Unbreakable - A Beautiful Lie (AU M/L ADULT) COMPLETE 5/5/17 + A/N 5/5/19

[keepsmiling7]

If I were Liz, I'd run from Dr. Evans as fast as she could and away from Sean.
Don't think I completely understand what those two are up to.....
And Max doesn't appear to want to be with them.
At least now maybe Liz can start getting some answers about her mother and other things.
Thanks,
Carolyn

[AlysLuv]

Great update. Thanks

[Morning Dreamgirl]

I'm glad you're not. Addiction is a terrible thing

I would argue that it depends on what the addiction is.



And then you go and post that...

My heart just feels so bad for the pain that Max and Liz have both gone through during her "examinations." I can't even begin to imagine the terror that Liz would feel every time the trauma would start to happen and then the emotional baggage that Max carries knowing he's forced to be a part of it.

I'm curious as to what his part actually is. We saw previously that he was there to heal her but for some reason Sean was brought in even though Max appears to have similar mental abilities. He was, after all, able to erase Liz's memories previously. (Can you imagine the guilt there?! Forced to do what he'd seen his father and/or Sean do countless times before? Jeesh! Talk about messing with someone's head - and I don't mean Liz's.) So if Philip can heal and Sean can control her/erase her memories (something everyone seems to be able to do) what specifically is Max's role?

And why even bring in Sean to the "check ups" instead of just Max? If Sean needed to learn then you'd think there would be other training sessions he could do instead of being a part of these. You can tell he gets a sick enjoyment out of it. It makes the threat he made at the party even more terrifying. And makes the falling out between Max and Sean a little more obvious. At least Max appeared to be able to keep Sean away from her (somehow) outside of the trips to check up on her.

I'm sincerely hoping that Max can unblock her memories so she can start to deal with them and process truth from general nightmares. It'll be hard as hades for him to do so (he'll probably be terrified she'll look at him like he's a monster) but it's better in the long run. Plus I think she'll realize that he's always tried to protect her. He's spent his entire life protecting her - and loving her.

I don't think that Philip realizes that his son actually loves her. Otherwise I think the sessions would have gone quite differently and his treatment of his son would be quite different. And speaking of treatment - how in the world can anyone in the Evans family claim that Philip is a good man/father/won't hurt Liz when he obviously has no problem not just threatening her but carrying out those threats? I'm hoping there's some redeeming quality (somewhere) to the man but I'm not seeing one yet. (Gonna drop him off on a particularly hot day...)

On the upside maybe Philip isn't Max's actual father! After all, we learned earlier that even though part of Diane's family has been in Roswell for ninety years the Evans children didn't arrive there until ten years ago. It seems strange that someone (obviously) as high up as Philip would leave town for so many years and have his children somewhere else where they may not have been indoctrinated into their current (cultural) lifestyle. Hmm... Curious and curious...

Hey Jo - I know who can make her glow! (Ha! That rhymes!) In fact if they get a little closer I'm pretty sure she'll light up like a Christmas tree!

Two things on that note:

1) I hope Max is the only one who can cause her glowing to happen. It would make sense as it would go along with their deep bond.
2) What is the point of wanting her to start glowing? Obviously that means some change has taken place, but what? Wondering if it will be sped up now that she was healed by and bonded to Max.

I felt so bad for Nancy. You can tell that she was pressed between a rock and a hard place. The back story there is going to be an interesting one. Obviously she wasn't entirely in control but she had to know something or she wouldn't have tried to stand up for her daughter at all.

Jeesh - can you imagine waking up from a terrifying nightmare like that and having someone in your room? Breath or no breath I'd have screamed bloody murder. I wonder how long he was standing there for. He was obviously watching her for awhile to realize she was having a nightmare. The poor guy has to be nervous as heck to allow her to continue suffering through it and not wake her up.

He's trying to defend himself for when (he thinks) she'll want nothing more to do with him but I don't think he realizes just how much she knows already and how much she trusts him. She's fallen fast and I hope that he's able to open up enough to her to make her feel like it was okay to fall for him. She needs a constant in her life and he needs to put his fears of her being repulsed by him away.

Max's ability to move so quietly through an apartment (that you can otherwise hear a pin drop in) has as much to do with his alien ability as it does a lot of practice. Makes me wonder just how many times he's snuck into the Parker household at night. I'm thinking it wasn't always with his father. I can see him going to check on Liz for a few nights after each of her "examinations" to make sure she was okay. Also wondering if he used his "burglar" skills in any other manner... He's obviously been trained to be quiet and fluid for a reason.

The last few lines where the ice between them started to break a little was so... I don't know... Heartfelt? Deep? I can't quite put the right word on it but it was very well done. His nervousness and their joint fear is going to bring them together (I hope) and help them both heal.

And Jo - I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU LEFT IT THERE!!!

This is because one of the chocolate bars already melted isn't it?

Get back here!

EDIT: One of my (many) questions was the same as AF posted below. Will the bond deepen later when their relationship progresses to a physical level?

[begonia9508]

Thanks for the beautiful two parts!

Working again and my times is quite short, these days!!!

Hope for better days soon! EVE

[L-J-L 76]

So sorry for bothering you will you please please please please please please please please come back and post more really really really really soon? I can't wait to find out what Max and Liz will talk about. So please come back and post more really soon?

From:
L-J-L 76

[Alien_Friend]

Wow! I am so relieved Max didn't listen to his father and that horrible incident was just a nightmare. I worry though if Max can really keep his father in the dark about all of this. There seems to be a lot spies everywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if Max was being tracked.

I love how Liz isn't wasting any time and diving head first into finding answers. I am intrigued to see how truthful he will be and how Liz learning more about their bond will effect their bond (for a lack of a better term). I sure hope this moment is a beginning to a new chapter in their friendship and subsequently romantic relationship down the line. It should be quite interesting. I especially enjoyed having Max reveal to Liz that her attraction for him isn't one sided.

That first conscious telepathic conversation was hilarious. How awkward would that be to have someone in your head whom you really like in that way. Liz did better than I would especially with whole situation in general.

So I guess the bond is only able to form through healing or having sex. Since it was formed by healing I am curious how having sex could effect it if they ever do. For example, I wonder if they can be even more connected. He can already reach out to Liz when she needs him so I wonder if having sex would eliminate them needing an intense emotional situation in order to communicate telepathically or connecting and it be something they can ordinarily do just as easily as they do talking out loud.

Fantastic last couple chapters. I cannot wait to read what happens this coming week.

[max and liz believer]

So, yesterday I sent 11 chapters (76 pages in total) to my editor for a final check before they are ready to be posted. So in the words of psychic Madame Vivian; "You will not be left wanting." In case you were worried about that

Ashley (Morning Dreamgirl)

My heart just feels so bad for the pain that Max and Liz have both gone through during her "examinations." I can't even begin to imagine the terror that Liz would feel every time the trauma would start to happen and then the emotional baggage that Max carries knowing he's forced to be a part of it.

I love how you always seem to see Max's side in this, even if we are not actually reading it from his point of view. And your observations of him are usually spot-on.

And why even bring in Sean to the "check ups" instead of just Max?

There is an explanation for this.

I don't think that Philip realizes that his son actually loves her. Otherwise I think the sessions would have gone quite differently and his treatment of his son would be quite different.

Max's feelings are probably well hidden from most of the people claiming to know him...

(Gonna drop him off on a particularly hot day...)

Hihi *thumbs up*

On the upside maybe Philip isn't Max's actual father! After all, we learned earlier that even though part of Diane's family has been in Roswell for ninety years the Evans children didn't arrive there until ten years ago. It seems strange that someone (obviously) as high up as Philip would leave town for so many years and have his children somewhere else where they may not have been indoctrinated into their current (cultural) lifestyle. Hmm... Curious and curious...

This is a really good point you brought up. Because I have a backstory to this, but (to be honest) I had completely forgotten about including it. So thanks for the memory assistance!

I'm glad to see that you picked up on the very short mention of the glowing. It has some importance, and yes, Max probably would be able to make Liz glow...

He's trying to defend himself for when (he thinks) she'll want nothing more to do with him but I don't think he realizes just how much she knows already and how much she trusts him. She's fallen fast and I hope that he's able to open up enough to her to make her feel like it was okay to fall for him. She needs a constant in her life and he needs to put his fears of her being repulsed by him away.

Once again, a wonderful observation of Max.

EDIT: One of my (many) questions was the same as AF posted below. Will the bond deepen later when their relationship progresses to a physical level?

It's an interesting idea. And what can I say? Possibly?

And yes, that one chocolate bar was just mush by the time I got to it.... Giving me no sustenance at all to post the next chapter rapidly... But now I've filled up with some popcorn and I'm all ready to go.

Thank you so much for the feedback!

Helen (roswelllostcause)

I really think that Max has felt some kind of guilt over what has happened to her. Sean has just always been an ass!

Yeah, Max has most likely been a very reluctant participant to whatever has happened to Liz over the years. And yes, Sean is a natural - at being an ass...

I'm hoping that Crazy Town hasn't lured you in... Thank you for the feedback!

L-J-L 76

Sean and Mr. Evans are major assholes.

It sure seems that way, doesn't it...?

And amazingly enough, some of your questions will be answered in this next chapter. Thank you for the feedback (and of course, the bump )

Carolyn (keepsmiling7)

If I were Liz, I'd run from Dr. Evans as fast as she could and away from Sean.
Don't think I completely understand what those two are up to.....

They are acting a bit suspiciously... Let's hope that Liz will finally get some answers Thank you for the feedback!

AlysLuv - Thank you

Eve (begonia9508) - So you're back at work. That's where you disappeared to! For a second, I thought I had scared you off... Glad to see you're back and I hope your work doesn't wear you out too much. Thank you for the feedback!

Alien_Friend - I love it when you drop by with your insights

On the topic of Max finally answering Liz's questions and this hopefully having a positive effect on their "relationship"; It will certainly do wonders. We've seen that Liz has a tendency to end up in a lot of dangerous situations once she's in the dark (when it comes to knowledge and information) and on her own.

That first conscious telepathic conversation was hilarious. How awkward would that be to have someone in your head whom you really like in that way. Liz did better than I would especially with whole situation in general.

Hehe... Thanks I think Liz was too shocked and too aware of Mr. Evans staring at them to completely combust with embarrassment at having Max in her head when so many of her thoughts are about Max.

So I guess the bond is only able to form through healing or having sex. Since it was formed by healing I am curious how having sex could effect it if they ever do. For example, I wonder if they can be even more connected. He can already reach out to Liz when she needs him so I wonder if having sex would eliminate them needing an intense emotional situation in order to communicate telepathically or connecting and it be something they can ordinarily do just as easily as they do talking out loud.

You're one smart cookie And whatever you're hypothesizing is probably correct... Thank you so much for the feedback!




From TWENTY-FIVE:

“So,” he mumbled, turning back again. He raked nervous hands through his hair and leaned back against the desk - putting space between us again. “What do you want to know?”

I supplied him with an incredulously raised eyebrow. What didn’t I want to know?

His lips twitched in a tempted smile, as he seemed to understand my unspoken question. “Right. Fire away, Ms. Parker.”

Where should I start? I had so many questions. And looking at Max now, although he was obviously nervous and apprehensive, he seemed to mean it this time. He was actually going to answer my questions.

The most natural place to start, though, seemed to be, “Why is my mom dead?”

____________________________________

TWENTY-SIX

He didn’t move a muscle, his eyes not diverting from mine, as he slowly started, “There was a fir-“

I flushed with anger. He was really going to do that? After everything, “You’re going to lie to me?”

He tensed, his jaw muscles contracting, and seemed to consider actually sticking to that lie, before he looked at me closely and said, “She died from exhaustion.”

Exhaustion?

I blinked. “Exhaustion?” Was he kidding me?

A muscle next to his eye twitched and he sounded offended as he added, “It’s a thing, you know.”

“Not if you’re not suffering from insomnia,” I countered, pretty sure that my mom had slept during the nights.

But still, I couldn’t completely abolish the idea that Max might be onto something. Mom had been incredibly exhausted those last couple of days. And come to think of it, she’d had sporadic periods of extreme fatigue in the past.

It still didn’t explain anything, though.

“But very much so if someone is feeding off you.” His voice was eerily calm and collected, his eyes scanning my face constantly, probably gauging my reaction.

Had he ever told an outsider, like me, anything like this? Would he get in trouble for telling me? A memory of Max gingerly walking the streets at night, after a run-in with Sgt. Carter, flashed through my mind and I shivered.

But maybe I had finally got him talking. I needed to know these things. I needed answers.

I would protect what he was telling me with my life, if it meant keeping him safe.

The thought surprised me, but Max interrupted my train of thought before I had a chance to mull it over further. I hadn’t even had time to consider what he had just told me. It was too weird, too confusing, to even start to think about.

“Feeding off your energy,” Max clarified, insecurity in his eyes. My silence was probably worrying him.

“Like a vampire?” I gulped.

A small smile twitched in the corner of his mouth and he nodded. “Something like that.”

“How?” I demanded. “Tell me everything.”

He hesitated, his eyes ducking away, his body slumping forward as his shoe traced the edge of my carpet.

“Why my mom?” I prodded. “What was it about her? Why her energy? Or was it just a coincidence? Her being at the wrong place at the wrong time?”

He looked up again, slowly licked his lips (I had to consciously tell myself to not stare), before straightening and running his hands through his hair. “There’s a gene. A human gene. We’ve estimated that approximately 0.002% of the human population carry it. But we’re still working on the statistics.”

As he grew silent, I swallowed, and guessed, “And my mom had it?”

“It’s a sex-linked gene-“ Max started.

I frowned, interrupting, “So it’s carried on either the Y- or the X-chromosome?”

He looked impressed for a second, before he seemed to remember that I had actually attended Advanced Placement in Biology. “Yeah. In this case, it’s carried on the X-chromosome. We have been able to deduce that one of the alleles within the gene on the one X-chromosome undergoes X-inactivation, meaning that-“

My head was spinning. I might be smart. Smarter than most students attending Roswell High, but I wasn’t particularly sharp in the middle of the night, after a traumatizing nightmare and seated across a beautiful boy - whom I had developed a romantic interest for and who might not be of this earth- wearing only a thin T-shirt.

I put my hands up. “Wait wait.” His mouth froze in the middle of the sentence. “Sorry,” I blinked. “You can go through that with me later. Right now I just need to know what all that means. In layman’s terms, please.”

I could tell that he wanted to smirk at me, but he railed it in at the last second, instead simply summing it up by, “It means that even though there is 0.002% of the human population carrying this gene, only females can express it. Of course, in the rare case that a male has two X-chromosomes plus a Y-chromosome-“

I put my hands up again to stop him from getting off track. “Okay, okay.” I exhaled. “Man, first you tell me absolutely nothing and now you tell me every single detail. You really need to find a middle ground.”

He gave me a sheepish smile. “Sorry.” He straightened. “So, fundamentally, your maternal grandmother expressed this gene. So did your mom.” He looked straight into my eyes and finished quietly, “And so do you.”

Special.

That’s why we were special.

My voice barely carried as I whispered, “And what does this gene do?”

He looked at me for a long second, making me grow warmer in my meager clothing - hidden underneath the duvet - before he pushed off the desk and crossed the floor to my bedroom door.

I followed his movement with confused eyes. Where was he going now?

But instead of questioning it, I remained silent as I watched him quietly open the door, peer outside for about four quiet seconds, before shutting the door again.

I raised a questioning eyebrow as I understood what he was doing, and asked sarcastically, “All clear?”

He gave me a crooked smile as he looked back at me. “He’s fast asleep.”

So… “My dad is not…?”

Max, hesitantly, sank down on short end of my bed, putting as much distance between us as the bed would allow. “Not the least interesting to us, no.”

“Huh,” I breathed, hugging myself around the middle to fight off the sudden chill.

Aliens had an interest in my mom and me. We had something they needed, something they exploited.

“What does the gene do?” I whispered, repeating my question.

“There’s something else I need to explain first,” Max said, fiddling with the end of my duvet.

“Okay,” I whispered apprehensively.

Keeping his eyes away from me, Max brought me into his world, “Just as you’ve already figured out; we’re not from Earth. We’ve barely been here for four generations.”

I swallowed, not finding any words, not wanting to interrupt him.

“We don’t really look like humans in our true form-“

I felt the blood drain from my face as all movies featuring aliens I had ever seen flashed through my head. Everything from frightening crawling monsters with five legs to children-sized gray creatures with large black eyes and no mouth.

He wouldn’t look at me and I, for once, was glad. I wasn’t sure how I would react if I saw his face right now.

What did Max Evans really look like?

“-or-,” he continued, “my grandparents didn’t.”

“Your mom…” I breathed, staring at his profile.

He almost seemed…scared. Curling further in on himself as he was gradually angling his body away from mine.

“She’s human,” he explained, supporting what my research into the topic had already implied, before his eyes snapped up at me.

I stilled, captured in his gaze. Those eyes, where light normally would pull out flickers of gold, were dark and glistening. He looked the epitome of a scared little boy, not knowing if I was going to yell at him, walk away or accept him. His expression tugged on my heart strings, making me want to close the distance he had put between us and assure him that I didn’t care if he was human or not.

But… I took a deep shuddering breath. To be honest, I did. The idea of him looking different, of me not even seeing the real Max Evans right now, scared me more than I wanted to admit. It was like sitting in front of a stranger.

“You’re a mix,” I stated, my voice much calmer than I felt. “Um…a hybrid.”

He nodded, his eyes still on my face, barely blinking.

“So you’re at least 50% human,” I added, a sliver of hope in my voice.

His eyes darkened further and a tad of anger had crept into his voice as he asked bitterly, “You’re wondering what I really look like, don’t you?”

I restrained the involuntary shiver and after a moment of hesitation, I nodded slowly.

He remained motionless for another four long seconds before he dropped his head, breaking our eye contact, and whispered, “This is it. This is me.”

A force of relief weaved through me, rocking me in my place. “You mean…?” My voice broke with hope and he looked up again with seriousness.

“Apparently the human phenotypes are stronger than my alien ones.”

I closed my eyes, unconsciously breathing a “Thank God”, before opening my eyes again and looking over at my extraterrestrial nightly visitor, who was watching me for my every reaction.

“But your dad…”

“He can change his appearance,” Max filled in.

My eyes widened. This was crazy. This whole thing was crazy.

My voice was small as I asked, “How?”

Max shrugged with disinterest, “It’s a simple manner of manipulating cells, tissues.”

“‘Simple’…” I mumbled, almost laughing. My body felt like it needed to laugh. To cry. To scream. Just something except this forced hushed talk. I needed to break the tension.

“Liz,” he called softly, asking for me to look at him. As he got my attention, he asked, “You okay?”

“Just a bit-,” I smiled ruefully, “-overwhelmed.”

“Yeah,” he grimaced.

“You’re expecting me to run out the door any second, aren’t you?” I guessed.

He nodded silently, that tentative lope-sided grin back on his face.

My fingers itched to brush the hair off his forehead.

I forced the thought back.

Focus, Parker!

“So this energy thing…” I prompted, referring back to why they would need to suck my mom dry of her energy. A wave of nausea moved through me at the thought.

“I’ll get to that,” Max whispered and diverted his eyes again. This time to picking at his nails. “Even though we - the hybrid descendants - look human - we have retained all of the mental alien abilities. Meaning that nothing is out of our mind’s ability to control. If you practice, there’s no limit to what you can do. Of course, there are certain abilities which are unique to certain individuals. We divide up our society based on those diverging abilities.”

“Such as…?” I breathed, scooting closer to him.

He briefly glanced at my knee, hidden under the duvet, that was now two inches closer, before returning to picking his nails. “Healing, for one. It’s an extremely rare ability. Therefore, the healers are protected and carry a certain position in society.”

That’s why he commanded respect, I thought. Why he could tell Sean off.

Wait.

“Sean is one of you, right?”

Max stilled. “Yeah.”

“What’s his ability?”

Max glanced up at me, pouring his wariness from his eyes to mine for a second before dropping his eyes again and mumbling, “Sean is not a hybrid.”

My heart stopped, the breath falling cold on my lips.

Not a hybrid.


That meant…

“Oh my God,” I whispered, putting my head into my hands, squeezing my eyes shut.

I kissed an alien!

“He’s alien?” I gasped, the sound muffled by my hands.

“So am I,” Max said in a quiet rejected tone.

I removed my hands, letting anger run through me. “No, it’s not the same.” I bit my lip as I saw his eyes flash to life. Something more than rejected sadness. “Does Sean even look like the person he portrays himself to be?”

“No,” Max replied.

I shuddered. “What does he look like?”

“You don’t want to know,” Max said slowly.

I bit my lip harder. Yeah, maybe I didn’t want to know.

I decided to let it go. For now. “What’s his ability? His unique ability?”

Max shifted in his seat. “Mind control.”

“So,” I wet my dry lips, “That’s what he was doing to me?”

Max looked nauseous. “And he’s very strong, very good at it.”

“That’s why you didn’t want me around him.”

“Give the girl a prize,” Max grumbled.

“So his parents are…”

“Both alien,” Max filled in.

I looked down at my fingers, letting the silence stretch between us as I tried to take in all this information. So, some of the aliens married aliens, but others selected humans… Or the humans picked the aliens.

“Does your mom know?”

Max frowned. “That we’re aliens? Of course she does.”

“Did she… marry your father voluntarily?”

Max looked away, shoulders tensing, before he answered without conviction, “Of course she did.”

That’s a lie.

I closed my eyes. Poor Diane. I shivered. Was she a prisoner in her own life? “How did they meet?”

Max gave me an incredulous look. “You really want to talk about my parents’ love life?”

Before I could filter my reactions, I glared at him, which to my surprise made him laugh quietly. His laughter and the way it produced small crinkles around his eyes, chased away some of the darkness which had started to settle inside of me.

“I’m just trying to get my head around this,” I mumbled, curiously watching his profile as he looked down at his hands.

His hands. I wanted those hands closer. I wanted them to touch me, to bring heat back into my cold body.

“Take a picture; it’ll last longer.”

There was something wistful in his teasing tone, his eyes too intense to be nonchalant as he observed the blush creep up my cheeks.

Can you always read my thoughts?

No. Only when connected like this.

I relaxed into the assurance that Max couldn’t possibly know that I had just pictured his very non-platonic touch on my body.

To cover up the slip of my desire, I grumbled, “You’re such comic relief,” doing my best to appear annoyed.

He laughed again, and a little bit more of the cold inside of me dissipated. I couldn’t prevent the small smile from touching my lips at his response. Sadly, I realized that Max didn’t laugh much. Sure, he did a lot of grinning and smirking. But I rarely saw him experience genuine fun.

Would I be laughing, had I been Max? I frowned. Probably not.

“That’s new,” Max said, sobering, and I wondered what he was thinking.

“You being funny?” I asked.

“Not really what I’m known for,” he shrugged, the remnants of a smile lingering on his lips.

“Don’t worry; it still needs practice,” I assured him and his smile twitched. He was a lot more relaxed all of the sudden, and I wanted to hold onto that setting. I wanted him to experience some moments of happiness for once.


TBC...

-------

And more answers/information is in the next chapter...

*hugs*
Jo

[Morning Dreamgirl]

Happy dance as I go off to read. Perfect timing too... Saves me from having to dust the living room for a few minutes.

[begonia9508]

There must be a reason for all the dreams, Liz had!... For some reasons, she is disturbing and even maybe a threat to all these aliens but the question is WHY?

Why can't they control her? She has premonitions or rememberings of things who happened to her (her mother death!) as when she dreamed of it, her mother was still alive!

Enjoying the idea of a new part with some lights in this darkness!

Thanks EVE

[keepsmiling7]

LOL.........no Max, no one really wants to talk about their parents love life!
Thanks,
Carolyn