EYA Part 21
Isabel came out of her room after she heard Max and Liz leave for the diner. She had thought that she heard her mother’s voice.
“Mom? Are you home?” she called out.
“I’m just getting changed, honey,” Diane called back from her room.
Isabel went straight to the kitchen and called in a take-out order to be delivered for them. She wanted her bases covered in case her mom had some wacky new dinner recipe to try out.
“How was your day, sweetie?” Diane asked, pulling her hair out of the collar of her blue sweatshirt.
“It was good. I learned a lot today.” Isabel hid a small smile at all the new things she was learning about lately. “I just ordered Chinese food to be delivered, hope that’s okay? How was your day? You look kinda tired.” Isabel followed her mother out into the living room and sat beside her on the couch.
“Chinese sounds wonderful, I’m glad you thought of it, and yes I am tired. Your dad is out of town for the rest of the week on a case he’s been researching, and so the office is all mine. We’ve been getting so busy lately that I’ve been thinking about hiring an assistant.” Diane rested her head of the back of the sofa, closing her eyes. “I ran into Liz here with Max earlier. They looked pretty cozy.” She peeked out of the corner of her eye to see Isabel’s reaction.
Isabel stiffened at the unexpected turn in the conversation. “Oh, well I think they’re lab partners or something. Maybe they were working on a project together,” Isabel improvised. Damn! What did Max want their mom to know about his relationship with Liz?
“Oh, that’s strange. He was hugging her. It looked like they were dating again. I’ve always liked Liz, what do you think about her?” Diane sat up and looked straight at Isabel. She was really curious to find out more about this special girl in her son’s life.
“Well, she’s a really good student. She’s very responsible. She could definitely use my help in the fashion department though,” Isabel finished with a laugh, feeling more comfortable with the topic now. If Max had been so openly affectionate in front of their mother then he must not mind if she knew about them.
Diane was frustrated by her daughter’s response. She wanted to know who this girl was. What made her tick. She’d just have to observe these things on her own though. She didn’t want Isabel to get suspicious of why she had so much interest in Liz.
“I was just asking because I just offered her a job as my new office assistant. I’m going to set up a work station here in the house and she can help with research and typing, that kind of thing. What do you think?”
“Wow, Mom! I think that’s a great idea. I know she’ll do a really good job for you, and she has been talking about looking for a new position.” Isabel enthused, relieved at how well this was working out for Max. They wouldn’t have to think of reasons why Liz was over at their house so Tess wouldn’t get suspicious. Very convenient.
“Good. I think I made the right choice too.” Diane had known that she had made the right decision just from the expression on Max’s face earlier, and she would have stuck with it even if Liz didn’t know how to turn on a computer, but it was good to know that this would benefit all sides.
“Have you thought any more about your own career plans?” Diane touched Isabel’s hair softly. “I know you’ve been talking about doing some modeling.”
Modeling had been the furthest thing from Isabel’s mind recently. Maybe now would be a good time to tell her mom that she could graduate early if she wanted.
“Well, Mom, since you bring it up, yeah, I have been thinking about my future lately. My guidance counselor and I had a meeting awhile back, and since my grades are so good and I’ve got all this extra credit from community projects and advanced placement classes, he said I could graduate at the end of this year. What do you think?”
Tears welled up in Diane’s eyes. She turned her head and she swiped at them surreptitiously with the back of her hand.
Isabel squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. Here her mom had been crying just this morning about losing her babies in a year and now she was bringing this up!
“It’s okay, Mom! It was just a thought.” Isabel was eager to console her mother. She never wanted to see her hurt in any way and she would do anything in her power to prevent it.
“Oh, honey, I’m just so proud of you!” Diane rushed to reassure her, giving her a warm hug. “When you and Max first came to us you couldn’t even speak. We had to teach you absolutely everything, but you caught on so quickly! I stayed home with you for over a year, and in that time you learned to talk and read and write. You learned math so fast and it’s like you were just sponges, soaking up whatever I could teach you. I shouldn’t be surprised that you would have an opportunity like this. If I had put you two in school a year earlier, with your own age group, you would be graduating this year anyway. Wow! Have you thought about which college you would like to attend?”
“Wow, Mom.” Isabel was relieved by her mother’s reaction. “I have thought about it, and I think I want to apply to the University of New Mexico and the University of Las Cruces. I don’t want to be too far away from home just yet.” For a lot of reasons, she added internally.
“That sounds wonderful! We need to call for admission information right away and make sure it’s not too late to apply for the fall semester. Wow! This is so sudden! You college fund should be enough to cover any of those schools. Does Max have the same opportunity?” Diane knew he had excellent grades as well, but he wasn’t quite the ‘joiner’ that Isabel was. Extra-curricular activities for Max were almost non-existent.
“He hasn’t said anything to me, but then, I haven’t told him about me yet either. I wanted to talk to you and Daddy about all this first.”
“I’ll have to ask him. How do you think he’ll feel if you take off for college without him next year?” Diane was concerned that Max would feel even more alone. It was a good thing Liz was around. That just made Diane remember the real reason that she had wanted to talk with Isabel tonight and she wondered how to segue into the ‘I know you’re an alien’ discussion. There was really no subtle way.
“I don’t really think he’ll mind. I mean I hope he’ll be happy for me, and it’s not like I’ll be moving out of state or anything.” Isabel really hoped that Max and Michael would be able to support her college ambitions. Her fear over their reactions was one of the major reasons that she had procrastinated so long in telling anyone.
“Isabel…I really wanted to talk to you about…” Diane stopped abruptly at the sound of the doorbell.
“Oh! That’s our food. Hold that thought, Mom, I’ll get the door.” Isabel jumped up and answered the door, giving the delivery girl a generous tip.
Diane slumped back on the sofa and breathed a sigh. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or annoyed by the delay.
“Mmmnn it smells really good, should we eat in the kitchen?” Isabel asked, walking back in with two large bags of fragrant Chinese food.
“No, let’s just get some napkins and eat in here,” Diane offered.
They parceled out the food and enjoyed a really good dinner while they hashed out college plans and possible living arrangements for Isabel in college.
“Ohhh…I don’t think I can eat another bite!” Isabel shoved her plate away from her on the coffee table and leaned her head back onto the back of the couch, closing her eyes. Her mom, who was seated on the couch beside her, put her plate down as well. Diane stroked Isabel’s long hair away from her face, causing Is to open her eyes and turn towards her mother.
“You know how much I love you and Max, don’t you, Is?” Diane asked out of the blue.
“Of course, Mom. You and Daddy have always let us know that we are the most important people in your lives,” Isabel hastened to reassure her. She curled up on the couch and put her head on her mother’s lap, facing away, as she had done when she was a little girl and needed comforting. Diane looked down at Isabel and started to stroke her hair.
“You know you can tell me anything, anything at all, and your father and I would still love you, right?”
Isabel’s form went stiff momentarily, before she forced herself to breathe and calm down. Her mother didn’t know, she couldn’t. She turned to her back to stare up at her mom.
“Of course I know that, Mom. You sound so serious. What’s this all about?” Her voice came out thin and strained.
“I just, well…, I found out something recently, and I just really want you to know that no matter what I will always be here for you.” Diane struggled to find the right words to tell her daughter that she knew.
Isabel sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them in a protective posture. What had she found out? Not…no, she couldn’t know our secret!
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mom. What do you think you have found out about us?”
Diane felt awful for the stress she was putting Isabel through. Her daughter’s face had gone deathly pale and if she wasn’t careful she was going to cause her lips to bleed from biting them so nervously.
“I found out who you and Max are. That you’re…aliens,” Diane blurted bluntly, bracing herself for the backlash she knew was coming.
Isabel’s entire body stiffened in reaction to hearing words that she never thought to hear from her mom. This was the moment that she had always dreamed of, dreaded, hoped for…but now what? Confirm or deny? Fight or flight? Her heart was beating so fast she wondered if her mom could hear it.
“Mom…I…I think you must be working too hard. I mean, you just said you think me and Max are aliens. This is some big joke, right? Should I look around for the candid camera?” Isabel faked a laugh unconvincingly and tried to study her mom to see how serious she was.
“Is, I know this has got to be a big shock to you to find out that I know. I overheard something, and saw a few things that are, well, out of this world, but you can trust me. I love you both, I would do anything for you. Anything!” Diane’s sincerity rang true in her voice.
Isabel began to shake and huge tears welled in her eyes. “Mom! Do you…You’re serious! This is so unbelievable! I’ve wanted you to know for so long! So long…and now you’re saying that you know and you still…you still love us! I knew it! I knew it and I told them that you were different! That you could be trusted and that you would never turn away from us. This is so incredible!” Isabel launched herself into her mother’s open arms and cried. Her sobs mingled with her mother’s and they sat, rocking each other. They remained that way for a long time, each taking comfort in the others presence, secure in their love for each other.
“Oh, Mom! There is so much I want to tell you, share with you, but we didn’t want to put you in any danger. We made a pact that no one could know. We thought it was better that way. I’ve wanted to tell you so many times.” Isabel’s tears made tracks down her normally perfectly made-up face.
Diane wiped the tears away and consoled her. “I know, honey, I know it must have been terrible for you. And Max. I just…I just want to be a part of your lives. I want you to feel like you can share things with me. I would never judge you, and I may even be able to help you.”
Isabel sighed in contentment at Diane’s words. She knew her mother meant every one of them and would help them all that she could.
“Tell me what you know about yourselves, have you been able to learn anything? Why you’re here?” Diane started gently. She wanted Isabel to explain in her own words what she knew about herself.
“It’s a long story, Mom,” Isabel lay her head back into Diane’s lap, closing her eyes in contentment when her mom began stroking her hair again. “We’ve found out we were in the crash in 1947. We had lives before on another planet, but there was a war, and they mixed each of our essence with human DNA and sent us to Earth. We were in these incubation pods and we developed there until we emerged in 1989. We looked like six year olds. Max and I stayed together, but we lost Michael, oh my God! Do you know that Michael’s one of us too?” Isabel wondered if she should have let that slip, but then decided that she would have found out sooner or later anyway.
“Michael too?” Diane gasped in shock. She had never considered that there may have been other children wandering the desert that night. “Is there anyone else?”
“Yeah, one more. Tess. You’ve met her, Mom. She and Nacedo moved to Roswell last year. She’s…she came out later than the rest of us. We don’t know why. She was raised by a protector named Nacedo. He was supposed to raise us all, but he came too late, or we came out too early, whatever, he wasn’t there for us. He taught her all these different things. He told us about our destinies, or what he thought were our destinies. Now we’re not as sure that what he taught us was true.”
“Can’t you ask him? Do you have a reason to distrust this Nacedo?” Diane asked with worry in her tone.
“No. He died last year. That’s why Tess has been living with the Valenti’s, and recently we’ve discovered some things about Tess that have made us wonder if we can trust her.”
“Does anyone else know your secret?”
“A few people have found out. Liz knows. That’s kind of what started all this. Liz was shot at the Crashdown almost two years ago and Max healed her. He saved her life. That’s Max’s special gift, to heal people. After that she figured out for herself that he was different and she told her friend Maria. Later they told Alex, you know him, right?” Diane nodded. “Anyway, last spring Kyle Valenti was shot and Max healed him as well, so now he knows. Oh and Sheriff Valenti knows too. He’s actually helped us a lot lately.” Isabel nodded her head to affirm her statement.
Diane shook her head. All these people had known all this time and their own mother had been living in the dark. She was a little hurt, but at the same time she understood the chain of events that led to each of these others knowing her children’s secret.
“Is that why Liz and Max started dating?”
“Well, I think that’s part of it. You know Max, he would have been too shy to ever introduce himself to Liz in any normal way. This just kind of threw them together. He’s had a crush on her since we started school, but we’ve never really thought that we should get too close to anyone, you know? It might be dangerous for them and for us, if they found out what we are and turned us in.”
Diane was so sad to realize that her children had felt they needed to be so cut off from normal lives and relationships that they could never pursue any kind of romantic interest that might lead to something lasting.
“What do you mean, ‘turned you in’, is someone after you? Is there someone out there looking for you?” Diane remembered what she had seen from Max’s memories when the FBI had captured him. She shuddered, hoping that they had given up looking for her children.
“Well, the FBI have sent some people, but I think we took care of that last spring,” Isabel answered evasively, suddenly interested in the fabric of the couch.
“Have any of you been caught?” Diane knew the answer, but wanted it confirmed.
“I think…I think you should talk to Max about that,” Isabel squirmed and evaded again, she didn’t know how detailed she could get with her mother. Should she tell her all about the FBI? That would mean she would have to say something about what happened to Max, and that was really his story to tell. If he ever could. And what about the Skins? Her mom definitely wasn’t ready to hear that there was an entire alien race that had been sent here just to destroy them. “He’s our king; our leader. We found that out last spring too. He was the king and I was his sister even then. Isn’t that strange that we’re still together?”
“Maybe not so strange, maybe that’s why you two stuck together after you hatched,” Diane mused aloud.
“Hatched?” Isabel giggled. “We’re not birds, Mom!” Diane joined her in laughter, amazed that they could joke so easily about this already.
“Is this why Max has been so cut off from everything lately?”
“I think you really need to talk to Max, Mom. I really don’t mean to be evasive with you now that you know everything, but some things are personal, and only Max can answer that. But you know what? I’m not sure that Max can really handle all this right now. Do you think I can just feel him out about this for the next couple days before we tell him that you know?” Isabel looked hopefully at her mom.
“I don’t know, Is, I really want to help him with everything. But if you think you’re right…yeah, I can wait if you think that’s what’s best.” Diane was distressed to think that her son would be forced to lie to her for several more days.
They continued to talk into the night, connecting on so many new levels that it was almost like they were strangers, getting to know each other for the first time.
Later in the night the phone rang and Diane got up to answer it. The caller id said ‘Parker, Jeffrey’, so she knew that it must be Liz calling for Max.
“Hello?” Diane answered cheerfully.
“Hi, Mom, it’s Max. I’m over at Michael’s and I was just wondering if I could spend the night? We’ve got a lot of studying to do.” Max’s voice was filled with longing, and contained an underlying tone of deep exhaustion.
Diane sighed inwardly. Max should not have to lie to her like this. There had to be a way that she could ensure that Max and Liz had a way to stay together.
“Of course you can, Max. Honey, you sound exhausted. You should get some rest. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, it is now. I think I’ll sleep well tonight. Good night, Mom, and thanks. I really appreciate this.” Max hung up.
Diane put down the phone and walked back in to sit beside her daughter.
“That was Max. He’s going to spend the night with a friend so I’ll drop you off at school in the morning, okay?”
“Yeah, that’d be great. It’ll give us more time to talk.” Isabel sighed in perfect contentment. One of her all time best dreams had become reality. Her mother knew exactly who and what she was and she wasn’t freaked out or treating her differently. She was unconditionally loved and accepted.
TBC
Everything You Are (CC,M/L, Mature) AN PG 15 5/3/07 [WIP]
Moderators: Anniepoo98, ISLANDGIRL5, truelovepooh, Forum Moderators
EYA Part 22
Knock, knock, knock!
Maria burrowed deeper into her pillow. This was the most annoying dream she’d had in a long time.
Knock, knock, knock!!!
Maria’s head peeked out from under the covers. Maybe it wasn’t a dream.
“Come in?” she called tentatively, making it more of a question than actual permission to enter. She peered blearily at her door for a moment before dropping her head back on her warm pillow. Very annoying dream!
Knock, knock, knock!!!!
Maria reared up in her bed in sudden fury, suspicion coloring her angry voice.
“Sean DeLuca if you don’t stop that right now I’m gonna…” she flung her bedroom door open and no one was there. “What the…?” She stared in bewilderment at the empty doorway.
Tap, tap…Maria swung around to face her window and jumped back in fright at the unexpected sight of a dark figure staring in.
“Don’t even think about it,” Maria mumbled, backing out the door, ready to run, ready to scream out for Sean’s assistance.
“Maria! It’s me, Michael!” A familiar voice whispered loudly.
Her heartbeat slowed for a moment before accelerating again with a new fear. What would bring Michael to her window in the middle of the night? She quickly made her way over to the window and eased it open, hoping her Mom’s radar wasn’t working tonight.
“Michael, what’s the…” Maria’s question was cut off abruptly as Michael took her face in his hands and hauled her in for a deep kiss. Maria was stunned by the hunger and need that she sensed in Michael. She responded eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in the window without releasing him from her lips. They angled their lips together and let their tongues explore deeply into each other’s mouths. Maria moaned in the back of her throat, stimulating Michael to renew his efforts. His hands wandered over her back and up her arms, running over them as if she was cold. Maria moaned again, louder this time, and it brought momentary sanity back to Michael. He grasped her arms and held her away from him, looking into her eyes, searching for something. Desperate to find something within her gaze.
“Michael,” Maria started gently, “what’s happening to you?” Fear caused her voice to tremble. Michael was not one to show need or vulnerability. This was starting to remind her of another time Michael had come to her window. Such terrible pain and need of her comfort, locked inside him. He wouldn’t tell her then, couldn’t tell her, that he had been beaten by his foster father. She had just held him in her arms that night, pouring her love and reassurance into him. But that was over now. Hank was gone. What could this mean? This lost look, this bewildered gaze?
“I just…I just really needed to do that,” Michael whispered brokenly. He gently brushed a tear off her face. She hadn’t even realized that this time she was the one who was crying.
“Talk to me, Michael! Please!!” Maria’s eyes pleaded with Michael to let her in, to share his torment.
“Maria, I don’t even know why I came. I should go.” Michael turned to go back out the window, but was abruptly swung back around to face an infuriated Maria.
“You wake me up out of a sound sleep at…” she glanced over her shoulder at her alarm clock, “…2:17 in the morning, scared the hell out of me and now you’re leaving without one word of explanation? I don’t think so, buddy! You had better talk to me right now and it had better be good because I am not some toy that you can just pick up and toss away whenever you get the urge! Got it, buster??” Maria’s eyes flashed fire and her face flushed rosily with the heat of her anger. She was beautiful.
“Calm down, Maria! Your Mom could wake up any minute!” Michael wrapped his arms around Maria’s slight form and hugged her to his body, trying to squelch her tirade. She pushed away from him roughly.
“My Mom will be the least of your worries if you don’t start talking right now!” Her hands moved to her hips and she started tapping her foot, impatiently waiting for an explanation.
“Maria, I…it’s just something happened tonight. I’ve been driving around Roswell trying to figure it out in my own head, but I just kept coming by here. I really wanted to see you.” Michael hung his head, he couldn’t look her in the eye right now. This vulnerable thing did feel good to him, and he couldn’t go around telling his girlfriend that he’d seen Liz half naked and felt an incredible urge to…He shook his head. That didn’t even bear thinking! Maria was the one he wanted. Maria. He knew that.
“What happened, Michael?” Maria wasn’t going to let it go.
Maybe he should just tell her part of it.
“Well, Liz has been getting these fevers…”
“What? Fever? Is she okay?” Maria broke in, grabbing his arms and clinging tightly, worry making her voice tight and high.
“Yeah, she’s fine. When they get them, Max can…uh…heal them when the fevers hit.”
“They? Is Max getting these fevers too? Is it some kind of alien thing?” Maria’s eyes widened at the new possibility.
“If you’d let me finish the story I think you’d get the answers a little faster!” Michael pushed his fingers through his unruly hair with impatience.
“Fine, fine go on.” Maria waved her hand, giving Michael permission to finish.
“Max and Liz get the fevers at the same time, and it seems the only way to get rid of them is to…well…they get together.” Michael glanced at Maria’s puzzled face and knew he wouldn’t get away that easily. Maria arched an eyebrow and waited.
“They gotta have sex.” Michael winced at the high-pitched squeal that Maria let out, before clamping his hand quickly over her mouth. Maria’s wide eyes danced with mirth. Of course she knew aliens were hot, but this? This was beyond.
“Stay in control here, Maria! We’re not in fifth grade!” Michael slowly released his hand from her mouth, hoping she could contain herself. “Anyways, they didn’t tell any of us that this was going on and Liz actually fainted at the Crashdown earlier. I had to carry her up to her room. She was sweating like crazy and I stuck her in a tepid bath to cool her off. She came to and told me that she needed Max, that they had to…get together, but Max wasn’t around. Then I started to get a fever. I was out of my mind, not thinking clearly at all. I just lay down beside her on the bed…”
“YOU WHAT?! How did we get from the bath to the bed? Tell me you didn’t…” Maria sputtered for words, “ ‘get together’ with her!!!”
“NO! No, Maria of course not! I carried her back to her bed and then got really dizzy. I just lay down for a second and then Max came in through the window.” No reason to tell her that he had wanted to... Well, hadn’t wanted to exactly, but felt compelled to…He stopped that thought to. Maria was the one for him.
Maria slumped against him in relief. This was getting out of hand.
“What did Max do when he saw you there?” Time to get this back on track.
“I don’t think he even really saw me. He just went straight to Liz and they just…went at it.”
“ ‘Went at it’? Right there in front of you? That does not sound like Liz! There’s no way she’d just…”
“Look! I was there, I’m just telling you what happened. Believe it or don’t. I’m outta here.” Michael made another move to leave, but allowed himself to be pulled by the arm back into Maria’s arms.
“I’m sorry I was so harsh. It’s just really early and I’m not a morning person. You must have been really shocked by all that. I’m sorry.” She brushed her palm over his forehead, pushing his hair back. “Are you okay now? No more fever?” She asked solicitously.
“Yeah, it went away after…after Max and Liz…” he couldn’t finish.
“What are you saying? Are you somehow connected to them when they go into heat like that?” Maria brow furrowed with worry.
“I don’t know! I don’t know anything right now. I’m just gonna go home and try to get some sleep before school tomorrow. See ya there?”
“Yeah,” Maria answered, “I might be a little late. I want to swing by Alex’s to see how it went with Max.”
“Max said he’s gonna be fine, but I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you.” Michael put one foot over the windowsill and looked back at Maria. He offered her a small smile.
“Thanks for being here,” he said softly, before disappearing into the darkness.
“Anytime,” she whispered to the empty room.
TBC
Knock, knock, knock!
Maria burrowed deeper into her pillow. This was the most annoying dream she’d had in a long time.
Knock, knock, knock!!!
Maria’s head peeked out from under the covers. Maybe it wasn’t a dream.
“Come in?” she called tentatively, making it more of a question than actual permission to enter. She peered blearily at her door for a moment before dropping her head back on her warm pillow. Very annoying dream!
Knock, knock, knock!!!!
Maria reared up in her bed in sudden fury, suspicion coloring her angry voice.
“Sean DeLuca if you don’t stop that right now I’m gonna…” she flung her bedroom door open and no one was there. “What the…?” She stared in bewilderment at the empty doorway.
Tap, tap…Maria swung around to face her window and jumped back in fright at the unexpected sight of a dark figure staring in.
“Don’t even think about it,” Maria mumbled, backing out the door, ready to run, ready to scream out for Sean’s assistance.
“Maria! It’s me, Michael!” A familiar voice whispered loudly.
Her heartbeat slowed for a moment before accelerating again with a new fear. What would bring Michael to her window in the middle of the night? She quickly made her way over to the window and eased it open, hoping her Mom’s radar wasn’t working tonight.
“Michael, what’s the…” Maria’s question was cut off abruptly as Michael took her face in his hands and hauled her in for a deep kiss. Maria was stunned by the hunger and need that she sensed in Michael. She responded eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in the window without releasing him from her lips. They angled their lips together and let their tongues explore deeply into each other’s mouths. Maria moaned in the back of her throat, stimulating Michael to renew his efforts. His hands wandered over her back and up her arms, running over them as if she was cold. Maria moaned again, louder this time, and it brought momentary sanity back to Michael. He grasped her arms and held her away from him, looking into her eyes, searching for something. Desperate to find something within her gaze.
“Michael,” Maria started gently, “what’s happening to you?” Fear caused her voice to tremble. Michael was not one to show need or vulnerability. This was starting to remind her of another time Michael had come to her window. Such terrible pain and need of her comfort, locked inside him. He wouldn’t tell her then, couldn’t tell her, that he had been beaten by his foster father. She had just held him in her arms that night, pouring her love and reassurance into him. But that was over now. Hank was gone. What could this mean? This lost look, this bewildered gaze?
“I just…I just really needed to do that,” Michael whispered brokenly. He gently brushed a tear off her face. She hadn’t even realized that this time she was the one who was crying.
“Talk to me, Michael! Please!!” Maria’s eyes pleaded with Michael to let her in, to share his torment.
“Maria, I don’t even know why I came. I should go.” Michael turned to go back out the window, but was abruptly swung back around to face an infuriated Maria.
“You wake me up out of a sound sleep at…” she glanced over her shoulder at her alarm clock, “…2:17 in the morning, scared the hell out of me and now you’re leaving without one word of explanation? I don’t think so, buddy! You had better talk to me right now and it had better be good because I am not some toy that you can just pick up and toss away whenever you get the urge! Got it, buster??” Maria’s eyes flashed fire and her face flushed rosily with the heat of her anger. She was beautiful.
“Calm down, Maria! Your Mom could wake up any minute!” Michael wrapped his arms around Maria’s slight form and hugged her to his body, trying to squelch her tirade. She pushed away from him roughly.
“My Mom will be the least of your worries if you don’t start talking right now!” Her hands moved to her hips and she started tapping her foot, impatiently waiting for an explanation.
“Maria, I…it’s just something happened tonight. I’ve been driving around Roswell trying to figure it out in my own head, but I just kept coming by here. I really wanted to see you.” Michael hung his head, he couldn’t look her in the eye right now. This vulnerable thing did feel good to him, and he couldn’t go around telling his girlfriend that he’d seen Liz half naked and felt an incredible urge to…He shook his head. That didn’t even bear thinking! Maria was the one he wanted. Maria. He knew that.
“What happened, Michael?” Maria wasn’t going to let it go.
Maybe he should just tell her part of it.
“Well, Liz has been getting these fevers…”
“What? Fever? Is she okay?” Maria broke in, grabbing his arms and clinging tightly, worry making her voice tight and high.
“Yeah, she’s fine. When they get them, Max can…uh…heal them when the fevers hit.”
“They? Is Max getting these fevers too? Is it some kind of alien thing?” Maria’s eyes widened at the new possibility.
“If you’d let me finish the story I think you’d get the answers a little faster!” Michael pushed his fingers through his unruly hair with impatience.
“Fine, fine go on.” Maria waved her hand, giving Michael permission to finish.
“Max and Liz get the fevers at the same time, and it seems the only way to get rid of them is to…well…they get together.” Michael glanced at Maria’s puzzled face and knew he wouldn’t get away that easily. Maria arched an eyebrow and waited.
“They gotta have sex.” Michael winced at the high-pitched squeal that Maria let out, before clamping his hand quickly over her mouth. Maria’s wide eyes danced with mirth. Of course she knew aliens were hot, but this? This was beyond.
“Stay in control here, Maria! We’re not in fifth grade!” Michael slowly released his hand from her mouth, hoping she could contain herself. “Anyways, they didn’t tell any of us that this was going on and Liz actually fainted at the Crashdown earlier. I had to carry her up to her room. She was sweating like crazy and I stuck her in a tepid bath to cool her off. She came to and told me that she needed Max, that they had to…get together, but Max wasn’t around. Then I started to get a fever. I was out of my mind, not thinking clearly at all. I just lay down beside her on the bed…”
“YOU WHAT?! How did we get from the bath to the bed? Tell me you didn’t…” Maria sputtered for words, “ ‘get together’ with her!!!”
“NO! No, Maria of course not! I carried her back to her bed and then got really dizzy. I just lay down for a second and then Max came in through the window.” No reason to tell her that he had wanted to... Well, hadn’t wanted to exactly, but felt compelled to…He stopped that thought to. Maria was the one for him.
Maria slumped against him in relief. This was getting out of hand.
“What did Max do when he saw you there?” Time to get this back on track.
“I don’t think he even really saw me. He just went straight to Liz and they just…went at it.”
“ ‘Went at it’? Right there in front of you? That does not sound like Liz! There’s no way she’d just…”
“Look! I was there, I’m just telling you what happened. Believe it or don’t. I’m outta here.” Michael made another move to leave, but allowed himself to be pulled by the arm back into Maria’s arms.
“I’m sorry I was so harsh. It’s just really early and I’m not a morning person. You must have been really shocked by all that. I’m sorry.” She brushed her palm over his forehead, pushing his hair back. “Are you okay now? No more fever?” She asked solicitously.
“Yeah, it went away after…after Max and Liz…” he couldn’t finish.
“What are you saying? Are you somehow connected to them when they go into heat like that?” Maria brow furrowed with worry.
“I don’t know! I don’t know anything right now. I’m just gonna go home and try to get some sleep before school tomorrow. See ya there?”
“Yeah,” Maria answered, “I might be a little late. I want to swing by Alex’s to see how it went with Max.”
“Max said he’s gonna be fine, but I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you.” Michael put one foot over the windowsill and looked back at Maria. He offered her a small smile.
“Thanks for being here,” he said softly, before disappearing into the darkness.
“Anytime,” she whispered to the empty room.
TBC
EYA Part 23
Liz stirred softly in bed beside Max, sighing in her sleep. Her dreams had been filled with Max all night. She snuggled her head further into the warmth of Max’s smooth skin under her cheek. Max’s arms automatically snuggled her in closer to his body, even in dreams unwilling to let her go. In the dream they shared, each was laughing and carefree. Max was holding Liz’s hand and running through a field of spring flowers toward a bright light. The light shone down on a patch of grass amidst the flowers to reveal…
Liz’s alarm blared music into the still air of her bedroom, sending her bolting upright on the mattress. Max groaned and covered his eyes from the morning light with his arm slung over them. He let his eyes peek open when he felt Liz sliding back down into the circle of his embrace to snuggle back into his warmth.
“What time is it?” Max inquired, not really caring. The moment was perfect no matter what time it was. He’d slept the entire night in his wife’s arms and not had a single nightmare.
“6:45.” Liz answered softly into his chest, her breath sending puffs of warm air over his skin. His breathing accelerated from even that simple stimulus.
“That’s early. We don’t have to be at school for a while.” He buried a hand in her hair and stoked the silky strands.
“I know. I wanted to get up early so maybe we could stop by to see Alex before school. I really want to see for myself that he’s all right now.”
Max loved what a loyal friend Liz was.
“That’s a good idea. Do you think we should invite him to the meeting after school and fill him in on what’s going on now that we know he’ll be okay?”
“Thank you, Max. I was just thinking the same thing. I don’t like keeping secrets from Alex.” Liz shifted against Max again, thinking that she felt like she was holding a secret from the night before and she didn’t feel right about keeping it from Max any longer.
“Max…about last night…” she started determinedly.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you when you needed me,” Max broke in, filled with remorse that she had suffered in his absence. “I was healing Alex when the fever came on and I didn’t realize what it was for more than an hour. I promise I’ll try to stay closer from now on.” He kissed the top of her head and slipped his fingers through her silky hair.
“Don’t worry about it, Max. It worked out okay because Michael was here,” she started again, propping her head on the hand that was laying on his chest. “He carried me upstairs after I passed out. No! I was fine!” Max was running his hands over her to assess for damage. “I was just so overheated that I fainted. He carried me up here and ran me a cool bath to reduce the fever.”
“That was a good idea, did it work?” Max asked her, still concerned.
“It woke me up in a hurry, I can tell you that! It’s just, the thing is…he had to take off my uniform.” Liz cringed back in the bed as Max reared up in anger.
“He what? Why the hell did he think he could just…just…” Max sputtered, unable to finish the thought of Michael seeing his Liz like that, let alone touching her.
“Calm down, Max! Nothing happened! He was just being a friend and doing what he thought was right. I did feel better for a couple minutes in the bath, but then I just wanted to lie down. I wrapped up in a towel and lay down here on the bed, but then the strangest thing happened. Michael started to get a fever too. He was sweating and he opened the window, then he got so dizzy that he had to lie down beside me. I was really worried about him, Max.” Liz could see that she was getting through to him now. Worry for their friend covered his features.
“When I turned to see if I could help him,” Liz paused and took a deep breath, the hardest confession was coming, “it was so strange. It was like I was drawn to him or something. Not my mind, but my body. I’m so sorry, I’m not explaining this right at all.” Liz hid her face in misery.
“What exactly happened between you, Liz?” Max stroked her hair back gently and lifted her face to meet his gaze. He knew through their connection that Liz would never betray him. Something very strange was happening and he wanted to find out everything she knew.
“I don’t know!” she answered desperately. “We both had the fever and it was like for a second we were compelled to be together. We both realized it was happening at the same time and Michael got up immediately. Neither one of us wanted anything to happen, I swear!” Liz’s chocolate eyes begged Max to believe her.
“I trust you, Liz. And I trust Michael. But this…this is getting bigger than just us now. We have to know what’s happening to our bodies so that we don’t project our needs onto other people.” Max tried to work out in his head what could possibly have caused Michael’s fever and the only thing he could figure was that Liz’s need had somehow spiraled out to include the nearest person. He pulled her into a comforting hug.
“How are you doing on the chart thingy?” He asked her seriously.
“I haven’t had time to put it together yet,” Liz confessed. “My shift started right after you left and then I got so hot. Michael closed a few minutes early because of it and you know the rest.”
“We can work on it tonight after we get back from the cave. Michael said your parents are going to be out of town for another night. Is that right?” Max sighed softly in contentment at her nod. “Can I stay?” He held his breath for her response.
She pushed him back from her lightly. “You better stay! When else are we going to have the opportunity to snuggle together all night?”
He let his breath out in a whoosh. Tonight would be perfect!
“I wonder what new surprises the cave will spring on us tonight?” Liz’s brow furrowed in worry. They already had so much to deal with, but this was so important. Why else would they have seem the vision together twice?
“We can do anything together,” Max reassured her, and he knew that it was true. He felt so strong when he was near her, so able to confront any new danger. He realized again with a start that he had slept the entire night through without the hint of a nightmare. Feeling joyous and rested for the first time in ages he swung a surprised Liz in a circle around the room. He set her down laughing with her as they shared this perfect moment. He leaned his forehead down to touch hers. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Now,” Liz tried to get back to business, “we have got to get ready and get to Alex’s before school!” She started toward the bathroom with Max close behind her.
They left a little later than she wanted when they took off for Alex’s.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Alex had been up since dawn. He felt so…well, rested! Wellness had never really been an issue for him until he got a taste of being really sick. Physically and mentally. When he awoke and actually felt rested for the first time in months, he had sprung out of bed filled with energy and purpose. His first order of business was to get his grades back in order. He completed all of his assignments that were due and started on some extra credit to boost his previously apathetic performance.
His head came up when he heard a car pull into the driveway, closely followed by another. He went to the front and opened the door to reveal Maria, Max, and Liz, all beaming at him happily. He opened his arms and his girls flew into them, almost knocking him over with their enthusiasm.
“Whoa!! I’m gonna get sick more often if this is the treatment I get!” Alex joked.
“How are you really?” Maria questioned, taking his jaw in her hands and turning his head from side to side.
“I feel great!” He told them enthusiastically. “Better than I have in months. Thank you, Max! You really saved me.” The look that passed between the two spoke volumes. They were the only ones right now who knew exactly how much Max had saved him from.
“Do you wanna tell them or should I?” Alex questioned. There was no thought of not sharing everything with his best friends.
“Go ahead.” Max gestured for Alex to continue. Alex led them to the living room. He settled in comfortably, telling them that his parents had already left for work.
“Well I guess that Tess should really come with a warning label. I thought that what she did to you and Max was bad, but what she did to me…” Alex dropped his head into his hands, remembering the pain that had resided there for so long. Both Liz and Maria looked on in confusion, just what had Tess done to poor Alex? “Well I guess it started when she realized how good I was with computers. I didn’t realize what she was up to for a long time, I just thought that she wanted to learn more for herself. Later she decided that I was the only person that could help her with a little project that she had cooked up. The problem was that she wanted me to translate the alien book that she had and I knew it would take special equipment and more time than I had. I refused to do it and that was the first time that she mindwarped me. I realize now that she made me forget the entire conversation, and then she made it seem like I had this golden opportunity to go to Sweden for a couple months on an exchange program. She was so powerful that she convinced the school, my parents, everyone that I was leaving. But I didn’t go to Sweden.” Outraged gasps interrupted softly at the realization of the scope of what had been done to Alex. “I was at the University of Las Cruces, cracking the code every night on that damn alien book. I did eventually translate it, and when I did I saved it on a disk that I gave to Max. The longer I was away from her the weaker her mindwarp was. I knew that I was doing something wrong. Or that something wasn’t right, I just couldn’t figure it out. I made a more general translation for Tess and gave her that in a hard copy. She took that and a laptop out to this old rental place and poured over it for hours. When she was ready to go she set up some kind of alien device to protect it and when we left she made me forget that I had ever been there. She gave me all these great memories of a fantastic trip to Sweden, and then I came home.” Alex ended his story.
“That bitch! I can’t believe how evil she is! I knew she was bad, but this…this is just…I’m gonna kill her for what she put you through!!!” Maria’s face turned bright pink with her anger. She’d always known that conniving bitch was up to no good! Always trust your first instincts!!
“I’m with Maria!” Liz declared hotly. No one should get away with treating sweet, lovable Alex that way. Why she’d just plucked him up like some marionette and maneuvered his every action for months! And not one of them had known or suspected.
“I know we’re all angry here, but we have to keep cool heads,” Max tried to calm them down. “We don’t know exactly why this was so important to her, and we need to figure it out without tipping our hand.” Both girls shook their heads at him.
“No way I can be civil to that girl now!” Maria declared, in full-on protective mother mode.
“We’ll try, Max. We know how important this is.” Liz took Maria’s hand and held is reassuringly. “Maybe Maria and I should go out to lunch today. Then we won’t have to deal with BB and you and I won’t have to worry that we’ll let something slip about us being together now.”
“Wait, BB? Who’s…and you and Liz are together now?” Alex asked incredulously.
Liz reached out to Max and hugged him to her side. She had forgotten for a moment that Alex had not attended their little meeting the day before. “Um. Bountiful Bitch. Tess,” Liz blushed at having used the acronym. “ And yeah, you could say that we’re together.” She looked up at Max for permission to fill in Alex on their true situation. Max nodded with a smile for her to continue.
“We got married in Vegas.”
Alex’s jaw dropped comically and Maria pushed it back into position. Alex looked back and forth from Liz to Max’s grinning faces and realized that they weren’t joking.
“I…I…don’t know what to say! Congratulation!!” He hugged first Liz and then Max tightly.
“Well I hate to break this up, but we’ve gotta get to school,” Liz said sadly, she really didn’t want this moment to end.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
The school day passed by quickly, with nothing unexpected happening. Liz and Maria avoided Tess at all costs, going out to lunch together and chatting about normal, teenage girl stuff. At one point Liz choked on her burger as Maria told her about the strange, early morning visit from Michael.
“He wasn’t himself. He seemed really concerned about these fevers you all are having. Which, by the way, you didn’t tell me about!” Maria shook a stern finger under Liz’s nose. “This is not the time to be withholding information. You should let me know what is going on with you so that I can help! Well,” she amended with a sly smile, “so I can get Max so HE can help!”
“Mariaaa! I can’t believe he told you about that!” Liz’s face was crimson with embarrassment.
Tess was more than happy to have Max all to herself and plastered herself against his side as they ate together in the quad. Alex, Michael, and Isabel tried to distract her as much as possible, but she was determined to make the most of their time together. Max gritted his teeth and concentrated on blocking out any intrusion that Tess might try on his mind. It was very difficult with her hands traveling all over his thighs under the table. He gently removed them several times, shooting her a look that tried to say, “this isn’t the place or the time” without tipping her off to his deepening disgust. She just giggled and pretended not to understand. Every time she so much as blinked, the group held their breaths, thinking that she was going to try something. Alex had filled Isabel in on his experiences with Tess earlier in the morning and she was as outraged as the rest of them. It was so hard to believe that they now had actual proof that Tess was as uncaring as Nacedo had been. Such a random disregard for human life and free will! It was very difficult to be so close to her, to actually choke down food in her presence, pretending that nothing had happened, but they could not leave Max alone with her.
After lunch the rest of the day passed quickly and soon it was time for the meeting at Michael’s.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Michael, Maria, Alex, and Isabel arrived at the same time and filled Alex in on the happenings that he had missed at the last meeting while they waited for Max and Liz. They came in looking flushed and satisfied, causing knowing grins and sly jokes from their friends. Both were too happy to care.
They caught each other up on the day’s events, but it was pretty short.
“The only thing I could see was that Tess is obviously making a play for Max,” Isabel ended her recitation. “She couldn’t keep her hands off of him at lunch today, she’s getting bolder and more public than she has been.”
Liz’s eyes flashed fire. Max had already told her what had happened, which led to the currently satisfied look in Max’s eyes. There was no way she was going to let Tess lay her filthy hands on her man and so she replaced the memory with a more pleasant one for him. Liz’s quick attack on Max’s body had surprised him at first, but he too was eager to cleanse himself of that repugnant touching at lunch.
Max reached out a hand now to run it over her hair soothingly, stroking her back into a more reasonable mood.
“We set up our first memory retrieval session for next Monday. Liz will be working at my Mom’s that day, so she’ll just sneak around to my window so she can watch what Tess does. Maria, Liz says you’re not working that night, so if you can…”
“You got it! I’ll keep a lookout so that no one wanders back there and catches Liz watching you two.” Maria was eager to advance their plan to figure out what Tess was up to so they could get rid of her. That bitch was EVIL!
“Now who can head out to the cave with Liz and me right now?” Max questioned the group.
“I’m going,” Michael stated, crossing his arms over his chest. He spoke only to Max. He was currently having a hard time looking at Liz after what they had gone through the day before, and everything he had seen that he shouldn’t have.
“Me too,” Isabel put in. “Can you come, Alex?” She asked him in that special soft tone she saved just for him.
“I can’t. I have a ton of school work to catch up on, and I’ve been begging for extra credit assignments from all of my teachers, so I’m out.” Alex was truly sorry to deny Isabel anything she wanted, and it caused a little thrill in his heart that she wanted him to join them.
“I have to work, as usual,” Maria declared morosely. “Someone’s gotta keep the shop running while you all tour the countryside.” She hated missing any adventure, and this time she knew they were going to find something.
“Shall we get going then?” Max questioned, moving to the door and holding it open as everyone filed out. “I’ll drive us out there in the Jeep.”
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
The drive was a long one, but shortened by their lively conversation. The hike was as exhausting as it had been the first time Max and Liz had met Riverdog at the cave, but the excitement of knowing that this time they might find some answers overcame any tiredness they might have felt.
Arriving at the cave, Michael stepped up and unwrapped the healing stones, inserting them by memory into their proper slots in the wall. They formed the V constellation that was their map home and began to glow. Michael moved back to allow Max and Liz room to do what they remembered from their vision.
They joined hands for support and Max tapped out the proper sequence onto the stones in the wall. When they finished they looked and each other and stood back. At first, nothing happened, but just as they were beginning to wonder what had gone wrong, a low rumbling sound broke the tense silence.
They looked on in awe as small seam appeared in the rock and spread apart to reveal a recess in the stone. Peering keenly into the darkness they saw a small box nested cozily in the hole, just as they had seen in their vision..
Max reached in and removed the box. He stood with Liz and turned to face the others. Holding his breath he slowly peeled back the lid.
TBC
Liz stirred softly in bed beside Max, sighing in her sleep. Her dreams had been filled with Max all night. She snuggled her head further into the warmth of Max’s smooth skin under her cheek. Max’s arms automatically snuggled her in closer to his body, even in dreams unwilling to let her go. In the dream they shared, each was laughing and carefree. Max was holding Liz’s hand and running through a field of spring flowers toward a bright light. The light shone down on a patch of grass amidst the flowers to reveal…
Liz’s alarm blared music into the still air of her bedroom, sending her bolting upright on the mattress. Max groaned and covered his eyes from the morning light with his arm slung over them. He let his eyes peek open when he felt Liz sliding back down into the circle of his embrace to snuggle back into his warmth.
“What time is it?” Max inquired, not really caring. The moment was perfect no matter what time it was. He’d slept the entire night in his wife’s arms and not had a single nightmare.
“6:45.” Liz answered softly into his chest, her breath sending puffs of warm air over his skin. His breathing accelerated from even that simple stimulus.
“That’s early. We don’t have to be at school for a while.” He buried a hand in her hair and stoked the silky strands.
“I know. I wanted to get up early so maybe we could stop by to see Alex before school. I really want to see for myself that he’s all right now.”
Max loved what a loyal friend Liz was.
“That’s a good idea. Do you think we should invite him to the meeting after school and fill him in on what’s going on now that we know he’ll be okay?”
“Thank you, Max. I was just thinking the same thing. I don’t like keeping secrets from Alex.” Liz shifted against Max again, thinking that she felt like she was holding a secret from the night before and she didn’t feel right about keeping it from Max any longer.
“Max…about last night…” she started determinedly.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you when you needed me,” Max broke in, filled with remorse that she had suffered in his absence. “I was healing Alex when the fever came on and I didn’t realize what it was for more than an hour. I promise I’ll try to stay closer from now on.” He kissed the top of her head and slipped his fingers through her silky hair.
“Don’t worry about it, Max. It worked out okay because Michael was here,” she started again, propping her head on the hand that was laying on his chest. “He carried me upstairs after I passed out. No! I was fine!” Max was running his hands over her to assess for damage. “I was just so overheated that I fainted. He carried me up here and ran me a cool bath to reduce the fever.”
“That was a good idea, did it work?” Max asked her, still concerned.
“It woke me up in a hurry, I can tell you that! It’s just, the thing is…he had to take off my uniform.” Liz cringed back in the bed as Max reared up in anger.
“He what? Why the hell did he think he could just…just…” Max sputtered, unable to finish the thought of Michael seeing his Liz like that, let alone touching her.
“Calm down, Max! Nothing happened! He was just being a friend and doing what he thought was right. I did feel better for a couple minutes in the bath, but then I just wanted to lie down. I wrapped up in a towel and lay down here on the bed, but then the strangest thing happened. Michael started to get a fever too. He was sweating and he opened the window, then he got so dizzy that he had to lie down beside me. I was really worried about him, Max.” Liz could see that she was getting through to him now. Worry for their friend covered his features.
“When I turned to see if I could help him,” Liz paused and took a deep breath, the hardest confession was coming, “it was so strange. It was like I was drawn to him or something. Not my mind, but my body. I’m so sorry, I’m not explaining this right at all.” Liz hid her face in misery.
“What exactly happened between you, Liz?” Max stroked her hair back gently and lifted her face to meet his gaze. He knew through their connection that Liz would never betray him. Something very strange was happening and he wanted to find out everything she knew.
“I don’t know!” she answered desperately. “We both had the fever and it was like for a second we were compelled to be together. We both realized it was happening at the same time and Michael got up immediately. Neither one of us wanted anything to happen, I swear!” Liz’s chocolate eyes begged Max to believe her.
“I trust you, Liz. And I trust Michael. But this…this is getting bigger than just us now. We have to know what’s happening to our bodies so that we don’t project our needs onto other people.” Max tried to work out in his head what could possibly have caused Michael’s fever and the only thing he could figure was that Liz’s need had somehow spiraled out to include the nearest person. He pulled her into a comforting hug.
“How are you doing on the chart thingy?” He asked her seriously.
“I haven’t had time to put it together yet,” Liz confessed. “My shift started right after you left and then I got so hot. Michael closed a few minutes early because of it and you know the rest.”
“We can work on it tonight after we get back from the cave. Michael said your parents are going to be out of town for another night. Is that right?” Max sighed softly in contentment at her nod. “Can I stay?” He held his breath for her response.
She pushed him back from her lightly. “You better stay! When else are we going to have the opportunity to snuggle together all night?”
He let his breath out in a whoosh. Tonight would be perfect!
“I wonder what new surprises the cave will spring on us tonight?” Liz’s brow furrowed in worry. They already had so much to deal with, but this was so important. Why else would they have seem the vision together twice?
“We can do anything together,” Max reassured her, and he knew that it was true. He felt so strong when he was near her, so able to confront any new danger. He realized again with a start that he had slept the entire night through without the hint of a nightmare. Feeling joyous and rested for the first time in ages he swung a surprised Liz in a circle around the room. He set her down laughing with her as they shared this perfect moment. He leaned his forehead down to touch hers. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Now,” Liz tried to get back to business, “we have got to get ready and get to Alex’s before school!” She started toward the bathroom with Max close behind her.
They left a little later than she wanted when they took off for Alex’s.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Alex had been up since dawn. He felt so…well, rested! Wellness had never really been an issue for him until he got a taste of being really sick. Physically and mentally. When he awoke and actually felt rested for the first time in months, he had sprung out of bed filled with energy and purpose. His first order of business was to get his grades back in order. He completed all of his assignments that were due and started on some extra credit to boost his previously apathetic performance.
His head came up when he heard a car pull into the driveway, closely followed by another. He went to the front and opened the door to reveal Maria, Max, and Liz, all beaming at him happily. He opened his arms and his girls flew into them, almost knocking him over with their enthusiasm.
“Whoa!! I’m gonna get sick more often if this is the treatment I get!” Alex joked.
“How are you really?” Maria questioned, taking his jaw in her hands and turning his head from side to side.
“I feel great!” He told them enthusiastically. “Better than I have in months. Thank you, Max! You really saved me.” The look that passed between the two spoke volumes. They were the only ones right now who knew exactly how much Max had saved him from.
“Do you wanna tell them or should I?” Alex questioned. There was no thought of not sharing everything with his best friends.
“Go ahead.” Max gestured for Alex to continue. Alex led them to the living room. He settled in comfortably, telling them that his parents had already left for work.
“Well I guess that Tess should really come with a warning label. I thought that what she did to you and Max was bad, but what she did to me…” Alex dropped his head into his hands, remembering the pain that had resided there for so long. Both Liz and Maria looked on in confusion, just what had Tess done to poor Alex? “Well I guess it started when she realized how good I was with computers. I didn’t realize what she was up to for a long time, I just thought that she wanted to learn more for herself. Later she decided that I was the only person that could help her with a little project that she had cooked up. The problem was that she wanted me to translate the alien book that she had and I knew it would take special equipment and more time than I had. I refused to do it and that was the first time that she mindwarped me. I realize now that she made me forget the entire conversation, and then she made it seem like I had this golden opportunity to go to Sweden for a couple months on an exchange program. She was so powerful that she convinced the school, my parents, everyone that I was leaving. But I didn’t go to Sweden.” Outraged gasps interrupted softly at the realization of the scope of what had been done to Alex. “I was at the University of Las Cruces, cracking the code every night on that damn alien book. I did eventually translate it, and when I did I saved it on a disk that I gave to Max. The longer I was away from her the weaker her mindwarp was. I knew that I was doing something wrong. Or that something wasn’t right, I just couldn’t figure it out. I made a more general translation for Tess and gave her that in a hard copy. She took that and a laptop out to this old rental place and poured over it for hours. When she was ready to go she set up some kind of alien device to protect it and when we left she made me forget that I had ever been there. She gave me all these great memories of a fantastic trip to Sweden, and then I came home.” Alex ended his story.
“That bitch! I can’t believe how evil she is! I knew she was bad, but this…this is just…I’m gonna kill her for what she put you through!!!” Maria’s face turned bright pink with her anger. She’d always known that conniving bitch was up to no good! Always trust your first instincts!!
“I’m with Maria!” Liz declared hotly. No one should get away with treating sweet, lovable Alex that way. Why she’d just plucked him up like some marionette and maneuvered his every action for months! And not one of them had known or suspected.
“I know we’re all angry here, but we have to keep cool heads,” Max tried to calm them down. “We don’t know exactly why this was so important to her, and we need to figure it out without tipping our hand.” Both girls shook their heads at him.
“No way I can be civil to that girl now!” Maria declared, in full-on protective mother mode.
“We’ll try, Max. We know how important this is.” Liz took Maria’s hand and held is reassuringly. “Maybe Maria and I should go out to lunch today. Then we won’t have to deal with BB and you and I won’t have to worry that we’ll let something slip about us being together now.”
“Wait, BB? Who’s…and you and Liz are together now?” Alex asked incredulously.
Liz reached out to Max and hugged him to her side. She had forgotten for a moment that Alex had not attended their little meeting the day before. “Um. Bountiful Bitch. Tess,” Liz blushed at having used the acronym. “ And yeah, you could say that we’re together.” She looked up at Max for permission to fill in Alex on their true situation. Max nodded with a smile for her to continue.
“We got married in Vegas.”
Alex’s jaw dropped comically and Maria pushed it back into position. Alex looked back and forth from Liz to Max’s grinning faces and realized that they weren’t joking.
“I…I…don’t know what to say! Congratulation!!” He hugged first Liz and then Max tightly.
“Well I hate to break this up, but we’ve gotta get to school,” Liz said sadly, she really didn’t want this moment to end.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
The school day passed by quickly, with nothing unexpected happening. Liz and Maria avoided Tess at all costs, going out to lunch together and chatting about normal, teenage girl stuff. At one point Liz choked on her burger as Maria told her about the strange, early morning visit from Michael.
“He wasn’t himself. He seemed really concerned about these fevers you all are having. Which, by the way, you didn’t tell me about!” Maria shook a stern finger under Liz’s nose. “This is not the time to be withholding information. You should let me know what is going on with you so that I can help! Well,” she amended with a sly smile, “so I can get Max so HE can help!”
“Mariaaa! I can’t believe he told you about that!” Liz’s face was crimson with embarrassment.
Tess was more than happy to have Max all to herself and plastered herself against his side as they ate together in the quad. Alex, Michael, and Isabel tried to distract her as much as possible, but she was determined to make the most of their time together. Max gritted his teeth and concentrated on blocking out any intrusion that Tess might try on his mind. It was very difficult with her hands traveling all over his thighs under the table. He gently removed them several times, shooting her a look that tried to say, “this isn’t the place or the time” without tipping her off to his deepening disgust. She just giggled and pretended not to understand. Every time she so much as blinked, the group held their breaths, thinking that she was going to try something. Alex had filled Isabel in on his experiences with Tess earlier in the morning and she was as outraged as the rest of them. It was so hard to believe that they now had actual proof that Tess was as uncaring as Nacedo had been. Such a random disregard for human life and free will! It was very difficult to be so close to her, to actually choke down food in her presence, pretending that nothing had happened, but they could not leave Max alone with her.
After lunch the rest of the day passed quickly and soon it was time for the meeting at Michael’s.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Michael, Maria, Alex, and Isabel arrived at the same time and filled Alex in on the happenings that he had missed at the last meeting while they waited for Max and Liz. They came in looking flushed and satisfied, causing knowing grins and sly jokes from their friends. Both were too happy to care.
They caught each other up on the day’s events, but it was pretty short.
“The only thing I could see was that Tess is obviously making a play for Max,” Isabel ended her recitation. “She couldn’t keep her hands off of him at lunch today, she’s getting bolder and more public than she has been.”
Liz’s eyes flashed fire. Max had already told her what had happened, which led to the currently satisfied look in Max’s eyes. There was no way she was going to let Tess lay her filthy hands on her man and so she replaced the memory with a more pleasant one for him. Liz’s quick attack on Max’s body had surprised him at first, but he too was eager to cleanse himself of that repugnant touching at lunch.
Max reached out a hand now to run it over her hair soothingly, stroking her back into a more reasonable mood.
“We set up our first memory retrieval session for next Monday. Liz will be working at my Mom’s that day, so she’ll just sneak around to my window so she can watch what Tess does. Maria, Liz says you’re not working that night, so if you can…”
“You got it! I’ll keep a lookout so that no one wanders back there and catches Liz watching you two.” Maria was eager to advance their plan to figure out what Tess was up to so they could get rid of her. That bitch was EVIL!
“Now who can head out to the cave with Liz and me right now?” Max questioned the group.
“I’m going,” Michael stated, crossing his arms over his chest. He spoke only to Max. He was currently having a hard time looking at Liz after what they had gone through the day before, and everything he had seen that he shouldn’t have.
“Me too,” Isabel put in. “Can you come, Alex?” She asked him in that special soft tone she saved just for him.
“I can’t. I have a ton of school work to catch up on, and I’ve been begging for extra credit assignments from all of my teachers, so I’m out.” Alex was truly sorry to deny Isabel anything she wanted, and it caused a little thrill in his heart that she wanted him to join them.
“I have to work, as usual,” Maria declared morosely. “Someone’s gotta keep the shop running while you all tour the countryside.” She hated missing any adventure, and this time she knew they were going to find something.
“Shall we get going then?” Max questioned, moving to the door and holding it open as everyone filed out. “I’ll drive us out there in the Jeep.”
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
The drive was a long one, but shortened by their lively conversation. The hike was as exhausting as it had been the first time Max and Liz had met Riverdog at the cave, but the excitement of knowing that this time they might find some answers overcame any tiredness they might have felt.
Arriving at the cave, Michael stepped up and unwrapped the healing stones, inserting them by memory into their proper slots in the wall. They formed the V constellation that was their map home and began to glow. Michael moved back to allow Max and Liz room to do what they remembered from their vision.
They joined hands for support and Max tapped out the proper sequence onto the stones in the wall. When they finished they looked and each other and stood back. At first, nothing happened, but just as they were beginning to wonder what had gone wrong, a low rumbling sound broke the tense silence.
They looked on in awe as small seam appeared in the rock and spread apart to reveal a recess in the stone. Peering keenly into the darkness they saw a small box nested cozily in the hole, just as they had seen in their vision..
Max reached in and removed the box. He stood with Liz and turned to face the others. Holding his breath he slowly peeled back the lid.
TBC
EYA Part 24
“What is it Max?” Liz gazed down in wonder at the object in the box.
“It looks like a necklace,” Max gently removed it from its casing and held it out to Liz. As she began to take the smooth round stone into her hands it suddenly flared with light. She gasped and moved her hand away. Max cradled it gently, looking at it with new respect.
“The stone looks like one of the healing stones,” Isabel noted, lightly touching the stone, “but the cord, it looked like leather at first glance, but now,” she fingered it gently, “I’m not sure what it is.”
“It didn’t glow when you touched it with Max,” Michael said, wondering if it would glow for him. He reached out and touched it as Liz had. Nothing. “Try it again, Liz.”
Liz tentatively reached out her hand again and the stone instantly glowed with warm light. While the stone continued to shine Liz’s posture straightened and her eyes dilated to black as she mechanically turned to face Max and bowed formally to him. Isabel and Michael gaped at the change in Max and Liz’s demeanor. Max’s posture had straightened as well, and, as if performing a stylized ceremony, Liz took the necklace flat in her palms. She bowed again, even lower, before standing straight again and reaching out to place the necklace around Max’s throat. Max moved automatically in a straight, stiff bow to allow her to reach around his neck. As Liz touched the ends of the short cord at the back of his neck, they fused instantly together in a permanent bond. The necklace hung just to the hollow of his throat, the amber stone the size of a small, flattened grape.
They turned as one to face the center of the cave, side by side. Isabel and Michael stood ready to rip the necklace off Max’s neck at the slightest indication of trouble and gazed on in wide-eyed wonder at what was happening.
Max abruptly bent his right arm at the elbow, palm up and Liz placed her left forearm over the top of his, palm down. As their palms connected the stone took on a new glow and an image began to shimmer in the middle of the cave.
Isabel gasped out loud. Her mother! She had never dared hope to see or hear from this precious woman again. She could barely breathe. Michael put a supporting arm over her shoulders to steady her. She leaned in gratefully as her mother began to speak words that would change their lives forever.
“My son. My King. You have been led to this communication stone because you are fulfilling your destiny. This message can only be triggered because you and the human life mate we have made for you have created a child together upon your first joining. He is to be our planet’s savior.
“I am sure you have many questions. I will attempt to explain the events that have led to this communication. After we sent your pods to Earth to incubate in safety, it was discovered that Avara, your bride, betrayed you all. As you will recall, Vilandra placed her life in jeopardy to become a spy for us in the enemy camp. Vilandra sent her messages of enemy movements to Avara directly, because Avara possessed the gift of mind reception. It was only discovered years later that Avara gave false reports to her King and this resulted in the deaths of you all.
“The rarest gift we possess is prescience. It takes a very special mind to withstand the toll that future knowledge takes without going insane. Because of this we have only two talented seers left to us. They have seen your human lives and told us the names you now use. Both have agreed that the one you now know as Tess will betray you again. An agreement has been made through your protector Nasedo to impregnate Tess with Max’s child and return all of you to back to our planet and certain death. The child must be yours, Max. It has been foretold widely that the son of Zan will come back with the powers of all to conquer the enemy and free our people. Khivar wishes to raise this child and control the powers he will possess. We could not let this happen.
“To prevent this, the resistance here has pooled all of our resources to allow you to overcome the enemy. We are able to travel through space in a non-physical form very quickly to inhabit the bodies of humans and use them as vessels for our needs. We located two humans of the right age and geography and sent our seers into them. Their names were Jeffrey and Nancy Parker. Our seers used their abilities within the human bodies to genetically manipulate ova and sperm to the exact specifications we needed. A child was created to be the perfect mate for you, Max. You will have each felt an irresistible pull toward the other upon first meeting. It was too late to send anyone from our planet; the incubation would have been too long. She is entirely human.
“The human form was chosen for all of you because the gifts that seem so extraordinary to them are actually things they can do as well if they could just utilize more of their brains. We have triggered in Elizabeth that portion of her brain that she can use for prescience. This gift was deemed to be the most useful to you for the fight on earth. She will only manifest this gift after you have achieved a deep connection with her. She will only gain her full abilities as the child grows within her. This child must be protected at all costs!
“It has been foretold that Max must remain with his team on earth, as we have placed that planet in grave danger by sending you there. The war will be long but you will prevail with perseverance. The only hope for Antar is if your son comes home to lead our armies to victory.
Because Liz is in a purely human form and the child contains alien DNA we had to factor in a way to maintain the pregnancy. The alien portion of the child’s development will cause an enormous energy drain on Elizabeth. The child will develop much slower than an Antarian pregnancy, which lasts the equivalent on one human month. The process for Elizabeth should take approximately ten human months. Because of the physical drain on the human mother we have genetically coded the child to remain very small for the first eight months of gestation. The child will continue to develop perfectly during this time.
“To provide the child with the alien nutrients he will require to reach his full powers and to lessen the drain on Elizabeth, you will need to mate often. The alien properties within the sperm will develop the child’s abilities. The baby will manifest its needs by causing an increase in the core temperature of both mother and father and an irresistible pull toward each other. In any case where Max may not be available, your second in command, Michael, may step in to take his place. If hybrid sperm is not supplied to Elizabeth within 24 hours of the fever, both mother and child could die. This cannot be allowed to happen. For this reason we had the seer’s use Jeffrey and Nancy’s bodies to take them into the pod chamber while you were incubating and place a protective instinct into both Max and Michael for the welfare of the child. While they were there, they formed a connection, using the granolith to enhance their talents, and materialized this stone to earth. Jeffrey will be taken to secure it inside a cave.
“To protect the child you must destroy Tess. She cannot be allowed knowledge of the creation of our savior. Do it quickly.
“Max, you must wear this stone at all times. It will enhance your connection to Liz and the child and enable you to locate her quickly in the event you become separated or need to mate. Other messages are contained within the stone and will be triggered psychically by your need.
“Our entire future is depending on you. I look forward to the day my grandson will return to save us all.”
The image faded to nothing and, as it did, Max and Liz collapsed together to the ground, unconscious.
“Oh my God! Michael, are they all right?” Isabel rushed forward and cradled her brother=s head in her lap. Michael reached out to Liz and gathered her into his arms, rocking rhythmically back and forth. So much to process! They had to be okay.
Max and Liz began to groan simultaneously and struggled to sit up. Their eyes locked. They freed themselves quickly from the others and crawled to each other wrapping their arms safely around one another.
“Liz, are you all right?” Max whispered into her hair, placing his palm protectively over her abdomen.
“I’m fine...I think. We…I can’t believe it!”
“The baby… he’s really in there isn’t he? I can’t believe we didn’t figure it out before! All those fevers, our attraction, Michael’s protective hovering; now it all makes sense...if anything can anymore. What are we going to do?” Max’s eyes were streaming tears at the thought of Liz carrying his child.
Liz’s eyes were damp as well. She rested her palm over Max’s. “We’ll do what your mother told us and keep our son safe.”
“We need to call a meeting right away and get a game plan,” Michael interjected.
“You’re right,” Max helped Liz to stand.
“Yeah, I think that’s best. Liz and Isabel can use their cell phones on the way back to my place to tell Maria and Alex to come over ASAP.”
“All right, let’s go.”
They filed out of the cave in pairs. As Max supported Liz’s trembling frame he couldn’t help but think that, again, things were never going to be the same.
TBC
“What is it Max?” Liz gazed down in wonder at the object in the box.
“It looks like a necklace,” Max gently removed it from its casing and held it out to Liz. As she began to take the smooth round stone into her hands it suddenly flared with light. She gasped and moved her hand away. Max cradled it gently, looking at it with new respect.
“The stone looks like one of the healing stones,” Isabel noted, lightly touching the stone, “but the cord, it looked like leather at first glance, but now,” she fingered it gently, “I’m not sure what it is.”
“It didn’t glow when you touched it with Max,” Michael said, wondering if it would glow for him. He reached out and touched it as Liz had. Nothing. “Try it again, Liz.”
Liz tentatively reached out her hand again and the stone instantly glowed with warm light. While the stone continued to shine Liz’s posture straightened and her eyes dilated to black as she mechanically turned to face Max and bowed formally to him. Isabel and Michael gaped at the change in Max and Liz’s demeanor. Max’s posture had straightened as well, and, as if performing a stylized ceremony, Liz took the necklace flat in her palms. She bowed again, even lower, before standing straight again and reaching out to place the necklace around Max’s throat. Max moved automatically in a straight, stiff bow to allow her to reach around his neck. As Liz touched the ends of the short cord at the back of his neck, they fused instantly together in a permanent bond. The necklace hung just to the hollow of his throat, the amber stone the size of a small, flattened grape.
They turned as one to face the center of the cave, side by side. Isabel and Michael stood ready to rip the necklace off Max’s neck at the slightest indication of trouble and gazed on in wide-eyed wonder at what was happening.
Max abruptly bent his right arm at the elbow, palm up and Liz placed her left forearm over the top of his, palm down. As their palms connected the stone took on a new glow and an image began to shimmer in the middle of the cave.
Isabel gasped out loud. Her mother! She had never dared hope to see or hear from this precious woman again. She could barely breathe. Michael put a supporting arm over her shoulders to steady her. She leaned in gratefully as her mother began to speak words that would change their lives forever.
“My son. My King. You have been led to this communication stone because you are fulfilling your destiny. This message can only be triggered because you and the human life mate we have made for you have created a child together upon your first joining. He is to be our planet’s savior.
“I am sure you have many questions. I will attempt to explain the events that have led to this communication. After we sent your pods to Earth to incubate in safety, it was discovered that Avara, your bride, betrayed you all. As you will recall, Vilandra placed her life in jeopardy to become a spy for us in the enemy camp. Vilandra sent her messages of enemy movements to Avara directly, because Avara possessed the gift of mind reception. It was only discovered years later that Avara gave false reports to her King and this resulted in the deaths of you all.
“The rarest gift we possess is prescience. It takes a very special mind to withstand the toll that future knowledge takes without going insane. Because of this we have only two talented seers left to us. They have seen your human lives and told us the names you now use. Both have agreed that the one you now know as Tess will betray you again. An agreement has been made through your protector Nasedo to impregnate Tess with Max’s child and return all of you to back to our planet and certain death. The child must be yours, Max. It has been foretold widely that the son of Zan will come back with the powers of all to conquer the enemy and free our people. Khivar wishes to raise this child and control the powers he will possess. We could not let this happen.
“To prevent this, the resistance here has pooled all of our resources to allow you to overcome the enemy. We are able to travel through space in a non-physical form very quickly to inhabit the bodies of humans and use them as vessels for our needs. We located two humans of the right age and geography and sent our seers into them. Their names were Jeffrey and Nancy Parker. Our seers used their abilities within the human bodies to genetically manipulate ova and sperm to the exact specifications we needed. A child was created to be the perfect mate for you, Max. You will have each felt an irresistible pull toward the other upon first meeting. It was too late to send anyone from our planet; the incubation would have been too long. She is entirely human.
“The human form was chosen for all of you because the gifts that seem so extraordinary to them are actually things they can do as well if they could just utilize more of their brains. We have triggered in Elizabeth that portion of her brain that she can use for prescience. This gift was deemed to be the most useful to you for the fight on earth. She will only manifest this gift after you have achieved a deep connection with her. She will only gain her full abilities as the child grows within her. This child must be protected at all costs!
“It has been foretold that Max must remain with his team on earth, as we have placed that planet in grave danger by sending you there. The war will be long but you will prevail with perseverance. The only hope for Antar is if your son comes home to lead our armies to victory.
Because Liz is in a purely human form and the child contains alien DNA we had to factor in a way to maintain the pregnancy. The alien portion of the child’s development will cause an enormous energy drain on Elizabeth. The child will develop much slower than an Antarian pregnancy, which lasts the equivalent on one human month. The process for Elizabeth should take approximately ten human months. Because of the physical drain on the human mother we have genetically coded the child to remain very small for the first eight months of gestation. The child will continue to develop perfectly during this time.
“To provide the child with the alien nutrients he will require to reach his full powers and to lessen the drain on Elizabeth, you will need to mate often. The alien properties within the sperm will develop the child’s abilities. The baby will manifest its needs by causing an increase in the core temperature of both mother and father and an irresistible pull toward each other. In any case where Max may not be available, your second in command, Michael, may step in to take his place. If hybrid sperm is not supplied to Elizabeth within 24 hours of the fever, both mother and child could die. This cannot be allowed to happen. For this reason we had the seer’s use Jeffrey and Nancy’s bodies to take them into the pod chamber while you were incubating and place a protective instinct into both Max and Michael for the welfare of the child. While they were there, they formed a connection, using the granolith to enhance their talents, and materialized this stone to earth. Jeffrey will be taken to secure it inside a cave.
“To protect the child you must destroy Tess. She cannot be allowed knowledge of the creation of our savior. Do it quickly.
“Max, you must wear this stone at all times. It will enhance your connection to Liz and the child and enable you to locate her quickly in the event you become separated or need to mate. Other messages are contained within the stone and will be triggered psychically by your need.
“Our entire future is depending on you. I look forward to the day my grandson will return to save us all.”
The image faded to nothing and, as it did, Max and Liz collapsed together to the ground, unconscious.
“Oh my God! Michael, are they all right?” Isabel rushed forward and cradled her brother=s head in her lap. Michael reached out to Liz and gathered her into his arms, rocking rhythmically back and forth. So much to process! They had to be okay.
Max and Liz began to groan simultaneously and struggled to sit up. Their eyes locked. They freed themselves quickly from the others and crawled to each other wrapping their arms safely around one another.
“Liz, are you all right?” Max whispered into her hair, placing his palm protectively over her abdomen.
“I’m fine...I think. We…I can’t believe it!”
“The baby… he’s really in there isn’t he? I can’t believe we didn’t figure it out before! All those fevers, our attraction, Michael’s protective hovering; now it all makes sense...if anything can anymore. What are we going to do?” Max’s eyes were streaming tears at the thought of Liz carrying his child.
Liz’s eyes were damp as well. She rested her palm over Max’s. “We’ll do what your mother told us and keep our son safe.”
“We need to call a meeting right away and get a game plan,” Michael interjected.
“You’re right,” Max helped Liz to stand.
“Yeah, I think that’s best. Liz and Isabel can use their cell phones on the way back to my place to tell Maria and Alex to come over ASAP.”
“All right, let’s go.”
They filed out of the cave in pairs. As Max supported Liz’s trembling frame he couldn’t help but think that, again, things were never going to be the same.
TBC
EYA Part 25
The walk back to the car was completed in almost total silence, broken only once when Michael and Isabel called Maria and Alex respectively, and told them in hushed and urgent tones to meet them at 9:30 at Michael’s. Each was wrapped up in consuming thoughts of the changes that were coming. None of them could ever be the same. Michael took the keys from Max, not even questioning that Max and Liz needed some time in the back of the car to be alone together.
Michael watched Liz curl up immediately into Max’s lap with his arms wrapped securely around her. Cocooning her from the world, holding her close, their expressions and their silence shutting out everything but each other. And their child.
He crawled slowly into the Jeep, suddenly bone-weary, and turned the key until the engine groaned to life. A child. A savior for their planet. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he raised his eyes to the black night sky. Stars winked facetiously at him, mocking his thoughts. He would never go home. Earth was his home now. That thought thudded like a stone into his consciousness. So many times he had dreamed of flying away, of getting into a ship or ‘beam me up Scottie’ or whatever. He had lived his life knowing that his time on Earth was only temporary, never putting down roots, avoiding attachments, because he knew in his heart that he would only have to leave one day. Leave everything that he had built here on Earth. So he had built nothing.
Nothing. His life right now consisted of him being some distant, unreachable stonewall who was consciously abrasive, who pushed everyone that might have a chance at his heart as far away as possible. All that time he had wasted. All the connections he could have made. Maria.
His heart soared. He needed to see Maria. He needed to tell her…everything. He had never let anyone see into his heart, but the only person he had ever wanted to see, to know, was Maria. This funny, clever, talkative girl that had persistently pursued him, who had never given up on him no matter what kind of a jerk he had been, and he knew how to be a jerk! It was like she already knew how his heart had longed for her, how he just hadn’t been ready to share himself yet. She deserved to know now what his life was, what it had been, what it could be now.
He winced. Sharing with Maria would no doubt mean hysterics and flying objects when he had to tell her about his connection with Liz. A shiver ran down his back at the thought of what could have transpired between them if Max hadn’t shown up the night before, and a cold finger of fear ran down his spine at the thought of what would have happened to Liz and the child if Max hadn’t shown up and Michael had successfully denied his instincts to protect the child he hadn’t known was there.
The child must be protected. Max and Isabel’s mother had said that this child could only be created upon their first joining. They didn’t even know if they could have more children after this, nothing was said about it. This could be their only chance at the savior who would protect their home planet. Michael’s thoughts ran rapidly, cataloguing the catastrophes that could befall them before the child was born. He resolved that he would do what he had to, whatever he had to, to protect this baby, but he would make damn sure that Max never left Liz’s side!
Decision made, Michael straightened his shoulders and, revving the engine he sped faster through the night toward home. Home!
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Isabel was staggered by the implications of what had transpired. Her mind whirled through the possibilities that lay before her now. She had learned what her heart had wanted to believe all along. She was not a traitor. Isabel Evans was not a traitor! She had, in fact, put herself in extreme danger for her family and her people so that they could win the war. Her only fault had been trusting too easily in the wrong person. Tess. Isabel shuddered in distaste for all she had learned about Tess recently. She had trusted her again when she had come to their school as a new student, and even more when Tess had revealed herself to be one of them.
One of them. Liz was one of them now. Maybe not the same as them exactly, but a product of their people. Sent to save them from the danger that was Tess and to create the boy, the man, that would save her people. A rush of gratitude filled her as she thought of all that Liz Parker, uh Evans, had done for her family. She had no doubt that Liz loved her brother as much as he loved her.
She peeked back to check on how they were doing, and immediately faced front again. They hadn’t been doing anything in particular; Max was just stroking down Liz’s back as her hand traced circles over his broad chest, but the way they were looking at each other…it was as if they were communicating without words, and the moment seemed so charged, so intense, that Isabel had felt immediately that she was intruding.
She stared out at the endless ribbon of road before them, the darkness cut only by the twin beams of light emanating from the Jeep. She wasn’t a traitor! She basked in the sheer glory of the knowledge that she never had to worry about her dark side returning. She gloried in the fact that it was stated out loud to all the people who were important to her, and she glowed with the memory that even before they had heard the pronouncement, they had never doubted her for a moment. This was love.
Her thoughts drifted back to Max and Liz. Love. They were so connected, always had been. Now they knew why. Liz was made for Max. She wondered if anyone had been made for her. If one day out of the blue, she would meet some tall, handsome stranger’s eyes across a room and know…just know that he was the one. She pulled herself out of that daydream with an effort of will. She should be the happiest woman alive. She was not a traitor and everyone knew it. Her mom knew the truth about her children and still loved them without treating them any differently, and this was her home.
Home. She would never again need to worry that one day they would suddenly find a way to travel home and be compelled by her loyalty to her alien family to leave everything and everyone she loved behind to fight in a war that she’d already died for and couldn’t remember the cause of. She was giddy with the knowledge. Happy all over for the first time in so long she couldn’t even remember.
Her gaze drifted to Michael. He looked so determined. Resolved. This would affect every aspect of their lives and she wondered how he was taking the news that they would never go home. That their war was here on Earth. She hoped she could talk with him later, comfort him. It had always been Michael, more than any of them, who needed to know all the answers, who wanted to find their alien roots so he could make a connection, feel involved and loved for both who and what he was. Now he would have to find that connection on Earth.
And how were Max and Michael going to react to each other now that it had been revealed that Michael could step in for Max to provide nutrients for the child Liz carried. She predicted shouting and breakage before this matter would be resolved to anyone’s satisfaction. She was pretty sure that Max would never leave Liz’s side. This situation could become very awkward. What if the urge to mate came over them in school, or at the dinner table? She shuddered delicately. There had to be a way to avoid it. Maybe she should tell their mother what was going on. She had been so understanding about everything else. She pondered that for a while, watching the road slip past endlessly, without really seeing it. No. It was not her place to tell their mother. Max needed to be the one to place his trust in her and to let her in on the events that had changed all their lives. Forever.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
When they crawled into the Jeep Max pulled Liz automatically into his arms. She crawled up into his lap without even thinking about safety belts for once. Their lives had been irrevocably changed with just a few words. The revelations in the cave affected them more directly than anyone else. As they had walked to the car with their arms wrapped around each other for support, they had realized that their connection was enhanced to a degree they had only ever reached before when they were in the throws of passion. Now they could hear the whisper of each other’s thoughts with very little effort.
It was a tangle of desperate emotion that was mirrored in each. Love. Fear. Anxiety. Anger. It was hard to separate one from the other.
When they settled into the Jeep and took off down the road they attempted to sort out their emotions together in a silent communication that came so naturally that they didn’t consciously register the fact that no physical words were emanating from their mouths.
Max’s hand drifted down to rest over her flat abdomen. He opened a connection to search for the child within her, sharing the process with Liz. They gasped in awe at the tiny spark that met their search. This small life would mean so much to so many. It seemed impossible to ponder the fact that he would grow to be a man of war. A man of peace. A fighter and a son.
‘How are you doing?’ Max questioned silently, stroking his hand rhythmically down her narrow back.
‘I don’t even know where to start,’ the fear echoed through the connection, flaring Max’s protective instincts into full life.
‘I love you. I will always be here for you, you know that, right?’ Max sought to reassure her.
‘Of course I do,’ she answered almost calmly, ‘But is that because of who I am or what I was made to be? Is it fair to you that I was literally made for you? You never had a chance to experience anyone else.’ Her trepidation grew, but she forced herself to name her most obvious fear. How would Max react to the news that they had been basically set up? That there had never been a choice about who he would love? That his free will had been taken away from him as surely as when he thought that Tess was his destiny?
‘Don’t even think that I don’t love you for everything inside of you! There is no point in wondering how we came to be together, because if you were made for me, then surely I was made for you as well. We are one. We are meant to be together and I thank whatever power there is out there that I have you in my life, that I have the chance to love you, to know you, to be with you every day of my life. There is no other place I would be, and absolutely no one I can imagine being with that could compare to you. You are everything to me!’ Silent tears streamed from their eyes at the intensity of Max’s speech. Their connection was so strong there could be no lies between them. Any hint of insincerity would have been a blaring scream against the quiet magnitude of the truth.
They were made for each other.
Liz buried her head under Max’s chin and sobbed her happiness into his chest.
What are we going to do?’ Her thought wound its way into his mind.
‘We will do anything it takes to protect our son,’ a fierce wave of fury rushed through Max at the thought of Tess’ evil plan. He would put a stop to that before she even knew what hit her.
Liz gasped softly, seeing his intent. ‘Max! You can’t just walk into a room and kill her!’ Her shock was ringing through to him and he stroked her soothingly.
‘We’ll talk about what to do with her at our meeting,’ he reassured her.
‘What do we say to our parents?’ She wondered. Now that she knew that she was pregnant, there was no way they could hide that from their parents.
‘We have eight months before the baby starts to show. We can figure out what to say. Once we get rid of Tess, then we won’t have to hide our marriage from them anyway. I’ll be eighteen in a couple weeks, and you’ll be eighteen in October. The baby isn’t due until the first part of January, so even if they object, we’ll be legally adults. I won’t let anyone keep us apart.’ Now that Max knew about Liz and his child, he couldn’t imagine spending a moment away from her. He needed to talk with his mother. His heart shrank at the thought of her reaction to Liz’s pregnancy. They would think he was so irresponsible. Now he knew that this child was meant to be regardless of whether Liz was on the Pill or not.
Liz suddenly straightened up against him. She had been swept with the realization that none of this had taken place in their future reality. Future Max had not worn this necklace, would never have told them to be apart if he had known about this child. They had not made a child. She remembered the vision of Max’s mother saying that this child would only be created upon their first joining. In the future reality that had been told to her, Max had come to her room with a condom in his back pocket. That must have been what prevented the conception. Her heart grew cold at the thought of what could have happened if she and Max had not gotten back together. If her plan to push him toward Tess had worked. Max must have known somewhere in his soul that Tess was not right for him, could never be the one.
Max rained kisses over her face and neck while Liz rubbed slow circles over his chest. They were one. Heart, mind, body, and soul.
The Jeep revved suddenly and sped up through the dark night, causing them to look up at Michael. Max’s expression darkened and a wave of jealousy and helplessness at their situation swept over him.
Liz soothed his thoughts. ‘I only want you. You are the only one for me.’
‘I know that, Liz. I know that with everything inside me, but I still feel so…so…helpless and…I don’t even know how I feel. It’s not his fault that he feels a compulsion to protect the child. I just…I’ll always make sure that it’s me who’s close to you, that nourishes our child. I won’t let anything harm either of you!’
‘I know that, Max, I know.’
The car sped through the night toward their new destiny.
TBC
The walk back to the car was completed in almost total silence, broken only once when Michael and Isabel called Maria and Alex respectively, and told them in hushed and urgent tones to meet them at 9:30 at Michael’s. Each was wrapped up in consuming thoughts of the changes that were coming. None of them could ever be the same. Michael took the keys from Max, not even questioning that Max and Liz needed some time in the back of the car to be alone together.
Michael watched Liz curl up immediately into Max’s lap with his arms wrapped securely around her. Cocooning her from the world, holding her close, their expressions and their silence shutting out everything but each other. And their child.
He crawled slowly into the Jeep, suddenly bone-weary, and turned the key until the engine groaned to life. A child. A savior for their planet. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he raised his eyes to the black night sky. Stars winked facetiously at him, mocking his thoughts. He would never go home. Earth was his home now. That thought thudded like a stone into his consciousness. So many times he had dreamed of flying away, of getting into a ship or ‘beam me up Scottie’ or whatever. He had lived his life knowing that his time on Earth was only temporary, never putting down roots, avoiding attachments, because he knew in his heart that he would only have to leave one day. Leave everything that he had built here on Earth. So he had built nothing.
Nothing. His life right now consisted of him being some distant, unreachable stonewall who was consciously abrasive, who pushed everyone that might have a chance at his heart as far away as possible. All that time he had wasted. All the connections he could have made. Maria.
His heart soared. He needed to see Maria. He needed to tell her…everything. He had never let anyone see into his heart, but the only person he had ever wanted to see, to know, was Maria. This funny, clever, talkative girl that had persistently pursued him, who had never given up on him no matter what kind of a jerk he had been, and he knew how to be a jerk! It was like she already knew how his heart had longed for her, how he just hadn’t been ready to share himself yet. She deserved to know now what his life was, what it had been, what it could be now.
He winced. Sharing with Maria would no doubt mean hysterics and flying objects when he had to tell her about his connection with Liz. A shiver ran down his back at the thought of what could have transpired between them if Max hadn’t shown up the night before, and a cold finger of fear ran down his spine at the thought of what would have happened to Liz and the child if Max hadn’t shown up and Michael had successfully denied his instincts to protect the child he hadn’t known was there.
The child must be protected. Max and Isabel’s mother had said that this child could only be created upon their first joining. They didn’t even know if they could have more children after this, nothing was said about it. This could be their only chance at the savior who would protect their home planet. Michael’s thoughts ran rapidly, cataloguing the catastrophes that could befall them before the child was born. He resolved that he would do what he had to, whatever he had to, to protect this baby, but he would make damn sure that Max never left Liz’s side!
Decision made, Michael straightened his shoulders and, revving the engine he sped faster through the night toward home. Home!
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Isabel was staggered by the implications of what had transpired. Her mind whirled through the possibilities that lay before her now. She had learned what her heart had wanted to believe all along. She was not a traitor. Isabel Evans was not a traitor! She had, in fact, put herself in extreme danger for her family and her people so that they could win the war. Her only fault had been trusting too easily in the wrong person. Tess. Isabel shuddered in distaste for all she had learned about Tess recently. She had trusted her again when she had come to their school as a new student, and even more when Tess had revealed herself to be one of them.
One of them. Liz was one of them now. Maybe not the same as them exactly, but a product of their people. Sent to save them from the danger that was Tess and to create the boy, the man, that would save her people. A rush of gratitude filled her as she thought of all that Liz Parker, uh Evans, had done for her family. She had no doubt that Liz loved her brother as much as he loved her.
She peeked back to check on how they were doing, and immediately faced front again. They hadn’t been doing anything in particular; Max was just stroking down Liz’s back as her hand traced circles over his broad chest, but the way they were looking at each other…it was as if they were communicating without words, and the moment seemed so charged, so intense, that Isabel had felt immediately that she was intruding.
She stared out at the endless ribbon of road before them, the darkness cut only by the twin beams of light emanating from the Jeep. She wasn’t a traitor! She basked in the sheer glory of the knowledge that she never had to worry about her dark side returning. She gloried in the fact that it was stated out loud to all the people who were important to her, and she glowed with the memory that even before they had heard the pronouncement, they had never doubted her for a moment. This was love.
Her thoughts drifted back to Max and Liz. Love. They were so connected, always had been. Now they knew why. Liz was made for Max. She wondered if anyone had been made for her. If one day out of the blue, she would meet some tall, handsome stranger’s eyes across a room and know…just know that he was the one. She pulled herself out of that daydream with an effort of will. She should be the happiest woman alive. She was not a traitor and everyone knew it. Her mom knew the truth about her children and still loved them without treating them any differently, and this was her home.
Home. She would never again need to worry that one day they would suddenly find a way to travel home and be compelled by her loyalty to her alien family to leave everything and everyone she loved behind to fight in a war that she’d already died for and couldn’t remember the cause of. She was giddy with the knowledge. Happy all over for the first time in so long she couldn’t even remember.
Her gaze drifted to Michael. He looked so determined. Resolved. This would affect every aspect of their lives and she wondered how he was taking the news that they would never go home. That their war was here on Earth. She hoped she could talk with him later, comfort him. It had always been Michael, more than any of them, who needed to know all the answers, who wanted to find their alien roots so he could make a connection, feel involved and loved for both who and what he was. Now he would have to find that connection on Earth.
And how were Max and Michael going to react to each other now that it had been revealed that Michael could step in for Max to provide nutrients for the child Liz carried. She predicted shouting and breakage before this matter would be resolved to anyone’s satisfaction. She was pretty sure that Max would never leave Liz’s side. This situation could become very awkward. What if the urge to mate came over them in school, or at the dinner table? She shuddered delicately. There had to be a way to avoid it. Maybe she should tell their mother what was going on. She had been so understanding about everything else. She pondered that for a while, watching the road slip past endlessly, without really seeing it. No. It was not her place to tell their mother. Max needed to be the one to place his trust in her and to let her in on the events that had changed all their lives. Forever.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
When they crawled into the Jeep Max pulled Liz automatically into his arms. She crawled up into his lap without even thinking about safety belts for once. Their lives had been irrevocably changed with just a few words. The revelations in the cave affected them more directly than anyone else. As they had walked to the car with their arms wrapped around each other for support, they had realized that their connection was enhanced to a degree they had only ever reached before when they were in the throws of passion. Now they could hear the whisper of each other’s thoughts with very little effort.
It was a tangle of desperate emotion that was mirrored in each. Love. Fear. Anxiety. Anger. It was hard to separate one from the other.
When they settled into the Jeep and took off down the road they attempted to sort out their emotions together in a silent communication that came so naturally that they didn’t consciously register the fact that no physical words were emanating from their mouths.
Max’s hand drifted down to rest over her flat abdomen. He opened a connection to search for the child within her, sharing the process with Liz. They gasped in awe at the tiny spark that met their search. This small life would mean so much to so many. It seemed impossible to ponder the fact that he would grow to be a man of war. A man of peace. A fighter and a son.
‘How are you doing?’ Max questioned silently, stroking his hand rhythmically down her narrow back.
‘I don’t even know where to start,’ the fear echoed through the connection, flaring Max’s protective instincts into full life.
‘I love you. I will always be here for you, you know that, right?’ Max sought to reassure her.
‘Of course I do,’ she answered almost calmly, ‘But is that because of who I am or what I was made to be? Is it fair to you that I was literally made for you? You never had a chance to experience anyone else.’ Her trepidation grew, but she forced herself to name her most obvious fear. How would Max react to the news that they had been basically set up? That there had never been a choice about who he would love? That his free will had been taken away from him as surely as when he thought that Tess was his destiny?
‘Don’t even think that I don’t love you for everything inside of you! There is no point in wondering how we came to be together, because if you were made for me, then surely I was made for you as well. We are one. We are meant to be together and I thank whatever power there is out there that I have you in my life, that I have the chance to love you, to know you, to be with you every day of my life. There is no other place I would be, and absolutely no one I can imagine being with that could compare to you. You are everything to me!’ Silent tears streamed from their eyes at the intensity of Max’s speech. Their connection was so strong there could be no lies between them. Any hint of insincerity would have been a blaring scream against the quiet magnitude of the truth.
They were made for each other.
Liz buried her head under Max’s chin and sobbed her happiness into his chest.
What are we going to do?’ Her thought wound its way into his mind.
‘We will do anything it takes to protect our son,’ a fierce wave of fury rushed through Max at the thought of Tess’ evil plan. He would put a stop to that before she even knew what hit her.
Liz gasped softly, seeing his intent. ‘Max! You can’t just walk into a room and kill her!’ Her shock was ringing through to him and he stroked her soothingly.
‘We’ll talk about what to do with her at our meeting,’ he reassured her.
‘What do we say to our parents?’ She wondered. Now that she knew that she was pregnant, there was no way they could hide that from their parents.
‘We have eight months before the baby starts to show. We can figure out what to say. Once we get rid of Tess, then we won’t have to hide our marriage from them anyway. I’ll be eighteen in a couple weeks, and you’ll be eighteen in October. The baby isn’t due until the first part of January, so even if they object, we’ll be legally adults. I won’t let anyone keep us apart.’ Now that Max knew about Liz and his child, he couldn’t imagine spending a moment away from her. He needed to talk with his mother. His heart shrank at the thought of her reaction to Liz’s pregnancy. They would think he was so irresponsible. Now he knew that this child was meant to be regardless of whether Liz was on the Pill or not.
Liz suddenly straightened up against him. She had been swept with the realization that none of this had taken place in their future reality. Future Max had not worn this necklace, would never have told them to be apart if he had known about this child. They had not made a child. She remembered the vision of Max’s mother saying that this child would only be created upon their first joining. In the future reality that had been told to her, Max had come to her room with a condom in his back pocket. That must have been what prevented the conception. Her heart grew cold at the thought of what could have happened if she and Max had not gotten back together. If her plan to push him toward Tess had worked. Max must have known somewhere in his soul that Tess was not right for him, could never be the one.
Max rained kisses over her face and neck while Liz rubbed slow circles over his chest. They were one. Heart, mind, body, and soul.
The Jeep revved suddenly and sped up through the dark night, causing them to look up at Michael. Max’s expression darkened and a wave of jealousy and helplessness at their situation swept over him.
Liz soothed his thoughts. ‘I only want you. You are the only one for me.’
‘I know that, Liz. I know that with everything inside me, but I still feel so…so…helpless and…I don’t even know how I feel. It’s not his fault that he feels a compulsion to protect the child. I just…I’ll always make sure that it’s me who’s close to you, that nourishes our child. I won’t let anything harm either of you!’
‘I know that, Max, I know.’
The car sped through the night toward their new destiny.
TBC
EYA Part 26
Alex was waiting outside Michael’s apartment when the others arrived. They all filed in quietly, and Alex shot Isabel a worried look. He couldn’t tell if they were happy or sad, they just looked stunned.
“What’s goin’ on guys? You all look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Alex joked weakly.
“You won’t believe it when we tell you, Alex.” Isabel leaned her head unexpectedly on his shoulder. He awkwardly wrapped his long arms around her waist and patted her back, unsure what else to do.
“Let’s wait for Maria so we only have to go over it once. Liz is exhausted,” Max inserted, helping a weary Liz to sit on the sofa. He made sure she was comfortable, then his eyes met Isabel’s and he crossed the room to give her a hug. She must be so relieved about her past life. All that time she had spent torturing herself that she had been a traitor had been wasted! He was so happy for her.
Isabel turned to Max and buried her head in his shoulder, sobbing quietly for the first time since finding out about herself. It felt wonderful and embarrassing at the same time to release those tears. She normally tried to save them for when no one was around, but this time she felt entitled, and Max understood.
Alex gazed on in worried perplexity, impatiently checking his watch to see when Maria would arrive. She was already five minutes late.
Michael sat beside Liz tentatively, unsure what her reaction to him would be.
“Are you all right?” He started, not looking her in the eye.
“Yeah. Just drained from all the new stuff, you know.” She tried to make him look at her and felt a jolt of satisfaction when he finally did.
What he saw was trust and acceptance. Just the thing he needed to release him from his awkward feelings of vague guilt, even when he knew he had done nothing wrong.
“New stuff, yeah, I guess you could say you’ve got a few things on your mind now, huh?” Michael smiled at her and she grinned back at him, placing her hand over her stomach. On sudden impulse she reached for Michael’s hand and placed it under hers.
“Can you feel him?” She queried, with wonder in her tone. Her shining eyes asked him to make a connection, to share this powerful child who would make such a difference in all their lives.
Michael closed his eyes and concentrated, reaching out and trying to focus the powers that had always been so difficult for him. The line of his mouth relaxed and a small smile hovered on his lips when he felt the tiny flutter of life inside her. Awe swept through him and then he was suddenly jerked to his feet by his shirtfront.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing to her!” Max’s boiling anger instantly consumed him when he glanced over and saw the intimate position of Michael’s hand on his wife’s stomach and the rapt expression on his face.
Frustration and unreasonable guilt flowed through Michael, causing his typical reaction to fight back. “What? Did you think I’d just throw her down right here on the floor and have my wicked way with her in front of everyone? That’s more your style than mine, isn’t it, Max?” Michael threw the dart well, aiming at Max’s recent night spent with Liz when he had taken her aggressively almost right in front of Michael.
Max’s face paled and then went red with rage. He shoved Michael back against the wall roughly. Michael hit the wall hard, but kept to his feet. Max’s clenched fist hovered in the air, ready to strike.
“Is that what you had in mind last night when you had her practically naked in her bed?” Max’s rage was so strong that he couldn’t control the words coming out of his mouth. His unreasoning jealousy made him forget that he already knew exactly what had led to Liz’s state of undress the night before.
A whimper at the door was only noticed by Liz. The horrified expression on Maria’s face made Liz push to her feet and intervene between the fighting men. She grabbed a handful of shirt from each man and started shouting, “Will you two please grow up and simmer down?! I can’t believe the way you are acting!” She turned on Max. “You know very well what happened last night and you should be thanking Michael for trying to help me when you weren’t around to do it!” Michael let out a satisfied snort of agreement and Liz rounded on him next. “And you, Michael! What kind of a smartass comment was that to be making when you know very well what our situation is! I can’t believe you would throw that in our faces when you know we didn’t have any control over it! And don’t worry, you’re services will never be required!” She hauled them each by their shirts over to the couch and pushed them down to sit together side by side. Each looked sufficiently chastened, so she turned to Maria.
Maria still stood at the doorway, allowing the frame to prop her up. She had really been a very understanding girlfriend up to this point, she mused, considering that her love was an alien. She had even tried to be reasonable when she thought that Michael and Isabel had created a child together. But this! This involved Michael and her best friend. And it didn’t sound good.
“Just what the hell is going on here?” She demanded with venom in her tone, her laser sharp gaze pinning Michael to the sofa.
Michael shot up from the couch immediately and crossed quickly to Maria’s side. He attempted to put his hands on her arms, but she smacked him away sharply.
“Uh uh. You are not going to touch me again until I have heard a decent explanation of what you two were fighting about!” Her chin swept up a notch and she slammed the door behind her, crossing her arms in front of herself and tapping her foot impatiently. No one was coming in or out that door until she knew what the hell was going on.
“Tell me I did not just hear that you’ve got a thing for Liz.”
“No! Maria, you’ve got it all wrong! It’s not that simple. You just need to calm down and listen…” Liz begged.
“No. Liz, I want to hear this from Michael.” Maria stood there, tapping her foot and never took her glare off of Michael.
“Let’s all just sit down here and go over everything that happened today. It’ll all make sense then, I promise.” Isabel guided a reluctant Maria into the overstuffed chair and sat her down.
“This had better be good, Michael.” Her frigid stare was starting to unnerve him.
“Oh, believe me! It’s a real treat,” Michael said in weary tones. He dragged impatient fingers through the mess of his hair and took a deep breath for courage. Maria was not going to like any of this.
“Okay, it’s not what you think. Or not exactly what you think anyway. Liz and Max have been getting these fevers since they got married, and it turns out that I’ve been getting them too, just a little later than them.”
“What? What are you talking about Michael? What does this have to do with your thing for Liz?” Maria demanded impatiently.
“I DO NOT HAVE A THING FOR LIZ!” Michael shouted in frustration, pacing back and forth in agitation.
“Don’t you raise your voice to me, Michael Guerin!” Maria sprang to her feet in fury, ready for a Jerry Springer-esque brawl.
Liz moved over and put her arm around her. She looked up at the men in their lives and silenced them with a warning look.
“I can explain it, Maria,” Liz said gently. “I’ve been getting these fevers and the only way to get rid of them is to make love with an alien.” Liz dropped her eyes from Maria’s incredulous gaze.
“What? Does that mean that Michael wants to…has to…” Maria sputtered to a stop, unable to voice her worst fear.
“NO! Maria, no! When we went to the cave today we found this necklace,” Liz reached out her hand to Max and he sank down on the couch beside her, she touched the stone on the necklace and it flared brightly, eliciting a startled gasp from Maria. Max smiled softly at the proof of his and Liz’s connection. He had calmed down considerably, reopening his connection to Liz and hearing the voice of reason. She gave him a private smile before turning back to Maria. “When I put it around Max’s neck it transmitted another message from his and Isabel’s mom, a newer message than the one we had seen before. To make it short, she said that Tess is plotting against us and that I was literally made for Max.” Liz forestalled Maria’s inevitable urge to interrupt with a gesture of her hand, begging her to let her finish before interjecting. “They sent down two of their people and basically took over my parents so that they would conceive me. They manipulated my molecular structure so that I would be perfect for Max.” Max squeezed her hand, letting it flow through the connection that he was perfectly satisfied with the way things had turned out.
“That’s why you two have always been drawn together,” Maria breathed in wonder. The knowledge settled into her with a satisfying click at how clear it all was now that they knew. All those years with her two friends pining helplessly for each other, that whole soul mate connection thing when they gazed into each other’s eyes. Wow!
“Yeah. We’ve always known somewhere inside us,” Max murmured, rubbing his fingers over the back of Liz’s neck, just where her tension was gathered. She leaned back into his caress, enjoying the comforting warmth of his fingers.
“The message was triggered because I’m pregnant,” Liz blurted out, leaning back into Max’s side quickly, as if to avoid Maria’s inevitable reaction.
Maria did not disappoint.
“YOU’RE WHAT?! I thought you were on the Pill! Wait a minute, you two are barely married! How could you know already?” Maria’s face flushed bright red and her arms waved wildly around her. “Don’t even answer that!” She switched gears suddenly. “This is all some weird Czechoslovakian thing isn’t it?” Her eyes flashed fire at Michael, as if accusing him of having something to do with it. She stabbed her finger into his chest. “It’s a good thing I told you no, buddy, because I am not cut out to be a mother at this stage in my life!”
“You were the one who was all over me all the time! I was the one who always…” Michael’s protest was cut short by a sharp smack against his upper arm.
“That is so clearly…beside the point!” Maria reversed herself quickly and turned back to Liz. “How do you know you’re pregnant?”
Liz looked at Max for strength. His arm tucked her into the curve of his side and he took over the tale.
“Our mother told us that the message could only be triggered if Liz was carrying our child. The savior of our planet.” Maria’s eyes widened again, impossibly large in her pale face.
“They apparently have seers on our planet. They’ve programmed Liz to have this gift to help our team when Tess is gone.” He spat out Tess’ name like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
“They’ve told us that we need to protect our son at all costs because he will be the one who goes back to our planet to save our people. In order for Liz to be able to carry a partially alien baby it requires certain nutrients that can only be passed to him through alien sperm.” Max faltered before going on. “There were only two men on this planet that could provide it, so they gave us each a protective impulse to take care of Liz when the fevers weaken her.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Maria asked incredulously.
“Yeah, I’m afraid so. But I promise that I will always be near Liz when she needs to…uh…feed the baby,” he finished lamely, swallowing hard. The look on his face and his choice of words startled a chuckle out of Liz and Isabel. They sobered immediately when they saw the look on Maria’s face.
“I’m sorry, Maria!” Liz said quickly, “I wasn’t laughing at that. I just…”
“No, Liz. That’s not why I’m upset. Is it dangerous for you to carry this baby? What could happen to you if Max doesn’t…you know.” She made a vague gesture with her hands.
“We’re not going to find out, Maria. I will always be there for her, okay?” Max didn’t want to tell her that his alien mother had said that Liz and the child could both die if she didn’t get what she needed within twenty-four hours.
“You’d better,” Maria muttered darkly.
“There’s more, Maria,” Isabel took up the tale.
“More? What more could there be? Haven’t we been through enough?” She wailed plaintively, allowing Michael to put his arms around her at last. It wasn’t his fault that his alien family had messed with his instincts.
Isabel quickly filled her in on the rest of the details. How Isabel was vindicated from her traitor status and that Tess had always been the betrayer of their people, how they had been directed to destroy Tess before she learned of Liz’s pregnancy.
“About damn time,” Maria muttered under her breath.
“Max needs to wear the necklace at all times. It enhances his connection to Liz, so he can locate her no matter where she is,” Isabel finished.
“I don’t think we could take it off anyway.” Liz tugged on the cord and turned it to see where it had fused together. There was no seam or tie, it was as if it had been fused together.
“Quite a fashion statement,” Alex laughed. He was amazed at the turn of events, and so happy for Isabel. She had been carrying around a heavy load of guilt lately.
“Yeah. I hope it stays ‘in’,” Max joked back. He’d never sought to be openly trendy, he hoped his parents didn’t comment on his choice of accessories.
“When are we gonna kill BB?” Maria asked callously. No one messed with her friends and got away with it.
“We can’t just walk up to her and…and kill her,” Liz’s voice broke over the hard words.
“Why not?” Michael asked.
“Michael, I’m the first one to admit that it has to be done,” Max said, “but we have to think this through. The world sees her as this innocent teenager, and even though we know differently we have to be careful how we go about this. There may be things that she knows that we should learn from her.” Liz gasped softly as her connection allowed her to see Max’s plan.
“You are not going to be alone with her!” Liz exclaimed, horrified by the thought.
“No, no. Michael and Isabel can back me up.” Max stroked her face soothingly, allowing his fingers to tangle in her silky hair.
“What are you two talking about?” Michael interjected, impatient with being out of the loop.
“Max wants to go ahead and let Tess come to his house on Monday to work on the memory retrieval.” Liz had gone pale.
“Are you crazy? Do you think you can just let her go walking around in your mind like that? She’s gonna find out that we’re on to her!” Michael couldn’t believe the stupidity of the plan.
“I’m not gonna let her into anything I don’t want her to see. I’m sure I can block her from the parts of my memories that I don’t want her to see.”
Michael cut him off. “How are you gonna do that?”
“With this.” Max lifted the stone around his neck. It glowed with a weak light when he concentrated on it. “It’s like it enhances my power. I feel like, since it’s connecting me to Liz, I can tap into more of my own power. It’s like it’s honing my strength.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how else to explain it.”
“Are you sure this will work?” Isabel’s worry shone in her eyes.
“I think so. After she shows me how to retrieve those memories, maybe I can find out more of her plan. It may be our only chance to find out what she knows.”
“I don’t like it,” Liz put in.
“Me either, but if Is and I are right there…” Michael thought about all they could learn. “I’ll help you, Max. I’ll back you up.”
Max gave him a grateful look and turned to Isabel.
“If you really think you can…”
“I can, Is.” Max infused his voice with certainty.
“Okay. I’m with you, but the first sign of…”
“I got it, Is. When we’re through we’ll take her out for a quiet drive in the desert, okay?”
“Okay.” Isabel was nervous about the thought of what would happen in the desert, but knew it was necessary.
“It’s getting late, guys.” Alex noticed that it was after 10:30. “We have school tomorrow.”
The group groaned. How could they be expected to go back to something so normal after all that they had learned?
“Max, are you…” Liz didn’t finish her sentence.
“Yeah, I’ll be spending the night again,” he murmured into her ear.
Liz purred with pleasure. This was how it should always be.
As they began to leave Michael grabbed Maria’s arm. She turned weary eyes to look at him.
“What is it, Michael?” Her cold tone told him to make it snappy.
“Stay. We need to talk tonight,” he said gruffly.
“Michael, I’m really tired and I just want to…”
“Please.” His soft word caught her off guard, and just the fact that he’d said please told her how important this was to him.
“Okay.” She went back in and sat down. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
TBC
Alex was waiting outside Michael’s apartment when the others arrived. They all filed in quietly, and Alex shot Isabel a worried look. He couldn’t tell if they were happy or sad, they just looked stunned.
“What’s goin’ on guys? You all look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Alex joked weakly.
“You won’t believe it when we tell you, Alex.” Isabel leaned her head unexpectedly on his shoulder. He awkwardly wrapped his long arms around her waist and patted her back, unsure what else to do.
“Let’s wait for Maria so we only have to go over it once. Liz is exhausted,” Max inserted, helping a weary Liz to sit on the sofa. He made sure she was comfortable, then his eyes met Isabel’s and he crossed the room to give her a hug. She must be so relieved about her past life. All that time she had spent torturing herself that she had been a traitor had been wasted! He was so happy for her.
Isabel turned to Max and buried her head in his shoulder, sobbing quietly for the first time since finding out about herself. It felt wonderful and embarrassing at the same time to release those tears. She normally tried to save them for when no one was around, but this time she felt entitled, and Max understood.
Alex gazed on in worried perplexity, impatiently checking his watch to see when Maria would arrive. She was already five minutes late.
Michael sat beside Liz tentatively, unsure what her reaction to him would be.
“Are you all right?” He started, not looking her in the eye.
“Yeah. Just drained from all the new stuff, you know.” She tried to make him look at her and felt a jolt of satisfaction when he finally did.
What he saw was trust and acceptance. Just the thing he needed to release him from his awkward feelings of vague guilt, even when he knew he had done nothing wrong.
“New stuff, yeah, I guess you could say you’ve got a few things on your mind now, huh?” Michael smiled at her and she grinned back at him, placing her hand over her stomach. On sudden impulse she reached for Michael’s hand and placed it under hers.
“Can you feel him?” She queried, with wonder in her tone. Her shining eyes asked him to make a connection, to share this powerful child who would make such a difference in all their lives.
Michael closed his eyes and concentrated, reaching out and trying to focus the powers that had always been so difficult for him. The line of his mouth relaxed and a small smile hovered on his lips when he felt the tiny flutter of life inside her. Awe swept through him and then he was suddenly jerked to his feet by his shirtfront.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing to her!” Max’s boiling anger instantly consumed him when he glanced over and saw the intimate position of Michael’s hand on his wife’s stomach and the rapt expression on his face.
Frustration and unreasonable guilt flowed through Michael, causing his typical reaction to fight back. “What? Did you think I’d just throw her down right here on the floor and have my wicked way with her in front of everyone? That’s more your style than mine, isn’t it, Max?” Michael threw the dart well, aiming at Max’s recent night spent with Liz when he had taken her aggressively almost right in front of Michael.
Max’s face paled and then went red with rage. He shoved Michael back against the wall roughly. Michael hit the wall hard, but kept to his feet. Max’s clenched fist hovered in the air, ready to strike.
“Is that what you had in mind last night when you had her practically naked in her bed?” Max’s rage was so strong that he couldn’t control the words coming out of his mouth. His unreasoning jealousy made him forget that he already knew exactly what had led to Liz’s state of undress the night before.
A whimper at the door was only noticed by Liz. The horrified expression on Maria’s face made Liz push to her feet and intervene between the fighting men. She grabbed a handful of shirt from each man and started shouting, “Will you two please grow up and simmer down?! I can’t believe the way you are acting!” She turned on Max. “You know very well what happened last night and you should be thanking Michael for trying to help me when you weren’t around to do it!” Michael let out a satisfied snort of agreement and Liz rounded on him next. “And you, Michael! What kind of a smartass comment was that to be making when you know very well what our situation is! I can’t believe you would throw that in our faces when you know we didn’t have any control over it! And don’t worry, you’re services will never be required!” She hauled them each by their shirts over to the couch and pushed them down to sit together side by side. Each looked sufficiently chastened, so she turned to Maria.
Maria still stood at the doorway, allowing the frame to prop her up. She had really been a very understanding girlfriend up to this point, she mused, considering that her love was an alien. She had even tried to be reasonable when she thought that Michael and Isabel had created a child together. But this! This involved Michael and her best friend. And it didn’t sound good.
“Just what the hell is going on here?” She demanded with venom in her tone, her laser sharp gaze pinning Michael to the sofa.
Michael shot up from the couch immediately and crossed quickly to Maria’s side. He attempted to put his hands on her arms, but she smacked him away sharply.
“Uh uh. You are not going to touch me again until I have heard a decent explanation of what you two were fighting about!” Her chin swept up a notch and she slammed the door behind her, crossing her arms in front of herself and tapping her foot impatiently. No one was coming in or out that door until she knew what the hell was going on.
“Tell me I did not just hear that you’ve got a thing for Liz.”
“No! Maria, you’ve got it all wrong! It’s not that simple. You just need to calm down and listen…” Liz begged.
“No. Liz, I want to hear this from Michael.” Maria stood there, tapping her foot and never took her glare off of Michael.
“Let’s all just sit down here and go over everything that happened today. It’ll all make sense then, I promise.” Isabel guided a reluctant Maria into the overstuffed chair and sat her down.
“This had better be good, Michael.” Her frigid stare was starting to unnerve him.
“Oh, believe me! It’s a real treat,” Michael said in weary tones. He dragged impatient fingers through the mess of his hair and took a deep breath for courage. Maria was not going to like any of this.
“Okay, it’s not what you think. Or not exactly what you think anyway. Liz and Max have been getting these fevers since they got married, and it turns out that I’ve been getting them too, just a little later than them.”
“What? What are you talking about Michael? What does this have to do with your thing for Liz?” Maria demanded impatiently.
“I DO NOT HAVE A THING FOR LIZ!” Michael shouted in frustration, pacing back and forth in agitation.
“Don’t you raise your voice to me, Michael Guerin!” Maria sprang to her feet in fury, ready for a Jerry Springer-esque brawl.
Liz moved over and put her arm around her. She looked up at the men in their lives and silenced them with a warning look.
“I can explain it, Maria,” Liz said gently. “I’ve been getting these fevers and the only way to get rid of them is to make love with an alien.” Liz dropped her eyes from Maria’s incredulous gaze.
“What? Does that mean that Michael wants to…has to…” Maria sputtered to a stop, unable to voice her worst fear.
“NO! Maria, no! When we went to the cave today we found this necklace,” Liz reached out her hand to Max and he sank down on the couch beside her, she touched the stone on the necklace and it flared brightly, eliciting a startled gasp from Maria. Max smiled softly at the proof of his and Liz’s connection. He had calmed down considerably, reopening his connection to Liz and hearing the voice of reason. She gave him a private smile before turning back to Maria. “When I put it around Max’s neck it transmitted another message from his and Isabel’s mom, a newer message than the one we had seen before. To make it short, she said that Tess is plotting against us and that I was literally made for Max.” Liz forestalled Maria’s inevitable urge to interrupt with a gesture of her hand, begging her to let her finish before interjecting. “They sent down two of their people and basically took over my parents so that they would conceive me. They manipulated my molecular structure so that I would be perfect for Max.” Max squeezed her hand, letting it flow through the connection that he was perfectly satisfied with the way things had turned out.
“That’s why you two have always been drawn together,” Maria breathed in wonder. The knowledge settled into her with a satisfying click at how clear it all was now that they knew. All those years with her two friends pining helplessly for each other, that whole soul mate connection thing when they gazed into each other’s eyes. Wow!
“Yeah. We’ve always known somewhere inside us,” Max murmured, rubbing his fingers over the back of Liz’s neck, just where her tension was gathered. She leaned back into his caress, enjoying the comforting warmth of his fingers.
“The message was triggered because I’m pregnant,” Liz blurted out, leaning back into Max’s side quickly, as if to avoid Maria’s inevitable reaction.
Maria did not disappoint.
“YOU’RE WHAT?! I thought you were on the Pill! Wait a minute, you two are barely married! How could you know already?” Maria’s face flushed bright red and her arms waved wildly around her. “Don’t even answer that!” She switched gears suddenly. “This is all some weird Czechoslovakian thing isn’t it?” Her eyes flashed fire at Michael, as if accusing him of having something to do with it. She stabbed her finger into his chest. “It’s a good thing I told you no, buddy, because I am not cut out to be a mother at this stage in my life!”
“You were the one who was all over me all the time! I was the one who always…” Michael’s protest was cut short by a sharp smack against his upper arm.
“That is so clearly…beside the point!” Maria reversed herself quickly and turned back to Liz. “How do you know you’re pregnant?”
Liz looked at Max for strength. His arm tucked her into the curve of his side and he took over the tale.
“Our mother told us that the message could only be triggered if Liz was carrying our child. The savior of our planet.” Maria’s eyes widened again, impossibly large in her pale face.
“They apparently have seers on our planet. They’ve programmed Liz to have this gift to help our team when Tess is gone.” He spat out Tess’ name like it left a bad taste in his mouth.
“They’ve told us that we need to protect our son at all costs because he will be the one who goes back to our planet to save our people. In order for Liz to be able to carry a partially alien baby it requires certain nutrients that can only be passed to him through alien sperm.” Max faltered before going on. “There were only two men on this planet that could provide it, so they gave us each a protective impulse to take care of Liz when the fevers weaken her.”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Maria asked incredulously.
“Yeah, I’m afraid so. But I promise that I will always be near Liz when she needs to…uh…feed the baby,” he finished lamely, swallowing hard. The look on his face and his choice of words startled a chuckle out of Liz and Isabel. They sobered immediately when they saw the look on Maria’s face.
“I’m sorry, Maria!” Liz said quickly, “I wasn’t laughing at that. I just…”
“No, Liz. That’s not why I’m upset. Is it dangerous for you to carry this baby? What could happen to you if Max doesn’t…you know.” She made a vague gesture with her hands.
“We’re not going to find out, Maria. I will always be there for her, okay?” Max didn’t want to tell her that his alien mother had said that Liz and the child could both die if she didn’t get what she needed within twenty-four hours.
“You’d better,” Maria muttered darkly.
“There’s more, Maria,” Isabel took up the tale.
“More? What more could there be? Haven’t we been through enough?” She wailed plaintively, allowing Michael to put his arms around her at last. It wasn’t his fault that his alien family had messed with his instincts.
Isabel quickly filled her in on the rest of the details. How Isabel was vindicated from her traitor status and that Tess had always been the betrayer of their people, how they had been directed to destroy Tess before she learned of Liz’s pregnancy.
“About damn time,” Maria muttered under her breath.
“Max needs to wear the necklace at all times. It enhances his connection to Liz, so he can locate her no matter where she is,” Isabel finished.
“I don’t think we could take it off anyway.” Liz tugged on the cord and turned it to see where it had fused together. There was no seam or tie, it was as if it had been fused together.
“Quite a fashion statement,” Alex laughed. He was amazed at the turn of events, and so happy for Isabel. She had been carrying around a heavy load of guilt lately.
“Yeah. I hope it stays ‘in’,” Max joked back. He’d never sought to be openly trendy, he hoped his parents didn’t comment on his choice of accessories.
“When are we gonna kill BB?” Maria asked callously. No one messed with her friends and got away with it.
“We can’t just walk up to her and…and kill her,” Liz’s voice broke over the hard words.
“Why not?” Michael asked.
“Michael, I’m the first one to admit that it has to be done,” Max said, “but we have to think this through. The world sees her as this innocent teenager, and even though we know differently we have to be careful how we go about this. There may be things that she knows that we should learn from her.” Liz gasped softly as her connection allowed her to see Max’s plan.
“You are not going to be alone with her!” Liz exclaimed, horrified by the thought.
“No, no. Michael and Isabel can back me up.” Max stroked her face soothingly, allowing his fingers to tangle in her silky hair.
“What are you two talking about?” Michael interjected, impatient with being out of the loop.
“Max wants to go ahead and let Tess come to his house on Monday to work on the memory retrieval.” Liz had gone pale.
“Are you crazy? Do you think you can just let her go walking around in your mind like that? She’s gonna find out that we’re on to her!” Michael couldn’t believe the stupidity of the plan.
“I’m not gonna let her into anything I don’t want her to see. I’m sure I can block her from the parts of my memories that I don’t want her to see.”
Michael cut him off. “How are you gonna do that?”
“With this.” Max lifted the stone around his neck. It glowed with a weak light when he concentrated on it. “It’s like it enhances my power. I feel like, since it’s connecting me to Liz, I can tap into more of my own power. It’s like it’s honing my strength.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how else to explain it.”
“Are you sure this will work?” Isabel’s worry shone in her eyes.
“I think so. After she shows me how to retrieve those memories, maybe I can find out more of her plan. It may be our only chance to find out what she knows.”
“I don’t like it,” Liz put in.
“Me either, but if Is and I are right there…” Michael thought about all they could learn. “I’ll help you, Max. I’ll back you up.”
Max gave him a grateful look and turned to Isabel.
“If you really think you can…”
“I can, Is.” Max infused his voice with certainty.
“Okay. I’m with you, but the first sign of…”
“I got it, Is. When we’re through we’ll take her out for a quiet drive in the desert, okay?”
“Okay.” Isabel was nervous about the thought of what would happen in the desert, but knew it was necessary.
“It’s getting late, guys.” Alex noticed that it was after 10:30. “We have school tomorrow.”
The group groaned. How could they be expected to go back to something so normal after all that they had learned?
“Max, are you…” Liz didn’t finish her sentence.
“Yeah, I’ll be spending the night again,” he murmured into her ear.
Liz purred with pleasure. This was how it should always be.
As they began to leave Michael grabbed Maria’s arm. She turned weary eyes to look at him.
“What is it, Michael?” Her cold tone told him to make it snappy.
“Stay. We need to talk tonight,” he said gruffly.
“Michael, I’m really tired and I just want to…”
“Please.” His soft word caught her off guard, and just the fact that he’d said please told her how important this was to him.
“Okay.” She went back in and sat down. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
TBC
EYA Part 27
Michael closed the door behind his departing friends and leaned his forehead against the wood taking a deep breath for courage before turning around. Maria was sitting on the couch, leaning forward with her head in her hands.
“All right, Michael,” Maria began. “I’m here. And seriously, I don’t know what you want to…”
“Maria.”
“…talk to me about, but, let me tell ya, I’m exhausted. There was this one…”
“Maria.”
“…customer who just wouldn’t leave the Crash tonight. Kept nursing…”
“Maria!”
“…that same damn cup of coffee until I just wanted to boot his ass out the…”
“Maria! I really need to talk to you, so do you think you could just listen for one minute?” Michael was exasperated, here he was trying to open up his heart to his girl for the first and only time in his life and she was raving on about some lunatic customer that made her late tonight!
“…door,” she finished lamely, finally looking up at Michael. She was startled and disturbed by the intense expression in his eyes. She huffed a small breath, probably lost in his ‘Liz connection’. Yep, probably had nothing to do with her. In fact…
“Are you trying to break up with me? ‘Cause I could save you the trouble.” Maria stood up and began stalking to the door. Michael. Michael in the way. She diverted her path to go around him, but he stepped over to block her again.
“Michael, really, it’s no problem. I won’t make a scene or anything. You’ve got this…” sob, “whole other life now, and you need some breathing room, right?” Maria’s eyes filled with tears that she desperately wanted to hold back. “Right?”
She bravely looked up into his face, startled and stiff when he closed his large hands over her shoulders and drew her in close.
“I can’t believe that this is what I’ve done to you.”
Huh?
“Huh?”
“I never meant to be such a jerk. That you feel like I could be so callous and disregard everything we’ve been through together after all this time…”
Maria looked behind Michael to see where the real Michael had gone. Nope. Not back there. Where did they put my Michael? Oh well, she kinda liked this one better anyway. She focused her attention back to his eyes. Yep. Definitely better. This Michael had very sincere eyes, shining with love and pleading for her to understand what he was saying. Oh…what had he been saying?
“…love you.”
“I’m sorry, but could you say that last part again?” She could not possibly have understood that correctly. Yep. Must be way out of context.
“I said that I want to be with you. That I love you and want you to know who I am.” Michael cupped her face in his hands. “Do you think you could still love me? Just a little bit?” His voice trembled with emotion.
“Michael….I….I thought that you were…you know what? Scratch that. Yes. I love you, and yes I want to know who you really are. But first, I think you’d better tell me what is going on with you and Liz.”
Michael gazed up to the heavens, sending a silent thank you that Maria was giving him a chance, and pleading for patience and the right words to explain what was going on in his world.
“First off, you should know that it is completely out of my control.”
“What? You just go around lusting after Liz and it’s ‘out of your control’, so that makes it all right?” Maria snorted caustically.
“No! That’s not what I meant, and that’s not what’s happening here! Will you just…could you please just listen for a minute?”
Maria crossed her arms in front of her body defensively and shot him her best ‘I’m the soul of patience and forbearance’ look.
“You know that the people on our planet consider Max and Liz’s son to be their savior, right?” Maria nodded her agreement.
“So they went to whatever lengths they could to ensure the survival of the baby. They implanted a need in Max to protect the child by nourishing it with alien fluid” no need to say sperm here and get her all riled up again “and to draw them together whenever Liz feels the child weakening her.” Okay, so far so good. Maria wasn’t blowing steam out her nose or anything yet. “And apparently, they thought that if anything happened to Max that they couldn’t let Liz or the baby die, so they put the backup plan in me.” Michael was scared to see Maria’s reaction to his blunt conclusion, so he rushed on quickly. “It’s not like I go around wanting her or anything. Geez! I can hardly even think about her that way! Max has promised that he’ll always be close to her, so if the need arises” oops! Bad choice of words “uh, I mean if Liz started to get weak, he’ll be able to take care of it right away. My fever seems like it’s a delayed reaction, only if Liz and Max haven’t, you know.”
Maria’s foot was tapping a steady rhythm on the hard floor. She looked very thoughtful.
“So you don’t feel any…sexual feelings for her?” She asked bluntly.
“No! No. I only feel that way about you,” Michael confessed softly.
“Oh.” Well okay then, I guess that’s, well… that.
“I don’t mean that I kept you here tonight to jump you or anything.” Wow, that came out all wrong.
“Oh, no, of course not, I mean, we’re not really ready for that yet anyway. And what if, well you saw what happened to Liz, and I’d really like to get through high school first, you know? I mean having a baby is great and all, but what if you guys have, like, Super Sperm or something…” Oh no, did I just say that? Out loud and everything. Gulp!
“Maria.”
“Not that I’m sure you don’t have Super Sperm anyway” Shut up, Maria! “but, I know you can see my point here, right?” Do I really have a point anymore? She’d really have to learn to control that incessant babbling thing.
Michael just stared at her in awe. She was the most entertaining, refreshing thing that had ever happened to him, and he wouldn’t let her get away. And she looked damn sexy, flushed all pink like that.
“Maria. I love you.” Maria peeked up at him through her lashes. He felt so good from saying it, that it had put that look in her eyes, that he said it again. “I. Love. You.” Yeah, he was in love all right.
“I love you too, Michael.” She leaned up, and they shared a tender, heartfelt kiss.
“And you’d better keep your hands off my best friend or I’ll hunt you down and take care of the problem myself.”
“Maria!!!” He groaned in exasperation, leaning his forehead against hers in exasperation.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max stopped the Jeep outside the Crashdown to drop Liz off first, before taking Isabel home. He’d been trying to think of a way to ask Isabel what she thought about sharing what was happening to them with their mother, and he thought Liz should get a say in it as well.
He cleared his throat nervously.
“A lot of new stuff, huh?” Duh!, he thought in disgust. Well, hey, he’d been through a lot today, and he couldn’t sparkle with wit all the time, right? Right.
“Yeah, I’ll say.” Isabel rubbed the back of her neck. Max wanted to say something more. She recognized that look in his eyes. “What is it, Max?”
She knew him so well.
“Well, I was wondering…and I’m not saying we should do this, but what do you two think Mom would say if I told her…”
“Told her what, Max? About the baby? Or about everything?” Isabel’s heart started pumping faster and she looked to Liz to gauge her reaction. She was just calmly looking on, a faint smile on her lips.
“Both.”
A quiet breath whooshed out of Isabel’s mouth. This is too good. Okay, calm down. Can’t overplay my hand here.
“I think that she would totally support you. I think she has a lot of love, and we’re gonna need a ton of help if you’re having a baby. I mean, none of us really knows how all that’s supposed to go, and Liz could use the support, I’m sure. Right, Liz?”
Max turned his eyes to Liz as well. She nodded and said, “Absolutely. I think Isabel’s right. Your mom could really help us in the next few months. Plus, we don’t really know what type of abilities this baby will be born with. How could we explain levitating crib toys, or visions of baby barn animals all over the house, you know?”
Max’s eyes widened and he felt kinda dizzy. He hadn’t even considered the difficulties in raising an alien child who didn’t know he had to keep his gifts a secret.
“So you both think that we should tell her everything? Well, almost everything?” He amended quickly, thinking of his time in the White Room. Liz’s hand soothed his neck and back, knowing what he was thinking of.
“Yeah, we should tell her all together, and the sooner the better. What if you two went into heat or something right in front of her? I mean, wow, how would you explain that?” Isabel couldn’t resist teasing her brother, if only to see him turn eight shades of red. Yep. I’m a good sister.
“I never even thought about…does she really need to know…” Max stuttered to a stop, appealing to Liz.
“She’s gonna figure that out soon enough, don’t you think? We have to be together every day, and maybe she can help us figure a way to make it happen.” Liz hated to see him squirm like that, and it was doubly bad because she could feel it through their connection.
“I guess. I don’t know how to even explain that to her. She’s gonna flip out.” Max’s distress was doubling up on itself, growing into an insurmountable obstacle. Maybe they could just leave town or something.
“Max. We are not leaving town.” Damn. She could hear his thoughts. Had to remember that. He sent her a sheepish grin and projected an image of them tangled together in passion. A soft hiss left her lips and her eyes glazed over. Mission accomplished.
He leaned in and gave her a parting kiss. “Think about that until I get back, okay? I just need to grab some clothes and cover with my Mom.” Liz nodded her head; still in a daze from the vision he had given her.
“Do we really look like that?” She whispered in wonder.
Max nodded again, also caught up in the image she threw back at him.
“I’ll come back in just a few minutes, okay?” He needed her.
“ ‘Kay.” She whispered and got out of the Jeep.
Max watched her get in the door, and waited until he heard the lock click before driving home.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Liz walked in, still caught up in the beautiful vision that Max had shared with her. She skipped happily up the stairs to their apartment. Her pace quickened when she heard the phone ringing.
“Hello?” She answered, out of breath from the stairs.
“Lizzie? Are you okay? The phone rang forever, and you sound out of breath.” Nancy Parker’s worried tone jolted Liz back to reality.
Uh oh.
“Oh. Well I was…in the shower! Yep. I was taking a shower and I didn’t really hear the phone, but then I thought I did, so I ran out to get it, and here I am! How’s the baby?” Good. Distract Mom and get her talking about something else.
“Oh!! She is the cutest thing you’ve ever seen! Well, not as cute as you were, of course, but cute enough. They had to have her by C-section, so my sister can’t get out of the hospital until tomorrow. That’s why I’m calling, we want to know how you’re doing, and if it would be all right if we stayed until Friday? We can be back in time for the dinner rush on Friday night if you think you can handle everything until then. It’s okay if you can’t though, I mean, if it’s interfering with your school work, or if you’re just too tired, then I could come right back.”
“No! Mom, everything’s fine! You should stay and play with that baby and help out as much as you can.” Liz couldn’t believe her luck! Tears sparkled in her eyes and she had to sit down when another thought struck her. She was really her father’s daughter. Nancy had never betrayed Jeff! Remorse swept her as she thought of how nasty she had been to her mother in recent months.
“I love you, Mom.” Her sincere emotion traveled through the line, landing straight in Nancy’s heart. Nancy’s eyes teared up.
“I love you too, baby.”
Liz sighed as she hung up after twenty more moments of conversation. She had her mom back! A smile broke across her face as she turned to go to her room. Max would be here any minute, she didn’t have very long to get ready!
TBC
Michael closed the door behind his departing friends and leaned his forehead against the wood taking a deep breath for courage before turning around. Maria was sitting on the couch, leaning forward with her head in her hands.
“All right, Michael,” Maria began. “I’m here. And seriously, I don’t know what you want to…”
“Maria.”
“…talk to me about, but, let me tell ya, I’m exhausted. There was this one…”
“Maria.”
“…customer who just wouldn’t leave the Crash tonight. Kept nursing…”
“Maria!”
“…that same damn cup of coffee until I just wanted to boot his ass out the…”
“Maria! I really need to talk to you, so do you think you could just listen for one minute?” Michael was exasperated, here he was trying to open up his heart to his girl for the first and only time in his life and she was raving on about some lunatic customer that made her late tonight!
“…door,” she finished lamely, finally looking up at Michael. She was startled and disturbed by the intense expression in his eyes. She huffed a small breath, probably lost in his ‘Liz connection’. Yep, probably had nothing to do with her. In fact…
“Are you trying to break up with me? ‘Cause I could save you the trouble.” Maria stood up and began stalking to the door. Michael. Michael in the way. She diverted her path to go around him, but he stepped over to block her again.
“Michael, really, it’s no problem. I won’t make a scene or anything. You’ve got this…” sob, “whole other life now, and you need some breathing room, right?” Maria’s eyes filled with tears that she desperately wanted to hold back. “Right?”
She bravely looked up into his face, startled and stiff when he closed his large hands over her shoulders and drew her in close.
“I can’t believe that this is what I’ve done to you.”
Huh?
“Huh?”
“I never meant to be such a jerk. That you feel like I could be so callous and disregard everything we’ve been through together after all this time…”
Maria looked behind Michael to see where the real Michael had gone. Nope. Not back there. Where did they put my Michael? Oh well, she kinda liked this one better anyway. She focused her attention back to his eyes. Yep. Definitely better. This Michael had very sincere eyes, shining with love and pleading for her to understand what he was saying. Oh…what had he been saying?
“…love you.”
“I’m sorry, but could you say that last part again?” She could not possibly have understood that correctly. Yep. Must be way out of context.
“I said that I want to be with you. That I love you and want you to know who I am.” Michael cupped her face in his hands. “Do you think you could still love me? Just a little bit?” His voice trembled with emotion.
“Michael….I….I thought that you were…you know what? Scratch that. Yes. I love you, and yes I want to know who you really are. But first, I think you’d better tell me what is going on with you and Liz.”
Michael gazed up to the heavens, sending a silent thank you that Maria was giving him a chance, and pleading for patience and the right words to explain what was going on in his world.
“First off, you should know that it is completely out of my control.”
“What? You just go around lusting after Liz and it’s ‘out of your control’, so that makes it all right?” Maria snorted caustically.
“No! That’s not what I meant, and that’s not what’s happening here! Will you just…could you please just listen for a minute?”
Maria crossed her arms in front of her body defensively and shot him her best ‘I’m the soul of patience and forbearance’ look.
“You know that the people on our planet consider Max and Liz’s son to be their savior, right?” Maria nodded her agreement.
“So they went to whatever lengths they could to ensure the survival of the baby. They implanted a need in Max to protect the child by nourishing it with alien fluid” no need to say sperm here and get her all riled up again “and to draw them together whenever Liz feels the child weakening her.” Okay, so far so good. Maria wasn’t blowing steam out her nose or anything yet. “And apparently, they thought that if anything happened to Max that they couldn’t let Liz or the baby die, so they put the backup plan in me.” Michael was scared to see Maria’s reaction to his blunt conclusion, so he rushed on quickly. “It’s not like I go around wanting her or anything. Geez! I can hardly even think about her that way! Max has promised that he’ll always be close to her, so if the need arises” oops! Bad choice of words “uh, I mean if Liz started to get weak, he’ll be able to take care of it right away. My fever seems like it’s a delayed reaction, only if Liz and Max haven’t, you know.”
Maria’s foot was tapping a steady rhythm on the hard floor. She looked very thoughtful.
“So you don’t feel any…sexual feelings for her?” She asked bluntly.
“No! No. I only feel that way about you,” Michael confessed softly.
“Oh.” Well okay then, I guess that’s, well… that.
“I don’t mean that I kept you here tonight to jump you or anything.” Wow, that came out all wrong.
“Oh, no, of course not, I mean, we’re not really ready for that yet anyway. And what if, well you saw what happened to Liz, and I’d really like to get through high school first, you know? I mean having a baby is great and all, but what if you guys have, like, Super Sperm or something…” Oh no, did I just say that? Out loud and everything. Gulp!
“Maria.”
“Not that I’m sure you don’t have Super Sperm anyway” Shut up, Maria! “but, I know you can see my point here, right?” Do I really have a point anymore? She’d really have to learn to control that incessant babbling thing.
Michael just stared at her in awe. She was the most entertaining, refreshing thing that had ever happened to him, and he wouldn’t let her get away. And she looked damn sexy, flushed all pink like that.
“Maria. I love you.” Maria peeked up at him through her lashes. He felt so good from saying it, that it had put that look in her eyes, that he said it again. “I. Love. You.” Yeah, he was in love all right.
“I love you too, Michael.” She leaned up, and they shared a tender, heartfelt kiss.
“And you’d better keep your hands off my best friend or I’ll hunt you down and take care of the problem myself.”
“Maria!!!” He groaned in exasperation, leaning his forehead against hers in exasperation.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max stopped the Jeep outside the Crashdown to drop Liz off first, before taking Isabel home. He’d been trying to think of a way to ask Isabel what she thought about sharing what was happening to them with their mother, and he thought Liz should get a say in it as well.
He cleared his throat nervously.
“A lot of new stuff, huh?” Duh!, he thought in disgust. Well, hey, he’d been through a lot today, and he couldn’t sparkle with wit all the time, right? Right.
“Yeah, I’ll say.” Isabel rubbed the back of her neck. Max wanted to say something more. She recognized that look in his eyes. “What is it, Max?”
She knew him so well.
“Well, I was wondering…and I’m not saying we should do this, but what do you two think Mom would say if I told her…”
“Told her what, Max? About the baby? Or about everything?” Isabel’s heart started pumping faster and she looked to Liz to gauge her reaction. She was just calmly looking on, a faint smile on her lips.
“Both.”
A quiet breath whooshed out of Isabel’s mouth. This is too good. Okay, calm down. Can’t overplay my hand here.
“I think that she would totally support you. I think she has a lot of love, and we’re gonna need a ton of help if you’re having a baby. I mean, none of us really knows how all that’s supposed to go, and Liz could use the support, I’m sure. Right, Liz?”
Max turned his eyes to Liz as well. She nodded and said, “Absolutely. I think Isabel’s right. Your mom could really help us in the next few months. Plus, we don’t really know what type of abilities this baby will be born with. How could we explain levitating crib toys, or visions of baby barn animals all over the house, you know?”
Max’s eyes widened and he felt kinda dizzy. He hadn’t even considered the difficulties in raising an alien child who didn’t know he had to keep his gifts a secret.
“So you both think that we should tell her everything? Well, almost everything?” He amended quickly, thinking of his time in the White Room. Liz’s hand soothed his neck and back, knowing what he was thinking of.
“Yeah, we should tell her all together, and the sooner the better. What if you two went into heat or something right in front of her? I mean, wow, how would you explain that?” Isabel couldn’t resist teasing her brother, if only to see him turn eight shades of red. Yep. I’m a good sister.
“I never even thought about…does she really need to know…” Max stuttered to a stop, appealing to Liz.
“She’s gonna figure that out soon enough, don’t you think? We have to be together every day, and maybe she can help us figure a way to make it happen.” Liz hated to see him squirm like that, and it was doubly bad because she could feel it through their connection.
“I guess. I don’t know how to even explain that to her. She’s gonna flip out.” Max’s distress was doubling up on itself, growing into an insurmountable obstacle. Maybe they could just leave town or something.
“Max. We are not leaving town.” Damn. She could hear his thoughts. Had to remember that. He sent her a sheepish grin and projected an image of them tangled together in passion. A soft hiss left her lips and her eyes glazed over. Mission accomplished.
He leaned in and gave her a parting kiss. “Think about that until I get back, okay? I just need to grab some clothes and cover with my Mom.” Liz nodded her head; still in a daze from the vision he had given her.
“Do we really look like that?” She whispered in wonder.
Max nodded again, also caught up in the image she threw back at him.
“I’ll come back in just a few minutes, okay?” He needed her.
“ ‘Kay.” She whispered and got out of the Jeep.
Max watched her get in the door, and waited until he heard the lock click before driving home.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Liz walked in, still caught up in the beautiful vision that Max had shared with her. She skipped happily up the stairs to their apartment. Her pace quickened when she heard the phone ringing.
“Hello?” She answered, out of breath from the stairs.
“Lizzie? Are you okay? The phone rang forever, and you sound out of breath.” Nancy Parker’s worried tone jolted Liz back to reality.
Uh oh.
“Oh. Well I was…in the shower! Yep. I was taking a shower and I didn’t really hear the phone, but then I thought I did, so I ran out to get it, and here I am! How’s the baby?” Good. Distract Mom and get her talking about something else.
“Oh!! She is the cutest thing you’ve ever seen! Well, not as cute as you were, of course, but cute enough. They had to have her by C-section, so my sister can’t get out of the hospital until tomorrow. That’s why I’m calling, we want to know how you’re doing, and if it would be all right if we stayed until Friday? We can be back in time for the dinner rush on Friday night if you think you can handle everything until then. It’s okay if you can’t though, I mean, if it’s interfering with your school work, or if you’re just too tired, then I could come right back.”
“No! Mom, everything’s fine! You should stay and play with that baby and help out as much as you can.” Liz couldn’t believe her luck! Tears sparkled in her eyes and she had to sit down when another thought struck her. She was really her father’s daughter. Nancy had never betrayed Jeff! Remorse swept her as she thought of how nasty she had been to her mother in recent months.
“I love you, Mom.” Her sincere emotion traveled through the line, landing straight in Nancy’s heart. Nancy’s eyes teared up.
“I love you too, baby.”
Liz sighed as she hung up after twenty more moments of conversation. She had her mom back! A smile broke across her face as she turned to go to her room. Max would be here any minute, she didn’t have very long to get ready!
TBC
EYA Part 28
“Wow,” Max breathed softly as he climbed into Liz’s window. He wasn’t looking at the glow of candles that shone throughout the room, or at the freshly turned down bed; covers folded over and inviting. He only had eyes for Liz, resplendent in white silk, her shy gaze turned down, only to peek back up at him coyly. She had thought he might use the door for once and was only glad she was ready for his sudden entrance.
“You look amazing.” Max crossed the short distance to her in a daze and took her in his arms. She felt so good there, so right, that he began swaying in a slow dance to the soft music she had playing. The dance melded them together, beautiful and perfect, and when it ended he pressed a single kiss to her waiting lips.
“Hi,” she greeted him shyly, still in a daze from the dance.
He grinned back at her, realizing he hadn’t even said hello yet. “Hi.”
She ran her hands over his muscular arms and trailed one down to catch his hand in hers and lead him to the bed. Max sat and pulled her into his lap, where she cuddled securely, basking in the comfort of his presence. She began placing small kisses over his neck and unfastened the first few buttons of his shirt to continue her explorations. Max inhaled sharply at her aggressiveness. He could feel her need, and this time it was all her. He allowed her to push him back until he was lying on the bed, Liz straddling his hips. Her kisses grew more heated as she pressed her open mouth over the skin she exposed as she finished with his buttons and pushed the shirt aside. He helpfully shrugged out of it at her silent command.
Liz could feel nothing but a burning need to be close to Max. They had learned so much, endured so much in the last few days and she needed this affirmation that they were in this together, that no matter what happened in their adventurous and sometimes scary lives, that they would be there for each other. Her hands worked quickly on the button and zipper of his jeans and Max lifted his hips as she removed the last of his clothing. He lay before her, completely exposed as her hands and mouth covered him hungrily.
A low growl escaped her throat as she licked her way down the column of his neck, pausing to take little love bites and then soothing them with her kiss. Max’s hands moved of their own accord to weave through her hair, just to feel the sweet silky texture. She turned her head into his palm and gave it a lingering kiss, before sucking one finger into her mouth and caressing it with her tongue. Max groaned and arched his head back at the sweet sensation. She lingered over his amazing hands for long moments, before Max could take no more and pulled her up, taking her mouth in a deep kiss. Their mouths mated aggressively, each moaning in the back of their throats.
Max pulled down the shoulder of Liz’s gown and shifted to taste her sweet skin. The connection flowed openly between them, heightening each sensation, doubling every pleasure upon itself until it was almost unbearable.
Each move they made was in symphony with the music that rolled around them, their bodies matched the deep, pulsing rhythm that flowed through the room. Their eyes locked together as they shared the slow beat.
‘I will love you forever’
‘Always’ Her agreement was swift and tinged with desperation. The song ended and a new song began, faster, more powerful. Max matched the thrusts of his body into hers to the new beat and watched her eyes glow darkly in the candlelight. Her head arched back and she cried his name as her release gripped her hard and swept her away. Max’s pleasure could no longer be held back as he watched her wild response to him. Only him. He poured himself into her body and she collapsed against his broad chest.
As their breathing began to even out, Max tried to untangle the jumble of emotions and half-formed thoughts that were racing through his wife. Many matched his own feelings. Shock. Fear. Overwhelming love. Fear. Hope.
His hands stroked down her back and brushed through her hair. He couldn’t see her eyes, and he suddenly needed to desperately. And then he felt the warm wetness of tears falling silently to his chest. He hugged her to him tightly, his arms strong around her petite frame. He automatically began to rock her back and forth, whispering soothing words of comfort and love.
“Talk to me, Liz,” he begged her finally.
“Ma…Max! What are we going to do?” Liz’s voice came out hoarse, almost desperate in her need for guidance and reassurance. “I mean, we are so young! Too young. I know that this was meant to be, please don’t ever doubt my love for you, Max! But…a baby, Max! I’ve never even owned a pet!”
Her words brought a brief smile to Max’s face before he thought how to answer her. Many of the same thoughts had been flowing through his mind as well.
“I think that we’ll have to wait and see how things go, Liz. When I was at my house earlier Mom asked if you could come over for dinner on Friday. I think we should tell her, Liz. I think she can help you through this. She’s always been a great mother to Isabel and me, and I know that she can help us get through this. I just hope that she can forgive Isabel and me for all the secrets and lies we’ve had to tell her all these years and that she doesn’t think that we’re disgusting or…”
Max was silenced by Liz’s hand over his mouth.
“She loves you, Max. She’s a mother and she could never turn her back on you. I know this.” Liz’s eyes implored him to believe her. “I do need someone, a mother, to talk to about all this, and now that I’ve got my connection back with my own mom, I don’t want to ruin it by announcing that I’m 17 and pregnant and married.” Her eyes lowered quickly.
“You talked to your mom.” It was a statement, not a question and Max could see how happy and secure that made Liz.
“Yeah. I’m so ashamed that I could believe such awful things about her for so long.”
“Liz. You can’t blame yourself for that! You were just following the laws of science, which apparently don’t apply to angels.”
“Max!” Liz pushed against his shoulder at his gentle teasing, blushing through her smile.
“You are my angel,” Max was so sincere.
“Please don’t break into song,” Liz tried to lighten the moment.
Max pretended to look affronted. “What? You don’t like my singing? And after I serenaded you last year and everything.” Max couldn’t contain a slight grin and Liz knew he was teasing her.
“So, we’ll talk to your mom and get her help. We really need to figure a way that we can be together.” Liz was shy again, not meeting Max’s gaze.
He put a finger under her chin and lifted it to meet his serious expression. “It’s not our fault that all this is happening to us. We have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of and we shouldn’t act like we do, okay?” Max waited for her tentative nod of agreement before continuing. “I think that we should make sure that we are together as often as possible when we can so that we don’t get an unexpected heat wave at times that may not be convenient for us, like in school.” Liz nodded again.
“That sounds like a good idea. I’ve started a chart.” Liz moved to open the bedside table and removed a notepad. Flipping it open, she revealed a rather complicated graph that showed the times between fevers. “So far, it looks like the longest we’ve gone is fourteen hours, but we don’t know if this need will grow stronger the farther along I am, or grow weaker because of the changes in me.” She glanced to Max to get his opinion.
Max’s eyes were glued to the page, a slow grin creeping across his face. This was his Liz. More comfortable with action than passivity. Graphing and charting until the results were in Technicolor detail in front of her.
“Max?”
“What? Oh. Yeah, we should keep track of everything, and when we’re out of school for the summer and on the weekends, we can see how long we can go before…”
“Yeah. That’s good.” Liz was lost in his eyes again.
She leaned closer and touched her forehead to his.
“We can do this.”
“Together.”
“Did I tell you my parents said they’ll be gone until Friday?”
“Wanna spend the weekend at my house? With Isabel, of course?” Max was elated at the opportunity to be alone at Liz’s until Friday and then, after talking to his mom, then spending the rest of the weekend at his house.
“Of course, but maybe you should convince me a little more…” Max obliged very nicely.
TBC
“Wow,” Max breathed softly as he climbed into Liz’s window. He wasn’t looking at the glow of candles that shone throughout the room, or at the freshly turned down bed; covers folded over and inviting. He only had eyes for Liz, resplendent in white silk, her shy gaze turned down, only to peek back up at him coyly. She had thought he might use the door for once and was only glad she was ready for his sudden entrance.
“You look amazing.” Max crossed the short distance to her in a daze and took her in his arms. She felt so good there, so right, that he began swaying in a slow dance to the soft music she had playing. The dance melded them together, beautiful and perfect, and when it ended he pressed a single kiss to her waiting lips.
“Hi,” she greeted him shyly, still in a daze from the dance.
He grinned back at her, realizing he hadn’t even said hello yet. “Hi.”
She ran her hands over his muscular arms and trailed one down to catch his hand in hers and lead him to the bed. Max sat and pulled her into his lap, where she cuddled securely, basking in the comfort of his presence. She began placing small kisses over his neck and unfastened the first few buttons of his shirt to continue her explorations. Max inhaled sharply at her aggressiveness. He could feel her need, and this time it was all her. He allowed her to push him back until he was lying on the bed, Liz straddling his hips. Her kisses grew more heated as she pressed her open mouth over the skin she exposed as she finished with his buttons and pushed the shirt aside. He helpfully shrugged out of it at her silent command.
Liz could feel nothing but a burning need to be close to Max. They had learned so much, endured so much in the last few days and she needed this affirmation that they were in this together, that no matter what happened in their adventurous and sometimes scary lives, that they would be there for each other. Her hands worked quickly on the button and zipper of his jeans and Max lifted his hips as she removed the last of his clothing. He lay before her, completely exposed as her hands and mouth covered him hungrily.
A low growl escaped her throat as she licked her way down the column of his neck, pausing to take little love bites and then soothing them with her kiss. Max’s hands moved of their own accord to weave through her hair, just to feel the sweet silky texture. She turned her head into his palm and gave it a lingering kiss, before sucking one finger into her mouth and caressing it with her tongue. Max groaned and arched his head back at the sweet sensation. She lingered over his amazing hands for long moments, before Max could take no more and pulled her up, taking her mouth in a deep kiss. Their mouths mated aggressively, each moaning in the back of their throats.
Max pulled down the shoulder of Liz’s gown and shifted to taste her sweet skin. The connection flowed openly between them, heightening each sensation, doubling every pleasure upon itself until it was almost unbearable.
Each move they made was in symphony with the music that rolled around them, their bodies matched the deep, pulsing rhythm that flowed through the room. Their eyes locked together as they shared the slow beat.
‘I will love you forever’
‘Always’ Her agreement was swift and tinged with desperation. The song ended and a new song began, faster, more powerful. Max matched the thrusts of his body into hers to the new beat and watched her eyes glow darkly in the candlelight. Her head arched back and she cried his name as her release gripped her hard and swept her away. Max’s pleasure could no longer be held back as he watched her wild response to him. Only him. He poured himself into her body and she collapsed against his broad chest.
As their breathing began to even out, Max tried to untangle the jumble of emotions and half-formed thoughts that were racing through his wife. Many matched his own feelings. Shock. Fear. Overwhelming love. Fear. Hope.
His hands stroked down her back and brushed through her hair. He couldn’t see her eyes, and he suddenly needed to desperately. And then he felt the warm wetness of tears falling silently to his chest. He hugged her to him tightly, his arms strong around her petite frame. He automatically began to rock her back and forth, whispering soothing words of comfort and love.
“Talk to me, Liz,” he begged her finally.
“Ma…Max! What are we going to do?” Liz’s voice came out hoarse, almost desperate in her need for guidance and reassurance. “I mean, we are so young! Too young. I know that this was meant to be, please don’t ever doubt my love for you, Max! But…a baby, Max! I’ve never even owned a pet!”
Her words brought a brief smile to Max’s face before he thought how to answer her. Many of the same thoughts had been flowing through his mind as well.
“I think that we’ll have to wait and see how things go, Liz. When I was at my house earlier Mom asked if you could come over for dinner on Friday. I think we should tell her, Liz. I think she can help you through this. She’s always been a great mother to Isabel and me, and I know that she can help us get through this. I just hope that she can forgive Isabel and me for all the secrets and lies we’ve had to tell her all these years and that she doesn’t think that we’re disgusting or…”
Max was silenced by Liz’s hand over his mouth.
“She loves you, Max. She’s a mother and she could never turn her back on you. I know this.” Liz’s eyes implored him to believe her. “I do need someone, a mother, to talk to about all this, and now that I’ve got my connection back with my own mom, I don’t want to ruin it by announcing that I’m 17 and pregnant and married.” Her eyes lowered quickly.
“You talked to your mom.” It was a statement, not a question and Max could see how happy and secure that made Liz.
“Yeah. I’m so ashamed that I could believe such awful things about her for so long.”
“Liz. You can’t blame yourself for that! You were just following the laws of science, which apparently don’t apply to angels.”
“Max!” Liz pushed against his shoulder at his gentle teasing, blushing through her smile.
“You are my angel,” Max was so sincere.
“Please don’t break into song,” Liz tried to lighten the moment.
Max pretended to look affronted. “What? You don’t like my singing? And after I serenaded you last year and everything.” Max couldn’t contain a slight grin and Liz knew he was teasing her.
“So, we’ll talk to your mom and get her help. We really need to figure a way that we can be together.” Liz was shy again, not meeting Max’s gaze.
He put a finger under her chin and lifted it to meet his serious expression. “It’s not our fault that all this is happening to us. We have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of and we shouldn’t act like we do, okay?” Max waited for her tentative nod of agreement before continuing. “I think that we should make sure that we are together as often as possible when we can so that we don’t get an unexpected heat wave at times that may not be convenient for us, like in school.” Liz nodded again.
“That sounds like a good idea. I’ve started a chart.” Liz moved to open the bedside table and removed a notepad. Flipping it open, she revealed a rather complicated graph that showed the times between fevers. “So far, it looks like the longest we’ve gone is fourteen hours, but we don’t know if this need will grow stronger the farther along I am, or grow weaker because of the changes in me.” She glanced to Max to get his opinion.
Max’s eyes were glued to the page, a slow grin creeping across his face. This was his Liz. More comfortable with action than passivity. Graphing and charting until the results were in Technicolor detail in front of her.
“Max?”
“What? Oh. Yeah, we should keep track of everything, and when we’re out of school for the summer and on the weekends, we can see how long we can go before…”
“Yeah. That’s good.” Liz was lost in his eyes again.
She leaned closer and touched her forehead to his.
“We can do this.”
“Together.”
“Did I tell you my parents said they’ll be gone until Friday?”
“Wanna spend the weekend at my house? With Isabel, of course?” Max was elated at the opportunity to be alone at Liz’s until Friday and then, after talking to his mom, then spending the rest of the weekend at his house.
“Of course, but maybe you should convince me a little more…” Max obliged very nicely.
TBC
EYA Chapter 29
Liz woke slowly in the early hours of Wednesday morning to the sounds of regular panting breaths that were coming from the floor. She scooted sleepily to peer over the side of the bed and then inhaled a surprised breath at the sight before her.
Max was completing a set of push-ups that had obviously been going on for some time. His body gleamed with sweat and his muscles bulged from the effort he had expended. As he finished his last one he leaned back to stretch his back and arms and then sat up, glancing toward the bed. He grinned widely at her flushed and sleepy expression.
“Morning.”
“Hi.” She smiled back into his happy eyes. “Been awake long?”
He glanced down briefly before answering. “Yeah. Force of habit, I guess. I’ve been up every day by five a.m. to go running after…well, you know.” He swept his eyes up to her face before looking down again.
“You didn’t…” Liz’s horrified expression made him want to reassure her quickly.
He reached a hand out to brush her hair back. “No. I haven’t had any nightmares since we’ve been able to be together at night. I think you’re my good luck charm.”
Liz was relieved. No one should have to constantly relive the horrors that Max had endured in the White Room as he had for the last nine months. She felt rotten knowing that she should have been there for him all that time to help alleviate his suffering.
“Please don’t think like that.” Max cupped her face in his hands and angled her chin up so she would look at him.
“We’re going to have to have a talk about private thoughts,” Liz grumbled good-naturedly.
“I just don’t think we should beat ourselves up about things that we can’t change. We need to move forward. That’s what I intend to do from now on.” Max was sincere. They had to move forward and forget about the bad things that had happened.
“Is that why you’re up before dawn, working out like your life depends on it?” Liz questioned skeptically.
“Hey, I’m just staying in shape for you, babe.” Max stood up and puffed out his chest, flexing for her enjoyment. “I don’t want to be one of those husbands who just let’s himself go after he lands his woman.”
Liz sat up in the bed, catching his teasing mood. “What’s with the ‘babe’ and ‘woman’ talk? I think all this working out is turning you into a Neanderthal! Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll just go and take a shower.” Liz slid off the bed and brushed her body against his as she moved past him, chin in the air haughtily.
“Neanderthal? I’ll show you what a Neanderthal would do!” With that said, Max scooped a screaming Liz up over his shoulder and marched with her into the bathroom. She beat ineffectually at his back and between laughs she tried to convince him to put her down.
“What will you do if I put you down?” Max pretended to consider the prospects.
“I’ll…I’ll wash your stinky back for you!” Liz giggled out, trying to wriggle her way down.
Max clamped a hand over her squirming bottom. “Stinky? I don’t know if I like your tone, woman.” He deliberately used the term again to elicit a reaction.
He didn’t get the reaction he expected though. Liz had gone still as his hand caressed her backside and quickly reviewed her possible options. She ran her hands down over his back until she had his butt cupped in her palms. She began a slow, deliberate massage that ranged over the portions of his body that she could reach and continued until she heard his soft moan.
“Put me down, baby,” she requested softly. Not able to think of doing anything else, Max lowered her gently to her feet. She allowed her hands to roam over his chest, until he was out of breath again before she pushed him back from her and turned to the sink. Pretending to ignore him, she calmly began to brush her teeth.
Max looked dazed and confused as he moved behind her. She glanced at him in the mirror in time to see him reach around her and massage her breasts. She leaned back into his chest weakly and enjoyed the sensations that coursed through her. She finished her teeth quickly and turned to capture his mouth with her own. Their kiss was greedy and filled with desire. It quickly escalated their need for each other and Max began to back up into the shower. He turned on the water without looking and they were soon drenched in the cascading heat.
Picking up the clean smelling soap, Liz filled her hands with lather and ran them over Max’s body, not missing an inch. Max’s breath came out in labored gasps when she was finished and he picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Are you ready for me? I don’t think I can wait.” His forehead rested against hers and he tried to be patient for her answer.
“Yes, please now,” Liz moaned out against his lips.
Max captured her mouth in a hungry kiss as he lowered her over his straining erection. Both let out a satisfied moan at the renewed contact. Liz braced her hands on Max’s shoulders for leverage and assisted him in beginning a smooth movement. Their passion quickly escalated as the water rushed between them. Max locked his eyes on the beauty of his wife as she arched her head back in ecstasy. Her walls clamped tightly around him and his cries echoed hers in the small room.
Max gently lowered her back to the floor and steadied her as her knees wobbled. He took his time running the washcloth over her smooth skin and then washed her long hair with her strawberry scented shampoo. When his task was finished, they gently dried each other off and got ready for school.
Liz heaved a contented sigh as they sat at the breakfast table together. “Just think, Max, we’ll be able to do this every day after we tell our parents that we’re married.”
“Does that mean that you’re ready to tell your parents?”
Liz stirred her cereal around in her bowl. “Not quite yet. I think that they’ll freak out initially. Maybe we should just start with your mom and see how that goes.”
“Thanks a lot,” Max grinned to show he was teasing. “Why am I the guinea pig again?”
“I think it’ll be okay. I hope.” She smiled at him uncertainly. “Do you think that she’ll think that I trapped you into marrying me by getting pregnant?” Liz blurted out.
“What? No! No way would she think that! She’ll take one look at you and one look at how happy you make me and know that I couldn’t be expected to live without you.” Max tried to allay her fears.
“Uh huh, I’m sure that’s just what’ll happen,” Liz snorted skeptically.
“Liz,” Max reached out for her hand, “she’s gonna love you. It’s me that’s the alien, remember? If she doesn’t run screaming from the room after I tell her about myself, then our news will be nothing compared to that, right?”
“Max! Your mom would never run away from you! I didn’t when I found out, did I? And your mother has gotten to enjoy you for years longer than I have, so she knows how special and wonderful you are! Are you seriously still worried?”
Max suddenly found his juice fascinating.
“Max?”
“I just hope that it goes okay. This is something that I have worried about for a long time. I don’t know what I’d do if she…doesn’t accept who I am.” Max’s face was tense.
“I know that she’ll be fine. Shocked at first, but fine. I’ll be right there with you okay?” Liz tried to reassure him of her constant presence, and it was the right thing to say.
“It’ll always be okay if you’re there with me. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you accept me, have always accepted me in spite of what I am.”
“What you are is a kind, gentle, thoughtful, loving man who needs to stop worrying about everything for awhile!” Liz tried to cheer him up.
“We have had a rough few days here, I think that I’m entitled to worry just a little, don’t you?” Max raised an eyebrow at her quizzically.
“Okay, but just a little! What do you have planned for the day?” She could feel his mind sorting through various scenarios for the day. This mind reading thing was more complicated than she had ever thought possible. A lot of what Max had rushing through his head was just images, half-formed thoughts and concepts that flitted by at lightening speed. Very few actual thoughts came through as complete sentences. Of course, everything made sense in your own mind, but to try and interpret someone else’s thoughts, wow! Complicated.
“Wellll….I kinda thought that we could work on me blocking you out of a connection.” Max watched and saw her stunned response.
“No! No, I don’t mean that I want to block you out! I just want to practice to see if I can block you so that I’ll know how to resist Tess when we meet on Monday.” Liz let out a relieved breath.
“So, after school?”
“Yeah, we can meet back here. Do you have to work?” Liz shook her head no. She had rearranged her schedule so she could have as much time as possible with Max this week. She’d just have to check in periodically and make sure the bank deposits were made each day.
“Neither do I until tomorrow. Also, I think we should review the disk that Alex had hidden from Tess. Maybe there’s something on it that can answer some questions or help us get rid of Tess.”
“Where is the disk?” Liz asked.
“It’s in my backpack.” Max reached over and snagged it off the nearby chair. He took out the disk and handed it to Liz.
As her fingers closed over it she was consumed by a vision.
Flash
“Have to hide the disk, can’t let her get it” Alex mumbled under his breath and fumbled clumsily to secure the disk in it’s hiding spot.
Alex grabbed his head as it throbbed painfully under the pressure of Tess’ newest assault on his senses.
“Have you told me everything? Is this all that the Granolith can do?” Tess features distorted into a mask of ugliness as she confronted Alex.
“I…it…” Alex tried to remember to keep the secret; it was almost impossible under this pressure.
“You’d better not lie to me!” Tess increased the strength of her assault and Alex passed out.
Tess kicked his still form in frustration before walking away.
Liz gasped as the vision ended and pulled her fingers away from the disk as if it was on fire. Max let go at the same time and it clattered to the tabletop.
“Did you see it too?” Liz whispered brokenly, fresh from feeling the pain that Alex had endured to secure this disk.
“Yeah. I…he…wow!” Max didn’t know what else to say. He was glad that they had arranged it so that Alex wouldn’t be alone with Tess again.
“She’s…she really is evil, Max. I think we need to be really careful around her. Maybe it’s not such a great idea to be alone with her on Monday. I mean, what if she found out that we’re on to her? She could really do some damage!” Tears pooled in her eyes.
“Liz, we have to know what she knows. She was raised by a protector who taught her things that we haven’t even thought of yet. It could really aid our cause here on Earth, now that we know we’re responsible for keeping it safe. I really think that with practice, I can dig around in that ugly little mind of hers and get information that could really help us.” Max hated to worry Liz, but this was the quickest way he could think of to get what they needed from Tess before disposing of her. He tried not to think of the cold-blooded murder he would have to perform.
“Promise me, Max that you will not go through with it if you don’t feel that you’re ready to block her all the way. Promise me!” Liz insisted.
“I promise. I would never put you in danger like that, or our baby.”
Liz shuddered at the reminder of what would happen to her and the baby if something happened to Max.
“You just…it has to be you okay?” Liz didn’t want to think of being with Michael like that.
“You know I’ll be there for you!” Max stood and hugged her close to his beating heart. This had just reminded him that he wanted to have a private chat with Michael before school started.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max roared up behind Michael in the school parking lot and hopped out of his Jeep. Maria had picked up Liz for school so that they wouldn’t be seen by Tess arriving together.
“Hey, Michael. I want to talk to you,” Max began gruffly, pulling Michael around to face him.
“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you too,” Michael replied mildly, rubbing a finger over his eyebrow and watching Max’s face closely.
Taken aback by Michael’s calm reaction, Max took a deep breath and started the speech he had planned earlier while working out.
“I just wanted to tell you that I know that you can’t help this reaction that you have when Liz is…when she needs me. I don’t blame you for that, but it’s obvious that the people on our planet don’t share the same sense of…monogamy…that we have here. I want it understood that I will be the only one that Liz needs to nourish our child, and you will never be called upon to step in. Is that clear?”
“Clear as day, Maxwell. I didn’t ask for this and you’re more than welcome to her. I’m in rough enough water with Maria as it is over it and I definitely don’t need any more complications in my life right now, so just take care of her quickly when she needs you and I won’t even be affected. Fair enough?” Michael had thought this out as well.
“Yeah. Fair enough. We’ve worked out a schedule so that…” Max blushed, not meeting Michael’s eyes. Too much information, definitely.
“A schedule huh?” Michael couldn’t help ribbing Max about that a little. “Liz’s idea?”
“Actually, it was mine,” Max gave up and smiled at Michael. This was the sign that Michael needed. He clapped his hand to Max’s shoulder and turned him to walk toward the school.
“Liz made a chart yet?”
“Shut up, Michael.” He pushed his friend away playfully as they walked.
“So tell me, Max, what is alien sex like?” Michael dodged away from Max’s playful swipe at him.
Max laughed. “Out of this world, Michael. Out of this world!”
TBC
Liz woke slowly in the early hours of Wednesday morning to the sounds of regular panting breaths that were coming from the floor. She scooted sleepily to peer over the side of the bed and then inhaled a surprised breath at the sight before her.
Max was completing a set of push-ups that had obviously been going on for some time. His body gleamed with sweat and his muscles bulged from the effort he had expended. As he finished his last one he leaned back to stretch his back and arms and then sat up, glancing toward the bed. He grinned widely at her flushed and sleepy expression.
“Morning.”
“Hi.” She smiled back into his happy eyes. “Been awake long?”
He glanced down briefly before answering. “Yeah. Force of habit, I guess. I’ve been up every day by five a.m. to go running after…well, you know.” He swept his eyes up to her face before looking down again.
“You didn’t…” Liz’s horrified expression made him want to reassure her quickly.
He reached a hand out to brush her hair back. “No. I haven’t had any nightmares since we’ve been able to be together at night. I think you’re my good luck charm.”
Liz was relieved. No one should have to constantly relive the horrors that Max had endured in the White Room as he had for the last nine months. She felt rotten knowing that she should have been there for him all that time to help alleviate his suffering.
“Please don’t think like that.” Max cupped her face in his hands and angled her chin up so she would look at him.
“We’re going to have to have a talk about private thoughts,” Liz grumbled good-naturedly.
“I just don’t think we should beat ourselves up about things that we can’t change. We need to move forward. That’s what I intend to do from now on.” Max was sincere. They had to move forward and forget about the bad things that had happened.
“Is that why you’re up before dawn, working out like your life depends on it?” Liz questioned skeptically.
“Hey, I’m just staying in shape for you, babe.” Max stood up and puffed out his chest, flexing for her enjoyment. “I don’t want to be one of those husbands who just let’s himself go after he lands his woman.”
Liz sat up in the bed, catching his teasing mood. “What’s with the ‘babe’ and ‘woman’ talk? I think all this working out is turning you into a Neanderthal! Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll just go and take a shower.” Liz slid off the bed and brushed her body against his as she moved past him, chin in the air haughtily.
“Neanderthal? I’ll show you what a Neanderthal would do!” With that said, Max scooped a screaming Liz up over his shoulder and marched with her into the bathroom. She beat ineffectually at his back and between laughs she tried to convince him to put her down.
“What will you do if I put you down?” Max pretended to consider the prospects.
“I’ll…I’ll wash your stinky back for you!” Liz giggled out, trying to wriggle her way down.
Max clamped a hand over her squirming bottom. “Stinky? I don’t know if I like your tone, woman.” He deliberately used the term again to elicit a reaction.
He didn’t get the reaction he expected though. Liz had gone still as his hand caressed her backside and quickly reviewed her possible options. She ran her hands down over his back until she had his butt cupped in her palms. She began a slow, deliberate massage that ranged over the portions of his body that she could reach and continued until she heard his soft moan.
“Put me down, baby,” she requested softly. Not able to think of doing anything else, Max lowered her gently to her feet. She allowed her hands to roam over his chest, until he was out of breath again before she pushed him back from her and turned to the sink. Pretending to ignore him, she calmly began to brush her teeth.
Max looked dazed and confused as he moved behind her. She glanced at him in the mirror in time to see him reach around her and massage her breasts. She leaned back into his chest weakly and enjoyed the sensations that coursed through her. She finished her teeth quickly and turned to capture his mouth with her own. Their kiss was greedy and filled with desire. It quickly escalated their need for each other and Max began to back up into the shower. He turned on the water without looking and they were soon drenched in the cascading heat.
Picking up the clean smelling soap, Liz filled her hands with lather and ran them over Max’s body, not missing an inch. Max’s breath came out in labored gasps when she was finished and he picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Are you ready for me? I don’t think I can wait.” His forehead rested against hers and he tried to be patient for her answer.
“Yes, please now,” Liz moaned out against his lips.
Max captured her mouth in a hungry kiss as he lowered her over his straining erection. Both let out a satisfied moan at the renewed contact. Liz braced her hands on Max’s shoulders for leverage and assisted him in beginning a smooth movement. Their passion quickly escalated as the water rushed between them. Max locked his eyes on the beauty of his wife as she arched her head back in ecstasy. Her walls clamped tightly around him and his cries echoed hers in the small room.
Max gently lowered her back to the floor and steadied her as her knees wobbled. He took his time running the washcloth over her smooth skin and then washed her long hair with her strawberry scented shampoo. When his task was finished, they gently dried each other off and got ready for school.
Liz heaved a contented sigh as they sat at the breakfast table together. “Just think, Max, we’ll be able to do this every day after we tell our parents that we’re married.”
“Does that mean that you’re ready to tell your parents?”
Liz stirred her cereal around in her bowl. “Not quite yet. I think that they’ll freak out initially. Maybe we should just start with your mom and see how that goes.”
“Thanks a lot,” Max grinned to show he was teasing. “Why am I the guinea pig again?”
“I think it’ll be okay. I hope.” She smiled at him uncertainly. “Do you think that she’ll think that I trapped you into marrying me by getting pregnant?” Liz blurted out.
“What? No! No way would she think that! She’ll take one look at you and one look at how happy you make me and know that I couldn’t be expected to live without you.” Max tried to allay her fears.
“Uh huh, I’m sure that’s just what’ll happen,” Liz snorted skeptically.
“Liz,” Max reached out for her hand, “she’s gonna love you. It’s me that’s the alien, remember? If she doesn’t run screaming from the room after I tell her about myself, then our news will be nothing compared to that, right?”
“Max! Your mom would never run away from you! I didn’t when I found out, did I? And your mother has gotten to enjoy you for years longer than I have, so she knows how special and wonderful you are! Are you seriously still worried?”
Max suddenly found his juice fascinating.
“Max?”
“I just hope that it goes okay. This is something that I have worried about for a long time. I don’t know what I’d do if she…doesn’t accept who I am.” Max’s face was tense.
“I know that she’ll be fine. Shocked at first, but fine. I’ll be right there with you okay?” Liz tried to reassure him of her constant presence, and it was the right thing to say.
“It’ll always be okay if you’re there with me. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you accept me, have always accepted me in spite of what I am.”
“What you are is a kind, gentle, thoughtful, loving man who needs to stop worrying about everything for awhile!” Liz tried to cheer him up.
“We have had a rough few days here, I think that I’m entitled to worry just a little, don’t you?” Max raised an eyebrow at her quizzically.
“Okay, but just a little! What do you have planned for the day?” She could feel his mind sorting through various scenarios for the day. This mind reading thing was more complicated than she had ever thought possible. A lot of what Max had rushing through his head was just images, half-formed thoughts and concepts that flitted by at lightening speed. Very few actual thoughts came through as complete sentences. Of course, everything made sense in your own mind, but to try and interpret someone else’s thoughts, wow! Complicated.
“Wellll….I kinda thought that we could work on me blocking you out of a connection.” Max watched and saw her stunned response.
“No! No, I don’t mean that I want to block you out! I just want to practice to see if I can block you so that I’ll know how to resist Tess when we meet on Monday.” Liz let out a relieved breath.
“So, after school?”
“Yeah, we can meet back here. Do you have to work?” Liz shook her head no. She had rearranged her schedule so she could have as much time as possible with Max this week. She’d just have to check in periodically and make sure the bank deposits were made each day.
“Neither do I until tomorrow. Also, I think we should review the disk that Alex had hidden from Tess. Maybe there’s something on it that can answer some questions or help us get rid of Tess.”
“Where is the disk?” Liz asked.
“It’s in my backpack.” Max reached over and snagged it off the nearby chair. He took out the disk and handed it to Liz.
As her fingers closed over it she was consumed by a vision.
Flash
“Have to hide the disk, can’t let her get it” Alex mumbled under his breath and fumbled clumsily to secure the disk in it’s hiding spot.
Alex grabbed his head as it throbbed painfully under the pressure of Tess’ newest assault on his senses.
“Have you told me everything? Is this all that the Granolith can do?” Tess features distorted into a mask of ugliness as she confronted Alex.
“I…it…” Alex tried to remember to keep the secret; it was almost impossible under this pressure.
“You’d better not lie to me!” Tess increased the strength of her assault and Alex passed out.
Tess kicked his still form in frustration before walking away.
Liz gasped as the vision ended and pulled her fingers away from the disk as if it was on fire. Max let go at the same time and it clattered to the tabletop.
“Did you see it too?” Liz whispered brokenly, fresh from feeling the pain that Alex had endured to secure this disk.
“Yeah. I…he…wow!” Max didn’t know what else to say. He was glad that they had arranged it so that Alex wouldn’t be alone with Tess again.
“She’s…she really is evil, Max. I think we need to be really careful around her. Maybe it’s not such a great idea to be alone with her on Monday. I mean, what if she found out that we’re on to her? She could really do some damage!” Tears pooled in her eyes.
“Liz, we have to know what she knows. She was raised by a protector who taught her things that we haven’t even thought of yet. It could really aid our cause here on Earth, now that we know we’re responsible for keeping it safe. I really think that with practice, I can dig around in that ugly little mind of hers and get information that could really help us.” Max hated to worry Liz, but this was the quickest way he could think of to get what they needed from Tess before disposing of her. He tried not to think of the cold-blooded murder he would have to perform.
“Promise me, Max that you will not go through with it if you don’t feel that you’re ready to block her all the way. Promise me!” Liz insisted.
“I promise. I would never put you in danger like that, or our baby.”
Liz shuddered at the reminder of what would happen to her and the baby if something happened to Max.
“You just…it has to be you okay?” Liz didn’t want to think of being with Michael like that.
“You know I’ll be there for you!” Max stood and hugged her close to his beating heart. This had just reminded him that he wanted to have a private chat with Michael before school started.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max roared up behind Michael in the school parking lot and hopped out of his Jeep. Maria had picked up Liz for school so that they wouldn’t be seen by Tess arriving together.
“Hey, Michael. I want to talk to you,” Max began gruffly, pulling Michael around to face him.
“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you too,” Michael replied mildly, rubbing a finger over his eyebrow and watching Max’s face closely.
Taken aback by Michael’s calm reaction, Max took a deep breath and started the speech he had planned earlier while working out.
“I just wanted to tell you that I know that you can’t help this reaction that you have when Liz is…when she needs me. I don’t blame you for that, but it’s obvious that the people on our planet don’t share the same sense of…monogamy…that we have here. I want it understood that I will be the only one that Liz needs to nourish our child, and you will never be called upon to step in. Is that clear?”
“Clear as day, Maxwell. I didn’t ask for this and you’re more than welcome to her. I’m in rough enough water with Maria as it is over it and I definitely don’t need any more complications in my life right now, so just take care of her quickly when she needs you and I won’t even be affected. Fair enough?” Michael had thought this out as well.
“Yeah. Fair enough. We’ve worked out a schedule so that…” Max blushed, not meeting Michael’s eyes. Too much information, definitely.
“A schedule huh?” Michael couldn’t help ribbing Max about that a little. “Liz’s idea?”
“Actually, it was mine,” Max gave up and smiled at Michael. This was the sign that Michael needed. He clapped his hand to Max’s shoulder and turned him to walk toward the school.
“Liz made a chart yet?”
“Shut up, Michael.” He pushed his friend away playfully as they walked.
“So tell me, Max, what is alien sex like?” Michael dodged away from Max’s playful swipe at him.
Max laughed. “Out of this world, Michael. Out of this world!”
TBC
EYA Part 30
“How does that feel?” Max asked in a hushed voice, doing it again.
“Mmnnn, that’s…ohhh! Do that again!” Liz exclaimed, her voice gone raspy with pleasure.
“Which thing? That?”
“Oh yeah! That’s soo…Oh! Now it just tickles!” She burst into laughter and collapsed back on the bed.
“Can we get serious here, you guys?” Michael drawled out impatiently, from where he stood leaning against the wall.
Liz sat back up quickly and looked guiltily across the room at Max, who was seated at her desk chair. He shot her an innocent grin.
‘We’ll explore that alone later,’ he sent through their connection.
“Sorry, Michael, it really did tickle though,” Liz offered sheepishly.
“I bet. Now did you learn anything new, Maxwell?” Michael directed his attention back to Max.
“Yeah, well sorta. It’s really complicated in there you know. I was trying to reach into her mind and explore which parts trigger different reactions or emotions, and especially figure out where specific memories are held. I think I touched on a pleasure center or something.” Max shot another grin at Liz.
“No kidding,” Michael interjected sarcastically. It was bad enough that he had to be here for this ‘exploration’, but he really didn’t need to witness Max pleasuring Liz from across the room! “Did you find any memories?”
“Yeah, I did. They were pretty easy to get to, and she didn’t even feel me in there looking.” Max glanced at Liz for confirmation. She gave him a puzzled look, she really hadn’t felt him lifting her memories.
“What did you see, Max?” She asked him curiously.
“I saw you with your Grandma Claudia during a summer vacation when you were ten. You spent that summer swimming in her pool and going along on archeological digs. You found a pottery fragment with zigzag lines running around it and you were so excited that you tripped and fell when you ran to show it to your grandma. You saved the pottery, but you banged up your elbow and your knee. Your grandma was so proud of you that she took you out to a special dinner that night and you felt like a princess.” Liz’s eyes filled with tears as he reminded her of a cherished moment in her life. He didn’t have to ask if the memory was accurate, he could see it in her expression.
“After I got the memory I started exploring other aspects of her brain, but I think that I was more obvious about that, so she felt it.” Liz nodded her agreement. She had felt him poking around for a while.
“Why don’t you try blocking Liz out of your connection now, Max? That is the real reason that we’re here, right?” Michael tried to remind them of the reason for this after school session. “If Liz can’t get through your block then no one can. She has the strongest link to you of all of us.”
“Right. Let me just…” Max’s gaze turned inward as he concentrated on what he thought he needed to do. It felt unnatural to block Liz out, she was a part of him now and it felt like he was denying the best part of himself.
Max nodded to indicate that he was ready. Liz looked right at him and gathered her energy. When they were both ready she sent her thoughts out to Max. Her first attempt was rebuffed by Max and so she tried harder. Concentrating hard, she focused her energy right to the core of Max. This time she broke through and reached him. She felt a wave of his frustration hit her hard before he blocked her out again abruptly. The energy in the room seemed to pulse around them as they played a tug of war with their connection. Liz could feel that she was getting closer and pushed through again. This time Max surrounded her and accepted her intrusion.
‘Try to find a memory,’ Max instructed her silently.
‘I don’t know…I’ve never done that before,’ Liz answered.
‘I’ll show you.’ Max allowed a flow of information through to Liz, showing her how he had found the memories of her and Grandma Claudia earlier.
Liz nodded her head and began to look within Max. She probed and prowled around for what seemed an eternity before her energy began to flag and she sighed her defeat. She slumped back in the bed and groaned.
“That is absolutely exhausting!” Liz exclaimed. “I didn’t find any memories.”
“Does that mean that you broke through and made a connection?” Michael asked with worry.
“Yeah. I did get in. Max blocked me for a while, but I just kept trying until I got through.”
“That’s not acceptable! There is no way that we can let Tess get in there at all! You have to keep practicing!” Michael exclaimed. No way he was going to let his friend take on that kind of danger if he wasn’t fully prepared!
“Michael, I started to think that it might be too obvious if I blocked her out altogether. I mean we have to have some kind of surface connection to make the memory retrieval work, right? If she can’t get in at all, she’ll just think that I’m hiding something from her. I just have to block her out of the parts of my brain that she could mess with, like my memories. It was easier for me to do that anyway.” Max grinned at Liz.
“Easier for you!” Liz snorted from her prone position on the bed.
“Are you okay? Do you need to rest for a while?” Michael couldn’t resist asking her.
“I’m fine, Michael, we can keep going if you want.” She glanced at Max, feeling his reaction.
Max was fighting back his natural urge to jump down Michael’s throat and tell him that he would never do anything that would harm Liz or their child, but when he looked at Michael’s concerned expression he realized that Michael was not a part of his and Liz’s connection. There was no way he could know that Liz was just fine and could go on for a little while longer.
“She’s fine, Michael. Let’s just try it a couple more times and then I do want you to rest, okay?” Max sent a wave of loving energy through to Liz. Her eyes thanked him as she sat up to try again.
About a half hour later they stopped and chatted about the results of the experiment.
“I couldn’t find any memories in there at all. You’re really good at blocking them. I’m glad that you let me in before we started again, or I would have just thought that I didn’t know how to look for them!” Liz chuckled at the memory that she had retrieved when Max had let her in to make sure she could do it if he allowed it.
“I didn’t know you were so clumsy on roller skates!” Liz laughed out loud at the embarrassed expression on Max’s face. He had been at a mutual friends birthday party when they were eleven years old and he had been so caught up in the fact that Liz was there, that he had skated right into four people, knocking them all to the ground. Liz had never even noticed at the time, she had been chatting with Alex and Maria over by the snack bar.
“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten up so fast in my life! I was just praying that you wouldn’t notice the geeky kid that caused a four man collision!” Max shook his head at the memory.
“Well, you were lucky! I never saw a thing.” Liz moved over to make room for Max on the bed. He settled in beside her.
“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Michael edged toward the door, having flashbacks of the last time he’d seen them together on that bed.
“You don’t have to go, Michael,” Max put in quickly. He’d invited him over to get his input on how to go about these training sessions, and Michael had offered several helpful suggestions throughout the day.
“Maybe we could all watch a movie or something,” Liz put in. She was encouraged by the friendly interaction between Max and Michael today and didn’t want to see it come to an end.
They argued lightheartedly about which movie they should watch from her parent’s large collection of videos. They settled on a comedy and laughed together over pizza for the next two hours.
As Michael was preparing to leave they set up a time for the following evening to work together again after Max finished his shift at the UFO Center.
“I was thinking that this time you should try to block her out while you’re touching. See if that makes it harder or something. What do you think?” Michael asked.
“That’s a really good idea. Tess might try to touch you or hold your hand or something.” Liz looked to Max for his reaction.
He shuddered at the thought of allowing Tess to touch him in any way. “Yeah, that’s a good idea, Michael, knowing Tess, she’ll probably try something.”
“One more thing. Today she was asking around about where Alex was. I put her off by telling her that he’s been really tired lately and so he can’t hang around as much. I think that she might be worried that her mind warp is wearing off.” Michael took in the dismayed expressions of his friends.
“We have to get rid of her by Monday. There’s no way we can let her get to Alex again,” Max stated grimly.
“Have you thought about how you’re going to kill her?” Michael asked. “Because I could do it. There’s no reason that you have to get your hands dirty offing that bitch. I’m your second, it’s my job to be the protector, and it’s not like I haven’t killed before.” Michael was absolutely sincere. He didn’t want Max to go through the terrible jumble of mixed emotions that he had gone through after killing Pierce. Even knowing that Pierce was a heartless bastard and deserved to die, it had been difficult to reconcile his death in his own mind. He had taken a life. Killing Tess might be even harder, because it was a pre-planned event, not something spontaneous in the heat of the moment.
“I think this is something I have to do myself,” Max said softly.
“I can back you up then,” Michael insisted.
“I think the less people involved, the better. Besides, I want you to stay with Liz until it’s all over and I come back.” Max looked at Michael and hoped he understood the trust he was placing in his friend.
Michael nodded his acknowledgement slowly and went out the door.
Liz turned to hug Max. “I don’t like the idea of you going out into the desert alone with Tess.”
“Isabel is going to follow us out there to make sure nothing goes wrong. She wants to see Tess dead just as much as we do. I really think she would like to be the one to finish her off after what Tess did to her in our last life.”
“Well, that’s a little better if Isabel will be there too, but I still think it’s too dangerous.”
Max stroked her hair back soothingly and kissed her forehead. “We can’t do anything to her here in town, it would be too obvious. We have to be isolated to get rid of her body.” Max took her hand and led her back to her room. “What do you say we scan through this disk of Alex’s and see if we can find anything useful?”
Liz shuddered at the thought of touching the disk again. Max caught her distaste and reassured her that he would handle that part himself. He loaded up the diskette and they spent the next several hours with their fascinated eyes glued to the computer screen as they learned all of the many applications of the Granolith.
Max eventually sat back and scrubbed over his tired eyes with the heels of his hands. “We have got to be sure to send Alex a thank you card for this. If this ever got back to our enemies, we’d be finished! I guess we know how I can get rid of Tess now, huh?”
Liz just nodded her head in numb agreement.
TBC
“How does that feel?” Max asked in a hushed voice, doing it again.
“Mmnnn, that’s…ohhh! Do that again!” Liz exclaimed, her voice gone raspy with pleasure.
“Which thing? That?”
“Oh yeah! That’s soo…Oh! Now it just tickles!” She burst into laughter and collapsed back on the bed.
“Can we get serious here, you guys?” Michael drawled out impatiently, from where he stood leaning against the wall.
Liz sat back up quickly and looked guiltily across the room at Max, who was seated at her desk chair. He shot her an innocent grin.
‘We’ll explore that alone later,’ he sent through their connection.
“Sorry, Michael, it really did tickle though,” Liz offered sheepishly.
“I bet. Now did you learn anything new, Maxwell?” Michael directed his attention back to Max.
“Yeah, well sorta. It’s really complicated in there you know. I was trying to reach into her mind and explore which parts trigger different reactions or emotions, and especially figure out where specific memories are held. I think I touched on a pleasure center or something.” Max shot another grin at Liz.
“No kidding,” Michael interjected sarcastically. It was bad enough that he had to be here for this ‘exploration’, but he really didn’t need to witness Max pleasuring Liz from across the room! “Did you find any memories?”
“Yeah, I did. They were pretty easy to get to, and she didn’t even feel me in there looking.” Max glanced at Liz for confirmation. She gave him a puzzled look, she really hadn’t felt him lifting her memories.
“What did you see, Max?” She asked him curiously.
“I saw you with your Grandma Claudia during a summer vacation when you were ten. You spent that summer swimming in her pool and going along on archeological digs. You found a pottery fragment with zigzag lines running around it and you were so excited that you tripped and fell when you ran to show it to your grandma. You saved the pottery, but you banged up your elbow and your knee. Your grandma was so proud of you that she took you out to a special dinner that night and you felt like a princess.” Liz’s eyes filled with tears as he reminded her of a cherished moment in her life. He didn’t have to ask if the memory was accurate, he could see it in her expression.
“After I got the memory I started exploring other aspects of her brain, but I think that I was more obvious about that, so she felt it.” Liz nodded her agreement. She had felt him poking around for a while.
“Why don’t you try blocking Liz out of your connection now, Max? That is the real reason that we’re here, right?” Michael tried to remind them of the reason for this after school session. “If Liz can’t get through your block then no one can. She has the strongest link to you of all of us.”
“Right. Let me just…” Max’s gaze turned inward as he concentrated on what he thought he needed to do. It felt unnatural to block Liz out, she was a part of him now and it felt like he was denying the best part of himself.
Max nodded to indicate that he was ready. Liz looked right at him and gathered her energy. When they were both ready she sent her thoughts out to Max. Her first attempt was rebuffed by Max and so she tried harder. Concentrating hard, she focused her energy right to the core of Max. This time she broke through and reached him. She felt a wave of his frustration hit her hard before he blocked her out again abruptly. The energy in the room seemed to pulse around them as they played a tug of war with their connection. Liz could feel that she was getting closer and pushed through again. This time Max surrounded her and accepted her intrusion.
‘Try to find a memory,’ Max instructed her silently.
‘I don’t know…I’ve never done that before,’ Liz answered.
‘I’ll show you.’ Max allowed a flow of information through to Liz, showing her how he had found the memories of her and Grandma Claudia earlier.
Liz nodded her head and began to look within Max. She probed and prowled around for what seemed an eternity before her energy began to flag and she sighed her defeat. She slumped back in the bed and groaned.
“That is absolutely exhausting!” Liz exclaimed. “I didn’t find any memories.”
“Does that mean that you broke through and made a connection?” Michael asked with worry.
“Yeah. I did get in. Max blocked me for a while, but I just kept trying until I got through.”
“That’s not acceptable! There is no way that we can let Tess get in there at all! You have to keep practicing!” Michael exclaimed. No way he was going to let his friend take on that kind of danger if he wasn’t fully prepared!
“Michael, I started to think that it might be too obvious if I blocked her out altogether. I mean we have to have some kind of surface connection to make the memory retrieval work, right? If she can’t get in at all, she’ll just think that I’m hiding something from her. I just have to block her out of the parts of my brain that she could mess with, like my memories. It was easier for me to do that anyway.” Max grinned at Liz.
“Easier for you!” Liz snorted from her prone position on the bed.
“Are you okay? Do you need to rest for a while?” Michael couldn’t resist asking her.
“I’m fine, Michael, we can keep going if you want.” She glanced at Max, feeling his reaction.
Max was fighting back his natural urge to jump down Michael’s throat and tell him that he would never do anything that would harm Liz or their child, but when he looked at Michael’s concerned expression he realized that Michael was not a part of his and Liz’s connection. There was no way he could know that Liz was just fine and could go on for a little while longer.
“She’s fine, Michael. Let’s just try it a couple more times and then I do want you to rest, okay?” Max sent a wave of loving energy through to Liz. Her eyes thanked him as she sat up to try again.
About a half hour later they stopped and chatted about the results of the experiment.
“I couldn’t find any memories in there at all. You’re really good at blocking them. I’m glad that you let me in before we started again, or I would have just thought that I didn’t know how to look for them!” Liz chuckled at the memory that she had retrieved when Max had let her in to make sure she could do it if he allowed it.
“I didn’t know you were so clumsy on roller skates!” Liz laughed out loud at the embarrassed expression on Max’s face. He had been at a mutual friends birthday party when they were eleven years old and he had been so caught up in the fact that Liz was there, that he had skated right into four people, knocking them all to the ground. Liz had never even noticed at the time, she had been chatting with Alex and Maria over by the snack bar.
“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten up so fast in my life! I was just praying that you wouldn’t notice the geeky kid that caused a four man collision!” Max shook his head at the memory.
“Well, you were lucky! I never saw a thing.” Liz moved over to make room for Max on the bed. He settled in beside her.
“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Michael edged toward the door, having flashbacks of the last time he’d seen them together on that bed.
“You don’t have to go, Michael,” Max put in quickly. He’d invited him over to get his input on how to go about these training sessions, and Michael had offered several helpful suggestions throughout the day.
“Maybe we could all watch a movie or something,” Liz put in. She was encouraged by the friendly interaction between Max and Michael today and didn’t want to see it come to an end.
They argued lightheartedly about which movie they should watch from her parent’s large collection of videos. They settled on a comedy and laughed together over pizza for the next two hours.
As Michael was preparing to leave they set up a time for the following evening to work together again after Max finished his shift at the UFO Center.
“I was thinking that this time you should try to block her out while you’re touching. See if that makes it harder or something. What do you think?” Michael asked.
“That’s a really good idea. Tess might try to touch you or hold your hand or something.” Liz looked to Max for his reaction.
He shuddered at the thought of allowing Tess to touch him in any way. “Yeah, that’s a good idea, Michael, knowing Tess, she’ll probably try something.”
“One more thing. Today she was asking around about where Alex was. I put her off by telling her that he’s been really tired lately and so he can’t hang around as much. I think that she might be worried that her mind warp is wearing off.” Michael took in the dismayed expressions of his friends.
“We have to get rid of her by Monday. There’s no way we can let her get to Alex again,” Max stated grimly.
“Have you thought about how you’re going to kill her?” Michael asked. “Because I could do it. There’s no reason that you have to get your hands dirty offing that bitch. I’m your second, it’s my job to be the protector, and it’s not like I haven’t killed before.” Michael was absolutely sincere. He didn’t want Max to go through the terrible jumble of mixed emotions that he had gone through after killing Pierce. Even knowing that Pierce was a heartless bastard and deserved to die, it had been difficult to reconcile his death in his own mind. He had taken a life. Killing Tess might be even harder, because it was a pre-planned event, not something spontaneous in the heat of the moment.
“I think this is something I have to do myself,” Max said softly.
“I can back you up then,” Michael insisted.
“I think the less people involved, the better. Besides, I want you to stay with Liz until it’s all over and I come back.” Max looked at Michael and hoped he understood the trust he was placing in his friend.
Michael nodded his acknowledgement slowly and went out the door.
Liz turned to hug Max. “I don’t like the idea of you going out into the desert alone with Tess.”
“Isabel is going to follow us out there to make sure nothing goes wrong. She wants to see Tess dead just as much as we do. I really think she would like to be the one to finish her off after what Tess did to her in our last life.”
“Well, that’s a little better if Isabel will be there too, but I still think it’s too dangerous.”
Max stroked her hair back soothingly and kissed her forehead. “We can’t do anything to her here in town, it would be too obvious. We have to be isolated to get rid of her body.” Max took her hand and led her back to her room. “What do you say we scan through this disk of Alex’s and see if we can find anything useful?”
Liz shuddered at the thought of touching the disk again. Max caught her distaste and reassured her that he would handle that part himself. He loaded up the diskette and they spent the next several hours with their fascinated eyes glued to the computer screen as they learned all of the many applications of the Granolith.
Max eventually sat back and scrubbed over his tired eyes with the heels of his hands. “We have got to be sure to send Alex a thank you card for this. If this ever got back to our enemies, we’d be finished! I guess we know how I can get rid of Tess now, huh?”
Liz just nodded her head in numb agreement.
TBC