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

[max and liz believer]

Alrighty, chapter 91 of "Unbreakable" has been emailed to my editor/beta. So hopefully there'll be an update soon.

Thank you for your patience!

[Morning Dreamgirl]

Yay! I shall endeavor to get all my chores done quickly so I can continually hit refresh on my browser.

JK! Notifications works just as well.

[Natalie36]

AWESOME

[max and liz believer]

Hi everyone!

Finally, I'm back with a new chapter. We're still unpacking and spending a lot of money on new furniture , so things are still rather chaotic. But it'll get better. And once it does, my updates will become more frequent again too, I'm sure Just hang in there.

On that note, I just want to really thank you for sticking with me, letting me know of your support and just being altogether awesome. Thank you!


Ashley (Morning Dreamgirl)

One day though, you're going to teach people the art of cliffhanging. And I'm not sure if the world will be better for it or if I'll just start getting grey hairs. *laughs*

You're making me consider getting you that t-shirt. What's your size? I'll have it shipped directly to you.

You make my day. You know that, right? <3

Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall while Liz was gone? I'd love to know what was said between Max and Maria.

Hehe... Yep

Obviously Maria's probably more mad at him then some of the others since he was involved in Liz's tests and all but it seems almost like it's more than that.

Considering that Liz is Maria's friend and Max has always been the person they (or at least, Liz) have been suspicious of, Maria is more likely to (eventually) view Liz as the victim in all of this.

On that note, as much as Liz loves Maria she's not going to stand for Maria treating Max like that.

Probably not. It's not gonna be easy for Liz. To meddle between Max and Maria. Especially without feeling like she's choosing a side... But Liz is very aware of Max's insecurities/hatred concerning his origins, so she won't stand for Maria treating Max in any way that could hurt Max.

And she knows that Max is probably the (main) reason why Maria is going to be allowed to retain her memories.

Right you are. They won't listen much to Liz when she protests and tells them to not do anything to Maria, but they might obey Max...

I loved the closeness between M/L in this chapter. It reminded me (in a way) of the innocent "bubble moments" that they had in the first part of the story.

Thanks Happy to hear it

Though I have to wonder how honest Alex was being. He might not ever be inclined to make people feel worse but he's had to have done it before even if it was only during practice or training sessions. He'd need to know how to influence the full range of emotions on people and, if the situation called for it, how to create negative feelings in people as well.

Well, yes. In practice, he's probably been "forced" to practice giving people "bad feelings". Especially since he's a gaea protector. He needs to be able to use his ability in battle, not just to calm Liz down (if needed), but also to somehow disarm the opponents.

The number of Antarians intrigues me.

Of course it does

Maybe Antarians don't have as many children. It was hinted at that their pregnancies can be difficult. Curiouser and curiouser...

Hmmmmm

My first thought when Michael knocked Maria out again was that he was doing it to move her quickly and without a distraction or fight from her. As I thought about it though I realized that it's probably much more serious than that. If she were to look at the wrong person during battle they could have forced her into the line of fire.

You're so smart

I'm curious as to who is there. The cliffhangers, Jo! These cliffhangers! I don't think it's Command but then you've thrown me for a loop before. Maybe the mayor? Whoever it is hopefully the "bad guys" won't all be killed.

My lips are sealed

Thank you so so so much for the feedback!!


Carolyn (keepsmiling7)

stay out of the box and return to us!!

Thank you so much for your feedback!


Eve (begonia9508)

I am finally back - after that my Computer - in one second - gave up and the whole computer shut sown for ever...

That really really sucks! I hate when the computers give up on us. But glad to hear that you've gotten a new one and is back on track

Thank you so much for the feedback!


Helen (roswelllostcause)

Maria sure wasn't making it easy on any of them.

Knowing Maria, she probably won't make it easy on them...

Just wacked one of the people of Crazy Town with my hockey stick. Am escaping on my bicycle as fast as I can.

I hope you managed to escape!

Thank you so much for the feedback!


dreamon - Thank you


Natalie36 - Thank you



From NINETY:

Because I had felt him coming, the only thing that was making adrenaline surge through my veins and my heart wanting to beat out of my chest at the sudden appearance of my alien boyfriend, was the look on his face.


A look I barely had time to see before he had stalked across the room, grabbed me firmly around the upper arm and pulled me up from my seat.

”We’re leaving,” he barked between clenched teeth. ”Now.”

His warm hand was sliding down the length of my arm to lace his fingers tightly with mine as he pulled me along towards the door, all the while angling me behind me.

I didn’t like the tension in his body. I didn’t like that he was still mentally blocking me. I didn’t like the frenzy with how Michael and Isabel stormed into the room after Max.

I almost lost my footing when trying to look back over my shoulder with Max still pulling on me, to catch a glimpse of Maria. I had time to see her widened frightened eyes as Michael hurriedly approached her, reached an abrupt stop in front of her, and put a hand to her forehead.

My scream of protest at the sight of my best friend’s eyes rolling back in her head before her legs folded beneath her and she sagged towards the floor, was immediately cut off by Max’s hand over my mouth and his lips close to my ear as he pulled my resisting body up against his side.

”Shh… Don’t make a sound.” I felt the tips of his fingers press into my cheeks, the heat of his palm against my dry lips. ”They’re here.”

____________________________________

NINETY-ONE

He was holding her tightly. Almost protectively. Cradling her close in his arms the best he could while his quick steps kept jostling her unconscious body.

My heart was slamming violently against the inside of my ribcage, my hand clammy in my boyfriend’s grasp, and I had trouble keeping up with the frantic pace.

Still, I couldn’t stop myself from continuously - constantly - looking over my shoulder at my best friend - my passed out best friend - who was being carried by a person who had always intimidated me. Someone I would fight with everything I had to protect Maria from.

And now I was letting him carry her.

Without the spunk of her wakefulness, Maria appeared fragile. Her arms were long and thin, her skin light - almost white, her lips were a pale pink and her limp legs hit against the side of his thigh with every step.

Compared to her, he was as large as a house. His shoulders were broad and the ease with which he carried Maria told me that his body was well-muscled and strong. The disorder of his hair, the slightly-too-long strands sticking out in all directions, together with the focused and hard look in his eyes, made him exude wildness.

Normally, I wouldn’t let a man like that get in ten feet of anyone I loved, but these weren’t normal circumstances.

These were the circumstances wherein an assorted mix of friends and families fled down stairwells, unlocked hidden doors in the wooden floor and climbed down old ladders, where the pins had been moistened by old water during the span of numerous years, and the murky darkness of the awaiting underground tunnels made my heart kick off in a frenzied rhythm.

Under these circumstances, I was glad that Maria was with us, and not in any danger in the outside world. Under these circumstances, I could even look past the fact that Maria had been rendered unconscious before our flight because she would have been frightened by the dark horrors of her newly discovered reality.

Max pulled tightly on his grip around my arm as I stumbled in a dark puddle of collected old water, and prevented me from falling to my knees.

Focus, he told me sharply in my head, dark desperation and fear clouding his authoritative composure.

I blinked. Tried to get my mind back on track. Tried to find some calmness in the situation. Tried to reach deep inside myself and find that collected, rational being that I used to pat myself on the back for being.

She wasn’t there.

She had made a rapid exit in the seconds following Michael making Maria unconscious. Right around the time when Max had pressed his hand against my screaming mouth and I heard the closing of the front door and the shuffling sound of several feet. A lot of feet.

The calm and methodical version of myself was nowhere to be seen when I had realized that we were indeed about to be captured. Or killed. All of us.

The reality of the situation was so surreal, so unrealistic, that my calmer self immediately gave up and abandoned me.

And here I was, stumbling after Max with my hand holding tightly onto his, damp cool air grinding against the inside of my windpipe with my ever strained breath, my feet - only wearing socks - wet and bloodied, and my muscles cramping from the constant running.

The adrenaline kept me going. The adrenaline dried up my tears. The adrenaline threatened to bump my heart out of my chest.

My head was hurting from the sharpness at which I concentrated on picking up on any sounds behind us. Sounds of being followed.

I was glad that both Michael and Alex were running behind Max and I. That my back wasn’t exposed to the empty darkness of the tunnel. Where something could at any time jump out and put its claws into my back.

Not that I was being followed by large evil monster with razor sharp teeth and two inch long claws, but my body was nevertheless sure that something terrible was going to happen.

The tunnel seemed to go on forever. We must have been running for the past twenty minutes. I wondered if we were actually running to another city - taking the underground route. Because it felt like we were about to cover miles.

My eyes had gotten used to the darkness, enabling me to spot Maria when I frequently looked over my shoulder at her. Small slivers of light, passing through the roof at different spots (alternate exits…?), made it possible for me to evaluate her coloring from time to time.

How long would she be out? Would she suddenly regain consciousness? Or was Michael able to control it somehow?

This might have been the point at which Max would have answered my questions, because he could certainly hear them screaming through my exhausted mind.

But he remained silent. Focused on getting us forward. Focused on leading the way through the darkness. Focused on any sounds around us that might alert us to danger.

My confused questions were low on the priority list right now.

The longer we stayed in the tunnel, the more the walls started to close in on me. The damp smell of compressed soil was making my stomach turn, fueling my fear. The occasional cold water droplets hitting my scalp felt like hard pebbles, sending shocks down the length of my spine.

I could no longer feel my feet. It was as if my feet had turned into bricks. At least, that’s what it felt like. Without any sensation in my feet, I could only register the heaviness with how the parts at the end of my legs moved, without feeling the ground beneath my soles. Maybe I should be grateful about this, because it was certainly better than to feel the small cuts and blisters covering the underside of my soft feet.

But it made running more difficult and I lost my footing too many times to count. I would have collected many more injuries had not Max’s grip on my arm been keeping me on my feet even when I faltered.

”How much further?”

I was surprised by my own breathlessness, by the difficulty at getting the question out during my strained breathing.

”Not much longer,” Max replied.

I swallowed worriedly at his voice. It was hurried and tight, as if the words had been quickly pressed through clenched teeth. My hand tightened around his. He was afraid, perhaps more for my safety than his own, and the danger of the precarious situation we found ourselves in was slowly wearing even him down. The constant alertness and the strength it took to keep me upright, while keeping up a steady pace and making sure that we turned the right corners in the dark tunnels, was weighing him down.

Just as he tugged on my hand, for about the twentieth time, to round a corner, a shadow came out from the side of the adjacent tunnel, only a few feet in front of us.

I had believed Max to be worn out and exhausted beyond his own abilities, but his actions in that fraction of a second after the unidentified person stepped in front of us spoke of an impressive control over the situation.

I was pulled behind his broad body at the same time as a strong blue light flared. I got distracted by the lightness of the dirt walls before my eyes shifted to the person through the blue veil of protection that Max had put up between us. It was the same rippling veil that Michael had put up between him and I in the corridor some nights earlier. But his hadn’t been blue. His had been colorless.

But I didn’t have time to reflect on this incongruity.

Instead, my heart stilled in frozen fear and a gasp flew across my lips as I recognized the man.

To my surprise, instead of keeping the protection up between us, Max released the veil and it dimmed and dispersed into nothingness like a colorful fog.

I couldn’t find any words to protest. Couldn’t even find any thoughts to scream at Max through the connection.

Because it was a deep surprise to me that Max would drop his shield in front of one of Command’s men. Not even the brightness of Max’s force field had managed to lighten the darkness of the man’s head, the hair shining in its perfectly combed hairstyle. But the momentary light had highlighted that it was indeed the man from that fateful meeting - which seemed like ages ago - who had been seated at the same table as Command. Who had been right next to the Mayor. The dangerous Mayor who Max had sharply told me to not look in the eye.

As the light blinked out, the black-haired man gave me a long silent look - as if he was looking straight into my very core, making me step more firmly behind Max.

I was being bombarded by the memories from that meeting. From that time when I had been someone else. From the time when I had been on the brink of leaving my innocence behind. The reminder of that fragile state had me shivering with fear.

I was convinced that Max had just given up. That the black-haired man was of such a great importance and power that Max had deemed it useless to even battle him. Useless to even fight for our lives. I really saw no other reason why Max would straighten in front of me, before casting a worried look over his shoulder first at me and then our companions.

Mere seconds had passed since our encounter with the man, but I felt like everything was moving in slow-motion. Which is why I felt like I should follow Max’s gaze and see the reaction of Michael and Alex, wanting to know if at least they were making an attempt at fighting back.

But I couldn’t take my eyes off the man.

Which might have been why he looked back at me and met my gaze straight on. I could feel the heat from Alex’s body as he stopped closely behind me. I could smell the sweat on Michael’s skin as he too came closer.

And then I noticed a subtle movement in the corner of the man’s mouth along with a softening of his determined eyes, and it struck me.

He’s on our side.

And suddenly I couldn’t understand how I could have not recognized the man. The dark-haired man’s identity had been explained to me previously. At the smaller meeting Max’s father had held with Max and I right after Max had woken up from being stabbed by Sean in captivity.

Standing in front of me was James Dresden.

The man who had contacted my father before I was born. The man who had come up with how to lock memories away to make my father into my unknowing protector.

The leader of the rebellion.

The man tilted his head almost respectfully at me, before directing eyes and feet towards Michael. There was a hurried briskness to his movement as he breezed past me, which broke the feeling of transfixed slow-motion, and I was flung back into full reality mode.

”Michael,” Dresden stated resolutely. ”Give her to me.”

I whipped my head around to see the strange man hold his arms out towards Michael, and my instinct was to scream, ”No! Don’t touch her”, because I still didn’t know this man. Which meant that I didn’t trust him. Which meant that he was not allowed to touch my unconscious, vulnerable friend.

Curiously, Michael’s reaction was the same. This was probably the first time I felt myself reacting the exact same way as the tall muscular hybrid.

Although, Michael was a bit more respectful as he took a step back, rustling Maria’s limp body to get a better grip. ”No, sir.”

”You’re exhausted,” Dresden pointed out.

His voice was dark. Firm. Authoritative.

His statement made me realize that Michael truly must be exhausted. He seemed to be well-built, but to run for 20+ minutes on uneven ground, carrying around 130 pounds of unconscious human being, must made his arms feel ready to fall off.

”Michael,” Max said tightly next to me. ”Do as he says.”

I turned around and searched Max’s face in the dim light. ”Max, no…”

The fear in my voice had his eyes flit to my face and he released the steel grip he had kept on my hand to instead move it to gently cradle my cheek. His eyes softened and time slowed along with the frenzied panic inside of me. ”It’s okay, Lizzie. He can be trusted.”

By unconscious habit, I bit my lower lip, gave Max a distrustful look, before looking over my shoulder at the man, feeling Max’s hand slip slowly from my cheek at the twist.

Dresden was in a game of wills with Michael; them both staring each other down while Michael held Maria tightly.

”It’s not up for you to decide,” Michael grumbled, his voice lacking its normal strength due to obvious expenditure.

”Don’t touch her,” I said. It was intended to come off as a warning. It came off as an order.

I felt Max tense behind me as the man spun around and I found myself trapped in his eyes again. But Max never warned me to look away from him. Not at the meeting. Not now. Consequently, I met his eyes straight on.

”Elizabeth Parker,” the man said, an almost pleasant melody to his words. ”We should stop meeting under these circumstances.”

Prior to me consciously acknowledging that I was trembling, Max had turned around and wrapped one of his arms around my middle, pulling my back tightly and safely up against his front.

My mouth was still dry, but Max’s strong and calm hold on me gave me the strength to say, ”I’ve only met you once. At the meeting.”

The corner of his mouth moved again. As if he was itching to smile, but never quite succeeded. It still had the power to make his face look sympathetic. Almost warm.

”That you remember, yes,” he replied courteously, implying that he had been a part of my erased memories. ”More answers later, Elizabeth.” His eyes glanced over Max’s shoulder, into the darkness of the tunnel. ”We have to move.” His lips tightened and he bit out, ”Now.”

When the man turned on his heel and practically tore Maria out of Michael’s exhausted arms, Max grabbed my hand and spun me out of his embrace, like some innocent dance move, and started pulling me into the darkness.

Only this was no dance. This was me starting to feel the pain in my feet again, probably leaving bloodied footprints in my trail, while I struggled against Max’s hold to get a view of Maria - now being carried by someone I didn’t personally know.

I stumbled again, my damaged feet not holding me up, and that same moment the pain from my feet twisting underneath me shot up my legs and spine and I realized, ”The blood!”

What? Max questioned inside my mind. His question was distracted, his focus on following Dresden’s lead.

”My feet,” I gasped, my breathing labored, now accentuated by the pain in my injured angle. ”The blood from my feet will-,” I coughed, ”-will leave prints.” I paused to get air in my starving lungs. ”They’ll find us.”

Max stopped so suddenly that I ran into him. I noticed Alex stopping right next to us, while Michael continued past us, seemingly intent on not letting Dresden - or perhaps it was Maria - out of his sight.

I was startled with surprise as Max quickly bent at the knees to place his hands around the back of my knees and swoop me off my feet. I automatically frowned and opened my mouth to protest, my body stiffening at what he was trying to do.

He couldn’t carry me. It would slow us down.

But before I could say anything, a worn out and breathless voice said, ”I’ve been erasing our prints after us - yours included, Lizzie.”

Alex.

I straightened my neck and looked at him. His face was smudged with patches of dirt, making the shadows from our surroundings across his features even more pronounced. The combination gave him a dark and almost dangerous appearance. I realized that I had never seen him like that. The goofy laid-back Alex Whitman I knew had never looked this haunted or agitated.

”We know what we’re doing,” Max mumbled over my head, shifting me in his arms, tightening his grip, signaling for me to relax and let him help me.

I can do this, Max. I need to run.

But he wouldn’t let my plead change his mind. It’s not too far now. You’re in pain. I hate when you’re in pain.

Pure pain rushed through my chest, a result of his emotions and my sympathy for hating when he was in pain. Crawling on top of that feeling was guilt.

I want to heal you, but I don’t have the ener-

We were already moving again, Alex behind us, Max’s quick pace rhythmically jostling my body, and I pressed the side of my cheek against his warm chest as my arms tightened around his neck. I felt the dampness of his exertion through the thin shirt.

”Shh,” I chastised, my body already relaxing in his hold, my feet throbbing with pain but being relieved that they were no longer being walked on. ”I know.”

”It’s up there,” Alex said in a loud whisper, making me lift my head from Max’s chest and look up the tunnel.

I had time to catch a glimpse of Michael as he quickly bent down and went through something that looked like a very small opening at the bottom of the wall, about three yards up the tunnel, before he disappeared from view.

Maria and Dresden were nowhere to be seen.

”Almost there,” Max said softly and it would be impossible to miss the weariness in his voice now.

Alex flew past us as we approached the small opening, not taller than three feet, at the bottom of the compacted dirt wall. Alex kept looking over his shoulder, scanning our dark surroundings, while he crouched next to the opening, signaling for us to go through first.

Max let me down to my feet, his hand tightening around my arm when the pain from my feet softly impacting with the ground shot through my system. I couldn’t put much weight on my twisted ankle.

I gasped, clenching my fists and teeth to stop myself from crying out.

”You okay?” he asked worriedly and I swallowed back tears.

No, I was not okay. I was very far from okay. Not just physically, but also mentally. But we didn’t have time for that now.

Instead I looked at the small opening which looked as if it had been made for hobbits, and asked, ”What’s on the other side?”

”Safety,” Alex answered and grabbed my free hand, the one not holding on to Max. As I looked down at him skeptically, he grimaced and added, ”Hopefully.”

”Go on,” Max said impatiently and pressed a comforting hand between my shaking shoulder blades to urge me forward.

With a shuddering sigh, fear of crawling through dark passages without knowing what was on the other side moving through me, I crouched down and slowly got to my knees.

”We’ll be right behind you,” Max assured me.

I hesitated before giving a short nod, ducked my head to avoid hitting the ceiling and started the crawl. The darkness within the small passageway was even more pronounced, more drowning and suffocating. It smelled worse in there - sewage - and I felt the dirt press in under my fingernails as my fingers sank into the dirt ground. The dirt was less compacted here - less ’walked’ on.

I got the feeling that this passageway had been added long after the main tunnels. Like an afterthought.

I felt Max’s hand around my ankle, comforting me in that he was literally following on my heels.

I took another deep breath and started to believe what Alex had told me just now.

Safety.

My state of mind - if I had managed to relax some or if I still had adrenaline pumping painfully through my body - probably wouldn’t have made much difference to my reaction at the loud sparkling bang. As if large power lines had broken off and crashed into the ground, sending sparkles to light up the dark passage that I was occupying.

My head still hit the roof before I collapsed on my stomach. My heart still felt like it jumped out of my chest and made a beeline for a safe exit (wherever that would be), and I still wet my pants.

Then the warm presence just behind my feet disappeared.

One second Max’s hand had been on my ankle. The next it wasn’t.


TBC...

[Morning Dreamgirl]

Woo-hoo!!

Happy dance time!

Okay - off to read. Have no fear - I'm sure I'll be back later to yell.

[max and liz believer]

Okay - off to read. Have no fear - I'm sure I'll be back later to yell.

I'm rather sure you will...

[Morning Dreamgirl]

Jo, darling...

You know I hate to be the barer of bad news but in afraid your M is going to be forced into unpacking the rest of the boxes by himself.

Because I have decided to hire someone to kidnap you and keep you sequestered in a remote cabin somewhere until we can come to a happy arrangement whereby I don't age prematurely every time I read this story.

Seriously?!?!

You leave it there??

Are you trying to outdo yourself?

For all Max knows Liz could very well be pregnant and they're running for their lives and now they're possibly separated?

That's just...

Jo!

Get back here!

[Roswelllostcause]

NOOOO! DON'T YOU DARE!

I am going to have to help Morning Dreamgirl kidnap you!

Get back here now!



Helen

[begonia9508]

Oh my! Happy to have you back and I loved the new part... It sill is hard to follow, as so much actions happen in your Story and I have to read back because I don't remember where I left...

Looking for more and thanks EVE

[Natalie36]

you got me happy and at the end of my seat all at the same time