Happenstance ~M/L C/C~ Pt. 45 added 4/21

Post by **Angel13** » Mon Jun 09, 2003 9:25 pm

Hmmm...exams? Nope, no exams here. I could only wish!<img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/Grin_anim.gif ALT=":grin"> Just been busy working...it's the busy time of years for real estate. Thanks for being so patient!!

isndbreeze · Post by **isndbreeze** » Thu Jun 12, 2003 8:53 pm

Isn't RL a real PITA! It's so much better here in Roswell-land-all-the-time. Great chapter! <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/clap.gif ALT=":clap"> <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/ufo.gif ALT=":ufo"> <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"> <img src=http://www.uniquehardware.co.uk/server- ... humpup.gif ALT=":thumbsup"> <div style="text-align:center"><img src="http://users.aol.com/isndbreeze/skysymb ...   Gerry - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hopeless Candy-Coated, Stargazing, Dreamer! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</div>

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Fri Jun 13, 2003 2:29 pm

*sigh* so good. So very very good!

Post by **splatty** » Wed Jun 18, 2003 12:53 pm

awesome. :D <div style="text-align:center"> I want to be what I was when I wanted to be what I am now.</div>

Post by **Angel13** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 10:04 pm

Hi guys...sorry about the long delay between parts. I actually have a few more after this written but they needed major revamping before I posted this. Thanks for all the great feedback! Enjoy... Part 10 “Now this is what I’m talkin’ about!” Zan stretches out on the cushy leather seat of the private jet they all just boarded. Leaning back and putting his hands behind his head, he closes his eyes and says, “I could get used to this.” Michael glances at him in irritation. He’s uneasy around Zan…who looks so much like Max and acts so…un-Max-like. Irritated that these two seem to know so much more about themselves than the three of them ever did, he’s anxious to hear more from Ava about what she knows. But she doesn’t seem too forthcoming with information. Buckling himself into a seat across from Zan, Michael studies his easygoing, disheveled appearance. His hair is long, and he’s wearing a sleeveless shirt, which shows several tattoos up and down both arms. Some of the symbols seem familiar to Michael and he leans forward, trying to get a closer look. He’s startled from his perusal when Zan says, “See somethin’ you like?” with a smirk. Michael looks up to see that Zan has opened his eyes and he sits back in his seat. “Just checking out your tats.” Zan flexes his arms and smiles. “Beauts, aren’t they? Got ‘em done a few years back from an inker down on 23rd.” Michael looks back down to study the markings and furrows his brow. “Those symbols…what do they mean? They look familiar, like I should know what they are.” “You should…they’re symbols from our planet.” Sitting back, Michael thinks, ‘our planet’. How strange it is to hear those words coming out of his mouth. When he was younger, all he ever wanted was to find out more about where he came from, how he got here, and what happened to the others on their ship. And now, in one day he has his answers…but even more questions. But at what price is he getting the answers he thought he always wanted? Max and Isabel are gone, taken prisoner, and he’s on his way back to Roswell. The last place he ever wanted to see again. The trust he’s placed in Ava and now Zan scares him, but what choice does he have at this point? Looking over, he sees Maria and Alex talking close together…too quiet for him to hear. It’s completely surreal to be here with them after all these years, and they know who he is…what he is. He has to admit they took the whole alien thing pretty well. Their loyalty to Liz and each other is impressive…he admires them for that. Maria senses him looking at her and glances over. Trying to hide the fact that he was staring, he looks away quickly out the window. ~~~~~~~~~~ Liz looks at her watch anxiously to see that it’s only been 10 minutes since the last time she looked at it. She looks back up at the closed door, expecting the shape shifter to walk through it any minute and see them in the same positions he left them in. “Max…” He looks up at her and she asks, “What are we gonna do?” He looks at her hopelessly. Having tried to think of any possible way to get out of this, he’s still come up with nothing. He runs his hand through his hair and says, “I have no idea.” Standing up to stretch her legs, Liz says, “Ok. So, here’s the problem. We have to…have sex…right? Or they’ll kill Isabel.” She watches him nod dejectedly. “Or, at least they have to think we had sex.” She sees him look up at her curiously. “I mean, what are the ways they can confirm whether we did or not?” Max stands up, thinking aloud. “There’s Nicholas, who can read our thoughts.” He sees her thinking and he knows where she’s going with this train of thought. “I’m not sure what the protector is capable of, though. He said that he’d know. What does that mean?” “Maybe he can sense if an heir has been conceived.” Liz offers. “He’s your protector, right? So maybe he’s programmed or something to know if another…person…like you has been created?” She starts pacing the small room, thinking of all the possibilities. “He seemed to imply that conception will happen immediately. So we can’t just make them think we had sex. The question is, is there something you or I can do to make him ‘see’ something that’s not there?” Max shakes his head. “I don’t know. We’d have to change something physically inside of you…to simulate pregnancy. I just don’t know if that’s possible, or what the consequences on your body would be. And even if we could manage that, Nicholas would know that it’s not real.” Liz twists her ring around her index finger, a habit she’s always had when she’s thinking. If Nicholas can read their thoughts, then all they have to have is a memory…a shared memory of them having sex, here in this room. She looks up at Max suddenly and says, “Remember…back when I first found out…about you. You came to the Crashdown and…and you connected to me.” When he nods, she continues, “I wonder if, since I’m different now…I wonder if that connection could go both ways.” “Maybe…” Max says skeptically, understanding what she’s thinking. “But we would have to create the same memory…and he would still be able to see how that memory was created.” “It’s possible, but a shared memory along with physical evidence…that’s all the proof they’ll need.” She stops pacing and looks up at Max expectantly. This has to work…it’s their only hope. Max swallows and looks down into her eyes. It sounds good in theory, but will it really work? He feels himself flush at the thought of doing anything so intimate with her…even if it’s only in their heads. He won’t have a problem conjuring up a fantasy of being with Liz…he has an entire library of them stored away. But knowing that she’ll see them fills him with dread. Nodding his head slowly, he says, “I guess it’s worth a try. We don’t really have any other options.” She looks toward the door and says, “So um…we should do this quick. I don’t know how long he’s planning on giving us and we’re probably only an hour or so away from Roswell.” “Right.” Max clears his throat and says, “So…we’ll have to…” “We have to connect to each other and create a…fantasy, I guess.” She hesitates before reaching up toward his face. “I’ve never actually done this before, so umm…we have to touch, here…right?” She puts her hands on each side of his face. Max swallows and takes a deep breath before reaching for her face. “Yah…” He moves in closer to her and says, “Concentrate on my eyes and try not to think of anything. Picture yourself, your energy, moving into…” Liz feels dizzy for a moment and sees a blinding flash of light. Suddenly she finds herself standing in an empty room and Max is standing a few feet in front of her. “Max?” There’s a strange echo when she talks and it seems like she’s moving in slow motion. Another flash of light and the room changes to look like the room on the plane. “Picture your surroundings, Liz…it has to be right.” He looks down at her clothes and she follows his gaze to see she’s wearing her pajamas. She concentrates and they morph into the shorts and shirt she’s wearing on the plane. When she looks back up at Max he grins and says, “Good.” She looks to the side and startles at the scene of her and Max lying on her old balcony at her parent’s house in Roswell…kissing passionately and tearing each other’s clothes off. Fascinated, she watches herself claw away Max’s shirt and kiss his chest. Distracted by moaning coming from the other side of the room, she turns to see another scene. This time she’s wearing only her bra and underwear…straddling Max on a chair in what she thinks must be his room. As he reaches up for the back of her bra, she sees fragments of other scenes playing out all around her. All of them contain her and Max in various locations…kissing…moaning…dressed…naked, and in various positions. Suddenly each scene freezes and she looks up at the Max standing in front of her. Is she seeing into his mind? Are these fantasies that he has about her? Is he seeing her fantasies of him just as she’s seeing his? When she looks up into his face, she realizes that he is. His eyes are locked on a point behind her and the corner of his mouth is quirked up in a grin. Concentrating on freezing whatever embarrassing image he’s grinning at in her subconscious, she watches his grin fade as he looks back down at her. Slowly, all the other scenes fade and the room changes back into the plane. “This room has to be present at all times…it can’t be anywhere else.” He says this as he takes a step toward her and touches her hair. “I’m so sorry Liz.” He whispers this as his lips move toward hers. “This isn’t real.” She whispers back…hearing her voice echo along with his. “No…it’s not.” She hears him say this as his lips move closer to hers…but his lips aren’t moving. “We don’t have much time…just concentrate on making the same memory.” She feels confusion at first…like she’s detached from herself. But she is, isn’t she? As she feels Max’s lips kissing her, she pictures herself removing clothes and falling to the floor. Time seems disjointed and fast as images…other images of her seem to close in and retreat. Max’s other fantasies of her are trying to close in on this one and he’s keeping them away…trying to make this one as real as possible. Relaxing then, she pushes all thought away and tries to do the same. It’s quick and almost clinical and when it’s over, Max quickly breaks the connection. When Liz realizes that she’s back in the real world, she stumbles backward at the force of Max’s separation. She’s breathing deeply and realizes that she’s covered in a light sheen of sweat. Confused, she tries to get her bearings. Max turns his back toward Liz and wipes the sweat from his face. He tries to calm his breathing as he braces one arm against the wall. Looking down he sees the bulge straining against the front of his jeans and he wills it to go away. Liz backs up against the wall behind her and slides down it, wiping her sweaty palms on the front of her shorts. Her hands are shaking and she closes her eyes to try to calm down. But she opens them again quickly when all she sees behind her closed lids is Max…making love to her. A few minutes go by and all they can hear is their own wildly beating hearts. Liz looks up when Max turns back around and says in a croaked voice, “I think it worked.” She nods and starts thinking about what they have to do next. “Liz…I…” He starts to say something, apologize maybe. But she interrupts him. “We don’t have much time. I need your help for this.” She lays her hands over her abdomen and says, “We have to make my body think it’s pregnant. It shouldn’t be too hard to get an egg released from my ovary and implant it on the wall of my uterus. We just change it slightly to make it appear like a forming zygote and voila…I’m pregnant.” She looks up at him and says, “It won’t last long, my body will reject it…but hopefully it’ll be enough.” She sees the hesitation on his face and says encouragingly, “Basic biology Max. We can do this, but I need your help.” He wipes a hand across his forehead and moves onto the floor next to her. “Right.” As she raises her shirt, he hesitantly puts his hands on her abdomen and concentrates on her body. They both work at getting her body to do what they need it to. Max concentrates on her ovary and egg while she prepares her uterus to accept the egg. When they’re done, Max sinks back away from her and exhales loudly. “Ok. I think we’re good.” He watches her pull her shirt down and look up at him. She reaches up and runs her hands through her hair, messing it up slightly before reaching down and pinching her cheeks. Seeing him watch her she shrugs and stands up. “You ready?” He nods and stands up with her. “As I’ll ever be.” He moves toward the door and puts his hand on the knob. “Let’s get this over with.” He looks back at her and slowly opens the door. ~~~~~~~~~~ The waiting was torture. While Max and Liz are behind the closed door, Isabel stares out the window and tries to come to terms with the situation. She heard the shape shifter tell Max that he would kill her if Max didn’t get Liz pregnant. She knows that Max would never force anyone to have sex with him…and she would never expect him to. Her life will be over. Maybe it’s better this way…maybe dying now will save her from a more gruesome end later. Maybe the shape shifter was bluffing. Maybe they’ll find a way out of this before it comes to that. While she’s thinking about all the possible ways they might kill her, she hears snickers around her and she realizes that everyone has moved to her end of the plane and are eavesdropping on the noises coming from the closed cabin. Her eyes move to the door and she can hear sounds coming from behind it…moaning sounds. Her eyes widen in surprise and embarrassment when she realizes what they’re hearing. Oh my God…are they actually doing what she thinks they’re doing? She sees Nicholas and the shape shifter close to the door and they look at each other, grin, and walk away back toward the front of the plane. She looks once more toward the door and the moaning suddenly stops and everyone around her looks disappointed before moving away. She hears one of them laugh and say, “Man, that was quick.” At least half an hour passes agonizingly slow before she sees the door crack open and Max appear in the doorway, followed by a cowering Liz. Looking from one to the other, she can’t believe it. Liz looks completely disheveled…her hair a mess and her face flushed. Max looks angry as he steps out and looks in her direction. She gives him a sympathetic look as the shape shifter walks back down the aisle toward them. “So, did you kids have fun?” He says as he studies Liz closely. “We did what you asked.” Max says simply as he moves to sit across from Isabel. She can feel his anxiety so acutely that her hands shake. “We’ll see.” He says as he steps closer to Liz. Studying her, he motions for Nicholas to join him. “Make sure.” He instructs. Isabel sees Liz glance at Max quickly as Nicholas approaches her with a grin and puts his hand to her head. Max looks forward, his jaw clenched and his hands gripping the armrests. He closes his eyes when they hear Liz cry out as Nicholas probes her mind and his grip relaxes when they hear Nicholas say, “It’s true.” The shape shifter smiles and says, “Of course…how else could she be pregnant?” He looks down at Liz and says, “I told you I would know…you’re practically glowing. Congratulations, mommy.” The shape shifter steps away from Liz to follow Nicholas and stops at Max’s seat. “Good job, your highness.” He continues up toward the front of the plane, leaving them alone. Isabel looks up at Liz in pity and sees a look of relief on her face as she sighs and her shoulders sag. Liz walks forward toward the bathroom and Isabel watches her step inside and close the door. She looks at Max and says, “Max, did you really…” He cuts her off and says, “I don’t wanna talk about it.” She nods and sits back in her seat, studying her brother. Poor Max. He must hate himself right now. And Liz…she can’t even imagine what she’s going through. Looking around, she unbuckles her seatbelt and stands up, walking to the bathroom door. She knocks on it lightly and says, “Liz? Are you ok?” She hears a muffled sound from inside and the door opens. Liz steps out and looks up at Isabel. “I’m fine.” Isabel sees her glance at Max before looking at the floor. Unsure, Isabel quietly says, “If you need anything…” Liz smiles at her and says, “I’m ok…thanks.” Isabel nods and follows Liz to the back of the plane. She takes her seat across from Max as Liz sits across the aisle from them and looks out the window. Max is watching her and Isabel aches for them both. She knows that Max would never hurt Liz, but she has to be feeling so violated. Seeing Liz’s strong, determined profile, Isabel admires the small girl for her courage. She doubts that she could keep such a brave face if the same thing had happened to her. Max steals a few glances at Liz and he can feel Isabel’s eyes on him. She’s concerned, he can feel it coming off of her in waves. But he can’t possibly let her know what really happened in that room…or didn’t happen. Her life depends on her, and everyone else on this plane, thinking he and Liz had sex in that room. All they can do now is concentrate on getting away from their captors once they reach Roswell. But still, whenever his eyes meet Liz’s he can’t help but flash back to their shared fantasy and he feels his face flush at the memory. He also can’t help but think about the fantasies of him he saw in her mind. Were they from when they were younger? Or were some of those more recent? It was hard to tell, but either way he was happy to see himself there and not someone else. Guiltily, that’s the first thing he thought of when Liz brought up the idea of a shared fantasy/memory…that what he would see in her mind would be someone from her past or snippets from past relationships. After all, it’s been 13 years since he last saw her. Of course she’d have had relationships since then. He was surprised that she wasn’t married already. Maybe she had been for all he knows. She’s beautiful, smart…she could have anyone she wanted. So he was relieved when he didn’t see any sexual fantasies involving other men…and extremely surprised to see she had them about him. He never worried that she would see anyone else. Sure, he’s dated over the years. But never let anything get serious. He couldn’t. Not without revealing who he is. None of them have ever been able to have serious relationships. She probably thought it was strange that he had so many thoughts of her floating around his head. They barely know each other. If you don’t count the whole seeing-into-each-other’s-souls thing anyway. Feeling eyes on her, Liz looks over to see Max staring at her. Embarrassed, she looks away quickly at the seat in front of her. Having fake sex with someone in her mind has to top her list as the most bazaar thing that ever happened to her. Well, that and an alien healing her and giving her powers. Rolling her eyes at herself, she thinks that her life can’t get any stranger. Her body is still tingling from the experience and she gives herself a mental shake, telling herself to shake it off. It wasn’t real. But she can’t help replaying the fantasy over and over in her head. As she looks out the window, she wonders what’s going to happen when they land. Will they go to a hidden space ship and take off? Or do they just beam places, like on Star Trek? She thinks about Maria and Alex and how worried they probably are. They’ve obviously connected her disappearance to Isabel since Maria called her. What are they doing right now? Have they called the police? Her heart aches at the thought of never seeing them again…or her parents. And she hopes that a miracle will happen and they can somehow escape once they land. She feels the pressure change as the plane starts its decent. This is it. They’re back in Roswell. They have to do something…someone has to help them. It just can’t be possible that she’s going to leave this planet with a bunch of aliens and never see her family and friends again. ~~~~~~~~~~ He’s bored. This airport is dirty and hot and his cell phone won’t stop ringing. Can’t anyone manage to do anything without him? “I swear, this planet would fall apart if I weren’t on it.” He muses to himself as he looks at his nails absently, thinking he needs a new manicurist. Finally, he sees the small jet land and motions for his assistant to gather the paperwork surrounding him. But as he watches the door open and stairs come down, he feels something he hasn’t felt in a very long time and backs away from the window, out of sight. “Shit, this is exactly what I need.” He rolls his eyes and makes his way out of the airport quickly, assistant in tow, toward the limo parked out front. He instructs the driver to drive around to the side of the terminal where he can still get a view of the front door from his tinted windows. He watches warily as a few people make their way outside the front of the terminal and flag down a nearby waiting van. Skins. What he sees next has him swearing under his breath…the king and his sister being guided by the skins into the van. Interesting. His investigators are slacking. Last he heard, the king was living quietly in New York…staying low. Then he sees her…sending out a pulse of energy like a god damned radio tower. The Queen. Max has been busy over the last few days. This explains a lot. And he’s not surprised to see his former comrade, flanked by Vilondra and Tess, follow her out of the terminal and into the waiting van. This changes everything and he’s not happy about the time this will take to clean up. He has three major scripts just going into production…he can’t afford to be away for very long. He just doesn’t have the time for this crap. Swearing again, he turns to his assistant and tells her to call the office and tell them he won’t be back for a few days and to cancel all his appointments. Turning his attention back to the van, he watches it drive away, knowing exactly where they’re headed and he picks up his cell phone to make some calls of his own. ~~~~~~~~~~ As Zan steps out onto the pavement, the first thing he notices is the heat. “Damn. It’s hot!” “Yah, the desert is sometimes like that.” Maria says to him as she walks past and rolls her eyes. Zan follows behind her into the terminal with Ava and asks, “What have you gotten us into?” She just shoots him a withering look and walks ahead of him. Truth is, she doesn’t have any idea what they’re stepping into. But one way or another, she’s determined to be finished with this mess. Michael warily follows behind, looking around at the bland desert surrounding them. Roswell. He never expected to find himself back here. Just the smell of the air brings back memories, painful ones. Pushing them back, he follows the others into the terminal. As they step outside back into the scorching heat, Ava glances around wondering if they’ll need to go rent a car. But as she looks to the left, she sees him and freezes. Well, she called him…she just can’t believe he actually showed up. She hasn’t seen him in years, since they were children and he left them to fend for themselves. Her hatred of him barely eclipses her fear of him and she begins to walk toward him. When she approaches, she doesn’t say anything…waiting for him to say something first…to set the tone. He grins and takes off his sunglasses. “Ava. It’s been a long time.” “Cal.” Is all she says as she steps to the side and his eyes move past her and widen in surprise. “Well, lookie what we have here.” He steps forward to stand in front of Zan. “Thought you were dead.” Zan looks at him with pure hatred and says, “Yah, I keep hearin’ that. But here I am…alive…no thanks to you.” Cal smirks and shrugs. “You know I never could control that sister of yours.” He looks around then and says, “Aren’t you gonna introduce me to your friends, Ava?” His eyes focus on Michael and he cocks his head to the side. “Michael, right? I’m forgetting my manners along with poor Ava here.” He reaches his hand out to Michael, who looks at it skeptically before taking it and shaking briefly. Ava moves to stand in front of Maria and Alex and says, “This is…” But she doesn’t finish as Cal turns and sees Maria. “Maria…sweetheart!” He grabs her hands and holds them between both of his like they’re long lost friends. “It’s been too long. And unfortunately we have to meet again under these circumstances.” He’s grinning widely as she stares at him in shock. “Cal…wha…what are you doing here?” She’s confused as she looks at Ava, then Michael. Clearing her throat, she turns back to Cal with questions swirling behind her eyes. He lets go of her hands and points at her with a smile. “Exactly!” He turns to Ava and his face sobers. “What am I doing here? And do I have to ask why your arrival was preceded by an entourage of skins, the king, his sister, and apparently, a newly claimed queen? Oh, and I can’t leave out my old friend Browan.” “Wait. You’re…you’re a…an…you’re one of them?” Maria sputters, not quite comprehending what’s going on and why one of the most successful producers in Hollywood is standing here talking to aliens. “Unfortunately, no. I’m not one of them.” He says this with a tinge of regret. He looks back at Ava and says, “Maybe we should continue this conversation somewhere else?” He turns and opens the door to his limo and gets in, leaving the door open…waiting for the others to follow. ~TBC~

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 2:18 pm

Yay! Angel you're back with a new part! i loved it! It was great!<img src=http://www.uniquehardware.co.uk/server- ... bounce.gif ALT=":green"> I so loved that max cared so much about Liz and she about him to trust each other so compeletly do do that mind thingy! That was a good move. It tricked the others..but poor Isabel! She must be feeling so guilty! But it was nice to know that M/L had secret...erm...thoughts about one another!<img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/lol.gif ALT=":lol"> And Maria knows Cal?! Hmm...can't wait to see her reaction <img src="http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sra ... 55ad1f.jpg" style="border:0;"/>

Post by **Angel13** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 8:46 pm

Part 11 As the limo barrels down a stretch of highway, Michael looks out the window at the passing landscape. He never felt that Roswell was home to him but the feeling he’s getting is almost like he’s returned home. The truth is, he’s a little lost without Isabel and Max. They’ve been together their whole lives and being with these…strangers…is foreign to him. He feels lost. “You done well for yourself, Cal.” Zan looks around the limo and at the expensive suit Cal is wearing. Maria sees a look cross Cal’s face that looks like a mixture of annoyance and…regret? She still doesn’t know what’s going on, but she’ll give them a few minutes to fill her in before she blows a gasket. “Yah.” Is all Cal says to Zan. He picks up his cell phone and is soon talking to someone on the other end about securing a location and accommodations for six. When he hangs up, he pushes a button on his seat and says, “Stephanie, call and have my things sent. After I get settled here, I need you back at the office.” Michael is startled by the sound of “Yes, sir.” coming from a speaker in the ceiling. Cal sits back in the seat and starts absently playing with the ring on his pinky finger as he stares at some unseen point in front of him. Finally, he turns to Ava and says, “I’m assuming there’s a good reason for you to tote humans with you?” Maria looks offended and opens her mouth but Alex elbows her and gives her a look telling her to be quiet. “They insisted and I didn’t have time to argue. They know…they’re friends of the girl…the new queen.” Ava tells him before continuing. “This all went down quick. They was gonna go to the cops.” “So what’s the sitch?” Cal asks. “We was hangin’ low until early this morning the shifter told me about the awakening. He got her quick…shifted into the king to get her back to our place. But he found out that even though the king claimed her, they didn’t do the deed. No heir. That was pretty funny, actually. He was pissed.” Ava grins at the memory before continuing. “Didn’t take long for the king and his crew to show up…they got Isabel and the king and I bounced.” “And she’s completely human.” Cal says this…more of a confirmation than a question. “Interesting.” “Yah, turns out he didn’t even know he did it.” Ava adds. “Who is she…this human girl?” Cal asks, but then holds up his hand. “Wait, now I remember. I knew she looked familiar. Liz Parker…right?” Ava nods and says, “The one he…” “The one he healed back when you were kids.” Cal nods, finishing her sentence. “I see.” Alex speaks up then. “How do you know that?” Cal looks at Alex and studies him for a moment. “Alex Whitman, I presume.” When Alex nods in confusion, Cal says, “Well Alex, it’s my job to know everything about my charges. That includes everyone they know or come in contact with.” “Ok, this is too much.” Maria throws her hands up…finished with the whole waiting thing. “Who…or what are you? You’re their protector…and a producer? I mean, the last time I saw you was at the Vanity Fair Oscar party. You can’t be an…alien. I just…I don’t believe it.” “Maria.” Alex warns, afraid she’s going to piss someone off. And that’s the last thing he wants to do considering they’re in a car full of aliens who could probably zap them or something. “Believe it.” Cal says to her seriously, before a smile overtakes his face. “But that was some bash, wasn’t it? Can you believe that dress Donatella designed for Nicole?” “Oh man…that was hideous. I felt kind of bad for her.” Maria sits back, remembering the party before getting back to the subject. “But…I don’t understand. If you’re supposed to be their protector, why don’t you…oh, I don’t know…protect them?” “Good question she has there, Cal.” Zan says with a sneer. “I’m dyin’ to hear your answer.” “Hm, interesting choice of words, Zan.” Cal turns to Maria and says, “Let’s save this conversation for later, shall we? I think we have more important things to worry about right now.” He looks at Ava and says, “So, I saw ten skins plus Nicholas, is that about right?” Ava nods and says, “But they need the heir, right? And they definitely don’t have that. Liz isn’t pregnant.” “The heir isn’t as important as they think.” Cal says. “But that’s beside the point, I saw her…she’s pregnant.” “What?!” Maria and Alex exclaim at once. “No she’s not…she’s definitely not. I would know…she wasn’t pregnant this morning!” Maria continues. Cal looks at his watch and says, “Well, from what I hear it only takes a few minutes. Looks like the king got lucky today.” Maria looks at him in horror and says, “Oh my God…I’m gonna be sick. He raped her…he had to!” She says this to Michael accusingly. “Don’t yell at me, I didn’t do it.” He holds his hands up. Ava searches for an explanation. Liz was not pregnant when she was there. She’s positive. “He must have made them do it on the plane…probably threatened to kill them, or Isabel.” Alex puts his arm around Maria as she clamps her hand over her mouth, nauseous. “Oh God, poor Liz. Kidnapped and raped by aliens. She must be so scared…what a nightmare…Alex, that bastard raped her and who even knows how aliens have sex? What if it was like, excruciatingly painful…Liz can’t handle pain…” “Would you shut up?” Michael demands, unable to listen to her lunatic ravings anymore. “We have sex like normal people. And Max would never do anything to hurt Liz…he’s been in love with her since we were kids. He’d kill himself before he touched a hair on her head.” Michael turns to Cal and says, “It’s just not possible. I know Max. He wouldn’t do it.” “You’d be surprised at what people can do with the right motivation, kid.” Cal says. “The fact is, she’s carrying the heir…that means we’re on a tight clock.” ~~~~~~~~~~ The silence was deafening and Liz’s panic is turning into a giant knot in her stomach. Plus she can feel cramps coming on. Well, there goes that. Hopefully the shape shifter won’t notice right away. She can see the desert through the windows in the back doors and feels a pang of homesickness. Her parents are so close…will she ever see them again? When the van stops, Liz is surprised to see they’re in the middle of nowhere. Someone opens the doors and they all spill out, stretching their legs. Looking around, she sees nothing but sand and rocks. “What is this place?” She asks, wondering if Isabel or Max know. “I don’t know.” Max says as he, too, looks at their surroundings. Suddenly the scene changes and he sees himself, standing up on the large outcropping in front of him. He’s holding Liz and standing around them are Isabel, Michael, Maria, and someone he doesn’t recognize. But everything looks different, broken…like the rock was blown apart from the inside and they’re all covered in dust. As quickly as it was there, it’s gone and Max shakes his head. “Max? Are you ok?” Isabel asks, seeing that he looks disoriented. He glances down at her, then back at the rock. “Yah…I’m fine.” A handful of skins and the shape shifter start walking toward the large rock outcropping in front of them. He turns to them and says with a grin, “I trust you won’t go anywhere.” Max narrows his eyes at him and turns his back toward him. He starts pacing, kicking rocks as he walks. Noticing the other skins sitting on the ground, he assumes they’ll be here for a while. Liz and Isabel watch him pace back and forth for a few minutes before Liz sits on a nearby rock grimacing in pain. Isabel rushes over to her and says, “What is it?” Max walks over and looks down at Liz sadly, meeting Isabel’s questioning gaze. “It’s ok…I’ll be fine. Just cramps.” Liz says, taking a deep breath. “Cramps? But…” Isabel says, confused. She looks up again at Max and says, “Do something, Max.” Max frowns and says, “She’s not pregnant, Isabel. We just altered a few things to make it seem that way.” He turns to Liz and says, “I can help with the pain…if you want.” Liz shakes her head and says, “No…that’s ok. I can do it.” They watch as she glances over at the skins to make sure they’re not watching and she places her hand on her abdomen, trying to get rid of the pain. “So…you didn’t…” Isabel asks. Max shakes his head and says, “No.” “But, Nicholas saw it…he said that you did.” Isabel doesn’t understand. “We connected…made a shared memory. A fake memory for Nicholas to see.” Max said, sliding down to the ground next to the rock. “It’s all we could think of…we had to do something. They were gonna kill you if we didn’t.” Isabel sags in relief and says, “Wow. That’s…amazing. I can’t believe you thought of that…and that you could actually do it. How did you know it would work?” “We didn’t.” Max says simply and Isabel swallows, understanding now the stress and anxiousness she saw on their faces when they came out of that cabin on the plane. She looks at Liz for a moment and says, “Thank you.” Liz nods and looks over to the outcropping to see the shape shifter and skins climbing up the side. “What do you think is in there?” Max follows her line of sight and says, “I have no idea. But we need to think of something…quick. Before he realizes that you’re not really pregnant.” “Well, there’s only five of them over there.” Liz says, looking at the group sitting about 50 feet away. “Maybe we could take them and take the van while the others are up there.” She glances up to the rock face where the shape shifter is still climbing. Isabel snorts. “Right…we’ll just hide behind you and you can blast them.” She softens at the look on Liz’s face and says, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…I just don’t think we can overpower five aliens who all probably have more advanced powers than us. Plus, you’re the only one with any fire power.” Liz sighs and thinks about it more. “I wish we knew what their capabilities were.” “Maybe we could find out.” Max says, looking toward the group. Isabel furrows her brow and says, “What are you talking about? They’re not going to tell us.” “No, but maybe we can make them use their powers.” He stands up and dusts off his pants. “We can’t just sit here and wait for the others to come back. This is our only opportunity.” “What are you thinking, Max?” Isabel is getting nervous at the sound of his voice. She’s hoping he’s not planning anything stupid. “Maybe I can draw them away…give you two a chance to get in the van and leave.” “No!” Isabel exclaims. “I’m not leaving you here.” She looks at Liz and says, “Tell him it’s a stupid plan.” Instead, Liz asks, “And how are you gonna get away?” Isabel glares at Liz and turns to Max. “Max, stop it. I’m not leaving you here…we’ll think of something else.” “They won’t kill me. They need me, Isabel. You’re the one that’s expendable…you need to get out of here, both of you.” He sees Isabel about to argue again and he says, “They can’t take off without me and my child so they can’t kill me. I’ll find a way to get away later, but for now you two can make it.” “No.” Isabel whispers. “There has to be a better way…something else we haven’t thought of.” She looks pleadingly at Liz but Liz is just staring into the distance…silent. Liz looks at Max’s profile, sees how serious he is about this. But Isabel is right, there’s something they haven’t thought of. Her. She stands up and sees Max and Isabel turn to look at her. “Isabel, can you get that van started without keys?” “Yes, but…” Isabel says, starting to protest. “You and Max are leaving. Get whatever firepower you can get and come back for me…you’ll be able to find me no matter where they take me. They won’t kill me, either. The need me, too.” She says this last part to Max who has already stood up in front of her. “Isabel’s right. I’m the only one with any firepower, and I’m the only one that can draw them away from you.” “No. You’re not staying.” He says forcefully. There’s no way in hell he’s leaving her here. Ignoring him, she says, “I’m gonna get them as far from the van as I can and when I say so, get out of here…as fast as you can.” “You can’t seriously think I’m gonna let you do this.” Max says, blocking her way. She maneuvers around him and starts walking toward the van, Max and Isabel running after her. “Liz, wait. What are you doing?” Isabel calls after her. When she feels Max reaching for her arm, she turns and sends a small pulse of energy toward him to push him away and he flies back…stumbling to the ground. This gets the other’s attention as she continues to walk toward them. Scared, but determined, she watches them stand up and she walks right by them, continuing on into the desert. “Hey…where do you think you’re going?” One of them calls out after her as he jogs to catch up with her. The others turn to face her and slowly take a few steps in the direction she’s walking. Throwing her hand back, she blasts the guy following her and he flies back into the others. When she sees them all scrambling to get up and give chase, she starts running and smiles as she gives them the finger. Max gets up quickly and starts to shout but Isabel clamps a hand over his mouth. “Shut up! Look…it’s working. They’re all following her. Isabel drags Max with her toward the back of the van as Max watches helplessly. Liz has blasted two more of them…the ones closest to he and Isabel. “No.” He wrenches his arm away from Isabel but she moves in front of him. “Max…come on. You can’t help her if you’re here with her. She can take care of herself.” Isabel grabs his arm again as she fumbles with the door latch. From the distance, he hears her yell, “Go!” All heads turn to look at Max and Isabel then as they realize what’s going on. They stop and point toward him. He hears someone shout, “Get them!” But Isabel is dragging him into the van and shutting the door. He flies to the front to see out of the windshield and sees everyone running toward the van as Isabel gets the engine started. In the distance, he sees Liz stop when she realizes no one is chasing her anymore. She puts her hand above her eyes, shielding them from the sun and watches the van come to life. One of the skins gets pretty close to the van and Liz raises her hand, blasting him so hard the guy disintegrates into dust. Gape jawed, Max shouts at Isabel, “We can get her. Drive over there and we’ll pick her up.” He flies to the door and starts to open it when he feels a jolt and the van skids…rocking back and forth. “What happened?” “One of them hit us. We have to get out of here, Max. They’re getting closer and Liz can’t hold them back much longer.” Isabel turns the wheel, desperate to get turned in the other direction. Max looks back out the windshield and sees Liz bent over, hands on her knees in exhaustion. She looks up at him again and he sees her mouth form the word ‘go’. One guy and Isabel’s double fall back and make their way back to Liz, grabbing her arms and dragging her closer to the rock outcropping. Two guys and the blonde girl continue to chase them down and when he sees the blonde stop and close her eyes. Suddenly everyone disappears but Liz. She’s just standing there, waving at him to come back. Isabel has the van turned around and they’re quickly getting further and further away. “Stop! We have to get Liz…everyone’s gone.” He’s climbed into the back and is looking out the back door windows. Turning around toward Isabel he shouts, “Did you hear me?! They just…disappeared. We have to go back for her while we still can.” Looking in the rear view mirror, Isabel says, “I heard you. But she’s not alone Max. They’re making you see that.” As she drives, she can see the reflection in the mirror of the two guys chasing them, the blonde behind them standing still with her eyes shut tight, and further back…Liz being dragged by her double and another. “It’s not real Max.” When he turns back around to look out the window, he sees the truth. Liz isn’t there. In the dust from the tires he can still see them chasing the van. His shoulders sag and he tries to make out Liz in all the dust and debris but can’t see her anymore. What was she thinking? He falls against the door, his forehead against the glass and feels more helpless now than he did when they were all together. ~~~~~~~~~~ “Would you stop that noise?!” Michael bellows, shoving his chair back and walking away from the table. Maria’s been tapping her fingers on the table for at least twenty minutes now and it’s driving him crazy. Maria lifts her hand from the table and says, “Sooooory.” When she sees the look of irritation on his face, she shrugs and continues her tapping. “Oh second thought, I’m not sorry.” Michael makes a frustrated noise and stalks off. That woman is enough to drive anyone insane. He looks around the empty building they’re holed up in and walks over to Ava, who’s talking with Zan and Cal. “So what’s the plan?” They stop talking and look up when he speaks. Cal takes off his glasses and just stares at Michael, assessing him. According to his reports, Michael doesn’t have any control over his powers, if he can even use them at all. “You can’t help.” Michael looks at him, anger boiling. Cal shakes his head and puts his hand on Michael’s shoulder. “Nothing personal. But unless you have some firepower in those hands, we can’t use you.” He grabs his hat and says, “Come on you two…we have work to do.” Heading toward the door, he counts on Ava and Zan following him. “Wait!” Maria pops up from the table. “We’re going wherever you’re going.” “I don’t think so. You stay here…” He sweeps his hand around. “with Michael. It’s probably been a while since you’ve been back home…go see the sights.” Maria walks in front of him and puts her hands on her hips. “Look, I don’t know who you think you are, but you don’t give me orders. I’m going.” She walks over and grabs her bag. “I mean, this is Liz we’re talking about. And she’s in trouble…there’s no way in hell you’re leaving me here. With him.” Stepping back up to Cal, she looks at him, her chit jutting up with determination. He grins and turns to the others. “Now her…I like.” Opening the door, he says, “Alright sweetcheeks, you win.” Turning to Michael and Alex he says, “Well, come on.” Maria sends a look of triumph at Alex and he claps Michael on the back. “You gotta love her.” They split up in two cars…the limo being too conspicuous. Michael and Ava ride in one car with Alex and Cal, Maria and Zan ride in the front car. As they turn west, Maria asks, “So you can sense Liz…like where she is?” Cal nods and says, “Zan here will probably feel her the most, but yah. We can all feel her.” “Wow.” She doesn’t know what to say…it just seems too weird for her. “So our plan is…” She prompts him. “Our plan is to find them and extricate the king and the heir.” Cal says. Maria shakes her head…the heir…whatever. At least this so called ‘heir’ is inside of Liz, so that means she’s a priority to them, too. “What about Isabel?” “She’s expendable.” He says simply. She slumps back into her seat. “How can you be so…” “Inhuman?” He finishes for her, turning around to look at her. “Because I am. Not human, that is. Not even part human like these guys. I have only one mission to carry out and that’s what we’re doing here.” “Your mission? But we have to save all three of them, right?” “Look Maria, I’m not the good guy here…I’m not the rescuer come to save the damsel in distress. I’m an unlucky schmuck who got stranded on this planet. It’s a nice planet…I like it here. Unfortunately, I have this fucking programming built into me to protect the royal four…above all, the king and any of his offspring. I don’t like it, I don’t wanna be here. But there you go. So if we can’t get Isabel without jeopardizing the king, then she’s on her own.” Maria looks out the window and shakes her head. They’re screwed. “So that guy’s our protector?” Michael asks Ava in the next car. “He’s our protector. Me, Zan, Lonnie & Rath. You had your own protector.” “The one we’re after. Seems like they did a shitty job of filling the position of protector on our planet.” Michael watches the scenery…memories of driving along this very road a hundred times in Max’s old jeep resurfacing. He sees himself riding next to their car, on a motorcycle. He’s turning around and smiling at…Maria…who’s riding behind him with her arms wrapped around him. What the hell? He leans his forehead against the glass, convinced he’s hallucinating. It looks like Maria, but she has long hair…and she’s smiling back at him. He watches as she lays her head down on his back and scoots forward to hold him closer and the vision before him disappears. He turns to Alex and says, “Did you see that?” “See what?” Alex follows Michael’s line of sight out the window and looks back at him. “I didn’t see anything.” Michael frowns and as they pull up to a four way stop, he thinks he’s seeing things again. In the fading light, the chick driving that van almost looks like Isabel. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, he tries to get a closer look. “Holy shit!” He exclaims as the van passes them. “Turn around…that was Isabel!” “What?!” Both Ava and Alex say at once, turning around to look at the speeding white van. Ava slips the car into reverse and pulls a u-turn in the middle of the road. “Call the other car…tell them what we’re doing.” She yells at Alex. He fumbles for his phone as Michael shouts at Ava to hurry up. Barely able to make his finger work, he finally hits the speed dial for Maria’s phone. “What are you guys doing?!” She yells into the phone. He can see her through the windshield turning around in the backseat of the other car. He can vaguely see Cal and Zan craning their necks to look at them. “Michael just saw Isabel driving that white van that just passed us. We’re following.” Alex tells her. As his car turns around, he hears Maria repeating to Cal and Zan what he just said. A moment later she says, “Ok, but they still feel Liz is this way. We’re going…you stay with Isabel. Call me when you know for sure.” “Ok…be careful.” He tells her before ending the call. “She said that Liz was still west…they’re going that way.” “Yah, I don’t think she was with Isabel…I didn’t feel her.” Michael agrees. They finally catch up to the van just as it’s pulling into a convenience store parking lot. Michael jumps out of the car before it’s even at a complete stop and runs up to the van. Isabel screams when she turns her head and sees someone standing outside of her window. When she realizes it’s Michael, she throws the door open. “Michael! Oh my God!” She pulls him to her in a hug and asks, “What are you doing here?” Michael hugs her back and looks over her shoulder and breathes a sigh of relief when he sees Max. “I came to rescue your asses, but it looks like I’m too late. Hey Maxamillion, it’s good to see you.” Max just nods and gets out of the van on his side. As he walks around, he sees the girl from New York getting out of the car behind them…and Alex Whitman?” Alex walks up to the van and looks inside, disappointed not to see Liz in there too. “Where’s Liz?” He asks Max. Isabel lets go of Michael and says, “They still have her.” Incedulously, Alex says, “So you just took off…leaving her there? Unbelievable.” “It wasn’t like that. Alex…she…she made us go. She helped us get away so we could go back for her.” Isabel sees his face turn red with anger. “And how do you know they just won’t kill her?” He demands. “They need her alive…they think she’s pregnant.” Isabel tells him. Alex clenches his jaw and says, “So it’s true.” He turns on Max and punches him in the face. “You bastard!” Max looks in surprise at Alex as he turns into a bloody, mangled mess. Max falls to the ground, not believing his eyes. What’s happening to him? Alex is still standing in front of him, but he’s covered in blood…so much blood. “Alex!” Isabel cries as she drops to the ground next to Max. She sees blood gushing from his nose and looks up at Alex. “He didn’t do anything. I said they think she’s pregnant, you jackass.” Alex massages is fist and looks down at Max. “So…you didn’t…” Max shakes his head…the vision disappearing…and says, “No.” “Oh.” Alex says apologetically, reaching down to help Max up. “Sorry man. Cal said she was pregnant and we all just assumed…” Max waves him off and says, “It’s alright. Who’s Cal?” He slowly makes it back to his feet, covering his nose with his hand…healing the broken cartilage. “And what are you doing here…with her?” He’s looking at Ava suspiciously. The last time he saw her, she was with his captors. “She’s helping us. Look, a lot of shit’s happened…maybe we should call the others and tell them and get somewhere less open.” Michael says. Max nods and says, “We’ll talk in the car. We have to go back for Liz.” As everyone gets in the car, Alex calls Maria and tells her they have Max and Isabel. “What about Liz? Have they said anything about her?” “Just that they still have her. Maria, she’s not pregnant. Max didn’t rape her…they just did something to make it seem like she was. I don’t know…I’ll call you when I know more.” He ends the call and Ava starts driving. Maria closes her phone and looks forward. Thinking back to what Cal said earlier, she says, “Max and Isabel escaped. They still have Liz.” Cal nods and Zan keeps driving. She deliberately left out the fact that Liz wasn’t carrying the heir…knowing Cal’s priorities, he’d probably call it a day and just go home. She’ll do whatever she has to to get Liz back safe and sound. ~TBC~

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 11:07 am

<img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/eek.gif ALT=":eek"> <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/eek.gif ALT=":eek"> they left Liz behind! bu-but all those aliens...and evil people<img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/alien.gif ALT=":alien"> ! But I guess it's okat since Maria will probably beat Max to death if he doesn't help her soon or if anything happens to her<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/wink.gif ALT=";)"> And for Zan, Ava and Cal to actually tell Michael to his face that Cal is not his protector was harsh!<img src=http://www.uniquehardware.co.uk/server- ... scared.gif ALT=":rolleyes"> <img src="http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sra ... 55ad1f.jpg" style="border:0;"/>

Post by **roswellkitkat** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:01 pm

Welcome back Angel! This is great, just like we are use too! <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/Grin_anim.gif ALT=":grin"> <div style="text-align:center">Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.</div> <div style="text-align:center">Rudyard Kipling, English author</div> <

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 2:45 pm

Welcome back, with not 1, but 2 parts <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"> thanks so much...they were GREAT

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 2:51 pm

WOW! I thought you forgot about this story...it's so cool that you are back!

Post by **majiklmoon** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 4:04 pm

Angel <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/love.gif ALT=":love"> <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/love.gif ALT=":love"> <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/love.gif ALT=":love"> - glad to see you used your vacation time wisely <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/lol.gif ALT=":lol"> ...great updates...what's the matter? to hot across the pond to sightsee? <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/wink.gif ALT=";)"> <center>It all started with a boy, a girl, and a silver handprint.</center><center><a href=http://pub84.ezboard.com/bmajiklmoonsrealm><img src=http://members.aol.com/majiklmoon/image ... a></center>

Post by **Angel13** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 4:24 pm

Yes, exactly! Those europeans fried me to death while I was there...must have woken up my muse. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/wink.gif ALT=";)"> I've got the next 7 parts written after this, too. shhhh...

Post by **Angel13** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 8:08 pm

Part 12 Sitting with her knees up to her chest, Liz tries to avoid looking at the shape shifter…who has been staring at her in fury for several minutes now. She looks at his feet, pacing back and forth in front of her. Pebbles fly up onto her shoes as if they too are looking for a way to escape him. He can’t hurt me…he can’t hurt me. The mantra repeats over and over in her head. “Go get us some transportation.” He barks at Isabel’s double. He looks down at Liz and tries to control the urge to kill her. That bitch. He completely underestimated her…a mistake he won’t make again. The king is gone and to just add the cherry to the top, she’s not even fucking pregnant. The king will be back…he’s sure of that. He’ll be back for her and they’ll be prepared this time. He looks out over the desert and thinks about going home. Over an hour passes and Liz feels the coolness of the desert night setting in. The sun has set and they’re sitting in darkness. She’s cold, the wind chilling her exposed limbs. She wonders if Max and Isabel are somewhere close…watching…waiting, too. Waiting for an opportunity to come and get her. Or maybe they just took off. No, they wouldn’t just leave her here…she can’t believe that. When she sees headlights, she feels a fluttering of hopefulness until she realizes it’s just the transportation they’ve been waiting for. But her eyes open wide as she suddenly sees a bridge in front of her…her and Max standing at it’s edge holding hands right before they jump over. She stands up just as the landscape turns back to normal and she stares in the distance. She feels like…like she’s just remembered something. Like she really did jump off a bridge with Max…but it’s not true. Maybe she’s just tired. As she gets shoved into the van she makes one last sweep over the desert, hoping that Max and Isabel are out there somewhere. ~~~~~~~~~~ “Where are we going?” Max asks when he sees they’re driving in the opposite direction he wants to go. “Cal got an abandoned building on the edge of town to use.” Michael tells him. “Turn the car around, we’re going back.” He looks over at Ava. “The others…they’re going to Liz?” When she nods he says, “Then turn the damn car around and follow them.” “Max, maybe we need to go somewhere and regroup…think about what we’re doing.” Isabel says from the back seat. As Ava turns around in a parking lot, Max turns and glares at Isabel. Cowering, Isabel says, “I just thought…that maybe we needed to come up with a plan. That’s all.” Max turns back to Ava and says, “Tell me what’s happened.” He’s pieced together that when she left the apartment in New York that she must have hooked up with Michael outside. “The short story? Cal’s our protector…not exactly a nice guy, but better than the other one. He’s with Zan and Maria in the other car.” “And how the hell did Alex and Maria get mixed up in this?” Max asks. “Dunno. We found ‘em at Michael’s place and they knew enough to trace Liz to you. We tried to get ‘em to stay…they insisted on comin’ along.” Ava maneuvers through the streets as she talks. “And…Zan? I’ve heard that name…isn’t he…” “He’s you. Your backup.” She glances over and sees the question ready to come and answers for him. “They thought he was dead…but I knew different. Lonnie and Rath tried to kill him…pushed him in front of a truck. They thought they got away with it, too. But I helped him and I kept it a secret.” “You helped him…you mean you brought him back to life? Healed him?” Ava shakes her head. “Nah…I can’t do that. I made them see what they wanted and pushed him outta the way of the truck.” Max thinks about what she’s saying and studies her closely. “You can make people…see things…that aren’t there?” When she nods, he asks, “And the other one…the other you…” “Tess.” “Right. She can do that, too?” Max understands now how he saw what he did from the van. “Yah. Our powers are the same. They made us just like you. Zan can heal, Lonnie can walk in other people’s heads, and Rath’s the firepower. Same as you guys.” Michael leans forward at this and asks, “Rath? He’s the other me?” Ava nods and Michael says, “What do you mean by firepower? I can’t do anything.” “Rath had to practice for years to get it under control…but you can do it.” She turns to Max and continues. “Our powers…they don’t just come to us. We have to practice, develop them.” “But what about Liz? How does she have so much more power than we do?” Isabel asks from the back seat. Ava shrugs and says, “I dunno. When Max healed her, he probably changed her. But after the awakening, the queen becomes really powerful. She needs to for protection.” She looks over at Max and says, “But I dunno with her…she’s human. You weren’t supposed to claim a human…Tess and me…we was created to be your mate.” Max doesn’t know what to say to this…there’s so much information that he’s trying to process. “Oh.” Is all that he can manage. “Hey…no hard feelings. I was never really into bein’ the queen…that was Tess’ deal. She’s spent her whole life waiting for you. I kinda feel sorry for her.” She drives for a few blocks before saying, “Nah…you know what? I don’t. She deserves whatever she’s got comin’.” “I hate to break up the history lesson here, but what are going to do to get Liz back? I mean, that’s the goal here, right?” Alex asks from the back seat. “What can Cal do? You think he’ll really help us get Liz back?” Max looks over as Ava shrugs. “Can’t say. I guess the fact that he’s still on her trail means that Maria didn’t tell him Liz isn’t carrying your heir. He’s programmed to protect you and your children. If he thought she wasn’t pregnant, he’d be on his way back to L.A. right now.” “Does he have to do what I tell him…like the other one?” Max asks. “Yah.” Max turns around and says to Alex, “Call Maria and give me the phone.” Alex nods and dials Maria, handing the phone to Max. When Maria answers, Max says, “Maria, it’s Max. Let me talk to Cal.” He hears her pass the phone before he hears Cal on the other end. “Max.” Cal says…impatience in his voice. “How close are you to Liz?” Max asks him. “Close. I think they’re moving.” “Listen closely. You will find Liz and do everything in your power to protect her. You will not harm Liz, no matter what happens. Her safety comes before anything else. And getting her away from the other protector and to safety is your number one priority.” Max thinks, hoping he’s covered every angle. Cal rolls his eyes and says, “Aw fuck…she’s not pregnant, is she?” Cal looks into the back seat at Maria and says, “You knew, didn’t you?” Hearing Cal, Max adds, “You won’t hurt Maria or Alex either. If either one of them is harmed, you’ll answer to me. Do you understand everything I’ve just said?” Turning back around and closing his eyes, Cal says, “Yes, sir.” Disdain dripping from his voice. “Stay on them, and we’ll catch up.” Max says before ending the call. He looks over at Ava and sees a smirk on her face. “You’re learnin’.” She says, her eyes on the road. Cal closes the phone and stares forward. Fuck. Looking over at Zan, he’s not surprised to see Zan grinning. “He got you by the balls Cal.” Zan says, clearly enjoying this. “Shut up and drive.” ~~~~~~~~~~ Finally they’ve stopped and Liz tries to get her bearings. She thinks they’re out by the old soap factory, but it’s been so long…she’s not sure. There used to be parties out here all the time when she was in high school. She never went, though. Her social life was pretty much non-existent thanks to the sheriff’s attention. Looking around she thinks, ‘Where is he now…figures that when she could use a little help, he’s not hovering around.’ “Come on.” She allows herself to be pulled inside by Tess. “What’s going to happen now?” She asks Tess, not expecting an answer. And she doesn’t get one. Tess leads her into the middle of the large room and pushes her to the floor. “Stay.” Tess tells her…like she’s giving a command to a dog…before walking away. Liz shivers on the floor from the cold and she hears her stomach growl. How long has it been since she’s eaten? Yesterday? Looking around hopelessly, she wishes that Max and Isabel would hurry up and get her out of here. ~~~~~~~~~~ “There they are.” Ava says, slowing the car down and pulling onto a side dirt road behind the other car. She turns off the engine and looks around. “She’s close…can you feel it?” Max looks over at the abandoned factory in the distance and says, “She’s in there.” He gets out of the car with everyone else and approaches the car in front of them. He’s mildly shocked when he sees the short man get out…he assumes this is Cal. He’s not what he expected. Cal just looks Max over without saying anything. Maria breaks the silence. “So what now?” “I guess we have ourselves a little brainstorming session.” Cal says as he shuts his door. He turns to Max and Isabel and says, “I’m gonna need details from you…how many skins, names, anything. Then I’ll have a better idea of what we’re dealing with.” Max looks up when Zan gets out of the car and his eyes narrow. So this is his double. Zan grins at him and says, “Hey. Just like lookin’ in a mirror.” Max grimaces and says, “Not exactly.” He turns and goes to stand next to Isabel when he notices Zan eyeing her cautiously. “There were thirteen of them, including the shape shifter.” “Browan.” Cal tells him. “He’s got his panties in a twist to get back to the home planet…I suspect he has a deal with Khivar to deliver you for execution.” “Who’s Khivar?” Michael asks. “We’ll get to that in a minute.” Cal says, looking to Max to continue. “Then there was Isabel’s double, they called her Vilondra. And Tess. Michael’s double was in New York, but Liz…killed him.” Max explains, glancing at Michael. Cal looks impressed and says, “Hey, good for her. Rath could have been trouble. Go on.” “There were nine more…but Liz killed at least one when we were getting away. So that leaves eleven right now. The shape shifter called one of them ‘Nicholas’…he can read our minds. I don’t know much more than that.” Max shrugs and looks over at Cal. “Ok. Let’s start with the skins. Those nine you’re talking about, including Nicholas, are different. They have powers, but they’re limited. The desert probably isn’t being friendly to their husks.” At the looks of confusion, he says, “The human form they carry is an external husk. They’re easily destroyed by hitting them hard…right here.” He turns around and points to his lower back. “That breaks the husk’s seal and they’re dust. In their true form, they couldn’t survive in this atmosphere.” Isabel steps forward and asks, “What are Vilondra and Tess capable of? How do we get by them?” Cal looks to Zan and Ava then. Zan looks at Isabel with narrowed eyes and says, “Lonnie, she can do what you can. She can get in your head…see what you’re thinkin’. You can’t trust anything she says…she’ll lie to get whatever she wants.” Max steps in front of Isabel and says, “Isabel isn’t her…you can stop looking at her like that.” “Bro, she killed you…us…twice.” He looks past Max’s head to Isabel. “She betrayed us all in our last lifetime, and she tried to do it again in this one. I’s just sayin’…you can’t trust her.” “Enough.” Cal says. “Zan, back off. We don’t have time to worry about Isabel when we got Lonnie to deal with.” Isabel shrinks behind Max. They all think she’s going to betray them. There’s no way she would ever do anything to hurt Max or Michael. These people think they know her…but they don’t. Michael sees the look on her face and leans in, “Just ignore them, Is. They don’t know what they’re talking about.” She smiles gratefully at him when Ava starts talking. “Tess is the one we need to look out for. Lonnie…she got her own agenda and don’t listen to no one but herself. But Tess…she does whatever the shifter tells her to. I’da thought she’d give up that shit when we found out the queen was claimed and it wasn’t either one of us. But that bitch is evil. Look out for her…she’s like one of them whatchamacallits…those Japanese pilots that dive bombed their planes. She’d do whatever it takes to bring you down, even if she bites it too. She’s crazy.” “When she’s doing…that thing…to make us see things…” Max starts. “Mind warping…we call it a mind warp.” Ava adds. “Right. When she’s mind warping, can you tell she’s doing it?” He asks her. “I can tell…and sometimes Zan can tell when I’m doing it. But you probably won’t know. Once you know you’re bein’ warped, though, you can come out of it pretty quick.” She tells him. “Yah, and I can only tell she’s doin’ it if I really focus. Ava’s right…she’s gonna be a problem.” Zan’s confidant they can take out the skins, but that shit Tess and Ava can do…there’s no fightin’ that. “Both Ava and I can put out some good blasts…plus, I got a shield. It’ll cover two…maybe three people.” Michael shakes his head and says, “How the hell can we do this? We don’t have a lot going for us power-wise. The three of us don’t have much firepower to contribute. And what can that other guy do? The other protector?” “You leave him to me.” Cal says. “He can’t do much to you anyway…his programming won’t let him kill you. But he could hurt you pretty bad if he wanted.” He looks at Maria and Alex and says, “You two need to stay out of this. Stay here with the cars. If we don’t come back and there’s trouble, you can take off.” “You’re crazy if you think I’m leaving Liz.” There’s no way in hell Maria’s staying with the cars. “Then you’ll get yourself killed…and the rest of us in the process because we’ll be busy trying to save your ass. There’s nothing you can do to help besides stay out of the way.” Cal stands his ground. He’s got enough to worry about. Max turns to Maria and Alex. “He’s right. Please, just stay here. We’re gonna get her out of there, trust me.” Maria eyes him skeptically and finally nods. “Alright, but if you don’t bring her back…I will kill you. Understand?” “Don’t worry. I’ll get her out, or die trying. Besides, Liz can take care of herself better than any of us.” Cal claps his hands and says, “Alright. Let’s get this show on the road. It’s late and I have a life to get back to.” Max turns around and nods. “Ok, we go in quietly…try to get an idea of where everyone’s at. Ava, we need you to tell us if we’re being mind warped at any time. Michael, Isabel and I will concentrate on the skins. Zan, you get to Liz…you have a shield. Use it to get her out.” He turns to Cal. “You have to take care of the shape shifter…there’s no way we can.” Cal nods and takes a deep breath. “Alright…but you keep an eye on him. You’re the only one here he has to listen to. You know…in case something happens to me.” Glancing over at the warehouse, Max looks at his watch and says, “Alex, Maria…if we’re not back in thirty minutes, get out of here. Call the sheriff, the FBI…I don’t care. Anyone you can think of.” “But Max…” Isabel grabs his arm. He turns to her and shakes his head. “I know. But wouldn’t you rather be a government lab rat on this planet than dead on our own?” Cal clears his throat and says, “Uh…I’ll chime in here and say a big NO. You have no idea what these humans will do to you if they get you in a cage. Believe me…you don’t want the FBI involved.” He looks at Maria and Alex and says, “If there’s trouble, just leave.” Looking at his watch again, Max says, “Fine. Let’s just go.” He opens the trunk of one of the cars and pulls out a tire iron, motioning for Michael to get the other one out of the other car. Maria stops Isabel and fishes her stun gun out of her bag. “Here, you might need this.” Isabel turns the stun gun over in her hand and looks at Maria. “Thanks.” As they walk toward the warehouse, Alex and Maria sit on the hood of the car and watch them go. Maria starts rummaging in her bag again and pulls out a pair of mini binoculars. Alex sees them and says, “What the hell do you carry around in that thing?” She shrugs and says, “You never know.” ~~~~~~~~~~ Ok, so this is boring. Liz feels like she’s been sitting there for hours when surely it’s only been thirty minutes or so. Everyone’s just sitting around…waiting. There’re two guards by the door but other than that, they’re just sitting a few feet away from her, not even talking. The little guy, Nicholas, was going on earlier about someone not being happy with what was going on. But since then, no one has said much. She assumes they’re just waiting for Max to come back for her. What do they think…that he’s just gonna stroll through the front door? Closing her eyes, she tries to get her energy under control. She can feel the power thrumming just under her skin and if she has to, she’ll blast her way out of here. She was surprised earlier in the desert at her abilities. She had no idea she could do that. But ever since last night…she’s felt…powerful. And strong, considering she hasn’t eaten all day. She could probably get up and run a pretty quick mile right now if she had to. She takes a few deep breaths and stops. She feels something…something familiar. What is that? It’s like a tug, or some kind of presence. She concentrates on the feeling, trying to focus on it more fully. Opening her eyes, she realizes what it is…Max. He’s close. Her heartbeat speeds up as she tries to casually look around the dark warehouse. Is he inside? Outside? She can feel him like light fingertips tapping her all over and it’s getting stronger. She smiles inwardly…she knew he’d come back for her. Well, she didn’t know, more like hoped. Feeling a surge of energy, she tries to calm down and keep it under control. The last thing she needs right now is to start lighting up like a Christmas tree. Max came for her. She just hopes that he brought an army with him because there’s no way just he and Isabel will be able to get her out of this. Closing her eyes again, she wills herself to calm down and take deep breaths. You can do this, Liz. You can get out of here and see Maria and Alex and your parents again. You can go back to your boring, normal life. Just focus. ~~~~~~~~~~ “Up there.” Isabel points to a bank of windows on the second story…a fire escape leading up to them. Cal nods and whispers, “You, Max and Ava go up there. Zan, Michael…you’re with me.” He veers to the right, away from the front entrance and around the side. The three of them crouch down and peer in through a dirty window but all they see is mechanical equipment so they move down a little further until they see movement inside. Max leads the way up the fire escape, going slowly so they don’t make any noise. When they reach the top, Max crouches down under the windows and peers up to see inside. He sees a large, dark room with scaffolding everywhere. There’s dirt and cobwebs on the window…this place obviously hasn’t been used in a while. There’s one light on at ground floor level and he can barely make out the shapes of several people sitting together on boxes and the floor. Squinting his eyes, he looks for Liz and sees her. She’s by herself a few feet away from the others, sitting on the floor with her eyes closed. His heart races as he whispers what he sees to Isabel and Ava. He counts heads and only sees nine. There must be two by the door…or somewhere else. He can’t see from here. When he looks back at Liz, he’s shocked to see her looking straight at him. He flinches and quickly looks over to see if he’s been spotted. But no one else is looking in his direction and he looks back at Liz. She meets his gaze again and looks down right below him, back up at him then down to her lap where she’s folded her hand to show two fingers. She looks back up at him once more and nods her head slightly before closing her eyes again. “There are two right below us.” He whispers. “Skins. I see Vilondra and Tess, along with Nicholas and the shape shifter.” He crouches down again before motioning for them to move down further on the fire escape. They come to a set of windows that open into a closed off room on the second level. Max studies the frame and lock and uses his powers to unlock the window. Closing his eyes, he slowly slides the window to the side…hoping it doesn’t make any noise. “Ava, you first.” He helps Ava in through the opening and glances down through the landing to see if anyone has come outside. It looks clear and he helps Isabel through and follows her. Isabel makes a disgusted face and frantically wipes at the spider webs that are in her hair. It looks like they’re in some kind of office. There’s a desk and chair just in front of them and file cabinets along the walls. There are two doors, which are both closed. Max walks to the one on the right and whispers, “This one opens onto a landing and stairs that lead down to the main room.” Walking to the other door, he says, “I don’t know where this leads…I couldn’t tell.” “We don’t wanna just walk into the main room…they’ll see us right away.” Ava says, looking at the first door. “I guess it’s door number two.” Max grabs the knob and slowly turns it, willing it not to squeak. Meanwhile, Cal is taking inventory from his window on the first level. He sees Browan along with Vilondra, Tess and Nicholas. He vaguely recognizes the others as skins. Just as he’s about to move away from the window, he sees Browan stand up and look around…as if he senses or hears something. “He knows I’m here.” He whispers. “We have to move…now.” The next few minutes are total chaos. First, Cal noisily breaks the window in front of him and sends a powerful blast straight at Browan…catapulting him across the warehouse to slam into the wall. Upstairs, they hear the noise and Ava says, “Cal’s gone in…let’s go.” She grabs door number one and opens it, the three of them rushing out and down the stairs. Three skins rush Michael and Zan and Michael ducks just in time to avoid a blast. Zan puts up his shield, catching one of the skins in it and frying them. “You take the one on the right.” He says to Michael just before lowering the shield and throwing himself at the skin on the left. Michael raises his tire iron and takes a swing at the other one. Max, Isabel and Ava are met at the bottom of the stairs by the two skins that were right underneath them guarding the front door. Ava blasts one of them right in the chest, knocking him to the floor. She runs over and kicks him over, slamming her foot down in the small of his back. The other skin grabs Isabel just as Max barely ducks in time to avoid a blast from Vilondra. Tess tries to run over to Liz and looks up just as a bolt from Liz hits her and sends her flying. Liz looks over and sees Max getting up from the floor and reaching for a tire iron on the floor. She sees Vilondra stalking toward him and she sends a blast directly into Vilondra’s back, sending her to the floor instead. Vilondra turns around and sneers at Liz as she gets back up. “You bitch!” She raises her arm to send a blast back at Liz, but freezes at the last moment…staring at something just over Liz’s shoulder. Liz turns her head and her eyes open wide just as Zan grabs her and puts his shield up. Max stands up and sees Isabel stun the skin that grabbed her with her stun gun and he moves in, hitting his back with the tire iron. When the dust settles, he’s caught off guard by a blast that hits him in the stomach. He falls to the floor and hears Isabel call out his name. Tess has scooted over to the wall, grabbing her leg. She sees the shifter getting up not too far away from her and she closes her eyes, concentrating. Michael finally gets his skin down on the ground, hitting him over and over again with the tire iron. When he finally sees his opening, he brings it down on his back and watches him disintegrate. Suddenly, though, he looks up and sees the room filled skins. Where did they all come from? He staggers back as two slowly approach him. “What the…” Max looks over toward Liz, who’s shimmering behind Zan’s shield and people who seem to come from nowhere suddenly block his view. He strains to see through the crowd and he hears Isabel calling for him. Looking to the right, he sees her looking around…confused. “It’s not real!” They all hear Ava shouting at them. “It’s not real…it’s a mind warp! Focus on what’s real!” Max keeps his eyes on Isabel and just as quickly as all the skins appeared, they disappear. He sees Ava running to the other side of the warehouse and Isabel moves in behind Vilondra. Max staggers to his feet just as Isabel runs the final few steps to Vilondra and shoves the stun gun against her neck. Vilondra convulses and drops to the floor, Isabel leaning down, holding the stun gun to her neck. Nicholas, hiding behind some stairs, steps out and raises his arm toward Isabel. Michael shouts at her to look out and runs to Nicholas, tire iron ready to swing. He gets there just as Nicholas fires and swings the tire iron at his side, throwing the blast off wildly. Nicholas turns and uses his powers to throw Michael back toward the window they came in. “Enough!” They all hear a shout from the other side of the room. Heads turn to see Browan getting to his feet. “That’s enough!” He stands up and dusts himself off before looking at Cal, who’s standing right in front of him, arm raised. “Armin. So nice of you to drop by.” He says. “Or do you prefer Cal now?” “You’re a fool, Browan. Do you really think Khivar will let you live if you return?” Cal says to him. “He’ll have the council wipe you out as soon as he has what he wants.” “Armin, my old friend.” He shakes his head. “You never did get it, did you? The days of the monarchy are long over.” Cal laughs and says, “Yah, so now we’ve moved on to bigger and better things…a dictatorship. Very progressive.” He looks around him before saying, “Look what you’ve done here. Do you know what this plan of yours will accomplish…besides getting yourself killed? You bring the royal four back and you’ll make martyrs out them. It will only add fuel to a dying resistance.” “You’re wrong. It will show the people that they’re nothing more than pitiful humans…not worth their worship any longer.” He looks at Max, holding his stomach, leaning against the stair railing. “Look at our mighty king. Powerless. Helpless.” He looks back at Cal and sneers. “Human.” He glances over at Liz and says, “A king who would pick a plain, worthless girl to be our queen.” “You’re the one who doesn’t get it. You tell me the monarchy is over. Then why don’t you believe it? You’re as bad as the people on our planet who still worship them. They were sent here to live again…not to rule. You know as well as I do that they would never survive a trip home…that they were never meant to go home. You’ll be laughed at…bringing four corpses home with you.” “What?” Tess slides up the wall and looks at the shifter. “But you said…you said you were taking us home. He’s lying…right?” “No honey, I’m not lying.” Cal says, not taking his eyes off of Browan. “You’re just his ticket home. He needs the king to operate the Granolith. And he needs the rest of you to dump at Khivar’s feet.” They hear clapping and everyone turns to see Nicholas crossing the room. “Well kiddies, as entertaining as this is, I’ve got a schedule to keep.” He walks up to Browan and says, “You’ve made quite a mess here, and I’m sorry to say that he’s right. Khivar plans on eliminating you as soon as you return. So I’ll just save him the trouble and do it myself.” He raises his hand to his chest and within seconds, the shape shifter is on the ground, clutching a burning handprint seared into his flesh. Cal steps back, wide eyed as Nicholas turns to him and he says, “Ok Nicholas. Here’s an offer…and it’s a good one, so you just listen. I don’t wanna go home. I like it here. I don’t want any part of this, you know that. You can have the Granolith. We’ll start it for you…get it all warmed up and you can just go back by yourself.” Cal looks over at Max and asks, “That sound ok by you?” “No!” Isabel shouts. “Max…you can’t let them have the Granolith.” All heads turn to her…most in confusion. “What are you talking about? What do you know about the Granolith?” Max asks her. Isabel meets Nicholas’ eyes, then looks at Max. “I just…there has to be some other way. Max, you can’t let them have it.” “I accept the offer.” Nicholas says quickly, looking between Max and Isabel. “That is, if Max agrees. But there’s still the little problem of the Granolith needing the king’s heir on board.” “I can fix that. I know the Granolith programming system inside and out…it can be fooled.” Cal looks at Max and says, “Well?” Isabel starts to panic. No no no no. This can’t be happening. This is what he warned her of. If their enemies get their hands on the Granolith, they’ll destroy their planet as well as earth with it. Max sees the urgency in her eyes and looks at Cal questioningly. Laughing uncomfortably, Cal says to Nicholas, “Just…just give me minute here.” He walks slowly toward Isabel and Max and whispers furiously, “What are you doing? It’s just a religious relic. It means nothing to you or your life here. Give it to him so we can get out of here.” Isabel shakes her head and looks at Max. “Max, you can’t give it to him.” “Why not?” Max asks her, clearly confused at her determination. “I…I can’t explain. Not now. You have to trust me.” She says, pleading with him. Cal turns to Max and says, “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about, Max. You can end this now. Give him the damn thing and let’s go.” Max looks at Isabel a few moments before saying, “No.” “No?!” Cal snorts in disbelief. Max turns to Cal and says, “No. He can’t have it.” Cal backs away from him and says, “You idiot. You haven’t changed one bit. You made bad decisions then and you continue to make bad decisions in this lifetime.” Nicholas, hearing how the conversation is turning, raises his arm toward Cal…preparing to kill him. “Well, I’m disappointed. I guess I’ll have to do this my way, then.” Cal closes his eyes and waits for the fatal blow, and when he hears the blast and the sound of charring flesh he flinches…waiting for the pain. But it doesn’t come. He opens his eyes and looks down at himself…no gaping, burning wound in the chest. Surprised, he looks up and sees a pile of skin on the floor where Nicholas was standing. “Wha…” He looks over and sees Liz standing just to the right of the pile, lowering her arm. Liz looks around and sees everyone gaping at her and says, “What? Was I not supposed to do that?” Cal smiles slowly and shakes himself from his daze. “Sweetheart…you’re my new favorite human.” He lets out a deep breath, checking himself over again…not quite believing that he wasn’t hit. If he had a heart it’d be going a mile a minute right now. Then he looks toward the other side of the room and sees Tess and Vilondra, huddled together by the door. “Hmmm. What should we do with them?” Zan speaks up first. “Let’s kill ‘em.” He grins at Vilondra evilly and raises his eyebrows. “You’re a fuckhead, Zan.” Vilondra says, wincing and grabbing her back as she leans against the wall. Michael watches the two of them…wondering how Zan and Vilondra ended up so twisted and Max and Isabel ended up with a normal brother/sister relationship. Weird. He feels like he’s in bazaaro world. He’s curious about what his double was like…he must have been pretty bad for Liz to have killed him. Maybe it’s a good thing that he didn’t meet him. Max and Isabel will probably always be thinking about what they could become. Liz turns her head to the side, looking at Zan. When he first grabbed her, she panicked, thinking it was another shape shifter. But when she realized he was protecting her, her fear retreated and she concentrated on helping the others. Studying his profile, he must sense her looking at him and he turns his head to look down at her. She glances away quickly but can’t keep from looking back. She cocks her head to the side and studies the similarities between him and Max. When he catches her looking at him again, he makes a point to check her out…head to toe…and he smirks. She looks away quickly and hears a short laugh come from him as he looks back at Vilondra and takes a step toward her. “Yah, I may be a fuckhead…better than a murderin’ ho’ like you.” “Zan…stop.” Ava walks up behind him and grabs his arm. He turns and puts his arm around her protectively without taking his eyes off of Vilondra. “A’ight baby, she ain’t worth it.” He turns to Cal and says, “We killin’ ‘em, or what?” Cal sighs and walks toward Tess and Vilondra who are trying to nonchalantly back toward the door. “You know, I’d like nothing more Zan…but you know I can’t kill them.” He turns around and looks at Max and says, “Besides, it’s up the king. What’s it gonna be, Max?” Isabel has her arm around Max’s waist, helping him stand up. She looks down at his hand resting over his stomach and covered in blood. “Do we have to do this now? He needs help.” “I’m fine Isabel, just give me minute and I can heal myself.” Max shakes his head. He looks at Cal and asks, “Is there anything else we can do besides kill them?” Cal shrugs and thinks for a minute. “I could take their powers away.” “No!” Tess cries out, her arm rising. “You stay away from me.” She grins with satisfaction…and a little desperation as she backs toward the door. “You can’t kill me. But I can sure as hell try to kill you.” Vilondra backs away from Tess and says, “Stop it, you moron. You messin’ with trouble.” Tess turns to Vilondra and says, “Shut up, bitch. You do what you want, but no one’s taking away my powers.” Vilondra throws her hands up and says, “Whatevah.” She looks at Cal and says, “I say ya kill her. She’s nothin’ but trouble. I’m all for that…ya know, I’m real sorry. The shifter, he lied to us…told us all kindsa shit. Told us he was gonna protect us. I didn’t know he was gonna go apeshit and start kidnappin’ people.” She shakes her head. “I told him it was wrong…but he wouldn’t listen.” “Save it Lonnie. You know I don’t buy your bullshit.” Cal says, turning his attention back to Tess. “Sweetheart…stop moving.” She continues to back away and he says, “I said…stop moving.” He flicks his hand at her and sweeps her off her feet with such force that she flies off the ground and lands with a crack. “That’s better.” He looks at her lying on the floor, unconscious…thinking how fragile their human bodies are. Michael has made his way over to Isabel and Max and he says, “You guys ok?” He looks worriedly down at Max’s stomach. Max nods at him and asks, “You?” Michael looks down and says, “Yah, caught one in the leg, but it didn’t do much.” Just then, the door bursts open and Alex and Maria come running in, carrying metal pipes…poised to fight. Maria sees Liz and cries out, “Liz!” running toward her as Alex stops…noticing that everyone is staring at them. “Uh…hey. We thought you might need…um…help.” He shrugs and lowers his pipe. “That, and the police are coming.” ~TBC~

Post by **majiklmoon** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 9:29 pm

Angel, sweetie, I <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/love.gif ALT=":love"> it, and i'm not complaining or anything, but <div style="text-align:center">WHERE THE HECK IS KYLE IN ALL OF THIS!</div> <center>It all started with a boy, a girl, and a silver handprint.</center><center><a href=http://pub84.ezboard.com/bmajiklmoonsrealm><img src=http://members.aol.com/majiklmoon/image ... a></center>

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 10:11 pm

Wow, that was and action-filled part...I was glued to my chair trying to read as fast as I could to find out what happened. It was EXCELLENT

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 10:19 pm

This is great, Angel13. I'm dying waiting for the next part. I hope you update soon!

Post by **roswellkitkat** » Wed Aug 27, 2003 11:40 am

Oh Angel...you are back with a vengeance! I had forgotten how much I <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/love.gif ALT=":love"> your writing! <div style="text-align:center">Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.</div> <div style="text-align:center">Rudyard Kipling, English author</div> <

vecastone · Post by **vecastone** » Wed Aug 27, 2003 5:07 pm

WOW WOW WOW !!!!!! HELP ME HELP ME !! I´M GLUED TO THE MONITOR !!!!!!! I CAN´T STOP READING THIS <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/wink.gif ALT=";)"> AMAZING !!! <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/clap.gif ALT=":clap"> <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/clap.gif ALT=":clap"> <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/clap.gif ALT=":clap"> <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/clap.gif ALT=":clap"> Did you really believe you were going to post again , not one but three updates, and I wasn´t going to come and leave fb ??????? Did you really believe that ???? I am so thrilled about this story. Liz is kicking some butts and I love her when she does that <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"> I want Max to know about Isabel´s lies. And I want him to be angry at her. jeje !!! Poor M&L !! They need a few hours of bonding time now, may be they can make 'the fake memory' real ..... <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/lol.gif ALT=":lol"> !!! *****mischievous grin on my face****** <img src=http://www.majiklmoon.com/ezboardsmilies/love.gif ALT=":love"> <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... tongue.gif ALT=":b">

Post by **Angel13** » Thu Aug 28, 2003 12:12 pm

Tracie, don't you worry your pretty head about Kyle. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/wink.gif ALT=";)"> He'll show up when he feels like it. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... /smile.gif ALT=":)"> vecastone, of course not! I was a little worried I'd scared you off with my lack of updates, but I'm glad you made it! Part 13 As Maria grabs Liz and pulls her close, Cal looks to Max and says, “We need to get out of here.” Max looks at Alex and asks, “How far?” “We heard the sirens and just brought the cars. Maybe a couple miles?” Alex says, rushing over to Liz and putting his arm around the two hugging girls. He looks down at them and says, “Come on…let’s go.” Liz nods and glances over at Max before her friends lead her toward the door. There’s no time to even process what just happened. She looks back at Zan and finds herself more confused by the minute. Who is he? Why is he staring at her with that…look on his face? Allowing Maria and Alex to lead her outside, she shakes them off…letting them know she can walk on her own. She’s had enough of being led around. “Alright, let’s go.” Cal says, nodding at Zan and Ava. He turns to Vilondra and says, “Sorry…no room. I’m sure they’ll give you a nice cushy cell at the Unit, though.” He raises his arm and knocks her across the room, watching as she slides to the floor next to Tess, unconscious. They should be out long enough for the FBI to get here. He pulls out his cell phone and makes a quick call…ensuring their swift arrival. Michael and Isabel help Max walk out to one car, putting him in the front seat. Michael gets behind the wheel as Isabel, Cal and Zan squeeze in the back seat. Ava gets behind the wheel of the other car with Maria and Alex in the back and Liz in the front. Looking out toward the road, Ava doesn’t see any lights, but she can hear the sirens getting closer and she nervously turns the key, whispering to the engine, “come on, come on, come on.” She breathes a shaky sigh of relief when it catches and she guns the engine, spraying rocks in her wake. Both cars peel away from the building and make their way back to the main road. The highway is deserted at this time of night and they don’t pass many cars. Michael tenses when he sees the lights in the distance, getting closer. He slows down and three police cars pass him…only then does he slightly relax his grip on the steering wheel. He looks in the rear view mirror, making sure the others are behind and he follows Cal’s instructions to a local hotel his assistant booked for them. “Where are they going?” Maria asks Ava from the back seat. “I don’t know…I’m just following them. Cal’s probably got it all worked out.” Ava answers, glancing frequently in the rear view mirror to see if any of the cops have turned around. “Man, that was close.” She whispers, more to herself than anyone else. Feeling Liz’s eyes on her, she knows the feeling is mutual. Before she knows it, she’s following the other car as it turns on Main Street and pulls into the parking lot of a Fairfield Inn & Suites. They wait in the car as Cal gets out and goes in the office…emerging a few minutes later with a handful of plastic key cards. He gets back in the car and they drive around to the back of the hotel. They all practically stumble from the cars, exhausted. “We’re staying in Roswell?” Maria asks unbelieving as she gets out of the car and looks around. For God’s sake, her mother’s shop is just down the street. And she can see the Crashdown from here. “You’ve gotta be kidding. Half the town will recognize me, Liz and Alex. Not to mention these three.” She points to Max, Michael and Isabel. “They had their pictures plastered all over this town for years on missing posters.” “Nobody’s gonna recognize you because nobody’s gonna see you. There’s no way we’ll be able to fly out of New Mexico right now without attracting attention. Especially with what they’re going to find back there. So sit tight and we’ll leave before dawn.” Cal gives the keys to Zan and says, “We got all the rooms on the second floor on this side of the hotel. Take your pick.” As he walks toward the door leading inside he turns and says, “Oh, they said that Appleby’s over there will deliver if you’re hungry. I need to make a few calls, then I think we need to have a discussion.” He looks over at Max and asks, “You need help with that?” nodding at his stomach. Max doesn’t want him touching him and shakes his head. “No, I got it.” Raising his eyebrows and shrugging, Cal walks inside. He leaves them and Zan fans the plastic cards in his hand and walks around letting everyone take one. When he gets to Liz, he teases her…pulling his hand away when she reaches out. “I got room for ya.” He raises and eyebrow and smirks at her, making her skin crawl. She glares at him and grabs a card for herself. Clenching her jaw, she bites back a response thinking it’ll just egg him on. She’s not sure where he fits in, but she doesn’t trust him one bit. Zan shrugs and taking his own card, he grabs Ava around the shoulders and pulls her inside. Liz looks up at the hotel and down to her card. Can this be real? It’s only been one day, but she feels like an entire week has passed. She’s so tired, she doesn’t think she can make her feet move. Maria tugs her hand toward the hotel and she sees Max limping toward the door, Isabel at his side. She walks over to them and Max turns his head. “I um…I can heal that for you. You know…if you can’t.” She can tell he’s in pain. He looks at her a moment before nodding his head. “Yah…ok. I just…I think I need to lie down.” She nods and follows them into the hotel and to the elevator, Maria and Alex close behind. In the elevator, Maria sees Michael wince when he backs to the wall. She looks down and sees a gaping hole in his pants and blood trickling down his leg. She gasps and says, “You’re hurt.” His head whips to her and he says, “It’s nothing…just a scrape.” He looks at her for a few moments, the vision of the two of them riding a motorcycle flashing through his head. Isabel looks back at Michael and down to his leg. She shakes her head and says, “Maybe we should get Zan…he can heal.” “Yah, it was real great of him to offer as these two stood in the parking lot bleeding all over the place.” Alex says, rolling his eyes. “I can do it…really. It’s not a big deal.” Liz says from the corner quietly. Isabel hates to ask her to do anything considering all that she’s been through. “Are you sure?” Liz smiles slightly and nods her head. “Yah.” The doors open and they all spill out into the hallway. Michael sees Zan and Ava disappearing into a room a few doors down…Zan slaps Ava’s butt as she walks ahead of him through the door. He hears her cry out, “Zan!” before giggling and the door slams shut. He glances down at his key card and goes in search of the matching room as everyone else does the same. “I’m gonna go find our rooms, Liz.” Maria says, seeing that Liz is going to follow Isabel and Max. Liz nods and says, “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” She steps up and takes the key card out of Isabel’s hand and walks ahead of them to find her room. She stops and opens the door, standing to the side to let them walk in before she follows. As Isabel helps Max into the bedroom, Liz stops in the bathroom and washes her hands and face. She feels like she’s been rolling around in the dirt all day. The first thing she’s gonna do when she gets to her room is take a shower. Looking up at her reflection in the mirror, she sees dark circles under her eyes. Her hair is a mess and her clothes are streaked with dirt and grime. Taking a deep breath, she walks into the bedroom and turns the bedside lamp on. Biting her lower lip, she sits on the bed next to Max and looks across to Isabel on the other side. “It’s not that bad.” Max says, seeing the worry on Isabel’s face. “Maybe you should go in the other room.” Isabel frowns and gives him a look that says she’s not going anywhere. Liz grabs Max’s hand and pulls it away and both she and Isabel gasp at the gory mess that his hand’s been hiding. “Oh Max…” Isabel whispers, putting her hand to her mouth. Liz looks up at Max’s pale face, then back down to the gaping wound on his torso. She guesses it to be about ten inches in diameter. The skin is charred and most of it has peeled away, revealing a mess of blood, skin and muscle intermixed with pieces of his shirt. He’s lost a lot of blood. “Why didn’t you ask for help sooner? You could have bled to death.” She starts unbuttoning his shirt and carefully peeling away what she can from the wound. She looks up at him angrily and he says, “I…I thought I could take care of it myself. It’s not that bad…” Shaking her head she puts her left hand along the side of his face and the other hand over the wound, she looks into his eyes and says, “I think you know how this works.” and gives him a small smile. Concentrating, she easily makes a connection with him and is immediately bombarded with images. She shakes her head slightly, trying to push them away and focus on healing Max. The damage is worse than she thought when she finds internal bleeding. She feels her energy quickly being drained and tries to focus on fixing everything. After repairing the internal damage, she makes sure there aren’t any broken bones before repairing the muscle and surface tissue damage. Still feeling like something’s not right, she strains to look for something she’s missed. Images are flying at her rapidly and she finds it harder and harder to focus. She sees Isabel and Michael as children, Max’s parents, images and places from both Roswell and New York, an office, and different places…apartments. She also sees people that she doesn’t know, people from Max’s life. Men and women in business suits. The images and scenes fly by faster and faster and she can’t filter through them to see the injuries that she knows she’s missing. Suddenly, she feels so tired and she can’t fight it anymore, she can’t see anything but people from Max’s life flying around her. She sees herself a few times…she feels his loneliness…his feelings of isolation in such a big city. She wants to cry out at the pain she feels…Max’s pain. “Liz!” Suddenly broken from the connection, she looks up at the concerned faces of Max and Isabel…right before the room goes black and she slides to the floor. Isabel jumps off the bed and races around the other side. “Liz!” She pulls Liz’s head into her lap and feels for a pulse and puts her ear to her chest to listen for breathing. She looks up as Max slides onto the floor next to Liz. “She’s alive. What happened, Max?” He looks down at Liz and smoothes the hair from her face. “She drained herself trying to heal everything…she drained all of her energy into me.” Isabel looks down at Max’s stomach and sees only drying blood. “She did it. How do you feel?” “I’m fine.” He gets to his feet, picking Liz up and laying her on the bed. He sits next to her and continues to run his hand over her hair, smoothing it as he looks down into her face and whispers, “You can’t heal everything, Liz.” “Should I get Zan?” Isabel asks as she gets up and stands next to them. “Yah, tell him to go heal Michael. She just needs to rest…there’s nothing we can do.” Max says quietly, not taking his eyes off of Liz. He barely hears Isabel leave the room as he looks down into Liz’s face. In the space of one day he’s responsible for her being kidnapped, almost killed, and threatened to be raped. She didn’t do anything to deserve it, and any normal person would have given up. But not Liz…she fought. She fought for all of them. He takes her hand and thinks how tiny she is…and beautiful…and brave. She’s everything he always knew she was. How will he live without her? ~~~~~~~~~~ Maria steps out into the hall and sees Isabel leading Zan to Michael’s room. “Where’s Liz?” She asks Isabel. “She uh…she fell asleep.” Isabel says. “What? What do you mean…she just fell asleep?” Isabel nods and says, “Max is with her. She’s fine.” Maria looks at her skeptically before turning to head to Alex’s room. She knocks on the door loudly until Alex opens it. “Maria…how did I know it was you.” She walks past him inside and he looks out to see Isabel giving him a sympathetic smile. Shutting the door, he waits. It doesn’t take long. “What are we doing here, Alex? I mean, we’re surrounded by aliens. And now…Liz is alone with one of them. Like she hasn’t had enough of aliens for one day. Max has her in his room…she apparently just “fell asleep”.” She uses her finger to make air quotes. “I think we need to just get out of here…maybe wait until they fall asleep.” She turns to Alex quickly, with wide eyes and asks, “Do you think they even sleep? I mean, they could like, do anything to us while we sleep. God knows what Max is doing to Liz right now.” Alex watches her pace the floor and waits for the rant to end. He really serves no purpose at this point other than making sure she doesn’t hurt herself mid-rant. It took him a few years to figure out that there was a method to her madness…to figure out what was expected of him. So he stands there, face blank, hands at his sides…waiting. He catches most of what she’s saying, although a lot of it flies right over his head. But when he hears a pause, he sees her fall onto the couch and pick up the TV remote. After she turns it on, she looks up at him and says, “What do you think?” He smiles then and sits. “Well, I think that yes…it’s crazy. And yes, Liz was kidnapped by aliens. But, Max and the others rescued her, too. If they wanted to hurt us, they probably would have by now. Don’t you think?” She sighs and leans her head on his shoulder. “I know. I just can’t believe any of this right now.” She flips through a few stations and stops it on MTV. “I just want to make sure that Liz is ok.” “Well, they can’t keep us from her. Let’s go.” Alex grabs her hand and stands up. “Then you can see for yourself that she’s fine.” They walk down the hall to Max’s room just as Isabel is opening the door. “You don’t mind if we just make sure Liz is ok, do you?” Alex asks her. She shakes her head and walks in ahead of them and straight back to the bedroom. When they get there, they all stop. Both Max and Liz are asleep, Max curled around Liz protectively. Isabel walks to the closet and pulls down a blanket, spreading it out over them before she turns to Alex and Maria. “Let’s go in there.” She nods her head toward the front room. “Max was hurt pretty bad.” She sits down on the couch, her voice hushed. “Liz kind of over did it trying to heal him and fell right to sleep. Max lost a lot of blood…I’m sure they’re just exhausted.” Alex sits on the arm of the chair when Maria sits down and asks, “Did she do it…heal him?” Isabel nods. “She saved his life.” “Wow.” Maria says. “I guess they’re even then.” Isabel gives her an odd look then, almost distracted. “Yah…I guess so.” “So how are you, Isabel?” Alex asks her. She looks up at him then. “Me? Oh…I’m…I’m fine.” She shakes her head and plasters on a small smile. Alex looks at her a few moments, feeling like he’s missing something and says, “That’s good.” They sit in silence for a few minutes before hearing a knock on the door. Isabel practically flies out of her seat to answer it and finds Michael on the other end. She turns back around and walks back to the couch. “God Michael, knock a little louder next time. I don’t think they heard you in Arizona.” “Sorry. Didn’t know this was a quiet zone.” Michael says sarcastically and follows her to the couch. Her face softens and she says, “Sorry. Max and Liz are in the other room sleeping.” He looks toward the closed door to the bedroom and asks, “How is he?” “Fine. He lost a lot of blood…his face was so pale.” Her voice trails off as she remembers how bad his stomach looked after he moved his hand. She had no idea how bad it was. She looks down at Michael’s leg and peers through the hole in his pants. “Better?” “Yah.” He says, moving his leg so she’ll stop looking. “But these were my favorite jeans.” Isabel rolls her eyes and says, “Michael, you have ten pairs just like them.” “Your point?” She grins at him and slaps him playfully on the arm. Maria stands up and says, “Well, if Liz wakes up can you tell her that we’re ready to go back to New York when she is. All I have to do is make a call and we’ll be on a plane.” “We need to see what Cal says.” Isabel looks up, concerned that they’re planning on leaving so soon. “Noooo…you need to see what Cal says. We aren’t part of your alien club. We’re done. Liz is safe…and thank you for getting her back, but it’s time for us to go. Liz has been through enough…she needs to get back to her life now and recover from this horrible experience.” Maria looks to Alex for support. “You can’t take her. She’s…she’s our queen now. She has to…” Michael stands up, agitated…his voice rising. “What?!” Maria shouts. “Listen you yourself…your queen?!” “Would you two shut up.” Isabel whispers fiercely. When she has their attention, she turns to Maria and says, “Michael’s right. We need to talk to Cal and figure out what to do.” She sees Maria about to protest and stops her. “All I’m saying is, we don’t know how many others are out there. And Liz is sending out signals to every alien on this planet…and who knows what other planets. We need to figure out what to do about the situation before you just take off. What if you take her back to New York and the same thing happens again…I’m just thinking about Liz’s safety here. I’m sure that’s what Michael meant to say…in his own way.” “Yah.” Michael chimes in, earning a glare from Maria. “Well, you wouldn’t let me finish.” Maria calms down finally and says to Isabel. “I guess you’re right. I never thought that there might be more of you out there.” She sees Michael rolling his eyes at her as he sits down and she says, “Well, let me know when Cal’s ready. I’m starved.” She looks at Alex and says, “Let’s call Appleby’s.” Alex nods and throws an apologetic look toward Isabel before following Maria out into the hall. “What does she think we are, her assistants?” Michael huffs after Maria leaves. “Why does she have to be such a bitch?” “She’s just trying to protect her friend, Michael. Just give it a rest.” Isabel massages the space between her eyes and sighs. She sits in silence for over an hour, Michael somehow sensing that’s what she wants and he turns on the TV with the volume muted. Finally she turns her head. “Michael?” He looks over at her. “Yah?” Pausing, she forges ahead. “Have you ever thought about fate…or destiny? Stuff like that?” He studies her for a minute, wondering where this is coming from…or going. “Yah. Don’t you remember my Matrix obsession?” She smiles, remembering how he would go on and on about those movies. Truthfully, she just tuned him out most of the time. Sci fi bores her to tears. “Oh yah…God, that seems so long ago.” “It was.” He waits for whatever she’s trying to put together in her head. “So…do you think our lives are already planned out already. Do you think that…that no matter what decisions we make along the way, or how much we avoid going down a certain path…that we’ll end up in the same place anyway?” She looks over at him and continues. “Like, if we avoid a certain event…in the end, it’ll always happen…regardless.” “Why are you asking about this? What is it you’re really talking about here…because I don’t think you just felt like sitting down and having a random philosophical conversation.” He wonders if this has something to do with the Granolith and why she was so adamant about Max not letting Nicholas take it. “Is this about the Granolith?” “Sort of.” She looks down at her hands and says. “I used to think we had control over our fates…that we decided our own futures.” “And now?” “I’m not so sure anymore.” She looks back up at him. He thinks about it for a few minutes and finally says, “I don’t know. I like to think we have control…but who knows. Especially with us. We’re different…according to Ava, we were created…engineered. Who knows what that means.” Taking a deep breath, Isabel decides that she has to tell someone…has to know if she’s been doing the right thing. Because she just doesn’t know anymore. “This is gonna sound strange, but I…I changed the future, Michael.” She sees the confusion on his face and says, “When we left here…back in high school. I made sure we left.” “What are you talking about? We all agreed to leave…Valenti was onto us. And the FBI.” Michael thinks back to the events leading up to that moment. She shakes her head and says, “No…we were supposed to stay. Liz…she talked Max into staying and came up with a plan to throw off Valenti.” “Liz? But she was the one who warned Max in the first place. Where is this coming from Isabel…I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.” “What are you trying to say, Isabel?” Michael and Isabel look over to see Max standing in the doorway to the bedroom. “Max…” Isabel pops up off the couch and says, “I thought you were sleeping.” He just looks at her, waiting. “What have you been hiding from us?” She shakes her head and looks to Michael for support. “It’s not like that…I…I couldn’t tell you.” She sighs and puts her hands up to her head and sinks back into the couch. ~~~~~~~~~~ The first thing she sees when she opens her eyes is a menu tacked onto the wall behind the phone…for the Crashdown Café. She stares at it for a few moments, disoriented…sleep still grabbing at her. When reality intrudes fully, she remembers she’s in Roswell…less than four blocks from her childhood home. Rolling over onto her back, she looks at the ceiling and rubs the sleep from her eyes. Turning her head, she looks at the bedside clock…2:15. From the darkness outside, she can safely assume that means a.m. Past the clock, she can see Max standing in the doorway, his back to her. She hears him say something to Isabel and she says something back…something about not telling him. Liz furrows her brow at the pleading tone in her voice and she tries to sit up. When she gets her feet on the floor, the room spins a little and she moans. Max hears her and turns toward her, rushing over to the bed. “Liz…not so fast. You’re weak.” He puts a steadying hand on her back and sits next to her. “What are you doing up…you need to rest.” She shakes her head and says, “I’m fine…just a little foggy.” She opens her eyes and sees that the room is back to normal and she looks toward the doorway. “What’s going on?” “Nothing…Isabel, Michael and I were just talking. I’m sorry if we woke you.” “No, you didn’t.” She looks down at her rumpled clothes and tries to run her hand over her hair but finds that it’s hopeless up there. “What happened?” She looks at his stomach. “How do you feel?” “I’m fine…good as new. You over did it.” “I didn’t get a chance to finish…why did you break the connection?” She’s looking more closely at his stomach, making him sit up so she can get a better look. She tries the peel the shirt back but sees only smooth skin…not so much as a bruise. “Liz, I’m fine. You healed it…don’t worry.” He closes his shirt as much as possible and lifts her chin to look at him. “You can’t stay in like that…it drained your energy…you could have died.” “But, I know I missed something. Max, you have to let me take another look.” She’s worried that there’s still internal bleeding that she can’t see from the outside. “Liz, there are some things you can’t heal with powers…or medicine. Do you understand?” He looks at her meaningfully, trying to get her to understand. Realization dawns on her and she says, “Oh. I…oh. Yah, I guess you’re right.” She swallows and can’t drag her gaze from his. She knows she should be going to talk to Maria and Alex, but leaving Max seems so impossible to her as she gets sucked into his eyes…like she’s floating toward him…and their connection flares between them. “What did you do to me, Max?” She whispers…not sure if she said that aloud or in her head. “I don’t know.” The air feels think around him and all he can see is the soft skin of her face. It almost glows from underneath. From the tender skin below her eyes down to her beautiful, pink lips. Her face holds endless fascinations with him…he could stare at it for hours. Every expression, every smile, every movement…it’s intoxicating being this close to her. He watches her bite the side of her lower lip and he leans in closer, feeling her breath on his face. “Liz…” he whispers. His lips so close to hers…a breath apart. He hovers there, waiting for her to close the distance, their breath coming faster…mingling in the centimeters that separate them. He can see her tongue dart just behind her teeth to wet her lips and he groans. “Max, don’t you think…whoa.” Michael pulls back in the doorway when he sees them. Max closes his eyes as he feels Liz pull away from him. Taking a deep breath, he turns to Michael and glares at him. “I…um…sorry. I’ll just go back and…yah. I’ll just go talk to Isabel.” He backs into the other room and closes the door behind him. When Max turns back around, Liz is standing…trying to straighten her clothes. “Liz.” She smiles at him and says, “Yah…you know, it’s better…that we didn’t…you know…” She shifts uncomfortably and puts her hands in her pockets. What was she about to do? Kiss him? She barely knows him. They’re only feeling this way because of the bond between them…there’s no way he’d be sitting her wanting to kiss her otherwise. “This…it won’t work. And as much as I really, really wish it could…we both know it won’t. We’re just…” He looks down at the carpet and says, “Different.” She feels a deep pang of something inside of her…kind of like déjà vu. “Yah.” She whispers as she leans back on the nightstand. “Wow, that was weird.” She sees Max looking at her strangely and she says, “It just felt like I’d had this exact conversation with you before.” He nods, “Same thing’s been happening to me a lot lately, too.” She zones out for a minute, trying to grasp onto something just out of her reach and shakes her head as it eludes her completely. “Anyway…I should probably go…” “Find Maria.” He finishes for her with a smile. “Yah.” She smiles back. “I’m surprised she hasn’t torn the place apart looking for me yet.” She walks toward the door and says, “I’ll see you later…to talk to Cal?” He nods and she turns to go. “Liz, wait.” He stands up and says, “I um…never got to thank you…for saving my life.” She smiles and says, “Thank you.” and turns from the room. ~TBC~

Fan Fic and More

Happenstance ~M/L C/C~ Pt. 45 added 4/21

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Re: Happenstance ~M/L C/C~ Pt. 12 added 8/25

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Re: Happenstance ~M/L C/C~ Pt. 12 added 8/25

Re: Happenstance ~M/L C/C~ Pt. 12 added 8/25

Re: Happenstance ~M/L C/C~ Pt. 12 added 8/25