evans’ house so hurriedly before. He stifled a yawn and glanced around at his companions. Michael was driving, he refused to take a break, insisting that everyone get some rest and he would get them there safely. Maria was asleep with her head in Michael’s lap and one of Michael’s large hands was caressing her hair absently. Alex wondered if he even realized he was doing it. A soft sigh beside him turned his attention to Kyle and Isabel beside him. Isabel sat in the middle and had curled up on the seat leaning her head against Kyle’s body. Kyle’s arms were wrapped securely around her and his chin rested on his chest as he slept also. Alex winced at the thought of the neck pain Kyle would have when he awoke later.
Glancing down at the papers again he squinted to try to read them better and muttered at the lack of good light in the car.
Michael glanced at him through the rear-view mirror and keyed his voice low. “Anything?” His voice held reluctant hope.
Alex glanced back up, startled at the voice in the quiet that had reined for several hours. His fingers dug into his eyes and he leaned his head back on the seat. “There’s several places we need to check out. I think that Isabel should try dream-walking Max again when she gets her strength back. For some reason she can’t reach Liz. She’s tried several times, but it’s like Liz is blocking her or something. Max would never do that. I just hope that he was conscious enough to be aware of where they took him, because if he wasn’t…” Alex trailed off, not wanting to continue the bleak thought. They could be anywhere within several hours of the airstrip. He looked over his printouts again. Maybe one of these military bases would yield what they were looking for.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“We never should have let them go off on their own like that,” Diane worried out loud for the hundredth time that night. Phillip wrapped his arms around her and let her cry on his shoulder. No tears, those had been exhausted long ago, but long wracking sobs that pulled and ached through her until there was nothing left but the cold despair of the knowledge that their children were in danger.
“Shh,” Phillip soothed, and said no more. They had already gone over and over why the children thought they should stay behind. They needed to maintain normalcy. They didn’t have any special powers. They had no experience fighting against the enemies their children were constantly battling. They needed to stay by the phone in case Max or Liz was able to call or if the other’s needed their assistance in any way…None of that sounded reasonable anymore as the hours dragged by and they were left helplessly to await news of their children’s fate.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max dreamed. He saw him and Liz in the happier times of their lives. Laughing and loving and sharing all the little moments that made them together so special. He sighed and rolled over. The motion and the unfamiliar feel of the scratchy blanket combined to rouse him from his slumber. His small smile vanished and he dragged in a ragged breath as the realization of where he was and what was happening to Liz washed through him in a sickening torrent.
He sat up and his shoulders shook as he tried to hold back the sobs of despair. He couldn’t give his captor’s the satisfaction. He stumbled as he stood on shaky legs and held onto the wall as he headed into the bathroom. His eyes fell on the shower and his breath left him in a soft huff. He stripped his clothes swiftly and folded them neatly before he turned the tap on ‘hot’ and climbed in. He faced the spray and let it run down his body in shocking waves. The heat pinked his skin and his tears trailed unnoticed as they mixed with the spray. His mind shied away from what they had done to him in the past. What was happening to Liz here now. He would be useless in his despair if he let those thoughts taunt him now.
He opened his mind and tried to concentrate on being open to Isabel if she should try to contact him. They had to know he was gone by now. They had to know that he wouldn’t leave them willingly. They needed to find out what was happening to Liz so they escape.
They had to get out.
TBC