EYA Part 81
“Document the results of their last mating and cross-reference the artificial insemination’s to…”
“What about when they go into heat again?” Dr. Neri interrupted.
“Yes, yes of course we’ll need his sperm. I don’t think they should be physically together again, though. Without the drugs there’s no way we can predict what they might do together.” Dr. Clark had been thinking about that for a while. The subjects clearly shared a close bond, and controlling them might only be accomplished by keeping them separated or completely drugged, and he wanted to have them coherent for awhile.
“I concur,” Dr. Neri nodded, after considering his colleagues statement. He too had briefly viewed the tape and had been oddly affected by the tender way the subjects had touched and copulated. He shook his head and reminded himself that they were dealing with aliens here and he should feel no sympathy. Well, the girl wasn’t an alien, technically, but she was obviously consorting with one and that was just as bad in his opinion.
Serena walked in at the end of their conversation after bringing food to Max and Liz and nearly winced as she realized what this would mean to their captives. They were not going to be allowed time together to reassure and comfort each other through this.
“They have to be together for the matings,” she blurted out without thinking.
Dr. Clark turned sharp eyes on her at the interruption. He lifted one eyebrow and his left eye twitched minutely in a motion that had Serena frozen in her spot and cursing herself for speaking so precipitously. Her mind flashed over past punishments for supposed infractions. She forced herself to meet his gaze and reminded herself that she was all grown up now and entitled to a professional opinion at the very least in this case.
Dr. Clark saw that she wasn’t backing down and while he was annoyed he was also pleased that she was showing some backbone and initiative. She’d need it if she was going to cut it with the FBI. Still, he needed to teach her not to even give the appearance of questioning his professional judgment.
“There are other ways to obtain and inject the semen,” he explained condescendingly. “In fact,” Serena had to squirm at the look in her father’s eye as he continued to speak, “I think you can obtain that next sample for us.” Her face went blank with shock, and she was glad that her father couldn’t read her disgust with him in her expression.
He reached around her and plucked an empty sample container off the lab table and handed it to her. “I trust that won’t be a problem since you have already taken it upon yourself to establish a rapport with the subjects,” he chuckled under his breath, but his eyes were cold. That should teach her to make moves without his prior consent.
Serena’s eyes were glued to the seemingly innocuous container and she concentrated really hard on not allowing her hands to tremble as she accepted the cup and therefore the assignment from her father. Really, she would prefer to be the one to deliver the news to Max rather than any of the others. At least she wouldn’t be cruel or unfeeling about it. She closed her fingers around the cup to still their slight quaking and made herself meet her father’s eyes.
“When do you want me to…?”
“Now is a good time,” Dr. Clark answered briskly before turning back to his papers and charts.
The sound of Serena’s steps faded as she exited the room.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
The door opened slowly and Max sat on his bed waiting to see who appeared. He had been anticipating the arrival for some time now, only hoping that whatever they had planned for him would not be too terrible. His mind kept wandering back to Liz, and he spent more time worried for her health and well-being than his own.
Serena stepped through the door and paused across the room just staring at him, Frick and Frack following closely behind her.
“Back against the wall, alien!” Frick stepped menacingly closer, large hands outstretched to hit if he was not immediately obeyed. Max scrambled off the side of the bed and raced to the wall. His shoulders hit the cold, hard surface and his palms turned to face the wall as well. He cursed himself for not remembering sooner and giving them cause to reprimand him already. He watched Frick consult briefly with Serena just before she stepped forward and allowed the door to clang shut with Frick and Frack on the opposite side. She jumped slightly at the abrupt noise and then stared at the floor, obviously trying to regain her composure. Max stared at her curiously wondering why she appeared so flustered when he was the one who was at her mercy. One hand moved to push a long strand of reddish-brown hair out of her eyes before she met his gaze again.
Her eyes were really extraordinary, Max realized with a start of surprise. Large and the deepest blue he had ever seen. And nervous. It surprised him and gave him a surge of hope that at least someone here was intimidated by him. All the same, he needed to appear innocuous and obedient so they wouldn’t continue to drug him. He prayed that wasn’t why she was here.
“Liz,” he burst out the first thought that was in his head, unable to wait any longer. “How is she?” He couldn’t temper the anxiety in his tone, and at this point he didn’t care what he sounded like as long as it gave him news of Liz’s well-being.
“She’s…,” Serena hesitated, knowing Liz wasn’t good exactly, “fine, I guess. I mean, the drugs are wearing off and she’s taken a shower. She’s resting comfortably.”
Max nodded eagerly, hoping she would go on. Serena glanced quickly at where she knew one of the cameras to be in the room. She knew she would be chastised if she fraternized any longer. She looked down at her hands and seemed surprised to see what she held. She met Max’s eyes before glancing away again and held out the cup awkwardly.
“I…it’s…they need you to…” she cursed herself for her stuttering attempts at getting this out, more uncomfortable than she could ever remember being.
Max’s eyes locked on the cup and then back at the flush on Serena’s pale face. “You need a sample?” He prompted quietly. He remembered from his previous stay the countless times they had collected samples of urine or saliva, other things...
Serena nodded, looking relieved. She stepped forward, handing him the cup. “I…um…I’ll give you some privacy if you want to just…” she gestured to the bathroom.
Max took the cup and raised an eyebrow at her. So, not saliva then, he breathed a sigh as he moved to pass her. She took a cautious step toward the door with Max’s eyes watching her progress. “I don’t really have to go right now,” he started, embarrassed more than he wanted to be for having to say it out loud. “Can it wait for an hour or two?”
Serena’s eyes flew to his, shocked again that he didn’t understand and that she would really have to say this out loud. She smoothed her sweaty palms down the sides of her lab coat and swallowed a few times before she could speak over the lump that had risen in her throat.
“Um, we don’t need that kind of sample,” she almost whispered. She almost cried as Max’s eyes flew open widely in shock and them slammed shut over the pain that haunted his soul as he realized.
“You can’t pretend that you don’t like this, Max. I’m holding the evidence right here.” Pierce squeezed and Max yelled out in pain.
His head was shaking, denying what was being demanded of him, the memories overwhelming. The cup bounced over the floor as he flung it away from him in revulsion. “No. Nonononono,” he was muttering under his breath and he backed up until he hit the wall that separated him from Liz. His palm spread out against the wall as if he could draw comfort just knowing he was as close as he could be to her right now.
“If Liz could see you now, Maxie boy. What would she say, hmm?”
“I’m sorry.” And she really was. “They’re letting the drugs wear off on both of you and they want to see…,” she choked over the words. “They want to compare the results of the sperm when you don’t have drugs in your systems to when you did, and when they used the frozen samples…” she stifled her speech as she saw Max pale alarmingly at the mention of the frozen samples and she realized for the first time that maybe they had obtained the original three doses by force during his previous stay with the FBI. His eyes reflected his deep anxiety and he continued to shake his head in denial.
Pierce moved his hand more quickly over Max’s forced erection with long stripping strokes, determined to humiliate and break this hated enemy.
“No. I…I just, I can’t,” his eyes pleaded with her. “Just let me be with her. She needs me. I need her. You can’t possibly understand our connection!” He was babbling and he knew it. “I’ll tell you anything you need to know.” His mind raced over the data they were trying to extrapolate. “It was every twelve to fourteen hours before…” before you snatched her from my arms you sick fucks…, “before, she was taken. You gave her the first sample and it only lasted six hours. That could have been the drugs, but more likely it was the anxiety and the time it took to figure out what she needed and give it to her. The second sample lasted a little longer, probably because it was given to her more quickly. I just…I just, you have to let us…,” he kept shaking his head and Serena wanted to break down and cry at what they were doing to this strong man. “Just let us be together,” he whispered hoarsely. He could see the sympathy in her eyes, maybe she would just…he watched her eyes flick to the ceiling again and then her expression purposefully hardened. His heart sank.
“More tears, Max? I’m disappointed. I thought you’d take longer to break.”
“We can’t do that. The doctors believe it would be too dangerous to allow you two contact when neither one of you is drugged. If you don’t want Liz to suffer through another fever then you need to provide us with a sample. It’s up to you.” She couldn’t bear the torn look in his eyes any longer so she stared at her feet while she awaited his decision.
Pierce threaded his fingers into Max’s hair and pulled his face around so he could see Max’s tears. He smiled and placed a gentle kiss on Max’s forehead. “Later,” he whispered, so so softly by Max’s ear. He pulled back and left the boy bound to the bed as he walked away without looking back.
Long moments of silence passed before Max’s whispered words broke the stillness.
“Okay. I’ll just…I might have to wait until the fever starts, it uh…it causes a reaction and I can…I can then.” He was staring hard at the floor too and praying they would wait for the sample and not force him…force him to…He did not see her nod her head and turn to leave. The door closed with a loud metallic clang that made him jump. He stared at the closed door and slowly slid down the wall with his knees up and his arms over his head. His body shook with sobs as he waited for the next fever to begin.
TBC
Everything You Are (CC,M/L, Mature) AN PG 15 5/3/07 [WIP]
Moderators: Anniepoo98, ISLANDGIRL5, truelovepooh, Forum Moderators
EYA Part 82
He was still crouched against the wall when the door banged open much later. “Stand up against the wall, freak,” Frick growled menacingly as he advanced into the room. He was closely followed by Frack, Sims, and Dr. Clark. Max scrambled to stand and automatically moved his sweating palms to the wall.
Sims advanced hesitantly toward Max, obviously scared of being hurt like his associate. Max watched him coming closer with trepidation. “What do you want?” His voice came out less confidently than he intended, because he was pretty sure he knew what they wanted.
“Shut up, prisoner,” Clark replied coldly. “That’s not for you to question.” He stood back by the door as he waved Larry and Joe into the room to help out Sims. “Get on with it,” he ordered them brusquely.
Max cringed back against the wall and couldn’t hold back his struggles when Frick and Frack joined Sims and pushed him roughly back so he stayed pinned to the wall while Sims tried to remove his scrub pants. Sims task was made much more difficult when Max realized what was being done and started to kick out at the man.
“Enough!” Dr. Clark was irate. “Immobilize him.” Frick and Frack each pinned Max with one arm against the wall and hauled back huge fists that they let loose over his abdomen and chest. Max lost all his breath and gasped as his struggles abated under the new torture. Sims quickly finished his task and moved back warily.
“Cut the shirt off,” Dr. Clark ordered casually, tossing a knife to Joe.
Joe grinned and licked his lips, raising the knife in front of Max’s eyes tauntingly. “Don’t move. I’m not in the best of moods right now, got it?”
Max gave a shade of a nod, eyes still locked to the blade. He wanted to tell them that he would cooperate now. He’d remove his own shirt, if that’s what they wanted, but his breath was still barely wheezing in through his straining chest and then it was too late. Frick held him tightly with a forearm across his throat and Frack advanced on him with the knife pulling the collar of his shirt out slightly. A cry of pain escaped Max as the knife nicked a path down the center of his chest as the scrub top was carelessly shredded and removed.
“Are you ready to cooperate now?” Dr. Clark’s assured tone made Max want to say no, but he nodded meekly instead. “Say it!” Dr. Clark wanted to hear his submission out loud.
“Yes, I’ll cooperate,” Max answered quickly as Frick shook his nude form until his head cracked back harshly against the wall.
“Sir,” Dr. Clark added. “Say, ‘I’ll cooperate, sir.’”
“I’ll cooperate, sir,” Max amended quickly.
“That’s better.” Dr. Clark walked further into the room and Max’s eyes darted behind him to the rolling table of testing equipment that he hadn’t noticed before. “Sims, start hooking him up.” Sims edged his way around the room and rolled the table of medical instruments over toward the bed.
“Get on the bed, please,” he hesitantly requested.
Frick and Frack each grabbed an arm and hustled Max over to the bed, forcing him to lie down on his back. Max’s body went limp. His fear was taking over and he knew he had to endure whatever it was they had decided they wanted to do. He stared fixedly at the ceiling as Sims hooked him to various monitoring devices and gauges.
Larry and Joe stood back against the wall awaiting further instructions as they watched the alien intently for any sudden moves. Dr. Clark made several notations into a chart as he started to glean the results from the various machines they had hooked him to. His gaze darted over the alien impassively, not noticing how much he resembled a scared young boy.
“Good, Sims,” Dr. Clark commented when the man’s job was completed. “Now we wait for the fever to start. I think…one hour will be sufficient for the test tonight. We’ll see what happens before we go for longer.”
At his words Max closed his eyes, feeling the weight of all their stares over his exposed form. He prayed that they weren’t doing the same thing to Liz next door. One hour. Did that mean they were going to make him wait an hour before they released them from the fevers? Please, don’t let Liz suffer like that!
Minutes later Max let out a low groan. The fever had hit with a vengeance and he felt the sweat trickle down his sides immediately and his cock spring to sudden attention. He heard Dr. Clark exclaim over the sudden temperature increase on the monitors and jerked his leg under the hesitant touch of a hand. He opened his eyes to glare at the person who dared to touch him and caught Sims stepping back guiltily.
“Yeah, his body’s really heated up,” Sims noted for the record, darting a glance at Dr. Clark. The boy had looked like he was burning up and Sims hadn’t been able to resist touching him to see if the skin was as hot as it looked. It was.
Dr. Clark was nodding, still staring down at the chart in his hand. “Restrain him.” He waved a careless hand to Larry and Joe, who stepped forward immediately.
Max tried to struggle upward as Frick and Frack advanced on him, his terror reaching new heights. He couldn’t let them…they couldn’t…His mind swamped with terror as old memories threatened to bury him.
“NO!” His terrified cry did nothing to stop the burly men from holding him down and handcuffing his wrists and ankles to the bed. He struggled against the restraints, knowing it was useless. His fear made him reckless and his hands started to glow, melting the metal that held him.
Dr. Clark leaped forward in alarm, grabbing a handful of Max’s thick hair and hauling his head back until Max’s head was craned back looking at him. “Stop. That. Right. Now. Or Liz will suffer more than you can imagine!” He thumped Max’s head back against the firm mattress and let him go, smirking in satisfaction when Max’s body went limp.
“What do you have to say to me, Max?” Dr. Clark smugly waited for an answer.
Max closed his eyes again, swallowing hard. He tried to order his thoughts, remember that Liz was more important than anything that could happen to him here. “I’m sorry,” he whispered hoarsely, knowing that’s what the doctor was after. He gasped as his throat was caught in a vice-like grip.
“What was that, Max?” Dr. Clark was practically spitting in his face. “I’m sure you meant to say ‘sir’, am I right?” Max nodded weakly, his face turning from red to purple under the doctor’s hard grip. He gasped in a pained breath when his throat was abruptly released.
“I’m,” cough, wheeze, cough, “I’m sorry, sir!” Max responded again quickly, trying to catch his breath. He wouldn’t forget again.
“It’s not an idle threat you know. We can do anything we want to that girl. It’s not her we really need. It’s you and that child inside of her. I can take it out right now and dissect it if I want. I still haven’t decided if we should let the abomination be born.”
Max shuddered and moaned under his breath. It was too much. The fever, the situation, the sadistic words being coldly said to him. And he knew the doctor wasn’t lying. He could easily decide to do what he had said. And that would be the end. Of everything.
“Just lay there and do nothing. That’s all I’m asking right now. We’re going to do some tests while we wait for the hour to be over and I expect your full and complete cooperation. Right, Max?”
“Yes, sir,” Max answered meekly, too weak to struggle anymore anyway. His body shuddered under the force of the fever, and he could not still his trembling.
This first time the doctor just stood back. He took samples of the sweat and documented the steady increases in temperature over the course of the hour and mused aloud over various ideas for future tests that came to mind as he watched the boy suffer. Max cringed, knowing the ideas for encasing him in ice the next time, and then a heavy steam bath for the time after that, were really going to happen. He tried to tune out the cruel doctor after that, preferring not to dwell on what was to come. At last, the hour was up and the doctor was leaning over his face again.
“We’re going to release one arm now, Max, and you’re going to do what you need to do into this cup that Sims is going to hold for you. Do you understand?”
Max nodded numbly, paralyzed at the idea of an audience, but needing to end Liz’s suffering. “Yes, sir,” he whispered softly.
Dr. Clark nodded, satisfied, and stepped back to watch as Joe unlocked the cuff on Max’s right wrist.
Max rotated his wrist painfully, the cuff had been very tight and his struggles had made the skin of his wrist raw. He barely noticed the blood running down his arm, though, as his hand moved to cover his straining erection. At least he knew it would be fast. He closed his eyes and started pulling, counting on Sims to be ready with the cup. His hips arched up slightly off the mattress and a small sigh escaped him as he released his alien seed into the waiting cup. He slumped back against the mattress, relieved only temporarily, since the fever still gripped Liz. His body shuddered and his member slowly filled back to aching hardness as the doctor eagerly catalogued his body’s intriguing recovery time.
“That is truly fascinating!” His exclamation was overly excited. “Are you always this quick to recover?”
Max kept his eyes closed, knowing he’d better answer quickly. “No. It’s the fever that does it.” He suddenly remembered to add, “Sir.”
“Phenomenal! We’ll look into that further at a later time. I think we’ve got what I need for now.” Dr. Clark took the sample cup from Sims. “I’ll administer this to the girl. Keep him hooked up until the fever abates and then release him. We’ll try the ice tomorrow morning in another one hour trial.”
Max kept his eyes tightly shut against the prying gazes of the three other men left in the room and counted the seconds until the fever released him. His temperature dropped back to normal almost immediately and his erection subsided abruptly. He felt rough hands at his left wrist and ankles and curled over into a ball on his side when he heard the others leave the room. He choked on his sobs, knowing the harshly lit room would catch all of his pain and not wanting to give them the satisfaction. He stayed that way for almost an hour, and then slowly crept off the bed to immerse himself in a cleansing shower.
Max remained in the hot shower for almost an hour before the heat started to give way to cold. He shuddered at the sudden loss of hot water and slowly made his way back out into to the curtained off bathroom area. He toweled himself dry and quickly pulled on his scrub pants. He thought about how pitiful it was that such a small barrier should make him feel any better, especially knowing the power the others held over him anyway. He slowly made his way out into the main room and picked up the scraps of fabric that had been his shirt. He let it drift back to the floor after glancing up at the cameras that constantly monitored him. He didn’t want to repair it in front of them. He crawled under his covers bare-chested and huddled there for a long time, shivering with memory, before he drifted uneasily into sleep, knowing what the morning would bring.
‘Max! I’m here, Max!’ Max shuddered and turned over in his sleep, unable to believe the vision in front of him. Until he felt his sister’s imperious hand on his arm, shaking him to attention.
‘Isabel! Oh my, God! You have to get us out of here!’ Max sat up and hugged his dream sister close, reveling in the contact.
‘Max, what happened to you? Look at your wrists! What are they doing to you?!’ Isabel stared in horror at the raw rings on the skin that circled each of Max’s wrists, glancing up and gasping again as she caught sight of the circle of bruises that marred the skin at his throat and the line of cuts down his chest.
Max jerked his hands out of her grip, covering his wrists with his hands self-consciously. ‘It doesn’t matter now. Where are you guys?’
‘We’re on our way, Max. Do you know where you are? How you got here?’
Max nodded eagerly. He projected a picture of the map he had briefly seen in his vision right before he was kidnapped. ‘That’s as close as I know. I was…drugged. Almost unconscious when they brought me in here. It has long hallways, they wheeled me through them on a gurney when we got here. There were green stripes along the walls. No other marks. I don’t know anymore.’ He reached out and clenched her hands in his own again staring at her desperately. ‘Liz is here, Is. You have to get her out! They’re making her suffer. She can’t take it right now. They’re threatening her and the baby!’
Isabel was nodding. ‘Okay, okay. I’ll tell Alex and he’ll get a narrowed list of possibilities now that we have a smaller area to work with. We’re going to find you, Max. We’re going to get you both out of here.’ Isabel stood up from the bed. ‘I’m going back now to tell them, but I’m coming back as often as I can to be with you, Max. You’re not alone!’
Isabel’s image faded and Max woke with a start. He sobbed out in relief. There was some hope after all. Their friends were coming for them, they just had to endure until they came and be ready for anything.
Three weeks later
Max looked up expectantly, moving back to stand against the far wall automatically when Serena entered the room carrying his dinner tray.
She gave him a small smile with her back to the cameras and automatically gave him the time. “It’s 6:07 pm,” she supplied, knowing his almost panicked need to know what date and time it was. He had no window to gauge the hour and only his regular meals and Serena kept him feeling like he was still connected to a world that was ticking by without him.
He nodded, trusting that she had told him the truth and having no way to verify it anyway. Inside his head he was mentally calculating how long it would be until Isabel contacted him again.
Each night was the same now. He had dinner around six o’clock, set his empty tray down beside the outside door, washed up, and then lay down on his bed for a ‘nap’. Only he knew that Isabel had been in nightly contact with him, keeping him apprised of their progress, or lack thereof, and letting them know how he was and what little he was able to learn of how Liz was doing. After their nightly visits Max would get up and exercise until the fever came upon him. On he nights they left him alone he would then swiftly retire to the bathroom and use one of the empty sample containers that were supplied each morning to ensure that Liz would be taken care of as quickly as possible. He left the container by the door and knocked to indicate that it was ready. He stood, as he had been trained, against the back wall as either Frick or Frack would open the door and retrieve the sample before shutting the door swiftly in case he tried to escape.
He sighed, escape was a faraway dream. He would no sooner leave Liz here on her own than endanger her life by threatening any of his ‘caretakers’. Both doctors had reinforced that Liz’s health and well-being were directly related to his cooperative behavior. He shuddered and tried not to think of the things they had made him go through during his stay, and he prayed that Liz’s condition was sparing her from the worst of their ‘tests’. Like the day they had watched him jogging around his room to burn off his anger and boredom. He’d had to stand back wide-eyed and palms against the wall as they wheeled in a treadmill and then hooked him up to all kinds of monitors. They’d made him run until he collapsed to the ground in utter exhaustion and then they removed the monitors and left without a word. No reasons, no explanations were given to the non-human member of their party as they took whatever they wanted from him and moved on, supposedly to fill another space in the gaps of their knowledge.
Serena set the tray down on the end of his bed and moved back out the door. She knew better than to linger any longer than necessary, one of the others was always watching. When the door closed behind her slender frame Max was allowed to move to the tray. He casually walked toward it and sat on the end of his bed with his back to the main camera. He picked up his napkin first, as he always did, and slowly unfolded it. He let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding when he saw that there was writing on it again today. Serena had left messages for him this way frequently after the first days he had been held. From these napkin notes he knew the location of all the cameras in both Liz and his rooms. He also found out about the weather outside, anticipated tests, and most important to his sanity, an occasional note about Liz.
Today he eagerly skimmed the note, his eyes automatically registering the ninety-seven degree temperature and the bit about last weeks fourth of July celebration in Roswell until he finally came to the part that was as necessary as breath. Liz is exercising regularly when I can prompt her to do so. She has eaten well all day and kept it down. Max sighed in relief at that. Liz had been vomiting for the last week and a half and lost a little weight. He had felt completely helpless, knowing he was only one wall away from her and not able to help. She still won’t speak to anyone or even acknowledge our presence. It’s like she’s built a wall around herself and no one is allowed in. Max sighed again, sad this time, but knowing why Liz was doing what she was doing. It was the only way she could protect her sanity in this insane asylum. It was so frustrating for him though because her walls were high and he couldn’t connect with her. He’d spent days trying. The next sentence made his stomach clench, Timed test tonight, six hours. Timed test meant they wanted to note the physical reactions in each ‘subject’ during the heat and see the effect on the next heat cycle. Liz was just starting to feel better and now this. And this was the longest deliberate test yet. Six hours, he just hoped Liz wouldn’t relapse. The note ended as it always did, Still working on a plan to help. Be ready.
He casually crumpled the napkin in his hand and felt a flash of heat as his power removed the words from the paper. Looking over his tray he noted the same meal he’d been given for lunch and dinner for the last three weeks: turkey sandwich, bag of pretzels, apple juice and milk, and an apple. He’d requested Tabasco sauce once, but that had prompted another entire series of tests that were too unpleasant to recall right before he ate. He picked up the sandwich and took a large bite, trying not to gag at the bland flavor. This was part of his regimen to stay ready. He’d eat what they gave him, rest as best he could, and exercise each day to be fit and alert when the time came to move. With nothing else to do all day he was toned and sleekly muscled.
He finished up his meal and set the empty tray by the door knocking twice to signal that it was ready. He moved back against the far wall and waited until the door opened and shut behind Frick. Turning, he made his way back to his bed and crawled under the thin, scratchy blanket wishing Liz was there to fill the emptiness of his arms. He closed his eyes pretending to nap and waited for Isabel to show up.
‘Hey, are you there?’ Isabel’s soft voice reached him at last and in his semi-dream state he turned around and gave her a hug.
‘I’m so glad you’re here. What…’
‘Seven o’clock exactly, just like always,’ Isabel interrupted, knowing his need to know the time. ‘Alex is working on the computer again to find new locations, all the ones we’ve searched have been dead ends.’
Max nodded, just watching his sister pace in front of him. He wished that he could be of more help, but he really didn’t know where in the hell he was exactly. He’d visualized the circle on the map that he’d seen so that Isabel could narrow her search, but it had yielded no military bases and they were getting desperate to find each other again.
‘How’s…’
‘She’s getting better. She didn’t throw up today at all. I’m hoping it was just some weird morning sickness or something,’ Max told her hopefully.
Isabel nodded, hoping that’s all it was. This much stress couldn’t be good for the baby. ‘Is she talking yet?’
Max shook his head and pulled his hands through his hair. ‘I can’t blame her for not wanting to speak with those bastards, I mean, I wouldn’t either if I thought I could get away with it.’
‘Are they, did they do anything else to you?’ Isabel’s eyes always gave away her concern. Her heart suffered for her brother every day and on the days she arrived and he could barely speak coherently to her…she closed her eyes and took a fortifying breath, those days didn’t bear thinking about.
‘Nothing different today,’ Max avoided her eyes and rubbed his hands together trying not to think of what tonight’s test would bring. One day at a time. Well, one hour at a time. Hell, sometimes it was one second at a time! ‘Um, better warn Michael there’s another timed test tonight,’ he added quietly.
Isabel fumed with anger, but she knew she had no control over it so she asked simply, ‘How long?’
Max wouldn’t meet her eyes. ‘Six hours,’ he mumbled under his breath. His eyes flicked up in time to see her eyes flash with anger before she could control it. She shook her head.
‘I’ll tell him,’ she asserted stoically, trying to regain her composure.
‘Did you try to reach Liz again today?’ He asked her eagerly, wanting to change the subject and hoping she could get through where he could not, but Isabel was already shaking her head, dispelling that hope.
‘I try every day, but it’s blank. She’s not letting me in.’
‘Me either,’ he whispered. It just reinforced that they had to get out of there soon.
‘Is that girl still helping you? Giving you notes?’
Max nodded and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Isabel thought he should trust the girl, but he couldn’t let his guard down.
‘She gave me the news that Liz is better, but for all I know she’s lying,’ his voice was husky, and Isabel could sense his underlying need to trust someone.
‘Ask her exactly where you are. It can’t hurt, she doesn’t know that we’re out here looking, maybe she’ll tell you.’
Max thought about it and then nodded. He’d ask her, and he could only hope that he’d get the truth.
‘How’re Mom and Dad holding up?’ Max always asked, even though he knew the answer.
Isabel hesitated a beat too long and then told him the truth. ‘It’s been a big strain, Max. They want to go to the police and tell them everything we’ve discovered to far. Something better happen soon, because Mom’s getting unreasonable about it. She’s starting to think that going public with your ‘differences’ is the only way to keep you safe right now.’
Max’s mouth had dropped open in horror. ‘Doesn’t she see that they’d keep us locked in cages for the rest of our miserable lives? She can’t go to the police, it’s not her decision! Isabel, you have to tell her that. She has to know that’s not what we want. Make her see…’
‘I know, Max, don’t worry. I’m doing everything I can to keep her back. I’ll tell her you agree with me. She’ll listen to you. She’d do anything for you right now. Don’t worry. Ask that girl tonight. She might surprise you.’
They caught up for a while longer. Isabel knew she was his only contact with the outside world and stretched her strength to the limits to stay with him as long as she could. Tonight, however, he was the one that pulled away first.
Stepping back from her hug he tried to smile for her. He knew that Frick and Frack would be in the room momentarily to strip him and hook him up to monitoring devices and he wanted his sister gone before they arrived. ‘You look tired. Go find Kyle and cuddle up for a while. You need to rest too. I’ll see you tomorrow and hopefully Serena will answer my question.’ He pulled back fully and broke the connection abruptly himself when he heard his cell door clang open.
He didn’t see Isabel’s startled expression at the mention of his helper’s name.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Isabel sat upright in Kyle’s arms. “Serena. He said a girl named Serena is the one who has been giving him comfort and information.” She turned excited eyes to Alex, Maria, and Michael who were eagerly awaiting news from Max’s camp.
“Isn’t that the name of…” Alex’s voice was cut off mid-question as Maria gave a loud whoop of excitement and launched herself into Michael’s arms.
“Future Max said she’d be a friend of theirs some day!”
The five sat around and grinned at each other, knowing that at least maybe there was one person they could trust. Isabel gave Kyle a sweet kiss, palming his cheek before settling back against his broad chest. She’d need to rest up if she was going to re-visit Max that night to tell him what they now knew. She couldn’t believe he hadn’t made the connection himself, but then again, she supposed he’d had other things on his mind.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max sat up swiftly up from his seated position on the bed, scrambling to stand so he could get his back to the wall as soon as possible. Serena waved him down with an impatient gesture. “Stay seated please.” . He was surprised to see Serena was accompanied only by Frack. He’d expected the entire contingent of mad scientists.
Serena crossed the room to him quickly and pretended to take his pulse while Frack guarded the door. Max gave her a questioning look, but cooperated fully.
“It’s eight fifty-seven.” She didn’t even notice that she automatically gave him the time, “I just need to get a physical reading before the tests start in about thirty minutes,” she told him in a professionally brisk tone. “Place your hands, palm down, on the bed beside you please,” she added. She moved her hands over his to show him where she wanted them and then reached into her deep pocket for a stethoscope. She angled her body so that the cameras would conceal her actions and slipped a magnetic key-card under one of his palms. Max’s heart rate went up radically, but outwardly he showed no physical sign of his excitement.
The card under his palm felt like freedom. One step closer…
Serena moved around him, checking his heart and pupils. She pushed him to lay back on the bed and watched him to make sure he kept the key-card covered with his hand. When she finished making one last note on her chart she pulled the blanket over him to allow him to secrete the card under the mattress after she left. Just as she turned to go she was startled by a large warm hand circling her wrist.
“What is it?” Her tone was icy, as she knew her father or Dr. Neri would be watching.
“Where are we? What is this place called?” Max sat up on one elbow and leaned close to her ear, his whisper low and urgent.
Serena’s eyes widened. What good could that information possibly do for Max? He had nowhere to go and no one to call for help.
Bzzzt!
“Serena, please report to Dr. Clark immediately,” a loud voice rang through the intercom.
Serena pulled her arm free and turned back to the exit door. Just before she shut it behind herself she turned back to say, “I’ll see you at eight a.m. for breakfast.”
With that the door clanged shut and Max rested his head back on his hard pillow. His fingers curled around the key-card that could lead to freedom and he surreptitiously slid his hand over the edge of the bed and slipped the card securely between the mattress and the frame of the bed for use later when he deemed it safe to attempt an escape.
He sincerely hoped that his napkin would give him the information he had requested when Serena brought him his breakfast in the morning. He pushed the covers off his body, suddenly too warm, and then realized that the fever was gripping him again.
Frick and Frack came through the door at once and stood there with their arms crossed as Sims warily entered the room and gestured for Max to strip. A cart was wheeled in with the now familiar monitoring equipment and Max rose steadily to his feet and did what he was told quickly and resignedly. A secret hope lit his heart and no one knew why the strange alien appeared more light-hearted and cooperative this evening than he ever had before. Sims just shrugged, he’d take it, no matter what caused the attitude. He’d rather not have to touch the alien at all, personally, he’d attended Jackson too many times now and watched him continue to writhe in miserable pain. No way he’d get near this alien’s necklace. He kept expecting a laser of death to be leveled at him from the heart of the stone. He shuddered, best not to think along those lines.
Max lay back naked on his bed, his body already glistening with sweat and started counting in his head, one one thousand, two one thousand…while they restrained his wrists and ankles to the frame. He was jolted back into reality when they started with the latest series of endurance tests. His back jolted up off the bed it a high arch as he screamed out in agony. The burning probe touched his chest again and again after Frack’s meaty hands moved to keep him pinned to the mattress.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Six hours later
Max lay trembling on his bed, still counting in his head, when a hand touched his arm briefly. He flinched away violently, automatically detesting their right to touch him at will. Dr. Neri raised an eyebrow and gave him a small smile.
“Sims will remove the devices after you have given us a sample.” His eyes flicked down to Max’s engorged cock and back up at his strained expression. “I’m sure that will be a relief to both of you,” he added, thinking that Liz was in the same fevered condition as Max right now. Sometimes what they were doing felt wrong, but at the same time the things they were discovering were so radically new and exciting that he knew he’d do it all over again. The way this boy healed internally was absolutely fascinating. The outward marks remained, but his endurance, his stamina…it was incredible. He thought of all the good he could do in the world if they could find a way to harness that. Meanwhile, they would continue their research and see if there was anything this alien couldn’t come back from.
Max wasted no time in obtaining the sample and Sims briskly removed the monitoring devices. Max moved his legs off the bed to stand shakily. He rushed by a startled Sims and knelt over the toilet, vomiting helplessly as his stomach twisted, knotting in disgust over what was being done to him. He crept back into the main room, relieved to find it empty, and waited by the far wall, palms against the smooth white surface, and practically held his breath until the relief of Liz’s fever abating washed through him as well. He sighed deeply and sank to the floor with his arms around his knees, utterly exhausted by the latest test.
He didn’t realize he had dozed slightly until he felt Isabel’s soft touch on his shoulder.
‘Max?’ Her voice was gentle so she wouldn’t startle him.
He flinched mightily and took in the situation immediately. His face flamed scarlet as he realized he was balled up on the floor without a stitch of clothing on.
‘I…could you just…’ Max’s voice stuttered out in embarrassment, but Isabel understood immediately and twirled around so her back was to him. He scrambled into his scrubs and cleared his throat to let her know it was okay now.
‘I, uh, I didn’t know you were coming back tonight,’ Max started uncomfortably.
‘Max, I’m sorry. I waited until Michael was doing better. I didn’t expect. You didn’t tell me they did that to you,’ her voice trailed off in concern and Max realized that she had seen the burn marks and bruises that covered his chest and back. ‘Why don’t you heal them?’
Max shook his head. ‘I don’t want to show them my power. Don’t worry, I’ve taken the pain away internally. It’s just markings now.’ He left out that the full pain had been there while the marks were being made. She didn’t need to know the whole story. Not ever.
‘What are you…’ He gave her a questioning look.
Isabel perked up immediately. ‘Did you say the girl’s name is Serena?’
Max nodded, perplexed at Isabel’s excitement.
‘Max! Don’t you remember when Future Max came back to see Liz he told her she would have a super-smart friend named Serena?’
Max’s eyes widened. How could he have missed that? Sure, he’d only seen the vision of Future Max in one quick flash during their precious time in Vegas, but still! His excitement grew to match his sister’s. Maybe Serena really was someone he could trust!
‘I asked her,’ he blurted out, suddenly remembering. ‘I asked her where we are. She looked surprised that I wanted to know and got called out before she could tell me, but she said she’d see me at breakfast. Maybe…And…and she gave me a key-card! I can’t use it yet, but I’ve got it hidden in my mattress. I’ll be able to get out of here quickly when the time comes. If it works…It’s got to work! We’ve got to know what’s going on with Liz. We’ve got to make sure she’s strong enough to leave. I’ll carry her out if I have to, but we’ve got to get out!’
Isabel’s eyes glowed with her own excitement. They were close. Closer than they’d been yet. This was it, she could feel it!
TBC
He was still crouched against the wall when the door banged open much later. “Stand up against the wall, freak,” Frick growled menacingly as he advanced into the room. He was closely followed by Frack, Sims, and Dr. Clark. Max scrambled to stand and automatically moved his sweating palms to the wall.
Sims advanced hesitantly toward Max, obviously scared of being hurt like his associate. Max watched him coming closer with trepidation. “What do you want?” His voice came out less confidently than he intended, because he was pretty sure he knew what they wanted.
“Shut up, prisoner,” Clark replied coldly. “That’s not for you to question.” He stood back by the door as he waved Larry and Joe into the room to help out Sims. “Get on with it,” he ordered them brusquely.
Max cringed back against the wall and couldn’t hold back his struggles when Frick and Frack joined Sims and pushed him roughly back so he stayed pinned to the wall while Sims tried to remove his scrub pants. Sims task was made much more difficult when Max realized what was being done and started to kick out at the man.
“Enough!” Dr. Clark was irate. “Immobilize him.” Frick and Frack each pinned Max with one arm against the wall and hauled back huge fists that they let loose over his abdomen and chest. Max lost all his breath and gasped as his struggles abated under the new torture. Sims quickly finished his task and moved back warily.
“Cut the shirt off,” Dr. Clark ordered casually, tossing a knife to Joe.
Joe grinned and licked his lips, raising the knife in front of Max’s eyes tauntingly. “Don’t move. I’m not in the best of moods right now, got it?”
Max gave a shade of a nod, eyes still locked to the blade. He wanted to tell them that he would cooperate now. He’d remove his own shirt, if that’s what they wanted, but his breath was still barely wheezing in through his straining chest and then it was too late. Frick held him tightly with a forearm across his throat and Frack advanced on him with the knife pulling the collar of his shirt out slightly. A cry of pain escaped Max as the knife nicked a path down the center of his chest as the scrub top was carelessly shredded and removed.
“Are you ready to cooperate now?” Dr. Clark’s assured tone made Max want to say no, but he nodded meekly instead. “Say it!” Dr. Clark wanted to hear his submission out loud.
“Yes, I’ll cooperate,” Max answered quickly as Frick shook his nude form until his head cracked back harshly against the wall.
“Sir,” Dr. Clark added. “Say, ‘I’ll cooperate, sir.’”
“I’ll cooperate, sir,” Max amended quickly.
“That’s better.” Dr. Clark walked further into the room and Max’s eyes darted behind him to the rolling table of testing equipment that he hadn’t noticed before. “Sims, start hooking him up.” Sims edged his way around the room and rolled the table of medical instruments over toward the bed.
“Get on the bed, please,” he hesitantly requested.
Frick and Frack each grabbed an arm and hustled Max over to the bed, forcing him to lie down on his back. Max’s body went limp. His fear was taking over and he knew he had to endure whatever it was they had decided they wanted to do. He stared fixedly at the ceiling as Sims hooked him to various monitoring devices and gauges.
Larry and Joe stood back against the wall awaiting further instructions as they watched the alien intently for any sudden moves. Dr. Clark made several notations into a chart as he started to glean the results from the various machines they had hooked him to. His gaze darted over the alien impassively, not noticing how much he resembled a scared young boy.
“Good, Sims,” Dr. Clark commented when the man’s job was completed. “Now we wait for the fever to start. I think…one hour will be sufficient for the test tonight. We’ll see what happens before we go for longer.”
At his words Max closed his eyes, feeling the weight of all their stares over his exposed form. He prayed that they weren’t doing the same thing to Liz next door. One hour. Did that mean they were going to make him wait an hour before they released them from the fevers? Please, don’t let Liz suffer like that!
Minutes later Max let out a low groan. The fever had hit with a vengeance and he felt the sweat trickle down his sides immediately and his cock spring to sudden attention. He heard Dr. Clark exclaim over the sudden temperature increase on the monitors and jerked his leg under the hesitant touch of a hand. He opened his eyes to glare at the person who dared to touch him and caught Sims stepping back guiltily.
“Yeah, his body’s really heated up,” Sims noted for the record, darting a glance at Dr. Clark. The boy had looked like he was burning up and Sims hadn’t been able to resist touching him to see if the skin was as hot as it looked. It was.
Dr. Clark was nodding, still staring down at the chart in his hand. “Restrain him.” He waved a careless hand to Larry and Joe, who stepped forward immediately.
Max tried to struggle upward as Frick and Frack advanced on him, his terror reaching new heights. He couldn’t let them…they couldn’t…His mind swamped with terror as old memories threatened to bury him.
“NO!” His terrified cry did nothing to stop the burly men from holding him down and handcuffing his wrists and ankles to the bed. He struggled against the restraints, knowing it was useless. His fear made him reckless and his hands started to glow, melting the metal that held him.
Dr. Clark leaped forward in alarm, grabbing a handful of Max’s thick hair and hauling his head back until Max’s head was craned back looking at him. “Stop. That. Right. Now. Or Liz will suffer more than you can imagine!” He thumped Max’s head back against the firm mattress and let him go, smirking in satisfaction when Max’s body went limp.
“What do you have to say to me, Max?” Dr. Clark smugly waited for an answer.
Max closed his eyes again, swallowing hard. He tried to order his thoughts, remember that Liz was more important than anything that could happen to him here. “I’m sorry,” he whispered hoarsely, knowing that’s what the doctor was after. He gasped as his throat was caught in a vice-like grip.
“What was that, Max?” Dr. Clark was practically spitting in his face. “I’m sure you meant to say ‘sir’, am I right?” Max nodded weakly, his face turning from red to purple under the doctor’s hard grip. He gasped in a pained breath when his throat was abruptly released.
“I’m,” cough, wheeze, cough, “I’m sorry, sir!” Max responded again quickly, trying to catch his breath. He wouldn’t forget again.
“It’s not an idle threat you know. We can do anything we want to that girl. It’s not her we really need. It’s you and that child inside of her. I can take it out right now and dissect it if I want. I still haven’t decided if we should let the abomination be born.”
Max shuddered and moaned under his breath. It was too much. The fever, the situation, the sadistic words being coldly said to him. And he knew the doctor wasn’t lying. He could easily decide to do what he had said. And that would be the end. Of everything.
“Just lay there and do nothing. That’s all I’m asking right now. We’re going to do some tests while we wait for the hour to be over and I expect your full and complete cooperation. Right, Max?”
“Yes, sir,” Max answered meekly, too weak to struggle anymore anyway. His body shuddered under the force of the fever, and he could not still his trembling.
This first time the doctor just stood back. He took samples of the sweat and documented the steady increases in temperature over the course of the hour and mused aloud over various ideas for future tests that came to mind as he watched the boy suffer. Max cringed, knowing the ideas for encasing him in ice the next time, and then a heavy steam bath for the time after that, were really going to happen. He tried to tune out the cruel doctor after that, preferring not to dwell on what was to come. At last, the hour was up and the doctor was leaning over his face again.
“We’re going to release one arm now, Max, and you’re going to do what you need to do into this cup that Sims is going to hold for you. Do you understand?”
Max nodded numbly, paralyzed at the idea of an audience, but needing to end Liz’s suffering. “Yes, sir,” he whispered softly.
Dr. Clark nodded, satisfied, and stepped back to watch as Joe unlocked the cuff on Max’s right wrist.
Max rotated his wrist painfully, the cuff had been very tight and his struggles had made the skin of his wrist raw. He barely noticed the blood running down his arm, though, as his hand moved to cover his straining erection. At least he knew it would be fast. He closed his eyes and started pulling, counting on Sims to be ready with the cup. His hips arched up slightly off the mattress and a small sigh escaped him as he released his alien seed into the waiting cup. He slumped back against the mattress, relieved only temporarily, since the fever still gripped Liz. His body shuddered and his member slowly filled back to aching hardness as the doctor eagerly catalogued his body’s intriguing recovery time.
“That is truly fascinating!” His exclamation was overly excited. “Are you always this quick to recover?”
Max kept his eyes closed, knowing he’d better answer quickly. “No. It’s the fever that does it.” He suddenly remembered to add, “Sir.”
“Phenomenal! We’ll look into that further at a later time. I think we’ve got what I need for now.” Dr. Clark took the sample cup from Sims. “I’ll administer this to the girl. Keep him hooked up until the fever abates and then release him. We’ll try the ice tomorrow morning in another one hour trial.”
Max kept his eyes tightly shut against the prying gazes of the three other men left in the room and counted the seconds until the fever released him. His temperature dropped back to normal almost immediately and his erection subsided abruptly. He felt rough hands at his left wrist and ankles and curled over into a ball on his side when he heard the others leave the room. He choked on his sobs, knowing the harshly lit room would catch all of his pain and not wanting to give them the satisfaction. He stayed that way for almost an hour, and then slowly crept off the bed to immerse himself in a cleansing shower.
Max remained in the hot shower for almost an hour before the heat started to give way to cold. He shuddered at the sudden loss of hot water and slowly made his way back out into to the curtained off bathroom area. He toweled himself dry and quickly pulled on his scrub pants. He thought about how pitiful it was that such a small barrier should make him feel any better, especially knowing the power the others held over him anyway. He slowly made his way out into the main room and picked up the scraps of fabric that had been his shirt. He let it drift back to the floor after glancing up at the cameras that constantly monitored him. He didn’t want to repair it in front of them. He crawled under his covers bare-chested and huddled there for a long time, shivering with memory, before he drifted uneasily into sleep, knowing what the morning would bring.
‘Max! I’m here, Max!’ Max shuddered and turned over in his sleep, unable to believe the vision in front of him. Until he felt his sister’s imperious hand on his arm, shaking him to attention.
‘Isabel! Oh my, God! You have to get us out of here!’ Max sat up and hugged his dream sister close, reveling in the contact.
‘Max, what happened to you? Look at your wrists! What are they doing to you?!’ Isabel stared in horror at the raw rings on the skin that circled each of Max’s wrists, glancing up and gasping again as she caught sight of the circle of bruises that marred the skin at his throat and the line of cuts down his chest.
Max jerked his hands out of her grip, covering his wrists with his hands self-consciously. ‘It doesn’t matter now. Where are you guys?’
‘We’re on our way, Max. Do you know where you are? How you got here?’
Max nodded eagerly. He projected a picture of the map he had briefly seen in his vision right before he was kidnapped. ‘That’s as close as I know. I was…drugged. Almost unconscious when they brought me in here. It has long hallways, they wheeled me through them on a gurney when we got here. There were green stripes along the walls. No other marks. I don’t know anymore.’ He reached out and clenched her hands in his own again staring at her desperately. ‘Liz is here, Is. You have to get her out! They’re making her suffer. She can’t take it right now. They’re threatening her and the baby!’
Isabel was nodding. ‘Okay, okay. I’ll tell Alex and he’ll get a narrowed list of possibilities now that we have a smaller area to work with. We’re going to find you, Max. We’re going to get you both out of here.’ Isabel stood up from the bed. ‘I’m going back now to tell them, but I’m coming back as often as I can to be with you, Max. You’re not alone!’
Isabel’s image faded and Max woke with a start. He sobbed out in relief. There was some hope after all. Their friends were coming for them, they just had to endure until they came and be ready for anything.
Three weeks later
Max looked up expectantly, moving back to stand against the far wall automatically when Serena entered the room carrying his dinner tray.
She gave him a small smile with her back to the cameras and automatically gave him the time. “It’s 6:07 pm,” she supplied, knowing his almost panicked need to know what date and time it was. He had no window to gauge the hour and only his regular meals and Serena kept him feeling like he was still connected to a world that was ticking by without him.
He nodded, trusting that she had told him the truth and having no way to verify it anyway. Inside his head he was mentally calculating how long it would be until Isabel contacted him again.
Each night was the same now. He had dinner around six o’clock, set his empty tray down beside the outside door, washed up, and then lay down on his bed for a ‘nap’. Only he knew that Isabel had been in nightly contact with him, keeping him apprised of their progress, or lack thereof, and letting them know how he was and what little he was able to learn of how Liz was doing. After their nightly visits Max would get up and exercise until the fever came upon him. On he nights they left him alone he would then swiftly retire to the bathroom and use one of the empty sample containers that were supplied each morning to ensure that Liz would be taken care of as quickly as possible. He left the container by the door and knocked to indicate that it was ready. He stood, as he had been trained, against the back wall as either Frick or Frack would open the door and retrieve the sample before shutting the door swiftly in case he tried to escape.
He sighed, escape was a faraway dream. He would no sooner leave Liz here on her own than endanger her life by threatening any of his ‘caretakers’. Both doctors had reinforced that Liz’s health and well-being were directly related to his cooperative behavior. He shuddered and tried not to think of the things they had made him go through during his stay, and he prayed that Liz’s condition was sparing her from the worst of their ‘tests’. Like the day they had watched him jogging around his room to burn off his anger and boredom. He’d had to stand back wide-eyed and palms against the wall as they wheeled in a treadmill and then hooked him up to all kinds of monitors. They’d made him run until he collapsed to the ground in utter exhaustion and then they removed the monitors and left without a word. No reasons, no explanations were given to the non-human member of their party as they took whatever they wanted from him and moved on, supposedly to fill another space in the gaps of their knowledge.
Serena set the tray down on the end of his bed and moved back out the door. She knew better than to linger any longer than necessary, one of the others was always watching. When the door closed behind her slender frame Max was allowed to move to the tray. He casually walked toward it and sat on the end of his bed with his back to the main camera. He picked up his napkin first, as he always did, and slowly unfolded it. He let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding when he saw that there was writing on it again today. Serena had left messages for him this way frequently after the first days he had been held. From these napkin notes he knew the location of all the cameras in both Liz and his rooms. He also found out about the weather outside, anticipated tests, and most important to his sanity, an occasional note about Liz.
Today he eagerly skimmed the note, his eyes automatically registering the ninety-seven degree temperature and the bit about last weeks fourth of July celebration in Roswell until he finally came to the part that was as necessary as breath. Liz is exercising regularly when I can prompt her to do so. She has eaten well all day and kept it down. Max sighed in relief at that. Liz had been vomiting for the last week and a half and lost a little weight. He had felt completely helpless, knowing he was only one wall away from her and not able to help. She still won’t speak to anyone or even acknowledge our presence. It’s like she’s built a wall around herself and no one is allowed in. Max sighed again, sad this time, but knowing why Liz was doing what she was doing. It was the only way she could protect her sanity in this insane asylum. It was so frustrating for him though because her walls were high and he couldn’t connect with her. He’d spent days trying. The next sentence made his stomach clench, Timed test tonight, six hours. Timed test meant they wanted to note the physical reactions in each ‘subject’ during the heat and see the effect on the next heat cycle. Liz was just starting to feel better and now this. And this was the longest deliberate test yet. Six hours, he just hoped Liz wouldn’t relapse. The note ended as it always did, Still working on a plan to help. Be ready.
He casually crumpled the napkin in his hand and felt a flash of heat as his power removed the words from the paper. Looking over his tray he noted the same meal he’d been given for lunch and dinner for the last three weeks: turkey sandwich, bag of pretzels, apple juice and milk, and an apple. He’d requested Tabasco sauce once, but that had prompted another entire series of tests that were too unpleasant to recall right before he ate. He picked up the sandwich and took a large bite, trying not to gag at the bland flavor. This was part of his regimen to stay ready. He’d eat what they gave him, rest as best he could, and exercise each day to be fit and alert when the time came to move. With nothing else to do all day he was toned and sleekly muscled.
He finished up his meal and set the empty tray by the door knocking twice to signal that it was ready. He moved back against the far wall and waited until the door opened and shut behind Frick. Turning, he made his way back to his bed and crawled under the thin, scratchy blanket wishing Liz was there to fill the emptiness of his arms. He closed his eyes pretending to nap and waited for Isabel to show up.
‘Hey, are you there?’ Isabel’s soft voice reached him at last and in his semi-dream state he turned around and gave her a hug.
‘I’m so glad you’re here. What…’
‘Seven o’clock exactly, just like always,’ Isabel interrupted, knowing his need to know the time. ‘Alex is working on the computer again to find new locations, all the ones we’ve searched have been dead ends.’
Max nodded, just watching his sister pace in front of him. He wished that he could be of more help, but he really didn’t know where in the hell he was exactly. He’d visualized the circle on the map that he’d seen so that Isabel could narrow her search, but it had yielded no military bases and they were getting desperate to find each other again.
‘How’s…’
‘She’s getting better. She didn’t throw up today at all. I’m hoping it was just some weird morning sickness or something,’ Max told her hopefully.
Isabel nodded, hoping that’s all it was. This much stress couldn’t be good for the baby. ‘Is she talking yet?’
Max shook his head and pulled his hands through his hair. ‘I can’t blame her for not wanting to speak with those bastards, I mean, I wouldn’t either if I thought I could get away with it.’
‘Are they, did they do anything else to you?’ Isabel’s eyes always gave away her concern. Her heart suffered for her brother every day and on the days she arrived and he could barely speak coherently to her…she closed her eyes and took a fortifying breath, those days didn’t bear thinking about.
‘Nothing different today,’ Max avoided her eyes and rubbed his hands together trying not to think of what tonight’s test would bring. One day at a time. Well, one hour at a time. Hell, sometimes it was one second at a time! ‘Um, better warn Michael there’s another timed test tonight,’ he added quietly.
Isabel fumed with anger, but she knew she had no control over it so she asked simply, ‘How long?’
Max wouldn’t meet her eyes. ‘Six hours,’ he mumbled under his breath. His eyes flicked up in time to see her eyes flash with anger before she could control it. She shook her head.
‘I’ll tell him,’ she asserted stoically, trying to regain her composure.
‘Did you try to reach Liz again today?’ He asked her eagerly, wanting to change the subject and hoping she could get through where he could not, but Isabel was already shaking her head, dispelling that hope.
‘I try every day, but it’s blank. She’s not letting me in.’
‘Me either,’ he whispered. It just reinforced that they had to get out of there soon.
‘Is that girl still helping you? Giving you notes?’
Max nodded and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Isabel thought he should trust the girl, but he couldn’t let his guard down.
‘She gave me the news that Liz is better, but for all I know she’s lying,’ his voice was husky, and Isabel could sense his underlying need to trust someone.
‘Ask her exactly where you are. It can’t hurt, she doesn’t know that we’re out here looking, maybe she’ll tell you.’
Max thought about it and then nodded. He’d ask her, and he could only hope that he’d get the truth.
‘How’re Mom and Dad holding up?’ Max always asked, even though he knew the answer.
Isabel hesitated a beat too long and then told him the truth. ‘It’s been a big strain, Max. They want to go to the police and tell them everything we’ve discovered to far. Something better happen soon, because Mom’s getting unreasonable about it. She’s starting to think that going public with your ‘differences’ is the only way to keep you safe right now.’
Max’s mouth had dropped open in horror. ‘Doesn’t she see that they’d keep us locked in cages for the rest of our miserable lives? She can’t go to the police, it’s not her decision! Isabel, you have to tell her that. She has to know that’s not what we want. Make her see…’
‘I know, Max, don’t worry. I’m doing everything I can to keep her back. I’ll tell her you agree with me. She’ll listen to you. She’d do anything for you right now. Don’t worry. Ask that girl tonight. She might surprise you.’
They caught up for a while longer. Isabel knew she was his only contact with the outside world and stretched her strength to the limits to stay with him as long as she could. Tonight, however, he was the one that pulled away first.
Stepping back from her hug he tried to smile for her. He knew that Frick and Frack would be in the room momentarily to strip him and hook him up to monitoring devices and he wanted his sister gone before they arrived. ‘You look tired. Go find Kyle and cuddle up for a while. You need to rest too. I’ll see you tomorrow and hopefully Serena will answer my question.’ He pulled back fully and broke the connection abruptly himself when he heard his cell door clang open.
He didn’t see Isabel’s startled expression at the mention of his helper’s name.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Isabel sat upright in Kyle’s arms. “Serena. He said a girl named Serena is the one who has been giving him comfort and information.” She turned excited eyes to Alex, Maria, and Michael who were eagerly awaiting news from Max’s camp.
“Isn’t that the name of…” Alex’s voice was cut off mid-question as Maria gave a loud whoop of excitement and launched herself into Michael’s arms.
“Future Max said she’d be a friend of theirs some day!”
The five sat around and grinned at each other, knowing that at least maybe there was one person they could trust. Isabel gave Kyle a sweet kiss, palming his cheek before settling back against his broad chest. She’d need to rest up if she was going to re-visit Max that night to tell him what they now knew. She couldn’t believe he hadn’t made the connection himself, but then again, she supposed he’d had other things on his mind.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max sat up swiftly up from his seated position on the bed, scrambling to stand so he could get his back to the wall as soon as possible. Serena waved him down with an impatient gesture. “Stay seated please.” . He was surprised to see Serena was accompanied only by Frack. He’d expected the entire contingent of mad scientists.
Serena crossed the room to him quickly and pretended to take his pulse while Frack guarded the door. Max gave her a questioning look, but cooperated fully.
“It’s eight fifty-seven.” She didn’t even notice that she automatically gave him the time, “I just need to get a physical reading before the tests start in about thirty minutes,” she told him in a professionally brisk tone. “Place your hands, palm down, on the bed beside you please,” she added. She moved her hands over his to show him where she wanted them and then reached into her deep pocket for a stethoscope. She angled her body so that the cameras would conceal her actions and slipped a magnetic key-card under one of his palms. Max’s heart rate went up radically, but outwardly he showed no physical sign of his excitement.
The card under his palm felt like freedom. One step closer…
Serena moved around him, checking his heart and pupils. She pushed him to lay back on the bed and watched him to make sure he kept the key-card covered with his hand. When she finished making one last note on her chart she pulled the blanket over him to allow him to secrete the card under the mattress after she left. Just as she turned to go she was startled by a large warm hand circling her wrist.
“What is it?” Her tone was icy, as she knew her father or Dr. Neri would be watching.
“Where are we? What is this place called?” Max sat up on one elbow and leaned close to her ear, his whisper low and urgent.
Serena’s eyes widened. What good could that information possibly do for Max? He had nowhere to go and no one to call for help.
Bzzzt!
“Serena, please report to Dr. Clark immediately,” a loud voice rang through the intercom.
Serena pulled her arm free and turned back to the exit door. Just before she shut it behind herself she turned back to say, “I’ll see you at eight a.m. for breakfast.”
With that the door clanged shut and Max rested his head back on his hard pillow. His fingers curled around the key-card that could lead to freedom and he surreptitiously slid his hand over the edge of the bed and slipped the card securely between the mattress and the frame of the bed for use later when he deemed it safe to attempt an escape.
He sincerely hoped that his napkin would give him the information he had requested when Serena brought him his breakfast in the morning. He pushed the covers off his body, suddenly too warm, and then realized that the fever was gripping him again.
Frick and Frack came through the door at once and stood there with their arms crossed as Sims warily entered the room and gestured for Max to strip. A cart was wheeled in with the now familiar monitoring equipment and Max rose steadily to his feet and did what he was told quickly and resignedly. A secret hope lit his heart and no one knew why the strange alien appeared more light-hearted and cooperative this evening than he ever had before. Sims just shrugged, he’d take it, no matter what caused the attitude. He’d rather not have to touch the alien at all, personally, he’d attended Jackson too many times now and watched him continue to writhe in miserable pain. No way he’d get near this alien’s necklace. He kept expecting a laser of death to be leveled at him from the heart of the stone. He shuddered, best not to think along those lines.
Max lay back naked on his bed, his body already glistening with sweat and started counting in his head, one one thousand, two one thousand…while they restrained his wrists and ankles to the frame. He was jolted back into reality when they started with the latest series of endurance tests. His back jolted up off the bed it a high arch as he screamed out in agony. The burning probe touched his chest again and again after Frack’s meaty hands moved to keep him pinned to the mattress.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Six hours later
Max lay trembling on his bed, still counting in his head, when a hand touched his arm briefly. He flinched away violently, automatically detesting their right to touch him at will. Dr. Neri raised an eyebrow and gave him a small smile.
“Sims will remove the devices after you have given us a sample.” His eyes flicked down to Max’s engorged cock and back up at his strained expression. “I’m sure that will be a relief to both of you,” he added, thinking that Liz was in the same fevered condition as Max right now. Sometimes what they were doing felt wrong, but at the same time the things they were discovering were so radically new and exciting that he knew he’d do it all over again. The way this boy healed internally was absolutely fascinating. The outward marks remained, but his endurance, his stamina…it was incredible. He thought of all the good he could do in the world if they could find a way to harness that. Meanwhile, they would continue their research and see if there was anything this alien couldn’t come back from.
Max wasted no time in obtaining the sample and Sims briskly removed the monitoring devices. Max moved his legs off the bed to stand shakily. He rushed by a startled Sims and knelt over the toilet, vomiting helplessly as his stomach twisted, knotting in disgust over what was being done to him. He crept back into the main room, relieved to find it empty, and waited by the far wall, palms against the smooth white surface, and practically held his breath until the relief of Liz’s fever abating washed through him as well. He sighed deeply and sank to the floor with his arms around his knees, utterly exhausted by the latest test.
He didn’t realize he had dozed slightly until he felt Isabel’s soft touch on his shoulder.
‘Max?’ Her voice was gentle so she wouldn’t startle him.
He flinched mightily and took in the situation immediately. His face flamed scarlet as he realized he was balled up on the floor without a stitch of clothing on.
‘I…could you just…’ Max’s voice stuttered out in embarrassment, but Isabel understood immediately and twirled around so her back was to him. He scrambled into his scrubs and cleared his throat to let her know it was okay now.
‘I, uh, I didn’t know you were coming back tonight,’ Max started uncomfortably.
‘Max, I’m sorry. I waited until Michael was doing better. I didn’t expect. You didn’t tell me they did that to you,’ her voice trailed off in concern and Max realized that she had seen the burn marks and bruises that covered his chest and back. ‘Why don’t you heal them?’
Max shook his head. ‘I don’t want to show them my power. Don’t worry, I’ve taken the pain away internally. It’s just markings now.’ He left out that the full pain had been there while the marks were being made. She didn’t need to know the whole story. Not ever.
‘What are you…’ He gave her a questioning look.
Isabel perked up immediately. ‘Did you say the girl’s name is Serena?’
Max nodded, perplexed at Isabel’s excitement.
‘Max! Don’t you remember when Future Max came back to see Liz he told her she would have a super-smart friend named Serena?’
Max’s eyes widened. How could he have missed that? Sure, he’d only seen the vision of Future Max in one quick flash during their precious time in Vegas, but still! His excitement grew to match his sister’s. Maybe Serena really was someone he could trust!
‘I asked her,’ he blurted out, suddenly remembering. ‘I asked her where we are. She looked surprised that I wanted to know and got called out before she could tell me, but she said she’d see me at breakfast. Maybe…And…and she gave me a key-card! I can’t use it yet, but I’ve got it hidden in my mattress. I’ll be able to get out of here quickly when the time comes. If it works…It’s got to work! We’ve got to know what’s going on with Liz. We’ve got to make sure she’s strong enough to leave. I’ll carry her out if I have to, but we’ve got to get out!’
Isabel’s eyes glowed with her own excitement. They were close. Closer than they’d been yet. This was it, she could feel it!
TBC
EYA Part 83
The Dunes Hotel
Isabel nuzzled into Kyle’s shoulder after her seven o’clock visitation with Max and sighed in exhaustion. Kyle’s strong hands were stroking up and down her back comfortingly and his steady breath under her cheek lulled her into a light doze. She heard the others in the room begin to shuffle out and the low murmur of Michael’s voice saying, “She needs to get some rest now if she’s going to revisit Max later and tell him about Serena.”
Michael.
Michael’s voice. Something she had to…Isabel shook her head, still drifting.
“Michael.” Sitting up abruptly she reached one hand out toward the door as if to stop his exit. Michael turned back in surprise and took a step back into the room. Isabel could see Maria step up behind him with one hand on his back. “Max…he said…,” she looked down and took Kyle’s hand for comfort. “Another timed test tonight, Michael. I’m sorry.” She met his eyes and watched as his expression fell into dismay and then hardened into weary resolve.
“How long?” He was afraid of the answer. It had been three weeks and there had already been fourteen timed tests, each one longer than the last.
“Six hours,” Isabel whispered, sympathy in her eyes and tone. Her breath caught in her throat when Michael physically flinched at the length of this newest atrocity.
He pulled his shoulders back and just nodded leaving the room, the door clicking shut behind him and Maria with the clang of finality.
Steady hands pulled Isabel back to a broad chest and soothing fingers stroked through her hair. She didn’t realize she was crying until she had created a wet spot on Kyle’s T-shirt. She lay there for as long as it took until her body stopped shaking and the comfort of Kyle’s warm embrace was allowed to seep inside her. She tipped her head up and looked at him with watering eyes and an unsteady smile.
“Thank you,” she breathed softly, touching his lips with the tips of her fingers.
Kyle returned the smile. “Anytime,” he answered, just as softly, leaning down to gently touch his lips to hers before cuddling her back against his side. She needed to rest for her next dreamwalk later in the night, and if she wouldn’t take care of herself, then he would do it for her.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Jim had arranged for three double rooms, side by side. Originally one was intended for Isabel and Maria, another for Michael and Alex, and the last for Kyle and Jim Valenti. From day one it had been obvious that they would choose their own places to sleep and Michael and Maria wouldn’t be separated. Jim didn’t have the heart to make Kyle stay away from Isabel for even one night. He’d raised an eyebrow the first night that Kyle hadn’t come back to their room, and the next day, after seeing how exhausted and distraught all the kids were he simply pulled Kyle aside, handed him some condoms and told him to be careful. Kyle had flushed a bright red and stuttered out that he and Isabel weren’t, had never even…, it wasn’t the time or place…He’d then run his free hand through his hair and left the room. Jim noticed he’d taken the condoms with him.
Alex and Jim shared the third room and it worked out pretty well as they used it as their headquarters to map out the areas they’d already searched and brain-stormed for any possible new ideas on locations to look, expanding their original location parameters beyond what they had originally expected. Anything was possible, and Max clearly had no clue of his exact location, they’d only been able to narrow the search to about a seventy five mile radius based on the information Max had passed on to Isabel during her first visit. All of her visits since had yielded no new clues.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Maria hoped he would open up to her this time. She was sick of Michael being stoic and strong, keeping everything bottled up inside.
“No.” Michael paced back and forth in their hotel room. They’d been there for three weeks now. Three of the longest most hellish weeks that Michael could recall, which was saying something considering the life that he’d led up to that point.
“No?” Maria spun Michael around to face her as he attempted to pace by her again. “No?” Her voice rose, incredulous in her rising anger. “‘No’ is no longer an acceptable answer, Michael Guerin! This affects me just as much as it affects you and I won’t let you get away with bottling all this up inside and keeping it to yourself anymore. Your pain hurts me, but your silence is killing me.” His closed expression prompted her to switch tactics. “Do you love me?” Her eyes pierced through him, daring him to deny her.
Michael watched this magnificent girl in awe as she stood up for herself, for them, so passionately. This was the girl he had fallen head over heels in love with, and he should have known she’d be the one to remind him that he was no longer alone, that there was someone else in his life that he was now accountable to and could feel free to share and unburden himself to.
“You know I love you, Maria. This has just been really hard. I can’t drag you down with me,” he spoke softly, trying to explain his inner conflict.
Maria rubbed her hands over his strong biceps, craving the physical connection again. “I want to be wherever you are. If you’re down then let me help lift you up. You have to let me in, Michael.”
Michael nodded, swallowing against the sudden knot in his throat. “It hurts, Maria. I’m supposed to be the one protecting them and here I am, sitting on my hands, and I can’t do a damn thing to help two of the most important people in my life!” Michael’s voice cracked, and then he was crying. Sobbing in great heaving waves of frustration, anger, and hurt over what was being done to all of them. Maria gathered him close to her body and pulled him to lay with her on the bed. She whispered reassurance and soothed his aching soul, rocking his shaking body gently as she held him to her and waited for the storm to pass.
“Let me help you,” she whispered over and over. “Please, Michael, I’m begging you. Let me in.”
Michael’s hands spread over her back in a desperate hug and he opened his mind to allow a connection. Maria’s body rocked back from his in surprise, but then she grabbed him close again and hung on. The fear and heartache was almost too much to bear as his pain washed physically through her. She inserted a ray of hope from what they’d learned tonight, and felt him calm slightly within the connection. She offered him solace and peace and he drank from her hungrily. They lay entwined mentally and physically and fell asleep in each other’s arms.
The fever crept upon Michael slowly in his slumber and he woke feeling sweaty and disoriented for a moment before realizing what he was in the grip of. He moved away from Maria, wanting to spare her this new indignity, but she pulled him back to her. “Together. We’re in this together,” she whispered against his neck. Michael nodded his head, even knowing she couldn’t see his gesture and stayed within the circle of her arms to wait it out.
Hours later, after exhausting time spent on cold showers and trips to the ice machine Maria stood at the foot of the bed and shifted from foot to foot wondering how to ask for what she wanted from Michael.
Michael’s head tossed from side to side and he moaned softly under his breath. His body was alternately baking and shivering, and he lay on top of the unmade bed in only his boxers. His erection was swollen and painful from the enforced wait for his body’s release, and he’d stopped being prudish around Maria trying to cover it up. She’d seen it all anyway, and it was a part of this strange experience that he had no control over. He felt a wave of unease through the light connection he had maintained with Maria. It was something different, and his concern for her was enough to prompt him to will his eyes to open and locate her in the room.
She stood at the foot of the bed, her nervous gestures proclaiming loudly that she had something she wanted to say, but didn’t know quite how.
“What?” His voice cracked on the single syllable, annoying him and causing a brief flash of anger at his lack of control.
Maria’s large eyes shot to meet his and she wrung her hands together restlessly. “I…,” she cleared her throat and started over. “I want to ask you something, and your answer is really important to me. Promise me that you’ll just think about it before you say yes or no, okay?” Her earnest gaze never left his eyes, so she didn’t miss the startled confusion that flashed over his features before he simply dropped his head back and nodded wearily, his eyes already closed again.
“Okay,” she started again. She crawled up the bed until she was seated at Michael’s side and rested one hand deliberately low on his stomach. His torso rolled up unconsciously to deepen the contact. The skin was slick and hot under her touch, and made her heart pound in sympathy that he had to endure this. “I can’t stand to see you like this. I know that you’re going through so much right now, and I want…I want to relieve…,” she stopped, shook her head, and started again, “Maybe relieve isn’t the right word.” Her fingers roamed restlessly low on his stomach, feeling the hard ripples of muscle and realizing with a shock how much weight Michael had lost in the last three weeks. None of them were taking very good care of themselves, but Michael was working night and day searching out and investigating any possible place where Max and Liz could be being held. “I want to make love with you, Michael.” Blunt had always worked for her before, and she figured she should just state what she wanted. She could feel the lust coursing through Michael within their connection, along with the embarrassed annoyance that that had to be one of the unfortunate side effects of his current condition.
“No,” Michael’s answer was pure reflex. He wouldn’t look at her.
Maria’s palm flattened against his abdomen. “You said you’d think about it before you said yes or no.” Her palm over his heated skin was raised and lowered quickly by his sharp intake of breath. She was right, he’d promised he would consider his answer.
He opened his eyes and rolled his head on the bed to meet her gaze steadily. “Why?” When it came down to it, that was the most important question he could think of. If she just wanted to help him out, scratch his itch as it were, then forget it.
“I love you. I want you. I can’t stand to see what you suffer, and there’s no reason for it! I want to be here for you. I need you to let me in, be a part of this. I know that you can’t help what is happening to you, but I want to do this for you and for me. I want to be the one you release your body into. I want feel your love inside of me.” Maria’s right hand moved to cup his cheek and with each word she spoke she moved closer to him until she was speaking against his lips. “Let me in,” she whispered finally, a last plea.
Michael groaned, his lips vibrating softly against hers. He closed his eyes and pulled her down on top of him. The connection revealed the truth and the raw need in her soul. Maria shifted to lay fully on top of Michael and his hands moved to pull at her clothes. She leaned up and helped him with the task, carelessly tossing her top and capri’s over the side of the bed to land in a heap on the floor. Naked, he rolled them so that he was leaning over her body. He needed to touch her, to reassure himself that they were together, mind body and soul, before he took her mouth again in another passionate kiss.
Their bodies joined, and they moved together on the bed as Michael undulated his hips against hers in long, determined strokes. Maria closed her legs around his waist and hung on as they moved together for what seemed like hours. Her body shuddered in release several times before Michael stilled above her, locked in the throes of the most powerful release his body had yet known. Maria arched up into him and hung on as Michael’s breath stuttered and his body collapsed onto hers shaking.
Her hands stroked up and down his back and she smiled at the ceiling as tears flowed down her cheeks. Michael had finally let her in.
TBC
Liz POV up next.
The Dunes Hotel
Isabel nuzzled into Kyle’s shoulder after her seven o’clock visitation with Max and sighed in exhaustion. Kyle’s strong hands were stroking up and down her back comfortingly and his steady breath under her cheek lulled her into a light doze. She heard the others in the room begin to shuffle out and the low murmur of Michael’s voice saying, “She needs to get some rest now if she’s going to revisit Max later and tell him about Serena.”
Michael.
Michael’s voice. Something she had to…Isabel shook her head, still drifting.
“Michael.” Sitting up abruptly she reached one hand out toward the door as if to stop his exit. Michael turned back in surprise and took a step back into the room. Isabel could see Maria step up behind him with one hand on his back. “Max…he said…,” she looked down and took Kyle’s hand for comfort. “Another timed test tonight, Michael. I’m sorry.” She met his eyes and watched as his expression fell into dismay and then hardened into weary resolve.
“How long?” He was afraid of the answer. It had been three weeks and there had already been fourteen timed tests, each one longer than the last.
“Six hours,” Isabel whispered, sympathy in her eyes and tone. Her breath caught in her throat when Michael physically flinched at the length of this newest atrocity.
He pulled his shoulders back and just nodded leaving the room, the door clicking shut behind him and Maria with the clang of finality.
Steady hands pulled Isabel back to a broad chest and soothing fingers stroked through her hair. She didn’t realize she was crying until she had created a wet spot on Kyle’s T-shirt. She lay there for as long as it took until her body stopped shaking and the comfort of Kyle’s warm embrace was allowed to seep inside her. She tipped her head up and looked at him with watering eyes and an unsteady smile.
“Thank you,” she breathed softly, touching his lips with the tips of her fingers.
Kyle returned the smile. “Anytime,” he answered, just as softly, leaning down to gently touch his lips to hers before cuddling her back against his side. She needed to rest for her next dreamwalk later in the night, and if she wouldn’t take care of herself, then he would do it for her.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Jim had arranged for three double rooms, side by side. Originally one was intended for Isabel and Maria, another for Michael and Alex, and the last for Kyle and Jim Valenti. From day one it had been obvious that they would choose their own places to sleep and Michael and Maria wouldn’t be separated. Jim didn’t have the heart to make Kyle stay away from Isabel for even one night. He’d raised an eyebrow the first night that Kyle hadn’t come back to their room, and the next day, after seeing how exhausted and distraught all the kids were he simply pulled Kyle aside, handed him some condoms and told him to be careful. Kyle had flushed a bright red and stuttered out that he and Isabel weren’t, had never even…, it wasn’t the time or place…He’d then run his free hand through his hair and left the room. Jim noticed he’d taken the condoms with him.
Alex and Jim shared the third room and it worked out pretty well as they used it as their headquarters to map out the areas they’d already searched and brain-stormed for any possible new ideas on locations to look, expanding their original location parameters beyond what they had originally expected. Anything was possible, and Max clearly had no clue of his exact location, they’d only been able to narrow the search to about a seventy five mile radius based on the information Max had passed on to Isabel during her first visit. All of her visits since had yielded no new clues.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Maria hoped he would open up to her this time. She was sick of Michael being stoic and strong, keeping everything bottled up inside.
“No.” Michael paced back and forth in their hotel room. They’d been there for three weeks now. Three of the longest most hellish weeks that Michael could recall, which was saying something considering the life that he’d led up to that point.
“No?” Maria spun Michael around to face her as he attempted to pace by her again. “No?” Her voice rose, incredulous in her rising anger. “‘No’ is no longer an acceptable answer, Michael Guerin! This affects me just as much as it affects you and I won’t let you get away with bottling all this up inside and keeping it to yourself anymore. Your pain hurts me, but your silence is killing me.” His closed expression prompted her to switch tactics. “Do you love me?” Her eyes pierced through him, daring him to deny her.
Michael watched this magnificent girl in awe as she stood up for herself, for them, so passionately. This was the girl he had fallen head over heels in love with, and he should have known she’d be the one to remind him that he was no longer alone, that there was someone else in his life that he was now accountable to and could feel free to share and unburden himself to.
“You know I love you, Maria. This has just been really hard. I can’t drag you down with me,” he spoke softly, trying to explain his inner conflict.
Maria rubbed her hands over his strong biceps, craving the physical connection again. “I want to be wherever you are. If you’re down then let me help lift you up. You have to let me in, Michael.”
Michael nodded, swallowing against the sudden knot in his throat. “It hurts, Maria. I’m supposed to be the one protecting them and here I am, sitting on my hands, and I can’t do a damn thing to help two of the most important people in my life!” Michael’s voice cracked, and then he was crying. Sobbing in great heaving waves of frustration, anger, and hurt over what was being done to all of them. Maria gathered him close to her body and pulled him to lay with her on the bed. She whispered reassurance and soothed his aching soul, rocking his shaking body gently as she held him to her and waited for the storm to pass.
“Let me help you,” she whispered over and over. “Please, Michael, I’m begging you. Let me in.”
Michael’s hands spread over her back in a desperate hug and he opened his mind to allow a connection. Maria’s body rocked back from his in surprise, but then she grabbed him close again and hung on. The fear and heartache was almost too much to bear as his pain washed physically through her. She inserted a ray of hope from what they’d learned tonight, and felt him calm slightly within the connection. She offered him solace and peace and he drank from her hungrily. They lay entwined mentally and physically and fell asleep in each other’s arms.
The fever crept upon Michael slowly in his slumber and he woke feeling sweaty and disoriented for a moment before realizing what he was in the grip of. He moved away from Maria, wanting to spare her this new indignity, but she pulled him back to her. “Together. We’re in this together,” she whispered against his neck. Michael nodded his head, even knowing she couldn’t see his gesture and stayed within the circle of her arms to wait it out.
Hours later, after exhausting time spent on cold showers and trips to the ice machine Maria stood at the foot of the bed and shifted from foot to foot wondering how to ask for what she wanted from Michael.
Michael’s head tossed from side to side and he moaned softly under his breath. His body was alternately baking and shivering, and he lay on top of the unmade bed in only his boxers. His erection was swollen and painful from the enforced wait for his body’s release, and he’d stopped being prudish around Maria trying to cover it up. She’d seen it all anyway, and it was a part of this strange experience that he had no control over. He felt a wave of unease through the light connection he had maintained with Maria. It was something different, and his concern for her was enough to prompt him to will his eyes to open and locate her in the room.
She stood at the foot of the bed, her nervous gestures proclaiming loudly that she had something she wanted to say, but didn’t know quite how.
“What?” His voice cracked on the single syllable, annoying him and causing a brief flash of anger at his lack of control.
Maria’s large eyes shot to meet his and she wrung her hands together restlessly. “I…,” she cleared her throat and started over. “I want to ask you something, and your answer is really important to me. Promise me that you’ll just think about it before you say yes or no, okay?” Her earnest gaze never left his eyes, so she didn’t miss the startled confusion that flashed over his features before he simply dropped his head back and nodded wearily, his eyes already closed again.
“Okay,” she started again. She crawled up the bed until she was seated at Michael’s side and rested one hand deliberately low on his stomach. His torso rolled up unconsciously to deepen the contact. The skin was slick and hot under her touch, and made her heart pound in sympathy that he had to endure this. “I can’t stand to see you like this. I know that you’re going through so much right now, and I want…I want to relieve…,” she stopped, shook her head, and started again, “Maybe relieve isn’t the right word.” Her fingers roamed restlessly low on his stomach, feeling the hard ripples of muscle and realizing with a shock how much weight Michael had lost in the last three weeks. None of them were taking very good care of themselves, but Michael was working night and day searching out and investigating any possible place where Max and Liz could be being held. “I want to make love with you, Michael.” Blunt had always worked for her before, and she figured she should just state what she wanted. She could feel the lust coursing through Michael within their connection, along with the embarrassed annoyance that that had to be one of the unfortunate side effects of his current condition.
“No,” Michael’s answer was pure reflex. He wouldn’t look at her.
Maria’s palm flattened against his abdomen. “You said you’d think about it before you said yes or no.” Her palm over his heated skin was raised and lowered quickly by his sharp intake of breath. She was right, he’d promised he would consider his answer.
He opened his eyes and rolled his head on the bed to meet her gaze steadily. “Why?” When it came down to it, that was the most important question he could think of. If she just wanted to help him out, scratch his itch as it were, then forget it.
“I love you. I want you. I can’t stand to see what you suffer, and there’s no reason for it! I want to be here for you. I need you to let me in, be a part of this. I know that you can’t help what is happening to you, but I want to do this for you and for me. I want to be the one you release your body into. I want feel your love inside of me.” Maria’s right hand moved to cup his cheek and with each word she spoke she moved closer to him until she was speaking against his lips. “Let me in,” she whispered finally, a last plea.
Michael groaned, his lips vibrating softly against hers. He closed his eyes and pulled her down on top of him. The connection revealed the truth and the raw need in her soul. Maria shifted to lay fully on top of Michael and his hands moved to pull at her clothes. She leaned up and helped him with the task, carelessly tossing her top and capri’s over the side of the bed to land in a heap on the floor. Naked, he rolled them so that he was leaning over her body. He needed to touch her, to reassure himself that they were together, mind body and soul, before he took her mouth again in another passionate kiss.
Their bodies joined, and they moved together on the bed as Michael undulated his hips against hers in long, determined strokes. Maria closed her legs around his waist and hung on as they moved together for what seemed like hours. Her body shuddered in release several times before Michael stilled above her, locked in the throes of the most powerful release his body had yet known. Maria arched up into him and hung on as Michael’s breath stuttered and his body collapsed onto hers shaking.
Her hands stroked up and down his back and she smiled at the ceiling as tears flowed down her cheeks. Michael had finally let her in.
TBC
Liz POV up next.
EYA Part 84
7:47am
The world was very small when she really thought about it. Four walls, three meals, one baby…
Her hands drifted over her slightly distended abdomen. Only she could really tell that there was a baby in there, but really, who else was there to care? She leaned her head back against the wall she didn’t realize she shared with Max and lost herself in the hum of her connection to Zan. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else was real. Her cheek rested against the slightly rough and cold surface and she sighed, feeling stronger as she always did in this position.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“They’re doing it again.” Dr. Clark’s voice was interested, but also slightly annoyed. The wall of windows in their control room allowed them to look into both of their captive’s rooms at once, and he was observing something that had taken place regularly since the first day they had placed Max Evans in the adjoining room.
Serena balanced the breakfast tray she was holding in her hands and turned to see what had her ‘father’ so interested. Her eyebrows raised, but she wasn’t surprised, only saddened by the scene her eyes revealed to her.
Max Evans sat against the wall in his room pressing his hand against its surface right at the spot where Liz was leaning her cheek. They were connected in a way that none of the observers would ever understand. She knew they weren’t connected telepathically, he was far too starved for the little tidbits she was able to sneak in to him on their notes, but somehow, each morning and several times throughout the day, they could be found locked together on opposite sides of the same wall.
Dr. Clark had hooked them each up to monitors after the first three times they had observed them like this. Their respirations slowed, their heartbeats calmed, and they seemed more at peace than at other random places around the room.
Serena shook off her reverie and firmed her grip on the tray. Liz needed to eat and she would make sure she did. After last night’s exercise in patience, a full six hours of torture waiting to receive the cure, Liz had been limp and exhausted, falling into a deep sleep. Serena had decided that the sleep was more important at the time than the fortifying snack she had prepared to bolster her strength and had let her slumber through the night.
She made her way through the hall to the outside entrance to Liz’s room. She slipped in her specially coded keycard and waited for the all clear. As she watched the light flicker to green she always flashed back to the day Dr. Clark had threatened Max against trying to escape.
Three weeks ago
“I know you have special powers, Max.” Dr. Clark paced in front of the frightened man, enjoying his position of power. “And I want to see what you can do. If the rumors are true…,” he rubbed his hands together in anticipation of the praise he would receive upon his triumphant return to the FBI, let then scoff and call him a crack-pot after they saw what he would bring them! “But don’t even think about using your powers to try to escape this room. I know you can probably manipulated the material of the door, but we’re watching you 24/7 and the door locks are specifically coded to keycards that have a special sequence programmed into them. If the sequence doesn’t register immediately when the door opens then alarms will sound and Liz will get hurt.”
Max’s body had flinched at the last comment, his only outward indication of his horrified attention, but they had drugged him earlier and he still couldn’t make his limbs cooperate.
Dr. Clark had taken two steps back from the angry man before he could stop himself. He straightened his shoulders in annoyance at his fear of the young subject in his little prison and stared him down.
“Don’t doubt that we can hurt her, Max. I don’t think you want to know what will happen if you try anything.” He’d turned then and left the room. Serena had stared through the observation window at the devastation on Max Evans’ face and felt another stirring of sympathy and doubt over what they were doing. He didn’t look like some evil alien out to get the human race, he just looked…lost, and so human.
Present time
Serena shook off the memory as she always did and tried to replace her bad mood with the memory of Max’s face lighting up when he had realized what she had obtained for him the day before. Getting him the keycard had been risky, and giving it to him so soon was even more dangerous, but he had to be ready and she almost had everything in place for their flight from prison. Besides, Jackson had no further use for his access card, and with the shape he was in he wouldn’t ever need it again.
The door popped open and she slipped into the room hoping that Liz would be more responsive today. She set the tray on Liz’s bed and crossed the room to kneel in front of the slightly smaller girl.
She put one warm hand on Liz’s upper arm and almost jerked back at the violent flinch her touch always engendered in Liz. She maintained the contact, murmuring soothing words softly to the girl and waited for her to respond. Liz never looked any of them directly in the eye, it was almost as if she wasn’t aware of them. Still, Serena believed that on some level Liz registered that Serena was there to help. She always brought Liz’s meals to her and directed her to eat. On rare days she would allow Serena to hold her arm as they walked around the room to get a little exercise.
Liz would perform the basic functions that her body required by using the bathroom, and especially the shower, daily, and eating the food that was placed in front of her. Some days it just wouldn’t stay down, but Liz couldn’t trouble herself over that. Every day was a struggle and she could only concern herself with her connection to Zan. He was the only thing that seemed real and good.
Max was dead. She had been told so, had felt the emptiness within her mind from her first day here, and her mind could hardly wrap around that fact so she turned the part of herself that was screaming and crying for Max completely off. She knew that if she let herself think about him, long for him, that she would give up utterly and it would be all over for her. The only thought that gave her purpose and hope was Zan.
In a vague mist in the back of her mind she would register reality every time Max’s name was mentioned in her presence. The only problem with that was she was always in the grip of her fever when Dr. Clark would whisper in evil undertones, “Max is here.” She knew it was just to taunt her, and that one time…that one time she had scared herself so badly when she had actually fantasized that her Max really was there. After that she couldn’t let herself be open anymore. Not even a little bit. The pain of his loss was far too great for that reality to float freely in her consciousness. So she let nothing in, and lived in her private world with the heartbeat steadily ticking within Zan and the warm glow of his very life giving her the only spark of happiness she was allowed.
The vague feeling of a hand against her arm grew more insistent and she could hear the babble of words trying to intrude on her reverie. She reluctantly shuffled to her feet and allowed herself to be directed to the bed. Food. Yes, she needed to eat to keep Zan safe. She remembered that. She sat and lifted the spoon to dip it into her cereal.
Four walls, three meals, one baby…A very small world.
Liz ate.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max moved to stand against the far wall at the first sound of the door releasing. He looked up expectantly as Serena entered the room and the door closed behind her. Frick stood guard just on the other side, and Max raised his eyebrow in question of the fact that he hadn’t come in.
With a small shake of her head Serena indicated not to mention it. She moved to set down her tray and said, “It’s 8:04 am, July 12th.” The first meal of the day always came with time and date. Max sighed in relief at knowing the date. He felt so disconnected here, everything was so unreal. He knew she could tell him anything she wanted, and what she was saying might not be true, months could be passing instead of weeks and he had no real way of knowing, but after what Isabel had said…he needed the ray of hope. He would choose to trust her.
Serena motioned him to join her by the bed. “Come and sit. I want to check your vital signs after last nights test.”
Max was surprised, but did as he was directed. Settling himself on the bed he put his hands by his sides and waited expectantly. Serena reached into her pocket and he saw her hand move around for a bit as if looking for something. Her fingers stilled as she found it, then moved again to remove a stethoscope. She put the earpieces in place and moved closer to Max’s broad chest.
“We have two minutes. I’ve turned the audio off in this room with a little device that I’ve been working on. I tested it yesterday and it worked. Don’t let them see your lips move.”
She could hear his heart rate pick up dramatically. He lowered his head so the cameras wouldn’t catch the movement of his lips. “Are you really a friend?”
“Yes.” Her answer was quick, sure, and emphatic. “I will get you out of here. Tonight.”
Max inhaled sharply. “Where are we? I have friends…”
Serena glanced up at him quickly before turning her attention to the chart in her hands. She scribbled a note as she answered him. “Do you have a way of contacting them? Can they help us?”
Max hesitated for the briefest moment before taking the plunge. They had to get out of here. “Yes…and yes.” She had said ‘us’. He clung to that.
She took his wrist in her hand and glanced at her watch as if counting the beats. “This is the Hesper fallout shelter on Coleville Road in Canyon Nevada. We’re underground. He was a scientist…and a little paranoid. This place had everything Dr. Clark required, and Hesper’s been dead for years. No one really knows about this place.” She watched the second hand sweep around again, their time was up.
She dropped his wrist and stated briskly. “That’s it.” She turned on her heel and left the room.
Max exhaled the breath he’d unconsciously been holding and turned to his breakfast. He carefully unfolded the napkin and read today’s newest message.
Liz was exhausted but her vitals were good after last night. She slept through the night and is eating her breakfast right now. No vomiting yet. Be prepared for action tonight. No tests scheduled today for you or Liz.
Max crumpled the paper in his hand and felt the flash of heat as he erased the words. He didn’t know what they did on the days they weren’t messing with his and Liz’s minds and bodies, but he let the relief wash through him nonetheless.
He picked up his spoon and dipped it into his cereal.
He had to be ready.
TBC
7:47am
The world was very small when she really thought about it. Four walls, three meals, one baby…
Her hands drifted over her slightly distended abdomen. Only she could really tell that there was a baby in there, but really, who else was there to care? She leaned her head back against the wall she didn’t realize she shared with Max and lost herself in the hum of her connection to Zan. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else was real. Her cheek rested against the slightly rough and cold surface and she sighed, feeling stronger as she always did in this position.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“They’re doing it again.” Dr. Clark’s voice was interested, but also slightly annoyed. The wall of windows in their control room allowed them to look into both of their captive’s rooms at once, and he was observing something that had taken place regularly since the first day they had placed Max Evans in the adjoining room.
Serena balanced the breakfast tray she was holding in her hands and turned to see what had her ‘father’ so interested. Her eyebrows raised, but she wasn’t surprised, only saddened by the scene her eyes revealed to her.
Max Evans sat against the wall in his room pressing his hand against its surface right at the spot where Liz was leaning her cheek. They were connected in a way that none of the observers would ever understand. She knew they weren’t connected telepathically, he was far too starved for the little tidbits she was able to sneak in to him on their notes, but somehow, each morning and several times throughout the day, they could be found locked together on opposite sides of the same wall.
Dr. Clark had hooked them each up to monitors after the first three times they had observed them like this. Their respirations slowed, their heartbeats calmed, and they seemed more at peace than at other random places around the room.
Serena shook off her reverie and firmed her grip on the tray. Liz needed to eat and she would make sure she did. After last night’s exercise in patience, a full six hours of torture waiting to receive the cure, Liz had been limp and exhausted, falling into a deep sleep. Serena had decided that the sleep was more important at the time than the fortifying snack she had prepared to bolster her strength and had let her slumber through the night.
She made her way through the hall to the outside entrance to Liz’s room. She slipped in her specially coded keycard and waited for the all clear. As she watched the light flicker to green she always flashed back to the day Dr. Clark had threatened Max against trying to escape.
Three weeks ago
“I know you have special powers, Max.” Dr. Clark paced in front of the frightened man, enjoying his position of power. “And I want to see what you can do. If the rumors are true…,” he rubbed his hands together in anticipation of the praise he would receive upon his triumphant return to the FBI, let then scoff and call him a crack-pot after they saw what he would bring them! “But don’t even think about using your powers to try to escape this room. I know you can probably manipulated the material of the door, but we’re watching you 24/7 and the door locks are specifically coded to keycards that have a special sequence programmed into them. If the sequence doesn’t register immediately when the door opens then alarms will sound and Liz will get hurt.”
Max’s body had flinched at the last comment, his only outward indication of his horrified attention, but they had drugged him earlier and he still couldn’t make his limbs cooperate.
Dr. Clark had taken two steps back from the angry man before he could stop himself. He straightened his shoulders in annoyance at his fear of the young subject in his little prison and stared him down.
“Don’t doubt that we can hurt her, Max. I don’t think you want to know what will happen if you try anything.” He’d turned then and left the room. Serena had stared through the observation window at the devastation on Max Evans’ face and felt another stirring of sympathy and doubt over what they were doing. He didn’t look like some evil alien out to get the human race, he just looked…lost, and so human.
Present time
Serena shook off the memory as she always did and tried to replace her bad mood with the memory of Max’s face lighting up when he had realized what she had obtained for him the day before. Getting him the keycard had been risky, and giving it to him so soon was even more dangerous, but he had to be ready and she almost had everything in place for their flight from prison. Besides, Jackson had no further use for his access card, and with the shape he was in he wouldn’t ever need it again.
The door popped open and she slipped into the room hoping that Liz would be more responsive today. She set the tray on Liz’s bed and crossed the room to kneel in front of the slightly smaller girl.
She put one warm hand on Liz’s upper arm and almost jerked back at the violent flinch her touch always engendered in Liz. She maintained the contact, murmuring soothing words softly to the girl and waited for her to respond. Liz never looked any of them directly in the eye, it was almost as if she wasn’t aware of them. Still, Serena believed that on some level Liz registered that Serena was there to help. She always brought Liz’s meals to her and directed her to eat. On rare days she would allow Serena to hold her arm as they walked around the room to get a little exercise.
Liz would perform the basic functions that her body required by using the bathroom, and especially the shower, daily, and eating the food that was placed in front of her. Some days it just wouldn’t stay down, but Liz couldn’t trouble herself over that. Every day was a struggle and she could only concern herself with her connection to Zan. He was the only thing that seemed real and good.
Max was dead. She had been told so, had felt the emptiness within her mind from her first day here, and her mind could hardly wrap around that fact so she turned the part of herself that was screaming and crying for Max completely off. She knew that if she let herself think about him, long for him, that she would give up utterly and it would be all over for her. The only thought that gave her purpose and hope was Zan.
In a vague mist in the back of her mind she would register reality every time Max’s name was mentioned in her presence. The only problem with that was she was always in the grip of her fever when Dr. Clark would whisper in evil undertones, “Max is here.” She knew it was just to taunt her, and that one time…that one time she had scared herself so badly when she had actually fantasized that her Max really was there. After that she couldn’t let herself be open anymore. Not even a little bit. The pain of his loss was far too great for that reality to float freely in her consciousness. So she let nothing in, and lived in her private world with the heartbeat steadily ticking within Zan and the warm glow of his very life giving her the only spark of happiness she was allowed.
The vague feeling of a hand against her arm grew more insistent and she could hear the babble of words trying to intrude on her reverie. She reluctantly shuffled to her feet and allowed herself to be directed to the bed. Food. Yes, she needed to eat to keep Zan safe. She remembered that. She sat and lifted the spoon to dip it into her cereal.
Four walls, three meals, one baby…A very small world.
Liz ate.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max moved to stand against the far wall at the first sound of the door releasing. He looked up expectantly as Serena entered the room and the door closed behind her. Frick stood guard just on the other side, and Max raised his eyebrow in question of the fact that he hadn’t come in.
With a small shake of her head Serena indicated not to mention it. She moved to set down her tray and said, “It’s 8:04 am, July 12th.” The first meal of the day always came with time and date. Max sighed in relief at knowing the date. He felt so disconnected here, everything was so unreal. He knew she could tell him anything she wanted, and what she was saying might not be true, months could be passing instead of weeks and he had no real way of knowing, but after what Isabel had said…he needed the ray of hope. He would choose to trust her.
Serena motioned him to join her by the bed. “Come and sit. I want to check your vital signs after last nights test.”
Max was surprised, but did as he was directed. Settling himself on the bed he put his hands by his sides and waited expectantly. Serena reached into her pocket and he saw her hand move around for a bit as if looking for something. Her fingers stilled as she found it, then moved again to remove a stethoscope. She put the earpieces in place and moved closer to Max’s broad chest.
“We have two minutes. I’ve turned the audio off in this room with a little device that I’ve been working on. I tested it yesterday and it worked. Don’t let them see your lips move.”
She could hear his heart rate pick up dramatically. He lowered his head so the cameras wouldn’t catch the movement of his lips. “Are you really a friend?”
“Yes.” Her answer was quick, sure, and emphatic. “I will get you out of here. Tonight.”
Max inhaled sharply. “Where are we? I have friends…”
Serena glanced up at him quickly before turning her attention to the chart in her hands. She scribbled a note as she answered him. “Do you have a way of contacting them? Can they help us?”
Max hesitated for the briefest moment before taking the plunge. They had to get out of here. “Yes…and yes.” She had said ‘us’. He clung to that.
She took his wrist in her hand and glanced at her watch as if counting the beats. “This is the Hesper fallout shelter on Coleville Road in Canyon Nevada. We’re underground. He was a scientist…and a little paranoid. This place had everything Dr. Clark required, and Hesper’s been dead for years. No one really knows about this place.” She watched the second hand sweep around again, their time was up.
She dropped his wrist and stated briskly. “That’s it.” She turned on her heel and left the room.
Max exhaled the breath he’d unconsciously been holding and turned to his breakfast. He carefully unfolded the napkin and read today’s newest message.
Liz was exhausted but her vitals were good after last night. She slept through the night and is eating her breakfast right now. No vomiting yet. Be prepared for action tonight. No tests scheduled today for you or Liz.
Max crumpled the paper in his hand and felt the flash of heat as he erased the words. He didn’t know what they did on the days they weren’t messing with his and Liz’s minds and bodies, but he let the relief wash through him nonetheless.
He picked up his spoon and dipped it into his cereal.
He had to be ready.
TBC
EYA Part 85
“I’m going to try again now,” Isabel asserted firmly, daring Kyle to object again. She leaned back against the headboard of their bed and crossed her arms in front of her. She’d been trying all morning to get through to Max and was progressively getting more worried that she was unable to reach him.
“Isabel, you’re too drained…,” Kyle started, and then he just stopped. He could tell by the determined set of her mouth and the fire in her eyes that it would be useless to argue. “I’d like to help if I can,” he gave up and allowed her to win. It was obvious she no longer cared about her own health and well-being, and if she could get through to Max this time then their ordeal would be over all the quicker.
Isabel was surprised, but extremely grateful that Kyle wasn’t going to insist that she wait for her to regain her strength. It was imperative that she find out where they were so that they could stage a rescue as soon as possible. The conditions those two were living in were not humane and it was slowly breaking Max’s spirit to remain caged in and helpless.
Kyle reached out and gathered Isabel into his arms and she happily rested her chin against his chest, listening to the quiet cadence of his breathing and the steady thump of his heart. He tilted her chin up until she was looking in his eyes and gently lowered his lips to caress hers softly. The tender gesture made tears spring to her eyes and she took several deep breaths to stop them from falling. “Be careful,” he warned her softly, not wanting her to get lost in the link.
Isabel nodded and let her eyes drift closed as she once again sought out her brother.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
No tests scheduled today.
Max snorted in derision. Yeah, no tests scheduled, just an impromptu ‘poke at the alien’ fest that had lasted the entire morning. Max was desperate to lay down and close his eyes, for more than one reason now. His original plan had been to lay down after breakfast and be ready for when Isabel came to visit. Instead, the doors had sprung open and Dr. Neri, accompanied by Frack, had entered the room briskly and proceeded to remove his shirt and secure him to the wall restraints. Max had not struggled, knowing full well they would get what they wanted regardless of his actions and awaited whatever they had planned for him.
They had first attempted several new methods to remove the necklace from his neck. Frack had been delegated to hold the cord and try to cut it off with scissors that were made from a metal Max couldn’t identify. The cord remained unmarked despite the determined efforts, and Frack, in an excess of frustration had grabbed the back of the cord and pulled it back, twisting cruelly, and careful not to touch the stone, so that Max’s oxygen supply was cut off and he was choking for a breath. His vision swam as Dr. Neri fluttered ineffectually around them and before finally directing Frack to cease, then abruptly reversed his decision at the thought that maybe the necklace would release from Max’s neck if it was hurting him. Dr. Neri grabbed a chart and told Frack to continue until he told him to stop.
The world went black, and Max woke up still strung up on the wall with his shoulders aching from the strain they had been put through to hold up his unconscious weight. Sweat ran down his back while his throat burned and his neck was on fire where the cord had bitten through his skin and drawn blood. He coughed and choked for a moment before he was able to concentrate on healing himself internally while still leaving the marks for the scientists to gloat over. He hadn’t yet shown them his abilities, no matter how they had tortured him throughout his stay, and he wouldn’t start now. They’d taken all they could from him and he’d be damned before he gave them any more.
He stood on unsteady legs and waited for whatever else they had planned. What followed was a series of laser cuts, a tiny blow torch, and hot steam to remove the necklace. Of course, none of them worked. Max tried to remain stoically silent as their various attempts to remove the necklace invariably led to missed aim and burn marks to the sensitive skin on his neck, but finally the pain was too much and he screamed out in agony. Frack smirked and intentionally directed the steam over the tender skin at Max’s throat until he saw the skin blister and turn red. Max’s voice cracked and faded until it was lost entirely.
After what seemed like hours of torture, they eventually released his wrists and ankles from the wall and he fell to the ground before he could stop himself. They let him lay there as Dr. Neri muttered over the failure of the tests and followed Frack out the door.
Max drew in his breath in deep and even strokes that he imagined would fill him with enough energy to move off the floor and back to his bed. He looked up startled and filled with dread when the door popped open again. He head slumped back onto his chest when he saw Serena walk through the door and stop, staring at him in shock.
Serena swiftly schooled her expression back into impassivity and briskly placed Max’s lunch tray on the bed. “It’s 12:07pm, time for lunch.” She straightened out Max’s blanket for something to do with her hands and reached into her pocket. She touched a button on the device it had taken her three weeks to build and looked down at his food as she spoke.
“I didn’t know…They weren’t supposed to do any tests today, but Dr. Neri had an idea this morning and...” She had seen the raw condition of his neck and he was obviously exhausted. “Will you be okay to run tonight?”
Max let his head rest with his chin on his chest and his voice croaked out, barely audible, as he answered the only way he could. “Yes. I don’t care if I have to crawl out of here with Liz on my back. We’re getting out of here tonight. They’re not hurting…Is Liz okay?”
“She’s fine. They mostly leave her alone. They want the baby intact.” Serena watched him sigh in relief. “Have you contacted your friends? We might need back-up once we get outside.”
“No. I’ve been a little busy for the last few hours,” Max rasped out dryly. Serena flinched at the cold tone in Max’s voice, but continued nonetheless.
“We’ll leave at midnight. The doctor’s will change shifts then and I’ll create a distraction. Use the keycard to get out of here. I’ll take care of the guard and the cameras. Go straight to Liz’s room and get her out. I’ll meet you in the corridor and lead you out of the building. It’s kind of a maze. Once we’re out your friends can drive you off the property.”
“What about you?” Max’s voice was softer than normal.
Serena glanced quickly at her watch. “Time’s up.” She turned to face him and made herself speak coldly.
“I suggest you get your alien butt off the floor and eat what has been provided for you.” She turned and let the door slam behind her.
Max stood on wobbly legs and stumbled his way over to his bed. He picked up the bland turkey sandwich and took a determined bite. He placed one hand over his throat as he swallowed and eased the ache within his body. He swallowed easily and plotted his revenge. The monsters here could not be allowed to come after them again.
With lunch finished Max placed the tray by the door and knocked twice, moving to the far wall until it was opened and the tray removed by a smirking Frack. Max schooled his expression so his cold hatred wouldn’t tip Frack off and waited until the door closed behind him to make his way to his bed and collapse at last. He let his eyes drift closed and prayed for Isabel to come to him quickly.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Isabel’s eyes were twitching behind their lids as Kyle held her close to his body and watched to make sure she was safe. She had already attempted to contact Max several times throughout the morning, staying longer with each try and exhausting herself in the process. Max was obviously otherwise occupied and not open to her dream walk. Kyle hoped it wasn’t more torture, because he knew from Isabel’s terrified ramblings after several of her visits that they were not being gentle or kind to their captives.
Isabel stiffened and then relaxed against his chest and Kyle sighed. Contact had been made.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Max. Max!!” Isabel shook Max’s sleeping form and gasped when she saw the condition of his neck and back. She didn’t even want to imagine what it would take to make marks like that on someone’s skin.
Max’s eyes opened slowly within his dream, and he didn’t consider it a good sign that he had been so exhausted from his ordeal that he’d been dreaming about being passed out. He shook his head and then scrubbed his palms over his eyes to try to wake up and focus more clearly.
Isabel. This was important. Isabel was here.
He stood abruptly in the dream walk and grabbed her forearms in his hands urgently. Isabel’s eyes went wide as she waited for him to speak.
“It’s tonight, Is.” The urgency in his tone was close to panic. She had to understand and remember everything he was going to tell her. “Midnight, Isabel. We’re in Canyon Nevada in a fallout shelter underground. It was built by a scientist named Hesper. It’s on Coleville road. There are two doctors, two guards, and two technicians plus Serena. One of the tech’s is out of commission because of my necklace. Apparently he’s not doing well. Serena is going to take care of the guards and the cameras inside. Bring everyone, we’ll need to drive out of here, and I need to make sure that no one is standing when we leave. There can be no evidence that we were here and no one alive to come after us again.”
Isabel nodded, tears brimming over. They knew where they were! She would see her brother and his wife again this very night!
Max shook her arms. “Repeat it back to me, Is. You can’t forget it! Hesper’s fallout shelter, Canyon, Nevada on Coleville road. Say it!”
Isabel nodded reassuringly and repeated it back word for word. Max was nodding, but his eyes slid away from her unfocused and he swayed in her arms.
“Max? Max?” She held him up and waited until she had his undivided attention. “What’s to stop the rest of the FBI from coming after us?”
Max’s eyes widened. His world was so small and his mind so jumbled that he could barely think beyond getting out of their current situation. “We’ll hide for awhile until we think of something.” He stumbled away from her, determined to stand on his own. “Go now and tell everyone. Stay low and don’t reveal your presence to anyone above ground in case they have outdoor surveillance. Be ready, Isabel. It’s going to be dangerous, but we’re coming home tonight.”
Isabel hugged him hard and stood back. “We’ll be here for you, Max. It’s going to work out and I’ll hug you for real tonight.” She turned and her image faded away.
Max opened his eyes and stared at the wall in front of him as he lay on his bunk. His hand reached out and touched the wall while a small smile flickered over his face. Tonight, Liz.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Isabel sat up abruptly and pushed out of Kyle’s arms. He scrambled off the bed to follow her out into the hall as she pounded on the door to Michael and Maria’s room and continued down the hall to Jim and Alex’s room.
Maria opened the door to her room and stepped out into the hall. “What’s up, Isabel? Did you get through to Max?”
Isabel nodded and continued pounding on Jim’s door. Maria walked closer and explained, “They’re gone. Jim took Alex and Michael out to search around an old high school location that Alex found out has an underground sub-basement.” It had been a stretch, but they were willing to explore any possibility.
Isabel shook her head. “Call them back. Max said they’re in Canyon Nevada on Coleville road underground in a fall out shelter built by a guy named Hesper. We have to meet them out there at midnight. Serena’s going to take care of the guard and the internal cameras.”
Maria grabbed the wall behind her to remain upright. Her heart was pounding in her intense excitement. She couldn’t wait to see her friends again. She turned back into her room and grabbed her cell phone rapidly dialing Jim Valenti’s number.
She told them to get back to the hotel ASAP and that they knew where their friends were. She didn’t want to reveal pertinent information over a cell phone line, so she didn’t give them any details until they came back.
She could hear the excitement in all the guy’s voices as they piled into Jim’s car and headed back.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Will this day never end? Max tried to lay quietly in his bunk after dinner was over as was his custom. His heart was beating rapidly though and it was hard to remain still. He didn’t want to vary his routine and draw unwanted attention to himself.
The note he had received with dinner had told him to follow his routine religiously tonight, that it was imperative to the plan working. It had also mentioned that he would definitely need to assist Liz out of the facility as she was still unresponsive. This worried Max greatly and he prayed that she would snap out of it as soon as she saw him and realized they were getting her out of there.
The hours ticked by and he imagined every move that his friends would be making on the outside. They would have spent the afternoon scoping out the landscape and planning their withdrawal. Now they were probably hidden around the property waiting for any sign of movement to indicate where Max, Liz, and Serena would exit.
Max clutched his hand tighter around the small watch Serena had snuck in to him on his dinner tray. He would need to know when it was midnight, and then he could move. His other hand surreptitiously slipped over the side of the bed, still under the covers, and found the keycard. He closed it under his palm and brought his hand back to his chest. He glanced at the watch under the bed, having no problem reading the time since they never dimmed the lights in his room. They wanted to have a clear view of their captives at all times and saw no need to lower the lights so they could sleep and have a sense of time passing.
11:57pm
Three more minutes. Max’s adrenaline was surging through his veins as his body readied for action. He pulled the covers up until they almost covered his head and passed his hand over the marks on his neck. No need to scare Liz with the evidence of his torture. He rubbed the sensitized skin and glanced at his watch again just in time to see it turn to midnight.
He swept the covers aside and lowered his feet to the floor, trusting Serena to have taken care of the guards and the cameras as she had promised. He practically ran across his room and fitted the keycard into the slot shifting impatiently until the light turned green and the door popped open. He poked his head outside experimentally unconsciously taking a deep breath. He imagined the air smelled different out there, more free flowing or something. Lights were flashing down the hall in the opposite direction of Liz’s room and he wasted no time slipping silently on bare feet down the passage that led to Liz.
A loud buzzer joined the flashing lights and Max moved faster skidding to a stop to slam the keycard into Liz’s door lock. Waiting for the green light, Max nervously glanced up and down the corridor expecting Frick and Frack to stop him at any moment. The light flashed green and Max pushed the door to Liz’s room open. His breath was held suspended in his chest as he caught his first glimpse of his love.
She was sleeping, pale and exhausted on her narrow bed. Her lowered eyelashes couldn’t quite cover the dark skin under her eyes that indicated a lack of true rest. His body had moved toward her automatically and his mind was momentarily startled that he was standing right beside her, his hand trembling slightly as he reached out to touch, to make it real.
Liz shuddered violently under his touch, her body automatically rejecting any intrusion. Max flinched away, never having experienced such a total withdrawal from Liz. His mind was unconsciously reaching for hers and it was consistently butted back from her. He reached again, remembering what they had to do and shook her shoulder.
“Liz! Liz, baby! It’s me! Wake up, we have to leave now.”
Liz’s eyes fluttered open and she sat up abruptly. It wouldn’t be the first time her rest had been interrupted in the middle of the night. She reached down to place her hand protectively over the baby and let her mind hum with the connection. The babble of a familiar voice caused her mind to shy away. They always tried to trick her.
“It’s Max. I’m here,” he whispered urgently, trying to get her to meet his eyes.
His name had always been the trigger that pulled her from her inner reflections. But that phrase, “Max is here,” had always been the taunt that preceded a careless injection that would stop her fever. Her eyes landed on Max’s serious face and widened in shock.
No! Nonononono! She was losing her mind, she knew it. Max was dead and now they wanted to make her think he was alive. Her mind overloaded with emotion and fear and her eyes rolled back in her head as she fainted.
Max wasted no time scooping her small body up into his arms and almost cringed at the light load he was carrying. Liz had always been a small girl, but now…now she was frail. He ran with her effortlessly back to the door and swept the card through again. His eyes scanned up and down the hall quickly, noting that the buzzing sound had ceased and he ran in the opposite direction as the flashing light.
He skidded to a stop at the first corner and peeked around before continuing down the hall. He heard quick light footsteps coming from behind him and he put on a new burst of speed.
“Max!” Serena’s voice hissed behind him.
He stopped abruptly and turned around. Serena stopped too and gestured down a hallway he had passed. “Down here.” She turned and ran down the passage. Max adjusted his hold on Liz and followed her blindly. She had gotten them this far…
After many twists and turns Max was grateful that they had Serena to lead them through. Serena skidded to a stop in front of a large clear wall with a clear door in the center and fumbled with a long cord around her neck. Max kissed Liz on the top of her head and looked around the small room they had found themselves in. Suspended high in the air he could see huge round tanks of oxygen that were obviously used to keep the air underground fresh and healthy. He swung his attention back to Serena and watched her whip the necklace off over her neck and grab the object dangling from the end of it.
“Stop right there, Serena.” A cold menacing voice broke the silence. Serena whirled around to face Dr. Clark and the key fell from her suddenly nerveless fingers.
Max turned fast to face his enemy and his eyes widened at the gun in his hand trained directly on Serena. Max turned again and laid Liz carefully down against the wall, placing his body between her and the gun. He held out a hand toward the evil doctor.
“Give it up, Clark, you’ve lost. Put the gun down,” Max stated in calm and sure tones. Dr. Clark turned wild eyes to Max and swung the gun toward him. Max prepared to throw a shield up in front of himself and wished again that he had the power to blast things like Michael did.
“You are what I’ve been looking for my entire life! You think I’m going to just give up now and let you go? I don’t think so! You’re a freak, and you’ve made that girl a freak as well!” With every word Dr. Clark took another step closer and Max hoped he would get right into his face so he could fight him. His wish was granted as Dr. Clark moved so the gun was just a foot away from his face and Max moved with superhuman speed, knocking the gun out of his hand. Dr. Clark’s face gaped with surprise and he leapt onto Max in an excess of insane fury.
Max and Dr. Clark struggled together, locked in a fight to the death and both landed several heavy punches. Max swung and landed a heavy right hook that snapped Clark’s head to the side and made him fall heavily to the floor. Before he could even think about getting up Max was on him, straddling his body and choking the life out of him with his bare hands. The physical satisfaction of beating his enemy surged through him giving him extra strength.
“You sick fuck! You have no idea what you’ve done to us!” Max’s fury was stronger than he had ever felt it. He banged the doctor’s head against the cement floor. “You had no right! No right to hurt her, to take her from me…” His fingers squeezed tighter. “You inhuman bastard. The things you did to me…”
Dr. Clark’s hands straggled up Max’s arms and reached for Max’s neck to choke him. His fingers tangled into Max’s short necklace and locked there. He screamed out in agony as a blinding spark of light flashed between them and his back arched off the ground. His pupils dilated in his eyes and Max looked away as blood burst from his nose and ears, leaking from the sides of his eyes. Max felt the exact moment when Clark’s heart stopped in his chest.
Max released his hold on the doctor, fully repulsed at the touch of this vile man. He grabbed the man’s hands away from his necklace desperately and fell back scrambling away on his hands and feet backwards until he hit the wall. His breath came in harsh pants and his gaze swung around the room wildly. The now familiar sense of unreality washed through him again.
Liz was still unconscious and Serena was gaping in shock at the shell that had been her father.
“The key. The key, Serena,” Max panted out. “Go! Go!”
Serena snapped out of her reverie and fumbled for the key on the ground.
“I heard him down here! Come on!”
The voices startled Max and Serena into faster action. Frick was too close and they weren’t out of there yet.
The door hissed and began a slow slide to open and Max picked Liz back up into his arms and squeezed through before it could even open all the way. Serena slipped by after him and directed him down a hallway.
Max stopped, looking at the clear open door they had passed through. “Aren’t you going to close it?”
Serena was already shaking her head, taking his arm to push him along. “Can’t. It’s on a timer. It’ll close in one minute. It’ll take eight minutes to reset so it can be opened again.”
“Do they have a key?”
Serena nodded, stopping in front of one last door. “This is it, Max. This goes outside.” She pushed through the door and scanned the landscape.
Max followed her swiftly. They ran out of the underground entrance and stood for a moment to get their bearings. Max’s eyes caught a movement in the darkness and he whirled in that direction prepared to fight.
“Max!” Michael’s voice drifted across the darkness, urgent and emotional.
“Michael!” Max closed the distance between them as Michael used a radio to relay their location to the other’s spread around the property.
Michael wrapped Max in a quick one-armed hug and gazed in concern at the unconscious Liz. “Is she…?”
“She passed out. This whole thing is a big shock for her.”
Michael nodded and turned as he caught sight of Isabel, Kyle, Jim, Maria, and Alex converging on their location.
“We’ve got to move, Michael, they know we’ve escaped.” Max shifted Liz’s weight in his arms and turned to Isabel.
“Is,” emotion filled his voice as he made a quick decision. “Can you?” He held out Liz and Kyle moved to take her from Max. He looked back and forth between the two of them. “Take care of her. There’s something I have to do.”
He turned to Michael. “Are you up for this?” Knowing that Michael would understand.
Michael nodded curtly, his expression set. “Let’s do it.”
“Wait!” Maria’s worried face turned back and forth between the two. “Even if you get rid of all of them, what’s to stop the FBI from sending more?”
Serena was shaking her head. “My fa…Dr. Clark didn’t tell anyone officially. The Special Unit was disbanded after Agent Pierce went off the deep end and discredited them. Dr. Clark got an anonymous call on the private line he used to use when he was in the unit and that’s how he found out about Liz and the baby. He was going to use this case study to get in good with the FBI again, but he wanted to go back with complete results, so he hasn’t been reporting anything. His contact told him this was the only number she had that still rang through so you should be home free. There were only six other people down there besides me who knew about this and two of them are dead.” She had taken Jackson off of his life-support earlier and caused the alarms to sound to distract everyone from Max and Liz’s escape. The man had died swiftly, not causing as long of a distraction as she would have liked.
Michael and Max nodded, acknowledging Serena’s words and turned to run back the way they had come.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“There’s a clear wall, a small room. Oxygen tanks lined on shelves near the ceiling. The door closes on a timer. One minute. Takes eight minutes to reset so they can open it. They have to pass through it, we can only hope they didn’t get there before it closed after us.” Max prayed that they were still stuck in there. They skidded to a halt at the door that led into the underground passage.
Michael nodded at Max to indicate his readiness to fight and Max pulled the door open. Michael stood with his hand outstretched to blast anyone who might be there while Max stood ready to throw up his shield and cover them both. Nothing happened.
They moved into the corridor cautiously and Max turned them to face the clear plexi door that revealed Dr. Neri, Frick, Frack, and Sims waiting impatiently for the lock to disengage. They’d already swiped their pass key through and the door was shifting open slowly at that very moment.
“Michael! The tanks!” Max gestured upward, directing Michael’s gaze at the huge tanks of oxygen suspended above the occupants of the small room.
Michael raised his hand and aimed at one of the largest tanks in the room through the crack in the doorway. A blinding white light shot from his hand and landed directly on his target causing it to explode in a shower of fire.
As if in slow motion, Max saw the shocked realization pass over the faces of the occupants of the room. Their eyes widened in terror and their arms were flung up over their heads as if that would protect them.
Max threw up a shield over Michael and himself as the door slid fully open and the room rocked with continued explosions as each new tank reacted to the heat in the room and exploded in turn. They watched through a green haze as each person in the room burst into flames and writhed in anguish on the floor trying to crawl away from the agony as their skin crisped black and curled away from their bodies. And then the fire swept over the shield and Max concentrated hard on keeping it in place until the plexi-glass door slid closed on its timer precisely one minute after it opened.
The fire in their room dimmed slightly at the loss of its main source and Max turned to Michael, “Hold your breath for a minute.” Michael nodded, not sure what Max intended, but trusting him implicitly and dragging in a great gulp of air.
Max dropped the shield and swept his hand over the flames that were now low on the floor and they were extinquished silently with a puff of smoke at his command. He grabbed Michael’s wrist and hauled him toward the door that outside. Each leaned over grasping their knees and gasped in great inhalations of breath as they reached the outdoors. The fire had sucked all the oxygen from the room they were in.
They regained their breath and jogged over to where Michael indicated the cars would be waiting.
Max swiftly located his sister and Liz in Maria’s car and he slid into the backseat to gather his wife into his arms until she was firmly in his lap. His hands stroked over her body and he took comfort in her every breath.
“They’re dead,” Michael panted to Maria. “All of them.” She nodded and flipped on the two-way radio to relay that information to the others.
Michael got in the front seat next to Maria and turned back to watch his friends. He was never letting them out of his sight again. He watched as Max smoothed his hand over Liz’s belly, reconnecting with his child for the first time in so long. The utter bliss that crossed Max’s face broke Michael’s heart and he grabbed Maria’s hand after she put the car in gear and took off down the road.
Max looked up suddenly, snapping out of his connection to Zan to make sure everyone was taken care of and accounted for. “Where’re Jim, Kyle, Alex, and Serena?” he asked after he had peered at the empty road behind him.
Maria looked at him through the rear-view mirror. “Serena said she wanted to make sure there was no evidence left. They stayed behind to make sure there was nothing to find.”
Max nodded. He knew there was no one left alive to oppose them. Liz moaned softly in his arms and he pulled her closer against him, running his hands over her back and through her hair.
They were free!
TBC
Ha!! Sweet freedom! Hope you’re all relieved about that at least.
Wow, over five thousand words here in this part, it’d be great if you could leave me one or two on your reactions!!
Thanks!
Gin
“I’m going to try again now,” Isabel asserted firmly, daring Kyle to object again. She leaned back against the headboard of their bed and crossed her arms in front of her. She’d been trying all morning to get through to Max and was progressively getting more worried that she was unable to reach him.
“Isabel, you’re too drained…,” Kyle started, and then he just stopped. He could tell by the determined set of her mouth and the fire in her eyes that it would be useless to argue. “I’d like to help if I can,” he gave up and allowed her to win. It was obvious she no longer cared about her own health and well-being, and if she could get through to Max this time then their ordeal would be over all the quicker.
Isabel was surprised, but extremely grateful that Kyle wasn’t going to insist that she wait for her to regain her strength. It was imperative that she find out where they were so that they could stage a rescue as soon as possible. The conditions those two were living in were not humane and it was slowly breaking Max’s spirit to remain caged in and helpless.
Kyle reached out and gathered Isabel into his arms and she happily rested her chin against his chest, listening to the quiet cadence of his breathing and the steady thump of his heart. He tilted her chin up until she was looking in his eyes and gently lowered his lips to caress hers softly. The tender gesture made tears spring to her eyes and she took several deep breaths to stop them from falling. “Be careful,” he warned her softly, not wanting her to get lost in the link.
Isabel nodded and let her eyes drift closed as she once again sought out her brother.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
No tests scheduled today.
Max snorted in derision. Yeah, no tests scheduled, just an impromptu ‘poke at the alien’ fest that had lasted the entire morning. Max was desperate to lay down and close his eyes, for more than one reason now. His original plan had been to lay down after breakfast and be ready for when Isabel came to visit. Instead, the doors had sprung open and Dr. Neri, accompanied by Frack, had entered the room briskly and proceeded to remove his shirt and secure him to the wall restraints. Max had not struggled, knowing full well they would get what they wanted regardless of his actions and awaited whatever they had planned for him.
They had first attempted several new methods to remove the necklace from his neck. Frack had been delegated to hold the cord and try to cut it off with scissors that were made from a metal Max couldn’t identify. The cord remained unmarked despite the determined efforts, and Frack, in an excess of frustration had grabbed the back of the cord and pulled it back, twisting cruelly, and careful not to touch the stone, so that Max’s oxygen supply was cut off and he was choking for a breath. His vision swam as Dr. Neri fluttered ineffectually around them and before finally directing Frack to cease, then abruptly reversed his decision at the thought that maybe the necklace would release from Max’s neck if it was hurting him. Dr. Neri grabbed a chart and told Frack to continue until he told him to stop.
The world went black, and Max woke up still strung up on the wall with his shoulders aching from the strain they had been put through to hold up his unconscious weight. Sweat ran down his back while his throat burned and his neck was on fire where the cord had bitten through his skin and drawn blood. He coughed and choked for a moment before he was able to concentrate on healing himself internally while still leaving the marks for the scientists to gloat over. He hadn’t yet shown them his abilities, no matter how they had tortured him throughout his stay, and he wouldn’t start now. They’d taken all they could from him and he’d be damned before he gave them any more.
He stood on unsteady legs and waited for whatever else they had planned. What followed was a series of laser cuts, a tiny blow torch, and hot steam to remove the necklace. Of course, none of them worked. Max tried to remain stoically silent as their various attempts to remove the necklace invariably led to missed aim and burn marks to the sensitive skin on his neck, but finally the pain was too much and he screamed out in agony. Frack smirked and intentionally directed the steam over the tender skin at Max’s throat until he saw the skin blister and turn red. Max’s voice cracked and faded until it was lost entirely.
After what seemed like hours of torture, they eventually released his wrists and ankles from the wall and he fell to the ground before he could stop himself. They let him lay there as Dr. Neri muttered over the failure of the tests and followed Frack out the door.
Max drew in his breath in deep and even strokes that he imagined would fill him with enough energy to move off the floor and back to his bed. He looked up startled and filled with dread when the door popped open again. He head slumped back onto his chest when he saw Serena walk through the door and stop, staring at him in shock.
Serena swiftly schooled her expression back into impassivity and briskly placed Max’s lunch tray on the bed. “It’s 12:07pm, time for lunch.” She straightened out Max’s blanket for something to do with her hands and reached into her pocket. She touched a button on the device it had taken her three weeks to build and looked down at his food as she spoke.
“I didn’t know…They weren’t supposed to do any tests today, but Dr. Neri had an idea this morning and...” She had seen the raw condition of his neck and he was obviously exhausted. “Will you be okay to run tonight?”
Max let his head rest with his chin on his chest and his voice croaked out, barely audible, as he answered the only way he could. “Yes. I don’t care if I have to crawl out of here with Liz on my back. We’re getting out of here tonight. They’re not hurting…Is Liz okay?”
“She’s fine. They mostly leave her alone. They want the baby intact.” Serena watched him sigh in relief. “Have you contacted your friends? We might need back-up once we get outside.”
“No. I’ve been a little busy for the last few hours,” Max rasped out dryly. Serena flinched at the cold tone in Max’s voice, but continued nonetheless.
“We’ll leave at midnight. The doctor’s will change shifts then and I’ll create a distraction. Use the keycard to get out of here. I’ll take care of the guard and the cameras. Go straight to Liz’s room and get her out. I’ll meet you in the corridor and lead you out of the building. It’s kind of a maze. Once we’re out your friends can drive you off the property.”
“What about you?” Max’s voice was softer than normal.
Serena glanced quickly at her watch. “Time’s up.” She turned to face him and made herself speak coldly.
“I suggest you get your alien butt off the floor and eat what has been provided for you.” She turned and let the door slam behind her.
Max stood on wobbly legs and stumbled his way over to his bed. He picked up the bland turkey sandwich and took a determined bite. He placed one hand over his throat as he swallowed and eased the ache within his body. He swallowed easily and plotted his revenge. The monsters here could not be allowed to come after them again.
With lunch finished Max placed the tray by the door and knocked twice, moving to the far wall until it was opened and the tray removed by a smirking Frack. Max schooled his expression so his cold hatred wouldn’t tip Frack off and waited until the door closed behind him to make his way to his bed and collapse at last. He let his eyes drift closed and prayed for Isabel to come to him quickly.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Isabel’s eyes were twitching behind their lids as Kyle held her close to his body and watched to make sure she was safe. She had already attempted to contact Max several times throughout the morning, staying longer with each try and exhausting herself in the process. Max was obviously otherwise occupied and not open to her dream walk. Kyle hoped it wasn’t more torture, because he knew from Isabel’s terrified ramblings after several of her visits that they were not being gentle or kind to their captives.
Isabel stiffened and then relaxed against his chest and Kyle sighed. Contact had been made.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Max. Max!!” Isabel shook Max’s sleeping form and gasped when she saw the condition of his neck and back. She didn’t even want to imagine what it would take to make marks like that on someone’s skin.
Max’s eyes opened slowly within his dream, and he didn’t consider it a good sign that he had been so exhausted from his ordeal that he’d been dreaming about being passed out. He shook his head and then scrubbed his palms over his eyes to try to wake up and focus more clearly.
Isabel. This was important. Isabel was here.
He stood abruptly in the dream walk and grabbed her forearms in his hands urgently. Isabel’s eyes went wide as she waited for him to speak.
“It’s tonight, Is.” The urgency in his tone was close to panic. She had to understand and remember everything he was going to tell her. “Midnight, Isabel. We’re in Canyon Nevada in a fallout shelter underground. It was built by a scientist named Hesper. It’s on Coleville road. There are two doctors, two guards, and two technicians plus Serena. One of the tech’s is out of commission because of my necklace. Apparently he’s not doing well. Serena is going to take care of the guards and the cameras inside. Bring everyone, we’ll need to drive out of here, and I need to make sure that no one is standing when we leave. There can be no evidence that we were here and no one alive to come after us again.”
Isabel nodded, tears brimming over. They knew where they were! She would see her brother and his wife again this very night!
Max shook her arms. “Repeat it back to me, Is. You can’t forget it! Hesper’s fallout shelter, Canyon, Nevada on Coleville road. Say it!”
Isabel nodded reassuringly and repeated it back word for word. Max was nodding, but his eyes slid away from her unfocused and he swayed in her arms.
“Max? Max?” She held him up and waited until she had his undivided attention. “What’s to stop the rest of the FBI from coming after us?”
Max’s eyes widened. His world was so small and his mind so jumbled that he could barely think beyond getting out of their current situation. “We’ll hide for awhile until we think of something.” He stumbled away from her, determined to stand on his own. “Go now and tell everyone. Stay low and don’t reveal your presence to anyone above ground in case they have outdoor surveillance. Be ready, Isabel. It’s going to be dangerous, but we’re coming home tonight.”
Isabel hugged him hard and stood back. “We’ll be here for you, Max. It’s going to work out and I’ll hug you for real tonight.” She turned and her image faded away.
Max opened his eyes and stared at the wall in front of him as he lay on his bunk. His hand reached out and touched the wall while a small smile flickered over his face. Tonight, Liz.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Isabel sat up abruptly and pushed out of Kyle’s arms. He scrambled off the bed to follow her out into the hall as she pounded on the door to Michael and Maria’s room and continued down the hall to Jim and Alex’s room.
Maria opened the door to her room and stepped out into the hall. “What’s up, Isabel? Did you get through to Max?”
Isabel nodded and continued pounding on Jim’s door. Maria walked closer and explained, “They’re gone. Jim took Alex and Michael out to search around an old high school location that Alex found out has an underground sub-basement.” It had been a stretch, but they were willing to explore any possibility.
Isabel shook her head. “Call them back. Max said they’re in Canyon Nevada on Coleville road underground in a fall out shelter built by a guy named Hesper. We have to meet them out there at midnight. Serena’s going to take care of the guard and the internal cameras.”
Maria grabbed the wall behind her to remain upright. Her heart was pounding in her intense excitement. She couldn’t wait to see her friends again. She turned back into her room and grabbed her cell phone rapidly dialing Jim Valenti’s number.
She told them to get back to the hotel ASAP and that they knew where their friends were. She didn’t want to reveal pertinent information over a cell phone line, so she didn’t give them any details until they came back.
She could hear the excitement in all the guy’s voices as they piled into Jim’s car and headed back.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Will this day never end? Max tried to lay quietly in his bunk after dinner was over as was his custom. His heart was beating rapidly though and it was hard to remain still. He didn’t want to vary his routine and draw unwanted attention to himself.
The note he had received with dinner had told him to follow his routine religiously tonight, that it was imperative to the plan working. It had also mentioned that he would definitely need to assist Liz out of the facility as she was still unresponsive. This worried Max greatly and he prayed that she would snap out of it as soon as she saw him and realized they were getting her out of there.
The hours ticked by and he imagined every move that his friends would be making on the outside. They would have spent the afternoon scoping out the landscape and planning their withdrawal. Now they were probably hidden around the property waiting for any sign of movement to indicate where Max, Liz, and Serena would exit.
Max clutched his hand tighter around the small watch Serena had snuck in to him on his dinner tray. He would need to know when it was midnight, and then he could move. His other hand surreptitiously slipped over the side of the bed, still under the covers, and found the keycard. He closed it under his palm and brought his hand back to his chest. He glanced at the watch under the bed, having no problem reading the time since they never dimmed the lights in his room. They wanted to have a clear view of their captives at all times and saw no need to lower the lights so they could sleep and have a sense of time passing.
11:57pm
Three more minutes. Max’s adrenaline was surging through his veins as his body readied for action. He pulled the covers up until they almost covered his head and passed his hand over the marks on his neck. No need to scare Liz with the evidence of his torture. He rubbed the sensitized skin and glanced at his watch again just in time to see it turn to midnight.
He swept the covers aside and lowered his feet to the floor, trusting Serena to have taken care of the guards and the cameras as she had promised. He practically ran across his room and fitted the keycard into the slot shifting impatiently until the light turned green and the door popped open. He poked his head outside experimentally unconsciously taking a deep breath. He imagined the air smelled different out there, more free flowing or something. Lights were flashing down the hall in the opposite direction of Liz’s room and he wasted no time slipping silently on bare feet down the passage that led to Liz.
A loud buzzer joined the flashing lights and Max moved faster skidding to a stop to slam the keycard into Liz’s door lock. Waiting for the green light, Max nervously glanced up and down the corridor expecting Frick and Frack to stop him at any moment. The light flashed green and Max pushed the door to Liz’s room open. His breath was held suspended in his chest as he caught his first glimpse of his love.
She was sleeping, pale and exhausted on her narrow bed. Her lowered eyelashes couldn’t quite cover the dark skin under her eyes that indicated a lack of true rest. His body had moved toward her automatically and his mind was momentarily startled that he was standing right beside her, his hand trembling slightly as he reached out to touch, to make it real.
Liz shuddered violently under his touch, her body automatically rejecting any intrusion. Max flinched away, never having experienced such a total withdrawal from Liz. His mind was unconsciously reaching for hers and it was consistently butted back from her. He reached again, remembering what they had to do and shook her shoulder.
“Liz! Liz, baby! It’s me! Wake up, we have to leave now.”
Liz’s eyes fluttered open and she sat up abruptly. It wouldn’t be the first time her rest had been interrupted in the middle of the night. She reached down to place her hand protectively over the baby and let her mind hum with the connection. The babble of a familiar voice caused her mind to shy away. They always tried to trick her.
“It’s Max. I’m here,” he whispered urgently, trying to get her to meet his eyes.
His name had always been the trigger that pulled her from her inner reflections. But that phrase, “Max is here,” had always been the taunt that preceded a careless injection that would stop her fever. Her eyes landed on Max’s serious face and widened in shock.
No! Nonononono! She was losing her mind, she knew it. Max was dead and now they wanted to make her think he was alive. Her mind overloaded with emotion and fear and her eyes rolled back in her head as she fainted.
Max wasted no time scooping her small body up into his arms and almost cringed at the light load he was carrying. Liz had always been a small girl, but now…now she was frail. He ran with her effortlessly back to the door and swept the card through again. His eyes scanned up and down the hall quickly, noting that the buzzing sound had ceased and he ran in the opposite direction as the flashing light.
He skidded to a stop at the first corner and peeked around before continuing down the hall. He heard quick light footsteps coming from behind him and he put on a new burst of speed.
“Max!” Serena’s voice hissed behind him.
He stopped abruptly and turned around. Serena stopped too and gestured down a hallway he had passed. “Down here.” She turned and ran down the passage. Max adjusted his hold on Liz and followed her blindly. She had gotten them this far…
After many twists and turns Max was grateful that they had Serena to lead them through. Serena skidded to a stop in front of a large clear wall with a clear door in the center and fumbled with a long cord around her neck. Max kissed Liz on the top of her head and looked around the small room they had found themselves in. Suspended high in the air he could see huge round tanks of oxygen that were obviously used to keep the air underground fresh and healthy. He swung his attention back to Serena and watched her whip the necklace off over her neck and grab the object dangling from the end of it.
“Stop right there, Serena.” A cold menacing voice broke the silence. Serena whirled around to face Dr. Clark and the key fell from her suddenly nerveless fingers.
Max turned fast to face his enemy and his eyes widened at the gun in his hand trained directly on Serena. Max turned again and laid Liz carefully down against the wall, placing his body between her and the gun. He held out a hand toward the evil doctor.
“Give it up, Clark, you’ve lost. Put the gun down,” Max stated in calm and sure tones. Dr. Clark turned wild eyes to Max and swung the gun toward him. Max prepared to throw a shield up in front of himself and wished again that he had the power to blast things like Michael did.
“You are what I’ve been looking for my entire life! You think I’m going to just give up now and let you go? I don’t think so! You’re a freak, and you’ve made that girl a freak as well!” With every word Dr. Clark took another step closer and Max hoped he would get right into his face so he could fight him. His wish was granted as Dr. Clark moved so the gun was just a foot away from his face and Max moved with superhuman speed, knocking the gun out of his hand. Dr. Clark’s face gaped with surprise and he leapt onto Max in an excess of insane fury.
Max and Dr. Clark struggled together, locked in a fight to the death and both landed several heavy punches. Max swung and landed a heavy right hook that snapped Clark’s head to the side and made him fall heavily to the floor. Before he could even think about getting up Max was on him, straddling his body and choking the life out of him with his bare hands. The physical satisfaction of beating his enemy surged through him giving him extra strength.
“You sick fuck! You have no idea what you’ve done to us!” Max’s fury was stronger than he had ever felt it. He banged the doctor’s head against the cement floor. “You had no right! No right to hurt her, to take her from me…” His fingers squeezed tighter. “You inhuman bastard. The things you did to me…”
Dr. Clark’s hands straggled up Max’s arms and reached for Max’s neck to choke him. His fingers tangled into Max’s short necklace and locked there. He screamed out in agony as a blinding spark of light flashed between them and his back arched off the ground. His pupils dilated in his eyes and Max looked away as blood burst from his nose and ears, leaking from the sides of his eyes. Max felt the exact moment when Clark’s heart stopped in his chest.
Max released his hold on the doctor, fully repulsed at the touch of this vile man. He grabbed the man’s hands away from his necklace desperately and fell back scrambling away on his hands and feet backwards until he hit the wall. His breath came in harsh pants and his gaze swung around the room wildly. The now familiar sense of unreality washed through him again.
Liz was still unconscious and Serena was gaping in shock at the shell that had been her father.
“The key. The key, Serena,” Max panted out. “Go! Go!”
Serena snapped out of her reverie and fumbled for the key on the ground.
“I heard him down here! Come on!”
The voices startled Max and Serena into faster action. Frick was too close and they weren’t out of there yet.
The door hissed and began a slow slide to open and Max picked Liz back up into his arms and squeezed through before it could even open all the way. Serena slipped by after him and directed him down a hallway.
Max stopped, looking at the clear open door they had passed through. “Aren’t you going to close it?”
Serena was already shaking her head, taking his arm to push him along. “Can’t. It’s on a timer. It’ll close in one minute. It’ll take eight minutes to reset so it can be opened again.”
“Do they have a key?”
Serena nodded, stopping in front of one last door. “This is it, Max. This goes outside.” She pushed through the door and scanned the landscape.
Max followed her swiftly. They ran out of the underground entrance and stood for a moment to get their bearings. Max’s eyes caught a movement in the darkness and he whirled in that direction prepared to fight.
“Max!” Michael’s voice drifted across the darkness, urgent and emotional.
“Michael!” Max closed the distance between them as Michael used a radio to relay their location to the other’s spread around the property.
Michael wrapped Max in a quick one-armed hug and gazed in concern at the unconscious Liz. “Is she…?”
“She passed out. This whole thing is a big shock for her.”
Michael nodded and turned as he caught sight of Isabel, Kyle, Jim, Maria, and Alex converging on their location.
“We’ve got to move, Michael, they know we’ve escaped.” Max shifted Liz’s weight in his arms and turned to Isabel.
“Is,” emotion filled his voice as he made a quick decision. “Can you?” He held out Liz and Kyle moved to take her from Max. He looked back and forth between the two of them. “Take care of her. There’s something I have to do.”
He turned to Michael. “Are you up for this?” Knowing that Michael would understand.
Michael nodded curtly, his expression set. “Let’s do it.”
“Wait!” Maria’s worried face turned back and forth between the two. “Even if you get rid of all of them, what’s to stop the FBI from sending more?”
Serena was shaking her head. “My fa…Dr. Clark didn’t tell anyone officially. The Special Unit was disbanded after Agent Pierce went off the deep end and discredited them. Dr. Clark got an anonymous call on the private line he used to use when he was in the unit and that’s how he found out about Liz and the baby. He was going to use this case study to get in good with the FBI again, but he wanted to go back with complete results, so he hasn’t been reporting anything. His contact told him this was the only number she had that still rang through so you should be home free. There were only six other people down there besides me who knew about this and two of them are dead.” She had taken Jackson off of his life-support earlier and caused the alarms to sound to distract everyone from Max and Liz’s escape. The man had died swiftly, not causing as long of a distraction as she would have liked.
Michael and Max nodded, acknowledging Serena’s words and turned to run back the way they had come.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“There’s a clear wall, a small room. Oxygen tanks lined on shelves near the ceiling. The door closes on a timer. One minute. Takes eight minutes to reset so they can open it. They have to pass through it, we can only hope they didn’t get there before it closed after us.” Max prayed that they were still stuck in there. They skidded to a halt at the door that led into the underground passage.
Michael nodded at Max to indicate his readiness to fight and Max pulled the door open. Michael stood with his hand outstretched to blast anyone who might be there while Max stood ready to throw up his shield and cover them both. Nothing happened.
They moved into the corridor cautiously and Max turned them to face the clear plexi door that revealed Dr. Neri, Frick, Frack, and Sims waiting impatiently for the lock to disengage. They’d already swiped their pass key through and the door was shifting open slowly at that very moment.
“Michael! The tanks!” Max gestured upward, directing Michael’s gaze at the huge tanks of oxygen suspended above the occupants of the small room.
Michael raised his hand and aimed at one of the largest tanks in the room through the crack in the doorway. A blinding white light shot from his hand and landed directly on his target causing it to explode in a shower of fire.
As if in slow motion, Max saw the shocked realization pass over the faces of the occupants of the room. Their eyes widened in terror and their arms were flung up over their heads as if that would protect them.
Max threw up a shield over Michael and himself as the door slid fully open and the room rocked with continued explosions as each new tank reacted to the heat in the room and exploded in turn. They watched through a green haze as each person in the room burst into flames and writhed in anguish on the floor trying to crawl away from the agony as their skin crisped black and curled away from their bodies. And then the fire swept over the shield and Max concentrated hard on keeping it in place until the plexi-glass door slid closed on its timer precisely one minute after it opened.
The fire in their room dimmed slightly at the loss of its main source and Max turned to Michael, “Hold your breath for a minute.” Michael nodded, not sure what Max intended, but trusting him implicitly and dragging in a great gulp of air.
Max dropped the shield and swept his hand over the flames that were now low on the floor and they were extinquished silently with a puff of smoke at his command. He grabbed Michael’s wrist and hauled him toward the door that outside. Each leaned over grasping their knees and gasped in great inhalations of breath as they reached the outdoors. The fire had sucked all the oxygen from the room they were in.
They regained their breath and jogged over to where Michael indicated the cars would be waiting.
Max swiftly located his sister and Liz in Maria’s car and he slid into the backseat to gather his wife into his arms until she was firmly in his lap. His hands stroked over her body and he took comfort in her every breath.
“They’re dead,” Michael panted to Maria. “All of them.” She nodded and flipped on the two-way radio to relay that information to the others.
Michael got in the front seat next to Maria and turned back to watch his friends. He was never letting them out of his sight again. He watched as Max smoothed his hand over Liz’s belly, reconnecting with his child for the first time in so long. The utter bliss that crossed Max’s face broke Michael’s heart and he grabbed Maria’s hand after she put the car in gear and took off down the road.
Max looked up suddenly, snapping out of his connection to Zan to make sure everyone was taken care of and accounted for. “Where’re Jim, Kyle, Alex, and Serena?” he asked after he had peered at the empty road behind him.
Maria looked at him through the rear-view mirror. “Serena said she wanted to make sure there was no evidence left. They stayed behind to make sure there was nothing to find.”
Max nodded. He knew there was no one left alive to oppose them. Liz moaned softly in his arms and he pulled her closer against him, running his hands over her back and through her hair.
They were free!
TBC
Ha!! Sweet freedom! Hope you’re all relieved about that at least.
Wow, over five thousand words here in this part, it’d be great if you could leave me one or two on your reactions!!
Thanks!
Gin
EYA Part 86
“Where are they? They should have been back by now,” Kyle muttered under his breath, rubbing his hands over his dirty jeans nervously. He couldn’t take his eyes off the entrance to the subterranean hide-out that had trapped his friends for weeks.
Jim clamped a hand over Kyle’s shoulder in a show of support. He was shaking his head though and more worried than he wanted to be. His eyes were also trained on the exit to the underground prison. Both men jumped back in startlement as a sudden explosion rocked the ground under their feet.
“Okay,” Kyle began, turning to his father and pointing in panic back at the billowing smoke emerging from the doorway, “That’s not good,” he stammered out, jabbing his pointing finger at the door. He bit the back of his fist and shifted from foot to foot. “We’ve got to do something!” His feet began to take him closer to the door, but strong arms wrapped around his chest from behind, holding him back.
“No, Kyle. We can’t go back in there now. It’s too dangerous. They’ll have to get out on their own now,” Jim’s voice was gruff and his throat felt tight. The hard knot of his emotions seemed to tie up his vocal chords and make every word an effort.
“But…,”
“No, Kyle.” Strong and firm.
“Alex…he might…”
“No.”
Kyle slumped back against his father, defeated. No one had thought that they might lose a friend like this. Not after every other piece of crap life had thrown at them had been fended off and the world had finally been made right. It had seemed like a simple idea when they’d briefly discussed it earlier. Go in. Sweep the place for evidence. Wipe it clean and get out.
Simple.
Easy.
Deadly.
Kyle’s shoulders were shaking as he held back the tears that threatened. It had been his idea. This was all going to be his fault. He’d been the one that found the explosives shoved into the back of a supply closet. He’d been the dim bulb that had joked that they should just take down the place before they left. Sure, everyone else had thought that was a great idea, but what did they know anyway? None of them were explosive experts. Well, maybe Serena. She had taken charge of the delicate devices, quickly showing Alex how they worked, heads bent together in concentration over the new toys.
They’d already swept the place clean, their task made easier because Serena had known this moment was coming. She’d led them right into the areas of the building where information was kept and helped them gather and destroy it. She’d slipped a few things in the deep pockets of her lab coat. Things she said she would give to Max later.
Alex and Serena told Kyle and Jim to go outside and wait. They would set the explosives in various rooms in the underground complex and set the timers to go off so they could escape.
More smoke billowed out of the door as another explosion rocked it on its frame. And their friends still hadn’t escaped.
“Stick with the plan, guys.” Escape! That’s the step after: set explosives. Kyle’s eyes leaked tears which he impatiently wiped away with his shirt sleeve. It was the smoke. The thick, acrid smoke that was getting more dense by the minute. That’s why his eyes were tearing up. He sniffled back a sob and only struggled for a moment when his father pulled him back further from the deadly fumes.
Both men stood back, eyes trained with single-minded concentration on the smoking door.
No one emerged.
Three minutes passed.
Seven.
Kyle’s breath caught in his throat. What had he done?
He turned into his father’s arms and let his dad hug him fiercely. They stood that way for long moments, Jim rocking his shaking son gently back and forth.
“Uh, hey guys? I could use a little help over here,” Alex’s voice was a mere croak in the back of his throat, but it was enough to break the two men apart and send them reeling around in shock.
Alex stood off to their right side. He was shaking and looked like he might fall at any moment, but he stood as steady as he could and he was cradling Serena in his arms. The girl was obviously unconscious and looked impossibly small and fragile snuggled tight against Alex’s chest.
Jim moved first, leaping toward the tottering boy and easing Serena out of his arms and to the ground. Alex sank down to his knees in the brittle grass and leaned forward coughing. Kyle leapt into action and ran to Alex’s side helpfully pounding his buddy on the back.
“Kyle,” Alex coughed out. “Kyle!” He had to insist louder. “I’m not choking on a chicken bone here, okay?”
Kyle’s eyes widened in shock and he dropped his thumping hand to his side smiling sheepishly. “Yeah, man, just trying to help, you know?”
Alex nodded, still coughing, but less harshly now.
“She’s still breathing,” But for how long? Jim thought grimly. “What happened in there, son?” His gaze pierced Alex.
“Oh, man,” Alex wheezed, “Everything was going fine. Perfect. We had everything set and we were ready to head out. We were halfway out the door when Serena got this look on her face. She turned back and said to keep going, she had forgotten something very important.” Alex shook his head. “I couldn’t just leave her there, so I followed her back in.” Alex rubbed his palms over his face and sighed deeply. His hand lowered back to his knees and he closed his eyes. “She grabbed a little packet out of a storage locker and saw me behind her. She shoved the packet into her pocket and told me to run the other way. There was a back exit. I ran. I kept looking back and she was following really close, but when the first explosion hit she fell to the ground. I grabbed her up and kept going. I could see the exit…” Alex cleared his throat and blinked his eyes. “We got out the back, but is she gonna be okay?”
Jim had stood up, Serena in his arms. Kyle helped Alex get shakily to his feet.
“We’ll take care of her. We’ll take her to the hotel. Max, he can…Let’s get to the car.” They moved as swiftly as they could to their waiting vehicle.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Can’t you just…” Maria waved her hand over Liz’s prone form laid out on the bed.
Max’s eyes never left Liz. He shook his head. “She’s got to let me in. Our connection…she’s…” he choked on his words, swallowing down the lump in his throat, “She’s not letting me in and I can’t help her until she does.”
Maria’s breath hitched in her throat, her lips forming a perfectly shaped ‘O’.
Isabel hovered behind Maria, frustrated that she couldn’t do anything.
Michael sat on the bed on the opposite side of Liz also watching her intently. “There’s got to be something we can do Max. Force a connection. Do something!”
Max whipped his eyes up to glare at Michael. “Don’t you think I would if I could? Don’t you understand how this is killing me that my wife is in shock and traumatized because of what I am? Don’t you get it that I’m dying inside right now because there is nothing I can do to make this right?” Max shook his head and refused to let the grief swamp him into shedding the tears that hung on his lashes. “God, Michael.”
Michael looked shocked, then guilty. He reached a hand across Liz and gripped Max’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. I do know all that. I’m just…I’m really frustrated. I feel like we should be doing something!”
Max nodded. Once again his eyes were only for Liz. He reached out one more time…maybe this time…His fingers made contact with Liz’s left hand and she flinched violently away from his touch as though repulsed. Max curled his fingers back into a fist and drew his hand back to his body clutching it to his stomach as though it pained him. And it did. The pain inside him grew exponentially with every moment of their freedom that passed without Liz knowing. They’d been back at the hotel for over an hour and Liz showed no signs of stirring. His grief overwhelmed him as he realized the trauma Liz must have suffered to be so closed to him now, even unconscious.
A hard pounding sounded on the door and everyone in the room jumped at the sudden noise. Maria ran to the door and opened it wide, realizing who it must be.
Alex shouldered his way in, holding Serena cradled in his arms protectively. He coughed as he set her down on the extra double bed in the room. “Max…she’s,” cough, cough, swallow, “She was in the explosion and it knocked her out for a while. She’s just starting to come around, but could you…?” Alex sat on the bed by Serena’s side and stroked her long cinnamon hair out of her face. Her face was porcelain pale and smudged with dirt and smoky grime but still she looked ethereal. Angelic. Alex looked back up at Max to find him still seated by Liz and staring at Serena. Conflict warred briefly in his eyes.
“What?” Alex looked around the room. “Max, what?!”
Max shook his head. Serena had helped them. Now he could help her. He reluctantly moved away from Liz and knelt by Serena’s bed. Serena moaned and her eyelids were fluttering.
Max placed one hand on each side of her head and threaded his fingers through her hair. “Serena?” She moaned again and tried to focus her eyes on the speaker. “Serena, you have to look at me,” Max’s voice insisted calmly.
“Mmmnn, uhh,” Serena tried to speak and couldn’t. Her head pounded like a thousand hammers were beating at it and she tried to stay as still as possible. Her eyes fluttered closed.
“Serena!” Max infused his voice with command. “Look at me!” Serena’s eyes snapped open to glare at the intrusion, but promptly got lost in the connection Max made.
Max moved in swiftly, assessing the damage and rapidly repairing it. His face twisted in pain as he absorbed hers. He re-knit bones in the back of Serena’s skull and repaired tiny blood vessels in her brain. He ran his hands down her slender body and mended nicks and dings here and there as he found them. His breath hitched at the images he was assaulted with while he was drowning in the connection.
At first, strange flashing lights and bursts of staccato sound. Then people surrounding a very young, very confused Serena. He watched her adhere to the strict rules of an orphanage upbringing, felt her pride as they realized that she was something special. Experienced her terror as she was snatched away from the only home she’d known by the FBI who recognized her unusual gifts and meant to use them for themselves. Brief flash of happiness at the thought of a real family. Grief as her ‘mother’ died leaving her alone with…Dr. Clark’s features, twisted and ugly, as he meted out punishment swiftly and cruelly over imagined shortcomings. He felt her longing, her desperate desire to belong, to be loved and to be someone that could inspire pride in the one that loved her…
He pulled away from her, gasping for air. Serena’s life had not been easy, but they could trust her. If he didn’t know it before, then he certainly did now. Serena’s eyes were bright blue and clear now as she caught Max’s gaze. He started to turn away, go back to Liz, but Serena’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm.
“Max?” Her eyes were desperate. “I’m sorry. I…I…” Her eyes closed over her tears. She scrabbled her hand into her pocket and she drew out a small packet. She pushed it into his startled hand. “Here. It’s…it’s yours.” She closed her eyes and lay back resting.
Max turned the small paper pouch over in his hands and looked at it curiously. He tore open one end of the thick paper and tilted the bag over his other palm. There was a faint tinkle of metal hitting metal and he gasped softly, his eyes tilted to the ceiling in gratitude and his hand closed firmly over his and Liz’s wedding rings. God he had missed them!
He shifted his gaze back to Serena. “Thank you,” he whispered. Meaning it on so many levels.
She turned her head to the side and he could see the tears tracing down her cheeks. “Thank you,” she replied, meaning it in so many ways herself.
Max nodded his head in acknowledgment and turned back to Liz.
She moaned softly and tossed her head and Max leaned instinctively in to touch her, soothe her. His hand pulled back, inches from her face as he remembered that he couldn’t, not yet.
Liz’s face flushed with heat and she moved her hands through her hair. So hot!
Max flushed as well and stared in astonishment at his friends surrounding Liz. They weren’t ready yet! Liz wasn’t well, wasn’t even fully conscious!
“What are we gonna do?” His wild eyes caught Michael’s. Michael looked at him in confusion for a moment, not realizing what had happened for a second. He took in Liz’s restless movements and Max’s flushed face and stared at the girls in panic.
“It’s the fever.” Michael stood up, ready to leave the room. “She’s not ready…I mean…” He paced restlessly beside the bed. “What are we gonna do?” His eyes implored Maria to give him an answer.
Max watched Liz’s eyes slowly open and he reached out to touch her. She flinched back as she had done before, almost cringing away from him.
Maria watched with wide eyes and moved to the spot Michael had vacated on the bed. She leaned over and soothingly whispered, “It’s Max honey. Max is here.”
Liz’s arm swung out in protest and in the back of her mind she vaguely registered surprise that it was not restrained as usual during a fever. Maria scrambled off the bed, shocked by Liz’s reaction as she bucked on the bed and moaned in protest. “No! No Max…” she mumbled and tossed her head, knowing they would do what they wanted with her anyway. She burrowed deeper back into the far recesses of her mind and lost herself there where it was safe.
The room went utterly silent as its occupants stared at each other in shock.
What were they supposed to do now?
TBC
“Where are they? They should have been back by now,” Kyle muttered under his breath, rubbing his hands over his dirty jeans nervously. He couldn’t take his eyes off the entrance to the subterranean hide-out that had trapped his friends for weeks.
Jim clamped a hand over Kyle’s shoulder in a show of support. He was shaking his head though and more worried than he wanted to be. His eyes were also trained on the exit to the underground prison. Both men jumped back in startlement as a sudden explosion rocked the ground under their feet.
“Okay,” Kyle began, turning to his father and pointing in panic back at the billowing smoke emerging from the doorway, “That’s not good,” he stammered out, jabbing his pointing finger at the door. He bit the back of his fist and shifted from foot to foot. “We’ve got to do something!” His feet began to take him closer to the door, but strong arms wrapped around his chest from behind, holding him back.
“No, Kyle. We can’t go back in there now. It’s too dangerous. They’ll have to get out on their own now,” Jim’s voice was gruff and his throat felt tight. The hard knot of his emotions seemed to tie up his vocal chords and make every word an effort.
“But…,”
“No, Kyle.” Strong and firm.
“Alex…he might…”
“No.”
Kyle slumped back against his father, defeated. No one had thought that they might lose a friend like this. Not after every other piece of crap life had thrown at them had been fended off and the world had finally been made right. It had seemed like a simple idea when they’d briefly discussed it earlier. Go in. Sweep the place for evidence. Wipe it clean and get out.
Simple.
Easy.
Deadly.
Kyle’s shoulders were shaking as he held back the tears that threatened. It had been his idea. This was all going to be his fault. He’d been the one that found the explosives shoved into the back of a supply closet. He’d been the dim bulb that had joked that they should just take down the place before they left. Sure, everyone else had thought that was a great idea, but what did they know anyway? None of them were explosive experts. Well, maybe Serena. She had taken charge of the delicate devices, quickly showing Alex how they worked, heads bent together in concentration over the new toys.
They’d already swept the place clean, their task made easier because Serena had known this moment was coming. She’d led them right into the areas of the building where information was kept and helped them gather and destroy it. She’d slipped a few things in the deep pockets of her lab coat. Things she said she would give to Max later.
Alex and Serena told Kyle and Jim to go outside and wait. They would set the explosives in various rooms in the underground complex and set the timers to go off so they could escape.
More smoke billowed out of the door as another explosion rocked it on its frame. And their friends still hadn’t escaped.
“Stick with the plan, guys.” Escape! That’s the step after: set explosives. Kyle’s eyes leaked tears which he impatiently wiped away with his shirt sleeve. It was the smoke. The thick, acrid smoke that was getting more dense by the minute. That’s why his eyes were tearing up. He sniffled back a sob and only struggled for a moment when his father pulled him back further from the deadly fumes.
Both men stood back, eyes trained with single-minded concentration on the smoking door.
No one emerged.
Three minutes passed.
Seven.
Kyle’s breath caught in his throat. What had he done?
He turned into his father’s arms and let his dad hug him fiercely. They stood that way for long moments, Jim rocking his shaking son gently back and forth.
“Uh, hey guys? I could use a little help over here,” Alex’s voice was a mere croak in the back of his throat, but it was enough to break the two men apart and send them reeling around in shock.
Alex stood off to their right side. He was shaking and looked like he might fall at any moment, but he stood as steady as he could and he was cradling Serena in his arms. The girl was obviously unconscious and looked impossibly small and fragile snuggled tight against Alex’s chest.
Jim moved first, leaping toward the tottering boy and easing Serena out of his arms and to the ground. Alex sank down to his knees in the brittle grass and leaned forward coughing. Kyle leapt into action and ran to Alex’s side helpfully pounding his buddy on the back.
“Kyle,” Alex coughed out. “Kyle!” He had to insist louder. “I’m not choking on a chicken bone here, okay?”
Kyle’s eyes widened in shock and he dropped his thumping hand to his side smiling sheepishly. “Yeah, man, just trying to help, you know?”
Alex nodded, still coughing, but less harshly now.
“She’s still breathing,” But for how long? Jim thought grimly. “What happened in there, son?” His gaze pierced Alex.
“Oh, man,” Alex wheezed, “Everything was going fine. Perfect. We had everything set and we were ready to head out. We were halfway out the door when Serena got this look on her face. She turned back and said to keep going, she had forgotten something very important.” Alex shook his head. “I couldn’t just leave her there, so I followed her back in.” Alex rubbed his palms over his face and sighed deeply. His hand lowered back to his knees and he closed his eyes. “She grabbed a little packet out of a storage locker and saw me behind her. She shoved the packet into her pocket and told me to run the other way. There was a back exit. I ran. I kept looking back and she was following really close, but when the first explosion hit she fell to the ground. I grabbed her up and kept going. I could see the exit…” Alex cleared his throat and blinked his eyes. “We got out the back, but is she gonna be okay?”
Jim had stood up, Serena in his arms. Kyle helped Alex get shakily to his feet.
“We’ll take care of her. We’ll take her to the hotel. Max, he can…Let’s get to the car.” They moved as swiftly as they could to their waiting vehicle.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Can’t you just…” Maria waved her hand over Liz’s prone form laid out on the bed.
Max’s eyes never left Liz. He shook his head. “She’s got to let me in. Our connection…she’s…” he choked on his words, swallowing down the lump in his throat, “She’s not letting me in and I can’t help her until she does.”
Maria’s breath hitched in her throat, her lips forming a perfectly shaped ‘O’.
Isabel hovered behind Maria, frustrated that she couldn’t do anything.
Michael sat on the bed on the opposite side of Liz also watching her intently. “There’s got to be something we can do Max. Force a connection. Do something!”
Max whipped his eyes up to glare at Michael. “Don’t you think I would if I could? Don’t you understand how this is killing me that my wife is in shock and traumatized because of what I am? Don’t you get it that I’m dying inside right now because there is nothing I can do to make this right?” Max shook his head and refused to let the grief swamp him into shedding the tears that hung on his lashes. “God, Michael.”
Michael looked shocked, then guilty. He reached a hand across Liz and gripped Max’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. I do know all that. I’m just…I’m really frustrated. I feel like we should be doing something!”
Max nodded. Once again his eyes were only for Liz. He reached out one more time…maybe this time…His fingers made contact with Liz’s left hand and she flinched violently away from his touch as though repulsed. Max curled his fingers back into a fist and drew his hand back to his body clutching it to his stomach as though it pained him. And it did. The pain inside him grew exponentially with every moment of their freedom that passed without Liz knowing. They’d been back at the hotel for over an hour and Liz showed no signs of stirring. His grief overwhelmed him as he realized the trauma Liz must have suffered to be so closed to him now, even unconscious.
A hard pounding sounded on the door and everyone in the room jumped at the sudden noise. Maria ran to the door and opened it wide, realizing who it must be.
Alex shouldered his way in, holding Serena cradled in his arms protectively. He coughed as he set her down on the extra double bed in the room. “Max…she’s,” cough, cough, swallow, “She was in the explosion and it knocked her out for a while. She’s just starting to come around, but could you…?” Alex sat on the bed by Serena’s side and stroked her long cinnamon hair out of her face. Her face was porcelain pale and smudged with dirt and smoky grime but still she looked ethereal. Angelic. Alex looked back up at Max to find him still seated by Liz and staring at Serena. Conflict warred briefly in his eyes.
“What?” Alex looked around the room. “Max, what?!”
Max shook his head. Serena had helped them. Now he could help her. He reluctantly moved away from Liz and knelt by Serena’s bed. Serena moaned and her eyelids were fluttering.
Max placed one hand on each side of her head and threaded his fingers through her hair. “Serena?” She moaned again and tried to focus her eyes on the speaker. “Serena, you have to look at me,” Max’s voice insisted calmly.
“Mmmnn, uhh,” Serena tried to speak and couldn’t. Her head pounded like a thousand hammers were beating at it and she tried to stay as still as possible. Her eyes fluttered closed.
“Serena!” Max infused his voice with command. “Look at me!” Serena’s eyes snapped open to glare at the intrusion, but promptly got lost in the connection Max made.
Max moved in swiftly, assessing the damage and rapidly repairing it. His face twisted in pain as he absorbed hers. He re-knit bones in the back of Serena’s skull and repaired tiny blood vessels in her brain. He ran his hands down her slender body and mended nicks and dings here and there as he found them. His breath hitched at the images he was assaulted with while he was drowning in the connection.
At first, strange flashing lights and bursts of staccato sound. Then people surrounding a very young, very confused Serena. He watched her adhere to the strict rules of an orphanage upbringing, felt her pride as they realized that she was something special. Experienced her terror as she was snatched away from the only home she’d known by the FBI who recognized her unusual gifts and meant to use them for themselves. Brief flash of happiness at the thought of a real family. Grief as her ‘mother’ died leaving her alone with…Dr. Clark’s features, twisted and ugly, as he meted out punishment swiftly and cruelly over imagined shortcomings. He felt her longing, her desperate desire to belong, to be loved and to be someone that could inspire pride in the one that loved her…
He pulled away from her, gasping for air. Serena’s life had not been easy, but they could trust her. If he didn’t know it before, then he certainly did now. Serena’s eyes were bright blue and clear now as she caught Max’s gaze. He started to turn away, go back to Liz, but Serena’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm.
“Max?” Her eyes were desperate. “I’m sorry. I…I…” Her eyes closed over her tears. She scrabbled her hand into her pocket and she drew out a small packet. She pushed it into his startled hand. “Here. It’s…it’s yours.” She closed her eyes and lay back resting.
Max turned the small paper pouch over in his hands and looked at it curiously. He tore open one end of the thick paper and tilted the bag over his other palm. There was a faint tinkle of metal hitting metal and he gasped softly, his eyes tilted to the ceiling in gratitude and his hand closed firmly over his and Liz’s wedding rings. God he had missed them!
He shifted his gaze back to Serena. “Thank you,” he whispered. Meaning it on so many levels.
She turned her head to the side and he could see the tears tracing down her cheeks. “Thank you,” she replied, meaning it in so many ways herself.
Max nodded his head in acknowledgment and turned back to Liz.
She moaned softly and tossed her head and Max leaned instinctively in to touch her, soothe her. His hand pulled back, inches from her face as he remembered that he couldn’t, not yet.
Liz’s face flushed with heat and she moved her hands through her hair. So hot!
Max flushed as well and stared in astonishment at his friends surrounding Liz. They weren’t ready yet! Liz wasn’t well, wasn’t even fully conscious!
“What are we gonna do?” His wild eyes caught Michael’s. Michael looked at him in confusion for a moment, not realizing what had happened for a second. He took in Liz’s restless movements and Max’s flushed face and stared at the girls in panic.
“It’s the fever.” Michael stood up, ready to leave the room. “She’s not ready…I mean…” He paced restlessly beside the bed. “What are we gonna do?” His eyes implored Maria to give him an answer.
Max watched Liz’s eyes slowly open and he reached out to touch her. She flinched back as she had done before, almost cringing away from him.
Maria watched with wide eyes and moved to the spot Michael had vacated on the bed. She leaned over and soothingly whispered, “It’s Max honey. Max is here.”
Liz’s arm swung out in protest and in the back of her mind she vaguely registered surprise that it was not restrained as usual during a fever. Maria scrambled off the bed, shocked by Liz’s reaction as she bucked on the bed and moaned in protest. “No! No Max…” she mumbled and tossed her head, knowing they would do what they wanted with her anyway. She burrowed deeper back into the far recesses of her mind and lost herself there where it was safe.
The room went utterly silent as its occupants stared at each other in shock.
What were they supposed to do now?
TBC
EYA Part 87
What am I gonna do?
Max’s mind ran in near panic mode as he made himself refrain from touching Liz again. The way she had flinched back from his touch…The way she had moaned ‘No Max… His heart broke. She no doubt blamed him for all that had happened. His mind cringed back at the thought of the last time they were together. He had probably been too rough, he chastised himself, remembering how she had winced in pain when he…And she hadn’t even been conscious at the time, not really. He was suddenly disgusted with himself, and conflicted at the same time. She needed him right now. Well, at least she needed what he could give her and Zan to stay healthy.
He whirled to face the room. The shocked faces surrounding the bed didn’t surprise him at all. All those pale, worried faces locked on him and Liz. What did surprise him was the amount of sympathy he saw in their eyes for him in this situation. Didn’t they understand that this was all his fault? They should feel sorry for Liz, not him.
He ran one shaky hand over the back of his neck and stared at the ground for a moment. “Um, could you all just…” his eyes rose to meet theirs briefly and he gestured vaguely toward the door.
“Max are you…?” Isabel started toward him and was surprised when he leaned away from her. She stood back awkwardly and shifted from foot to foot until Kyle placed a soothing hand on the small of her back in a show of support. She leaned back into his strong frame and stared at her distraught brother.
Liz moaned in need behind Max and he swiftly shifted all of his attention back to his love. He wasn’t worthy of her, and he especially didn’t need anyone touching him right now. He blocked out the hurt look he had seen in Isabel’s eyes when he had avoided her hug. He was too dirty to allow her to touch him. She was still clean and pure, let Kyle take care of her. His hand reached out for Liz again in an automatic gesture that was immediately rejected by her. His hand sprang back to his side as if bitten. Tears welled in his eyes, but he didn’t deserve to let them drop down his cheeks. He’d earned this rejection after the way he had manhandled her the last time they were together.
“We, uh…We need to be alone now,” he whispered huskily, hoping they would listen. Wishing they could read his mind and understand…and at the same time glad that they couldn’t see what a monster he was inside.
“Of course. Come on, guys.” Maria hustled to round everyone up. She pushed Isabel and Kyle out of the room and told them to get cleaned up in their room. She grabbed Michael’s arm and shoved his reluctant body out the door and told him she would meet him in their room in a second. Michael crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.
“I’m not leaving them. I’ll wait right outside the door, Max,” he assured Max. “No one will disturb you.” His protective instincts were in full swing and he’d be damned if anyone tried to interrupt or hurt his friends again.
Maria shook her head and pursed her lips. They would have to have another talk about how Michael didn’t need to make up for not being there for Max and Liz. It wasn’t his fault. There was nothing he could have done. She turned to usher out Alex and Serena and saw that Alex had already gathered a protesting Serena into his arms.
Serena pushed at Alex’s shoulders to try to get him to release her. “You don’t have to…Alex! I’m perfectly fine now!” Her protest was cut short by his shy smile.
“Maybe you don’t need me to carry you right now, but I’ve been kinda getting used to it today, so just humor me, okay?” His smile broadened as he saw her blush just before she hid her face against his chest. Her weight felt good, felt right, in his arms and he wouldn’t let her go if he could help it. During the time they had spent together in the lab he could already tell how talented and brilliant she was. He could also see that she was impressed with his quick mind and quicker wit. He felt special in her presence and he could tell she enjoyed his company. He started moving toward the door, carefully shifting her slight weight into a more comfortable position for walking.
Maria smiled and preceded them out the door, pausing to touch Michael’s arm in passing. She knew he would remain stationed there indefinitely and everything right now was too new, too raw, for her to try to talk him out of it. Once things calmed down and he had a chance to realize they were out of danger for the time being, then she would try to talk some sense into him.
Alex turned sideways to navigate through the door and caught a glimpse of the anguish on Max’s face as his hand hesitated above Liz. Both were flushed with the heat of the fever and the sight of the anguish on both their faces broke Alex’s heart. He felt Serena turn her head to the tormented couple and then tightened his grip to keep her from falling when she began to struggle in his arms.
“Let me down, Alex,” she asked him in a tone that commanded immediate compliance. He’d let go of her legs and balanced her on her feet before he realized that it wasn’t what he’d really wanted to do. He looked at her with a new respect and wondered what type of a life she had endured to develop a tone like that.
“Go, Alex. I’ll join you in a moment,” Serena demanded softly, her eyes never leaving Max and Liz. She pushed a hand softly against his chest directing him toward the door. Alex left and she heard the door close softly behind him. She faintly heard Jim Valenti asking where she was out in the hall, but she ignored that and made her way over to Max.
He started when he felt her touch a hand to his shoulder but his eyes weren’t surprised to see her there when he turned his head. Serena’s look was serious and sympathetic. Only she could truly know what they had endured over the last weeks, and, Max realized, she knew more than he did about what had happened to Liz.
“What do I do?” His broken whisper tore her heart and she gripped his shoulder tighter in a show of support.
She hesitated, knowing what she was about to suggest would be abhorrent to him. “She’s not…” she cleared her throat, determined to go on. “She’s not ready for this yet.” She waved her hand between the two of them as she stated the obvious.
Max’s shoulder slumped under her hand, but he was already nodding. “I know that,” his voice wavered and was barely audible. “I don’t know what to do. If we don’t…” He met Serena’s eyes briefly. “You know what will happen if we don’t…if we can’t…”
Serena nodded as she watched Liz tossing on the bed. “We need to give her time. Time to realize that she doesn’t have to hide away from the world anymore. Time to realize that she’s safe.”
“Time to realize that I’m safe,” Max muttered, meaning that Liz would be safe from his hurting her again.
Serena nodded. “Exactly, Max,” she agreed, thinking he meant that Liz would need to realize that they were both free and could be together again.
Max flinched, but didn’t make another comment. Serena patted a pocket in her lab coat and reached in to withdraw a plastic syringe. “Um…I don’t know how to say this, but…, well, I can do this if it’ll make it any easier. I mean…”
Max shifted his eyes curiously to Serena, wondering what she was suggesting. He stood off the bed abruptly at the sight of the syringe. “Oh my God,” he muttered, eyes widening in horror. “I didn’t think…but we’re free,” he shook his head in denial. “It’s not supposed to be like this.” His voice broke and his eyes welled up again.
Serena hid the plastic instrument behind her hand, knowing the sight of it offended Max. “She’s not ready for anything else right now and she needs what you can give her. Are you going to make love with her?” Serena’s voice had intentionally taken on a hard edge. Max needed to be snapped back to reality.
He started at her abrupt tone and focused his eyes back on Serena. “No,” he croaked. He couldn’t imagine trying to make love with Liz while she was still scared and repelled by him. He couldn’t bear the thought of traumatizing her more than she already was. And it wouldn’t be consensual, not with her locked inside herself the way she was.
“I can do this for you,” Serena repeated, seeing his acceptance wash over his miserable features.
Max was already shaking his head. “I’ll take care of my wife.” He held out his hand and waited. Serena handed over the syringe and stood back, moving toward the door. Her hand was on the knob as she turned back to face him.
“Do you know how…?” Max waved her on to leave the room, his attention already back on Liz.
“I think I can figure it out,” he whispered. He heard the door close behind Serena and he knew he and Liz were alone. Alone for the first time in way too long and it was nothing like he had imagined. Nothing.
“I’m sorry, Liz,” he whispered, close to her ear. He turned and went into the bathroom, taking care of business as soon as the door shut behind him. It was an all-too familiar routine as he ejaculated into the plastic cup he found wrapped in paper on the counter by the sink. Wholly unsatisfying and crude. He used the needleless syringe to draw the silvery white fluid out of the cup and opened the door to take care of his wife. His steps slowed more and more as each one brought him closer to Liz and what he would have to do.
He saw how small she was on the bed, how she had curled onto her side away from him in a protective gesture that unconsciously screamed, Don’t touch me! He tightened his resolve, knowing what needed to be done and gently reached out to turn her onto her back. “Liz, do this for Zan. You know we have to protect our baby.” The low murmur of his voice didn’t seem to penetrate all the way through to her. She mewled in weak protest, the fever causing her body to twist and sweat onto the thin comforter. Her blue hospital gown was bunched high on her thighs and Max tried not to think about what had to be done.
“I’m sorry, Liz,” he repeated over and over. He decided to get it done quickly. As gently as he could Max parted her thighs and did what had to be done. Liz was so used to the routine that she made little protest, and if she was surprised that the doctor had managed to be gentle and not hurt her for once, then she didn’t show it. She turned to her side and closed her eyes, drifting into sleep easily. It was the best escape. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, but she wasn’t aware of them.
Max backed away from the bed until his back hit the wall behind him. His hand fumbled against the wall until his fingers caught on the light switch and he sighed as the room was plunged into deep shadow. His eyes blinked several times as they adjusted to the strange darkness after spending weeks in constant light. He slid down the wall until his butt hit the floor and buried his head in his hands. He’d made her cry again. He felt helpless, alone, and utterly lost outside of his connection to Liz. His eyes never left her motionless form as the long night progressed, not even to take in the now unfamiliar beauty of the sun rising.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max carried Liz up the steps to their apartment carefully. She had been hysterical at his touch, and they had tried earlier to see if she reacted any differently to Michael, Kyle, Alex, or Jim. She hadn’t. Any person that touched her was repellant to her. So Max had taken charge and told everyone to stay away. He would take care of his wife.
The others trailed slowly up the stairs after them, not knowing what to do. Diane and Phillip followed right behind Max and Liz, completely shocked at their pale and drawn features. Diane had tried to hug Max the minute they had shown up at the door, but he wouldn’t allow her to touch him. She didn’t know how to react to that, but she was willing to wait to hear the story before she worried too much about it.
Max continued through their apartment and bumped the door to their bedroom open with his hip. He kicked it closed behind them and gently deposited Liz on their bed. She immediately curled away from him again and he sat in the bottom corner of the bed not touching her at all.
A gentle tapping on the door startled him several minutes later and he made himself muster up the energy to move and answer the door. He cracked it open slightly and peered out to find his mother staring back at him. Her expression was anxious and worried and Max felt a pang of guilt that he had put that expression on her face.
“Max, can I…?” Diane gestured into the room with one hand and Max widened the door a bit reluctantly so she could come in. Diane stepped into the room and turned to face Max, reaching out both hands to enfold him in a big hug. Her arms closed over nothing and dropped to her sides as her eyes widened in shock when Max stumbled back away from abruptly. “Max?” She had too many questions jumbled inside to get even one out.
“Don’t.” His voice cracked in the middle of his protest and Max raked a hand over his hair as he whirled to face the bed and Liz. “Just don’t touch me right now, okay?” He hated the fact that he knew he was hurting his mother, but it wasn’t fair to let her touch him after everything that he had done. She didn’t know how dirty he was after…It was better this way. Not even Liz would touch him, because she knew…
What did they do to my son? Diane’s tears escaped and traveled freely down her face as she watched her son’s broad back begin to shake with the force of his emotion.
“Just go. Please,” Max whispered hoarsely, allowing no tears to fall. He could feel his mother’s eyes on him and it made him feel worse. She shouldn’t have to look at what he’d become.
“I…Max, I love you,” Diane asserted firmly before she took a deep breath and complied with her son’s request. The door clicked closed behind her.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Several hours later the group in Max and Liz’s living room was reduced to Michael, Isabel, Alex, and Serena, the other’s having gone home or back to other chores allowing Max and Liz the time they needed to heal.
Serena stood up and stretched, feeling Alex’s eyes on her slender form as she reached for the ceiling. She dropped her arms down and tugged self-consciously at the hem of her shirt, covering the firm patch of tummy that had briefly been revealed. It was strange to feel the masculine attention directed her way. She was nineteen, but she’d never been allowed to date, only study and do well to please her overbearing father…She shook off that thought and tried to think of anything that could be done for Max and Liz.
“They’ll need lunch,” she declared suddenly, startling the others into looking at her. She glanced around at the inquiring faces around her and took charge. She moved quickly into the small kitchen in the apartment and started searching through cupboards. She began shaking her head almost immediately.
“There’s nothing really here that we can…” she was cut off by Isabel and Alex.
“I’ll see what Mom has…” Isabel interrupted.
“I’ll go to the store…” Alex inserted, at the same time.
They looked at each other and smiled. Alex grabbed Isabel’s hand and hauled her toward the door. “We’ll come back with lunch,” Alex threw over his shoulder as the door closed behind them.
Serena watched Isabel and Alex holding hands as they left the room and shook her head. She’d thought Kyle and Isabel were together, but maybe she’d been wrong. She turned her attention toward the only other person left in the room. Michael. She could tell he didn’t trust her. He had taken a protective position sitting against the wall outside Max and Liz’s room and it was obvious by the way he kept glaring at her that he held her partially responsible for what had happened to his friends. She couldn’t blame him.
“Sit down,” Michael commanded, now that they were alone. Serena looked at him in surprise at the forceful tone of his voice, but complied immediately anyway.
Michael climbed to his feet and stood towering over her. “Hurt them again and I’ll kill you myself. Understood?” His expression was set in hard lines of anger and she had no doubt that he meant what he’d said.
She nodded her head solemnly and wrung her hands together. “I would never hurt them. They’re too special. There’s no way…It’s why I helped them escape,” she supplied for him.
Michael nodded once and relaxed just slightly before he headed back to sit against the wall by Max’s door, knowing an understanding had been reached.
Isabel and Alex reappeared about fifteen minutes later laden with enough food to feed ten people. Serena rushed to help unburden their arms before anything could fall to the floor.
Alex looked a little sheepish. “Diane’s been downstairs cooking for the last few hours. Guess it gave her something to do. Anyway,” he peeked under the lid of a large pot and the steam that escaped was fragrant with the smell of chicken soup, “It looks really good.” His stomach growled and he placed a hand over it as he glanced up to see if Serena had noticed. She was looking at him with a smile in her eyes and pulled a few bowls down out of the cupboard where she had found them in her earlier search for food.
Isabel ladled out generous helpings of the soup and prepared a tray for Liz and Max that included fresh fruit and rolls. Serena lifted one tray into her arms and made her way to the door. Michael was standing in front of it with his arms crossed and didn’t look like he wanted to budge.
Serena lifted one eyebrow. “Excuse us,” she inserted politely, hoping he would step to the side. He held her gaze for a moment and then opened the door. It swung open behind him and he grabbed the other tray from Isabel’s startled hands as he followed Serena into the room. He hooked his foot around the door and gave it a gentle push to swing it closed again.
“It’s 1:12pm,” Serena said as she stared at Max sitting on the floor against the wall across the room. Max nodded and wiped his hands over his jeans.
Michael looked back and forth between the two and wondered what that was all about. Max climbed to his feet and put his palms back against the wall as he had been taught, and then he shook with a full-body shudder as he realized that he didn’t have to do that anymore. He forced himself to place one foot in front of the other and move toward Serena. It felt wrong. Strange to be making this motion voluntarily without the threat of harm to Liz. His eyes darted to Liz and he saw that she had opened her eyes at the sounds around her. He detoured to sit on the edge of the bed and tried to catch her eyes. He was unsuccessful and could tell that she wasn’t focusing on anything. She was still lost to him.
Serena set her tray down on the bedside table and reached out for Liz’s arm. She cringed away as she had always done initially. “Liz. It’s time for lunch. You need to eat to stay strong for the baby.” Serena’s voice was calm and insistent as it had always been during mealtime. Liz sat up and waited for the tray. She’d eat the turkey sandwich they always gave her and she’d make every attempt to keep it down. The tray settled over her lap and she focused on her food. She was jarred for a moment to find soup instead of a sandwich and her hands shook a little as she gripped the unfamiliar spoon. She placed a hand over Zan and felt the familiar connection flare to glowing life as she directed all her love and attention to the one constant in her life. She finished the food on the tray and lay back, prepared to nap again and pass the time.
Max watched Liz mechanically eating and didn’t pay any attention to how his own stomach was growling. Michael finally took his arm and directed him to sit in the chair that sat in the corner of the room. Max moved automatically and allowed himself to be pushed down into the soft recesses of the comfortable chair.
“Eat, Max. You need your strength.” Michael followed Serena’s lead and made his voice authoritative, not to be disobeyed. He placed the tray over Max’s lap and watched him until he began to eat. When Liz was finished Max pushed his tray away from himself and stood with his arms crossed over his chest as if he was cold. His hands itched to touch Liz, but he was unwilling to cause her any more stress.
Serena stacked the dishes onto one tray and nested the trays. She picked up the load and left the room, closing the door behind her. Maybe Michael could get through to his friends.
“So,” Michael began, looking back and forth between his friends. He really didn’t know what to say. “I just…I mean,” his eyes kept moving to the floor and he scuffed his foot along the carpet. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. Either of you,” Michael finally blurted, making himself meet Max’s eyes.
Max’s eyes flew to Michael. Was he even serious? Didn’t he know that everything that happened was Max’s fault? Max could see that he didn’t know that. That he was blaming himself.
“It’s not…,” Max struggled to confess, “We don’t blame you at all, Michael.” Max rubbed his hands over his upper arms because he was freezing and he couldn’t maintain eye contact with Michael anymore. He stared at Liz’s motionless form as he continued. “It’s my fault. Everything that’s happened to her. Everything that I’ve done has been so wrong. I’ve made hundreds of mistakes since we’ve gotten together and she’s the one that’s suffered every time.”
Michael crossed the room and took Max by the shoulders shaking him until he met Michael’s gaze. “This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. Do you understand me?”
Max tried to shift away. “No, Michael, you don’t understand what they did to her in there. You don’t understand what I did to her in there,” and Max hoped Michael would never really know what had happened. The shame was too great and he felt filthy once again. He wrenched his shoulders out of Michael’s grip and made his way to the door. “I need to…Can you stay in here with her for a little while?” Max swallowed several times to contain his nausea and waited until Michael nodded his consent.
“Of course. I won’t leave her side.” Michael sat on the bed and watched Max practically run from the room.
This was worse than he’d imagined.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max ran through the living room, not pausing to say anything to his friends that sat together eating. He slammed the bathroom door and dropped to his knees beside the toilet. He leaned over and his body heaved as his lunch left him. He wiped a trembling arm across his mouth and turned to the shower. He turned the water on as hot as he could stand it and stripped down until he was wearing nothing. Stepping in, he turned the water even hotter and used the soap and a rough terry washcloth to try to cleanse his filthy soul. He stayed under the spray until he collapsed to the floor on his knees in exhaustion and the water turned cold. Finally he roused enough to turn it off and he grabbed a towel from the rack.
Once he was dry he couldn’t stomach the thought of pulling on the clothes he had been wearing, so he wrapped the towel around his waist and trekked across the living room again not hearing the gasping exclamation from Isabel as she noted the changes in his body.
Walking into his own room, he closed the door and leaned back against it weakly, his attention immediately directed to Liz. Michael had turned to face the door at the first sound and immediately rose to assist Max.
“What did they do to you?” Michael hissed out harshly. He could see the unhealed burn marks down Max’s back and he could see that though Max’s muscles were much more firmly delineated he was much thinner than he had been when he’d left. And all over his body his skin was now an angry pink.
“I’m…I…The shower was hot and I was so dirty,” Max whispered brokenly, hoping Michael would leave it alone.
“You did this?” Michael asked in a disbelieving tone, indicating the pink, raw skin that looked like it could bleed at any moment.
“I…I’m dirty,” Max insisted again. “I hurt her.” Couldn’t Michael see?
“Max, come over here and sit down.” Michael took his arm even when Max tried to pull away and led him over to the chair. He knelt down in front of his friend and waited until Max was looking at him.
“While you were in there, did you ever once do anything that wasn’t something to keep Liz safe? Did you ever hurt her intentionally? Did you run tests on her? Torture her for your own gain?” Michael’s voice was harsh and he didn’t stop until Max’s hands shoved him roughly until he was sprawled on his back on the floor.
“Of course not, Michael! I would never intentionally hurt Liz! What kind of monster…” Max’s eyes widened as he realized what he was saying. “Oh my God!” What did this mean? Michael had made him really think about why he had done what he had done. Made him realize that maybe, with time, he could get back what he had lost. The tears he had held back for so long burst from him and he tumbled to his knees on the floor beside Michael. His body shook and Michael absorbed the movement as he enfolded his friend into his arms.
“We’re here for you. We’re here for Liz. We’ll keep you safe as long as it takes.” Michael rocked Max back and forth and his voice was soothing as he kept up his running monologue.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max crept slowly into the bed next to Liz. It was night again, and Max had finally managed to convince Michael that he was stable enough to be left alone with Liz. The room was blessedly dark. Max reached out a tentative hand and very lightly touched Liz’s belly over baby Zan. He opened his mind as his fingers rose and fell with Liz’s sleeping breath.
There! He sighed and closed his eyes as the beloved connection to Zan washed through him. His breathing evened out and he had almost allowed himself to sleep for the first time in way too long when he felt a new element enter the connection. His breath sobbed out and his eyes flew open. Liz!
‘Liz! I love you! Liz, come back to me! His mind projected these thoughts to his love as easily as ever. The familiar pattern of the connection something never to be forgotten or taken for granted after the long absence.
Max? Liz’s return thought was so tentative, so scared of being batted down and rejected. She had only sought the familiar connection to the baby and had found something else, wholly unexpected. Max sobbed aloud as he felt her tentative fear and hopeful love. She didn’t blame him! She had thought he was dead! The relief that she would come back to him flowed back into her through the bond and his hand moved across her stomach to gather her close.
Liz’s body was trembling and her arms tentative as they wrapped around the familiar contours of Max’s body. She wanted to look. She needed to see that this was real, but she was so scared, frightened beyond belief that this was another trick to break her down. If she opened her eyes and he wasn’t there…
“Liz,” Max’s beloved voice reached her ears and his assurances flooded into their bond. “Open your eyes, baby. I’m really here.”
Liz’s dark eyes squinched closed tighter for a brief moment and she inhaled Max’s spicy scent. The familiar smell calmed her enough to allow her to hope, and her eyes cracked open the tiniest bit. They rested on a muscular, familiar chest and rose slowly to take in the strong column of a male neck. She hesitated for the briefest second, but then let her eyes raise to see the face of the man holding her so tenderly. The breath whooshed out of her body as her eyes met his and she almost couldn’t catch her breath.
“Max,” she started huskily. Her hand rose and her fingers trembled as she traced a line down his cheek, following the path of his tears. “I love you, Max.”
TBC
What am I gonna do?
Max’s mind ran in near panic mode as he made himself refrain from touching Liz again. The way she had flinched back from his touch…The way she had moaned ‘No Max… His heart broke. She no doubt blamed him for all that had happened. His mind cringed back at the thought of the last time they were together. He had probably been too rough, he chastised himself, remembering how she had winced in pain when he…And she hadn’t even been conscious at the time, not really. He was suddenly disgusted with himself, and conflicted at the same time. She needed him right now. Well, at least she needed what he could give her and Zan to stay healthy.
He whirled to face the room. The shocked faces surrounding the bed didn’t surprise him at all. All those pale, worried faces locked on him and Liz. What did surprise him was the amount of sympathy he saw in their eyes for him in this situation. Didn’t they understand that this was all his fault? They should feel sorry for Liz, not him.
He ran one shaky hand over the back of his neck and stared at the ground for a moment. “Um, could you all just…” his eyes rose to meet theirs briefly and he gestured vaguely toward the door.
“Max are you…?” Isabel started toward him and was surprised when he leaned away from her. She stood back awkwardly and shifted from foot to foot until Kyle placed a soothing hand on the small of her back in a show of support. She leaned back into his strong frame and stared at her distraught brother.
Liz moaned in need behind Max and he swiftly shifted all of his attention back to his love. He wasn’t worthy of her, and he especially didn’t need anyone touching him right now. He blocked out the hurt look he had seen in Isabel’s eyes when he had avoided her hug. He was too dirty to allow her to touch him. She was still clean and pure, let Kyle take care of her. His hand reached out for Liz again in an automatic gesture that was immediately rejected by her. His hand sprang back to his side as if bitten. Tears welled in his eyes, but he didn’t deserve to let them drop down his cheeks. He’d earned this rejection after the way he had manhandled her the last time they were together.
“We, uh…We need to be alone now,” he whispered huskily, hoping they would listen. Wishing they could read his mind and understand…and at the same time glad that they couldn’t see what a monster he was inside.
“Of course. Come on, guys.” Maria hustled to round everyone up. She pushed Isabel and Kyle out of the room and told them to get cleaned up in their room. She grabbed Michael’s arm and shoved his reluctant body out the door and told him she would meet him in their room in a second. Michael crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.
“I’m not leaving them. I’ll wait right outside the door, Max,” he assured Max. “No one will disturb you.” His protective instincts were in full swing and he’d be damned if anyone tried to interrupt or hurt his friends again.
Maria shook her head and pursed her lips. They would have to have another talk about how Michael didn’t need to make up for not being there for Max and Liz. It wasn’t his fault. There was nothing he could have done. She turned to usher out Alex and Serena and saw that Alex had already gathered a protesting Serena into his arms.
Serena pushed at Alex’s shoulders to try to get him to release her. “You don’t have to…Alex! I’m perfectly fine now!” Her protest was cut short by his shy smile.
“Maybe you don’t need me to carry you right now, but I’ve been kinda getting used to it today, so just humor me, okay?” His smile broadened as he saw her blush just before she hid her face against his chest. Her weight felt good, felt right, in his arms and he wouldn’t let her go if he could help it. During the time they had spent together in the lab he could already tell how talented and brilliant she was. He could also see that she was impressed with his quick mind and quicker wit. He felt special in her presence and he could tell she enjoyed his company. He started moving toward the door, carefully shifting her slight weight into a more comfortable position for walking.
Maria smiled and preceded them out the door, pausing to touch Michael’s arm in passing. She knew he would remain stationed there indefinitely and everything right now was too new, too raw, for her to try to talk him out of it. Once things calmed down and he had a chance to realize they were out of danger for the time being, then she would try to talk some sense into him.
Alex turned sideways to navigate through the door and caught a glimpse of the anguish on Max’s face as his hand hesitated above Liz. Both were flushed with the heat of the fever and the sight of the anguish on both their faces broke Alex’s heart. He felt Serena turn her head to the tormented couple and then tightened his grip to keep her from falling when she began to struggle in his arms.
“Let me down, Alex,” she asked him in a tone that commanded immediate compliance. He’d let go of her legs and balanced her on her feet before he realized that it wasn’t what he’d really wanted to do. He looked at her with a new respect and wondered what type of a life she had endured to develop a tone like that.
“Go, Alex. I’ll join you in a moment,” Serena demanded softly, her eyes never leaving Max and Liz. She pushed a hand softly against his chest directing him toward the door. Alex left and she heard the door close softly behind him. She faintly heard Jim Valenti asking where she was out in the hall, but she ignored that and made her way over to Max.
He started when he felt her touch a hand to his shoulder but his eyes weren’t surprised to see her there when he turned his head. Serena’s look was serious and sympathetic. Only she could truly know what they had endured over the last weeks, and, Max realized, she knew more than he did about what had happened to Liz.
“What do I do?” His broken whisper tore her heart and she gripped his shoulder tighter in a show of support.
She hesitated, knowing what she was about to suggest would be abhorrent to him. “She’s not…” she cleared her throat, determined to go on. “She’s not ready for this yet.” She waved her hand between the two of them as she stated the obvious.
Max’s shoulder slumped under her hand, but he was already nodding. “I know that,” his voice wavered and was barely audible. “I don’t know what to do. If we don’t…” He met Serena’s eyes briefly. “You know what will happen if we don’t…if we can’t…”
Serena nodded as she watched Liz tossing on the bed. “We need to give her time. Time to realize that she doesn’t have to hide away from the world anymore. Time to realize that she’s safe.”
“Time to realize that I’m safe,” Max muttered, meaning that Liz would be safe from his hurting her again.
Serena nodded. “Exactly, Max,” she agreed, thinking he meant that Liz would need to realize that they were both free and could be together again.
Max flinched, but didn’t make another comment. Serena patted a pocket in her lab coat and reached in to withdraw a plastic syringe. “Um…I don’t know how to say this, but…, well, I can do this if it’ll make it any easier. I mean…”
Max shifted his eyes curiously to Serena, wondering what she was suggesting. He stood off the bed abruptly at the sight of the syringe. “Oh my God,” he muttered, eyes widening in horror. “I didn’t think…but we’re free,” he shook his head in denial. “It’s not supposed to be like this.” His voice broke and his eyes welled up again.
Serena hid the plastic instrument behind her hand, knowing the sight of it offended Max. “She’s not ready for anything else right now and she needs what you can give her. Are you going to make love with her?” Serena’s voice had intentionally taken on a hard edge. Max needed to be snapped back to reality.
He started at her abrupt tone and focused his eyes back on Serena. “No,” he croaked. He couldn’t imagine trying to make love with Liz while she was still scared and repelled by him. He couldn’t bear the thought of traumatizing her more than she already was. And it wouldn’t be consensual, not with her locked inside herself the way she was.
“I can do this for you,” Serena repeated, seeing his acceptance wash over his miserable features.
Max was already shaking his head. “I’ll take care of my wife.” He held out his hand and waited. Serena handed over the syringe and stood back, moving toward the door. Her hand was on the knob as she turned back to face him.
“Do you know how…?” Max waved her on to leave the room, his attention already back on Liz.
“I think I can figure it out,” he whispered. He heard the door close behind Serena and he knew he and Liz were alone. Alone for the first time in way too long and it was nothing like he had imagined. Nothing.
“I’m sorry, Liz,” he whispered, close to her ear. He turned and went into the bathroom, taking care of business as soon as the door shut behind him. It was an all-too familiar routine as he ejaculated into the plastic cup he found wrapped in paper on the counter by the sink. Wholly unsatisfying and crude. He used the needleless syringe to draw the silvery white fluid out of the cup and opened the door to take care of his wife. His steps slowed more and more as each one brought him closer to Liz and what he would have to do.
He saw how small she was on the bed, how she had curled onto her side away from him in a protective gesture that unconsciously screamed, Don’t touch me! He tightened his resolve, knowing what needed to be done and gently reached out to turn her onto her back. “Liz, do this for Zan. You know we have to protect our baby.” The low murmur of his voice didn’t seem to penetrate all the way through to her. She mewled in weak protest, the fever causing her body to twist and sweat onto the thin comforter. Her blue hospital gown was bunched high on her thighs and Max tried not to think about what had to be done.
“I’m sorry, Liz,” he repeated over and over. He decided to get it done quickly. As gently as he could Max parted her thighs and did what had to be done. Liz was so used to the routine that she made little protest, and if she was surprised that the doctor had managed to be gentle and not hurt her for once, then she didn’t show it. She turned to her side and closed her eyes, drifting into sleep easily. It was the best escape. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, but she wasn’t aware of them.
Max backed away from the bed until his back hit the wall behind him. His hand fumbled against the wall until his fingers caught on the light switch and he sighed as the room was plunged into deep shadow. His eyes blinked several times as they adjusted to the strange darkness after spending weeks in constant light. He slid down the wall until his butt hit the floor and buried his head in his hands. He’d made her cry again. He felt helpless, alone, and utterly lost outside of his connection to Liz. His eyes never left her motionless form as the long night progressed, not even to take in the now unfamiliar beauty of the sun rising.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max carried Liz up the steps to their apartment carefully. She had been hysterical at his touch, and they had tried earlier to see if she reacted any differently to Michael, Kyle, Alex, or Jim. She hadn’t. Any person that touched her was repellant to her. So Max had taken charge and told everyone to stay away. He would take care of his wife.
The others trailed slowly up the stairs after them, not knowing what to do. Diane and Phillip followed right behind Max and Liz, completely shocked at their pale and drawn features. Diane had tried to hug Max the minute they had shown up at the door, but he wouldn’t allow her to touch him. She didn’t know how to react to that, but she was willing to wait to hear the story before she worried too much about it.
Max continued through their apartment and bumped the door to their bedroom open with his hip. He kicked it closed behind them and gently deposited Liz on their bed. She immediately curled away from him again and he sat in the bottom corner of the bed not touching her at all.
A gentle tapping on the door startled him several minutes later and he made himself muster up the energy to move and answer the door. He cracked it open slightly and peered out to find his mother staring back at him. Her expression was anxious and worried and Max felt a pang of guilt that he had put that expression on her face.
“Max, can I…?” Diane gestured into the room with one hand and Max widened the door a bit reluctantly so she could come in. Diane stepped into the room and turned to face Max, reaching out both hands to enfold him in a big hug. Her arms closed over nothing and dropped to her sides as her eyes widened in shock when Max stumbled back away from abruptly. “Max?” She had too many questions jumbled inside to get even one out.
“Don’t.” His voice cracked in the middle of his protest and Max raked a hand over his hair as he whirled to face the bed and Liz. “Just don’t touch me right now, okay?” He hated the fact that he knew he was hurting his mother, but it wasn’t fair to let her touch him after everything that he had done. She didn’t know how dirty he was after…It was better this way. Not even Liz would touch him, because she knew…
What did they do to my son? Diane’s tears escaped and traveled freely down her face as she watched her son’s broad back begin to shake with the force of his emotion.
“Just go. Please,” Max whispered hoarsely, allowing no tears to fall. He could feel his mother’s eyes on him and it made him feel worse. She shouldn’t have to look at what he’d become.
“I…Max, I love you,” Diane asserted firmly before she took a deep breath and complied with her son’s request. The door clicked closed behind her.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Several hours later the group in Max and Liz’s living room was reduced to Michael, Isabel, Alex, and Serena, the other’s having gone home or back to other chores allowing Max and Liz the time they needed to heal.
Serena stood up and stretched, feeling Alex’s eyes on her slender form as she reached for the ceiling. She dropped her arms down and tugged self-consciously at the hem of her shirt, covering the firm patch of tummy that had briefly been revealed. It was strange to feel the masculine attention directed her way. She was nineteen, but she’d never been allowed to date, only study and do well to please her overbearing father…She shook off that thought and tried to think of anything that could be done for Max and Liz.
“They’ll need lunch,” she declared suddenly, startling the others into looking at her. She glanced around at the inquiring faces around her and took charge. She moved quickly into the small kitchen in the apartment and started searching through cupboards. She began shaking her head almost immediately.
“There’s nothing really here that we can…” she was cut off by Isabel and Alex.
“I’ll see what Mom has…” Isabel interrupted.
“I’ll go to the store…” Alex inserted, at the same time.
They looked at each other and smiled. Alex grabbed Isabel’s hand and hauled her toward the door. “We’ll come back with lunch,” Alex threw over his shoulder as the door closed behind them.
Serena watched Isabel and Alex holding hands as they left the room and shook her head. She’d thought Kyle and Isabel were together, but maybe she’d been wrong. She turned her attention toward the only other person left in the room. Michael. She could tell he didn’t trust her. He had taken a protective position sitting against the wall outside Max and Liz’s room and it was obvious by the way he kept glaring at her that he held her partially responsible for what had happened to his friends. She couldn’t blame him.
“Sit down,” Michael commanded, now that they were alone. Serena looked at him in surprise at the forceful tone of his voice, but complied immediately anyway.
Michael climbed to his feet and stood towering over her. “Hurt them again and I’ll kill you myself. Understood?” His expression was set in hard lines of anger and she had no doubt that he meant what he’d said.
She nodded her head solemnly and wrung her hands together. “I would never hurt them. They’re too special. There’s no way…It’s why I helped them escape,” she supplied for him.
Michael nodded once and relaxed just slightly before he headed back to sit against the wall by Max’s door, knowing an understanding had been reached.
Isabel and Alex reappeared about fifteen minutes later laden with enough food to feed ten people. Serena rushed to help unburden their arms before anything could fall to the floor.
Alex looked a little sheepish. “Diane’s been downstairs cooking for the last few hours. Guess it gave her something to do. Anyway,” he peeked under the lid of a large pot and the steam that escaped was fragrant with the smell of chicken soup, “It looks really good.” His stomach growled and he placed a hand over it as he glanced up to see if Serena had noticed. She was looking at him with a smile in her eyes and pulled a few bowls down out of the cupboard where she had found them in her earlier search for food.
Isabel ladled out generous helpings of the soup and prepared a tray for Liz and Max that included fresh fruit and rolls. Serena lifted one tray into her arms and made her way to the door. Michael was standing in front of it with his arms crossed and didn’t look like he wanted to budge.
Serena lifted one eyebrow. “Excuse us,” she inserted politely, hoping he would step to the side. He held her gaze for a moment and then opened the door. It swung open behind him and he grabbed the other tray from Isabel’s startled hands as he followed Serena into the room. He hooked his foot around the door and gave it a gentle push to swing it closed again.
“It’s 1:12pm,” Serena said as she stared at Max sitting on the floor against the wall across the room. Max nodded and wiped his hands over his jeans.
Michael looked back and forth between the two and wondered what that was all about. Max climbed to his feet and put his palms back against the wall as he had been taught, and then he shook with a full-body shudder as he realized that he didn’t have to do that anymore. He forced himself to place one foot in front of the other and move toward Serena. It felt wrong. Strange to be making this motion voluntarily without the threat of harm to Liz. His eyes darted to Liz and he saw that she had opened her eyes at the sounds around her. He detoured to sit on the edge of the bed and tried to catch her eyes. He was unsuccessful and could tell that she wasn’t focusing on anything. She was still lost to him.
Serena set her tray down on the bedside table and reached out for Liz’s arm. She cringed away as she had always done initially. “Liz. It’s time for lunch. You need to eat to stay strong for the baby.” Serena’s voice was calm and insistent as it had always been during mealtime. Liz sat up and waited for the tray. She’d eat the turkey sandwich they always gave her and she’d make every attempt to keep it down. The tray settled over her lap and she focused on her food. She was jarred for a moment to find soup instead of a sandwich and her hands shook a little as she gripped the unfamiliar spoon. She placed a hand over Zan and felt the familiar connection flare to glowing life as she directed all her love and attention to the one constant in her life. She finished the food on the tray and lay back, prepared to nap again and pass the time.
Max watched Liz mechanically eating and didn’t pay any attention to how his own stomach was growling. Michael finally took his arm and directed him to sit in the chair that sat in the corner of the room. Max moved automatically and allowed himself to be pushed down into the soft recesses of the comfortable chair.
“Eat, Max. You need your strength.” Michael followed Serena’s lead and made his voice authoritative, not to be disobeyed. He placed the tray over Max’s lap and watched him until he began to eat. When Liz was finished Max pushed his tray away from himself and stood with his arms crossed over his chest as if he was cold. His hands itched to touch Liz, but he was unwilling to cause her any more stress.
Serena stacked the dishes onto one tray and nested the trays. She picked up the load and left the room, closing the door behind her. Maybe Michael could get through to his friends.
“So,” Michael began, looking back and forth between his friends. He really didn’t know what to say. “I just…I mean,” his eyes kept moving to the floor and he scuffed his foot along the carpet. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. Either of you,” Michael finally blurted, making himself meet Max’s eyes.
Max’s eyes flew to Michael. Was he even serious? Didn’t he know that everything that happened was Max’s fault? Max could see that he didn’t know that. That he was blaming himself.
“It’s not…,” Max struggled to confess, “We don’t blame you at all, Michael.” Max rubbed his hands over his upper arms because he was freezing and he couldn’t maintain eye contact with Michael anymore. He stared at Liz’s motionless form as he continued. “It’s my fault. Everything that’s happened to her. Everything that I’ve done has been so wrong. I’ve made hundreds of mistakes since we’ve gotten together and she’s the one that’s suffered every time.”
Michael crossed the room and took Max by the shoulders shaking him until he met Michael’s gaze. “This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. Do you understand me?”
Max tried to shift away. “No, Michael, you don’t understand what they did to her in there. You don’t understand what I did to her in there,” and Max hoped Michael would never really know what had happened. The shame was too great and he felt filthy once again. He wrenched his shoulders out of Michael’s grip and made his way to the door. “I need to…Can you stay in here with her for a little while?” Max swallowed several times to contain his nausea and waited until Michael nodded his consent.
“Of course. I won’t leave her side.” Michael sat on the bed and watched Max practically run from the room.
This was worse than he’d imagined.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max ran through the living room, not pausing to say anything to his friends that sat together eating. He slammed the bathroom door and dropped to his knees beside the toilet. He leaned over and his body heaved as his lunch left him. He wiped a trembling arm across his mouth and turned to the shower. He turned the water on as hot as he could stand it and stripped down until he was wearing nothing. Stepping in, he turned the water even hotter and used the soap and a rough terry washcloth to try to cleanse his filthy soul. He stayed under the spray until he collapsed to the floor on his knees in exhaustion and the water turned cold. Finally he roused enough to turn it off and he grabbed a towel from the rack.
Once he was dry he couldn’t stomach the thought of pulling on the clothes he had been wearing, so he wrapped the towel around his waist and trekked across the living room again not hearing the gasping exclamation from Isabel as she noted the changes in his body.
Walking into his own room, he closed the door and leaned back against it weakly, his attention immediately directed to Liz. Michael had turned to face the door at the first sound and immediately rose to assist Max.
“What did they do to you?” Michael hissed out harshly. He could see the unhealed burn marks down Max’s back and he could see that though Max’s muscles were much more firmly delineated he was much thinner than he had been when he’d left. And all over his body his skin was now an angry pink.
“I’m…I…The shower was hot and I was so dirty,” Max whispered brokenly, hoping Michael would leave it alone.
“You did this?” Michael asked in a disbelieving tone, indicating the pink, raw skin that looked like it could bleed at any moment.
“I…I’m dirty,” Max insisted again. “I hurt her.” Couldn’t Michael see?
“Max, come over here and sit down.” Michael took his arm even when Max tried to pull away and led him over to the chair. He knelt down in front of his friend and waited until Max was looking at him.
“While you were in there, did you ever once do anything that wasn’t something to keep Liz safe? Did you ever hurt her intentionally? Did you run tests on her? Torture her for your own gain?” Michael’s voice was harsh and he didn’t stop until Max’s hands shoved him roughly until he was sprawled on his back on the floor.
“Of course not, Michael! I would never intentionally hurt Liz! What kind of monster…” Max’s eyes widened as he realized what he was saying. “Oh my God!” What did this mean? Michael had made him really think about why he had done what he had done. Made him realize that maybe, with time, he could get back what he had lost. The tears he had held back for so long burst from him and he tumbled to his knees on the floor beside Michael. His body shook and Michael absorbed the movement as he enfolded his friend into his arms.
“We’re here for you. We’re here for Liz. We’ll keep you safe as long as it takes.” Michael rocked Max back and forth and his voice was soothing as he kept up his running monologue.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max crept slowly into the bed next to Liz. It was night again, and Max had finally managed to convince Michael that he was stable enough to be left alone with Liz. The room was blessedly dark. Max reached out a tentative hand and very lightly touched Liz’s belly over baby Zan. He opened his mind as his fingers rose and fell with Liz’s sleeping breath.
There! He sighed and closed his eyes as the beloved connection to Zan washed through him. His breathing evened out and he had almost allowed himself to sleep for the first time in way too long when he felt a new element enter the connection. His breath sobbed out and his eyes flew open. Liz!
‘Liz! I love you! Liz, come back to me! His mind projected these thoughts to his love as easily as ever. The familiar pattern of the connection something never to be forgotten or taken for granted after the long absence.
Max? Liz’s return thought was so tentative, so scared of being batted down and rejected. She had only sought the familiar connection to the baby and had found something else, wholly unexpected. Max sobbed aloud as he felt her tentative fear and hopeful love. She didn’t blame him! She had thought he was dead! The relief that she would come back to him flowed back into her through the bond and his hand moved across her stomach to gather her close.
Liz’s body was trembling and her arms tentative as they wrapped around the familiar contours of Max’s body. She wanted to look. She needed to see that this was real, but she was so scared, frightened beyond belief that this was another trick to break her down. If she opened her eyes and he wasn’t there…
“Liz,” Max’s beloved voice reached her ears and his assurances flooded into their bond. “Open your eyes, baby. I’m really here.”
Liz’s dark eyes squinched closed tighter for a brief moment and she inhaled Max’s spicy scent. The familiar smell calmed her enough to allow her to hope, and her eyes cracked open the tiniest bit. They rested on a muscular, familiar chest and rose slowly to take in the strong column of a male neck. She hesitated for the briefest second, but then let her eyes raise to see the face of the man holding her so tenderly. The breath whooshed out of her body as her eyes met his and she almost couldn’t catch her breath.
“Max,” she started huskily. Her hand rose and her fingers trembled as she traced a line down his cheek, following the path of his tears. “I love you, Max.”
TBC
EYA Part 88
I love you, Max.
And he broke.
As if her soft words were a trigger, his tears streamed faster, covering her delicate fingers and her breath whooshed from her body as his arms surrounded her tightly as if he would never let go. Their bond was wide open. Emotions spilled between them raw and uncensored. Love and longing, adoration and fear, utter devotion coupled with outrage and inner strength. She saw what had happened to him and grieved at what he had endured to keep her safe from the threat of further harm. She was in awe of his strength in the face of his worst nightmares coming true all around him. Her fingers tangled themselves into his shaggy hair, memorizing the new length and reveling in the freedom to touch him. She held his head to her chest as his body rocked against hers with the force of his outburst. Great sobs escaped his throat as he gulped in air and she let her hand trail over his back soothingly.
She could be strong for him first. He’d be there for her when she felt safe enough to let down her own walls. For now, she was lost in him utterly. The connection completed them, made her feel whole for the first time in…in…Her brow wrinkled and she nuzzled her face into his shoulder seeking solace. She didn’t know how long. The thought disturbed her on so many levels. Where had she been? Not literally, the physical location was of no importance at this moment, but within herself she had been so lost.
Images assailed her. Hard moments, flashes of pain and anguish that she tried to hold back, but that persisted in flooding her. She started to struggle under Max’s weight, needing to be free to move and breath and figure out what was happening. What had happened.
Max felt the change immediately. He sat up in her arms and turned his glowing amber eyes to meet her own confused gaze.
“It’s over, Liz,” he said it and thought it, pushing the feeling of security and love through to her with every fiber of his being. It worked for him too. He realized immediately that a lie could not exist between them. It was truly over and they had survived and they were together. Forever. He was persistent, not giving in for a moment to the flood of uncertainty and doubt that was assailing her, and slowly, so slowly he could feel her moving out of the bad place. He felt her reaching for him, for him, and it was good, and right, and damn perfect that she fit into the curve of his arms so naturally, that she curled herself into his body until she was almost on top of him, nuzzling her face into the soft fabric of his over-size West Roswell High sweatshirt and inhaling him so that she could feel him surrounding her, within her.
His hands ran up and down her back as she shivered under the weight of her emotions. His fingers tangled suddenly in the tie that held her thin hospital gown together and her body stiffened over his again. Revulsion, liquid and hot, flooded her suddenly and she was pushing against his chest to sit up, her arms already at her neck yanking at the thin gown, pulling and desperate to separate herself from this last vestige of her captivity. Small whimpers escaped her throat and tears threatened to fall as the gown frustrated her every attempt to pull free. The knots pulled tighter and her hands grew more frantic when it looked like she would never be free of it.
Max’s hands covered hers in an instant. His eyes held hers and she felt a glow of warmth behind her back and the gown fell away. Max grabbed a handful of fabric and threw it out of sight on the far side of the bed. He would dispose of it later. Permanently. Max’s warm hands covered Liz’s cheeks, his thumbs grazing the tired marks under her eyes as he waited for her full attention. There. She looked at him and really saw him again for the first time since her panic attack.
“I’ll get you something to wear,” he whispered softly, not wanting to startle her. His hands moved down to her shoulders and began to rub up and down her bare arms.
Liz nodded, her eyes locked on his. Max lost himself there for another moment, willing himself to get the energy and the desire to move away to find her…something, um yeah, something to…um, wear! He had to do this. He pulled back slightly, so reluctantly, but Liz’s hands were suddenly clutching him back to her, frantic that he not leave her sitting alone on the bed. “Something of yours,” she insisted softly, knowing she needed to get dressed. Shivering at the thought of losing contact for even a moment.
Max nodded, understanding perfectly. He reached down to the hem of his sweatshirt and in one quick pull it was over his head, leaving him in sweatpants and a white ribbed sleeveless tee. He pulled it swiftly over Liz’s head, shifting the voluminous garment around until her arms and head found the right openings. He smoothed the hem down over her bare hips until the fabric pooled at her thighs. Liz gathered the fabric at the neck into her fist and pulled it up to cover her nose. She inhaled deeply, satisfied with the spicy scent and calmed immediately. She raised huge liquid brown eyes to her love and gasped at what she saw.
Max felt her confusion and looked down at his exposed arms to see the cause. His hands leapt to cover the reddened and chapped skin and for the first time he was faintly embarrassed by the marks he had placed on his own body, the harm he had inflicted on himself in his efforts to rid his skin of the evil stench that had surrounded him. Her small hands covered his and then she was there, close and closer until she was sitting in his lap and chanting, ‘I know. I know. I understand,’ repeatedly until she felt him relax beneath her. He freed his arms that had been trapped between them and leaned back slightly. He placed one over his chest and a white glow sprang from his palm. Liz watched, endlessly fascinated as always, to see the incredible healing ability that her mate possessed. The marks left his skin perfect and unblemished.
He hugged her close and brought her lips to his in a soft and perfect kiss. A thank you for her understanding and strength. She snuggled back into his body, both understanding that it was not yet the time to go any further. They were too fragile, too needy. They sat together, talking in muffled tones, catching up, reassuring…neither saw the door gently open and then close again quietly while their bond wrapped them together in a cocoon of comfort.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Well?!” Maria’s impatient voice matched her cross-armed posture and tapping foot.
“What?” Michael answered back as if mystified, just for the sake of being annoying.
Maria was having none of it. “You know what I’m talking about, Michael. I know I heard a noise in there. Now spill it before I have to hurt you!”
Michael gave up and grinned, pulling Maria close. “You were right. They’re in there talking and Max is holding Liz really close. It looks like she’s snapped out of it.” Michael sounded so hopeful and the grin tugged at her heart. Maria pulled him down to lock him into a tender kiss.
She pulled away after several moments, out of breath and, for once, happy about the reason. “Let’s go get some food,” she prompted him, pulling at his arms. She started walking away, but stopped abruptly when Michael didn’t move to follow her.
She looked back over her shoulder, one perfectly arched brow quirking up in an expression that clearly said, ‘What now, Michael?’
“I’m not going anywhere, Maria.” Michael met her gaze evenly and crossed his arms over his chest. “Just because Liz is awake doesn’t mean they’re not in danger. I have to be here if they need anything. Tess is still out there somewhere, and I don’t know how much we can trust Serena either. I’m not leaving them alone again.”
Maria sighed. He wasn’t moving and after everything they had been through she could see that it would do more harm than good to try to convince Michael to leave his post right then. She turned back toward the apartment’s door and crossed the distance alone. “I’ll bring you something back,” she told him over her shoulder, her hand on the doorknob.
Just then the door to Max and Liz’s room opened and the couple walked out with their arms wrapped around each other. Michael and Maria turned to face them, their mouths hanging open in surprise at their abrupt appearance. And then Maria was running.
“Liz! Oh my…you were so…I’m so glad…” she was stuttering in her excitement and couldn’t complete a thought. She reached out to hug Liz close. At the first contact of her hand to Liz’s arm a huge white spark flashed out and blinded her as she was pushed back forcibly by the power that emanated from the couple. The breath was knocked out of her and she would have fallen to the floor, except Michael caught her mid-swoon and pulled her up, his eyes rounded in disbelief over what he had seen. Was still seeing.
Max and Liz walked on, completely wrapped up in each other and oblivious about what had occurred. Their connection held them completely.
“And the adventure continues,” Michael murmured softly as he watched Max and Liz close the bathroom door behind themselves. He lowered Maria’s shaking body to the floor and bent over her.
“Are you okay?” He held her small hand in his much larger one and his brow furrowed in concern as she gasped for her breath.
She nodded and tried to speak, stopping to breathe again, deciding she needed another moment.
“I’m gonna take that to mean they want to be alone,” she finally gasped out, sitting up and staring at the closed bathroom door. “What the hell was that?”
“I have no clue,” Michael answered, also staring at the door. The solemnity of the moment was such that Maria refrained from making a witty comeback to the obvious opening Michael had left her.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max removed his clothes and then Liz’s as she stood passively, carefully watching his every movement. He turned the water on in the shower and adjusted the temperature to Liz’s liking without taking his eyes from hers. He reached up his hand to catch hers, not stretching far because they were so close already. He drew her even closer and stepped into the shower as she followed him. This one was hers, and he took a clean washcloth and lathered it thickly with soap. She had understood his need to be clean because she had shared it.
He ran the cloth over her body slowly, thoroughly, and with such loving reverence that there was nothing overtly sexual in the movements at all. They were lost, but lost together, in the connection that bound them, and utterly oblivious to all else. It was a time to heal. A time for reassurance and care taking, and nothing else could break through that. And that was okay for both of them because they were once again complete and whole the way they weren’t allowed to be for far too long.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
The shower was long over and Max and Liz were still wrapped together laying on their bed and communicating silently between themselves. Their touches traversed forgotten places on each other’s bodies and inspired deep shuddering moans and surprised cries from parted lips. Mouths moved together and tasted where they had touched, gentle nibbles and small licks of tongue that caused them to arch and groan deeply. The heat swept over them without being noticed. They remained utterly lost in the motion, sound, and taste of each other.
Clothes were discarded and fell to the floor unnoticed. Hands became more urgent, petting and stroking over sweat slick skin and pausing to caress hardened nipples and the sweet, tender spot just behind the ear. Fingers tangled into long hair and pulled them closer together as their mouths met once again and opened for a deeper penetration.
And then Max was cradled between Liz’s slender thighs as she urged him closer, and if he paused, just for the slightest moment in hesitation or worry, it went almost unnoticed as she pulled him deeper and arched her body up to meet his. They came together with loud cries and moved together in perfect counterpoint to each other. Her body urged him deeper and his hand moved to her hip as he thrust into her with long, smooth strokes. Her breath panted out in soft mewling cries and her pleasure washed through him until he shuddered to join her in the exquisite release that claimed her.
Their loud cries echoed through the room.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Oh my God!” Maria whispered with her hand over her mouth.
Michael looked at the pizza in his hand and threw it back on the plate, suddenly no longer hungry.
“Well, that just killed my appetite,” he noted sourly.
Maria smacked his arm and her smile beamed out clearly at him. “Don’t you know what this means? Liz is back! Max and Liz are back!” She was practically jumping in her seat and had momentarily forgotten her upset over the shock she had received earlier.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“I love you so much.” Liz caressed the fingers of her left hand over Max’s cheek and nuzzled her face into his neck just listening to him breathe.
Max moved his hand up to cover hers and hold it close to his skin, cherishing the beauty of her touch. He smoothed his fingers over hers and something bothered him. Something that wasn’t right…
He pulled back suddenly and she mewled in protest at the abrupt loss of his warmth.
“Max…what?”
He was reaching out and rustling through the contents of the bedside table and only stopped when he turned back to her with a triumphant smile.
“What?” She repeated again, a faint smile starting on her full lips as she saw the happiness in his eyes.
“Close your eyes,” he urged her gently. “And hold out your hand.”
Liz narrowed her eyes at him and then obeyed, putting her right hand out for whatever he had planned.
“No. No, the other hand.” He sounded like a kid, he was so eager for the surprise.
Liz’s eyes flashed open to laugh into his briefly before she shut them tightly again and held out her other hand.
She felt her fingers enveloped with the warm comfort of his touch and then gasped as cool metal was slipped over her ring finger and quickly warmed to her skin as if it had never left. Her eyes flew open and she clutched her own left hand with her right one.
“Oh, Max! I thought…I thought it was lost. I didn’t think I’d ever. Thank you! I love you!” She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him, holding her left hand out to see the sparkle of the precious ring that symbolized their love. Their union.
She pushed back from him and checked his left hand only to find it bare. He felt the faintest flash of disappointment from her that he didn’t have his before he sensed it and opened his right hand to reveal his own ring.
“I have it too. I wanted you to put it back where it belonged whenever you were ready,” he told her shyly. He honestly had wondered if he would ever deserve to wear it again, but his union with Liz had shown him so many things. He still had so many issues and fears, but Liz loved him and didn’t blame him for anything that had happened. Now he only had to forgive himself. He watched Liz take the ring from his palm and bring it to her lips. She kissed it gently before taking his left hand in hers.
He closed his eyes as the ring slipped over his finger and warmed to him quickly. He inhaled deeply and opened his eyes, ready to face the future. “Thank you, Liz.”
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Isabel and Maria entered the apartment abruptly. “Okay, Michael. It’s time for you to take a break and go home to sleep for a while,” Isabel told him imperiously.
Michael’s head popped up, banging the wall behind him and he groaned and reached a hand back to feel for a bump as he realized he had dozed off during his guard duties. “Wha…No, Isabel. I have to be here in case…”
“I’ll be here, Michael.” Isabel crossed the room and took a seat beside him on the floor outside Max and Liz’s room. She laid a gentle hand on his knee and rubbed it lightly. “You’ve been awake for days, Michael. You won’t do them any good if you’re exhausted. Go and get some rest and I will wait right here until you come back, okay?”
Michael glared at Maria, immediately suspecting that she had put Isabel up to this. She just gave him an innocent look back and tried not to gloat. Michael needed the rest.
He climbed slowly to his feet, knowing they were right. “I could just sleep here on the couch,” he offered, realizing he could still stay close.
“No, Michael,” Isabel insisted, wanting him to get some true rest. “You can go lay down in my room if you want, but you are going to go to bed. A real bed. And get some quality rest.”
“Um, okay.” Michael joined Maria by the door.
“Oh, Michael?” Isabel asked quickly before they could leave.
Michael turned back to her still rubbing the back of his head.
“Have you given them anything to eat recently, because I could take something in…”
“No!” Maria and Michael chorused together loudly.
“What? You’re not worried she’s gonna shock me like she did you, are you?” Isabel was in the dark now. Maria had said that Liz had awakened and was interacting with Max. They were probably starving by now.
“Don’t interrupt them, Isabel. Not for any reason. They need this time to heal right now more than they need food. They’re bonding, got that?”
Isabel shook her head. Whatever, Michael., clearly stamped on her face. “What if there’s a fire?” She asked facetiously, just to see what he would say.
“Sure, if there’s a fire you can open that door. But not until you’ve tried to put it out yourself,” Michael answered seriously. “And if you can’t put it out by yourself then you call 911 and you still don’t go in there, and if they put you on hold you can just wait ‘til they pick up the line.” He paused and thought seriously for a moment. “If it starts to get too close to their door, maybe then you can interrupt them.” He grabbed Maria’s hand and pulled her outside with him.
Isabel was still gaping at the door in shock when it suddenly swung back open and Michael peeked his head back through. “I’m serious, Isabel. Don’t go in there.”
The door closed behind them with a decided click.
TBC
I love you, Max.
And he broke.
As if her soft words were a trigger, his tears streamed faster, covering her delicate fingers and her breath whooshed from her body as his arms surrounded her tightly as if he would never let go. Their bond was wide open. Emotions spilled between them raw and uncensored. Love and longing, adoration and fear, utter devotion coupled with outrage and inner strength. She saw what had happened to him and grieved at what he had endured to keep her safe from the threat of further harm. She was in awe of his strength in the face of his worst nightmares coming true all around him. Her fingers tangled themselves into his shaggy hair, memorizing the new length and reveling in the freedom to touch him. She held his head to her chest as his body rocked against hers with the force of his outburst. Great sobs escaped his throat as he gulped in air and she let her hand trail over his back soothingly.
She could be strong for him first. He’d be there for her when she felt safe enough to let down her own walls. For now, she was lost in him utterly. The connection completed them, made her feel whole for the first time in…in…Her brow wrinkled and she nuzzled her face into his shoulder seeking solace. She didn’t know how long. The thought disturbed her on so many levels. Where had she been? Not literally, the physical location was of no importance at this moment, but within herself she had been so lost.
Images assailed her. Hard moments, flashes of pain and anguish that she tried to hold back, but that persisted in flooding her. She started to struggle under Max’s weight, needing to be free to move and breath and figure out what was happening. What had happened.
Max felt the change immediately. He sat up in her arms and turned his glowing amber eyes to meet her own confused gaze.
“It’s over, Liz,” he said it and thought it, pushing the feeling of security and love through to her with every fiber of his being. It worked for him too. He realized immediately that a lie could not exist between them. It was truly over and they had survived and they were together. Forever. He was persistent, not giving in for a moment to the flood of uncertainty and doubt that was assailing her, and slowly, so slowly he could feel her moving out of the bad place. He felt her reaching for him, for him, and it was good, and right, and damn perfect that she fit into the curve of his arms so naturally, that she curled herself into his body until she was almost on top of him, nuzzling her face into the soft fabric of his over-size West Roswell High sweatshirt and inhaling him so that she could feel him surrounding her, within her.
His hands ran up and down her back as she shivered under the weight of her emotions. His fingers tangled suddenly in the tie that held her thin hospital gown together and her body stiffened over his again. Revulsion, liquid and hot, flooded her suddenly and she was pushing against his chest to sit up, her arms already at her neck yanking at the thin gown, pulling and desperate to separate herself from this last vestige of her captivity. Small whimpers escaped her throat and tears threatened to fall as the gown frustrated her every attempt to pull free. The knots pulled tighter and her hands grew more frantic when it looked like she would never be free of it.
Max’s hands covered hers in an instant. His eyes held hers and she felt a glow of warmth behind her back and the gown fell away. Max grabbed a handful of fabric and threw it out of sight on the far side of the bed. He would dispose of it later. Permanently. Max’s warm hands covered Liz’s cheeks, his thumbs grazing the tired marks under her eyes as he waited for her full attention. There. She looked at him and really saw him again for the first time since her panic attack.
“I’ll get you something to wear,” he whispered softly, not wanting to startle her. His hands moved down to her shoulders and began to rub up and down her bare arms.
Liz nodded, her eyes locked on his. Max lost himself there for another moment, willing himself to get the energy and the desire to move away to find her…something, um yeah, something to…um, wear! He had to do this. He pulled back slightly, so reluctantly, but Liz’s hands were suddenly clutching him back to her, frantic that he not leave her sitting alone on the bed. “Something of yours,” she insisted softly, knowing she needed to get dressed. Shivering at the thought of losing contact for even a moment.
Max nodded, understanding perfectly. He reached down to the hem of his sweatshirt and in one quick pull it was over his head, leaving him in sweatpants and a white ribbed sleeveless tee. He pulled it swiftly over Liz’s head, shifting the voluminous garment around until her arms and head found the right openings. He smoothed the hem down over her bare hips until the fabric pooled at her thighs. Liz gathered the fabric at the neck into her fist and pulled it up to cover her nose. She inhaled deeply, satisfied with the spicy scent and calmed immediately. She raised huge liquid brown eyes to her love and gasped at what she saw.
Max felt her confusion and looked down at his exposed arms to see the cause. His hands leapt to cover the reddened and chapped skin and for the first time he was faintly embarrassed by the marks he had placed on his own body, the harm he had inflicted on himself in his efforts to rid his skin of the evil stench that had surrounded him. Her small hands covered his and then she was there, close and closer until she was sitting in his lap and chanting, ‘I know. I know. I understand,’ repeatedly until she felt him relax beneath her. He freed his arms that had been trapped between them and leaned back slightly. He placed one over his chest and a white glow sprang from his palm. Liz watched, endlessly fascinated as always, to see the incredible healing ability that her mate possessed. The marks left his skin perfect and unblemished.
He hugged her close and brought her lips to his in a soft and perfect kiss. A thank you for her understanding and strength. She snuggled back into his body, both understanding that it was not yet the time to go any further. They were too fragile, too needy. They sat together, talking in muffled tones, catching up, reassuring…neither saw the door gently open and then close again quietly while their bond wrapped them together in a cocoon of comfort.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Well?!” Maria’s impatient voice matched her cross-armed posture and tapping foot.
“What?” Michael answered back as if mystified, just for the sake of being annoying.
Maria was having none of it. “You know what I’m talking about, Michael. I know I heard a noise in there. Now spill it before I have to hurt you!”
Michael gave up and grinned, pulling Maria close. “You were right. They’re in there talking and Max is holding Liz really close. It looks like she’s snapped out of it.” Michael sounded so hopeful and the grin tugged at her heart. Maria pulled him down to lock him into a tender kiss.
She pulled away after several moments, out of breath and, for once, happy about the reason. “Let’s go get some food,” she prompted him, pulling at his arms. She started walking away, but stopped abruptly when Michael didn’t move to follow her.
She looked back over her shoulder, one perfectly arched brow quirking up in an expression that clearly said, ‘What now, Michael?’
“I’m not going anywhere, Maria.” Michael met her gaze evenly and crossed his arms over his chest. “Just because Liz is awake doesn’t mean they’re not in danger. I have to be here if they need anything. Tess is still out there somewhere, and I don’t know how much we can trust Serena either. I’m not leaving them alone again.”
Maria sighed. He wasn’t moving and after everything they had been through she could see that it would do more harm than good to try to convince Michael to leave his post right then. She turned back toward the apartment’s door and crossed the distance alone. “I’ll bring you something back,” she told him over her shoulder, her hand on the doorknob.
Just then the door to Max and Liz’s room opened and the couple walked out with their arms wrapped around each other. Michael and Maria turned to face them, their mouths hanging open in surprise at their abrupt appearance. And then Maria was running.
“Liz! Oh my…you were so…I’m so glad…” she was stuttering in her excitement and couldn’t complete a thought. She reached out to hug Liz close. At the first contact of her hand to Liz’s arm a huge white spark flashed out and blinded her as she was pushed back forcibly by the power that emanated from the couple. The breath was knocked out of her and she would have fallen to the floor, except Michael caught her mid-swoon and pulled her up, his eyes rounded in disbelief over what he had seen. Was still seeing.
Max and Liz walked on, completely wrapped up in each other and oblivious about what had occurred. Their connection held them completely.
“And the adventure continues,” Michael murmured softly as he watched Max and Liz close the bathroom door behind themselves. He lowered Maria’s shaking body to the floor and bent over her.
“Are you okay?” He held her small hand in his much larger one and his brow furrowed in concern as she gasped for her breath.
She nodded and tried to speak, stopping to breathe again, deciding she needed another moment.
“I’m gonna take that to mean they want to be alone,” she finally gasped out, sitting up and staring at the closed bathroom door. “What the hell was that?”
“I have no clue,” Michael answered, also staring at the door. The solemnity of the moment was such that Maria refrained from making a witty comeback to the obvious opening Michael had left her.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Max removed his clothes and then Liz’s as she stood passively, carefully watching his every movement. He turned the water on in the shower and adjusted the temperature to Liz’s liking without taking his eyes from hers. He reached up his hand to catch hers, not stretching far because they were so close already. He drew her even closer and stepped into the shower as she followed him. This one was hers, and he took a clean washcloth and lathered it thickly with soap. She had understood his need to be clean because she had shared it.
He ran the cloth over her body slowly, thoroughly, and with such loving reverence that there was nothing overtly sexual in the movements at all. They were lost, but lost together, in the connection that bound them, and utterly oblivious to all else. It was a time to heal. A time for reassurance and care taking, and nothing else could break through that. And that was okay for both of them because they were once again complete and whole the way they weren’t allowed to be for far too long.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
The shower was long over and Max and Liz were still wrapped together laying on their bed and communicating silently between themselves. Their touches traversed forgotten places on each other’s bodies and inspired deep shuddering moans and surprised cries from parted lips. Mouths moved together and tasted where they had touched, gentle nibbles and small licks of tongue that caused them to arch and groan deeply. The heat swept over them without being noticed. They remained utterly lost in the motion, sound, and taste of each other.
Clothes were discarded and fell to the floor unnoticed. Hands became more urgent, petting and stroking over sweat slick skin and pausing to caress hardened nipples and the sweet, tender spot just behind the ear. Fingers tangled into long hair and pulled them closer together as their mouths met once again and opened for a deeper penetration.
And then Max was cradled between Liz’s slender thighs as she urged him closer, and if he paused, just for the slightest moment in hesitation or worry, it went almost unnoticed as she pulled him deeper and arched her body up to meet his. They came together with loud cries and moved together in perfect counterpoint to each other. Her body urged him deeper and his hand moved to her hip as he thrust into her with long, smooth strokes. Her breath panted out in soft mewling cries and her pleasure washed through him until he shuddered to join her in the exquisite release that claimed her.
Their loud cries echoed through the room.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“Oh my God!” Maria whispered with her hand over her mouth.
Michael looked at the pizza in his hand and threw it back on the plate, suddenly no longer hungry.
“Well, that just killed my appetite,” he noted sourly.
Maria smacked his arm and her smile beamed out clearly at him. “Don’t you know what this means? Liz is back! Max and Liz are back!” She was practically jumping in her seat and had momentarily forgotten her upset over the shock she had received earlier.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
“I love you so much.” Liz caressed the fingers of her left hand over Max’s cheek and nuzzled her face into his neck just listening to him breathe.
Max moved his hand up to cover hers and hold it close to his skin, cherishing the beauty of her touch. He smoothed his fingers over hers and something bothered him. Something that wasn’t right…
He pulled back suddenly and she mewled in protest at the abrupt loss of his warmth.
“Max…what?”
He was reaching out and rustling through the contents of the bedside table and only stopped when he turned back to her with a triumphant smile.
“What?” She repeated again, a faint smile starting on her full lips as she saw the happiness in his eyes.
“Close your eyes,” he urged her gently. “And hold out your hand.”
Liz narrowed her eyes at him and then obeyed, putting her right hand out for whatever he had planned.
“No. No, the other hand.” He sounded like a kid, he was so eager for the surprise.
Liz’s eyes flashed open to laugh into his briefly before she shut them tightly again and held out her other hand.
She felt her fingers enveloped with the warm comfort of his touch and then gasped as cool metal was slipped over her ring finger and quickly warmed to her skin as if it had never left. Her eyes flew open and she clutched her own left hand with her right one.
“Oh, Max! I thought…I thought it was lost. I didn’t think I’d ever. Thank you! I love you!” She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him, holding her left hand out to see the sparkle of the precious ring that symbolized their love. Their union.
She pushed back from him and checked his left hand only to find it bare. He felt the faintest flash of disappointment from her that he didn’t have his before he sensed it and opened his right hand to reveal his own ring.
“I have it too. I wanted you to put it back where it belonged whenever you were ready,” he told her shyly. He honestly had wondered if he would ever deserve to wear it again, but his union with Liz had shown him so many things. He still had so many issues and fears, but Liz loved him and didn’t blame him for anything that had happened. Now he only had to forgive himself. He watched Liz take the ring from his palm and bring it to her lips. She kissed it gently before taking his left hand in hers.
He closed his eyes as the ring slipped over his finger and warmed to him quickly. He inhaled deeply and opened his eyes, ready to face the future. “Thank you, Liz.”
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Isabel and Maria entered the apartment abruptly. “Okay, Michael. It’s time for you to take a break and go home to sleep for a while,” Isabel told him imperiously.
Michael’s head popped up, banging the wall behind him and he groaned and reached a hand back to feel for a bump as he realized he had dozed off during his guard duties. “Wha…No, Isabel. I have to be here in case…”
“I’ll be here, Michael.” Isabel crossed the room and took a seat beside him on the floor outside Max and Liz’s room. She laid a gentle hand on his knee and rubbed it lightly. “You’ve been awake for days, Michael. You won’t do them any good if you’re exhausted. Go and get some rest and I will wait right here until you come back, okay?”
Michael glared at Maria, immediately suspecting that she had put Isabel up to this. She just gave him an innocent look back and tried not to gloat. Michael needed the rest.
He climbed slowly to his feet, knowing they were right. “I could just sleep here on the couch,” he offered, realizing he could still stay close.
“No, Michael,” Isabel insisted, wanting him to get some true rest. “You can go lay down in my room if you want, but you are going to go to bed. A real bed. And get some quality rest.”
“Um, okay.” Michael joined Maria by the door.
“Oh, Michael?” Isabel asked quickly before they could leave.
Michael turned back to her still rubbing the back of his head.
“Have you given them anything to eat recently, because I could take something in…”
“No!” Maria and Michael chorused together loudly.
“What? You’re not worried she’s gonna shock me like she did you, are you?” Isabel was in the dark now. Maria had said that Liz had awakened and was interacting with Max. They were probably starving by now.
“Don’t interrupt them, Isabel. Not for any reason. They need this time to heal right now more than they need food. They’re bonding, got that?”
Isabel shook her head. Whatever, Michael., clearly stamped on her face. “What if there’s a fire?” She asked facetiously, just to see what he would say.
“Sure, if there’s a fire you can open that door. But not until you’ve tried to put it out yourself,” Michael answered seriously. “And if you can’t put it out by yourself then you call 911 and you still don’t go in there, and if they put you on hold you can just wait ‘til they pick up the line.” He paused and thought seriously for a moment. “If it starts to get too close to their door, maybe then you can interrupt them.” He grabbed Maria’s hand and pulled her outside with him.
Isabel was still gaping at the door in shock when it suddenly swung back open and Michael peeked his head back through. “I’m serious, Isabel. Don’t go in there.”
The door closed behind them with a decided click.
TBC
EYA Part 89
Isabel looked up quickly, startled by the sound of someone fumbling at the front door to Max and Liz’s apartment. It was after midnight and she had assumed that everyone had gone to bed. She got up and pulled the door the rest of the way open to see who was on the other side.
“Mom!” Isabel moved quickly to help her mother with several large grocery bags that threatened to spill their contents all over the floor at any moment. Isabel juggled two of the bags and followed her mother into the small area allotted for the kitchen. “What are you doing? Did you just go shopping? It’s after midnight!”
“I just thought that the kids could use some groceries, you know?” Diane blew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes and settled the bags carefully on the little remaining counter space. She’d had so much nervous energy to burn and hadn’t been able to think of anything else she could do for her kids. “It’s been so long…” she let her thought trail off unspoken, not wanting to remember why it had been so long since the kids had had a chance to stock their own cupboards.
“It was a good idea,” Isabel put in quickly. She hugged her mother warmly. She always thought of things like this, the practical things that would be necessary to keep everyone going. She turned back to the bags and busied herself helping her mother unload the groceries.
“So,” Diane looked up at her daughter with cautious hope in her eyes. “Are they doing better?” After hearing what Maria and Michael had said about their brief contact with Liz earlier she was almost scared to ask.
“Um, I guess. I don’t really know. I’ve only been here a couple of hours and haven’t seen them at all.” She carefully didn’t mention that she had heard them for about an hour earlier and from the volume of the moaning and the happy giggles that eventually followed, they were going to be just fine. She had just turned up the volume a little more on the stereo and studiously ignored them.
“What do you think happened to make Max so…distant?” Diane turned to face her daughter for the answers that no one else had been able to give her yet.
Isabel glanced up sharply before looking back down again. “What do you mean, Mom?” Isabel busied herself putting away groceries again, hoping she wouldn’t have to be the one to explain Max and Liz’s captivity to her mother. It would break her heart.
“Max would barely look at me earlier. Something has made him feel like he can’t turn to me. Did I do something wrong? Make him feel unsafe?”
Isabel dropped the bag of oranges she had been putting into a bowl and hugged her mother again.
“Mom, no!” Isabel was shocked that her mother could even think that she had anything to do with Max’s withdrawal. “You don’t know what happened to them in there. It wasn’t pleasant.” Isabel shuddered in memory of some of her ‘visits’ to Max while he was being held. “I don’t even really know all that happened out there and I think he’ll have to be the one that decides to share it with us or not.” She pulled back and looked at her mother, tears shining in her eyes. “They did…things…to them. Not good things, okay? Max probably just isn’t ready to be touched yet. For a long time they controlled every move he made. They threatened Liz and the baby if he didn’t cooperate. I think it’s gonna take a while to get over that, you know?”
Diane’s eyes welled over with the tears she had been trying to hold back. “I just really want to be here for him, you know? I want to keep him safe and hold him close. I don’t know wh…what I would have done if we had l…lost h…him.” Her breath hitched and then she was sobbing on Isabel’s shoulder.
“Shh, Mom. It’s okay now. Everything is gonna be okay now.” She hugged her mom comfortingly and prayed that her words were true.
Diane eventually pulled back and wiped the tears away from her eyes. She attempted to smile for Isabel to show her she was okay now, but it came out weak and wobbly. “I guess I can’t expect anything to be the way it was anymore, can I?”
Isabel just shook her head and agreed. “Nothing will ever be the same again, Mom.”
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
It was after two o’clock in the morning and Isabel had turned the music on again at a very low volume to stay awake but not disturb her brother and his wife. She had meticulously cleaned the apartment in her efforts to remain alert and vigilant through the night. She hoped that Michael was getting some decent rest at least. She turned to face the blank wall beside her and contemplated which color to paint it. She tilted her head and held out her hand. Maybe a nice shade of pale green…that would be a soothing color… The wall color changed rapidly under her palm, spreading out across the wall until the color stopped where she wanted it to. She stepped back and considered the new look, finally nodding in satisfaction. If they didn’t like it then Max could always change it back.
She walked over to the next wall and held out her hand again. A soft knock on the door startled her before she could do anything else. She jumped and her hand covered her heart in surprise at the unexpected noise this early in the morning. She approached the door cautiously and carefully cracked it open.
“Hey, Isabel,” a weary Kyle greeted her from behind the cracked door.
Isabel threw the door wide open and waved him in. “Kyle! What are you doing here so late at night?” She ushered him further into the room and pulled him to sit down with her on the sofa.
“I could go if you’ve got other plans or something,” Kyle smiled weakly and pretended to get up to leave.
Isabel laughed and pulled him back down beside her, wrapping her arms around him to prevent more foolish attempts to leave her side. “That’s not what I meant. I just thought you and your dad were going home for the night. I’m surprised, but it’s a good surprise, believe me! I thought I was gonna fall asleep from sheer boredom!”
Kyle pulled Isabel further into his arms and hugged her close. He inhaled the clean, fresh scent of her hair and relaxed at last. He had gotten used to sleeping with her in his arms and didn’t realize how much he would miss her until he was home alone in his own bed.
“I’m glad I could be here to alleviate your boredom then,” he teased gently, running a callused hand over the silk of her hair.
Isabel snuggled closer and enjoyed his arms around her. She had missed this. Missed him, more than she thought she would.
Kyle glanced around the room. “Looks like you’ve kept yourself busy though,” he noted, taking in the new patterns on the furniture and the new color that covered one entire wall of the apartment.
Isabel laughed and nodded, looking around too. “Yeah. I sure hope they like it!” She laughed again and noticed the strain in Kyle’s eyes for the first time. She brushed her fingers over his mouth and watched the worry lines turn up into a smile. “What’s wrong?”
Kyle shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, Isabel. You guys have enough going on right now…”
“Kyle, don’t give me that line. If something’s going on with you then I want to know about it!” She pushed against his chest for leverage and sat up straighter beside him.
Kyle sighed deeply and leaned his head against the back of the sofa, his eyes closed. He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts and then rolled his head to the side to look her in the eye. “Dad lost his job,” he told her softly.
Isabel gasped and her eyes widened in shock. “What? I mean…he was out helping us! He’s a hero! How can they do that to him when all he did was help find two missing people?!”
Kyle shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that, Isabel. Dad took off on a case that he wasn’t assigned to and left the police force here without a word for more than three weeks. They didn’t think the ends justified the means and they let him go. He’s pretty depressed. I waited until he finally passed out before I came over, and I shouldn’t stay too long in case he needs me when he wakes up. He’s sure to have a bitch of a hangover after tonight.” He closed his eyes again, weary just thinking about the task ahead of him. He’d need to take care of his father later, but now, right this minute, all he wanted was a moment for himself.
Isabel sensed this and cuddled into him again, resting her cheek against his strong chest and listening to his steady heartbeat. Kyle let his hands wander over her back and allowed himself to enjoy the moment.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Maria woke up and stretched her arms up over her head, stopping when she realized that she wasn’t alone in the bed. Carefully, she maneuvered herself out from under Michael’s heavy arm and scooted over to the edge of the bed. Her mouth was dry and she was thirsty.
She padded her way barefoot into the Evans’ kitchen and was surprised to find that it was already occupied. Serena and Alex had their heads bent close together as they conversed in quiet tones. Maria moved close enough to catch a few phrases, but still didn’t understand what they were talking about.
“Greigor’s theory clearly contradicts…” Alex was arguing softly.
Serena interrupted, “Not if you take into account the mass vs. density!”
“Ahh!” Alex was nodding vigorously as if he now understood completely.
“Hi, guys,” Maria interjected. Both young faces looked up at her, startled by the interruption.
“Hey, Maria,” Alex greeted warmly.
“Hi, Maria,” Serena added softly, looking down. She wasn’t sure where she stood with all of Max and Liz’s friends yet. She had never been around a group of people like this before. They all rallied together and the bonds of their friendship and loyalty were clear and unbreakable. She felt like an intruder. Long fingers curled around hers reassuringly and she looked up to meet Alex’s conforting smile. She offered a tentative smile in return, feeling more secure that maybe she had one friend here at least.
Maria watched their interaction with a questioning look in her eye, but turned to get herself a glass before the other two could see it. She didn’t know what to think about Serena yet. Michael sure didn’t trust her, but the girl had helped her friends escape. They would still be trapped in there if not for Serena’s courage. And she had risked her life to run back and get Max and Liz’s wedding rings. She couldn’t be all bad. She opened the fridge and moved a few items around, settling on orange juice. She poured herself a large glass and turned back to face the table where the others sat.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Alex asked her softly. The late hour seemed to amplify every noise and he didn’t want to disturb anyone else in the house.
Maria shook her head and sat across from them at the table. “Michael’s out like a light, but he’s been up for days. I took a nap when I went home earlier and now my body doesn’t know what to do.”
Alex nodded understandingly. “We fell asleep earlier too,” he put in, indicating Serena.
Maria raised an eyebrow at that. “Together?” She sputtered it out before she could stop herself.
Serena blushed, even though she wasn’t quite sure why. It had been completely innocent.
Alex gave Serena a small smile, noting her discomfort and squeezed her hand gently under the table. “Um, yeah, I guess. I mean, we fell asleep in the living room this afternoon when everything was calm for a while, you know?”
Maria nodded, wondering if something was going on between those two. She’d have to have a one-on-one with Alex later…
“So, Serena, you staying here for now?” Maria asked.
Serena nodded, studying the tabletop. “Um, yeah. For now. I mean, Mrs. Evans offered and I really didn’t have anywhere else to go so…”
Maria nodded. Diane had been so grateful that Serena had helped Max and Liz escape, that she had accepted Serena’s presence happily, as if she were a member of the family.
Maria tipped back her glass and drained the last of the juice before getting up. “Well, I think I’ll go back and see if I can sleep now. We’ve got a lot to do tomorrow and I want to be awake for it.”
Alex looked confused. “What’s going on tomorrow?” He’d thought they’d have some time to recover before they needed to start anything new.
Maria paused in the doorway, one hand on the frame as she turned back to them. “Liz’s parents. They need to know that she’s back. We need to think up a good story to tell them and hope Liz is aware enough of what’s going on to help us cover for what really happened.”
Alex bit his lip nervously. He’d completely forgotten about them. Maria was right. Tomorrow would be a busy day.
TBC
Isabel looked up quickly, startled by the sound of someone fumbling at the front door to Max and Liz’s apartment. It was after midnight and she had assumed that everyone had gone to bed. She got up and pulled the door the rest of the way open to see who was on the other side.
“Mom!” Isabel moved quickly to help her mother with several large grocery bags that threatened to spill their contents all over the floor at any moment. Isabel juggled two of the bags and followed her mother into the small area allotted for the kitchen. “What are you doing? Did you just go shopping? It’s after midnight!”
“I just thought that the kids could use some groceries, you know?” Diane blew a stray strand of hair out of her eyes and settled the bags carefully on the little remaining counter space. She’d had so much nervous energy to burn and hadn’t been able to think of anything else she could do for her kids. “It’s been so long…” she let her thought trail off unspoken, not wanting to remember why it had been so long since the kids had had a chance to stock their own cupboards.
“It was a good idea,” Isabel put in quickly. She hugged her mother warmly. She always thought of things like this, the practical things that would be necessary to keep everyone going. She turned back to the bags and busied herself helping her mother unload the groceries.
“So,” Diane looked up at her daughter with cautious hope in her eyes. “Are they doing better?” After hearing what Maria and Michael had said about their brief contact with Liz earlier she was almost scared to ask.
“Um, I guess. I don’t really know. I’ve only been here a couple of hours and haven’t seen them at all.” She carefully didn’t mention that she had heard them for about an hour earlier and from the volume of the moaning and the happy giggles that eventually followed, they were going to be just fine. She had just turned up the volume a little more on the stereo and studiously ignored them.
“What do you think happened to make Max so…distant?” Diane turned to face her daughter for the answers that no one else had been able to give her yet.
Isabel glanced up sharply before looking back down again. “What do you mean, Mom?” Isabel busied herself putting away groceries again, hoping she wouldn’t have to be the one to explain Max and Liz’s captivity to her mother. It would break her heart.
“Max would barely look at me earlier. Something has made him feel like he can’t turn to me. Did I do something wrong? Make him feel unsafe?”
Isabel dropped the bag of oranges she had been putting into a bowl and hugged her mother again.
“Mom, no!” Isabel was shocked that her mother could even think that she had anything to do with Max’s withdrawal. “You don’t know what happened to them in there. It wasn’t pleasant.” Isabel shuddered in memory of some of her ‘visits’ to Max while he was being held. “I don’t even really know all that happened out there and I think he’ll have to be the one that decides to share it with us or not.” She pulled back and looked at her mother, tears shining in her eyes. “They did…things…to them. Not good things, okay? Max probably just isn’t ready to be touched yet. For a long time they controlled every move he made. They threatened Liz and the baby if he didn’t cooperate. I think it’s gonna take a while to get over that, you know?”
Diane’s eyes welled over with the tears she had been trying to hold back. “I just really want to be here for him, you know? I want to keep him safe and hold him close. I don’t know wh…what I would have done if we had l…lost h…him.” Her breath hitched and then she was sobbing on Isabel’s shoulder.
“Shh, Mom. It’s okay now. Everything is gonna be okay now.” She hugged her mom comfortingly and prayed that her words were true.
Diane eventually pulled back and wiped the tears away from her eyes. She attempted to smile for Isabel to show her she was okay now, but it came out weak and wobbly. “I guess I can’t expect anything to be the way it was anymore, can I?”
Isabel just shook her head and agreed. “Nothing will ever be the same again, Mom.”
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
It was after two o’clock in the morning and Isabel had turned the music on again at a very low volume to stay awake but not disturb her brother and his wife. She had meticulously cleaned the apartment in her efforts to remain alert and vigilant through the night. She hoped that Michael was getting some decent rest at least. She turned to face the blank wall beside her and contemplated which color to paint it. She tilted her head and held out her hand. Maybe a nice shade of pale green…that would be a soothing color… The wall color changed rapidly under her palm, spreading out across the wall until the color stopped where she wanted it to. She stepped back and considered the new look, finally nodding in satisfaction. If they didn’t like it then Max could always change it back.
She walked over to the next wall and held out her hand again. A soft knock on the door startled her before she could do anything else. She jumped and her hand covered her heart in surprise at the unexpected noise this early in the morning. She approached the door cautiously and carefully cracked it open.
“Hey, Isabel,” a weary Kyle greeted her from behind the cracked door.
Isabel threw the door wide open and waved him in. “Kyle! What are you doing here so late at night?” She ushered him further into the room and pulled him to sit down with her on the sofa.
“I could go if you’ve got other plans or something,” Kyle smiled weakly and pretended to get up to leave.
Isabel laughed and pulled him back down beside her, wrapping her arms around him to prevent more foolish attempts to leave her side. “That’s not what I meant. I just thought you and your dad were going home for the night. I’m surprised, but it’s a good surprise, believe me! I thought I was gonna fall asleep from sheer boredom!”
Kyle pulled Isabel further into his arms and hugged her close. He inhaled the clean, fresh scent of her hair and relaxed at last. He had gotten used to sleeping with her in his arms and didn’t realize how much he would miss her until he was home alone in his own bed.
“I’m glad I could be here to alleviate your boredom then,” he teased gently, running a callused hand over the silk of her hair.
Isabel snuggled closer and enjoyed his arms around her. She had missed this. Missed him, more than she thought she would.
Kyle glanced around the room. “Looks like you’ve kept yourself busy though,” he noted, taking in the new patterns on the furniture and the new color that covered one entire wall of the apartment.
Isabel laughed and nodded, looking around too. “Yeah. I sure hope they like it!” She laughed again and noticed the strain in Kyle’s eyes for the first time. She brushed her fingers over his mouth and watched the worry lines turn up into a smile. “What’s wrong?”
Kyle shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, Isabel. You guys have enough going on right now…”
“Kyle, don’t give me that line. If something’s going on with you then I want to know about it!” She pushed against his chest for leverage and sat up straighter beside him.
Kyle sighed deeply and leaned his head against the back of the sofa, his eyes closed. He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts and then rolled his head to the side to look her in the eye. “Dad lost his job,” he told her softly.
Isabel gasped and her eyes widened in shock. “What? I mean…he was out helping us! He’s a hero! How can they do that to him when all he did was help find two missing people?!”
Kyle shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that, Isabel. Dad took off on a case that he wasn’t assigned to and left the police force here without a word for more than three weeks. They didn’t think the ends justified the means and they let him go. He’s pretty depressed. I waited until he finally passed out before I came over, and I shouldn’t stay too long in case he needs me when he wakes up. He’s sure to have a bitch of a hangover after tonight.” He closed his eyes again, weary just thinking about the task ahead of him. He’d need to take care of his father later, but now, right this minute, all he wanted was a moment for himself.
Isabel sensed this and cuddled into him again, resting her cheek against his strong chest and listening to his steady heartbeat. Kyle let his hands wander over her back and allowed himself to enjoy the moment.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Maria woke up and stretched her arms up over her head, stopping when she realized that she wasn’t alone in the bed. Carefully, she maneuvered herself out from under Michael’s heavy arm and scooted over to the edge of the bed. Her mouth was dry and she was thirsty.
She padded her way barefoot into the Evans’ kitchen and was surprised to find that it was already occupied. Serena and Alex had their heads bent close together as they conversed in quiet tones. Maria moved close enough to catch a few phrases, but still didn’t understand what they were talking about.
“Greigor’s theory clearly contradicts…” Alex was arguing softly.
Serena interrupted, “Not if you take into account the mass vs. density!”
“Ahh!” Alex was nodding vigorously as if he now understood completely.
“Hi, guys,” Maria interjected. Both young faces looked up at her, startled by the interruption.
“Hey, Maria,” Alex greeted warmly.
“Hi, Maria,” Serena added softly, looking down. She wasn’t sure where she stood with all of Max and Liz’s friends yet. She had never been around a group of people like this before. They all rallied together and the bonds of their friendship and loyalty were clear and unbreakable. She felt like an intruder. Long fingers curled around hers reassuringly and she looked up to meet Alex’s conforting smile. She offered a tentative smile in return, feeling more secure that maybe she had one friend here at least.
Maria watched their interaction with a questioning look in her eye, but turned to get herself a glass before the other two could see it. She didn’t know what to think about Serena yet. Michael sure didn’t trust her, but the girl had helped her friends escape. They would still be trapped in there if not for Serena’s courage. And she had risked her life to run back and get Max and Liz’s wedding rings. She couldn’t be all bad. She opened the fridge and moved a few items around, settling on orange juice. She poured herself a large glass and turned back to face the table where the others sat.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Alex asked her softly. The late hour seemed to amplify every noise and he didn’t want to disturb anyone else in the house.
Maria shook her head and sat across from them at the table. “Michael’s out like a light, but he’s been up for days. I took a nap when I went home earlier and now my body doesn’t know what to do.”
Alex nodded understandingly. “We fell asleep earlier too,” he put in, indicating Serena.
Maria raised an eyebrow at that. “Together?” She sputtered it out before she could stop herself.
Serena blushed, even though she wasn’t quite sure why. It had been completely innocent.
Alex gave Serena a small smile, noting her discomfort and squeezed her hand gently under the table. “Um, yeah, I guess. I mean, we fell asleep in the living room this afternoon when everything was calm for a while, you know?”
Maria nodded, wondering if something was going on between those two. She’d have to have a one-on-one with Alex later…
“So, Serena, you staying here for now?” Maria asked.
Serena nodded, studying the tabletop. “Um, yeah. For now. I mean, Mrs. Evans offered and I really didn’t have anywhere else to go so…”
Maria nodded. Diane had been so grateful that Serena had helped Max and Liz escape, that she had accepted Serena’s presence happily, as if she were a member of the family.
Maria tipped back her glass and drained the last of the juice before getting up. “Well, I think I’ll go back and see if I can sleep now. We’ve got a lot to do tomorrow and I want to be awake for it.”
Alex looked confused. “What’s going on tomorrow?” He’d thought they’d have some time to recover before they needed to start anything new.
Maria paused in the doorway, one hand on the frame as she turned back to them. “Liz’s parents. They need to know that she’s back. We need to think up a good story to tell them and hope Liz is aware enough of what’s going on to help us cover for what really happened.”
Alex bit his lip nervously. He’d completely forgotten about them. Maria was right. Tomorrow would be a busy day.
TBC
EYA Part 90
“Why don’t you close your eyes for an hour or so?” Kyle shifted his body so that Isabel’s head rested comfortably against his chest. “I’ll stay awake in case anything happens.” He didn’t know what might possibly happen, but he felt like they could handle anything together. He never wanted to feel that sense of separation in the group again. When Max and Liz were gone, sure they had all pulled together, but the dynamics were all different. Skewed in ways he hoped they wouldn’t have to experience again.
Isabel yawned deeply, turning her face into his chest so that he felt the almost hot puff of air as she exhaled. He repressed a moan and settled for stroking her hair. “Are you sure?” Her voice was weary and more wistful than she would have wished, but it was almost six o’clock in the morning and she was really tired.
Kyle was already nodding as he smiled down at her. “Yep. No problem. I should probably leave by seven in case my dad needs anything, but I can be your love slave until then,” he declared with a mischievous smile and a waggle of his eyebrows. “Or your pillow. Whichever. I’m easy.”
Isabel laughed and pushed against his chest with her warm palm. “Stop, Kyle. I’m too tired to laugh right now!”
Kyle shifted again until she was lying across his lap with her head on his thighs. “So does this mean you choose pillow?” His hand traversed her back from neck to the swell of her buttocks and back up again in massaging strokes.
Isabel sighed in contentment and nodded slowly while letting her eyes drift shut. Kyle lay his head back against the back of the sofa and let the music from the stereo fill his head instead of the constant nag of worry that had tried to clutter his mind since his father had lost his job. They’d figure something out. They had to. His father was still employable, and as soon as he snapped out of the funk he’d fallen into they’d be back on track.
He heard a faint thump over the music coming from Max and Liz’s room and glanced at the coffee table trying to calculate if he could reach the remote to turn up the stereo without disturbing Isabel’s rest. He’d been there several hours with Isabel already and had heard enough of Max and Liz getting ‘reacquainted’ to know that his friends hadn’t been exaggerating when they’d joked about Max and Liz’s obsession with each other. He remembered his face flaming scarlet while Isabel just smiled at him and casually thumbed up the volume of the music. “You get used to it,” she reassured him with a smile, and he realized that she was just glad that they were here now, safe and able to be together again, and he’d felt less weird about the faint cries and moans that sometimes competed with the soft rock beat in the living room. They deserved to be together in every way possible, and if he’d been separated from Isabel like that, knowing what was happening to her, well, let’s just say he’d want to reassure himself of her continued safety personally.
He edged a little sideways and stretched out his arm for the remote leaning forward as much as he could. Not quite… He was startled enough to jump in his seat when the bedroom door swung open and a weary Max exited the room. The jarring movement woke Isabel instantly from her light doze and she sat up alertly, looking for the cause of the jerking motion under her head.
Her eyes swung to the doorway and she let out a startled, “Max!” before she could stop herself. She didn’t know if she should talk to him or not, or if he would even acknowledge her presence, but damn it, he was her brother after all and if he responded to anyone it would be her!
Max glanced swiftly toward the sofa, his arm already extended in front of him in defense until the wave of recognition transferred from his brain to his body. His arm dropped back to his side and he scrubbed over his face with a weary hand.
“Isabel. Kyle. What are you doing here?” He walked slowly toward them and dropped unceremoniously into the chair across from them.
Isabel leaned forward, noting Max’s apparent exhaustion. “We’re just making sure you two are alright. We didn’t think it would be a good idea to leave you alone for awhile, you know, until we figure out what’s going on.”
“Going on?” Max’s head lolled against the chair back and he kept his eyes trained on the door to his room as if it were pulling him back in. He picked at the hem of his boxers, glad suddenly that he’d automatically pulled them on before exiting his bedroom. He tried to concentrate on Isabel’s words. He thought they might be important, but he was still locked with Liz and had only gotten up to get them a snack for when she woke up. She looked thin.
“…what happened with Maria. Max? Max, are you listening?” Isabel reached across the distance between them to tap his knee and regain his attention. She snatched her hand back when a spark of white light shot out toward her fingers before she even made contact.
“Whoa!” The word escaped Kyle’s slack mouth even as he pulled Isabel back against his body.
“What the…” Isabel couldn’t take her eyes off her brother. He was rocking in his chair now and nervously running his palms over his twitching thighs.
“Don’t touch me, Isabel,” he told her softly, still distracted, standing now and snatching two oranges from the bowl in the middle of the table. “I’m, um. I’m not ready for that yet,” he tried to explain, but couldn’t meet her eyes. He escaped quickly back into his bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind him.
He stood with his back to the door and tried to regain his breath before rejoining Liz. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, and his mind was filled with their connection. He almost moaned aloud when his proximity triggered a new dream sequence to begin involving the two of them ‘reconnecting’. He set the oranges down on the bedside table and tossed his boxers to the floor before crawling under the covers to gather her close once again. They’d been apart too long. He could feel her sigh of relief against his skin and felt bad that his momentary absence had caused her the slightest unrest. He pushed what had happened with Isabel to the back of his mind. He just wasn’t ready. They needed to know that both of them would need time to readjust after…after everything.
He buried his nose in her soft hair and closed his eyes. The dream swamped him and he welcomed it eagerly. His hands moved over her body as he sought to make it real.
’Max?’ Her mental tone was at once sleepy and perfectly content.
‘I’m here, baby,’ he nuzzled his mouth against her soft throat and took a gentle nip in exactly the right spot. She arched her back and a slow moan rumbled up from deep inside.
‘I was having the most wonderful dream.’ Her thighs moved restlessly until his broad palm slid over one and stilled it under his skilled touch.
‘I know,’ his answer was accompanied by light licks and the faint scrape of his teeth over her sensitive nipples.
“Oh, Max,” she groaned aloud, her fingers immediately moving to clutch fistfuls of his hair and hold him right there. Right where she needed him. She pushed her breast up into his mouth and he took full advantage, licking and sucking her deeply into his mouth. Swirling his tongue and pulling back only to blow cool air over the moist, rigid nipple. “Right there. Oh, baby…” her breath escaped her as his hand moved down her side in a leisurely trail that led inevitably to only one spot.
His fingers lingered for a loving moment at her hard tummy before continuing their journey downward. He could feel Liz’s mounting anticipation of where this would lead and it fed his own lustful energy. He brushed over her mound lightly, a teasing caress that made her moan again, just the way he liked it, and arch her hips up in a hopeful bid for more substantial contact.
“Sshh,” he whispered aloud soothingly as he trailed kisses across her chest to pay homage to her other breast. The soft air against her sensitized skin only made her moan again and Max smiled against the warmth of her skin. His fingers brushed over the sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs in just exactly the right spot and Liz’s head arched back into her pillows as she keened her pleasure. He rubbed over her in small circles, increasing the pleasure, feeling what she felt through the link. His own breath quickened as one of Liz’s legs moved between his thighs and raised up to make contact with his throbbing member.
His breath hissed out on a groan as she continued to massage him with her thigh until she went rigid under his hand’s ministrations and hot waves of her juices flooded over his fingers. She watched, panting and needy, as he brought his fingers to his mouth and sucked them, closing his eyes as her taste infused him. Her hands moved to pull him up further on her body and they were kissing suddenly, deeply, as if they would never let go. Liz spread her thighs wide apart, bent at the knee, and she urged Max to complete what he had started. He reached down with one hand between their bodies and rubbed the head of his cock in the warm juices that Liz had created.
Liz raised her hips and bumped up against him eagerly. “Max…Max, don’t tease me. Just…ohhh,” she pulled his mouth back to hers, tasting herself and him, as he slid inside her with one sure stroke. He set the pace, slow and steady, and she writhed under him as she felt the waves of their pleasure build slowly back to their peak.
“Want you so bad,” Max breathed out against her throat. “Love you so much.” One hand trailed down her side and settled on her hip, moving up and down with her eager motions.
“I’m yours. Only yours,” she responded breathlessly. She trailed a hand over his smooth chest and circled her fingers around one rigid nipple. It still surprised her that they were so sensitive. She brought her hand up and licked two fingers before trailing them back down his chest and resuming her activity. She blew cool air over the moistened nub and moaned in delight as his thrusts grew harder, more out of control.
“Liz! Oh, yeah…so good…” So good, his mind echoed his spoken words emphasizing their truth as his tongue licked over her soft lips until she opened for him and deepened the kiss. She sucked his tongue in until he groaned and thrust deeper in response to her unspoken request.
Ohhh!
Ohh, Max!
Their bodies arched together desperately and they shattered as one into the waves of pleasure that crashed over them, doubled and magnified again by the connection.
Max rolled to the side as his body gave out and he caressed her cheek softly, leaning closer to place small kisses over her jaw and chin.
“Where were you before?” She put a hand over his on her cheek and waited for his answer.
He looked faintly guilty, and he was. But of course he should have realized that asleep or awake she would know if he was beside her or not. The connection had deepened and taken them over completely since they had been reunited.
“Sorry. You were sleeping and I thought you would be hungry when you woke up.” He kissed her mouth sweetly and closed his eyes.
“S’okay,” she whispered, running her hand down his side, feeling his pulse begin to slow back to normal. “I knew you weren’t far.” She drew her hand back up and tapped one finger against his lips. His amber eyes popped open again, ready for anything.
“So what’d you bring me?” Her teasing voice was overridden by the growl of her stomach and she giggled as her hand automatically moved to stop the noise.
His smile matched hers as he reached across her body and retrieved an orange from the nightstand. Her eyes lit up eagerly as he began to remove the peel.
TBC
“Why don’t you close your eyes for an hour or so?” Kyle shifted his body so that Isabel’s head rested comfortably against his chest. “I’ll stay awake in case anything happens.” He didn’t know what might possibly happen, but he felt like they could handle anything together. He never wanted to feel that sense of separation in the group again. When Max and Liz were gone, sure they had all pulled together, but the dynamics were all different. Skewed in ways he hoped they wouldn’t have to experience again.
Isabel yawned deeply, turning her face into his chest so that he felt the almost hot puff of air as she exhaled. He repressed a moan and settled for stroking her hair. “Are you sure?” Her voice was weary and more wistful than she would have wished, but it was almost six o’clock in the morning and she was really tired.
Kyle was already nodding as he smiled down at her. “Yep. No problem. I should probably leave by seven in case my dad needs anything, but I can be your love slave until then,” he declared with a mischievous smile and a waggle of his eyebrows. “Or your pillow. Whichever. I’m easy.”
Isabel laughed and pushed against his chest with her warm palm. “Stop, Kyle. I’m too tired to laugh right now!”
Kyle shifted again until she was lying across his lap with her head on his thighs. “So does this mean you choose pillow?” His hand traversed her back from neck to the swell of her buttocks and back up again in massaging strokes.
Isabel sighed in contentment and nodded slowly while letting her eyes drift shut. Kyle lay his head back against the back of the sofa and let the music from the stereo fill his head instead of the constant nag of worry that had tried to clutter his mind since his father had lost his job. They’d figure something out. They had to. His father was still employable, and as soon as he snapped out of the funk he’d fallen into they’d be back on track.
He heard a faint thump over the music coming from Max and Liz’s room and glanced at the coffee table trying to calculate if he could reach the remote to turn up the stereo without disturbing Isabel’s rest. He’d been there several hours with Isabel already and had heard enough of Max and Liz getting ‘reacquainted’ to know that his friends hadn’t been exaggerating when they’d joked about Max and Liz’s obsession with each other. He remembered his face flaming scarlet while Isabel just smiled at him and casually thumbed up the volume of the music. “You get used to it,” she reassured him with a smile, and he realized that she was just glad that they were here now, safe and able to be together again, and he’d felt less weird about the faint cries and moans that sometimes competed with the soft rock beat in the living room. They deserved to be together in every way possible, and if he’d been separated from Isabel like that, knowing what was happening to her, well, let’s just say he’d want to reassure himself of her continued safety personally.
He edged a little sideways and stretched out his arm for the remote leaning forward as much as he could. Not quite… He was startled enough to jump in his seat when the bedroom door swung open and a weary Max exited the room. The jarring movement woke Isabel instantly from her light doze and she sat up alertly, looking for the cause of the jerking motion under her head.
Her eyes swung to the doorway and she let out a startled, “Max!” before she could stop herself. She didn’t know if she should talk to him or not, or if he would even acknowledge her presence, but damn it, he was her brother after all and if he responded to anyone it would be her!
Max glanced swiftly toward the sofa, his arm already extended in front of him in defense until the wave of recognition transferred from his brain to his body. His arm dropped back to his side and he scrubbed over his face with a weary hand.
“Isabel. Kyle. What are you doing here?” He walked slowly toward them and dropped unceremoniously into the chair across from them.
Isabel leaned forward, noting Max’s apparent exhaustion. “We’re just making sure you two are alright. We didn’t think it would be a good idea to leave you alone for awhile, you know, until we figure out what’s going on.”
“Going on?” Max’s head lolled against the chair back and he kept his eyes trained on the door to his room as if it were pulling him back in. He picked at the hem of his boxers, glad suddenly that he’d automatically pulled them on before exiting his bedroom. He tried to concentrate on Isabel’s words. He thought they might be important, but he was still locked with Liz and had only gotten up to get them a snack for when she woke up. She looked thin.
“…what happened with Maria. Max? Max, are you listening?” Isabel reached across the distance between them to tap his knee and regain his attention. She snatched her hand back when a spark of white light shot out toward her fingers before she even made contact.
“Whoa!” The word escaped Kyle’s slack mouth even as he pulled Isabel back against his body.
“What the…” Isabel couldn’t take her eyes off her brother. He was rocking in his chair now and nervously running his palms over his twitching thighs.
“Don’t touch me, Isabel,” he told her softly, still distracted, standing now and snatching two oranges from the bowl in the middle of the table. “I’m, um. I’m not ready for that yet,” he tried to explain, but couldn’t meet her eyes. He escaped quickly back into his bedroom, shutting the door firmly behind him.
He stood with his back to the door and tried to regain his breath before rejoining Liz. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, and his mind was filled with their connection. He almost moaned aloud when his proximity triggered a new dream sequence to begin involving the two of them ‘reconnecting’. He set the oranges down on the bedside table and tossed his boxers to the floor before crawling under the covers to gather her close once again. They’d been apart too long. He could feel her sigh of relief against his skin and felt bad that his momentary absence had caused her the slightest unrest. He pushed what had happened with Isabel to the back of his mind. He just wasn’t ready. They needed to know that both of them would need time to readjust after…after everything.
He buried his nose in her soft hair and closed his eyes. The dream swamped him and he welcomed it eagerly. His hands moved over her body as he sought to make it real.
’Max?’ Her mental tone was at once sleepy and perfectly content.
‘I’m here, baby,’ he nuzzled his mouth against her soft throat and took a gentle nip in exactly the right spot. She arched her back and a slow moan rumbled up from deep inside.
‘I was having the most wonderful dream.’ Her thighs moved restlessly until his broad palm slid over one and stilled it under his skilled touch.
‘I know,’ his answer was accompanied by light licks and the faint scrape of his teeth over her sensitive nipples.
“Oh, Max,” she groaned aloud, her fingers immediately moving to clutch fistfuls of his hair and hold him right there. Right where she needed him. She pushed her breast up into his mouth and he took full advantage, licking and sucking her deeply into his mouth. Swirling his tongue and pulling back only to blow cool air over the moist, rigid nipple. “Right there. Oh, baby…” her breath escaped her as his hand moved down her side in a leisurely trail that led inevitably to only one spot.
His fingers lingered for a loving moment at her hard tummy before continuing their journey downward. He could feel Liz’s mounting anticipation of where this would lead and it fed his own lustful energy. He brushed over her mound lightly, a teasing caress that made her moan again, just the way he liked it, and arch her hips up in a hopeful bid for more substantial contact.
“Sshh,” he whispered aloud soothingly as he trailed kisses across her chest to pay homage to her other breast. The soft air against her sensitized skin only made her moan again and Max smiled against the warmth of her skin. His fingers brushed over the sensitive bundle of nerves between her legs in just exactly the right spot and Liz’s head arched back into her pillows as she keened her pleasure. He rubbed over her in small circles, increasing the pleasure, feeling what she felt through the link. His own breath quickened as one of Liz’s legs moved between his thighs and raised up to make contact with his throbbing member.
His breath hissed out on a groan as she continued to massage him with her thigh until she went rigid under his hand’s ministrations and hot waves of her juices flooded over his fingers. She watched, panting and needy, as he brought his fingers to his mouth and sucked them, closing his eyes as her taste infused him. Her hands moved to pull him up further on her body and they were kissing suddenly, deeply, as if they would never let go. Liz spread her thighs wide apart, bent at the knee, and she urged Max to complete what he had started. He reached down with one hand between their bodies and rubbed the head of his cock in the warm juices that Liz had created.
Liz raised her hips and bumped up against him eagerly. “Max…Max, don’t tease me. Just…ohhh,” she pulled his mouth back to hers, tasting herself and him, as he slid inside her with one sure stroke. He set the pace, slow and steady, and she writhed under him as she felt the waves of their pleasure build slowly back to their peak.
“Want you so bad,” Max breathed out against her throat. “Love you so much.” One hand trailed down her side and settled on her hip, moving up and down with her eager motions.
“I’m yours. Only yours,” she responded breathlessly. She trailed a hand over his smooth chest and circled her fingers around one rigid nipple. It still surprised her that they were so sensitive. She brought her hand up and licked two fingers before trailing them back down his chest and resuming her activity. She blew cool air over the moistened nub and moaned in delight as his thrusts grew harder, more out of control.
“Liz! Oh, yeah…so good…” So good, his mind echoed his spoken words emphasizing their truth as his tongue licked over her soft lips until she opened for him and deepened the kiss. She sucked his tongue in until he groaned and thrust deeper in response to her unspoken request.
Ohhh!
Ohh, Max!
Their bodies arched together desperately and they shattered as one into the waves of pleasure that crashed over them, doubled and magnified again by the connection.
Max rolled to the side as his body gave out and he caressed her cheek softly, leaning closer to place small kisses over her jaw and chin.
“Where were you before?” She put a hand over his on her cheek and waited for his answer.
He looked faintly guilty, and he was. But of course he should have realized that asleep or awake she would know if he was beside her or not. The connection had deepened and taken them over completely since they had been reunited.
“Sorry. You were sleeping and I thought you would be hungry when you woke up.” He kissed her mouth sweetly and closed his eyes.
“S’okay,” she whispered, running her hand down his side, feeling his pulse begin to slow back to normal. “I knew you weren’t far.” She drew her hand back up and tapped one finger against his lips. His amber eyes popped open again, ready for anything.
“So what’d you bring me?” Her teasing voice was overridden by the growl of her stomach and she giggled as her hand automatically moved to stop the noise.
His smile matched hers as he reached across her body and retrieved an orange from the nightstand. Her eyes lit up eagerly as he began to remove the peel.
TBC