Roswell Fanatics

Chapter Fifty

“Kendra?” Michael blurted out his voice mirroring the horror painted across his face. “Tell me you’re kidding, Maxwell!”

“What? Why?” Max asked eyeing Michael’s uniform and wondering if it was as uncomfortable as it looked.

“What exactly are you thinking with? Kendra LeFluer, that’s who you hire of all people. Jesus, Max!” Rubbing his hand over his face he didn’t know whether to laugh or just shoot himself before Maria got her hands on him. “This is on you. When asked I’m blaming you.”

“What are you talking about, Michael?” Max asked exasperated.

“Have you seen her? Did you even interview her?” Michael shot back irritably. He’d had a draining day so far and this wasn’t making it better. Maria was insane. He wasn’t sure he was going to live long enough to see the birth of his child and having Kendra LeFluer wannabe Playboy bunny around wasn’t likely to help him out any. Jesus.

“No, Cal vetted the applicants. I asked her to meet us here, for an interview. She’ll be here in a few minutes,” Max answered suddenly a little concerned. What was wrong with Kendra? She looked perfect on paper.

“Shit! I’m outta here,” Michael said glancing around to make sure Kendra wasn’t already in the café. Maria was supposed to be meeting Liz at the park but she had radar for this sort of thing.

“Wait! Where are you going? We still have to talk about Liz going to MetaChem,” Max said when Michael started to slide out of their booth.

“Just tell her to call me before she shows up. Give me a day at least to check the place out.”

“What’s wrong with Kendra?” Max demanded halting Michael before he could escape.

“You spent more time in school then I did. Are you telling me you don’t know her?” Michael demanded in frustration. “Blonde, blue eyes, a rack that could put an eye out? Christ, Maxwell, Liz is going to just love you working with Kendra every day. What the hell’s a matter with you?” The genuine confusion on Max’s face answered his question. Of course Max didn’t remember her. She wasn’t Liz. Max could probably remember every detail of Liz’s appearance on any given day all the back to third grade but the chick that looked like a walking porn star escaped his attention. Sad really.

“You’re going to be working with her too,” Max pointed out.

“Oh hell no,” Michael shook his head. “Maria’s getting crazier with every ounce the baby gains. There’s no way in hell I’m going any where near that chick. Pam Troy corners me once on the street and Maria almost took my head off, with all the practice she’s been getting lately her aim is getting better. You hired her, she’s all yours.”

Watching Michael’s hasty exit he got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Shit. Suddenly nervous Max blindly stared at the coffee in front of him racking his brain for even the foggiest memory of Kendra from back in high school. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as Michael made it seem, she could have gained weight or she could even be happily married with a dozen kids by now.

“Max Evans?”

His head jerked up at the softly voiced inquiry. Shit. “Kendra?” Max asked still hoping that the statuesque blonde standing by the table wasn’t who he thought she was.

“Yes, hi,” Kendra smiled flashing a dimple matched by perfect white teeth. He was just as attractive as he’d been in high school Kendra thought discretely looking him over.

Max stood up to shake her hand trying to see if she had a wedding ring on her left hand. No, of course not. He tried to smile but felt slightly sick as sweat broke out along his brow and the queasy feeling of another potential mistake settled in his middle.

“So you still hang out here?” Kendra asked trying to appear friendly as she sat down.

“Ah, yeah, ah Liz, her family owns it,” Max said lamely not meeting her eyes. Glancing toward the swinging doors at the back he wasn’t sure whether to hope to see Liz appear or not. “Can I get you anything? Coffee or water?” There was no reason to be nervous. Liz wasn’t the one that ever had a problem with him being around other women. She trusted him, more then he trusted himself actually. But looking at the women in front of him he felt nothing but a nagging vaguely uncomfortable feeling. He couldn’t imagine ever finding her attractive even though he could see she was beautiful. She wasn’t Liz and besides he had a serious aversion to blondes.

“Oh, no that’s okay,” Kendra declined kindly, her smile warming as she tried to calm her racing pulse. “So.”

“So, um I looked over your resume and it’s impressive. What makes you want this job? We’re just getting started so the pays not as much as you might get somewhere else.”

Kendra had just opened her mouth to reply when there was a loud crash from the kitchen followed by the bang of the swinging door hitting the wall as Erin burst into the dining room chased by Noah his arms full of wiggling dog.

“Daddy!”

Kendra blinked as a genuine smile lit Max’s face.

Max turned in the booth catching Erin as she skidded up. “Kendra, this is my daughter Erin,” Max said plopping Erin down on his lap and moving over so Noah could scoot in next to him. “And my son Noah. Demons, this is Kendra. “

Noah stopped next to his father but didn’t sit down; instead he silently studied the stranger.

“Erin what have we told you about running in the restaurant?”

“Do’n do it but-“

“Then next time remember that okay? It’s dangerous. “

Erin sighed at the lecture but nodded her head anyway eager to tell her daddy about the park. That’s when she finally turned to the women sitting across from her. Narrowing her eyes she silently sought Noah’s opinion her smile quickly morphing into a dark scowl.

“You not my Mommy,” Erin proclaimed glaring at Kendra.

“No, this is Kendra. She might come and help me at work.” Max supplied noticing Noah’s intense study but missing Erin’s scowl.

Kendra smiled nervously attempting to ease the little girl’s fierce expression. “No, I’m not your mom. I’m Kendra, a friend of your daddy’s. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Go away,” Erin demanded even as she started squirming to get down. “My Mommy’s pwetty, my Daddy think she’s pwettier den you is, an he not going away. You go’way! Dis MY Daddy.”

Noah’s hot glare never wavered even as Erin took his hand gripping it tightly in her own seeking comfort in becoming one unit, united against any threat.

“Erin!” Max barked trying to forestall further outbursts before things really got out of hand and kicking or biting ensued.

Kendra looked at Max in confusion. Surely they had a mother didn’t they? Why didn’t she corral her offspring and keep them out of the way? And weren’t there rules about having pets in a restaurant?

Pushing through the swinging doors Liz took in the situation at a glance. Hurrying over she put a hand on each of her children’s shoulders as a warning. “Max, I’m sorry they interrupted. We’re on our way to the park to meet Maria and they wanted to say good-bye.”

“I thought you were going to visit with your parents until I finished up here?” Max asked worried about Liz going out in public alone.

“The twins just destroyed about a dozen place settings so I thought I should rethink that idea,” Liz said smiling at his worried expression, without thinking she reached out and brushed her thumb over the worry lines denting his forehead. “Don’t worry. You’ll basically be able to see us from the window and I won’t be alone. “

Noah’s eyes never left Kendra. He didn’t like her. She wanted his daddy for herself. She wasn’t fully aware of that yet but she would be. She was already assessing the competition.

“I’ll come as soon as I’m done here, okay?”

“Kay,” Liz agreed then turned to greet the other women. “Hi, Kendra right? I think I had some classes with your older sister.”

“Probably,” Kendra agreed smiling, careful to seem equally as friendly with Liz as she had been with Max. “Like you, I’d love to be spending the day in the park, it’s so nice out.” Rolling her eyes she tried to seem self-depreciating. “I hate interviewing. Oops, I meant that I’m not very good at it.”

“You seem pretty good at it to me,” Max stepped in with the expected response, not bothering to look away from Liz. He wasn’t so sure that the park was a good idea but he’d make this quick and then catch up.

“Nice seeing you again, Kendra,” Liz said already starting to steer the kids toward the door.

Max quickly stood up. “Wait a second.”

Liz turned back to him with a questioning look on her face.

“You forgot something.” Smoothing back a strand of her hair, tucking it gently behind her ear before sliding his fingers around to the nap of her neck and brushing his mouth over hers. Softly once before he briefly deepened the kiss until her lips were clinging to his, then smiling happily he pulled away. “I won’t be long.”

“Kay,” Liz murmured dazed but pleased about the echo of happiness she’d felt from him. She had no idea where that had come from but welcomed it just the same. Smiling she gave him a quick peck on the nose then dashed after the twin’s who were slipping out the door behind an exiting customer.

Grinning like an idiot Max sat back down.

“Your wife?” Kendra asked curious about their relationship after all the gossip that had flown around school about them.

“Not yet,” Max replied directly, wanting there to be no misunderstanding. “But I’m working on it.” Hopefully she wasn’t at all like Tess. He’d been pretty straightforward about his feelings for Liz back then too. His feelings of unease strengthened stealing the easy smile from his face.

Kendra shook her head. Liz Parker was a fool to let such a great guy walk around free and she wasn’t one to suffer fools, gladly or otherwise.



“So Michael says that the new dress I bought looks like a potato sack,” Maria said.

Jerking her attention away from the kids playing in the large sand box a few feet away Liz smiled. “No he didn’t.”

“No, he didn’t,” Maria agreed. “But that got your attention.”

Liz rolled her eyes but allowed herself to relax. She’d missed this, talking with Maria in person, not long distance. “I knew Michael wouldn’t say that. “ At Maria’s skeptical expression she defended her statement. “He likes breathing and is way too young to die.”

Maria laughed in agreement before steering the conversation back on track. Her track. “So you look happy today. News?”

“No, nothing new.” When Maria didn’t say anything just waited she sighed. “Seriously. I mean news wise there’s nothing. But I am happy. Pretty happy, worried, a little bit scared. “ Glancing over the kids she smiled. “But happy too. I feel like I’ve turned a corner or something. Like whatever happens from here Max is going to be there.”

“He’s been there, Liz,” Maria reminded her. “Since, like, the third grade.”

“No, not always. He was always a little separate, you know? Like step back separate, holding just a little bit back. It’s not like that now. It’s not perfect but-“ Liz stopped abruptly catching something out of the corner of her eye she turned just in time to see Noah shove another little boy, knocking him down into the sand.

“You leave my sister ‘lone!” Noah shouted furious as Erin sobbed behind him hugging Pepe to her chest as the dog wiggled licking away her tears with frantic energetic swipes of his tongue.

Liz raced the other boy’s mother across the lawn.

“He kick me!” Erin wailed at her highest volume as her mother reached her. Sobbing she pointed a finger at the ugly boy. “Den he step on my san’ ship! Mommy he verwy bad boy! He call me stupid an den he pull my hairs too!”

Liz caught Noah’s arm holding him away from the other boy as he went to shove him again.

“I got a REAL dog!” The other boy shouted put out. He’d just wanted to get her attention why was she being such a baby?

“Pepe is a bettwer dog den yours! He gonna bite you!” Erin warned clutching five pounds of canine fury. Pepe’s lips pulled back from his teeth as a soft growl rumbled from his trembling body. “Den I gonna punch you reawl hard!”

“Erin Lotus! You stop that! That’s not nice,” Liz reminded her daughter as the other mother started chastising her son and checking him for injuries at the same time.

“But he verwy bad! I don like him and Pepe wanna bite him,” Erin whined. Why was she getting in trouble when it was that ugly dirty boy that started it?

“Just because someone else isn’t nice doesn’t mean you can hit them, or bite them,” Liz tacked on just in case as she caught sight of Erin’s teeth, bared just like Pepe’s. “Noah, apologize for shoving him.” Liz gave him a warning look when he looked like he was about to protest. “We will behave in a civilized fashion. Understand?”

Noah glared at the other boy not feeling sorry at all. He’d like to shove him again for hurting his sister but would have to remain satisfied with the itchy bumps the boy would be getting in a couple minutes.

After soothing all ruffled feathers Liz rejoined Maria on the bench as the other mother took her son and headed out of the park.

“Just think, you have this to look forward to,” Liz said a smile tilting her lips despite her words.

Placing her hands over her unborn child Maria nodded. “Yeah, I can’t wait. I wonder all the time what this baby’s going to be like.”

“Amazing, she’s going to be amazing,” Liz answered promptly hugging Maria. “With you and Michael as her parents how could she ever be ordinary?”

“She?” Maria asked as her eyes watered. Damn hormones.

“Or he,” Liz covered not wanting to spoil the surprise. She hadn’t told Maria about Noah saying her baby was a girl, not wanting to spoil the surprise.

“Right, or he,” Maria repeated studying Liz and debating pushing the issue of sex. Liz just looked different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on the difference.

Before Maria could say anything else Liz stood up. “Come on. Let’s go get the kids and see if they want to play on the swings.”

Going along Maria helped Liz round up both kids and had to smile as Erin insisted on going to play on the monkey bars not the swings. They watched them run ahead, careful to keep them in sight at al times. In fact they were so busy watching out for the twins that they didn’t see the man approaching until he was right up on them.

“Long time no see,” Rath said stepping in front of Liz with a smirk, his eyes tracking from top to bottom. “I would call ya cherry but we’s know different now huh?”

“Excuse me?” Maria demanded offended.

“Oh, I saw the vid,” Rath supplied his smirk sliding into a leer. “Sweet piece. The man like skin flicks?”

Maria saw the color drain out of Liz’s face leaving her lips almost chalky in appearance.

“He giving it to ya in the ass? I couldn’t tell from the video, the angle was off.” Rath pushed wondering of the chick was going to pass out. She betta learn to toughen up or she was going to end up a sweet piece of meat.

He was so busy watching Liz, enjoying every flicker of emotion crossing her face, that he didn’t see Maria’s fist until it cracked across his jaw.

Liz grabbed Maria and hauled her back as Rath reached out to grab her. “Don’t.” Liz stepped half in front of Maria, loathing the need to be even closer to Rath but unwilling to let Maria’s impulsive defense harm herself or her baby.

“S’kay,” Rath sneered his tongue licking away the blood at the corner of his mouth. “I can find that out for myself.” Glancing over at the twins, making sure that they both saw him linger as he appraised the children, his smirk reappeared. “Now that ones cherry.”

“Don’t you look at her,” Liz said grabbing Rath’s chin and jerking his face around until he was looking at her. “If you even look at my kids again I’ll kill you.”

Rath’s eyes heated as he moved closer, close enough that his body brushed hers. “That’s betta. I like it a little rough.”

Liz planted both her hands on his chest and without thinking about it pulled all the power she could, sending it out as she pushed against the wall of his chest. She felt it burn through her, her seals flaming, as Rath grabbed both of her wrists trying to pull her burning hands from his skin.

Maria’s eyes widened as Rath’s shirt caught fire, his flesh turning black as his skin charred around Liz’s hands. She snapped out of her unblinking appraisal when Noah flew by her.

“No! You not hurwt my Mommy!” Noah screamed a blast already forming in his hand when Maria snagged his shirt and dragged him backward. “y’et me go! I not gonna-he not gonna take her!”

Liz dropped her hands and whirled, feeling more then seeing Rath drop like a stone. “Noah! Take Erin and run to Daddy! Now!”

“Noooo!”

“Maria, take them. Go!” Liz barely waited to see Maria pick up a kicking and screaming Noah before turning back to Rath, only to find him looking up at her his hands covering his chest as he attempted to heal himself.

“You’s got some spark,” Rath wheezed his lungs feeling scorched.

“Chick with powers, remember? Don’t even try it,” Liz advised him as he rolled in an attempt to get up.

“I ‘member,” Rath agreed. “But you’s gonna need some serious juice ta get you outta dis shit.”

“What shit?” Liz asked glancing up to see several people approaching. “Can someone please call the Sheriff? This man just tried to attack me.” Seeing one of them pull out a phone she sighed. What was Rath thinking pulling this shit in public in broad daylight?

“You betta watch those kids.”

Liz looked back down at Rath catching the serious tone behind his warning.

“LIZ!”

Hearing Max’s shout she looked over her shoulder, only looking back when one of the onlookers shouted a warning. Rath had gained his feet and was stumbling away tossing a scrap of paper behind him. Liz walked over and picked it up sliding it into her pocket just before Max reached her.

“You okay?” Max asked panting, not waiting for an answer he quickly connected to her checking for himself. He’d never run so fast in his life. Feeling her sudden grab for power he’d left Kendra sitting in the café with her mouth hanging open. Seeing Maria running with both screaming twins in her arms had added a burst of speed to his legs.

“I’m okay. I think,” Liz responded burrowing into his chest. “It was Rath.”

Max nodded against her hair as sirens squawked on the street. Not releasing her, not even to see which officer was responding to the call, he tightened his hold on her until he could feel her racing heart against his abdomen. He didn’t think he’d ever let go.

Chapter Fifty One
“Can you believe what an idiot Hanson is? Doing a pat down search and acting like Liz torched someone?” Maria huffed more upset then was wise at the moment.

“Well, I did,” Liz said combing back her hair with her fingers too tired to even attempt working out the tangles. “Didn’t I?”

“No, you didn’t.” Maria answered taking Liz’s face between her hands, forcing Liz to look at her. “I was here. I would have noticed any acts of arson. There was barely any smoke or anything. He got right up didn’t he? Like a damn cockroach!” Liz just sighed not up to arguing with her overwhelmed by the images of what had happened.

“What I can’t believe is that Hanson’s still the Sheriff. This is the person they want protecting them?” Isabel asked projecting her usual cool calm façade when she felt anything but. Max looked on the verge of a meltdown and Liz looked like she’d been dragged behind someone’s pickup over a mile of rough road. “Is this whole town crazy?”

“Seems that way,” Dane mumbled under his breath grateful that Javen hadn’t been around this time. Even though the twins hadn’t been physically harmed he wasn’t so sure about anything else. Was this the life that he had to look forward to for his children? For a while it had been easy to forget, now it was all he could think about.

Ava glanced over to where Hanson was still questioning a witness, her wild gestures ending with her pointing off in the direction Rath had run off in. This was a fucking mess. What the hell was Rath up to? He’d always been aggressive, unafraid of any consequences that might come from using his powers whether it was in public or not, but this was fucked up even for him. Why be quiet all this time, staying under the radar, only to do this now?

Max watched Liz fidget toying with a scrape of paper she kept tucking into her pocket then pulling back out, touching it like it was poisonous and therefore didn’t know what to do with it. He hated feeling this helpless. Watching Liz being treated like a criminal after so obviously being attacked and not being able to do a damn thing about it. What was even worse was knowing that he didn’t have the means to adequately protect his own family; this was only the most recent proof of that fact.

“What are we going to do, Max?” Liz asked catching the edge of his rampaging emotions.

“I don’t know,” Max answered pulling her closer and kissing the top of her head, closing his eyes when she clung to him.

“This is what we need to do,” Isabel stepped up. “We need to get rid of Deputy Dumbass and get in touch with Cal.”

“There’s one problem with that plan,” Dane said nudging her and looking toward the street where Kyle had just joined the entire Roswell police force.

Isabel groaned when she saw the women with him. “Shit.”

“Yep, FBI on the scene,” Dane agreed catching Max stiffen out of the corner of his eye.

Liz turned to look and was struck by what an odd pair Kyle and the women next to him made. Kyle was all smart assed charm with an ambling stroll to his walk that pointed to his easygoing nature. The women walking next to Kyle with rigidly correct posture was his polar opposite. Tightly pulled back hair so pale that it seemed to have no color at all it went perfectly with a buttoned down appearance that advertised her by the book personality. Great. This had to be Kyle’s boss and she didn’t look happy.

“Ava? Would you please go check on the twins? Tell them I won’t be much longer?” Liz asked wanting her children surrounded by people who would protect them, just in case.

“Of course,” Ava agreed quickly eager to skip out on this scene. She’d much rather be of some use, have something to do other then standing around surrounded by a bunch of uniforms.

“Hey, Liz,” Kyle greeted as he walked up. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Liz agreed standing up to accept his hug, missing the chilly look freezing his boss’s face.

“Can you explain what happened here?” Agent Ambrose broke in sharply.

“No, I can’t,” Liz answered softly pulling away. “I don’t understand what happened myself.”

Abigail Ambrose, never Abby, thinned her lips not impressed. “Convenient”

“Excuse me?” Liz asked put off.

Agent Ambrose inclined her head as if giving permission for her to give an adequate excuse before moving on. “Who are these people?”

“Friends,” Liz said back bristling with the other women’s attitude.

“Seems like you have a lot of those.” Turning away from Liz she studied the people surrounding her like a security blanket. “Would you excuse us please.”

“No, I will not,” Maria snapped answering what clearly wasn’t a question. She had no intention of leaving Liz alone with this snide snotty bitch. What the hell had Kyle seen in her? Had to be a case of beer goggles for sure.

“Maria,” Kyle warned stepping half in front of Abby.

“No, Kyle,” Stabbing her finger in the direction of the FBI’s answer to the wicked witch of the west Maria scornfully assessed her from the top of her white blond head to the cheap shoes on her pointy Amazon like feet. “I don’t care who she is or what her problem is but she can adjust her attitude or walk her ass out of here until she pulls the stick out of it.”

Kyle’s lips twitched and he stepped aside.

“Liz doesn’t have to put up with this. She’s been through enough today, and frankly, so have I.” Crossing her arms over her stomach Maria wished Michael were here.

Isabel stepped over and hugged Maria, frosty eyes assessing their opponent. “They’ve already given a statement. Twice and answered every question any idiot has put to them.” The message clear in her frosty voice, Agent Ambrose was just another idiot. “Now Maria needs to rest and Liz needs to check on her children so let’s wrap this up.”

“And you are?” Ambrose asked unaffected by Isabel’s deep freeze.

“Isabel Evans, Max’s sister.” At Agent Ambrose’s blank look Isabel gave Kyle an annoyed glance. “Didn’t you fill her in at all?”

“No time,” Kyle grinned.

“That’s Isabel Inever now.” Dane reminded her smiling when she shot him a quelling glance.

“Well,” Isabel looked the other women directly in the eye. “Let me bring you up to speed. Max Evans, my brother, is Liz Parker’s, one of the victims in today’s attack, boyfriend and the father of her twins who were present at the time of said attack. Maria DeLuca,” Isabel indicated Maria with a regal wave of her hand. “The other victim in today’s incident, who is also pregnant by the way, had to take the twins and run with them in her arms in an attempt to keep them from also being attacked. We all grew up together, Agent Ambrose. We look out for each other here, we’re a family.”

“That’s really-sweet but I have some questions and until I get answers, no one is going anywhere.” Turning on her heels she gave Kyle a steely stare. “Do you feel that you can do your job effectively? Or do I need to relieve you of your duties?”

“My feelings aren’t the issue here,” Kyle responded pointedly with a faintly mocking tone, noticing her nostrils flare in irritation. “I’m the rookie barely out of the academy.” Kyle shrugged, throwing her own words back at her. “You’re the boss.”

Whirling back to the Parker girl before she was tempted to follow through on the impulse to smack the smart ass smirk right off Kyle Valenti’s face she resumed the interview. “Other witness accounts allege that you were accosted by an unknown assailant then, somehow, it appears that he was injured and fell over. Do you know anything about that?”

“She was already searched for weapons,” Dane offered, smiling in a friendly manner when Ambrose’s sharp gaze landed on him. She just really had no idea what she was up against.

“Thank you, mister-“

“Dane, Isabel’s husband,” Dane supplied ignoring how her eyes narrowed in irritation, Isabel’s look was far more effective.

“I pushed him,” Liz responded drawing Ambrose’s attention back to her. “He was saying things to me,” Liz glanced at Max then quickly away. “Then he looked at my daughter, saying things about her that were-inappropriate, so I pushed him. He fell down.”

“I took the kids and ran,” Maria broke in.

“I heard Max calling me and I turned away and the guy ran,” Liz finished.

“What about the statements that say he caught on fire,” Ambrose asked watching the body language of the whole group.

“He was smoking at the time I pushed him but-“ Liz paused then shook her head. “I didn’t see any fire. It all happened so fast.”

“Have you been out to the desert lately?” Agent Ambrose asked dissatisfied with her responses, not able to get a clear read on her reactions but the group as a whole seemed tense.

“Desert? Oh, you mean that thing on the news? No, I’ve only seen it on TV. How do you think it was made?” Liz asked interested.

“We’re not sure,” Kyle answered ignoring Abby’s dirty look. “Look, they’re exhausted. I know where to reach them if we have any more questions and Hanson’s been waving us over for the last five minutes.”

Ignoring Kyle completely she went back to her questions, bringing them out in random order so Liz couldn’t anticipate where she was going next. “Can I see your hands?”

“My hands?” Liz asked startled.

“Yes, both of them please.” Noticing how the, up to now silently hovering, boyfriend shifted forward like he wanted to protest she took Liz’s offered hands, turning them over and looking at both sides. Other then being a little on the warm side they looked fine, no burns or abrasions. “One of the witnesses said that they thought your hands glowed.”

“Glowed?” Liz asked her brow scrunching in what seemed to be confusion. “Like, as in caught fire?”

“Obviously not,” Abigail agreed dropping her hands. She wasn’t sure what to make of the witness accounts but something wasn’t right. This was the second strange incident in this town in the last week. Unfortunately, she couldn’t see how they could be related. Yet.

“What kinds of things was he saying to you?” Ambrose looked up when the silence went on too long. “Your attacker? What was he saying?”

“Sexual things, Agent Ambrose,” Liz answered tonelessly. “About me and my daughter.”

“And you don’t know him? Never seen him before?”

“I have no idea where he came from,” Liz answered lifting her chin. “And I don’t know him.”

After a spattering of additional questions they were released and cautioned to come in to make a formal statement in the morning.




Michael tugged at his clip on tie hoping to grab a breath of air before it managed to strangle him. Keeping his eyes on the monitor he reached into the open desk drawer nicking his finger on the sharp metal edge of the drawer.

“Shit!” Michael yelped squeezing his finger in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

“Here,” Fisher tossed him an unused napkin from his lunch.

“Thanks.”

“You gotta watch that drawer. I’ve nearly lost a finger last week,” Fisher turned back to his desk and the magazine that held his current fantasy. “First aid kits in the rest room to your left.”

Cursing under his breath Michael rolled his chair back and headed to the bathroom, tossing the bloody napkin into the trash on his way out of the room.

Fisher heaved a sigh and reached for the plastic bag he’d been given.

After cleaning and dressing his wound Michael decided to walk the building looking for any places the cameras didn’t reach. He needed to be sure that from the time Liz stepped into the building until the time she walked back out he’d be able to find her in less then two minutes, even if he lost sight of her. That was the main reason he’d taken this stupid job in the first place.



Finally, hours after returning home, Liz slipped into the spare room and sat down in front of her computer. Pulling out the scrap of paper Rath had tossed down she looked at the web address and felt her hands start to shake.

Max said that he’d found all the tapes, thought he’d found them all, but how could he know that?

“Liz?”

Spinning her chair toward the doorway she tried to control the panicked racing of her heart. Swallowing against the sick queasy feeling entrenched in her stomach she gave Max a shaky smile. “Are the twins asleep?”

“They’re resting. Ava’s reading them a story,” Max answered coming into the room and closing the door behind him. He hadn’t missed the way she’d jumped in anticipation of attack. He hated it. Hated that she would feel that way in her own home.

Nodding Liz rose to her feet, standing uncertainly as she mentally vacillating on how to proceed. She’d been feeling so optimistic despite everything. She’d been feeling so much closer to Max, closer to the person she used to be. She didn’t want that taken away from her. Not again.

“Listen, I called Cal and-“ Max stopped when Liz approached him. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes,” Liz answered going up onto her toes to kiss him.

Max automatically kissed her back wanting to provide the reassurance he was sure she was seeking but the kiss quickly turned sexual. It felt like she was trying to drink him in, it felt out of character, not right somehow. “Wait,” Max pulled away.

“What?” Liz mumbled against his jaw finding the rasp of her teeth over his whiskers far more interesting then his words. Touching them with her tongue, licking lightly to feel their crisp texture against her moist softness, was even more distracting. She didn’t even hear what he said next.

When she pushed her icy hands under his shirt he could feel them shaking and knew something was very wrong. “What’s going on, Liz?”

“Would you please, please just be quiet? I can’t kiss you when you’re talking and I need to do this,” Liz said pushing him back into the closed door harder then she’d meant to, driven by the need to take control of the problem. To prove that she was fine, no matter what she might find on alien_probe.com

Her choice of words weren’t lost on him. She didn’t say she wanted to do this but needed to. That plus the force with which his back hit the door struck him as completely wrong. Not that he would object to Liz being aggressive if that’s what she really wanted but it wasn’t. He knew it because he knew her. Her hands were chilly and damp and still shaking, her heart was racing and it didn’t feel like arousal, in fact it brought back unpleasant memories.

“Wait, Liz wait,” Max framed her face with his hands trying to get her to slow down so he could think. He needed to understand what was happening.

She couldn’t hear him; instead all she could hear was Tess. Whispering in her head. Gloating, reminding her how easy it had been to come between them. How easy it could be again. Laughing about the fear sliding through her, settling inside her like it belonged there. She felt bound, damaged by the fear inhibiting her. She didn’t want it anymore. If she let it, it would keep her from the very thing she wanted most. That thought only served to double her fear.

Something had to done.

He gasp, startled, as she reached out to stroke the length of his erection through his pants. Unnerved with the way she didn’t seem to be hearing what he was saying he tried to reach her a different way and found only blind panic and an off kilter sort of determination that he didn’t understand.

She wrenched open his belt buckle, tugging frantically at his zipper even as she started sinking to the floor.

“Whoa! Wait! Liz, you don’t-“ His words were choked off when she got a grip on him. Feeling her jerk on his pants he did the only thing he could think of, he slid down the door until he was sitting on the floor one hand holding onto his pants with a death grip. The quizzical expression on her face vanished as his next words finally penetrated. “What did Rath say to you?”

Liz froze, than slowly sank from her kneeling position onto her heels.

“What did he say?” Max asked again feeling her fingers go slack around the heated length of him, finally dropping away.

“He said that he’d seen a tape.” Liz’s eyes fell away, down onto her hands where her fingers seemed to be made of ice.

Max tensed at her words, his stomach jumping when he saw tears filling her eyes. The feeling of failure was crushing. He’d moved heaven and earth to get every possible copy of any tape that Tess had made, yet he’d failed, again.

“He asked me if-“ Liz twisted her fingers painfully, trying to force some warmth into them.

“If what?” Max asked so quietly at first he didn’t think she’d heard.

“If we were having anal sex on the tape.”

“What?” Max asked sure he’d heard her wrong. He couldn’t have heard correctly, those words could not possibly have passed her lips.

“Then he looked at Erin.” Tears spilled over onto her cheeks but she didn’t notice. “He called her cherry and I just, I couldn’t allow that. I can’t have him looking at her, or even thinking about her. So I put my hands on his chest and I tried to burn right through it.”

Max’s entire body went numb rage howled through his brain and he lost the ability of speech. His thoughts were reduced to their most primitive, an instant form of retro-evolution, until her cold fingers feathered over his jaw. The red haze receded from his vision allowing him to see her, to really see the fear consuming her.

Liquid eyes huge in her bloodless face, her bottom lip and chin just beginning to quiver.

“It’s okay,” Max said pulling her into his lap wrapping both of his arms around her.

“But people saw me, Max. And I didn’t even kill him.”

“Forget that,” Max demanded gruffly. “No one saw enough to hurt you. He attacked you. That’s what they saw. I’m not worried about that.”

“Michael will be,” Liz mumbled against his shoulder.

“Forget Michael,” Max said harshly then stopped to take a deep breath. “What happened was unavoidable. Just like when you got shot or when Whitaker terrorized Isabel, it’s not your fault. It happened the way it did because Rath planned it that way. That’s all. It would have been the same if I’d been there or even if Michael had been.”

Liz didn’t say anything but remained doubtful.

“About what Rath said-“ Despite feeling Liz stiffen in his arms Max pressed on, veering away from thoughts of Rath threatening Erin. He just couldn’t deal with that rationally and Rath was currently out of his reach. “How is that related to this, here in this room?”

Liz got up and crossed the room, scooping up the scrape of paper from off of the desk. Coming back to Max she held it out to him.

Max reached up and took it from her. He only had to glance at it for understanding to come fully formed, detonating in his head and leaving him with a panicked sick feeling, like he’d been submersed in the vile filth imaginable.

Pushing himself to his feet he struggled with his pants until Liz moved to help him. Silently she re-buttoned the top button with suddenly steady fingers not meeting his eyes.

“Don’t, don’t do that.” Max lifted her chin, his fingers automatically gliding along her jaw and into her hair. “You know how I feel. I just want you, as you. Not as what you think you need to be. We’ve talked about this before. Whatever happens between us, or doesn’t happen, I’m only happy when you are. So don’t try to force things, okay? Don’t make yourself uncomfortable because it would crush me if I ever did anything that made you feel that way, if I hurt you like that again. I need to know that whatever happens is because you want it too, just like I do.”

“You didn’t hurt me,” Liz denied. “I’ve never thought that.”

“Well I have. I’ve thought about it a lot.” Max stepped around her to go over to the desk. Sitting down he set the crumpled ball of paper that contained the web address not needing to look at it as it was emblazoned on his brain.

Liz watched him type in the address her stomach feeling queasy with anxiety.

“He’s lying,” Max said unequivocally. “I would never have done that to you. I don’t care what Tess did, it never happened.”

“Max-“ Liz started only to be cut off by Max’s shout.

“It didn’t happen!”

Liz didn’t say anything instead she leaned again his back resting her hand on his shoulder.

The website came up, Max ignored the bells and whistles clicking on the alien abduction link and waiting impatiently for it to load.

The screen filled in, a dirty stained concrete room, a filthy mattress thrown on the floor, a nude girl on her hands and knees dark hair trailing down onto the mattress. The faintest sounds of crying, flesh smacking against flesh and harsh grunts barely heard.

“Oh my God!” Liz gasp staring in horror at the screen.

Max felt like his heart stopped, straining his eyes searching the grainy footage for some proof that it wasn’t what it looked like. Because what it looked like was him doing what he’d just sworn he’d never do.

Without warning the door opened and Ava entered looking worried. “Is everything okay? I heard shouting-“

“Out!” Max roared, stabbing his finger at the door, looking very much like he could hurt someone very badly.

Ava looked to Liz, silently asking if she needed help, and after receiving a nod of reassurance she quickly left, closing the door behind her.

“Max-“ Liz started her voice unnaturally high and trembling. She couldn’t bear to see anymore. Her legs were leaden and threatening to give out from underneath her and if she fell she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to get up.

“That’s not your ass!” Max said excitedly. Clicking on the rewind button he backed up the video freezing it so he could examine the girls exposed buttock.

“What?” Liz asked startled out of her daze. She forced herself to look back at the screen, trying to see what Max saw.

“This isn’t you,” Max said now one hundred percent certain the girl on the screen wasn’t Liz, which meant that wasn’t him either. Relief washed over him and he smiled.

“How could you possibly-“

“That isn’t your ass. Yours is perfect. No birthmarks or anything, just smooth unblemished skin on the lush swell of it but at the outside of your thigh, on the back, you have a small mole, and look,” Max turned to look at her. “No mole.”

“Max, this isn’t a very clear picture. I don’t know how you can see-“ Liz broke off when Max shook his head.

“Liz, I spent years watching you. Believe me, I know. You also have a small scar on the back of your left calf from where you got hit with a sharp stone in the sixth grade when you were walking home from the library. See? It’s not there either. This isn’t you.”

Liz looked from the screen where he was pointing then to his face, her eyebrow sharply arched. “You know my ass that well, huh?”

“Better then anybody,” Max agreed, smiling when she slapped him. “Hey! As soon as you let me see you naked believe me, I paid attention to detail.”

Liz’s face heated and she shoved him gently but she was smiling slightly. “Just to be sure, can you fast forward this? It really looks real.”

“I’m sure it is,” Max agreed, interested in how closely it resembled them both. In fact he couldn’t swear it wasn’t him except for the fact that he’d never engage in sex like this with a stranger, and the girl was a stranger to him. The lighting was so poor and the male wasn’t the primary focus of the scene.

“There!” Liz tapped her finger against the screen indicating a dark patch on the guys arm. “Back up and pause it.”

Max did as she asked and saw what she was pointing to, a fairly large tattoo. Squinting and straining his eyes he thought he could identify it, the four square symbol.

“Zan,” Liz whispered.

Max sat back in his seat disturbed.

“It has to be him. Look at the ears.” Liz traced the shape of ears that didn’t just resemble Max’s; they could be Max’s ears. She didn’t want to see anymore. Even knowing that it wasn’t either of them she felt dirty, just having seen it disturbed her.

Max closed the window then scrubbed at his eyes.

Slipping onto Max’s lap she coiled around him, holding him so tightly her arms ached.

“That was only one of the links,” Max cautioned.

“I know,” Liz agreed. “He knew about the tapes. So he still could have seen one.”

“Yeah,” Max agreed thinking that Rath knew what he was doing. Somehow, he knew. His hand fisted in Liz’s hair and he closed his eyes trying to regain some semblance of equilibrium. It was more difficult then expected, although he was relieved he didn’t make the mistake of seeing this as anything other then one more direct attack on his family.

Chapter Fifty Two


“No! Two days is too long! I need this site down now!” Max raked a hand through his hair, frustration coating his words and anger in every line of his body.

Standing outside the room Liz broke out in a sweat, suddenly hot as nausea rolled through her forcing her to swallow.

“I don’t care what you have to do, Cal. Pay someone off, destroy the server hosting the site, kill someone whatever works and do it now!”

Pressing the back of her hand to her mouth Liz tried to listen as her stomach rolled greasily, prickly heat sending a warning signal she couldn’t ignore as saliva flooded her mouth. Racing for the bathroom she just made it, sinking to her knees as her stomach heaved and emptied in a foul rush.

Tears leaked from her eyes as she continued to retch miserably, topping off an already miserable week. Gasping for breath and combing back her hair she reached blindly for a towel and had a wet piece of cloth pressed into her hand instead. Blinking to clear her vision she groaned seeing not one but two pair of shoes. “Is privacy too much to ask for?”

“You left the door open, Kitten,” Cal pointed out in his usual matter of fact way. “The neighbors can probably hear you. Spaghetti huh? Not such a good choice in retrospect.”

Liz barely had time to glare at him before vomiting again.

Max winced, squatting down behind her and taking the wash cloth from her hand gently lifting her hair to place it on the back of her neck. Watching her made him grateful that he never got sick.

Leaning in the doorway Cal waited until she lifted her head and rested weakly against Max’s chest before speaking. “So, how many in this litter do you think?”

“What?” Liz asked not really wanting him to repeat his question. Right now she’d just like to crawl into a corner, curl up and die. The last week had been a barrage of questions she couldn’t answer while being constantly monitored. She hadn’t even been allowed to leave the house since that day at the park.

In fact, she’d been looking for Max to tell him that Hansen was on his way over, for like the fourth time. Her stomach started churning in warning just thinking about it. Wrenching out of Max’s arms she leaned forward, stomach heaving in protest as she replayed the conversation she’d just overheard.

“Get her a glass of water, will you?” Max asked over his shoulder feeling helpless as Liz moaned pitifully. Turning back to Liz he stroked his fingers down her back feeling her damp shirt and silently cursed himself. He never should have had that conversation with Cal inside the house, he’d known Liz would get upset. “Feeling better?” Max asked when she sat back up.

“Yeah,” Liz nodded weakly while wiping at her mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

“What for? You didn’t do anything.” Flushing the toilet Liz stood up slowly, waiting to see if her stomach would settle before moving to the sink to rinse her mouth and wash her hands.

“I didn’t want to upset you. I shouldn’t have talked to Langley here at the house.”

“Since we never leave the house that would be difficult.” Liz pointed out shutting off the water. Then before Max could speak she turned around and leaned back against the counter. “I’d be upset whether you talked to him here or not. Max, I know what you’ve been doing every night. It’s not like it’s a big secret or anything. So what did you find?”

Max sighed and looked away before coming close enough to touch her. “I found something, but it’s not going to be there long. I swear I’ll get that site down permanently even if I have to go and do it myself.”

“So, we were on it,” Liz pressed making Max look her directly in the eye.

“Yeah, we were but-“ Max cut himself off when she pressed a hand to her stomach. “You okay? You need me to get you anything?”

“No, I’m fine. How-how bad was it?” Liz asked softly fighting back her nausea.

“It wasn’t that bad. Really, it wasn’t.” Max insisted when she looked like she didn’t believe him.

“I want to see.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Max said quickly, worried about her.

This last week had been rough. She’d been questioned almost every day by either Hansen or Agent Ambrose and being cooped up with the twins hadn’t made anything easier. Noah was clinging worse then ever and Erin was constantly getting into something in the time it took to blink. He’d watched her getting more and more upset each time she was questioned and Michael’s reaction had just made it worse. The last thing she needed was to look at that website again, she was already making herself sick.

Cal walked back in and handed Liz a glass of water and some plain crackers. “Here, take these.”

“What are these for?” Liz asked. “I’m not hungry and I’m in the bathroom.”

“Eat one,” Cal directed sternly. She was developing Max’s bad habit of not listening to what he was saying and he was loosing his patience.

Liz rolled her eyes but cautiously nibbled on one cracker.

“Now hold still a minute while I find out how many babies are in this litter of yours.” Cal said as he stepped forward.

“What?” Liz yelped showering Cal with cracker crumbs even as she backed up sharply in an effort to evade his outstretched hand. “What are you talking about?”

Cal sighed and dropped his hand. “I’m talking about the fact that you’re pregnant.”

“No, I’m not!” Liz fairly yelled. “No, in fact I just refilled my birth control prescription when we got back to Roswell so, no, I’m not. That’s not possible. Max, tell him!”

Max just stood there speechless as Liz started yanking open drawer after drawer.

“I know it’s here. I just took one this morning.” Liz yanked open the last drawer feeling light headed with relief when she found them. Spinning around she waved them in Cal’s face. “See! I told you. I’ve taken them every single day. I’ve never missed even once!”

“I don’t know what you’ve been taking. What I do know is that you are pregnant. All that remains is to find out how many babies you’re carrying,” Cal said trying to get heard through her attempts at denial.

“What are you talking about!” Liz flat out yelled, feeling more then a little dizzy as this crazy conversation continued. “You said twins. When I came to you in California you said twins, that Max and Isabel would have twins! You asked where the other pod was. Not where the other pods were, meaning more then one other pod!”

“My mistake,” Cal shrugged. “I should have said that Max and Isabel will have multiple births, every time.”

“No! Max! Say something!” Liz whirled on Max stabbing him in the stomach with her finger.

“Now you have to marry me,” Max said dazed.

“What!” Liz shrieked.

“Put your head between your knees before you pass out.” Cal said flipping down the lid to the toilet to give her somewhere to sit.

“What’s going on?” Maria asked from the doorway. “Why are we all in the bathroom?”

“Maria!” Liz spun away from Cal, from this insane conversation, grasping for sanity. “Thank God! Tell them that I’ve been taking my birth control pills.”

“Ah, okay, sure whatever,” Maria said completely lost. “But Hansen’s here and I don’t think he cares. Or wants to sit in the bathroom with you all to chat, so maybe you could come out and talk to him in the living room.”

“Not now, Maria,” Max said brushing off everything Maria had just said still completely absorbed by the idea that Liz was pregnant. Which was impossible, or not. Turning to Cal he tried to figure out if this was just his weird way of being funny, or maybe he was just guessing. “How do you know? I mean, I didn’t know and Liz obviously doesn’t know.”

“It’s my job to know,” Cal snapped highly offended. “How can I protect if I don’t know you exist? I just know.”

“Know what?” Maria asked.

“Nothing, they don’t know anything because I’ve taken all my pills. I’ll even take another one right now!” Liz said trying to pry another one out of its container.

“Don’t!” Max tried to snatch the container out of her hands and ended up wrestling with her when she wouldn’t let go. “Liz, you don’t know what these even are. They could hurt you or the babies.”

“What babies?” Maria asked getting even more confused.

“Liz, calm down. Please, sit and let me look at you,” Cal said trying to break up the wrestling match between Max and Liz.

Liz let go of the pills and sat, glaring at Max and causing him to smile. Erin often got that exact same affronted look on her face. Holy shit. Max abruptly sat on the floor as if someone had just taken his legs out from under him.

“Tell Hansen that he’ll have to come back another time. Liz isn’t feeling well and isn’t up to talking again right now. If he gives you any problem ask him if he has a warrant to either search the house or to arrest Liz. If he doesn’t then he needs to come back when Liz is feeling better, understand?” Cal said irritated by the repeated imposition of the police. They had nothing, nothing solid to tie Liz to any crime at all and he was tired of their continued attempts to rattle her into saying something incriminating.

“I’ll get rid of him,” Maria agreed turning to go do just that.

“Try to be nice but if he gives you any problems call my dad. Maybe it’s time we bring in a lawyer,” Max offered not looking away from Liz who was busy chewing on her lip nervously. It was certainly time for him to do whatever it took to relieve some of the pressure Liz was under, and if she was pregnant it would be even more important.

“Gotcha.” Maria called over her shoulder.

“Okay,” Cal turned back to Liz, studying her as he moved toward her. He could see that she was still nervous but no longer on the verge of hyperventilating. Crouching down in front of her he focused his attention on the sense of otherness that emanated from her. He couldn’t explain to Max what it felt like he just knew what it meant. It wasn’t just Liz that he felt there anymore.

“What are you going to do?” Liz asked softly, trying really really hard not to freak out. Because this was so not a good time to be pregnant. They were in a lot of trouble, big trouble, and it just wasn’t possible. No matter what Cal said.

“I’m just going to put my hand right here.” Cal placed his hand over her abdomen keeping his eyes on hers and his voice as soothing as he could make it. “Just to check.”

“Check what?” Liz asked feeling anything but soothed. “Because it’s just not a good time and we haven’t talked about this and-“

“Shh, it’s okay.” Cal continued to talk, murmuring any reassurances that he could think of, while he narrowed down that otherness trying to pinpoint any variations that would give him a number.

Liz remained silent as warmth spread though out her middle, that was soothing, calming her still twitchy stomach. When he pulled away the warmth stayed behind, lingering long after any body heat would have dissipated.

“Well?” Max asked anxiously.

“Four, there are four in this litter,” Cal said absolutely certain.

“No,” Liz shook her head. “Stop saying that!”

“Liz-“

“No, he keeps saying litter! I’m not having a litter of anything!” Liz said shoving Cal and scrambling over him. Standing on her own two feet she glared at both men. “This isn’t funny!”

“Look Kitten,” Cal started only to shut up when Liz looked like she was thinking about kicking him. Were all females this violent during the gestation of their fetuses?

“Don’t. Don’t call me that,” Liz said almost growling with frustration. “I’m not a cat and I’m not having a litter of kittens. No.”

“Liz, he’s always called you that. I don’t think-“ Max fell silent at the feral gleam in her eyes. “Okay, well, let’s think about this.”

“There’s nothing to think about,” Liz denied tired of talking about this. “I feel fine. Everything’s fine.”

“Uh-huh, then you weren’t just throwing up,” Max said crossing his arms over his chest in an effort to keep from shaking her. She was supposed to be the logical one but she was anything but at the moment.

“I was just-just upset that’s all. I mean, I heard you guys talking and-“ Liz rubbed at her temples suddenly feeling like she was either going to burst into tears or throw up. “Okay, so-I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Eat this,” Cal grabbed up a cracker thrusting it at Liz.

Liz munched on the crackers, one after the other, thinking there weren’t enough crackers in the world to take away the queasy sensation in her stomach. Oh god, she was pregnant. “Four? You said four.” Liz accused spewing cracker crumbs with every word and feeling her stomach roll in protest.

Max swallowed suddenly feeling a little bit queasy himself. “Cal, check that again, please, because she can’t possibly have four babies at once. That’s just-“

“Congratulations.” Cal slapped Max on the back a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth as Liz scrambled to lift the lid to the toilet and Max paled to a sickly shade tinged with just a touch of green.



“Great, this just gets worse and worse doesn’t it?” Michael ranted.

“Michael-“ Maria started only to have Michael talk right over her.

“Can’t she do anything right? How hard is it to take a damn pill every day?”

“Um, hello?” Maria wiggled her fingers in the air then when he looked at her pointed to her own growing belly. “Who do you think you’re talking to? You knocked me up, remember? So you tell me, how hard is it to remember to use a condom?”

“I’m just saying, we didn’t need the additional pressure. Things were bad enough before this,” Michael said feeling exceptionally tired and irritable.

“I think she got that part, Michael. Since she is the one being attacked and all.” Sinking down onto her mother’s couch she sighed wishing she’d just stayed at Liz’s house.

“So what did Max say?”

“He kept following her around asking her to marry him and she kept running to the bathroom to throw up every time he asked.” Maria shook her head. “I finally had to tell him to stop unless he wanted her to live in the bathroom for the next eight months or so. It was awful, Michael, she’s scarred out of her mind and so is he.”

“Shit.” Plopping down next to her Michael draped his arm around her guiding her down onto his chest, tucking her head under his chin despite the fact that her hair tickled his nose with every breath he took. He liked it, that irritating tickling sensation. “What’s Cal thinking?”

“He thinks that she wasn’t taking birth control pills. He doesn’t know what those pills are that she’s been taking every day but he took them to find out. He’s getting worried. I saw him talking to Noah right before I left and whatever was said didn’t seem to ease his mind any.”

Michael scowled but didn’t say anything, allowing the silence to stretch out between them, just thinking. He didn’t like how things were shaping up but like everyone else he couldn’t think of what to do to change the direction they were headed in.

Poor bastard. Four, damn. Guy has sex like once every blue moon and now he’s going to have six damn kids.

“Four huh?” Michael mumbled.

“Yeah, and let me tell you, if anyone ever told me I was having four babies you’d be a dead man.” Maria assured him before drifting off to sleep, lulled by the steady rhythmic sound of his heartbeat under her ear.

Michael smiled into her hair believing her.


Liz combed her fingers through Noah’s silky fine hair feeling Erin’s sharp little knees digging into her back and felt calm for the first time all day.

“Feeling better?” Max asked softly seeing the pinched expression leave her face. Reaching over his sleeping son he hooked the strand of hair caught at the corner of her mouth and tucked it behind her ear.

“Yeah,” Liz agreed lifting her gaze to meet his eyes. “What about you?”

“Better, I think,” Max agreed smiling as his fingers trailed across her cheek. For a while there he hadn’t been sure, watching her now he thought they might be.

“So,” Liz stopped chewing on her lip until he stopped her, gently brushing her abused lip with his thumb.

“Yeah,” Max agreed still having trouble absorbing the news himself.

“I don’t feel any different,” Liz said then rolled her eyes a smile flitting across her mouth. “Well, besides the vomiting every two seconds thing but I think some of that was just….me.”

“You don’t look any different,” Max supplied having trouble reconciling what he was seeing with Cal’s announcement.

“So what does Cal think those pills are?” Liz asked feeling a tinge of worry clouding her eyes.

“I don’t know but he said he didn’t think anything was wrong.”

“Yet,” Liz finished Max’s thought then changed the subject abruptly when Max’s brow furrowed with concern. “About that website-“

“I’m taking care of that,” Max cut her off not wanting to talk about that either.

“Okay,” Liz agreed slowly willing to go along with that for now, especially since he was being so sweet after she’d refused his current proposal by vomiting.

“In fact, I’m going to need to go out. When Cal, finds out where the hosting server is I mean.”

“Okay, then I’ll go to the lab that day,” Liz said and watched Max’s expression change in resistance to that plan. “Just hear me out, okay?”

“Okay,” Max cautiously agreed.

“You can follow me there and while I’m touring the new facility Michael will be there then I’ll arrange to call Kyle when we’re leaving and have him follow us home. How’s that?”

“What about the twins? I can’t take them with me,” Max asked scooting closer, needing to touch her as he realized she was already becoming used to the idea of being pregnant. Without asking he knew what the us she was referring to meant, her and the quads.

“I’ll bring them with me.” Liz assured him tangling her legs with his when he moved closer. “I doubt Noah will have it any other way.”

Max smiled in agreement seeing her point since Noah had wrapped his whole body around her even now, clinging like a little monkey even in his sleep. “So I can’t just lock you up for say….the next nine months at least?”

“Fraid not.” Liz grinned. “You’d have to peel me off the walls to keep me from clawing my way outside.”

“That’s what I thought.” Max sighed trying to be okay with it cool, calm, and collected when all he felt anything but. Lifting up onto his elbow he looked around the bed.

Erin curled around Pepe, who’d tucked his head into the crook of her neck, her knees pushed into the small of Liz’s back. Noah sprawled across Liz, his face tucked into her chest and one leg draped over her hip.

“You know, we’re going to need a bigger bed.” Max observed thinking about the quads.

Liz started giggling at the expression on his face. “Don’t worry. There’s still room for you.”

“Yeah?” Max asked leaning over to kiss her.

“Yeah,” Liz breathed against him tears filling her eyes as his mouth nibbled at hers. She didn’t have to ask how he felt about this latest development because she could feel his answer, in his weight beside her and filling her chest until there was no space between them.

Chapter Fifty Three

“You’re sure you’re okay?”

Liz sighed and set her brush on the counter before turning to face Max who was hovering in the doorway to the bathroom. “Yes, I’m sure. Just as sure as I was five minutes ago.”

“Okay,” Max nodded in apparent agreement but didn’t leave. He found himself following her around, worried about how often she was getting sick. He didn’t have any personal experience to draw from but it seemed excessive to him. Wasn’t morning sickness supposed to be in the morning and not all day long? He hadn’t had time to check into it yet but he would.

Seeing that he wasn’t reassured Liz decided to take the time to confront a few issues, both his and hers. “Max, you know I’m fine. You’ve checked almost hourly and even had Cal check.”

“I know.” Max agreed. “But you weren’t like this the last time were you? I don’t remember you ever getting sick like this.”

Liz smiled seeing beneath his annoying over protectiveness to his underlying desire to take care of her. “Last time I threw up all over someone’s lawn and the sidewalk in front of their house. You just didn’t see me. Besides, each time is different.”

“You did?” Max asked feeling a pang of guilt that he hadn’t been there when she’d needed him back then.

“Uh-huh, then I came to your house and you made me macaroni and cheese. You made me feel better.” Easing onto the counter behind her she watched Max as he came fully into the room. “Which is why I went to you.”

“Yeah?” Max asked coming to stand in front of her, easing closer when she made room between her knees.

“Yeah, so this isn’t that different.” Easing her hands up along his ribs she smiled feeling his chest expand on a deep breath. “And it’s been hours since I got sick so-“

“An hour and half actually,” Max interrupted and grinned when her nose wrinkled at his quick aside.

“Okay, an hour and half then, it just seems like hours,” Liz teased then grew more serious. “I know you’re worried, so am I.”

“It’s just that,” Max paused but his hands kept moving rubbing along her thighs in a caress meant to sooth them both. “Four seems like a lot for you to carry to term. You’re so small I just don’t see how that’s possible, safely I mean.”

“I understand,” Liz agreed slowly leaning back as Max’s hands settled on her hips. “I can’t say I don’t share those concerns but I can’t think that far ahead yet. I’m still stuck on the pregnant part.”

“Yeah, well I read that stress isn’t good for you, or the babies either.” Max watched her smile her eyes dancing and found her enticing, even in the sweats and tee that she’d never found time to change out of that day.

“Already reading up on the subject?” Liz teased well aware that, like her, he didn’t like flying blind.

“I’m just worried about you.” Max said feeling just how small she was under his hands. It scared the shit out of him to think of something happening to her.

All day he’d made sure she didn’t lift anything heavy or overwork herself, he’d agonized over Hansen’s visit causing her too much stress or caring for the twins on top of everything being too much for her. So he’d talked to his mother, just to see if she’d be willing to help them out but even that hadn’t relieved the worry gnawing at him. Honestly, he didn’t know what to do to appease that feeling, in fact, he expected to live with it for the next nine months or so.

“I know and I have something I want you to help me with, something I’ve been thinking about.” Liz lowered her lashes briefly, peeking up at him before taking her own deep breath to gather her courage. She couldn’t even think about this new concern when she had so many other problems weighing on her mind. She wanted to handle one of them, get rid of it once and for all so she could move on to the next. “When we moved here and tried to make all of this work, I know things didn’t go exactly smooth. You know,” Liz rolled her eyes embarrassed but not enough to stop. “With our sex life.”

“Liz-“

“Max, please just let me finish.” Liz chewed at her lip for a moment as she gathered her thoughts and tried to put some sort of order to them. “I was still conflicted. Not about whether I wanted to make it work but more like I wasn’t sure that I could. Now, with the babies and everything I feel like-“

“Like what?” Max asked when she seemed to be struggling to verbalize her thoughts.

“Like I have a chance to really put all that garbage behind us. If I could just get past this one last thing then we’ll be okay from here on out. I don’t want Tess to be here anymore. I want it to be just us.”

“Liz, I’m not sure what you’re getting at. What one thing?” Max asked confused. He thought they had pretty much worked everything out. He was satisfied with their progress and he’d thought that Liz was too.

“You’ve been really great about everything,” Liz started not directly answering his question but working her way there. “I know I’ve made things difficult and we’ve had to work around a lot of things but-“ She paused nibbling at the corner of her mouth briefly before continuing. “I want to try again to-I want to try oral sex.”

Max blinked before easing back away from her a step or two, more when she slid off the counter. “You know, I don’t think that’s a good idea. See, I’ve been on the verge of a cardiac episode for days now and I don’t think I could handle it. So-“

“I’m certified in CPR,” Liz followed after him trying to make light of her request. “I promise I’d revive you. I’m really good at mouth to mouth.”

“I know,” Max agreed trying to stand his ground in the face of her careful advance. “And I appreciate the thought but we’ve talked about this and I’m happy with the way things are. “

“I’m not.”

Max’s eyes widened as she reached for him, backing up abruptly until his back hit the door slamming it closed.

Liz sighed and took his hand pulling him away from the door. “You’re acting like you’re afraid of me.” She pointed out trying to look harmless so he’d relax and just talk to her.

“No, don’t be silly,” Max denied but glanced at the door quickly before looking back at her. He felt cornered actually, like no matter what he was bound to turn out to be the bad guy here.

If he agreed then he was saying what they had wasn’t enough for him and that wasn’t true. He also didn’t want to risk it. There was a great chance that this would blow up in his face.

“I want to try, please Max. I know I’m not very good at it and I might not be able to finish-um, you know, I know I had help before but-“ Liz stopped when Max’s expression darkened abruptly.

“No,” Max scowled his fingers clenching around hers. “Don’t say that. You didn’t have help. You’ve never done this. Not really, and I don’t want you to do anything that you don’t want to.”

“But I do want to!” Liz burst out over him, trying to make him listen to her. “That’s what I’m telling you. I’ve been thinking about it and if Tess had never-stepped in I would have don’t you think? I mean, I would have in the normal course of things, just to see. You wanted to, I remember, and you haven’t let her stop you from doing all the things you’ve been curious about so why can’t I try? I should at least get to see if I can do it by myself. No one pushing me to, just me. I’m saying I want to try but it won’t be like it was, it’ll be just me, touching just you. It might not be any good because I’m not sure I can but I’d like to try and see. I don’t want to live trapped by the things that happened. I feel like we have the chance to put that behind us and move on to more pressing problems because things have been going so well. Does that make sense?”

“Yes, it does but-“ Max paused looking at her and suddenly he did understand. He understood that from her point of view he hadn’t let Tess dictate his actions in the bedroom, where hers had been limited, through fear and shame Tess had managed to continue to control Liz’s actions. “In this we aren’t the same, that’s what I understand. She targeted you in a different way then she did me.”

“I know that,” Liz agreed easing closer until she was standing between his legs, close enough to feel the heat from his body. Drawing strength from their closeness she continued. “But I’m ready to get past that. To sincerely try to not let her into my head and just do what I want to, because it’s what I want. I need your help to do that.”

Max found himself nodding his head in agreement even though he still wasn’t sure this was a good idea. She’d asked for his help and he’d do anything to give it. Even this.

His stomach knotted as images from the past flickered to life but he ruthlessly shoved them away. There were no cameras here, nothing but the two of them and he’d severe his right arm before he’d hurt her. He could do this.

“Okay, great!” Liz grinned excited and already feeling better. She was pumped up and ready to put her best into this latest attempt to move forward, one baby step at a time though. “I’m just going to take a quick shower and then I’ll be ready. Or do you want to just-“

“No, go ahead. I’ll check on the kids and lock our door,” Max smiled thinking she looked incredible just as she was, the picture of health and happiness. He just wanted her to stay that way.



“She’ll really be here tomorrow? We’re sure this time?”

“I’m sure. Is everything ready?” The alien that had once been called Agent Burns asked.

“Yes, everything is ready. As long as Guerin doesn’t get too ill too quickly then everything should be right on schedule.”

Burns nodded rubbing at his eyes to dispel the dryness that left them feeling gritty and irritated. “Good, you’re sure that this’ll work? Last time she fought the virus off.”

“The pills should have worn down her defenses adequately enough for the new virus to take an immediate hold. If the trials were accurate then she’ll succumb quickly, before she even reaches town. He won’t have the opportunity to assist her this time. ”

“Perfect, thank you.” Waiting until he was alone he reached for the phone and dialed quickly. “You’re on tomorrow, understand? Be expecting my call.”

“On it.” Rath quipped more concerned with the sweet little bitch riding him then anything else at the moment.

“You know what to do?”

“Oh yeah, I know what you want,” Rath smirked jerking up into the girl above him.

Burns disconnected the phone in disgust. He hated working with inferiors, it was just asking for something to go wrong. But this hadn’t been his call. Turning his chair to face the window he looked out over the dry dusty landscape and contemplated his goals.

He was growing increasingly tired of furthering the goals of others at the expense of his own. Maybe it was time to break out on his own.

Turning back toward his desk he searched the monitor until he found Michael Guerin, who looked like he’d seen better days. Tapping his finger on the desktop he thought back to the last time he’d seen them all in action. Did he really believe that these were the people the prophecy spoke of? This unkempt hybrid who was wiping his nose on his sleeve? He certainly didn’t look like he had much fight in him. Guess they’d find out how deceiving looks could really be.

Opening the desk drawer he took out the only three items that were important to him and left, not sorry to be seeing the last of this place.


Walking into the bedroom still towel drying her hair she wasn’t surprised to see Max still dressed and looking tenser then she thought the situation warranted. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” Max stood firmly centered between the door and the bed looking, he was sure, as uncertain as he felt. Rolling his shoulders in an effort to relax he tried not to stare.

Her hair was wet and tousled and she hadn’t bothered to even wrap herself in a towel. His eyes dropped to her taunt abdomen and he tried to imagine what she would look like in a few months, rounded and gorgeous, he couldn’t wait to see it. Moving to stand between her and the bed he tried not to think about it, the other times, this time was different. It wasn’t like on the video.

Closing his eyes as he struggled to block the image of her on her knees before him her hair so soft under his hands as he shoved his cock into her throat, porn star moans slipping around his cock, her eyes completely blank like she wasn’t even there. He jumped when she touched his chest.

“You okay?” Liz asked concerned.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just need to sit down a minute.” Max stroked her cheek before moving to the side of the bed and sinking onto the mattress.

“That heart problem giving you trouble?” Liz asked, lightly teasing him because she sensed she shouldn’t bring up the real problem. Just because they carried different scars didn’t mean she was oblivious to when one of his ached.

“Yeah,” Max smiled pleased that she didn’t press him.

“Let me help.” Kissing him gently she eased into him, rubbing her thumb against his cheek bringing him from there to here, where it was just the two of them. When she pulled back his dark hair hung over his brow his lips were parted and his nostrils flared with his indrawn breath. “See? Mouth to mouth, works like a charm.”

He smiled at her and pushed to his feet wrapping his arms around her and squeezing, lifting her feet off the floor until she laughed out loud and squeezed him back just as tightly. “You’re my charm.”

Kissing him on the cheek she tapped her finger on his nose. “That’s nice but you’ve still got your shoes on.”

“I do?” Max asked refusing to release her grinning when she had to wrap her bare legs around him or continue to hang there with her feet inches off the floor.

“Yes,” Liz nodded and narrowed her eyes. “I want them off.”

“Off huh?” Max pretended to look over her shoulder to see his feet, taking in the swell of her bare ass. It was pretty damn perfect to him.

“Now please,” Liz said primly delighted when even his eyes smiled back at her. Using her legs she scooted higher up on his torso watching his eyes go warm and smoky.

Holding her securely to his chest he toed off his shoes, one at a time.

“Thanks, baby,” Liz said kissing the tip of his nose before moving to his ear. “You have really sexy bare feet.” Smiling when her breath caused him to shiver. “Now the shirt, please.”

She squeaked in surprise when he tipped her backward.

“Okay, pull.” Max jiggled her a little to prompt her to pull his shirt over his head.

“Do that again,” Liz breathed clutching his shirt in her hand.

Max groaned and fell backward bouncing slightly as his back hit the mattress strands of her wet hair slapping against him. He reluctantly released her only when she tugged at his shirt, still determined to remove it.

“Bossy little thing aren’t you?” Max grumbled as she pulled his shirt free of his arms and tossed it over the side of the bed.

“I’m very demanding,” Liz agreed. “Now, I can see you need some help.” Scooting off the side of the bed she tapped her finger against her chin studying the problem.

Max glanced down at his tented shorts and then back up at her.

Reminding herself that she wasn’t a timid person she reached out and let her fingers play with the neatly tied laces that held up his shorts. She watched his abdomen move as he breathed, moving faster the longer she toyed with his laces. “I think you have a real problem, Max.”

“Yeah?” Max asked watching her fingers as she slowly tugged at one lace, not quite hard enough to untie it but pulling just enough to make sure he felt it.

“Yeah, because I’m going to touch you all over and that heart of yours is going to be beating really fast.”

Max smiled finally looking up to her face and slowly his smile faded away. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips parted as she studied him like she was trying to figure out where to start.

His heart was already beating really fast.

Liz felt the lace pop free and smiled looking at Max directly. “You might want to scoot up and get comfortable. This might take awhile, since I’m not really sure how to do this. While I figure it out you might as well be comfortable.”

Without saying anything he started to scoot up but stopped when his shorts didn’t scoot with him.

Liz’s innocent look turned into a smile that lit her eyes. “You don’t need these do you?” Then she yanked them off.

His whole body jerked and his jaw locked tight. “Liz…” He growled her name in warning.

Climbing up next to him she looked at him seriously while she traced his ribs. “I think I’ll start here. It’s not too crazy. I’ve touched you here before, lots of times. I’ve always wondered why you don’t have very much body hair. Just a little tiny bit right here.” She ran a finger over the sparse little bit of hair that sprinkled his chest and arrowed down his abdomen stopping just before the hair grew denser. “Not that I’m complaining mind you. I like this little bit of hair. It adds texture.” Her knuckles brushed against his crotch and she watched in surprise as his penis jumped before bumping back against his belly. “Wow.”

Looking at her wide eyes he sucked in a steadying breath and lay absolutely still, careful not to touch her, to bury his fingers in her hair, glaring down briefly at his unruly appendage that didn’t seem to want to listen to the no moving rule.

Leaning closer she saw his fingers tremble against the blankets. “If you don’t like what I’m doing-“

“I’ll like it,” Max cut her off.

Liz ignored that completely. “If you don’t like anything you have to tell me.” Drawing out the anticipation she slowly scooted down just a bit at a time and she could have sworn he grew longer with each scoot then she surprised him by and leaned forward to rub her cheek against him.

Max edged his thumbs under her jaw and tipped her face up needing to see her eyes. “You’re killing me here.”

Liz crawled back up and gave him her mouth, just as she’d promised, melting into him through his mouth, not pulling back until she had to pant for air.

Max watched her lick her lips and groaned softly.

Tentatively she touched his testicles unwilling to wait any longer, her fingers drifting over the hair roughened texture the firm skin drawn tight. He was very warm there and as she continued to touch him his penis responded by flexing, in reaction to her touch or her nearness she wasn’t sure but found it fascinating either way.

Max watched her and thoughts about any other time vanished, wiped clean every time her eyes widened during her intent study of his body and each and every one of its reactions. She was fully engaged in what she was doing and something in his chest eased.

“Are you okay?” Liz asked pulling her eyes up to his face.

“Yeah,” Max croaked shifting restlessly then he forced himself still again.

Liz stroked both her hands up his thighs to the smoother skin over his hipbones. She leaned forward and brushed a kiss over his left hipbone. She liked it, so she did it again adding a small lick to feel him against her tongue. A small drop of fluid appeared at the very tip of his penis. She stared at it, going from simply fascinated to entranced. She didn’t remember anything like this ever happening before and she didn’t want to miss any of this.

Suddenly she didn’t want to tease anymore, bending forward she pressed her lips to him, lightly kissing him feeling that wetness against her closed lips.

His strong tanned throat worked and he moaned, hands fisting in the blankets underneath him. “Still, still, still.”

Hearing his whispered chant Liz looked up seeing his head tilted back eyes squeezed shut, his mouth slightly open allowing those whispered words to be heard. His obvious arousal fed her excitement giving her confidence.

Liz kissed him again, this time with her mouth open delicately tasting him, feeling the muscles in his thighs quiver when she licked him, so she did it again frowning slightly when his penis moved.

Max’s head dropped forward and he watched her with focused intensity and burning eyes.

She held him still and licked up the entire length of him until her tongue went up and over the head of him. She tasted the salty fluid at the same moment she met his eyes and he made a raw choked sound, his whole body shuddering.

Liz licked at him, watching carefully and adjusting until she was licking the head again and again, down to the base and then back up, down again when air hissed out between his teeth. She swirled her tongue, teased repeatedly. Then she’d start all over again.

Max shifted and groaned and finally he had to lift his arms, locking his hands behind his head. His legs stiffened, abdomen pulling tight until every muscle was chiseled into exquisite definition, his shoulders grinding hard into the mattress in an effort to remain still.

Gathering courage from the rush of his breath and each broken groan she closed her mouth around him and drew him in. It wasn’t easy. He was big enough to make it difficult. She stretched her jaw wider, determined, wanting more then anything to please him. For once to just give him something freely, and as easily as it should have been all along.

“Ah no,” Max groaned in a tortured gasp. “I can’t-can’t hold still if you don’t stop.”

Her own body was on fire. She held on, moving her tongue watching him jerk, and then she drew on him, sucking him deeper and felt his back arch. She curled her fingers around his taunt hips digging in with her nails.

“Liz!” Max gasp, feeling his hips rock forward he stilled his face twisting as he struggled not to move. “That’s it. I can’t take any more.”

Liz held on, sucking harder using her tongue quickly before he plucked her up and then she was looking up at him dizzy from the suddenness of it. She opened her mouth to protest but then she saw the wild look on his face seconds before his mouth slammed down over hers.

In the next instant Max gripped her hips hard and thrust inside her fast, deep and over and over. Liz clenched around him crying out loudly, and then she began her own chant.

“I love you, love you. Love! You! Max!”

The pleasure was so intense she didn’t think she could bear it. The last thing she registered were his eyes searing into hers as he made a rough sound of release.

When she could see again she rolled to find Max still panting beside her, his chest rising and falling in quick labored breathes, but his hand rested on her belly and she could feel the warmth he’d left behind as he checked once more on their babies. “Give me a second and when I can breath I’ll start CPR.”

Max’s chest rumbled in what could have been a laugh.

“I think I need more practice. That didn’t go how I’d planned.”

Max flopped onto his back not even able to groan.

Chapter Fifty Four

“Let me see,” Liz motioned Max closer, unable to pull her eyes from the slick wet head of the newborn, she dragged her exhausted body up trying to get a better look.

Tha-thum

Ignoring her request Max beamed down at the infant seemingly enraptured with the tiny bundle.

Tha-thum
Tha-thum

“Max, please bring her over here. I can’t see her,” Liz begged struggling with the sheet tangled around her legs her heart beating faster. The first flickers of panic set in as she yanked at the twisted ropes of coarse white sheet binding her legs and clinging like man-eating vines.

“She’s the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen,” Max stared raptly at the infant in his arms completely deaf to Liz’s pleas.

Tha-thum
Tha-thum!

“I want to see her! Bring her to me!” Liz cried sweaty hands still fumbling in an attempt to get free, exhaustion making her movements clumsy and ineffective. The sound of her heartbeat was deafening which only made her more afraid. There was something wrong here. Why was Max acting like this?

Turning Max finally glanced over at her. “Look,” Tilting the child in his arms just enough to allow Liz a good look Max beamed. “She’s perfect.”

Liz froze icy fingers of dread closing around her as she looked at the newborn infant, the child she’d just given birth to. “Why does she have blue eyes?” Liz asked her voice shrill causing the child’s face to scrunch up with displeasure. The infants eyes weren’t that newborn blue that still managed to hint at what they would become later. They were blue. “And her hair….”

“It’s soft and curly just like her mothers.” Max said with pleasure as he touched the fine flaxen curls that were still wet from her birth.

Tha-thum!
Tha-thum!

“No, that’s not right.” Liz shook her head as a blinding flash of white obscured her vision causing Max to disappear leaving her alone in the room for just a split second and then he was there, still smiling. “Our child can’t have blond hair or blue eyes. Both are recessive traits so brown….” Her throat closed up tight her heart beating wildly as his comment finally registered.

Everything bleached into white, so bright her eyes hurt. Blinking to clear her vision she thought, for just a moment, that it wasn’t Max any longer. But someone bigger, darker someone completely different.

“Thank you for doing this, birthing her for us.”

Liz started to tremble, feeling queasy as she watched Max coo to the child he cradled close to his chest, and she could no longer hear her heart beating at all. Sweat beaded on her forehead as her stomach cramped forcing her to take fast shallow breaths.

“Yes, Liz, thank you.”

Liz’s eyes snapped open still hearing that smug sickening feminine voice in her ear. Making an effort to control the nausea rolling through her by taking slow measured breaths, she forced her muscles to relax.

“Are you okay?” Max asked rubbing his eyes open.

“I’m sorry.” Liz sighed, still feeling the strange sense of disassociation that followed one of her nightmares. She felt like she was being smothered. Noah’s weight across her chest kept her from drawing in enough air. “Did I wake you?”

Max rolled over and gently peeled Noah away from Liz and eased him over enough so he wasn’t in between them any longer. Then after carefully unwinding the blanket tangled around her lower body he rested his hand on her bare abdomen.

“What are you doing?” Liz asked reflexively grabbing his hand and pushing it away from her.

Suddenly wide-awake he moved closer, the vague feeling of distress that had dragged him from sleep suddenly having a solid source. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?”

“No, I’m sorry,” Liz apologized quickly then took a slow deep breath. “Maybe a little but-“

Max’s brows snapped together a worried frown manifesting instantly. Before he could say anything she was rolling her eyes.

“I’m fine, it’s nothing,” Liz assured him sending him a smile to prove her words. “Really. Just a bad dream.”

Max’s frown didn’t abate in the slightest.

“Um, these breeders, they weren’t surrogates were they? I mean the children were their own biological offspring right?” Liz asked so quietly that he almost didn’t hear her.

She told herself that she was whispering to keep from waking the twins and not because she was afraid.

He didn’t miss the look on her face or the anxiety emanating from her. He watched her hand automatically settle protectively over her lower abdomen and thought he understood.

“No, they weren’t surrogates. Why?” Max asked easing closer, but deliberately not touching her.

“Just-“ Liz shook her head and smiled at her own silliness. “Nothing, it’s nothing.”

“Your dream?” Max asked not letting it go.

“Yeah, it was so strange.” Closing the remaining distance between them, she slipped her fingers up along his side. Around to stroke his back lightly, finding the contact soothing, his warmth calming to both her emotions and her stomach.

“You were holding this baby, talking baby talk to her.” Liz paused going over her memory of the dream trying to pick out what had disturbed her so much about it. “You never did that with the twins. The baby talk thing. I used to watch you.” Lifting her eyes to his, she found him watching her intently, not a trace of sleep remaining in his eyes. “You were always so-serious even when you were playing with them. You talked to them like they understood every word you said. I always liked watching you with them.”

“You didn’t like seeing me use baby talk?” Max asked, relaxing as she did. He automatically wrapped his arm around her waist cuddling her even closer, relieved when she didn’t tense up.

“No,” Liz agreed. “It was weird. You wouldn’t bring her to me and then-“

“Then?”

“She had blond curls and blue eyes, light blue eyes.” Liz was careful not to stop the light caressing motion of her fingers along his bare back as she imparted that disturbing bit of information.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, it was just a stupid dream. I don’t want to think about it anymore. I’d rather think about last night. Or tonight, still, I guess.” Liz sighed snuggling closer to hide her eyes by burrowing deeper into his heat. So he couldn’t see how much the dream was really bothering her.

Kissing the top of her head and stroking a hand along her hair, he wished he could make sure that the last thing on her mind was what she’d dreamed about. He wanted to make things okay for her, to take away all her nightmares, but realized that he couldn’t. All he could do was be here when she woke up. He’d have to settle for that.

Affectionately kissing his neck she smiled. “It was nice.”

“Nice?” Max asked trying to sound offended but his grin came through clearly.

“Yeah, nice. Really nice, thanks,” Liz said wiggling around until her back was pressed to his chest keeping his arm wrapped securely around her.

“Thanks? You’re thanking me?” Max asked equal parts surprised and amused.

“Uh huh, isn’t that allowed?” Liz asked yawning at the end of her sentence.

“I’m just the test subject. You don’t normally thank your lab rats do you?” Max teased.

“You’re right. My mistake, especially since the trial run didn’t meet expectations. Bad test monkey,” Liz scolded through a big smile.

“I’ll be your test monkey any time,” Max murmured against her ear.

Liz squirmed as his breath tickled her ear, then automatically held her breath as he teasingly nibbled on the rim of her ear. “Deal.”

Max grinned and kissed her temple before settling down and closing his eyes, keeping her securely cocooned in his arms. He remained aware of her every movement even as he started to drift toward sleep.

Noah’s eyes opened slowly but he didn’t move, not yet. Instead, he checked on his sisters. They were small, barely there really, but already dreaming. So alike but not.

He needed to see, to know, what was going to happen now that the monsters were almost here. So he flung himself out of the shell holding him in the here and now, out into the dark place.

When Noah finally moved in closer to his parents, carefully wrapping each of his mother’s fingers around his own with his free hand, he was relieved to see his father’s eyes blink open. He was watching over mommy, just like he’d promised.

Too bad that wasn’t enough anymore.

Everyone had to blink sometime.


“Hey all,” Ava greeted before she even cleared the doorway into the kitchen.

“Hey,” Isabel greeted automatically, without looking up. When nothing else was forthcoming, however, she abandoned her fashion magazine, looking up to find Ava frozen in the doorway. Following Ava’s gaze over her own shoulder to where Max and Liz were engaging in the whole look-into-my-eyes routine she turned back around and shrugged.

“You’ll get used to it,” Isabel remarked offhandedly and went back to her magazine.

“Ookay.” Ava drawled feeling like she’d missed something.

Catching her tone Isabel felt compelled to explain. “This is just their universe righting itself. You missed it the first time around,” Isabel waved her hand in the air and rolled her eyes. “The sickening public displays, not being able to keep their hands or lips off of each other. This is nothing, the G rated version. Trust me.”

“So,” Ava mused, watching Max make Liz laugh by nuzzling a ticklish spot on her neck. “This is normal?”

“Used ta be,” Isabel agreed smiling at Ava’s weirded out expression.

“Uh-huh,” Ava nodded. “So being knocked up with four babies isn’t throwing a bucket of cold water on them, huh? Alien shit in the desert? No problems here.”

“You don’t understand,” Isabel said quietly, darting a glance over her shoulder. When she turned back around she was smiling. “That stuff never mattered. The great big alien abyss.”

“How can it not matter?” Ava asked, honestly lost. To her it seemed like the only thing that had ever mattered. Zan had only stuck with her because of it. Sean was going to leave her because of it. It had been the ruling force in her life, both of her lives.

“Because of that,” Isabel gestured toward the oblivious couple. “The thing between them. He made it through our worst nightmare because of it. She made it through hers. This is normal. The rest of it is just the details.”

Looking at Ava right then, for the first time ever, she could see a bit of Tess coming through in her expression.

“Ava, look, all of us have problems we’ve got to deal with, details like I said. That shouldn’t be our whole life though. It can’t be. If it had been I don’t think I’d have made it, and I know Max wouldn’t have. “ Isabel studied Ava carefully looking for other hints of Tess. She’d never forget that she was the one who had befriended Tess and brought her home.

It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Ava. Not exactly, not yet anyway. It just paid to be careful.

“So how’s Sean?” Isabel asked when the silence between them had stretched out to an uncomfortable length.

Ava shrugged like it didn’t matter. “Fine, I guess.” Eyes on Liz she felt a stab of pure unadulterated jealously. Watching Max smooth his hand over Liz’s stomach, looking for all the world as if he couldn’t be any happier. How the hell did she do that? Make them all oblivious to everything else but her?

Eyes narrowed Isabel lifted her magazine, going so far as to flip a page, like she was actually interested. “Huh, I thought you were pretty into him. Sick of him already?”

Ava snorted and folded her arms across her chest. “You could say that. Sick of being interrogated about Liz.”

Isabel’s eyebrows rose in surprise at Ava’s outburst. “Sean’s not stupid Av’s. He knows he has no chance with Liz. He took his shot a long time ago and it didn’t happen. I seriously doubt he’s still hung up on her. He doesn’t seem the type.”

“Really?” Ava asked, latching onto the shred of hope Isabel offered.

“Sean? A diehard romantic? Pining all these years for his lost love? I don’t see that at all.” Isabel shook her head and suppressed a grin at Ava’s hopeful expression. Yeah, she was into Sean all right. Weird.

“Hey, when did you get here?” Liz asked sliding into the chair Max held out for her.

“Just now,” Isabel answered smiling. “So what did you two decide?”

“Um, Max is going to follow me to the lab then head out to meet Cal.” Shooting Max an amused look she turned back to Isabel and Ava and grinned. “After calling Michael to make sure he was ready. And then calling Kyle to make sure he could meet me to follow us home. Plus, making me promise to call Michael from the parking lot and swearing that I won’t leave the parking lot without Kyle’s face in my rear view mirror.”

“Sounds like a plan,’ Isabel agreed and snagged her purse. Standing up she looked down her nose at Max for moment before breaking into a huge grin. “So, should I be planning a wedding?”

“Excuse me.” Hand over her mouth, Liz fled.

“Not just yet.” Max stood up and grinned back. “But I’m working on it.”

Ava laughed as Max trailed after Liz to the bathroom.


“So you’ll call me-“

“As soon as I leave the lab,” Liz finished.

“Maybe you shouldn’t do this. If you’re sick-“ Max started only to be cut off again.

“It was only dry heaves. I’m totally fine,” Liz assured him. She was touched by his concern but he couldn’t keep her locked in the house for the next nine months. Slipping her arms around his waist she stood on tiptoe and brushed her lips over his cheek.

“I know.” Max agreed, still not thrilled about this.

“Now, go take a bite out of Internet porn.”

Max smiled but quickly sobered.

“Cal’s gonna be pissed if you’re late.” Liz reminded him gently.

“I know.” Max sighed then kissed her softly before resting his forehead against hers.

“Look at it this way. I won’t be there long since I’m bringing the kids.” Hooking her fingers in his belt loops she looked into his worried eyes and smiled, feeling happier then she had since coming back home to Roswell. “I’m not interested in going back to work, especially right now. So relax, I won’t be tempted back into a lab coat. Promise.”

“I’m not worried,” Max immediately responded. At least he wasn’t worried about that. In fact, he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what he was worried about. Everything maybe, he hadn’t known enough to worry the first time around. Or maybe he’d been worried about the wrong things. So this time he was expanding his focus to worry about anything and everything.

“Right,” Liz drawled not believing a word of it. Max always worried.

“Your cell phone’s fully charged?”

Liz clamped her lips together to hold in her laughter but nodded seriously in response. She understood and even appreciated that trait. He only worried like this about something very important to him. It reminded her how much he loved her in a weird sort of way. That’s how she chose to view it anyway.

“Okay,” Max sighed reluctantly releasing her.

Noah silently waited, watching until his parents separated. When it became clear that they were still going he turned away.

“Noah?” Erin asked confused. Noah felt strange. His feelings churning like her stomach did when she ate too much candy.

“I have to go with Mommy,” Noah stated flatly.

That was the only thing he knew. He didn’t know what to do about anything. He didn’t know how to fix anything. He just knew that he had to stay with Mommy. She was going to need him.

No one was going to take his mommy away from him. Not ever again.



Stepping into the CrashDown Isabel immediately started looking for her guys. Her guys. Smiling she acknowledged that she’d never been happier. Marriage definitely agreed with her.

Her smile deepened when she spotted Dane and Javen at the counter sharing a piece of asteroid pie. Before she had taken more then two steps in their direction, however, she altered her course.

Breezing up to the booth in the corner she lifted her eyebrow and sent a superior and decidedly frosty look down to the booths occupant. “Kendra. Imagine seeing you here. Funny, I don’t remember you spending much time here. Looking for someone?”

“Actually, yes,” Kendra replied, taking a slow sip of her soda. Enjoying making the great Isabel Evans wait. “Max was supposed to call me. Have you seen him?”

“Yes, he’s busy. With Liz,” Isabel’s cool tone masked her feelings perfectly, as always. Looking down at Kendra sitting there with her breasts thrust out like they were on the attack she was barely able to refrain from rolling her eyes. She had her own breasts therefore she wasn’t impressed with this display. The effort was a complete waste, which Kendra should be smart enough to realize. “So, I guess I’ll be the one to tell you that we won’t be needing your-services.” Just the slightest of hesitations, not enough to be blatantly rude, but just enough to make her meaning clear. “Now that Liz is pregnant again, I’ll be helping Max out. And I don’t need you so,” Shrugging her shoulders in a casual show of unconcern she watched Kendra’s eyes narrow pleased that her message was being clearly received. “Sorry.”

“I interviewed with Max, not you-“

“Right, but he never finished the interview did he?” Isabel asked annoyance clear in her tone. “In fact, he forgot all about it because Liz needed him. I’m just trying to be nice by saving you the trouble of hunting him down, only to be told you aren’t going to be hired. You might be in for a long wait. He hasn’t left the house for days.”

Without waiting for Kendra’s response Isabel spun on her heel and strode across the room to her family. Slipping her arm around Dane she leaned into him and dipped up a taste of pie with her finger. Watching her husband’s eyes as she slowly eased her finger out from between her lips it struck her just how much she’d changed over the years.

She wasn’t consumed with appearing perfect any longer. Dane didn’t expect her to be perfect or to look perfect, and the really amazing thing was that he seemed to like her just fine as she was. Huge glaring petty faults and all.

“So,” Dane cleared his throat before continuing. “That’s why they call you the Ice Princess?”

Isabel shrugged completely unrepentant. There was no way in hell she was going to let that bitch sink her claws into her brother and worm her way into their lives. “She’s a skank.”

Dane nodded as a grin slowly took hold crinkling the corners of his eyes in way guaranteed to make her hot. “I love the cold.”

Isabel laughed, not even noticing Kendra slamming out of the café in a huff.



“You guys ready?” Liz asked unbuckling her seat belt as she turned to face the twins.

Erin silently looked to Noah for an answer.

“Ready,” Noah agreed quietly.

He’d spent the whole ride silently trying to get ready. He still couldn’t see in detail what was coming, but it was certain that things were already in motion. He could feel things changing, events happening, just out of his line of sight. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t see it. But he didn’t need to.

He just needed to stick close and be vigilant.

He needed to not blink. Not even once.

Thank you guys for the continued interest in the face of my long absence. I'm surprised and feel very grateful for this place and the support I've found here. This is still the best stress buster ever.

trulov~I'll try to address your questions as best I can. No, Max is trying really hard not to totally block Liz out but no the connection is not totally open. It doesn't need to be. Liz isn't asking for Max to lay himself completely bare to her. She understands his reluctance and where it comes from. He's spent most of two lifetimes hiding and keeping a huge part of himself private. She just needs to not feeling shut out, diconnected from him. We all keep parts of ourselves private. Even more when you've been hurt.

They've been deeply wounded and they've both hidden parts of that from the other. Pieces of themselves. So I guess the answer is parts of all of the things you mentioned. Yes, Max kept details of his previous life from her. He was afraid. Things were very fragile between them and he didn't want Liz thinking about the past repeating itself. He didn't want to think he was still that person either. The more he discovered the worse he felt. His past life was a mess. What he remembered about what happened to Liz, and his part in it, caused him an enormous amount of guilt, shame, and outright rage. The very last thing he would want to do is hurt her. Telling her what he remembered would hurt. How could he tell her that he remembered having sex with her while others watched and video taped it? How would it feel to be Max and know that you were there and couldn't stop it from happening? She wasthe one he loved above everyone else, the one person he'd opened himself up to, and his past came back and almost destroyed her. While he watched and had a part in what happened to her.

So what would hurt worse? Nothing or not just seeing that but experiencing it through him? There are more then one reason for the things that they do.

Liz has kept silent about a lot too. She never told him that she "knew" things. Things that leaked out when he slept. She never mentioned that her nightmares were so severe she stopped sleeping herself, falling ill and she didn't tell him that either.

Both of them ran from things, kept things hidden, and tried to protect each other hurting each other in the process.

I would hestitate to say their connection is "completely" open or fixed. they are working very hard on it but it's not perfect. He does have a better feel for her now. Yes, he did know she needed him when Rath attacked her and he was tuning into her distress if not the exact cause after her nightmare.

Hope that helps a little bit.