Roswell Fanatics

Title: Sanctus

Category: Max and Liz (All CC)

Rating: ADULT

Summary: Set in during EOTW...with a twist. Just how does Liz really factor into the alien's lives and how far will she have to go to finally save the world?

Author's Note: I have always been fascinated by the Liz Mythology and all its marvelous permutations. This is mine. I have been working on this story on and off for almost 3 years and in either a fit of sleeplessness or insanity, I decided to post it. Perhaps a bit of accountability will help the creative juices to keep flowing!

Canon: Everything up until EOTW is canon (and since Summer of ’47 is completely irrelevant to this story, it didn’t happen), except the date of Isabel’s birthday. Instead of being October 25th, we’re going to assume that it’s October 3rd.


It’s October 5th, I’m Liz Parker, and my resolve is getting threadbare. Max has been...persistent to say the very least. I thought leaving was best, I thought I could take myself out of his life and allow him to follow his destiny. A destiny that was determined for him more years ago than I care to count and quite literally set in stone. I know he wants so desperately to believe that we are able to create our own futures, that nothing is pre-determined. And maybe this is true. Maybe for the rest of us, for those of us that don’t have an entire race of beings depending upon us for their very existence...maybe that’s the way it works. But Max...Max was born for a greater purpose. Somehow, this doesn’t surprise me. How could it? I don’t think anyone exists that’s so selfless, so humble, and so benevolent, but at the same time, such a fierce protector and an impassioned soul. It is almost embarrassing that I felt I belonged to someone like him. Never mind the genetic differences; here I am, Liz Parker, smallest of small town girls and I fell in love with a King. A King who was kind enough to love me back. How on earth could I even imagine interfering with his true functions? Yet, for whatever unfathomable reason, Max doesn’t see it this way. It doesn’t matter that the woman who was created for him is right here, in Roswell, willing to be everything a man could ever want her to be. He couldn’t care less about her, not in that way, and a small part of me is starting to believe him. All of me wants to believe him, wants to be selfish enough to say, “Screw destiny, screw everyone else!” and just allow myself to be deeply and passionately in love, together. But the rational, ethical part of me won’t allow myself to do that. Though if he keeps pushing this, if he keeps trying to persuade me into being his again, I don’t know how much longer I can bear to stop myself.

Liz sighed heavily and closed her journal, tightening her jaw and willing herself not to lose it... again. Things with Max had been more or less torture. After the tumultuous few months they’d had with the exposure of Whittaker and this whole business about the Skins invasion, things had returned to a decibel within the range of alien-related normalcy and Max had seized that as an opportunity to try to convince Liz that she was all he wanted. The problem wasn’t that Liz doubted Max’s motives; it was that she shared their sentiments. She knew that every other boy she would ever meet would always be second best and by miles. But how could she step in the way of a plan so much bigger than any of them? How couldn’t Max see that everything she did, everything she was doing was for him? Because she loved him? And if he loved her, if he really loved her as much as she knew he did, he would respect that and try to let go and meet his obligations. Perhaps every other girl would be second best for him, Tess included. But for the sake of an entire planet, he had to try.

She felt a single tear escape her vigilance and she swiped angrily at her cheek. She realized in that moment that if he were to show up, right then, and beg her to reconsider, she might not have enough strength to fight back. It was a damn good thing that it was almost 2:00 in the morning and Max kept the arriving-on-her-balcony-at-strange-hours to a midnight curfew.

She took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes, curling into the chaise lounge for just a moment. She needed to stop her mind from going into hyper drive and there was something about being outside while everyone else was asleep that she found so restful, even when her head went to the more brutal places. She pushed everything aside and just allowed herself to feel the cool air and hear the city mumbling in its slumber all around her. And for the briefest moment, she felt peaceful.

That peace was short-lived, however, when an incredible flash of light exploded, engulfing the balcony. She stumbled to her feet on instinct, backing herself against the brick façade; only absolute panic preventing her from uttering a single sound.

“Liz.”

She knew his voice better than anyone else’s yet there was something about the timbre, about the deep gravel undertone that seemed off...displaced somehow. Her eyes were still protesting from the violent explosion.

She didn’t want to respond to him, not when she wasn’t sure if it even was him, but her voice betrayed her indignantly.

“M...Max?” She stammered out, barely above a whisper. She heard him move towards her and she was able to make out his silhouette. Whoever it was, they were roughly Max’s size and build, though that meant little in a world where shapeshifters existed.

“Liz, it’s me. It’s me,” her eyes had adjusted and she could see him clearly now. It was Max, of that she was certain, but it absolutely wasn’t her Max. He was broader, even more well-defined than the Max she knew. His face was older, his chin more severe, and his eyes...oh god, his eyes! When they’d rescued him from the White Room, his eyes had been so haunted, there had been so much agony, so much abject terror buried there that it had completely destroyed her heart. She never thought anyone could look more broken, but she’d been terribly wrong. But it was also in those eyes that she knew beyond the greatest doubt that it was Max standing in front of her. When Necedo had posed as him last spring, it was his soulless eyes that had betrayed him almost immediately, but Liz had been too distracted to acknowledge that.

“Max,” she murmured definitively, reaching a hand out to touch him before snapping it back to cover her mouth. Shock was a light term to describe the state she was in.

His eyes slipped closed, his brow knitting together and he drew in a long breath. “Liz, I need you to listen to me. I need you to listen to what I am about to tell you and I need you to believe me. What I’ve come here to say is going to change everything. It is going to change your life so irrevocably and entirely that it has taken every last ounce of strength in me to come here to do this. But I am here because it’s you. It’s always been you. It will always be you. And I love you, I have loved you for longer than you could conceivably imagine and I need you to understand that if there was any other way, I would never ask you to do this.”

Liz unconsciously took a step back and found herself pressed into the cool brick. “Max, you’re scaring me.” She was shaking, not because she was afraid of him; no, she could never be afraid of him, any version of him. It was because of the emotion in his words, because of how much it hurt him to say those things.

“I know, Liz. But please...”

He backed away from her and sat down on the chaise lounge, leaving a space for her to join him. She reluctantly pushed off the wall and found herself on shaky legs as she moved towards him. She sank down onto the vinyl and drew her knees to her chest, resting her chin on her downturned hands, she looked up at him through her lashes waiting for him to begin.

"This isn't the first time I've come here like this..."

I can't promise updates will always be this frequent; I have a huge chunk of this story already written and the rest of it storyboarded, but as we all know, real life has a funny habit of getting in the way!

Thank you for the wonderful feedback Begonia, L-J-L, Natalie, and Michelle! I really appreciate it

Without further ado...

“This isn’t the first time I’ve come here like this. Or, I should say, this isn’t the first time a version of me has come here like this. I’m from a world where time travel is possible and so was he. The first version of me came to you from 2014. From a life where up until the last few years, we were so happy, as far as the you from my timeline understood, at least. But in his universe, we were all damned. You and I made some critical choices on a night not too far away from tonight and it changed everything. Tess left, we got married at 19, and for years things were...beautiful. But then war broke out and our enemies quickly took the upper hand. At the time, we – he, I...” Max let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair trying to get his bearings.

“God, this is harder than I ever thought it would be,” he mumbled under his breath. He squared his shoulders and looked at her again and continued. “However you want to identify that version of our future, they believe that the reason for their failure was because of Tess. Because she was necessary to complete the four-square. So that version of me came back to you and asked you to do something unimaginable and ultimately impossible. He asked you to find a way to make me fall out of love with you. So that Tess would stay, so that when our enemies came our Four Square would be complete and we’d be able to save the world. And because you are you, you said yes. You sacrificed everything for me, for the planet. And it still wasn’t enough.

“You devised a plan to make it appear that you and Kyle had sex and with the help of the 2014 version of me, made it so I would see the two of you in bed together. This was enough to change the course of our universe. I never quite believed what I saw, and it never stopped me from loving you, but it changed things. I knew you were lying to me and I didn’t know why. And I did exactly what you had intended for me to do; I turned to Tess. But Tess wasn’t, isn’t who we thought she was. She was Khivar’s sister...and his pet, his pawn I suppose. And all he wanted from her was my child. And...and she got that.” Max paused for just a moment to let the words sink in, but Liz didn’t move a millimeter. Her eyes were wide and riveted to his face, a mix of horror and astonishment plain in her features.

“But the trouble is, we’re hybrids. We have human DNA and we have alien DNA, and as my version of you so aptly pointed out a long time ago, it’s simple genetics. Tess was able to escape to Antar with the child but they were rejected and sent back to earth. The baby was human and we – at the time – were the FBI’s most wanted. I ultimately gave him up for adoption. I know I’m leaving so much out, Liz, but I’m only telling you what you absolutely need to know. This was at the end of our senior year and we hadn’t managed to stay apart very long, especially after Tess’s departure. I proposed to you on this balcony, days before graduation. We made love right there,” he gestured towards the edge near the fire escape. “For the first time. And then we went on the run. You, me, Isabel, Michael, Maria, and Kyle.”

Liz interrupted him then. “What about Alex?”

Max scrubbed his face with his hands and felt his body stiffen at her words. “That’s one of those things I didn’t think you needed to know,” he replied quietly, staring at the ground. “Alex died. About 6 months from now in my reality, Alex died. Tess murdered him and you figured it out.” Only after he told her could he look at her face again.

“Oh...oh god,” Liz choked out, her hand flying up to her chest. She was blinking furiously, trying to keep herself from crying.

“Liz, I’m sorry. Everything I tell you tonight is going to be incredibly hard to hear, I’m trying to keep the extraneous details to a minimum.” He reached out and tentatively stroked his fingers down her cheek and Liz leaned into his touch. He held her jaw for a moment and then let his hand drop away, knowing that it was going to be even more difficult to talk to her if he was touching her.

“We went on the run for almost 4 years. We lived in a lot of places, we had a lot of aliases, we did a lot of odd jobs, and we helped a lot of people. Someone that Isabel was involved with after Alex ended up infiltrating the new Special Unit of the FBI and was able to get us off their radar. But during that 4 years on the road, something amazing had happened. We had a child.”

Liz gasped and tears welled in her eyes. The idea that she and Max, in some lifetime – in any lifetime – had a child was...mind blowing to say the very least.

“We had never anticipated getting pregnant...not only because we were so careful, but because genetically, we just weren’t compatible. Or so we thought. But our daughter was the greatest gift we could’ve asked for. Shortly before she was born, we settled down somewhere we thought we were going to be safe. No one had been after us for quite some time at that point and we felt that traveling with a newborn wasn’t the wisest idea. And for almost 8 years, we were happier than any two people ever had the right to be. And then it was just...over.”

Max drew in a long, hitching breath and he suddenly looked so old, so broken, and so far away from the 16 year old version of his soul mate.

“Maybe it was because we became so complacent, or maybe it was because nothing can be so perfect, but even though the FBI had all but left us alone, a far more dangerous enemy had not,” Max explained, staring up at the night sky.

“Khivar,” Liz breathed, her knuckles turning white as she gripped her knees harder against her chest.

“Khivar,” Max repeated in agreement. “I guess I should explain a few things first. Soul mates do exist, Liz. They are a very real, tangible thing. It has to do with the electromagnetic energy given off by two individuals and how they complement one another. It affects neurotransmission and releases chemicals that help to forge a deep bond between two people. I know that’s a shoddy explanation at best...you were always more eloquent about these things than I could ever be. And while humans can experience something very similar, Antarians are far more neurologically developed than humans and experience this connection on a much deeper level. The other thing you must understand is that when an immense amount of power is used on a human, it is in a sense like being exposed to a large dose of radiation. Except instead of the person’s cells mutating and causing dangerous changes, the cells mutate to produce a certain set of hormones which trigger development of the frontal lobe, cerebellum, and the motor cortex. We know that those are the three areas of the brain which are attributed to our powers. These changes take several years to manifest, but ultimately the affected human is able to perform all of the same functions as an Anatarian.”

“Let me guess, healing counts as an ‘immense amount of power’.” Liz made a half-hearted attempt at air quotes. She looked like she was trying to decide between throwing up or passing out, so before she managed to do either, Max continued.

“You’ve always been the most brilliant woman I know,” he murmured, his eyes shining with adoration for a brief second before he delved back into his story. “Clearly we were – we are – soul mates. That should go without saying. But coupled with the fact that you had undergone this incredible transformation, our bond was much stronger than any normal mated pair. Each person’s energy, I guess, has a particular signature, much like a finger print. Khivar knew what my signature looked liked as a full-blooded Antarian, but not as a hybrid. Our race has technology that allows them to track people based on their signatures, so he had been trying for years to find me with very little luck. But what we didn’t know, and what we didn’t know until it was too late was that our daughter carried a signature strikingly similar to mine when I was Zan. This isn’t something that just happens, Liz. No, I shouldn’t even say that...it simply doesn’t happen. Energy is a unique thing. Souls are unique things. The fact that he was able to find us by her energy was something we later learned to be so monumental and is ultimately why I’m here right now.”

“I...I don’t, I don’t understand,” Liz stammered out. She had been close enough to losing it before this last round of information, now she wasn’t sure she’d make it through another sentence. But she knew she had to hear this, whatever it was.

“Antar’s recorded history goes back almost 5,000,000 Earth years, far longer than any other known civilization in the universe; and there are others. Our religious leaders believe that we were the first form of intelligent life to evolve. The first written work is by a tribe known as the Sh’va which roughly translates to “Seers”. The Sh’va’s most sacred artifact is a metallic book that looks a lot like the one Tess “found” last spring. The book she presented to us was fake. Or rather, the most essential parts were fake. We had no way to decipher the book at that time, so we had no way of knowing just what was predicted for us. But it was only in my lifetime after we were discovered, after Khivar came for us and our daughter, after we ended up in the hands of our enemy, that we learned what the true text was trying to tell us,” Max sighed heavily. “And the fact that you are sitting here now, listening to me, hearing me out on this, just reinforces that I’ve made the right decision in coming here.”

“What was in that book, Max?” Liz’s voice trembled but she forced the words out.

“You have to understand that the Sh’va were not your average ancient prophet; they were extraordinary. Their teachings are still a part of the predominant religion on Antar and people still look to their works to help predict future events. They were somewhat nebulous with their lesser prophecies, leaving them partially to interpretation and making a good case for those who do not follow their teachings. But there was one prediction they were absolute on. Every detail, down to the year...down to drawings. That book that Tess “found”? It was a forged and altered copy of the Sh’va’s prophecy; just like the message we received in the cave that day. That was all Tess’s doing.”

He took a breath to clear away the ugly memories of Tess’s deceptions and continued.

“The Sh’va predicted that in the year XMK943 – approximately 1927 AD the last royal linage would be born and a mere 20 earth years later, they would perish. This would ignite the greatest war Antar would ever endure. This would be the catalyst for event that would decide the fate of the known universe. For this would be the last time that the Great Souls would meet. This would be their 33rd cycle, a number highly sacred to the Sh’va. If the Great Souls did not meet and permanently bond in the 33rd cycle or that bond were to be broken before it reaches maturity, Antar and ultimately all of the known inhabited planets would succumb to destruction. But if the Great Souls succeed, if the bond is made and safeguarded, it will bring a period of peace and prosperity that reaches beyond the time of the prophets.

“In every lifetime, the Great Souls have found one another but something has prevented the bond from maturing or in some cases, from ever being created at all. The Great Souls have an innate recognition of one another, but no true memories from past lives, so to speak. Their connection is on a much deeper level than the mind can go. They always know where to find the other, even if it’s across galaxies. Liz,” Max’s eyes were alight and he reverently took her face between his hands. “Every cycle, in every possible lifetime, we’ve found each other.”

Liz began to shake her head vigorously in protest; this was the most outlandish, unscientific thing she’d ever heard! Even coming from Max, any version of Max, this was just too much. And then the visions started. Visions that she couldn’t have possibly dreamed up, visions of she and Max in every conceivably scenario in places so alien and bodies so unfamiliar, yet it was unequivocally them. She felt it down to the very essence of her being, throughout the entirety of her soul. They were the embodiment of the Great Souls.

“Max!” She gasped as the images slowed and then retreated. The realization was beyond profound.

He brushed the pad of his thumb across her soft cheek, catching a stray tear. “So maybe you and I didn’t create our own destinies, but I know I certainly couldn’t complain in this situation,” he said softly.

Liz bit her lip and nodded. She was still processing, he knew, so he continued.

“Good cannot exist without evil, just like protons cannot exist without electrons. There must be a balance. Khivar is that balance. He has no intrinsic knowledge of this, but in each lifetime he comes to understand and fulfill his purpose; to destroy us and the bond we’ve created.” Max stared deeply into her, almost willing her to understand what he was not saying, but her brain was on overdrive.

“What...what does this mean?” She knew she had spoken and that her sentence had been intelligible, but she was so disconnected from her body that it seemed an impossibility that she was really here in this moment. The only thing keeping her remotely close to grounded were his warm, engulfing hands on her cheeks. “You said we’ve been married...we’ve been together before, then why do we keep returning?”

“That’s just it, Liz. In every lifetime that we become aware of our destiny, we believe that we’ve succeeded, that by being together – physically and spiritually – we have safeguarded ourselves from our fate. But we’ve missed the point every time; or rather, every time until the future that I come from. It has never been about us, not as individuals, but about what we – together – have the ability to create.”

Max took a deep breath and smoothed her hair back behind her ears before taking both her hands in his. “Our child, Liz. Our child is the key, the talisman...the potential salvation for humanity; earthly and otherwise."

Hi All!

Thank you for all of the feedback; I've been so hesitant and yet so excited to share this fic and I'm so pleased that it's been well-received. As we all know, putting our "babies" out there on the 'net for all to see (and dissect!) can be scary, especially when they've been rattling around in your brain for so long! These characters have provided so much inspiration and I really want to do them justice.

I've been stuck in the hospital for the last week with my kidneys again and on a ton of steroids, so I apologize if there are any editing errors.

The only issue of note that I realized goes directly against Canon is the Granolith. For the purposes of this story (and for the purpose of not making you suffer through steroid/antibiotic/electrolyte-riddled revisions!), please assume that when Tess returned to Antar with the Granolith it was not a one-time-use situation. That is all

Without further ado...

Max took a deep breath and smoothed her hair back behind her ears before taking both her hands in his. “Our child, Liz. Our child is the key, the talisman…the potential salvation for humanity; earthly and otherwise. The Sh’va knew that if they were to expound upon the specifics of the bond that we were to form in order to secure peace, this would be exploited by our enemies. In every lifetime that we found each other, Khivar assumed – just as we did – that destroying us would ensure the end of the cycles. There were clues left in the original text that suggested otherwise, however, but were greatly lost in translation as the language used by the Sh’va is about as antiquated as ancient Sumerian. Just like we have enough understanding to translate texts from that period into English, the Antarians have enough knowledge to translate the original texts into an understandable format, but sometimes important meanings are lost. And even in the lifetimes where we gained an understanding of our purpose, we were not able to read deeply enough into the prophecy to understand exactly what was expected of us. It wasn’t until we met Seurena the second time that we were able to understand the gravity of our situation.”

Liz was staring down at their intertwined fingers, pulling every last ounce of strength from his touch just to keep it together. When she realized that he was no longer speaking, that her brain was no longer processing information involuntarily, she looked up at him once again.

Max brought their clasped hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently. He knew she was reeling; hell, he would be too if the circumstances were reversed. He waited until she expelled a deep breath before he continued.

“Seurena was the head of the Scientific Counsel for the royal family during my father’s reign. My father was a man of science and for him things were very black and white. Though he respected the Sh’va as an ancient people and as a religion, he treated it much like an agnostic would Christianity; it was simply something that others believed in and he saw only as a collection of stories. My mother, however, was a deeply religious woman raised under the teachings of the Sh’va. When I was born, she knew that the first part of the prophecy had been fulfilled, that we’d reached the 33rd cycle. And when the war broke out, it was my mother who went to Seurena and begged that we be cloned; that our souls be...transplanted for a lack of a better description and sent somewhere that we might have a chance of being safe. Seurena was meant to come with us as our protectors, but Ra’vech, who you know as Necedo, infiltrated our ranks and sent himself instead. He also brought with him the daughter of our greatest enemy; Ava. You know her as...” But before he could finish the sentence, Liz beat him to it.

“Tess.”

“Tess,” he agreed solemnly.

“Seurena meant to send my first in command, my sister, herself, the head of our religious counsel, a second protector called Prisham and me, but Ra’vech manipulated the pods at the last possible moment. He captured Seurena, presumably murdered Prisham, and took over as the captain of the ship in order to ensure Ava’s safe passage. His intention was to destroy every pod but my own when we arrived on Earth and to raise Ava and me together, but the crash thwarted that plan. Nothing, not even a madman, was going to keep me from you, Liz,” Max murmured sincerely, his eyes shining with a love that took her breath away.

“Seurena managed to escape the captors Ra’vech had left her with and stowed away with the Skins, ironically. It took some serious convincing on her part for us to believe that she was actually on our side, but eventually she managed. She taught us our true history, but by that point it was far too late. The first time we met her, we were in our mid twenties. The war was all but lost, Tess had returned to Antar, and we were rapidly approaching the end of the world. Seurena had begun to teach us about the Granolith and how to modify it for our purposes, but she didn’t tell us about our destiny or about Ra’vech and Ava being traitors.

"There’s a caveat to the prophecy that you need to know. There are those that safe-guard it, that hold innate knowledge that they cannot share. Seurena is one of those people. Their responsibility is to guide us towards understanding, but they are not able to simply tell us what we need to do. This would interfere with free choice, something we ultimately have even if we are tied to a prophecy. In our first timeline, Seurena gave us the tools to use the Granolith to go back and change history, but she couldn’t give us more than that…we had to figure it out on our own. And clearly, we got it dead wrong. When that version of myself came back to my version of you, he mentioned Seurena, so even though we didn’t know much about her, we kept a lookout for her while we were on the run. We found her shortly after Claudia turned three,” Max explained and then promptly closed his mouth, realizing his mistake.

“…Claudia? Our daughter’s name is Claudia?” Liz whispered, tears shimmering in her eyes. “What is she like, Max?”

He sighed and stared down at his feet for a moment before answering. “I wasn’t supposed to give you this much information. You don’t need to be burdened with all of this.”

Liz opened her mouth to speak but Max continued on.

“She was the perfect mix of the two of us. She was so tiny with these huge amber eyes and the most beautiful dark hair. She had my nose and your ears – thank god – and a smile that was infectious. And her laugh…god, she had the most perfect laugh I’d ever heard. People always told us she looked like an angel. That’s what you called her, “Angel”. And I wish more than anything that I could tell you we lived happily ever after, but I wouldn’t be here if that were the case.”

Liz felt her heart constrict at his words and her arms long for a child that only belonged to her in theory. And then something struck her. “Max…Max, why are you referring to Claudia in the past tense?”

His jaw tightened perceptibly and his eyes clenched shut. “Because she’s dead,” he rasped out as tears began to fall freely. “You both are. And it’s all my fault.”

“Oh, Max!” Liz murmured, taking the broken man into her arms. She held his body against her and rocked gently.

For Max, just the experience of being back in his wife’s arms – even if this tiny girl wasn’t yet her – was reviving. It was like being made whole once more even if only for a few moments. He stayed in her arms a bit longer, drinking in her smell and the feel of her skin against his, but he reluctantly pulled away, knowing there was still more he had to tell her.

He took a shuddering breath and continued. “When Khivar captured us, we assumed that he would simply kill us and secure his position. But the Khivar from my timeline had information that he’d never had before. He’d been able to decipher more of the prophecy and learned that if he were to succeed, not only would he need to destroy our bond, but he would need to procure a child of his own. From you. So he intended to…take you while I was forced to watch and then once the child was born, he’d then kill us all. But you, being the most amazing woman I’ve ever known,” Max stopped for a moment to caress her cheek.

“You realized that if I could just escape and get back to the Granolith, I had a chance to change everything. I refused to leave you, but you knew if you were no longer there for me to fight for, I would go. There was one guard that was part of the Alliance and working as a double agent of sorts trying to free us. So you told him your plan and he brought you everything you needed to go through with it. You intended to kill yourself. You knew I could escape with Claudia and you hoped that your death would be enough for me to try to run, but even the best-laid plans…”

Max stopped and looked at Liz, seeing all of the innocence, all of the hope she still possessed slowly slipping away.

“The rest of the story is too hard, too gruesome for me to tell. Clearly I did escape, but our daughter…” Max choked out.

Liz didn’t know what to say, so she simply rested her hand on his shoulder and allowed him to draw strength from her.

“But it was Claudia’s death that gave me the last piece of the puzzle, that drove me to come to this version of you,” Max explained with renewed conviction.

“I…I don’t understand,” she said, her brow creasing.

“In 33 lifetimes, Claudia is the first child we’ve had. But she wasn’t my first child. Zan was. I had marred the sanctity of our bond by having a child with Tess and potentially providing a weapon to our enemies. In that situation, we were very fortunate that Zan ended up with a human genome, but had Khivar succeeded in having a child with you, that child would’ve been genetically guaranteed a partial Antarian genome, which is all Khivar needed. I realized that I was still missing something, something crucial, so after I activated the Granolith, I had 24 hours to find out what it was.

“I went back over the translation of the prophecy one more time, feeling that I was missing something. And then it struck me. The translation of the prophecy says “The bond shall come of the first union of the Great Souls and shall be safeguarded until the thirteenth turn, upon which time the bond will be unable to be destroyed by thine enemies and thus shall become the destroyer.” Now, all along we’d assumed that to mean that our bond – our union was what was driving this. But I realized that didn’t make sense. Why would we need to be together for 13 years before we were strong enough to defeat Khivar? And then it hit me, it was what we could create from that first union that was so important, not the union itself. Claudia was not the talisman because of Zan and because she came so many years after our first time together. Therefore her death didn’t mean the end of the world, but if I didn’t go back and change history, it would be imminent.”

“So what you’re saying is…” Liz trailed off. She had a pretty good idea of where this was going, but she had to hear it from him.

“I’m here because we – you and your version of myself – need to have a child. If there were any other way, believe me, I wouldn’t be asking this of you, but there isn’t,” Max said quietly. “And I’m coming to you now for two reasons. One because there is something about this time that seems to be pivotal in our futures, no matter what events occur. And two because in every lifetime we have knowledge of, things culminate when we are about 30. Which means…”

“Which means that if we have a child now, that child will be thirteen by the time we are thirty,” Liz said thinly, still in shock. “Wait, how are you able to tell me this? I thought we had to figure it out for ourselves?”

“That’s the loophole. Technically, we are figuring it out for ourselves…just different versions of ourselves. You are you, no matter the timeline,” he explained.

Liz just nodded, deep in thought. “So, what? Do I need to go to you tonight and convince you to…have sex with me?” Liz sputtered out.

“No. No, nothing like that. Well, something like that, but nothing so drastic. And Liz, believe me, it wouldn’t take much convincing on your part…” Max mumbled and she could see the faint blush creep over his cheeks.
“It seems that in this cycle, the night of the Gomez concert is paramount for us. In the first timeline, that was the night we first made love. In my timeline, that was the night I found you and Kyle. The Gomez concert is a month from tonight,” he said.

Liz sat quietly, absorbing the overwhelming information she’d just received. But she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had to go through with this. It didn’t matter that she was only 16, it didn’t matter that she had this whole bright future ahead of her…none of that was as important as protecting the ones she loved. And to know that everything she felt for Max was not only real but was part of the most incredible love story she’d ever heard was humbling to say the least. She looked up at the future version of her soul mate.

“Max!” She cried in shock. He was disappearing! Literally fading before her eyes. “Max! What’s happening?!”

“You’ve made your decision Liz…it’s working. Now I will cease to exist and you will create a new future for us. For everyone,” Max explained reverently.

“Max! There’s so much I still need to know,” Liz pleaded fruitlessly.

“You know more than you realize, you just need to open yourself up to receive it,” Max’s voice was soft and far away. “I love you,” floated around her like a memory and then he was gone.

Liz was frozen, staring uncomprehendingly at the spot where Future Max had just been sitting.

Then she took a deep, cleansing breath. She knew exactly what she had to do.

Hey All! First off, thank you so much for the feedback and well-wishes, it means the world to me! I apologize for the delay; in the last two months, I've spent a grand total of 10 days OUT of the hospital. Once my kidneys settled down, I went for major orthopaedic surgery and I have been inpatient since. Having a body that doesn't like to participate can get very frustrating! Unfortunately, I've been too sick to write very much, but I have several more chapters of Sanctus already finished and now that I'm starting to feel more human, I'm hoping to get some more writing done in the next few weeks. I'm pretty much laid up until December whether I'm in the hospital or at home, so here's to hoping it will be a productive few months!

Without further ado, here's chapter 4! It's a bit longer to make up for my absence, I hope you enjoy!!

Dawn was a funny thing. In books and movies and all those things that life was not, it brought in a newness and a sense of peace, a chance to start a new day. But in reality, even in a reality that was far stranger than any fiction, it brought no more clarity or serenity than she had found in the darkness. Her focus was singular, getting to Max – her Max – was the only option right now. Beyond everything she’d learned over the last few hours, beyond the brevity of what was being asked of her was the pure and simple fact that she and Max belonged together. Belonged together in a way that no other two people in the history of the known universe had ever belonged together before. And that was the only thing that kept her moving forward.

As the first suggestions of sunrise appeared in the sky, Liz rounded the back of Max’s house and found herself standing in front of his open window. His desk lamp was on and the quiet rifts of the Counting Crows came from his stereo. Max was lying on his made bed in boxer pants and a tee shirt. His lips were moving soundlessly to the lyrics of “Amy Hit the Atmosphere” and his eyes were closed; he almost seemed to be drowning in the music. Even in his melancholy he was the most beautiful man she’d ever seen. Taking a deep breath, she hoisted herself over the sill and landed with a soft thud on the other side. He started at the intrusion and shot up from his bed, his eyes widening in shock when he saw her standing there.

“Liz…” He breathed, frozen, his eyes riveted to her.

That was all the invitation she needed. She all but launched herself at him, the impact of her small body sending them both falling back on to the mattress. She clung to him, her hands attempting to gain purchase anywhere they could reach; his shoulders, his back, his sides…but none of it was enough. His arms instinctively wrapped around her despite his astonishment and the admitted strangeness of the situation and he held her flush against him, never wanting to let go. In that moment, it didn’t matter why she was there or what she was doing, just that she was there, in his arms. And then she started sobbing violently into the hollow of his neck, his name tumbling from her lips over and over again, punctuated by painful whimpers and choking gulps of air.

“Liz! Oh, god, Liz, what is it? Are you okay? Liz, please, I need you to breathe, I need you to talk to me!” Max’s alarm was evident but he held on to her like letting go would end the world.

“Max, I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry, Max! Oh god…” She blathered, fisting her hands into his shirt and wanting nothing more than to be able to crawl right inside him in that very moment.

“Shh, Liz, please calm down. What are you sorry for?” Max murmured, rocking her gently back and forth.

She took a shuddering breath and pulled back slightly so that her face hovered inches from his. Their eyes met and before she could speak, a connection unlike anything they’d ever experienced opened between them. It flowed without resistance, without prejudice; it was as though their neural networks had fused seamlessly together. Everything they’d ever known, they’d ever experience, every thought, every fantasy, down to the most insignificant memory passed between them. And unlike any other connection they’d ever experienced, there was no need for interpretation here. It was not like looking in on a specific moment in someone else’s life, it was as though that life was theirs as well. Max felt every last emotion as though he had lived it and the turmoil of the last few hours left him breathless and reeling.

He stared at her in absolute astonishment. “What…what the hell is happening, Liz?” He stuttered out. He knew without question what he was experiencing was real but that didn’t make it any less shocking.
“I…don’t…I don’t know!” She too, was on complete overload.

My anxiety is feeding hers, he realized. If we’re this connected and both experiencing each other’s emotions, we’re only going to make the other worse. Max took a few deep breaths and focused on the one thing that he was sure of in this whole big mess: his love for her.

“Liz, look at me,” he commanded calmly, taking her face in his hands just as he had that day in the Crashdown. Her breathing automatically matched his and her heart rate slowed as she fell into this singular space that held only love. His love for her that spanned lifetimes and universes, his unwavering belief in the carnal knowledge that they were destined for each other, every touch, every moment between them; love was at the core of all of it. He realized then that it really didn’t matter what was happening, that the gravity of what stood before them was inconsequential compared to the strength of their bond.

“Oh…Max,” Liz managed before her lips came crashing down on his. The kiss could only be described as explosive; cataclysmic…nothing had ever felt this right before. It was as though they were experiencing each other for the very first time. His hands slipped up her sides, under her shirt, and his tongue dueled for dominance over hers. Her fingers had found his bare skin as well, digging into his shoulders, his back, trying to crawl inside of him, wanting him inside of her. But they weren’t only experiencing their own pleasure; they could feel exactly what the other was feeling. He knew exactly why she whimpered when his palms brushed the edges of her breasts, she knew precisely what it felt like for her lips to run along his neck.

She greedily traced the ridges of his abdomen with her fingers, her own belly tightening at the delicious sensation. It was complete and total overload, she felt like she could shatter into a billion shards and it still wouldn’t be enough to span every one of their lifetimes.

She felt his struggle before he reluctantly pulled away from her. His sense of duty dueling with the overwhelming passion he felt for her. He hovered over her, his weight resting on his elbows as they both panted heavily. She could feel his erection pressing into her inner thigh and she knew just how wondrously torturous it was for him, just as he knew how arousing the experience was for her.

“Liz…” Max started, willing himself to calm down.

“I know, Max. I want this as badly as you do, but we have to talk about what this all means first.”

Max sighed and pressed his lips to her forehead for a long moment before rolling on to his back and staring up at the ceiling. Liz immediately curled into his side and they both felt the comfort and familiarity flow through their connection.

“So this is all true,” Max began after a long silence. Liz could feel the heaviness in his words.

“All of it,” she answered quietly.

“Liz…I can’t…Jesus Christ, Liz, we’re barely 17 years old! We’re not ready to be parents! How are we going to take care of a baby? How are we going to protect it? And what do we do about Tess? God, Liz…I’m so sorry!” Liz wasn’t surprised by his tears or the devastating sense of guilt and responsibility and helplessness that poured from her soul mate, but she was taken aback by his anger. He was so infuriated, not at her or any particular tangible entity, but at whomever had written their fates and forced them into this position. Hadn’t they fought hard enough for their own survival? And now to hold the fate of two entire races in their hands – in her womb, really – it was too much. And it wasn’t even as though he could find a way to remove the burden from her; if he could bear it all himself, that would be enough. He would walk a million miles without rest or sustenance if it meant absolving her of these duties, but there was no other way. They had no choice.

“Stop, Max! Just stop!” Liz cried fervently, wrapping herself around him. “I’m not angry. And I know that no matter how hard things are, no matter how much danger we face or how horrible it all seems, we will survive this together. There is no me without you Max, and now we know that’s an unequivocal fact. I wish more than anything we could have a normal life and get married in the far distant future and then someday a long time after that, after we’ve gotten to enjoy just being us, then we could have a family. But that’s not for us to decide, Max.

“You once asked me ‘what’s so great about normal?’ and frankly? There are a lot of things that are probably pretty great about it. But how many people can say that they have been in love with the same person for 33 lifetimes? How many people can say that their love for another person can save the world? I’m just as scared as you are. But I believe in us. More than that, I believe in you.”

Max took a deep breath and tightened his arms around her. “Before tonight I would’ve said that you’d never know just how much that means to me. But now...” He trailed off, still in awe of this newfound connection.
“I know, Max,” she murmured into his chest, feeling utterly whole for what might be the first time in her life.
They laid tangled up in each other as the sun rose over Roswell, bathing the room in hazy daylight. It was still about an hour before anyone would notice that Liz was missing and they knew they had to start making some decisions…quickly.

Reluctantly they pulled apart and sat up, Max against the headboard and Liz facing him with her knees drawn to her chest.

“So what do we do?” Liz asked, resting her chin on her folded hands.

“Well, according to…me, I guess, we have a month before we absolutely have to…” Max trailed off. How strange it was to be rationally discussing a plan to have a baby at 17!

“Get pregnant?” Liz supplied for him with a raised eyebrow. She shared the sentiment but was trying her best to push everything aside and be as straight forward as possible about things.

“Yeah,” he agreed with a sheepish smile. “Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to be the difficult part in all of this.”

Liz felt herself blush about 50 shades of red at his statement and knew that it wasn’t only her embarrassment that was feeding her reaction. She mentally shook herself and focused on the discussion at hand.

“Max, I don’t think…I don’t think we can stay in Roswell. We have no idea how much Tess knows or what she’s capable of…and our parents. God, I can’t even imagine what our parents would do.”

“I know. You’re right, but if we leave, they’re going to look for us. All of them. And they’re not going to stop until they find us,” Max replied wearily.

Liz let out a pained sigh. “But what choice do we have?”

“I don’t know. I think we need to talk to everyone, at the very least we need to let them know what’s going on.” Max scrubbed his face with his hands.

Liz felt her chest tighten; never had she seen him look so vulnerable and young. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into his arms and find the comfort they both so desperately needed, but that wasn’t an option right now.

“I’ll go wake Isabel and call Michael, you take care of Maria and Alex. Tell them to be at Michael’s by 7.” Max clambered tiredly to his feet and stood beside the bed looking down at her. He could feel their fear rolling between them like a storm and he dropped to his knees, taking her hands in his. “Liz, we will survive this. We will make it right this time. And I will do everything in my power to protect you and our child, no matter the cost. You are the most important thing in my universe, you always have been, and you always will be. I will go anywhere and do anything, as long as it’s with you.”

Fresh tears fell across her cheeks for what felt like the millionth time that morning as the sincerity and passion in his words came crashing down on her. She kissed him then, with devotion beyond any measure she’d ever experienced. Even with their lives – with everything they’d ever known – seemingly falling to pieces around them, neither had ever felt so complete as they did in that moment.

“I love you,” Max murmured against her mouth.

“I love you,” Liz whispered reverently.

Max sighed and finally pulled away from her, rising to his feet once more. “Five minutes,” he promised and slipped quietly out the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Isabel hadn’t been able to sleep all night. Something was off; she’d had a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach since late last evening that she hadn’t been able to shake. Normally, she would’ve woken Max, but she’d heard him playing the most depressing collection of Counting Crows music he owned when she’d gone to see if he was still up. She decided that dealing with a pining brother was not going to make her feel any better. She glanced over at the clock: 6:28. She didn’t have to be up for another hour, but clearly lying in bed any longer wasn’t going to do her any good, so she figured she may as well grab a shower before Max got to it.

“Max!” Isabel gasped, shocked to find her brother standing on the other side of her bedroom door. “It’s 6:30 in the morning, what the hell are you doing?”

“I needed to talk to you,” Max said. He sounded pensive and guarded and she was immediately on edge.

“Talk to me? About what?”

“I need you to get dressed now; we need to have an emergency meeting.” Max tried to check his tone but knew his sister was already sufficiently freaked out.

“What the hell is going on Max?!” Isabel growled.

“Please, Isabel, just get dressed. This isn’t something we can discuss right now,” he pleaded quietly. Isabel could see the desperation in his face. Whatever this was, it was huge. But he was terrifying her and she wanted answers. Now she swallowed hard and opened her mouth to protest when a figure came into view behind him.

“Liz? What is she doing here?” Isabel looked between her brother and the girl that broke his heart in complete confusion. Liz had the same haunted expression as her brother and Isabel suddenly felt like she was going to be sick.

“Isabel…” Max began in warning, but Liz cut him off.

“Isabel, I promise we’ll tell you everything, but there’s just so much…” Liz sounded more desperate than Max.

“Jesus Christ,” Isabel whispered. “Go, I’ll be out in two minutes.”

The door closed soundly in Max’s face and he turned back to Liz.

“Alex and Maria are on their way, did you want to call Michael?”

“Shit. Yeah. He’s going to take this waiting thing about as well as Isabel,” Max said, slumping against the wall.

“What about your parents? How are you going to explain leaving for school at 6 o’clock in the morning?” Liz whispered.

“They’re out of town in their Clovis office,” he replied, pushing off from the wall and heading back into his room to grab the phone.

“Oh. That’s…convenient,” Liz commented. She sat down on the edge of the bed and fiddled with the comforter while Max called Michael.

“Michael…I know, I’m sorry…Yes, it’s important! Maria and Alex will be to your apartment in 15 minutes, Isabel, Liz, and I will be there in about 20…We’ll talk about it when we all get there… No, Michael!...No, please…We’ll see you in 20.” Clearly Michael was about as thrilled as Isabel about the lack of information, but Max quickly hung up on him to prevent any further arguing. Tossing the phone on the bed, Max started rummaging through his dresser for something to wear.

“I’ll, uh…I’m just gonna…I mean, I know it’s not going to matter much soon, but…” Liz stammered, getting up to give Max some privacy.

He smiled at her abashedly. “I know. Thanks.”

She closed the door quietly behind her just as Isabel emerged from her room.

“Oh, um, Max is just, um, getting dressed,” Liz offered.

“So you didn’t come here last night for a booty call,” Isabel commented off-handedly and then sighed as she caught Liz’s wounded expression. “I’m sorry, that was unfair. Clearly something’s up and clearly it’s serious.”

“It’s okay. I’d be freaked out if I were in your shoes,” Liz conceded, tucking her hair nervously behind her ear.

“You look pretty freaked out yourself,” Isabel said, her tone softening.

Max stepped out of his room and looked between the two girls. “Ready?”

Isabel nodded and started down the hallway without another word.

“Um, can you drop me by my house? I need to make it look like I’ve been home all night. Maria is going to come get me from there,” Liz asked.

Max snorted quietly. “Practical as always,” he commented, taking her hand in his.

Liz gave him a lopsided smile. “Can’t go tarnishing my reputation, now can we?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The ride to Liz’s house was quiet. Isabel sat in back, staring out the window. Something had shifted between her brother and Liz. Something seismic. And it was obvious that whatever they were going to be discussing, it was primarily about the two of them. If there was an immediate threat, there’s no way Max would’ve taken the time to call a meeting. And what about Tess? And Kyle and the Sheriff for that matter? None of this was adding up and Isabel wanted nothing more than to get to Michael’s and get some answers.

Max pulled the Jeep into the alley behind the Crashdown and cut the engine. He turned to Liz and she cupped his cheek in her hand and nodded, holding his gaze. Max wrapped his fingers around her wrist and brought her palm to his lips and kissed it softly. “Ten minutes.” He murmured, releasing her. He waited until she was safely up the fire escape before starting the engine once more and pulling out of the alley.

Isabel was taken aback by the intensity in such a simple exchange. She swore she could feel power flowing between them, but she didn’t know what to make of it. She knew Max would just shut her down if she asked, so she turned back to the window and silently willed Max to drive faster.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz climbed quietly into her bedroom, relief flooding through her to see that it was empty. After the night she and Max spent in the desert last spring, her parents had become more diligent about checking on her, though it seemed after she broke up with him and took off for Florida, they assumed that her sneaking out at night had become considerably less likely. She moved around her room, trying to follow her normal routine for getting ready for school, making a little extra noise for her parent’s benefit. She stripped out of yesterday’s clothes and threw on a clean pair of jeans, a fitted black v-neck sweater, and a pair of Converses. She brushed her teeth quickly and grabbed her backpack. Taking a deep breath, she willed herself to calm down and headed for the kitchen.

Her dad was already downstairs starting in on breakfast orders, but her mom was in their kitchen making a pot of coffee.

“Liz! You scared me! What are you doing up so early?” Nancy asked, surprised.

“Oh, well the science club decided to get together before school today; it was the only time this week Mr. Morrison could meet with us. So I have to be at school for 7:15.” Liz was actually impressed with how together she sounded, but remained watchful of her mother, hoping that she believed her.

“You didn’t mention anything about this last night,” Nancy commented, setting her coffee down at the breakfast table and taking her usual seat.

“It completely slipped my mind until I checked my planner,” Liz explained, hoping she sounded convincing enough.

“Well, at least you remembered,” Nancy agreed. Thankfully, it wasn’t uncommon for Mr. Morrison to request a morning meeting for the club, so at least there had been a precedent. “Do you want something to eat before you go?”

“Oh, no, I’m fine. Mr. Morrison promised bagels…I think it’s really the only reason we all show up so early,” Liz let out a small laugh. “And, um, besides, Maria is going to be here in a few minutes to pick me up. She’s got some chorus thing this morning and said she’d drive me.”

“That was nice,” Nancy said, sipping her coffee. A whisper in the back of her mind kept nagging that something was not quite right, but she ignored it. After the stunt Liz and Max had pulled last spring, she’d been less inclined to trust her otherwise wonderful daughter, but that had been so many months ago and so much seemed to have changed since then. Nancy shook off the feeling and smiled at Liz.

Liz’s cell phone rang and she fumbled for it in the side pocket of her bag. “Hey Maria…Yeah, I’ll be right out.”
Liz surprised Nancy by bending down and giving her a hard hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I love you, Mom,” she said quietly, releasing her as quickly as she’d wrapped her arms around her.

“Oh, I love you too, baby,” Nancy replied, a bit stunned. Before she could say anything else, Liz had disappeared out the door.

How strange.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So it’s been a good long while since I’ve had a full-blown freak-out, but Liz, I’m going to be rapidly heading in that direction if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on!” Maria bombarded her best friend before the car door was fully closed.

“Maria, cal…” Liz tried but was promptly cut off.

“Oh, no no no! Don’t you tell me to calm down, missy! You woke me up from the steamiest dream about Brad Pitt – okay, okay, it was about Michael, but that’s so not the point! – tell me that there’s some kind of emergency meeting of the “I Know an Alien” club and then you refused to tell me what was going on! So I start to think that we’re being invaded or attacked or that the world is ending…wait, the world isn’t ending, is it? Because there’s so much I need to do before I die…oh god, Liz, tell me the world isn’t ending!” Maria rambled, her voice rising to an ear-splitting pitch.

“The world isn’t ending, Maria. I promise. We haven’t been invaded by evil aliens, no one is dying…Please. It’s not what you think,” Liz tried to calm her. “And if you’d just put the car in drive and head in the direction of Michael’s apartment, the closer you’ll be to an explanation,” she suggested gently.

“…Oh,” Maria said, jerking the car into gear and all but tearing out of the alley by Liz’s balcony.

“Ok, Maria? Relax. It’s also going to help if we get there alive,” Liz emphasized the last word and tightened her grip on the door handle.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sound of two pairs of footsteps hurrying down the hallway sent Max to his feet. No one had said a word since they’d all arrived. Michael was pacing the room like a caged animal and Isabel was sitting next to Alex on the love seat, both staring at fixed points on the floor. As soon as the door opened, Max was at Liz’s side, his hands on her face reverently as though they’d been separated for years, not minutes.

“Ok, the gang’s all here. Now would you mind telling us what the hell is going on?” Michael demanded through gritted teeth.

Max turned to face his friends and saw them all staring at him intently. He sighed and took Liz’s hand in his, leading her over to the unoccupied couch.

“None of this is going to be easy to hear, but I promise you that all of it is true and I ask that you please just hear us out,” Max began calmly, trying to gather his thoughts.

“Last night, Liz had a visitor…”

Hi All! I'm back with chapter 5, though later than I wanted. It's been a very rough road and I'm just starting to feel a bit like myself again. I've been re-reading old fanfictions and watching a few episodes here and there to kick start the creative juices and it seems to be working I have a bunch of disconnected pieces written already and the story fleshed out to a point, but it's getting everything in a readable order that's been a bit of a headache with everything else that's going on.

As an aside, if anyone reading this is willing to be spoiled, I'd love to toss a few ideas back and forth. I keep coming up with new plot twists and problems for our favorite couple to face and it's getting a bit out of hand. I need to be reined in! LOL! So if anyone is interested, let me know

Chapter 5

“Last night, Liz had a visitor…”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Jesus Christ, this can’t be real…this can’t be happening,” Maria murmured, shaking her head in shock. She’d just spent the last half hour listening to Max and Liz tell some fantastical story about reincarnated souls and the end of the world. She realized, vaguely, that none of this should come as a surprise to her any longer, that whatever she thought couldn’t happen absolutely could, but the fact that this involved her best friend – someone she’d known since they were little girls? That terrified her.

“I know Maria, but it is real and it is happening,” Liz said. Her heart broke for Maria, she could imagine just how hard it was to be on the outside of all of this, but they needed her support. They needed everyone’s support.

Michael spoke for the first time since they’d arrived. “So you’re really going to go through with this? You’re really going to voluntarily become a father at 17?”

Max scrubbed his face with his hands. “What choice do we have, Michael?”

“I…I don’t know, there must be some other way to beat this thing. I say we track down Khivar and fry him now,” Michael replied, agitated.

“And how do you propose we do that? Do you have any idea how to find him, because I certainly don’t,” Isabel interjected. She was about as pleased with all this as everyone else, but at least she was realistic.

“Yeah, we’ll get that lying bitch to tell us where to find her goddamn brother!” Michael spat, slamming his fist down on the counter top.

“What are you going to do? Torture her until she tells you?” Isabel shouted in response, rising to her feet.

“Hey, hey, hey! Calm down! Everyone just needs to stop it!” Max yelled over them. Once they’d quieted, he continued. “This is hard enough on us as it is, but there is no other way around it. We are ultimately going to need Tess as a link to Khivar, but we can’t chance going after him without every possible advantage in place. If we die in this lifetime, that’s it. It’s all over. So Liz and I are going to do what we can to help prevent that. But we need you guys to be in our corner. We can’t survive this alone.”

“So what’s the plan?” Alex asked, sounding the most steady out of all of them.

“That’s the thing. If we stay here, we have to deal with our parents and Tess and potentially the FBI among other things. I don’t think staying is an option, but leaving may be just as dangerous,” Liz explained.

“What if…what if it wasn’t?” Alex interjected. Liz knew her best friend well and could see a plan forming in his brilliant mind.

“What do you mean?” Max asked.

“What if instead of running away which would make people look for you…what if there was no reason for anyone to look?” It was clear that Alex was skirting around the issue, but Isabel knew exactly what he was trying to say.

“What, you want them to fake their deaths?” She asked incredulously.

“Precisely,” Alex said somberly. “The Gomez concert is in Santa Fe and it’s a long, dark 200 miles on 285. People fall asleep at the wheel all the time. Or better yet, maybe there will be a detour and you end up over the ravine on 25? And maybe there was a gas leak and an explosion that makes it impossible to identify the bodies.”

“God, Alex! Morbid much?” Maria scoffed.

“Maria…it’s actually not a bad idea,” Liz said softly. Planning her death, even if it was staged, was not on her list of top ten most enjoyable things, but the logic was undeniable. “But even if there’s a fire, there will still need to be some…remains.”

“Valenti might be able to help with that,” Michael said, sounding calmer. “There must be plenty of unclaimed bodies in the county morgue. We just need two. Then we can do a little alien hocus pocus, match up dental records, and voila! A believable accident.”

“That’s…sort of brilliant,” Isabel muttered.

“It really is. But there are a lot of factors to consider,” Max responded. For the first time since Liz climbed through his window that morning he felt like they might actually have a fighting chance.

“Our poor parents,” Liz whispered, knowing what it would do to her mom and dad to think that she was dead.

“I know,” Max turned towards her and shut everyone else out. He smoothed her hair behind her ear and pressed a long kiss into her forehead. “But think of it this way,” he murmured, staring deep into her eyes. “At least they’ll be alive. And maybe one day, when this is all over, we’ll be able to tell them the truth.”

Liz nodded and sank into the hollow of Max’s shoulder allowing the comfort of his body against hers to envelope her.

“Max,” Isabel’s voice shook them from their morbid thoughts. “I think we should tell Mom and Dad. I think they could help us.”

“Isabel…” Her brother interjected wearily.

“No, Max, please. Please, just hear me out. If they know the truth, at least they can help us prepare. And when you’re gone, I have to pretend that you’re dead. It’s going to be hard enough to have to fake it with everyone else, but in my own home? With our parents? Max, that would be torture. Please. I know I’m being selfish here, but please. I can’t do this without their support,” Isabel sobbed quietly. Alex wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder and she leaned into him, turning her face into his neck.

“I…I don’t know, Iz. I don’t know if it’s a good idea. It’s not that I don’t trust them, it’s just that people are unpredictable. And what if they turn on us? What if they tell the Parkers? There are just so many variables. My number one priority right now is to keep everyone safe, and I just don’t know if this is a safe decision,” Max explained. In all honesty, he wanted to tell their parents as badly as she did, but he was terrified. He had two planets depending on him and they didn’t even know it…how could he shoulder one more thing?

He felt a burst of faith and strength take hold of him and drown out his fear. Two small hands wrapped around his forearm and he turned to look down at her.

“Max, I think Isabel’s right. I think you should talk to your parents. You know that they’ve always sensed something was different about the two of you, they just didn’t know what it was. Your mother, especially. And maybe they can help us. I think they deserve to know the truth. At least that way it’s two less people that have to suffer because of us,” Liz reasoned quietly, her eyes holding his like a lifeline.

Could they really do it? If they were accepting, they could prove to be an invaluable asset in this whole big mess. “Ok,” Max whispered, still looking at Liz. “Ok. But only if you’ll be there when we do. I can’t do this without you.”

Liz felt her eyes prick with tears at his words. “Of course I’ll be there.”

Michael cleared his throat. The two of them were obviously getting lost in their own little world and they still had a lot to discuss. “We also need to talk to the Sheriff and Kyle,” he said.

“How are we going to manage that without tipping off Tess?” Maria asked.

“I’m partnered up with Kyle for that history project,” Max answered. “So she wouldn’t be at all suspicious if Kyle came over to my house to work on it. I’ll talk to him today and see if he can come by this afternoon. And I guess he can just relay the information to the Sheriff?” Max didn’t love that idea but he couldn’t think of anything better.

“It would probably be better if one of us talks to Valenti directly,” Isabel said. The logistics were overwhelming but she knew if they didn’t cover every possible detail something could go terribly wrong.

“I’ll do it,” Michael volunteered. “It won’t seem out of the ordinary if I disappear from campus for a few hours.”

“God! This is all just so…” Maria said quietly, searching for the right word.

“Surreal?” Alex supplied, looking over at his shaken friend.

“I was going for something a little closer to insane, but yeah, that too,” she muttered, dragging her fingers through her hair.

“Just your typical day as a member of the I-Know-An-Alien club,” Alex quipped, but the joke fell flat.

“We should probably start heading to school. If we leave staggered, it’ll create less suspicion,” Max said after a moment.

“Are you really up for going to school, Max?” Isabel asked. She couldn’t begin to imagine the amount of stress they were under and she knew that she certainly didn’t feel up to going to school and acting like everything was okay.

“What choice do we have? If I don’t go, Tess will suspect something and if Liz is absent too we may as well put a flashing neon sign above our heads.”

“Max is right,” Liz said. “We have to act as normal as possible, and normal means going to school. Maria,” she turned towards her best friend. “I’ll go with you, Max can take Michael and Isabel, and Alex, you have your car.”

Max was awed by her composure. Anyone else would be on the verge of implosion, but here was Liz keeping everyone grounded and focused.

“I may as well leave first, no sense in prolonging this,” Alex muttered, slinging his backpack over one shoulder and heading for the front door.

Isabel cast a sidelong glance in her brother’s direction before getting to her feet. “Why don’t we wait in the car, Michael,” she suggested. Before Michael could answer, she was herding him towards the hallway with Maria on their heels.

“I’ll meet you outside,” Maria called and the door closed quietly behind her, leaving Max and Liz alone.

“This isn’t going to be easy,” Max whispered, wrapping her up in his arms.

Liz sighed. “When is anything ever easy for us, Max?” She rested her palm over his heart, playing with the fabric of his shirt. “It’s going to take everything in me to keep my hands off you.”

“I know. I know exactly how you feel,” Max pressed his lips to her forehead and then rested his chin on the top of her head. Even though they were facing the responsibility of saving two entire planets, in that moment they were simply two people, desperately in love, drawing strength from each other’s touch.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

First period had dragged on for Liz. There was a hollowness that settled in into her when she climbed into Maria’s car and it seemed to be spreading the longer she and Max were apart. Something profound happened when that connection opened between them; something permanent and altering, but Liz couldn’t help but feel they were missing some crucial piece. That the missing piece was driving this almost agonizing emptiness. She sighed quietly and tried to turn her attention back to Ms. Gilbert who was doing a less-than-adequate job holding the classes’ interest in The Odyssey.

Max was faring no better. He tapped his pen against his notebook and glanced at the clock for what felt like the thousandth time in the last 10 minutes. They had trig together next period and the need to see her was pervasive.

If only telepathy were one of our powers, he mused wryly.

Their connection just a few short hours before was profound, but he was sure that it wasn’t even a fraction of what they could experience. Ever since the first day he saw her, he’d been able to feel when she was nearby and the closer she was, the more drawn to her he felt. After he’d healed her, that sensation heightened to a soft hum in the back of his mind that grew louder and more definite the closer they became. Even when she was in Florida over the summer, that hum was still there but so painfully quiet that it only made her leaving that much worse. He’d broached the subject with Michael before, thinking that it was an alien thing, but his best friend never had the same experience with Maria and told him he was probably delusional. Not exactly the answer he’d been looking for. But after last night he knew that this was so much more than some side effect of alien DNA.

“Max, say ‘ser’...” Alex mumbled under his breath from the seat next to him.

Max snapped back to attention and glanced at Alex. “Huh?”

His friend gestured towards Mr. Hernandez who was looking at him expectantly. “Uh, ser?”

“Gracias, Sr. Evans,” he said, turning back to the board.

He shot Alex an appreciative smile. “Thanks man.”

Alex shrugged. “I figure you’ve had a rough enough morning.”

Max snorted quietly “Understatement of the millennium.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Oh thank god! Liz thought in relief as the bell rang.

She all but shoved her books into her backpack and was about to bolt for the door when she stopped herself. Nothing could be different. Not today and not any day in the next month. There was a chance that after they left there might be an investigation and she couldn’t give anyone cause to question the accident. Even something as stupid as rushing out of a classroom; something she’d never done before. Things had to be completely, perfectly normal.

She took a deep breath and let a few of her classmates trickle out before following them. She stopped at her locker to switch out her books and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror affixed to the metal door. Wide, nervous eyes stared back, framed by flushed cheeks and a furrowed brow.

Shit, Liz, you’ve got to pull it together! She berated herself silently. No one is going to figure this out if you just keep it together.

But she wasn’t sure if that’s really what had her worked up. If she was going to be entirely honest with herself, this had nothing to do with a fear of being found out. This was solely and simply because of this desperate need to see Max.

She slammed her locker shut and spun on her heels...and almost collided head on with Tess.

“Oh, Tess! I’m sorry, I didn’t even see you,” Liz said quickly. This was the last thing she needed! After everything she learned in the last few hours, the hatred she had towards the girl was almost blinding and it was an effort just to keep her tone in check.

“It’s okay, Liz. In a bit of a hurry?” She said neutrally.

“Uh, no...well, yeah, I have trig and it’s all the way in B building so...” Christ, Liz! Calm down, this isn’t the Spanish Inquisition!

“Ah. You have that with Max, right? Tell him that I have a few things I need to talk to him about if you wouldn’t mind. You know, alien stuff.” She whispered the last part almost conspiratorially. Liz had to keep herself from shuddering.

“O...okay! Sure, no problem. I’ll see you later, Tess,” she said, perhaps just a hint too brightly. She sidestepped the blonde girl and started off towards her class. And Max.

“See ya, Liz,” Tess murmured icily under her breath. She wanted so badly to tear her heart from her pathetic little chest. But Khivar expressly forbade it. He claimed that he was getting close to something; very close and that bitch had something to do with it. Tess had tried everything to make her brother understand that Liz was the only thing standing between her and Max - she was sure of it - but Khivar had dismissed her, saying that this was much bigger than either of them had realized. That this was a delicate process and that she had better not do a damned thing to ruin his carefully laid plans. And despise Liz as she might, her fear of her own brother far outweighed her hatred for the human. So she left her alone. For now.