<!--EZCODE BOLD START--><b> From the last part…</b><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>Looking at Maria, then back to Max, “Well, then who’s doing it?” But she already knows…she realizes now.<br><br>Max looks at the floor, swallows, then moves forward a couple of steps closer to Liz. He raises his gaze up to meet hers, takes a deep breath and furrows his brow, then says…<br><br>Part 10~<br><br>“You are, Liz…you’re doing it.”<br><br>Liz’s reaction isn’t <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> quite</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> what they’re expecting. Her eyes open wide, “Ok, that’s not exactly what I was thinking…but ok.” She thinks to herself as she stares in shock at Max before she races for a box in the hall, rips it open and dumps the contents on the floor. Looking over her shoulder, she pleads with Max, “Get over here and help me.”<br><br>Throwing a confused look in Maria’s direction, he quickly joins her and looks down…sheets? She has a sudden urge to make the bed? He stands there, watching her…confused…when she shoves some into his arms and tells him to grab the hammer and tacks that are on the kitchen counter. “You shouldn’t be here, Max. Start covering all the windows.” When he continues to just stand there, baffled, holding the sheets, she tells him, “Just do it, Max…now!”<br><br>Max looks over at Maria and finds the same confused expression on her face as she rises from the chair, “Did you hear what he said, Liz? You’re using some weird alien power to pull him to you.”<br><br>“Yes, I heard him, Maria.” Liz says as she races into the front room and frantically starts nailing a sheet above a window to cover it. “It’s not me, It’s not me that’s doing it.”<br><br>Once Max and Liz get all the windows covered, they return to the living room. Liz looks scared, her gaze darting around the room frantically looking for….where is it? She throws a couple of boxes off the top of a stack in the corner and finds what she’s looking for…her laptop. As she’s plugging it in and plugging her cell phone into it, Max and Maria watch her, “What’s going on, Liz? What are you doing?” Maria asks her finally…thinking that Liz has clearly lost her mind.<br><br>Liz looks over at them and looks around the room wildly, then back at them. “You shouldn’t be here.” She says again, stressing every word. She looks down at Maria’s protruding belly and looks up at her, “You need to go, you need to get away from me.”<br><br>“No! We’re not going anywhere until you tell us what’s going on!” Maria cries and shakes her head. “Max! Make her tell us what’s going on!”<br><br>Max looks over to Maria with an eyebrow raised as if to say, “And how exactly am I going to do that?”<br><br>Frustrated, Liz turns her attention back to her laptop. Typing in a few commands, she starts reading and noticeably relaxes. She sits back on her heels and wipes at her forehead, sighing with, it seems, relief. “Ok…we’re ok.” She absently says to herself, then turns to look at Max and Maria. Realizing what she must look like, she gives Maria a small smile and stands up. “Wow…you must think I’m a freak.” <br><br>“Crazy and lunatic are just two of the terms crossing my mind right now, Liz. What <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> are</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> you doing?” Maria says.<br><br>Liz smiles at her and says, “I can explain. You can’t stay very long, but I’ll try to explain what I can…then you have to leave.”<br><br>Liz goes out to the truck to bring in some kitchen chairs for them to sit on while she sends Max into the kitchen to get some peanuts and chips that are sitting on the counter. When they’re all comfortable, no one knows how to start. Liz finally looks up at Maria and says with a laugh, “So…the chair…you like it, huh?”<br><br>Maria laughs and says, “Not really, I mean, I never did like it from Max’s descriptions.” She touches the fabric on the arm and says, “When he first told me about it, I was horrified. It sounded just awful! I mean, brown? He told me it was well used and the fabric looked like it was ready to fall off. I drew it over and over again, imagining it in my mind, until Max said that I got it right. And I <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> still</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> couldn’t believe that you’d have such a thing in your house.” She laughs at the memory. “Michael was soooo tired of talking about this chair. He would roll his eyes and leave the room, muttering about his crazy wife.”<br><br>“So…you and Michael. You got married?” Liz asks in amazement and slight relief. <br><br>“Yup. A few months after graduation.” Maria winces as she mentions graduation and looks at Liz for her reaction.<br><br>Liz just nods and gives Maria an understanding smile. “You don’t seem to have a problem with it now.” She notices as she points to the chair.<br><br>“Now I see why you kept it. It’s comfy…cozy. It feels like home.” Maria says as she rubs her hand over the arm. “Every year, I’d ask Max if you’d gotten rid of it yet. It started to become a joke.” She chuckles as she looks over at Max.<br><br>Liz looks at Max then, too. “I thought I was seeing things…in Philly…<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> hoped</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> that I was seeing things.”<br><br>“I’m sorry, Liz.” Max says as he looks up at her. “I never meant to scare you into running again.”<br><br>Liz pauses a moment, looking into his eyes. “It’s ok, I’m used to moving a lot.”<br><br>“Yah, I know.” He replies as he notices a deep looking scar on her forehead before looking away quickly.<br><br>“Liz, there’s a reason we’ve been looking for you. There’s a reason we’re here.” Maria says.<br><br>Liz shifts her gaze to Maria, “I had hoped that I hid myself well enough so that this would never happen. Guess I slipped by leaving that bill out in the open.” She looks at Max once again, “So, how is everyone? Tess probably isn’t happy that you’re following me around the country, huh?” she asks as her gaze shifts down to the pile of peanuts in front of her.<br><br>“Liz, Tess is dead.” Max tells her, meeting her gaze.<br><br>“Oh…I’m…I’m sorry.” Liz looks embarrassed.<br><br>“No, Liz…you don’t understand.” Maria begins, “Liz, she orchestrated everything. She made Max act the way he was acting…made him say the things he said to you that day. The baby…she <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><b> stole</b><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> it. She was never even pregnant. She couldn’t have been, because her and Max never had sex.” <br><br>Liz looks from Max to Maria, and back to Max. “Are you serious? But you…you had a connection with him. You had flashes when he was born…and you connected to him when Tess came back.” She says, confused.<br><br>“She sent me those flashes. She made me think I was connecting to him. Khivar sent her away when she reached Antar and she wasn’t pregnant. He <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> sent</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> her back to Earth…she didn’t escape like she told us. She was desperate and did every thing she could to worm her way back in.” Max explains, “She even…she…she…” he couldn’t finish. He drops his head to the table as tears threaten to come.<br><br>“Liz, Tess made you miscarry your baby. She knew you were pregnant and she couldn’t let you have that child. If you did, she knew she would lose Max to you forever. Like he wasn’t already, but that’s beside the point.” Maria finishes for Max.<br><br>Liz stares at Maria in shock…a look of horror written across her face. The three sit in silence for several moments before Liz finally clears her throat and speaks. “How did she die?”<br><br>“She killed herself. She killed herself when she realized that Michael was going to kill her.” Maria tells her. “The same day you left.”<br><br>All these years, Liz thinks, all these years she thought it was her…that she was the reason she lost the baby. She can’t stop the tears that come and she covers her face with her hands. <br><br>Maria grabs one of Liz’s hands, “I’m so sorry, Liz. But she got what she deserved…she got what she deserved for what she did to Alex and to you. We just wanted you to know. That’s why we’ve been looking for you. We thought you should have all the facts if you were going to stay away…if you were going to keep running away from us.” She chokes up before continuing, “We miss you, Liz…everyone does. Please come home with us.” she adds softly.<br><br>Liz looks up at Max, who has been watching her, “Max, I’m sorry…I’m sorry you lost your son, too.”<br><br>“I didn’t have a son to lose, Liz.” He tells her. “What I lost was you…you and our child.”<br><br>After Liz takes a few moments to collect her thoughts, she gets up and goes to the kitchen for more water. She stares at the running water wondering how her life got so screwed up…wondering if it will ever be normal. “If I just wouldn’t have run in the first place…so much pain…so much lost.” She thinks to herself, as she watches the water swirl in the sink before falling down into the drain.<br><br>When she walks back in the living room, she raises her chin and looks at Max, “I can’t…I can’t come back with you. I want you to leave…and forget about me.”<br><br>“But why, Liz? You can come home, there’s no reason for you to stay away…we just told you, Tess was lying. And she’s gone now. You can come back home with us.” Maria cried.<br><br>“No, Maria…I can’t.” Liz sits back down. “Yes, I left because of Tess…and Max…and the whole situation. I just…couldn’t deal with it again. I couldn’t deal with it anymore.” Her gaze shifts over to Max and she steels herself for what she’s about to say…which is whatever she has to say to get them to leave. Taking a deep breath, she continues, “I…after you left…in the gym, with Tess…it just all hit me. I kept thinking that you should have just let me die in the Crashdown that day. If you had then I wouldn’t have had to suffer through all the alien bullshit for the following 3 years. After everything…all the secrets, the lies, and putting up with how you treated me, Max. I was just tired of it all. I was tired of being treated like a 2nd class piece of crap by all of you…when <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><b> you</b><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> were the ones that didn’t belong here…<!--EZCODE BOLD START--><b> you</b><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> were the ones who came to <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><b> our</b><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> planet and totally screwed with <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> our</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> lives. So I left. I couldn’t even stand to look at any of you anymore.” She finishes and glances up at Max.<br><br>Max shrinks back at her words…shriveling inside at each one. He knows she’s right, there isn’t a minute of the day that he doesn’t remember how he treated Liz…how awful he was to her. He’s looking down at his shoes…not wanting to see the hatred in her eyes…the accusation. He felt his heart twist in his chest and all he wants to do is do what she asks…leave.<br><br>Maria is baffled at Liz’s tirade. She had no idea that Liz had felt like that. “Liz…don’t you think you’re being a little harsh? I mean, you <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> are</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> the one who kind of forced them to let you help. Yes, I agree that Max treated you like crap there for a while, but did you have to take off and not contact <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> anyone</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, not even me, for all this time?!” <br><br>Turning to see Maria’s teary eyes, she says, “That’s not why I <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> stayed</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> away. It’s why I left in the first place. I stayed away because I…I would have put you in danger. All of you…but especially you, Max…you and your son. You may not have a son now, but <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> you’re</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> still in danger. And even after it all, I had this stupid sense of loyalty…and I hated myself for it but I still had to protect you.” She sighs loudly and rubs her hands over her face and she hopes that it was enough…enough guilt to get him to leave.<br><br>Feeling himself slowly die inside at what Liz has said, he looks up at her last words. “In danger?” Max exclaims, “In danger from who? And why would you have anything to do with someone looking for me?”<br><br>Liz looks at Max…notices the new lines on his face and saddens realizing that she’s probably the reason they’re there. “Khivar. Max, Khivar will kill you if he finds you here.”<br><br>~TBC~ <p></center><center><FONT COLOR="B22222"><i>So come and sit on my box, enjoy the view of this water where my lifeboat is sinking. If you reach out for more, you'll find nothing but sorrow...because knowledge is hollow, and pride is hard to swallow.</i><br><font color="B8860B"><b>Col Threadkiller is the <i>coolest!</i></b><img src=
http://www.roswell-orbs.com/smilies/coo ... </p><i></i>
