There will be consequences to taking the tracker out later. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START ;) --><img src=
http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... s/wink.gif ALT=";)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> Thanks for the great feedback and for reading!<br><br>Part 13~<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><b> Friday, May 17, 2013<br>Roswell</b><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br><br>They reach Roswell at 4 in the afternoon after driving straight there. Max drove most of the way, only taking a break when Liz insisted she take over. They’re all tired as they pile out of the cab and make their way through the front door of Max’s house. Liz doesn’t even have time to look at her surroundings before she’s caught up in a fierce hug. It’s Isabel. “God, Liz, thank God you came home!” Liz stiffens and tries to pull away from Isabel and she sees Michael swoop down on Maria, settling his hands over her stomach…making sure the baby is ok.<br><br>Maria swats his hands away and gives him a kiss. “Later, I have to pee.” And she heads further into the house, disappearing down a hallway.<br><br>As Isabel steps away from Liz, concerned at her reaction, Diane goes to Max and pulls him into a hug. “I’m glad you’re back, Max. We were so worried.”<br><br>“It’s ok, mom. Max whispers to his mom and meets Isabel’s gaze over her shoulder. He smiles at her and she nods while smiling back.<br><br>Liz tries to get through the group gathered around the door when she feels a pair of big arms engulf her. “We all missed you, Liz. Thank you for coming back.” Michael says in her ear. Liz closes her eyes as tears come to them and she hangs loosely in his embrace.<br><br>Max untangles himself from his mom and says, “Alright everyone, how about we let Liz breathe a little.” He watches her as they all move away toward the kitchen and living room and he and Michael go out to the truck to haul in the suitcases.<br><br>“Hey man, I’m really glad you found her.” Michael says to Max as they walk back to the house. “Everything will be ok, now that she’s home.”<br><br>Max looks at him with an expression that Michael can’t translate, “Maybe.”<br><br>Maria’s sitting in the kitchen with Michael as he heats up some leftovers for Maria. “Michael, she’s so defeated. She was so scared when she saw us at her front door. I’d never seen that look on her face.” She takes a sip of the tea Michael made for her. “I mean, she was determined that we leave her there! Can you believe that?! Leave her there for Khivar to do what he wants with her. You should have heard some of the things she said to try to get us to leave. Did you see the scars? He did that to her. I know it. She didn’t tell us what he did to her…has <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><i> been</i><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> doing to her, but she just looks awful!” She shakes her head trying to hold back her tears.<br><br>“It’ll be ok, Maria. We’ll make it ok.” He tells her as he sets a plate of stir fry vegetables in front of her. “Eat. I know it’s the first decent meal you’ve had since you left.” And he kisses the top of her head and walks to the doorway that leads to the living room. “Hey Liz…Max, there’s food in here in you want some.”<br><br>Max watches as Isabel sits next to Liz on the couch…she can’t stop touching Liz and Diane is telling Liz all about Grace and Alex, who are over at Amy’s. Liz looks uncomfortable and she turns to Max, “You know, I just want to go take a shower if that’s ok. I’m so tired…and…” looking around at everyone gathered around her…Isabel, Diane, Jesse…”I just…I really just want to relax.” She’s giving Max a pleading look.<br><br>Max gets up and says, “Sure. I’ll show you to a room and get you settled.” He leads her from the room as she says goodbye to everyone. <br><br>“Thank you, Max. I’m just not used to so many people around…and I don’t really know what to say to them yet. You don’t think I upset them, do you?”<br><br>“No, of course not. Everyone understands…you can talk to them later. Come on, you’re this way.” He leads her to the stairs and they walk up to the second floor.<br><br>He leads her into a room that looks like it gets little use. Her suitcase is sitting on a chair in the corner. She looks around and notices that there’s a dresser and full size bed as well. There’s a door on the left side of the room and Max confirms that it leads to a bathroom. “Be sure and lock the other door…it leads to the hallway.” He’s looking at the floor, shifting uncomfortably, “Um, I put some towels out for you. If you need anything, my room’s right across the hall.” Noticing her look up at him, he adds, “And Maria’s is next door.”<br><br>“Thank you, Max. I’ll…um…talk to you later, right? About what we’re going to do?” She moves to the bathroom doorway, turning on the light.<br><br>“Sure, no problem.” He says and leaves, closing the door behind him.<br><br>She stares at the door after he leaves, wondering what she’s going to say to him…what he’s going to say to her.<br><br>When Max gets back downstairs, Isabel is waiting for him, “Is she ok, Max?”<br><br>“Yah, just a little overwhelmed. Just give her some time to get used to being back…she’ll be fine.” He tells her, leading her into the living room.<br><br>Diane goes home around 7pm and Isabel and Jesse decide to stay on Max’s pull-out couch after the little he tells them. Max tried to fill them in with what he knew about Khivar and Liz and they all decide that for now it’s best to stick close together. <br><br>Liz hears the noise downstairs get quieter and she grabs a book, making her way down to the living room. Isabel and Jesse are on the couch watching a movie when she enters the room. “Hey. Sorry I weirded out earlier…it’s just…” Liz starts to explain.<br><br>“Don’t worry about it, Liz.” Isabel interrupts her. “I’m sure it’s a lot for you to take in all at once. We’re here if you need anything.” She smiles up at her. <br><br>“Thank you.” Liz says softly, looking at the floor. “Um…could you point me in the direction of the backyard.” She laughs softly.<br><br>“Sure,” Isabel smiles, and points toward the kitchen, “through there…there’s a door that leads out to the patio.”<br><br>“Thanks.” Liz says as she walks in the direction Isabel pointed.<br><br>Liz opens the backdoor and not finding a light switch for outside, she walks outside, shutting the door behind her quietly. She stands in the darkness, noticing there’s a pool, then looking up at the sky. It’s a clear night and she can easily see the stars. Glancing toward the back of the house, she feels for a light switch to turn on so she can read when she hears, “It’s over here.”<br><br>She whips her head around and sees Max standing on the side of the patio behind a large telescope with a camera attached to it. “There’s a kerosene lamp over here…if you wanted to read.” He says, nodding his head toward the book in her hand. <br><br>“Max…I…I didn’t know you were out here.” Liz says awkwardly. <br><br>“Sorry if I scared you…I was just taking pictures of the Flaming Star Nebula. I have a good view tonight…want to look?” He says when he sees her looking at the telescope.<br><br>“You can see that far away?” she says in awe as she steps closer to him.<br><br>“Yup. Here, just look through here.” He points to the camera eyepiece as she tentatively steps closer to him.<br><br>Setting her book down on a chair, she walks up and looks through where Max shows her. “Oh my…Max…it’s beautiful!” She says in amazement, not looking away.<br><br>He smiles at the awe in her voice and presses a remote control into her hand. “Here, press this button and you’ll take a picture of it. I’ll give it to you when I get them developed.” He moves her finger to the button while she looks through the camera. <br><br>She smiles and presses the button, hearing the slow click of the lens…it takes several seconds for the film to capture the image before she hears the lens click shut. “Wow. You’re lucky, Max. That you do this for a living.” She tells him as she straightens up and looks at him.<br><br>“Yah.” He says, at a loss for words.<br><br>“So,” She begins as she looks down to her feet. “Max…I’m sorry I was so harsh…back in Dallas. I didn’t…I was trying to get you to leave.” She looks across the yard at the pool. “I wanted to…make you angry enough…to leave. I…I didn’t mean what I said…well, most of it, anyway.”<br><br>Max is silent. She may have not meant what she said, but it was all true. He sits in a chair and motions for her to sit as well. They both look out into the yard…sitting in silence until Max says, “So, what did Jaret say when you told him you were coming here?”<br><br>“I don’t know. I sent him a message from the hotel in Dallas and he hasn’t contacted me since. I…I don’t know what that means. Sometimes it takes him a while to get back to me.” Liz says while she looks down at her hands. “If Khivar decides to come, we’ll have a couple of days notice. Jaret will tell me…I hope. It takes at least two days for Khivar to prepare a body to enter…they last longer if he waits.” She whispers the last part.<br><br>Looking over at her down-turned face, Max says, “Liz…what…what did he do to you? I mean…did he give you those scars? Or…was there…” he wants to know.<br><br>“Max,” Liz begins, looking over at him before looking back down at the ground. “I can’t…Max, you…you don’t want to know. And I don’t want to tell you…not now anyway.”<br><br>Max clenches his teeth and sits back in his chair, taking a deep breath. “Alright, Liz. But you need to tell me before he gets here. I can’t have him catching me off guard in a confrontation…I need to know.” He says quietly. <br><br>She nods her head, looking back up at the sky. “I forgot how clear the sky is here…you can see so many stars.” She says with a sad voice, “Everywhere I’ve lived, there’s been too much light pollution.” Looking back at Max, she asks him, “Do you mind if I just read for a while…out here?”<br><br>“No.” he says, standing up and walking over to get her the lamp. He sets it down on the table beside her, lighting the wick. “Enjoy your book, Liz.” He turns to walk in the house.<br><br>Sometime later, Max wakes up with a start. Someone’s screaming…Liz. He glances at the clock…3:30am…and bolts from his room across the hall and into hers. He goes immediately to the bed where Liz is sitting up, shaking and covered in sweat. He sits on the edge and hands her a glass of water. “Nightmare?”<br><br>She nods as she gulps the water. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you up.” She turns teary eyes to his.<br><br>“Liz, it’s ok. You’re safe here.” And he reaches for her arm…watching as she cringes away from his touch. He pulls his hand back and looks up to see Maria standing in the doorway. “Liz, are you ok?” she asks quietly.<br><br>Looking up at Maria, Liz barely whispers, “Yah. I’m sorry I woke you up.”<br><br>“Hey, no problem. Do you need anything?”<br><br>When Liz shakes her head, no, Maria says, “Ok. Well, I’m right next door if you change your mind.” And she walks back down the hall after throwing Max a concerned took.<br><br>Liz lies back down, looking up at Max. “Stay here until I go to sleep?”<br><br>“Sure.” And he starts to get up to sit in the chair in the corner.<br><br>“No! Not over there.” It comes out sounding panicked, and Max turns to see her wide-eyed expression suddenly relax as she scoots over on the bed, “Here, next to me.” She says as she makes room for him.<br><br>He looks at her for a moment, then nods his head and climbs into bed, being careful not to get too close. He watches her as her eyes close and after a few minutes, he can hear her breathing even out into sleep. He lies there, on his back, staring at the light fixture on the ceiling. Watching the light play across the ceiling from the occasional car driving by on the street out front, he sees her hand inch over out of the corner of his eye and feels her lightly rest it on top of his. And he smiles slightly as he drifts off to sleep.<br><br>Liz wakes up, seeing that there’s sunshine coming in through the window through her closed eyelids and she snuggles deeper under her covers…cuddling deeper into the warmth surrounding her. When she hears a deep groan and a hand inching up her stomach to grab her breast, her eyes pop open and her body tenses. When the arm around her relaxes, she hurriedly scoots out from under it and out of the bed. As she makes her way around the bed, she tries not to make any noise that will wake Max up. Pausing on his side of the bed, she watches his sleeping face…his steady breathing. The clock on the bedside table reads 7am and she makes her way to the bathroom to take a shower. When she emerges from the bathroom, the bed is empty. <br><br>Max is in his room cursing himself for scaring Liz out of bed. He woke up when he felt her stiffen next to him and he realized that he was wrapped around her and worse, he was fondling her breast. He feigned sleep until he heard her go into the bathroom and shut the door. “Damn. That’s just great, Max. Good job.” he thinks to himself. <br><br>He can hear movement downstairs…probably Michael making breakfast. As he lies on his stomach in bed, two small flurries fly into his room and jump on top of him. Grace and Alex are jumping up and down on the bed, “Max! Get up Max!” and giggling as he pretends to be offended at their intrusion by groaning and swatting his arms at them. Alex gets off the bed and grabs his leg, while Grace is at his side pulling his arm. “Get up Max!” <br><br>“Ugh, you two are killing me.” He groans into his pillow, causing more giggles to erupt. <br><br>Liz hears the ruckus when she enters the hallway. Curious, she peeks through Max’s open door and smiles when she sees what’s going on. Max looks over his shoulder when he hears his door squeak to see Liz standing in the doorway in amusement at the scene in front of her. Grace and Alex halt their attack and look to see what has distracted Max. When they see Liz in the doorway, Alex whispers to Max, “Is that Liz?” At Max’s nod, Alex looks over at Grace and whispers loudly, “That’s Liz.” Leaving Max forgotten on the bed, Grace walks over to Liz and says, “My mommy told us all about you. I’m Grace. And that’s Alex.” pointing to Alex across the room.<br><br>“It’s very nice to meet you, Grace. And you too, Alex.” She looks over to where Alex moves in closer to Max. She kneels down to Grace and says, “Has anyone told you that you look just like your mommy when she was your age?”<br><br>Grace nods and says, “All the time. How did you know that?”<br><br>“Because your mommy has been my best friend since we were younger than you are now. I could never forget what she looked like.” Liz tells her as she slides her hand down Grace’s arm.<br><br>Liz stands back up and says to Alex, “And you…you look just like your dad…so handsome.” and grins at him.<br><br>Alex blushes and looks down at the floor. Then he looks back up at her and steps toward her saying, “I don’t look like him…he looks like me.” Liz smiles at that and he looks down toward her neck, “You have a boo boo. Uncle Max can fix it.”<br><br>He’s looking at the scar on her neck which runs even further than Max saw before. She’s wearing a V neck shirt and the scar drops down her chest, disappearing under the neckline. Liz raises her hand to cover it and says, “Oh, it doesn’t hurt, Alex. Sometimes I forget it’s even there.” She smiles and tries to reassure him. “Hey, I smell something good coming from downstairs. Smells like pancakes to me…wanna go check it out with me?”<br><br>Alex and Grace grab her hands, leading her from the bedroom, “Nah, that’s not pancakes. That’s waffles!” Alex says as Max listens to them walk down the stairs.<br><br>When they’re gone, Max gets up, heading to the bathroom for a shower. He knew they would love her. How could they not? Alex is the shy one…he rarely warms up to strangers. But Liz had him holding her hand within 5 minutes. Thinking about what Alex said about him healing Liz, he really wishes she would ask him to soon. He can’t look at those scars without imagining a million different ways they were created. But he doubts she’ll be asking him any time soon…if the way she cringes away from his touch is any indication.<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>
