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

[L-J-L 76]

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

From:
L-J-L 76

[max and liz believer]

So, I don't know about you, but I'm very relieved that the board is back. And since one of you (you know who you are ) suggested that I'd celebrate this, I'm doing a double post today.

But first, the spotlight is on you, my dear readers

Ashley (Morning Dreamgirl)

Okay, the veterinarian in me says 'N0!' (due to animal welfare and such), but the rest of me chants: I want a pygmy goat. I want a pygmy goat.

Max is stubborn. And he's probably kicking himself over it. Because it has a way of getting in the way of his own happiness. As stubbornness has a way of doing.

Which brings me on to the next point - Max's father. I have this horrible suspicion that the nurse is wrong in regards to the hospital that they're taking Liz to. The whole "hesitation" thing doesn't bode well. And seriously?! How do you not remember which hospital they're going to transport her to?

Ha. I'm afraid I'm making you paranoid I would be like the nurse, not remembering which hospital had been mentioned, because I had been too occupied and worried about this unusually weak patient of mine. So, maybe that's just it. The nurse's mind was a bit preoccupied. But I guess you'll find out in the following chapter.

I'm thinking Max didn't actually try to get rid of the bond. After all, if Liz (technically a human) was able to, then he should (theoretically) be able to as well. So if he could and he didn't then it stands to reason that he didn't actually try. Or, at the very least, he didn't try very hard. He wants her there. He wants her in his mind if he can't have her right next to him. He wants to feel her and know her in a way he hasn't been able to before and I doubt he would let that go unless absolutely forced to.

It really does seem as if his heart isn't in breaking the bond, doesn't it?

But still it wasn't right for him to yell at her at that particular time. Not only was she not trying to shut off the bond but she wasn't even under the impression that she could. Even if she did know all of that she's literally just been attacked by a horrible person (who deserves to be buried in the desert and not just dropped off in it) and is so incredibly weakened that she literally would have died without Max intervening. So maybe not the best timing on his part (even if it wasn't how he planned on reacting).

No, it was not really fair of Max to react like that. Liz had in fact only succeeded in what he had claimed needed to be done. But, as you've noted, Max's feelings are all over the place and that's probably because he's fighting with himself on all of this. He knows what he should do and what is expected of him. But at the same time, he doesn't want to.

Loved your rant about the kiss, btw

I'm surprised that Max wasn't expecting Liz to fight Sean. She fights them all when she has her check ups so why would now be any different, especially given she knows the truth about Sean? I can see him being shocked that she was able to do so well at it but he had to know that she would fight.

Well, maybe he wasn't that much surprised about Liz fighting back, but rather the level (intensity) at which she fought him. Max already knows that she's a fighter, but she just keeps on surprising him, I guess.

Thank you, so much, for the feedback

Helen (Roswelllostcause) - Haha, yeah, everyone should have a Max close by in times of need Thank you for the feedback!

L-J-L 76 - I think a lot of us have the same hopes as you mention... Thank you for the feedback and the bump!

Eve (begonia9508)

She just wanted to protect Max from Sean, I guess...

Yep, in a way she did.

Thank you for the feedback!

Carolyn (keepsmiling7) - Some more answers to come, I promise. And yes, who wouldn't fight Sean's advances if they had the ability to... Thank you for the feedback!


From THIRTY-ONE:

”Are you feeling worse again, Liz?” the nurse asked.

The glass trembled in my hand, its content vibrating against the insides of the container. Max reached out and quickly took the glass from me, before I could spill the water all over myself.

”Blood,” I whispered, finally getting my vocal cords working.

”What?” Max asked, leaning in closer.

I tried to focus on the warmth he was emitting (why was he always so warm?) instead of the thought of the needles. Of the blood.

In Max’s presence, it hadn’t worried me too much that I’d had to give blood. Maybe it was some unconscious remnant of him always being present (even though I couldn’t really remember it), during the aliens’ nightly blood sampling during my upbringing. Because from what I could remember, Max seemed to have always played the role of the comforter, of the person that removed the pain and made everything better at the end.

But with the threat of Max leaving, my fear of needles and blood came rushing back.

”Could you stay?” I asked, my voice almost too quiet to be audible.

His eyes flickered to the prepared syringes, the vacutainer and the tourniquet on the small metallic tray table next to the bed and I watched understanding hit him.

He gave me a crooked half-smile, reclaimed his seat in the chair next to the bed and grabbed my cold hand. ”Class can wait.”

____________________________________

THIRTY-TWO

I averted my eyes as the nurse at the hospital connected the bag of IV fluids to the intravenous catheter taped to the back of my left hand. Fortunately, the school nurse had taken the initiative to place the iv catheter while still at school, which meant that Max had been there, holding my hand, during the procedure.

I remember looking at Max in surprise as I had felt a comforting warmth spread through my body, just seconds before the nurse had punctured my skin. I had felt like laughing at the innocent expression on his face while he was pretending that he was doing nothing more than holding my hand.

When in fact, he had been soothing the pain of that small puncture of my skin, even though it would only sting for a second. My heart had trembled at the gesture, making me study his face more closely. He hadn’t met my pensive gaze, his attention focused on the nurse as she was taping the iv catheter to my skin, which had given me ample opportunity to make an attempt at cracking his appeared expression of indifference.

”There. All done.”

The memory of Max’s face disintegrated in front of me and I turned to look at the smiling nurse, before glancing down at the thin plastic tube attached to my hand.

”Thanks,” I mumbled distractedly. My head was still hurting, but at least my energy wasn’t so low since Max had ’refueled me’. A fresh blush crept up my cheeks at the thought of that refill.

”The doctor will be with you soon,” the nurse said, her smile softening. ”You just sit tight.”

Fortunately, Max’s magic trick had probably saved me from the rather uncomfortable procedure of getting my stomach pumped. Which in all likelihood would’ve happened had I been just as semi-comatose when arriving at the hospital as I had been in that locker room.

I looked up as the nurse turned to leave the room, drawn by the commotion coming from the corridor outside of the open door.

”Oh, this is it. This must be it. Come along, Mr. P.”

Maria.

A relieved smile broke out across my face as she tumbled around the doorway. But that smile quickly disintegrated as I saw the thin shape of my dad being pulled by Maria.

Daddy.

Maria was on the taller side for a girl; slender with long legs that sometimes seemed to go on for miles. With her blonde hair in a wavy halo around her head and a breathless agitated expression on her face, she looked very much like your everyday Maria DeLuca.

What struck me was my dad. I hadn’t seen him out in public for so long; only holed up on the couch at home. But now, seeing him next to Maria’s slight frame (which he normally would’ve appeared broad-chested and masculine next to), it hit me just how small my dad had become. He was now not much wider than Maria, the clothes hanging off his body like off a scarecrow and the arms - sticking out of his T-shirt - looked thin, veiny and sinewy. Nothing like the muscled arms of the father that, usually, could lift me off the ground and spin me around - even after I had reached full Elizabeth Parker size.

”Oh, Lizzie,” Maria breathed in excited relief as she let go of my dad and quickly moved up to my bed.

”Hi, Maria,” I said and glanced - feeling nervous, vulnerable and exposed in the eyes of my father - briefly in dad’s direction, ”Hi, Daddy.”

Maria reached out and wrapped her long fingers around my catheter-free hand in a comforting squeeze, before letting go to - in a whirlwind of energy that was only Maria - spin around and start pulling chairs up next to the bed.

”Here, Mr. P,” she said, pointing towards the chair closest to the head of the bed. ”Take a seat.”

”You really didn’t have to come,” I said, observing how Maria discreetly held her hands in the air behind my dad’s emaciated shape as he moved, as if she was prepared to catch his body if he were to fall.

Even though I wanted to find it ridiculous (Why should my 61-year-old father be treated as a sick 80-year-old?), I had that same protective feelings of wariness coursing through me as I watched his careful walk.

My body was infused with love at how Maria was looking after my father.

Instead of taking the offered seat, my father leaned over me, his concerned blue eyes searching my pale face, before he pressed a kiss to my forehead. My mouth went dry at the gesture, feeling protected and guilty all at the same time. I desperately searched my mind for words to reassure him that I was fine, but he interrupted me with the quiet words of, ”My sweet baby girl,” which made me swallow hard.

”Don’t be ridiculous,” Maria huffed, probably not having heard my father’s solemn statement as she commented on my previous remark. ”Of course we came.”

I smiled faintly at my friend as my dad pulled back and took the offered seat next to Maria. I briefly wondered how much more Maria was doing in the background. How much she had been helping out, even without me knowing it. I had been a bit out of it lately, too messed up with alien issues and intermittent health matters to focus on my dad.

The guilt which had been creeping around in the background was slowly bubbling up my throat and it might’ve threatened to choke me hadn’t Maria started talking.

”This place is like the freaking Fort Knox! I should’ve just gone with you in the ambulance, when Max wasn’t allowed to. That way I wouldn’t have lost sight of you.” She looked to my dad and added, ”But then I wouldn’t have been able to pick Mr. P up, of course. And he certainly made it easier for me to get in here.” She scrunched her nose up in disapproval. ”’Family Only’ and all that crap.”

Max had still been with me when the ambulance had arrived, and he had offered to come along, but the EMTs had stopped him - saying that it was only for family. Feeling much better at that point, I had assured Max that I was fine - afraid that him coming along might worsen the appearance of Max’s involvement in this situation.

”They probably wouldn’t have let you come along in the ambulance anyway,” I said.

Maria looked a bit lost for a second, the annoyance losing its place in her appearance as she looked at me closely, ”I just didn’t want you to think that I had just left you - to go to the hospital alone. I mean, after what happened-”

”What did happen?” my dad interjected and mortification spread up my cheeks at the scarce number of answers I could provide for that question.

Time to include my dad in the Club of Deception.

I looked down at the white clean sheet tucked around my midsection, absent-mindedly fiddling with the material while I mumbled, ”There’s this boy at school-”

”He’s an asshole,” Maria declared simply and, startled at her frank words, I looked up at my dad to gauge his reaction.

Dad frowned, saying slowly, ”Okay…”

”He’s not an asshole,” I protested weakly, but couldn’t really meet Maria’s eyes as I said so. ”He’s-”

”There was a police car parked outside of school when I left, you know,” Maria interrupted and my heart tripped as I looked at her. ”And you know as well as I do why it was there, Lizzie. Good guys don’t get visits from the police.”

”Maria told me that he…took advantage of you,” my dad said, his voice strained, and I felt the heat of embarrassment creep up my cheeks. This was almost as bad as having ’The Talk’ with your parents.

”He sure as hell tried,” Maria grumbled.

I wanted to back Maria up and tell my dad what a creep Sean was. I wanted to tell them both of how Sean had practically stalked me, made me feel very uncomfortable and frightened these last couple of weeks, and that he had in fact tried to ’take advantage’ of me.

But I knew that I couldn’t do that. I was afraid of my words coming back to not only hurt me but mostly Max. What would Sean be like if I pissed him off? I had a feeling that the stunt Max had just pulled - involving both Maria and the principal in the incident - was not going to be appreciated by the ’alien community’. I really shouldn’t make it worse by feeding into the allegations.

I shot Maria a look before saying, ”There was a misunderstanding. He-”

Maria inhaled so sharply that I lost what I was saying as she sprung from her seat. ”Oh, come on! You can’t be serious! He almost raped you, Lizzie!”

I froze, my eyes flickering to my dad’s tight frame before I hissed under my breath, ”Maria.”

”He gave you something, didn’t he?” my dad asked, his voice strong and teetering on angry. It was the most emotion I’d seen from him in a long time. ”Is this the sergeant’s son?”

”Yes and yes,” Maria answered in my place. ”And not just that. He’s been following Liz around for awhile now.”

My dad frowned, ”Why haven’t you said anything earlier?”

I bit my lip, fighting the confusing emotions inside of me. I was defending something I didn’t even support. Something that made me sick. ”You were not feeling well, Dad. I didn’t want to bother-”

My dad leaned forward in his chair and grabbed the hand that Maria had released when she had leaped from her chair. She was currently pacing the floor over by the door, looking ready to explode.

”You are never a bother to me,” his voice was strong and determined. ”If anything were to happen to you…” He shook his head as his hand tightened around mine. I fought the scalding tears in my eyes. ”You need to tell me these things.”

”I know,” I whispered, feeling like I was four years old, being reprimanded.

”This boy, is he dangerous?” my dad implored, his probing gaze making it impossible for me to look away.

”Of course he is,” Maria interrupted, stalking up to the hospital bed and narrowing stormy eyes at me. ”What did he give you?”

”I don’t know,” I answered evasively, while my still tired brain was trying to come up with an explanation. I was pretty sure that the drug test wouldn’t reveal any drugs, which meant it was not a good idea to just make up one type of drug as an explanation. But I had to give some explanation as to why I had been so out of it when Maria, the principal and Max had ’come upon me’.

I swallowed. ”It’s all a blur.”

My dad looked at me with cold determination. ”We’re gonna file a report.”

I let my eyes drift closed and felt for the hum at the back of my mind.

What should I do, Max?

But of course, there was no answer. It was not the first time that I wondered how he had been able to speak to me before, even at a great physical distance, and why it wasn’t possible now. Now, when I needed to get our stories straight.

I opened my eyes and forced strength into my voice, ”Please don’t.”

I felt the air around Maria vibrate with anger as I looked at my father. There was a deep line between his eyes as he met my eyes with confused annoyance.

”What?” Maria snapped. ”Of course you have to report him.”

I shook my head, still looking at my quiet father. ”I don’t want to make this into a big deal. Everyone at school-” I dropped my head and deliberately fiddled with the bed spread. ”Everyone’s gonna know.”

”So?” Maria implored, bewilderment laced with barely restrained anger.

I looked up at my best friend, my protector and confidant, and my face flushed with the chagrin about the lies I was weaving. ”It’s gonna turn into this big thing. They’re gonna treat me differently.” I swallowed, watching Maria’s anger drain out of her green eyes. ”You understand, right Ria?”

I could see her fighting with herself, her eyes flickering to my father for unspoken advice.

But my father was still watching me closely, his eyes searching my face while the room was draped in a suffocating silence.

”Please,” I repeated in a whispered attempt to break the silence.

”No one has to know,” Maria said quietly, looking at my dad for confirmation. ”Right, Mr. P? They can do these report thingies quietly.”

Dad’s sigh was loud and elongated as he dropped his eyes from my face and leaned back in his chair. Rubbing his hands down his face he mumbled, ”These things have a way to be heard.”

Maria shook her head, sighing, ”Maybe this discussion is moot anyway. They probably already know, you know. I mean, the police car. And Sean in the principal’s office.” Maria lowered her voice as she added seriously, ”You need to show them that you won’t take this kind of treatment, Lizzie. You need to show them that it’s not okay.”

My body felt cold. So cold. Of course I needed to stand up for myself and send the message that boys couldn’t treat girls like that. Because even if what Sean had done barely constituted a suspension (considering that they would end up with a negative drug test and him never actually doing anything to me), I wanted to report his ass into the next high secured prison so that he would get as far away from me as possible.

But I couldn’t.

The tremble in my voice was real, even though the reason behind it was not the same as my visitors probably thought, as I mumbled brokenly, ”I can’t deal with this right now, Ria. I just want it to go away.”

Maria stared at me silently and I could almost see the thoughts running back and forth through her head as she debated with herself.

Then my dad squeezed my hand and decided with a sigh, ”Let’s not make any decisions like that right now. I still think you should report him, Lizzie. He needs to pay the consequences of what he’s done. But for now, you should focus on getting some rest.”

”But-” Maria started, but was silenced by the look my father threw in her direction.

”Thanks, Daddy,” I whispered, returning the squeeze of his hand around mine.

My heart was beating at double rate as I tried to think myself out of this situation. What was I supposed to do now?

How did I get myself out of this?

Would Sean be punished for what he had done? Would he be punished by human law or alien law? Would Sean’s father cover it up? Use his military contacts? Use his alien abilities?

Plus: Didn’t the aliens still believe that my memory had been erased by Max? And Sean hadn’t had a chance to erase my brain after what he had put me through this afternoon, since he had been interrupted. Was I considered a loose cannon yet again? Would they come after me? Again?

I tightened my hand around my dad’s and caught his eyes, ”Will you stay with me, Dad?”

He looked surprised for a second, before he murmured, voicing the obvious, ”Of course, Ella. I’m not going anywhere.”

My heartbeat slowed down. Good. Good.

Taking a deep breath, I managed a weak smile for my dad. They wouldn’t try anything as long as my dad was here, right?

”I'll stay too, babe,” Maria said, her voice strong and clear.

My heart clenched, once again reminded of the fact that I was nowadays forced to lie to her on a daily basis. And she really didn’t deserve it.

My smile fluttered in her direction as I said, ”Thanks, Ria.”


TBC... (in the next post)

[max and liz believer]

THIRTY-THREE

It was in the middle of the night, just a couple of hours after I had returned home from the hospital, when Max woke me up.

He didn’t scare me this time. Didn’t hide in the shadows until I woke up with a scream lodged painfully in my chest from a nightmare.

This time, I awoke to the sensation of warm fingers caressing along my bare arm and the brush of lips against the shell of my ear as his dark masculine voice asked me to, ”Wake up, Liz.”

I groaned in protest, still predominately in the land of the sleeping, and turned my head away from his.

I vaguely heard his sigh, before I felt something touch my neck. Something soft, warm and…wet?

My eyes flew open as I realized that he had kissed my neck.

He laughed quietly behind me, whispering, ”I thought that would get your attention.”

I quickly turned my head, finding his beautiful face looking down at me and on reflex I licked my sleep-dried lips and assured myself that my shirt hadn’t ridden up or anything like that.

”Max?” I murmured sleepily, discreetly brushing the back of my hand over my mouth, to ascertain that I didn’t have any drool on my face. ”What are you doing here?”

”Shhh,” he hushed, an almost mischievous twinkle in his eyes. ”We don’t want to wake your dad.” His eyes turned darker, the twinkle disappearing, as he pointedly inclined his head in question, ”Do we?”

No. We didn’t. I quite clearly remembered that Max had controlled my dad’s brain during his last visit in my bedroom.

Before that memory could make me wish that Max wasn’t standing in front of me in the middle of the night, I repeated - more softly this time, ”What are you doing here?”

”We’re going on a ride,” Max explained calmly.

I frowned. ”In the middle of the night?”

”We need to talk,” Max added as a means of explanation.

”In the middle of the night?” I repeated.

He sighed and rolled his eyes and threw a pair of jeans at me. ”Get dressed, Parker.”

Had he been going through my wardrobe? I blushed. How dare-

”I’ll be outside,” Max interrupted my inner monologue and disappeared out the bedroom door.

*****

”Is that all you’re wearing?”

I looked down at my jeans and my thick hoodie, and frowned. ”Yes?”

”Hmm,” he huffed disapprovingly and opened the door to the passenger seat. ”Step onboard, my lady.”

”Thanks,” I mumbled, still trying to chase the heavy tendrils of sleep out of my head.

The clock in the car read 1.37 as Max turned the ignition. I fastened my seatbelt and tried to make myself comfortable in my seat.

Which was easier said than done, considering the constant tension between us. A twenty minutes car ride in silence wouldn’t do that tension much good.

But that was what we were up for.

My tired brain couldn’t find anything to talk about, and Max didn’t seem inclined to talk at all (ironic when talking had been the actual reason he had pulled me out of bed in the middle of the night).

But I was never scared. Not once was I worried about where Max was taking me. Not once did I reflect on the fact that Max could do whatever he wanted with me - out in the middle of nowhere - in the pitch darkness of the night.

Not even when he pulled the car off-road, following a pair of parallel barely-there tracks into the cold and unforgiving desert, did I worry.

But I did wonder what he wanted to talk to me about, which warranted him bringing me to such a desolated place, so far away from civilization.

As the car rattled along the uneven road, I quietly mulled over the fact that Max had been the first alien to visit me that night. Considering what Sean had done to me, and that his behavior might seem suspicious to a mere human (which I was supposed to be in my state of ’recently cleanly wiped memory’), I had expected him to pay me a visit. Either at the hospital or later. To ’take care of things’. To make sure that I hadn’t told my father anything. Or Maria.

But maybe Sean was actually being reprimanded. By the police, or even his own father.

Still, would they really just leave me alone after something like that?

Not that I was complaining. I was more than relieved that Max had gotten to me first.

As the car came to a stop, at the base of a lonely small cliff formation, I unbuckled my seatbelt while he moved around the car to open the door for me.

”You okay?” he asked, looking at me closely.

I nodded, idly wondering why he was asking me that. I had only been in a car with him. Did he think that he scared me? That just being around him made me nervous?

He offered me his hand and helped me out of the car. As I straightened up next to the car, he reached in behind the passenger seat and collected a rolled-up blanket.

Slamming the door shut behind him, he met my eyes and pointed to somewhere behind me. ”Let’s go over there.”

”Max, what are we doing here?” I asked tentatively, as I fell in step behind him.

He unrolled the blanket on the sandy ground and took a step back. He didn’t tell me to sit. He didn’t take a seat himself.

Instead he just stood there, staring at the blanket on the ground, his hands fisting along his sides.

”Max?” I asked again and took a step towards him.

The look in his eyes as he looked up at me, stopped my advance. ”We need to talk.”

”Yeah,” I breathed, and twinge of nervousness fluttered through me. ”You already said that.”

”I needed to make sure that no one heard us,” Max continued.

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me, as his eyes had returned to its eerie unseeing observation of the blanket. ”I kinda got that.” Was there really any other reason why he had brought me to the most desolated place in New Mexico?

”I know that you…” he swallowed and looked up at me, ”I know that you think you have feelings for me-”

This again?

”I do-” I started, but he cut my protest off with a raised hand.

”Let me finish.”

I bit my lip and nodded.

He looked guilty for a second and mumbled, ”Thank you.” Brushing his hands through his hair he walked a couple of steps away from me. ”But I was serious about what I said before. Your feelings might just be a part of the connection.”


He looked at me again; intense eyes burning through the dark night. ”A connection is a very strong thing. All of us aliens can form a connection. It’s not that common in human-alien relationships though.”

”But the gene…” I prompted.

He nodded, ”Yeah, the gene makes it possible to bond an alien with a human. But the gene mostly benefits the aliens, as you’ve probably started to understand. The human body doesn’t seem too equipped at dealing with the aliens’ energy needs.”

He cleared his throat, his jaw muscles visibly clenching. ”What I’m trying to say is that the connection between aliens can be likened to what humans call ’love’. It’s something that brings you together, makes you want to stay with that person, protect and cherish. It makes you want to…procreate and grow old together.”

I wrapped my arms around my middle, feeling the cold desert air seep though my clothes. ”So you’re saying that aliens don’t feel love?”

He turned troubled and introspective. ”Aliens don’t feel much of anything. That’s probably why the connection came about. Without it, we wouldn’t have anything to fight for. No need to build families or communities. We would just be savages, running on primal needs for food and sex.”

I swallowed, my imagination conjuring up an image of all the aliens in Roswell running around preying on and raping humans.

”That’s why they weren’t normal at that party,” Max added quietly. ”At least not normal by human standards.”

”So… Michael invited me to a strictly alien party,” I stated in a whisper. I had suspected that Maria and I had been the only humans at that party (judging from Max’s reaction), but I hadn’t been sure.

”Yes.” Max’s face reddened with anger. ”He shouldn’t have done that.”

”Why did he?” I asked, seriously wanting to know. Wasn’t Michael a friend of Max?

”Michael likes to shock humans. Loves to put you all ill at ease. He thrives on the power that his alienness brings him.” He sounded annoyed, frustrated.

”He wanted Maria,” I whispered.

Max shook his head, irritated, brushing off my insinuation of a possible infatuation on Michael’s side. ”A conquest.”

I chilled, tightening my arms around my middle. How could Max be friends with someone like that?

As if reading me - as he seemed to have a tendency to - Max said, ”He’s not my friend. At least not in your sense of the word.” His face turned grim as he added, ”He’s my protector.”

”Your…?” I frowned.

”Remember that I told you that healing was a rare ability? That we held a respected position in our community?”

I nodded.

”Certain families are set out to be our protectors.”

”Bodyguards?” I suggested, finding a term that was more familiar to me.

He gave me a weak smile. ”Yeah.”

”Then…” Irritation flowed through me. ”Then why do they keep beating you up? If you are to be protected and you’re considered…rare…?”

Max paused and he averted his eyes. Brushing at the sand with his sneaker, he said, ”It’s not like we carry some diplomatic immunity or anything. Besides, they know how to hurt someone without leaving any permanent damage.”

My breaths stopped as my stomach curled with nausea. ”That’s sick.”

”Just like you have laws, we have laws.” Max was still not looking at me. ”If we disobey, we get punished.”

”How did you disobey?”

His eyes snapped to mine meaningfully and I paled as his gaze told me the answer.

”It’s because of me, isn’t it?” I whispered. ”They’re hurting you because of me.”

The pain was so overwhelming that I wanted to fold in on myself. Was the empathy and guilt I felt in that moment only based on an alien connection, like Max tried to convince me of? Not human love?

But I remained standing, keeping my tears at bay.

Maybe he was trying to ease my obvious distress, because he offered me a weak sheepish smile. ”I’ve been breaking a lot of laws lately.”

I wasn’t sure if that was suppose to make me feel better about the methods of his world. ”And Sean is ratting you out…?”

I knew the answer to that even before he replied, ”He’s the son.”

”So the sergeant is like your chief of police?” My mouth was dry and there was blinding anger blazing through me.

I wanted to get my hands on that sergeant. I wanted to do serious harm to him.

If only he hadn't been male, or a lot bigger than me, or a trained military man, or an alien…

Max inhaled deeply, all signs of attempts at smiling gone. He ran his hands through his hair, his shoulders slumping forward. ”I don’t know what to do.”

I stilled at his vulnerability. At his (completely out of the blue) acknowledgement of a lack of control.

”I can’t find a solution to this.” I startled as I saw the unmistakable sheen of tears in his eyes when he looked up at me, and my heart clenched in worry. I wasn’t sure how to react, what to do.

”If I let you go, if I break the connection, Sean will bond with you. And his dad will let him. Healers are not supposed to bond with gaea-humans. Our military are. They are the ones that need the extra power, the extra strength. By forming a connection to you-” He shook his head in resignation. ”I’ve broken so many laws.” His jaw clenched. ”You were never meant for me.”

A tear rolled down my cheek at his lonely declaration.

”By the sound of it, I was never meant for me,” I mumbled.

Being born with that gene, I was cursed from the start. I was always destined to become a drone. A brainless slave to an alien population.

Max looked nauseous as he continued, ”That’s why we’ve been watching you all these years. Why Sean has been coming along to take your blood, to check your development. Sarge wanted Sean to familiarize himself with your brain. He wanted him to practice on erasing your mind, so that he wouldn’t have any problems doing it later - when you were his.” He pushed the last word out with disgust.

His.

”It’s not just the connection,” I whispered, trying to divert him away from his dark thoughts and return his attention to the claim about my feelings for him only being due to a connection. ”I saw into your mind, Max. When you healed me-”

”About that-” Max tried to interrupt, but I interrupted him back.

”I know I did. And I know what I saw. Even before you healed me, you felt something for me.”

He looked at me silently, his face not revealing much. But I could feel the mix of his conflicting feelings through our bond.

”What do you want me to do?” he whispered, taking a step towards me. ”Do you have a solution to this?”

”I-” I started, but realized that I didn’t have anything to say.

Instead, Max continued, a dark, humorless smile on his lips. ”Because they will never let us be together. They will either kill you or me. Or both of us.”

”Why?” I cried, my frustration breaking with my fear. ”We’re special. Both of us! You’re a healer and I have a fucking miracle gene! Why would they kill us?”

He closed the distance between us, and I looked up into his dark face, into his tired eyes. He brought his hand up and brushed his thumb over my wet cheek. I hadn’t realized I was crying.

”Because a healer is not supposed to be with a fucking miracle,” he stated quietly.

”So your big plan is- what?” I trembled, frustrated.

We were at a dead end. If we followed orders and broke the connection, Sean would be quick to sweep in and remove my future. If we disobeyed, we would either have to go into hiding or expect to get ’eliminated’.

His thumb brushed over my bottom lip as he slowly observed, ”I don’t know.”

”Max-” I whispered, longing in my voice, as I leaned into him.

He brought his forehead down to rest against mine and he added sadly, ”Either option is a death sentence for you.”

I closed my eyes, trying not to break, as the conclusion I had already reached in the silence of my own mind was spoken out loud. My physical body would be killed were I to insist on sticking with Max. But my mental being would be killed if I were to connect with Sean. The only question was; Which was the less evil option of the two?

”Is there a possibility that Sean will grow tired of me?” I asked and looked up at him. ”Maybe I just have to put up with him for a year or two before he grows tired of me. Finds someone more alluring, someone beautiful.”

He sighed disappointedly and angled his head to brush his lips against mine. The simple way he had just kissed me - without having a reason to - made shots of electricity tickle my lips and I barely heard what he said next through the energized buzz in my head, ”You really don’t know how enticing you are, Ms. Parker. It’s not just that gene, there’s something about you. You’re not just stunning and disarmingly captivating, you are pure. From the inside and out. And you fight. You fight to be yourself, not folding for anyone. Not even alien powers. You won’t even let me tell you that your feelings are the result of a connection.”

My whole body heated at his short monologue. I was about as good at taking compliments as he seemed to be, so my eyes dropped in embarrassment at his frank observation and I decided that the only safe route right then was to keep it light.

”What was your excuse this time?” I whispered, a teasing note in my voice.

”For what?” he mumbled, taken out of momentum.

”For kissing me.”

There was a brief smile on his face, his eyes momentarily brightening. ”I couldn’t live another second without kissing you.”

I laughed softly. ”Cheesy.”

”I can be really cheesy,” he replied.

Though he was aiming for light and humorous, I doubted that he actually could be cheesy on a regular basis. I pictured his life as gravely restricted, both by his own race and by not being able to be himself amongst the main species occupying Earth.

”I don’t believe you,” I said softly.

”I didn’t expect you to.” He took a step back, letting the cold desert air put space between us, and I felt the change in his mood before I witnessed it on his face. ”After what happened earlier today, you are no longer safe.”

The almost romantic one-on-one-moment came to a screeching halt, and all the fluttering butterflies in my stomach withered up and died.


TBC...

[Morning Dreamgirl]

I love your double post. God bless the person who suggested it! I vote for three!

Okay, gonna go read again. And again. And again.

[Roswelllostcause]

Oh I so want to kick Sean and his father off the face of the earth! Max should be able to be with whoever he wants!



Helen

[dreamon]

After I got back from vacation your fics are the first ones that I read and I'm glad I did! What twists and turns and we finally have some answers too.

I'm just loving your work and eagerly awaiting more!!!

[L-J-L 76]

Great Chapter!!!! Please please please please please please please please please please come back and post more really really really really soon? I can't wait to read what Max and Liz will do. So Maria thinks that Liz should press charges to Sean. I don't know if that would be a good idea or not. I can't believe Maria is trying to push Liz. I can understand that Liz is wanting to drop it. Because then everyone will know and start bothering Liz about it. Poor Jeff he doesn't know what to do or think about everything. Oh I love the way Max woke Liz up. I would be love to be woke up like that. I'm glad Max and Liz talked. I can't believe Max the healer is not allowed to be with Liz. But Sean is because of his father. I think that is the dumbest thing ever. I think Max and Liz should be together if they want and screw anyone that wants to tear them apart. So Sean, Sean's father and other people are beating Max up for being with Liz. I would tell them to go to hell. But that is just me. I'm glad Max explained somethings to Liz and try to get her to understand. I hope Max and Liz will find away to be together. And I hope someone will hurt Sean before he uses his powers on Liz and rape her.

From:
L-J-L 76

[mezz]

A wonderful way to celebrate. Two posts is great. (You should celebrate more often )

Glad you said about Michael. I was wondering why Michael would invite Liz and Maria to the party when it was dangerous. He obviously hadn't been expecting Max's fury. So Michael is bodyguard and protector. Me thinks he's going to have to stand up and do his job a bit better and be more the vigilante he can be. There was the suggestion that some bonds can't be broken and given the title I'm assuming this bond is one of them. Perhaps the alien community is going to have to readjust themselves accordingly. After all, they are living in secret under human law. I wonder if the police are alien or human. There has to be some sort of code that coincides with the human law. Also, Sarge was bonded to Liz's mum and he didn't get the prize he wanted so there's a story there that needs to come out. Perhaps, hopefully, Jeff knows more than we think.

Any way. Two parts was equally satisfying and unsatisfying as for now the situation is simply more dire. Cute kisses from Max though. It would seem he's finding Miss Liz more and more irresistible. Also, his dad thinks the memory is gone but know the bond is still intact. What is he going to do?

[begonia9508]

WoW!!!

I was right; they should try to run away... at least, Liz with her father and don't tell me that they are not free to travel around their own world!

Would be nice if something happened to Sean and his dad, no? their planet falling on their head or even maybe aliens mutiny!

So anyway, waiting for your solution to reslove this BIG problem! EVE

PS An aliens revolution?

EVE

[keepsmiling7]

Loved the one on one moment!
Thanks,
Carolyn