posted on 18-Dec-2001 9:12:43 PM
Title: Endings and Beginnings

Author: Lillie

1-2-4

*Special thanks to Talena who made this wonderful banner for me. *happy*

Author’s Note: I got this idea for Jbehrbabe(Miranda) from her untitled fic. I loved what I had read of it and the thought of Max Evans threatening the life of Liz Parker just drew me in. And then I came up with a story idea.

Disclaimer: Roswell belongs to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, UPN, WB, probably some other people I don’t know. I don’t own any of it. Besides if I did, I wouldn’t have broken up Max and Liz in the first place and there never would have been any Tess and Alex would not have been murdered by the trashy whore. I borrowed a couple of things from various movies and TV shows: such as Wyatt Earp, The Last House on the Left, Dark Angel. I don’t own any of the songs in this story.

Category: Mostly Liz centric, some M/M, K/I. This is an Action/Drama fiction.

Rating: R, cause of bad words and violence. Sorry boys and girls, no sex between Max and Liz or Michael and Maria.

Summary: Max severs ties with Liz, because she believes that Alex was murdered. When Liz needs him, will he come to her rescue, or will she have to save herself?

Another Author’s Note: I changed the ending of CYN. After that, nothing happened. Plus, for good measure, the stupid episode, Off the Menu never happened in this story. Even though, I know that it was supposed to be right after the Vegas epi, it did not happen in my little story. And do not worry, Max will not sleep with Tess. I promise that! *happy* Liz will be a kick ass woman in this story. Cause she rocks as one.

Be warned though there are sexual situations that one might find offensive. Also there is violence and bad words. You have been forewarned.



Prologue



I’m Liz Parker and six weeks ago, I thought that my life couldn’t get any worse. Max had kissed Tess at the prom, which I had gone to as his so called date. That’s when I realized that it was truly over between us. That we would be nothing to one another. We couldn’t be together and we couldn’t be just friends.

Then Alex died. And my world shattered right in front of my eyes. I was convinced that someone had killed him. In the first time line, where Max and I had been together, he wasn’t dead. He had danced at my wedding. Only I couldn’t tell them how I knew that Alex’s death had been murder. I had promised Max. . . that is Future Max.

Little did I know that the pain and destruction in my life was only beginning. In the end long buried secrets would be uncovered and I would take someone’s life.




“You just don’t want to admit an alien killed him because then you are responsible!" Liz Parker screamed in Max Evans’ face with anger. She clenched her fists at her sides. She was afraid she might hit him in her anger. What was he thinking? He looked angry, but Liz knew that there was no backing down. She knew what she was talking about. Alex’s death had been murder. She didn’t care if Max had 6 inches and 50 pounds on her, she was determined to get through that thick skull of his. She didn’t understand why he wouldn’t believe her. After over a year of helping them hide their secret, didn’t he trust her opinion, didn’t he trust her instincts.

“I don’t need to listen to this crap. Let’s go!” Max’s voice was cold yet demanding as he roughly pushed past her, heading for the door.

“NO! You can run away from me, Max. But you can’t run away from the truth. It always comes out in the end.” Liz yelled, grabbing his arm before he could leave the room. “You know as well as I do that Alex would never kill himself.”

Max meet her eyes, they were flared with intense anger and rage. “Your insane!”

“Why? Why am I the crazy one?” Liz asked, glaring at him. He had a lot of nerve, saying that she was the crazy one. After over a year with dealing with alien shit, he didn’t want to believe that there was a possibility that an alien could have killed Alex. That Alex’s death could have been alien related.

“Alex killed himself. I read the report myself. He killed himself. There was no one there besides him. He did it all on his own. He killed himself!” Max said bluntly, coldly with no emotion.

With all of her might, Liz slapped him across the face. Hard. “Alex wouldn't kill himself and I’m going to prove it to all of you. I will find whoever murdered him and make them pay with their life. I will die finding Alex’s killer.” Liz stated with determination. She didn’t care what Max Evans had to say anymore. He thought that Alex had killed himself, he didn’t even know who Alex was. Anyone who knew Alex would know that he would never kill himself. Max Evans didn’t even deserve to have known Alex.

“I’m going to tell you this once.” Max said, threateningly. “From now on you don’t know me. When you see me look the other way. If you come near me, I will walk the other way. None of us will ever go into the Crashdown again. Forget that you ever knew me. I’ll forget that I ever knew you. But if you ever tell anyone about who we are, you will regret that I saved your life.” Max finished strongly.

When Max started his speech, Liz trembled slightly and she fought off tears that threatened to spill forward, but now all she felt was anger. Red hot anger. Anger that he was threatening her life. Who the fuck did he think he was? Just because he was some king on an alien planet, didn’t mean shit to her.

“Who the fuck do you think you are? Threatening me like that? You maybe be their king, but you’re not mine. You are nothing to me. You’ve brought us nothing but pain and heartache. I wish I never knew you. I wish that you never ever saved my life, because that was the day you destroyed it!” Liz lashed out at him, saying things that had built up inside her for years. Things that she had never even dreamed telling him.

The room was completely silent, everyone was stunned into a dead silence by Max and Liz. They had never seen them like that. Max threatening the love of his life, and Liz cussing at him.

Max stalked out of the room, closely followed by Tess, Isabel and a reluctant Michael. The moment they were gone, Liz turned to Kyle and Maria, who stood near the window.

“Will you guys help me? Help me find Alex’s killer?” Liz pleaded softly. She couldn’t do this alone, she needed them to be their with her.

Maria looked at her with tears in her eyes. “Lizzie, I believe that Alex wouldn’t kill himself, but murder. I just don’t know about that.”

“You don’t believe me, either?” Liz said quietly, after a moment of silence. She felt her whole world fall apart. No one believed her. Max had threatened her, Isabel, Michael and Tess didn’t stand up to their “king” in her defense. After all she had done for them, she had saved Michael and Isabel’s life and this is where it got her.

“I’m sorry, Liz.” Maria replied, looking down at her feet.

Liz switched her gaze to Kyle, who refused to meet her eyes. Liz knew that she was alone, no one believed her. With that thought, Liz bolted from the room, determined that she would show them the truth. She would find Alex’s killer if it was the last thing she did.



Chapter One



It was black as midnight outside, Liz sat in front of Alex’s tombstone, softly crying. It was the day after her and Max’s awful confrontation. She still hadn’t understood why no one believed her.

“I’m so sorry, Alex. It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t changed the future than you would still be alive. I told Max that it was his fault and that was so wrong of me. It’s not his fault. Only mine. I’m the one that killed you. Cause I listened to Future Max. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know what I was doing when I changed the future. I hope that you can forgive me some day. I’m sorry.” Liz said, softly, looking at his headstone.

Liz laughed softly as she remembered the time, when they were twelve that Maria dared him to go to the store and buy tampons. She didn’t think that he would actually do it, but he did. He walked into the store and he bought them without a second’s thought. That was Alex, always willing to take a dare even if it meant being embarrassed.

There were so many things that she would never see Alex do again. He would never play his guitar again, she would never see him drool over Isabel when he thought that no one was looking. Alex would never graduate from high school, never go to college, never get married and have children. So many things he would never do, all because some one murdered him.

He had called her.

Liz had never been so utterly confused in her whole life. Alex had called her right before the accident. He had been on his way to see her. She didn’t understand why? Why had he called her? The way that he had sounded on the message, the way his voice sounded. He sounded so bewildered and scared.

Liz didn’t understand why someone would murder him. She knew that it wasn’t a traffic accident and it wasn’t suicide. He would never do that. He loved life and he didn’t want to miss out on a single thing. That only left murder. But why? Why would someone kill him? Did he know something? But what? What had he known? If it was an alien, which Liz thought was a very good possibility, then there were so many reasons on why he was killed. Could it have been the Skins? Had they come back? Or was it Khivar? Had Khivar killed Alex because of his relationship with Isabel?

And what was that strange paper that she had found. She had found one of Alex’s books in her backpack. It had been his algebra 2 book, with his scribbling all inside of it, which you weren’t supposed to do. Little pictures in the margins of aliens. Then there was the paper that she had found. He had drawn a picture of a wedding, but the people had no faces. Nothing. All you could tell was the difference between the men and the women and the different hair colors. Liz had stared at the red headed faceless bride for what seemed like a life time.

Liz sighed. It wasn’t relevant to why Alex had been killed. She wasn’t any closer to the truth. But she refused to give up. She owed it to Alex to find his killer. The person who took away his life from him, when he was just barely 17 years old. And it was up to her to find the bastard and make him pay. She was going to kill the person who had taken Alex’s life away. When she found him, he would die. Liz was prepared to become a killer. It would be justified homicide. She had already done her homework on it. Even if she did happen to go to jail, she was ready for it. She was ready for anything that would come her way.

“I love you, Alex.” Liz said, softly as she stood up. She touched his tombstone one last time, and walked off toward the green car, that had gotten her to the cemetery.

Opening the passenger door, she sat and buckled herself in before closing the door. “Thanks, Sean.” she said quietly, meeting his eyes.

“Say, Parker, do you want to get out of this town for awhile? Forget about your problems for awhile.” Sean asked her softly, reaching with his right arm to caress her own.

Liz began to say no, but something stopped her and something completely different came out of her mouth. “Yes. Please, Sean let’s go away.”

Sean smiled at her words, and started up the car. Liz yawned and closed her eyes, suddenly feeling tired and fell into the darkness that claimed her.

Liz stirred slightly at the feeling that she was being carried. Slowly, she opened her eyes and realized that Sean was carrying her into a cabin. She hadn’t even known that the DeLuca’s had a cabin. She closed her eyes again, and when she opened she realized that she was being laid down on a bed.

The next thing Liz knew, Sean was gently kissing her. She hadn’t been prepared for that. It was so loving and gentle, she hadn’t expected that from him. It had been so long since someone had touched her in such a way. The last person to touch her in such a way was Max, but that was over a year ago. And now he hated her and wanted nothing more to do with her.

“Sean, uh, please stop, Sean.” she said softly, trying to pull back from him. But something inside her stopped her and she didn’t pull back. Liz didn’t understand why she was thinking one thing, but doing another.

Liz gasped softly as she felt his bare skin touching her own. She hadn’t even been aware that they were naked. She didn’t even remember taking off her clothes. Sean’s hands are on her, caressing her skin, and he was murmuring soft words to her, but she can barely hear them.

Liz winced in pain as she felt him enter her with one quick thrust, at first it’s painful. Liz tries to tell him to stop, but instead she says, “Make love to me, Sean. Don’t stop.”

Liz is vaguely aware of him moving inside her slowly at first. Her heart is telling her that it’s wrong, so very wrong, but her mind is telling her that it feels so right, that it feels so good. He’s getting faster and faster and she can feel a warmness shot inside of her. Liz feels him breathing heavily on her. She trembles in the aftermath of what has just happened. Why didn’t she stop him? She didn’t want to do that. She didn’t want to make love to anyone but Max. Why hadn’t she stopped herself?

Sean rained kisses from her forehead down to her cheek, and he gave her ear a light nip. “I love you, Troian.” he whispered softly in her ear.

Liz wrenched her head to look at him, confused. Troian? Who was that, and why had he called her that? And then the flood gates opened up in Liz’s mind and she knew. She remembered who Troian was. The memories came rushing back to her at an alarming pace, so fast that she fell into the inky black darkness.

************************


Silence. Deafening silence. Liz slowly awoke from her slumber. She realized that she wasn’t in her own bed. She was in some strange bed. And she began to panic, and then it started to come back to her. She remembered where she was, and who she was with.

She was with Khivar. He had somehow managed to possess Sean DeLuca’s body. He took over Sean’s body, using it to do all of his dirty work, including kidnaping Liz. She knew that’s what he had planned for her. She also knew that he had mind warped her into sleeping with him.

She had known that it was wrong, but she couldn’t get herself to say the words, to tell him to stop. The words would form in her head, and would be on her tongue, but she just couldn’t say them. The bastard was going to have hell to pay when he came to see her, she was going to give him a piece of her mind.

Liz threw back the white covers of the large bed and saw that she was only wearing her T-shirt and underwear. She didn’t have on any pants. Liz silently began searching the room. She had to find a some sort of weapon, that she could bash the asshole’s brains with. The room was about eleven-by-fifteen; there were no windows or even a bathroom. Where the hell did he expect her to go to the bathroom in?

Liz rolled her eyes at his stupidity. Whoever said that aliens were of higher intellect was wrong. Look at Khivar and the pod squad. She thought that the name fit the aliens very well. They had come from pods and they reminded her of that movie from the eighties, ‘The Monster Squad’. Children trying to save the world from evil monsters.

The only thing that was in the room was a bed in the middle. Nothing else. No dresser, no lamps. Guess he didn’t trust her much. If she did have something in there, she most likely would have tried to cold cock the bastard and leave.

The only way to get out of here was going to be through that single, double-locked, thick-wooden door. Liz walked to the door. She knew that it would be locked, but she had to check to be sure. Liz twisted the knob, but like she thought, it was locked. Just when she was about to turn around, she heard something.

A piano. Someone was playing the piano. Was is Khivar? The song was beautiful but something about it was creepy in a haunting sort of way. It was something that you might expect out of a horror movie or a very dramatic scene in a movie.

Shaking her head, Liz walked back over to the bed and picked up her jeans from the floor and put them on. She had to get out of here, how the hell was she going to try to get out? Max and the others probably wouldn’t care about what happened to her. Maria and Kyle might be worried, but they wouldn’t even notice that she was gone, not yet anyway. Max didn’t want to have anything to do with her, and Tess was the perfect little ass kisser and wouldn’t go against Max’s word. Isabel was probably still pissed at her for saying that Alex’s death might have been caused by Khivar.

And Michael. In all honesty, she didn’t know what Michael would do. He was stuck somewhere in the middle. Michael didn’t know the truth like she did. He didn’t know that she was his sister. If he had known, would he have stood by her side when she had confronted Max, or would he have stayed by his king’s side?

“You’re looking as beautiful as always, Troian.” Sean/Khivar said as he walked into the room, his eyes twinkling in delight.

Liz glared at him with hate. She took slow breaths to calm herself down, so she wouldn’t try to do anything to him. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and drain the life out of him. “What were you playing? That was a beautiful song.” she commented softly.

“Cristofori’s Dream by someone named David Lanz.” Khivar said, smiling at her, his green eyes smiling in amusement. “Humans do music very nicely, don’t you agree?”

Liz didn’t answer him right away. She was physically repulsed by everything about him. Who was he kidding? Like she wanted to talk about music. Finally, she said, “Why am I here? What do you want from me?”

“I always wanted you, Troian. You were the most beautiful woman on all of Antar. Yes, Vilandra was pretty, but in a superficial way. You were beautiful everywhere. Your mind, your looks, your heart. I knew from the moment that I saw you, I would have you one day. Nothing was going to stand in my way. Not even your husband!” Khivar said, roughly. He smiled at her discomfort and fear.

“Really? Is that why you had your bitch of a sister murder me?” Liz asked, raising her eyebrow at him in contempt. Liz made herself a silent promise, she wasn’t going to allow him to see her discomfort or fear or any other emotion that he would take delight in.

Khivar shook his head. “No, darling. I had nothing to do with your death. That was all Avarona’s idea. She was always an impulsive one. I didn’t find out that it was her plan, until afterwards, and there was nothing that I could do. I couldn’t bring you back, and I couldn’t turn my sister in, now could I?” he asked, shrugging his shoulders.

Liz rolled her eyes at him. He really was a bastard. “I guess you had to protect the gerbil. Your lucky that I haven’t got my hands on the bitch yet. Cause I’ll kill her. You can count on that.”

Khivar smiled at the thought of her killing someone. He truly doubted that she was capable of taking someone’s life. She was an innocent, despite her bravado. That’s what had always drew him to her. Her sweetness and innocence. “If you choose to kill her, that’s your prerogative. I don’t care either way.”

“Did you care when you killed Alex?” Liz challenged him. She knew that he was responsible for Alex’s death and all she needed was for him to confirm her suspicions. If Khivar was involved that meant that Tess had to be. She wasn’t as innocent as she appeared to be.

She had fallen for Tess’ act once before. Back on Antar. Avarona had been her friend, or at least that’s what Troian had thought. Little did she know that Avarona had a burning hatred for her and her child.

That was the one thing that Liz was glad about. That she knew things from Antar that she hadn’t known before. Liz had always distrusted Tess, while the others had become friendly with Tess. Or at least they tried to be. Getting together at the Crashdown, asking for her help with Laurie Dupree, taking her to Las Vegas with them. Liz had held back from becoming friendly with Tess. Something deep down inside of her had warned her against it. Told her that she couldn’t trust Tess.

“Alex’s death was an unfortunate necessary. Things happen in war, Liz. People die every single day. Your brother’s death was not in vain. It made you turn to me.” Khivar said, giving her a slight smile.

Liz felt a burst of anger inside of her. Bastard. He was trying to make her believe that Alex’s death had to happen. That her brother had to die. “I turned to Sean, not to you.” she disagreed angrily.

Khivar’s smile widened into a grin. “But I’ve been Sean ever since his body came to town. You turned to me.” He declared.

Liz glared at him angrily. Oh, so he wanted to get technical with her. “Oh, is that why you had to mind warp me into sleeping with you. What did you think that I didn’t know? After all these years, you should know that a woman likes to be pleasured. You know I didn’t even come.” she said, taunting him.

When he didn’t answer her, she went on. “Having your dick inside me did nothing for me. Everything about it was nothing. You couldn’t even turn me on. Max could just by looking at me. Max could make me come by just his hands. Max could— “

Khivar gave Liz a swift backhand that connected squarely with her cheek. Her head whipped to the side, and she only returned his gaze. That bastard had hit her!

“What? Did you think that the Queen was pure? Sure, Max and I never had sex, but we did a lot of other things. He has the most incredible mouth. You should take some lessons from him.” Liz continued to taunt him, only to be backhanded once again.

Liz put her hand to her mouth and drew back some blood. This conversation was going nowhere. She was pissing off Khivar, which she rather enjoyed. But she didn’t enjoy getting hit. That wasn’t fun. So Liz decided to change the subject.

“Did you kill any of my other brothers? Bradeon?” Liz questioned. She didn’t even know if they had been reborn like her, Michael and Alex. But if her and Alex had been reborn, than there was a good chance that her other three brothers could have been too. That’s what Liz was hoping for. That the six of them could be reunited once again. Bradeon wasn’t actually her blood brother, but he was her brother in every other way.

No, that wouldn’t happen. Alex was dead. The six of them wouldn’t be reunited. If they were indeed alive than it would only be the five of them. But not Alex. Alex would never have the chance to know the truth about himself, about who he really was. What Michael and she were to him. Khivar had taken that chance away from Alex, Michael and herself.

“No, I don’t have any information of them. I didn’t know if they were reborn or not. Hell, if I could get my hands on their essences, I’d bring ‘em back. They were three of the best warriors on Antar. Especially Jasper.” Khivar said, handing Liz a handkerchief so she could clean the blood off of her face.

“Yes, he was.” Liz said, remembering her wonderful brother and all of the times they had shared with one another. They had been extremely close on Antar, since they were the closest in age. Jasper had been in the army, under Khivar’s command. He’d been twenty one years old when he had died. If Liz closed her eyes, she could see the events in her head over and over.

They had been relaxing at their home, all five of them. Rath, Lexus, Aiden, Jasper and Troian. Bradeon had been off with one of his many girlfriends. Jasper and Lexus had been playing a round of pool as Troian and Aiden watched them and talked about things they had done that day. Aiden was telling Troian about the new maneuvers that they had worked on. Troian had told Aiden about her day, helping Queen Nasira, Princess Vilandra and Princess Krissane. Rath had fallen asleep in a chair in the corner of the room. He had a long hard day with King Tiridates and the Prince Zanier, with the peace talks for Antar and Dhiren. The blast came out of nowhere and Jasper went flying forward.

Troian ran to him, not caring that whoever had just shot her brother, could very well shoot her, too. As Rath, Lexus and Aiden quickly searched for the gunman, Troian had desperately tried to cover the gaping wound that was once where his stomach was.

But in the end that hadn’t helped. Jasper had died; he had bleed to death on that pool table, with Troian holding his blood soaked hand. There had been nothing that any of them could do to save their brother’s life. And in the end they were all shattered by his death.

“Thinking about his death, aren’t you?” Khivar questioned her softly. When she didn’t answer him right away, he went on. “It shouldn’t have happened that way. Jasper deserved a soldier’s death. Not to be shot in the back when he was enjoying himself with his family. He was a good soldier and is still greatly missed.”

Liz was momentarily caught off guard by Khivar’s comments. It sounded like he actually cared about Jasper’s death. But Liz wouldn’t allow him to fool her with his false empathy. She knew that he really didn’t care. He wasn’t going to fool her.

“Thanks. It was hard on all of us involved. We all took if badly.” Liz said, looking down at her hands. She didn’t tell him that Lexus had suspected that Khivar had been involved in Jasper’s death. Would it really matter now after all these years, if she found out that he had?

Yes, it would, she thought after a moment. He killed her own brother and could have been responsible for Jasper’s death back on Antar, not to mention Rath’s own death. She was going to make him pay for hurting her family. For killing her brothers both in the past and in the present.

“I’m feeling tired. Do you mind leaving?” Liz asked quietly. She needed him to get far away from her. She felt dirty with him in the same room with her. She needed time to think about how she was going to escape. She had to think about how she was going to kill him for her brother’s murders, without getting her ass killed in the process.

Khivar looked mildly angry, and then he smiled. “Not at all. I might be coming back here sometime during the night. Even though my task is already done, doesn’t mean that I’m finished with you. I can show you all the pleasure that you want. Show you that that king is nothing more than a boy.”

Liz fought hard not to flinch at his sickening tone. “What do you mean, your task?” she asked, uncertain where he was going with this.

Khivar held her gaze. “To impregnate you. Your pregnant with my baby. A boy. And with him I’m going to destroy the boy king.” And with those words, he walked out of the room, locking the door behind him.

Liz collapsed onto the bed, shocked. Her mind was reeling from what he had told her. She slowly brought her hand down to her stomach. Was he lying? Could she really be pregnant?

[ edited 4 time(s), last at 29-Jul-2002 11:13:28 PM ]
posted on 18-Dec-2001 9:23:39 PM
Chapter Two



Liz could feel the cool wind brush over her face, and she could feel the bright shining sun. She looked around at her surroundings, she was in the desert, at the pod chamber. Why on earth was she there? Liz looked down and saw that she was wearing a long leaf green dress that moved in every direction as the wind blew, her hair flowed freely.

From the corner of her eye, Liz saw something, someone coming towards her. Liz watched the figure and realized that it was a small child. A little girl. Dressed in a purple dress that looked similar to her own.

Liz bent down and opened her arms for the little girl. Liz smiled to as the girl jumped into her arms and called out the word, “Mommy.”

Liz wrapped her arms around her. She wasn’t going to let her go anywhere. She had finally found her daughter. Or rather, her daughter had found her.

“Mommy, you’re squeezing me.” Sorcha said, wriggling a little.

Liz eased her hold on Sorcha and let her down. She took a good long look at her daughter. Sorcha was no more than three feet tall, and she looked to be about five years old. She had beautiful russet hair and bewitching golden eyes, and adorable big ears, that reminded Liz of Max’s.

“Mommy, where’s Daddy? I thought you said that we would be together again.” Sorcha said in a solemn tone, frowning.

Liz gave Sorcha a small smile. “Oh, baby. Daddy doesn’t know where we are. Not yet. We can’t be together yet. I’m so sorry.”

Sorcha stuck out her lower lip in a pout. “I understand, Mommy. Uncle Alex says that everything needs time. So what are you going to name my baby brother?”

Liz felt her blood rush into her head. Uncle Alex? Her baby brother? It confirmed what Khivar had said. She was in fact pregnant. How was she supposed to respond to this? She was pregnant with the enemies baby. He would use her son to destroy Max, Michael and Isabel. Liz couldn’t let that happen. She couldn’t let her brother die again. And the mention of Alex? What had Sorcha meant?

“What do you mean, Uncle Alex?” Liz said unsteadily, unsure about how Sorcha would answer.

Sorcha scrunched her nose up at Liz. “Uncle Alex plays with me. I was so lonely for a long time. But now he’s here with me. And so’s my little brother. Mommy, what’s going to be his name?”

Liz smiled at her daughter’s impatience. “How about PJ, short for Peter Jeffrey.” Liz suggested, lightly tapping Sorcha on the nose. “You know after my great grandpa and my daddy on Earth. I like naming my children after my family.”

Sorcha smiled brightly. “Like I was named after grandma Sorcha from home?”

Liz remembered little things about her mother from Antar. She had died when Troian was barely three years old. She could remember how her mother smelled or how she had kissed the back of her neck after brushing Troian’s hair. Her brothers and father would share their memories with her. She had kept a picture of her mother at her bedside even after she was married to Zan.

“Hello Liz.” A voice said from behind her.

Liz gasped and turned around shocked. For a moment she couldn’t believe her eyes. She blinked several times and gave a big smile. “Alex.” she said, throwing her arms around him. He looked wonderful. “Alex, I missed you so much.” Liz said the tears in her eyes falling like rain. “I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault.”

Alex shook his head as he dried the tears off of her face. He’d always hated to see Liz cry. It was always like he was being stabbed in the heart. “It’s not your fault that Khivar did what he did. I don’t blame you, so don’t blame yourself.” Alex said softly. He saw Sorcha and he crouched down in front of her. “Hey, you gonna give your uncle Alex a hug?”

“Oh, uncle Alex. Your so silly. Every time you see me you want a hug.” Sorcha said, giggling as she threw herself into his arms.

Liz smiled as she watched them. They were so cute and so much alike. She hated to intrude on them when they were like this, but she had questions. Questions that only Alex could answer for her. “I’m sorry to interrupt but I really need to talk to you, Alex.” she said gently, trying to grab his attention.

Alex meet her eyes over Sorcha’s head and he nodded.

Sorcha drew away from him and glanced between the two teens. She knew what was going on. They needed their grownup time and didn’t want Sorcha to be around to hear what they were going to talk about. “I understand, mommy. I’ll go play.” Sorcha said, skipping away from Liz and Alex.

Alex stood up and looked at Liz intently. “What do you want to know?”

Liz meet his eyes. “Who killed you? Was it Khivar? Tess? Nicholas? The Skins? Who?” she’d finally have the truth. She’d get the answers from Alex himself. Then there’d be hell to pay for his killer or killers.

“All of the above.” Alex said dryly. He saw Liz’s shock at the new knowledge and thought he’d better explain himself pretty quickly. “Khivar had Tess and Nicholas mind warp me for months. Tess wasn’t strong enough to do it on her own and Nicholas knew that he couldn’t come to Roswell being recognized by us. So she drew energy from Nicholas. Of course they hadn’t expected me to snap out of it and realize what was going on. That night, I was on my way to telling you guys the truth. About Tess, about who we were to Michael. Everything. I don’t know how he knew but when I was driving, Khivar jumped into my body and he made me swerve into the truck. Making it appear as if I did it deliberately.”

“I’m going to kill them. All three of them are going to die. I’m going to rip that bitches bleached blonde hair out of her head and force it down her freaking throat.” Liz said fiercely. She now knew of her brother’s killers and she would exact her own brand of justice on them.

Alex shook his head at her words. “Things happen for a reason, Liz. Just because back on Antar, Jasper died first, didn’t mean that he was going to here on Earth. This is a different time, place, everything is different. I died first. I wish I hadn’t because there were so many things I wanted to do. But I did. And it can’t be changed. I’m dead. All anyone can do now is to remember me. And, uh, maybe name your first born after me.” He said with a chuckle.

Liz laughed. “Too late. His name’s PJ. Peter Jeffrey after my great grandfather and father. Your just going to have to wait until the next one. Even if it’s a girl, she’ll be named Alex.”

Alex grinned at her words. “Alright. The Alex Whitman legacy will live on.” He looked at her solemnly. “Let’s talk about Max.”

Liz’s eyes blazed with anger. “I don’t want to talk about him. He didn’t care that someone had killed you. He’s a jerk and I never want to see him again.” Liz said sharply.

Alex shook his head. “You don’t really feel that way Liz. It’s the anger talking, not you. I know you love Max, just like he loves you.”

“He threatened to kill me, Alex. Tell me is that love?” Liz said softly, feeling the tears once again well up in her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry. She had to be strong.

“Lizzie, you know that wasn’t him talking. It was Tess. She was using her powers on him. Just like she did last year and like she did at the prom.” Alex replied softly, hoping to give Liz some peace of mind.

“How did you know what happened at the prom. I never told anyone. I was too ashamed.” Liz said, trembling. That was one night she hoped that she’d never live through again. That was the night she had realized that there was no hope for her and Max ever. That was the night that her fragile heart had finally broken into a thousand pieces.

God, she had been such a fool. She had run straight into the arms of Sean— Khivar. She had ran right into the trap that he had set for her. How could she have been so foolish? It had been planned all along and she’d fallen for it.

“When your dead, you can see everything. Things that you had never known before. That’s how I knew Liz. If you hadn’t done what you did than Isabel, Michael, Maria and Kyle would have died. You did the right thing.” Alex said, softly breaking into her thoughts.

The tears that she had been desperately holding back let loose at his words. “But I saved them and lost you. If I hadn’t done anything than you’d still be alive. It’s my fault. I traded their lives for yours.”

Alex grabbed her shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. “No, you didn’t. You had no idea what would happen. But at least now you know the truth about who you are which you might not have known before.” He said soothingly.

Liz opened her mouth to say something, but she felt something pull at her. She was roughly yanked out of her dream plane and woke up with a start, gasping for breath, she looked up into angry blue eyes.

“Khivar. . .” she began, as she tried to sit up in the bed.

He backhanded her face with a hard smack and she fell back down to the bed. “You bitch. You were trying to contact Max, weren’t you? Weren’t you?” he yelled in her face as he gripped her throat with his two hands.

Liz began to squirm and wriggle away from him, but his iron fingers squeezed her throat, stifling the cries she tried to let out. She was choking and all she could do was make strange gargling sounds. Liz desperately shook her head back and forth, her eyes swimming from the lack of oxygen.

Khivar’s hands left her throat and began to travel down the length of her body. “I’m going to have to teach you to obey me, aren’t I? You know, I’m going to be your husband and a wife needs to obey her husband.”

Liz’s eyes widened in shock at his words. What was he going to do to her, she wondered silently. She flinched at the thought of him raping her again.

Upon seeing her flinch, Khivar attacked. He began to slap her over and over again, harder each time. Her ears were ringing and inadvertent tears were flowing freely from her eyes. He was enjoying this, she thought to herself as she saw the gleam in his eyes and a smile on his mouth. This was her lesson. He wanted to cause her pain, was her last thought as the thick blackness overtook her.

******************************


“Something is really wrong with all of this. Liz would never leave. She was determined to find Alex’s killer.” Maria said, softly. “Michael, I’m afraid that I’m gonna lose my best friend. Max or Isabel have to do something. Make Isabel dream walk her or something. We need to find Liz.”

It had been four days since Max and Liz had said all of those horrible things to each other. Maria had came over to Michael’s apartment, since Max had decreed that the aliens weren’t allowed to go to the Crashdown at all. He felt that he had to back Max up on his decision, even though he wasn’t comfortable with it. Michael had even quit his job there, just to obey the king’s word. He had liked working at the Crash, he was paid good money for his job, especially when no one wanted to hire him, with all his trouble with the cops.

“Maria, I can’t. Max doesn’t want us to have anything to do with Liz and that includes her leaving.” Michael said. He hated the position that Max had put him in. Liz was his girlfriend’s best friend. He saw how much it was hurting Maria not to know where Liz was. Maria was positive that something was wrong. That Liz hadn’t left of her own free will. “What do her parents have to say about this?”

“They told me that she went to go visit her aunt in Florida. That just doesn’t make any sense at all, Michael. She was so determined to find out if Alex was murdered. She wouldn’t leave town in the middle of her search. She just wouldn’t. Something bad has happened to her. I know it. It’s not like Liz to just up and leave.” Maria continued, hoping that her words would make Michael realize that their was some truth in what she was saying.

“Yeah, well. She hasn’t been acting like herself, has she? The way that she went off on Max. That was brutal.” Michael said, shaking his head thinking back to the day of Alex’s funeral. “Max and I might have our problems, but I would never say the things that Liz said to him.”

Maria sighed. She felt that she shouldn’t have to explain Liz’s actions to Michael. “She snapped, Michael. She was pissed off about everything that she has done for all of you. She’s never gotten a thank you from you guys. Not once! She thought that you would listen to her. That Max wouldn’t belittle her for what she thought. She felt as if she was all alone. And now she is. She’s god knows where.”

“She probably left on her own to go play Nancy Drew.” Max injected, walking into Michael’s apartment, without knocking. By his side stood Tess, who looked smug by Max’s comment about Liz.

Maria clenched her jaw at his words. What was going on with Max? He had changed practically overnight. He wasn’t the same person that Maria had grown close to over the summer. He was acting like a total fucking bastard. Maria was starting to agree with Liz about some of the things that she had said. “She didn’t, Max. I know she wouldn’t leave like that without saying anything to me.”

Max sneered at Maria’s words. “Didn’t she do that last year when she ran off to Florida. She didn’t tell you any thing then, did she? Did she?!” he said, raising his voice at her when she didn’t answer him.

Michael glared at Max. Why the hell was he raising his voice at Maria? He had no right to do that. “Hey, cool it. You don’t have to yell at her, Max. She’s just stating her opinion.” He said, coming to his girlfriend’s defenses. Michael felt that was something that he should have done when Max was being this way to Liz. He could kick himself for not standing up for her.

Maria shook her head violently. “No, Michael. Don’t defend me to this sorry ass bastard. You know, you don’t deserve Liz, she’s too good for you. When she found out that the FBI had you, she jumped into action about saving you. Here she is in danger and you don’t care. You disgust me, Max. Stay away from me.” Maria said, unleashing her anger on him. She didn’t care what he had to say anymore, he just wasn’t worth her time.

Tess arched her eyebrow. “Please, Liz isn’t in any danger. She’s human. Our enemies don’t want her. She’s nothing.” she stated, smugly.

Maria narrowed her eyes at the pathetic bitch. She hated Tess with a passion. She had tried to ruin Liz’s life, and here she had the nerve to say that Liz was nothing. That chick was going down. “What the fuck did you say, bimbo? Liz is nothing. You must have her confused with yourself. You’re the one whose nothing. Liz is worth ten times what you are.” Maria exploded with rage at Tess.

“Maria, don’t talk to her that way.” Max said angrily.

Maria stifled a gasp. “Screw you, you asshole. I will talk to that bitch anyway that I damn well please. You know what, fuck you and your slut. Liz deserves a real man not a little boy like you.” Maria said angrily as she roughly pushed past Max and Tess and left Michael’s apartment.

Tess cocked her eyebrow in amusement. “You better keep your girlfriend on a leash, Michael. Or she’ll get the same thing that happened to Liz.” she said haughtily.

Michael rolled his eyes at her. Ever since the Vegas trip, he had become increasingly agitated with the girl. Every single thing that she said and did pissed him off beyond words. He wasn’t about to listen to her stupid immature rambling. “Shut up, Tess. Leave!” he declared, pointing to the door.

Tess’ eyes lit up with anger. “Excuse me. I don’t think so. I’m the queen. You can’t talk to me that way.”

Michael snorted at her with disbelief. “I don’t ever recall anyone saying that you were the queen. Only that you were Max’s bride.” he challenged, mocking her with his eyes.

Tess’ eyes widened at his words. For a moment, she stood there stunned. “Well, I—“ she began.

“Tess, go home. Leave us alone!” Max said sharply, not bothering to even look at her. Sometimes he felt so angry at her. Things that she said pissed him off beyond words. He even got the urge to hit her in the face. Just to see the shock that would appear in her blue eyes.

Michael stepped towards her and pushed her roughly out of his apartment. He closed the door right in her face. She looked at him with anger and surprised, but Michael was beyond caring. All he could do was relish in closing the door on her face. It made him feel so much better. She was a real bitch.

The only thing that had ever kept him from doing anything before was that she was one of them. But now, he just didn’t care. He hated the fact that ever since Tess had come to Roswell last year, she had thrown everything out of whack. Everything had been great for them, then they learned about their stupid fucking destinies. He really wished that he could go back in time to that time before Tess had come. Before they had discovered their real purpose for being here. Shocking, Michael Guerin who had been so keen on finding out his purpose on this Earth wished that he had never found out.

Michael turned around and saw that Max had taken a seat on the couch and was tapping his fingers incessantly on the table. “So you think that Liz is okay?” Michael asked softly. He had no clue as to what was going on in Max’s head. He had no clue to how Max would answer his question.

Max rubbed his temple with his left hand while the other hand kept up his tapping rhythm. “I don’t know, Michael. I have a headache from all of this talking. We gonna watch the movie or what?”

Michael nodded his head and pressed the play button on the remote. As the movie credits began, Michael looked over at Max. He was acting so strange these last few weeks. Sometimes he seemed like a completely different person, and other times he seemed like himself. It was probably nothing, Michael told himself. Max might just be having a rough time dealing with the things that he said to Liz. Michael knew that Max hadn’t meant them, that he had said them in anger. Max is just going through a lot right now. All he needs is for Michael to be his friend and not question him right now. Michael knew that he could be a pain in Max’s ass, but he only did things that he thought was the best for them. This time he wasn’t going to do anything. He was going to wait for Max’s word. They each had enough problems to deal with, there was really no point in making new ones for themselves.
posted on 18-Dec-2001 9:33:42 PM
Chapter 3



Someone was crying. That was the first thing that he thought when he heard the soft noise. But who? Where? Where were they?

Max ran down the corridor as fast as he could, searching for the person, whose weeping pierced his heart. He had to find her. He had to. Where was she? He stood in front of a door. Max stood quiet, listening and realized that the person was behind the door. In that room.

Max twisted the handle and opened the door, walking into the room. He saw a person sitting on the floor, their crying ceasing, he opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by angry words.

“It’s all your fault, Max. You put me through this. It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t left me. I hate you!” Liz screamed. She was dressed in a long white nightgown that was blood soaked. Blood seeped onto the gown. He realized that she was bleeding. That someone had hurt her. Someone had stabbed her.

Max started for her so he could heal her of the wounds, but realized that he couldn’t move. His feet were stuck to the ground. Max desperately tried to yank his feet off of the ground, but they were firmly planted there, as if someone had glued them to the ground.

“Liz, I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I said all of those horrible things to you. I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry.” Max yelled, desperate get to her, but being unsuccessful.

“You did this to me, Max. You caused all of this. It’s your fault that Sorcha is dead. You allowed for it to happen. You killed us and then you married that slut.” Liz wailed, tears running freely down her face.

“What are you talking about?” he asked confused. He didn’t understand what she was saying. That he had let her and Sorcha die. Who was Sorcha? And why couldn’t he reach her. His feet just wouldn’t leave the ground. He was immobile.

“You abandoned me and Alex. When we needed you the most you turned your back on us. You let Alex be murdered! And you let him take me! It’s all of your fault. I hate you!” Liz screamed angrily at him, raising one blood soaked hand wildly in the air.

“Liz, I’m sorry. Please don’t leave me. Please don’t, Liz.” Max wailed to her, as she collapsed to the ground in pain, moaning in agony. “Liz. Liz!” he screamed, trying to move again, but still being unable to. His feet remained firmly planted in the ground.

Out of nowhere, Max felt something at his side. He turned his head swiftly and looked at his visitor, shocked. “Tess, what are you doing here?” he demanded. Her hair wasn’t blonde, but a weird orangish color.

Tess just smiled at him. “Forget Liz. She’s nothing. Nothing at all. I’m your wife, the queen. Only mother to your children. Liz Parker is nothing!” she spat out, unable to control her hatred for Liz.

No!” Max screamed. He couldn’t forget about Liz. Never. He loved her so much. She was all that he had ever wanted. All that he had ever needed. Nothing was going to change that. Not even Tess. He didn’t care if she had once been his wife. She wasn’t his wife here.

Tess ran her fingers down his chest as she smiled wickedly at him. “Yes, Max. I’ll help you forget all about Liz Parker. Forget all about those stupid little feelings that you claim to have about her. You’ll only remember her with scorn, hate and disgust. But you’ll remember the love that we shared back on Antar. How we would make mad passionate love. How we yearned for a child. A little boy that would look like his father.” she said, slowly dragging her fingers up to his head.

No!” he screamed again as she yanked his head into her hands. What was she doing? She was going to mess with my head and make me forget all about Liz. No, he couldn’t let her do that. He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t forget all about his love for Liz. That was all that he had left of her. The memories and here Tess was trying to take it all away from him.

No!” Max bellowed as he roughly pushed her away from him. With a startled gasp she fell to the ground. Tess looked at him with hate in her eyes.

“Do you think that this changes anything, Zanier. I’ll win again. I did before when I killed her. I will again. I will drink her blood. Savor killing her again. You can’t save her. You don’t even know where she’s at. You’ll never ever find her. If you do, she’ll be dead!” Tess said viciously as she raised herself from the ground. “See you around, hubby.” And with those final words she vanished.

Max ran to Liz who lay face down in the ground. “Liz, I’m so sorry. Forgive me.” he said softly as he turned her around careful not to hurt her.

Max gasped in shock when he saw that it wasn’t Liz. It was but then again it wasn’t. Her hair was a rich, sunny red color but her face was the same. It was the same with Liz’s bronzed skin, her beautiful shapely mouth even down to the scar on her forehead. Max pulled away slowly and looked around in shock. He was at some sort of cemetery. There were old stones all around except for the small shaded area that they were at. Max looked down at Liz and saw that instead of the white nightgown she was wearing a beautiful silk white dress, that was covered with blood. Max touched her shoulders, confused about what was going on.

“Liz. Liz. Wake up, please. Don’t leave me. I love you. Please, Liz. . .”



Max jerked up in bed with a startled gasp. His heart was pounding painfully in his chest, so loud that he could hear it in his head. As Max struggled to catch his breathe, he wondered what the hell that dream had meant.

It had seemed so real. Liz and Tess had been in it. But the hair was all different. Liz’s beautiful chestnut hair had been a red color, while Tess’ blonde curls had been a strange orangish color. And when Tess had grabbed his head, what was that all about? Then it hit Max like a thunderbolt. Had Tess been mind warping him? Making him do and say things that he didn’t understand. Things that caused him to feel anger and disgust at himself when he said them. She would try to make him forget all about his love for Liz. His wonderful memories of everything. The night at the rave or the first time that he had ever kissed Liz. All so she could someday return to Antar as the queen.

My god, at what length would she go to? Would she kill Liz? Max shook his head at the thought. She wouldn’t dare. After all, she didn’t need to. All she had to do was to make him say some awful things to Liz. Like threaten her at Alex’s funeral.

He’d been such a fool. He’d stepped right into her plan. Did exactly what she’d been hoping for, what she had been expecting from him. Max clenched his hands at the thought of what Tess had been doing. Well, two can play at this game, he told himself. Let’s see how Tess likes it.
****************************

Liz sat up in the bed, frustrated. She had to get out of here. This was hell. She was trapped with the enemy. In the five days that she had been here, she learned many new things about Khivar and she gained more and more of her memories each and every day. It excited her a bit to recall all of the things, but she hated being here. She hated Khivar with a passion.

She had nothing to do all day. She was locked in this damn room and couldn’t do anything. Khivar feared that she would try to escape him. Liz was plagued by insomnia. She couldn’t sleep at night. Partially in fear that Khivar would come to her room when she was sleeping and try something on her. The thing about her insomnia was that she didn’t feel at all tired by her lack of sleep. And it gave her plenty of time to think about things.

To think about all the things that she was going to do when she got out of here. She hadn’t been much of a friend to Maria the past few months, and she truly regretted that. She loved Maria. Maria was her best friend in the world and the last thing that Liz wanted to do was to hurt her. She was determined that when she got out of here she was going to become friendlier with Kyle, Michael, and Isabel. Kyle was a truly wonderful friend. Liz would never forget what he had done for her last October. He had done that without question. Liz and Isabel had never been close on this world and on Antar, she’d suspected that Vilandra was a bit jealous of the relationship that Troian and Zan had. But that was another story. Anyway, Liz was going to tell Isabel that she was sorry if she had upset her that day after Alex’s funeral. Liz knew that Isabel had loved him. Isabel would need closure on Alex’s death and she needed to know that she was not responsible for his death. As for Michael, Liz was going to be a sister to her brother. He didn’t deserve to think that he was all alone in the world. Especially when he wasn’t. She wanted to advise him on things that he should do with Maria. Help him pick out a birthday present for her. Or even just to help him out with his homework.

Being locked away in this room also gave her time to think about how she could escape. Since he wasn’t allowing her to even leave the room, she would have to gain his trust. Show him that she wasn’t going to try to escape this hell hole. That escape and Max Evans were the furthest thing on her mind. He hated the very thought of Max, he had told her so many times and barred her from saying his name. If she did, he would hit her a few times as punishment. She realized what kind of bastard Khivar was. He got off on it. He got off on seeing her bruised and bloody, sometimes he would even forget about her being pregnant and just brutally attack her. The only thing that she was grateful for was that he didn’t try to rape her or mind rape her, that terrified her more than anything else. She wouldn’t put it past him, he would want to rape her of her memories of her time with Max. But she couldn’t let that happen. That was all that she had left for her, the memories.

Closing her eyes, Liz took a deep breath. She let her mind wander to something more beautiful, something more peaceful. She could remember walking out of her and Zan’s rooms, out onto the expansive balcony that overlooked the water. The beautiful green water that Zan loved to swim in. Standing at the balcony watching the stars that sparkled in the pink-purple sky as she watched the sun start to rise. Smiling as her beloved cat, Atrox jumped on top of the railing and purred softly, begging her to touch him. Feeling totally at peace at her place in the world. Being completely happy with her life, with her husband, with everything.

Her smile becoming a grin as Zan came up behind her, and wrapped his wonderful strong arms around her. Laughing and teasing each other as they wandered back into the bedroom and threw themselves onto the bed. The soft caresses that they gave on another, their hands traveling down each other’s bodies.

“Good morning, Liz. How are you feeling? Any morning sickness?” Khivar said, smugly as he walked into the room, carrying a tray that held several plastic bowls of food.

Liz clenched her jaw at the sight of him. It took all of her self control not to do anything to him. Each and every day she grew to hate him more and more. He made her use a freaking bed pan to go to the bathroom in, and he watched her while she went. And yesterday, he had finally allowed her to take a shower. Only there had been no curtain and she had to shower in front of him. He said that he had to make sure that she didn’t try anything.

“I wanna know what happened after your sister murdered me.” Liz declared, meeting Khivar’s eyes, challenging him to tell her the truth.

“Well, since you asked so nicely my darling, I’ll tell you.” Khivar said with a smile as he set the tray down on the bed beside her. “After the tragic, senseless death of you and your child. Zanier, your father and brothers were hell bent on finding your killer. But they never found out because I had to cover for Avarona. A year later, my stepfather arranged for Avarona and Zanier to get married.”

“Hmpf. I always knew that bitch was lying about them being in love before.” Liz said smugly, rolling her eyes at Khivar. So many lies Tess had told. So many. That bitch would probably lie about her hair not coming from a bottle, which Liz suspected. Even though Liz knew that she couldn’t trust Khivar, she felt that he was telling her the truth.

“What about my father? Is he still alive or has he died?” Liz said interrogating him for answers.

“Aah. Your father. No, I’m afraid not. He’s dead. I suspect that he was the one who decided to have you and Alex reborn. He died several years ago. It was very, very tragic. Someone had poisoned him. The second in command of the rebels dead by poisoning. Who’d have guessed?” he said, as he grabbed one of the grapes from a bowl and popped it into his mouth.

Liz’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. That bastard. He was not only responsible for three of her brothers deaths, but also her father’s. He was going to pay. “So your stepfather arranged for the marriage.” she said, urging him to go on as she began to cut some of her food up with a plastic fork he had given her. He really didn’t trust her, she thought wryly suppressing a smile.

“Dugin told Nasira that she would gain strong allies by having Zanier marry Avarona. Zanier was like a child after you died. He didn’t eat, didn’t sleep, he’d wonder the halls relentlessly, visited your mausoleum frequently, when he did sleep he slept there. When it came to making decisions, he’d either flip a coin or he’d have Rathard decide.” Khivar explained watching Liz eat the pancakes that he had prepared for her. She really was beautiful, despite the fading bruises on her face. Maybe he should heal them for her, Khivar thought to himself.

“So that’s why some Skins think that Rath would be a better leader than Zan.” Liz said to herself.

Khivar nodded. “Yes. Like that idiot Leiga, or should I say Courtney. Killed herself in order to protect the granolith and your brother. She always did have a crush on him.” Khivar eyed her suspiciously. “Do you know where the granolith is?”

Liz shook her head. “No. They didn’t tell me anything about the location.” she said afraid of what he would do. Would he mind rape her to find out the details of what she really did know. If he knew about being able to time travel, he could really do some damage. He could go back when Max was a child and kill him. She couldn’t let anything happen to Max. She couldn’t let him discover her secret.

Khivar shrugged. “That’s okay. Tess has told us everything that we need to know. At least everything that she knows.”

Liz smiled warily at him. “Which is probably a hell of a lot more than I know. I’m not in that little group anymore. The gerbil must have told you, Max kicked me out and threatened to kill me if I told anyone.”

Khivar nodded and smiled in delight. “She did. It’s quite funny. He threatened his own wife. Of course, he had no clue as of who you really were. But nevertheless it was funny. I thought it best that Tess didn’t know who you were. In fact, she doesn’t even know that you’re here. She might try to kill you again. And I can’t let that happen. She might be my sister, but your much more important to me than she is.” Khivar said, standing up and taking the try with him, leaving the plastic bowls for Liz to eat the food. “Well, I have to get going. I need to go meet Nicholas and discuss our plans for Max.” he said, mockingly.

“What do you have planned for him?” she asked, frightened for Max and the plans that Khivar had. He would do something really bad to Max, would he kill him, she wondered to herself. Khivar’s tying up all the loose ends here on Earth, Liz realized. Why else would he want to know about the granolith, was it a way to get home? Damn that idiot Future Max, he should have told her more about it. But if it was powerful enough to make a hole in time for him to come through, then it could possibly be used to try the distance back to Antar.

“All in good time, Liz. All in good time. Oh, and I think there’s something that you’d like to know about Tess. She’s not really a member of the Royal four. She’s supposed to be with the rejects from New York. Tess was switched with Ava. Something was wrong with the pod from New Mexico, so they were switched. Tessie is only there because she’s got the power that Ava doesn’t. Shame I have a reject for a sister.” Khivar said lightly as he left the room laughing at the stunned look on Liz’s face.
posted on 18-Dec-2001 9:41:07 PM
Chapter 4


“So what do you think about the whole Liz thing?” Kyle asked Isabel quietly. They were sitting on the bleachers at school, it had been six days since Alex’s funeral. And six days since he had seen Liz. Kyle had tried to stay out of the whole alien melodrama, but when it involved Liz, there was no backing down for him. If they were responsible for her mysterious disappearance, then there was going to be hell to pay.

Isabel raised her head to meet Kyle’s eyes. She shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to comment. She didn’t know what was wrong with Max. Why he’d been acting like a jerk. She didn’t agree with what Liz had said that Khivar might have been responsible for Alex’s death.

If that was true, then it would make it all her fault. Isabel couldn’t handle the thought. She had loved Alex but she had been to afraid to tell him how she felt. And now she would never ever have the chance to tell him. She’d never see him again and it was all her fault. Alex’s had been his way to see her. If she hadn’t begged him to come meet her at the Crashdown, it wouldn’t have happened. He wouldn’t be dead. He would still be alive and here with her.

“Isabel! Are you okay? You kinda blanked out on me.” Kyle said, disrupting her thoughts. Kyle was curious as to where Isabel stood on all of this. He knew damn well where Max and Tess stood. Just the thought of Max pissed Kyle off. Max didn’t deserve to have Liz Parker in his life. Liz was too good for Max.

Isabel blinked several times before answering. “I’m fine, Kyle. I just want to stay out of all of it.” Isabel confessed softly. She didn’t know what to think. This whole thing was incredibly weird. Maria was positive that something bad had happened to Liz. Despite what Liz’s parents had told her. But even if Liz had left for Florida, as her parents said; it didn’t make any sense. Liz was determined to find out the true nature of Alex’s death and she wouldn’t leave town. It just didn’t make any sense to Isabel, but she wasn’t going to get involved.

It wasn’t her place anymore. Max had told them to stay away from Liz. And she was going to do just that. Since the first moment that Liz Parker had known about them, they had been in trouble ever since that. A part of Isabel was a little glad that Liz wasn’t in their lives anymore. It would make them easier. But another part of her was sad about what had happened. Liz had accepted Isabel for who she was. Liz had risked her own life to keep their secret, she nearly got shot by the FBI in order to get Max back from them.

“Maria’s positive that something bad has happened to Liz. She won’t stop until she has you all realize it. You have to admit that it is strange that Liz would leave town especially after she said that she was going to find Alex’s killer.” Kyle said as he began a tapping rhythm on the tabletop. “It’s been six days since Maria’s talked to her. That’s never ever happened between those two. They talk all of the time. It’s weird.”

Isabel shook her head. “Her parents said that she went to go visit her aunt in Florida. Why would they lie about that if something bad had happened to her. I think that Maria’s just trying to get Max to reconcile with Liz. You should tell her that it’s not going to happen. He won’t. And it’s best that way. She’s a distraction of what our purpose is.” Isabel said, knowing that she sounded like an ultimate bitch, but frankly she didn’t care. They didn’t call her the Ice Princess for nothing.

Kyle’s eyes widened at her words. “Do you really believe that? That we lowly humans get in the way of your objective? Your destiny? Is that what you thought that Alex was? A distraction? Is that what you think of me and Maria?”

Isabel looked up at him slowly. She didn’t know where she would be without Kyle at her side these past few days. He was a really good guy, she didn’t know why she hadn’t seen it before. No wonder Liz had dated him. “Kyle, I—“ she started, hoping that he would let her off the hook for her words but he only looked at her waiting for her response.

“What? I’m waiting?” Kyle said, meeting her eyes unflinching. He really wanted to know how Isabel would respond to his question.

“I don’t feel the need to have to explain myself to you, Kyle. Or my feelings about Alex.” Isabel said frostily, hoping that Kyle would move on already. This was something that she didn’t want to talk about. She didn’t talk to anyone about how she felt about Alex’s death. Max was too busy thinking about something else, and she wasn’t going to talk to Tess. Truthfully, she didn’t trust the girl and had no real desire to bear her soul to her. And Michael, well he was busy with try to calm Maria’s suspicions.

Kyle nodded his head at her words. He understood that she didn’t want to talk about her feelings for Alex. But the things she was saying. She was just wrong. Liz wasn’t a distraction from their purpose, Liz had freaking helped them find out who the hell they really were. Kyle felt like a bastard for not standing by Liz’s side, for not helping her uncover the truth about Alex’s death. He knew that Alex wouldn’t kill himself. When he and Alex talked when they had gotten stuck with that blue jello like crap, they had talked about life and things that they wanted to do when they were older. Alex wouldn’t have killed himself, Kyle knew that for a fact. But he had left Liz with the wolves.

“Well, you know what Buddha said. There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth. . .not going all the way, and not starting. I think that Liz is going to go all the way in finding out if Alex was murdered, with or without your help. Right now, all she’s thinking about is bringing justice to her friend. Something apparently, you don’t care about.” Kyle said, raising an eyebrow in question to her, daring her to tell him that he was wrong about his assessment of her.

Isabel stiffened at his words. He really thought that about her? That she didn’t care what had happened to Alex? Granted, Isabel hadn’t known Alex as long as Liz had, but she knew that Alex wouldn’t have killed himself on purpose. His death had to have been just a freak accident. “Your wrong about that Kyle. Alex wasn’t murdered, it was an accident. They do happen. We’re not responsible for everything that happens.”

Kyle’s eyebrow raised higher at her words. “Yeah, right. Mostly everything that has happened, happened because of you guys. Thinking the opposite is just plain ignorance on your parts. If an alien killed Alex, then you guys owe it to him, to get justice. Liz shouldn’t have to. She’s human, she could get killed if it is an alien. You wouldn’t want to be responsible for anything bad happening to her would you?”

Isabel shook her head at his words. “No, I don’t want anything bad to happen to Liz. But Alex’s death was an accident, nothing more nothing less. She should stop doing whatever the hell she’s doing. She’s going to draw attention to us, and get us hurt. Look what happened to Max last year. The FBI got him, this time it could be the Skins. And we could all end up dead by Liz’s little investigation. Max did the right thing.” she insisted.

Kyle shrugged his shoulders. “I guess that’s where we differ. I think Max was a fucking bastard to Liz. She didn’t deserve that. She won’t stop until she finds out the truth. Trust me on that. She won’t rest until the truth is discovered.”

*************************


Max roughly pulled Tess into the Eraser room with him. A smile firmly planted on her face when she realized what Max had been doing. Finally, he was coming around. It had taken him long enough, she thought to herself. Tess’s smile faded when she almost stumbled after her released her arm.

“Max, what’s going on?” she asked smoothly, a little shocked by his rough behavior of her. Frankly, rough or not, was fine with her. She had things to do, and only he could make them possible.

Max turned to her, anger burning in his eyes. “What are you after?” he demanded.

Tess smiled at him seductively. What the hell was with his tone? He couldn’t know what she had been doing to him. She’d made sure. Everything was falling into place, but the way that he had grabbed her and was looking at her, made her wonder if he had somehow figured it out. “Isn’t it obvious? Haven’t I made myself available to you in every way imaginable, Max? I love you. You’re my husband.”

Max narrowed his eyes. He was barely able to contain his anger for all that she had done ever since she had shown up in Roswell a year ago. Ever since she came, nothing had been the same. “And haven’t I let you know in every way imaginable since you came and disrupted my life that I don’t want you?” he said, roughly. “I know what you’ve been doing to me, Tess. I know that you’ve been mind warping me for a while now. You made me say all of those things to Liz at Alex’s funeral!

Tess stifled a gasp. Fuck. How had he found out about it? She thought that he wouldn’t. But then again, she hadn’t thought that dip shit Alex would snap out of it either. For a moment, she didn’t know how she was supposed to reply. Her ass was fried. He had caught her and there was nothing that she could do about it. Was there?

Max grabbed her arm roughly when he felt her try to enter his head. He shook her roughly. “Don’t even think about it. I’m not stupid. I know what you’ve done. Your not going to get away with it. I’m warning you now, Tess. If you ever ever do it again, the same punishment you forced me to give to Liz, will happen to you. We will never want to see you again. And if you ever tell anyone who we were, I will kill you in a second. Do you understand?” he said, as he continued to shake her.

Tess nodded, scared. Tess believed what he was saying. He would do it. He really would do the same thing. Damn it, Khivar was going to be so fucking furious at her. He’d kill her. Shit, she had two options and both of them left her fucked. If she tried to mind warp Max, he’d kill her. If she told Khivar that she failed, he’d kill her.

Before Tess could even reply, Max tossed her away from him as he stalked out of the room. Tess stood there stunned by what had happened. Damn it, what the fuck was she supposed to do now????

*************************

Liz pulled Max down onto her the blanket with her. She smiled up at him, a tempting smile, and she drew him to her. She needed him. She needed him to kiss her. Their lips touched and she moaned. Finally. It had been so long. Her tongue darted out to taste him, to torment him before he slipped past his lips and into the depths of his mouth.

His loud groans made her smile and she kissed him more passionately, while his hands roamed over her body. Liz gasped as Max drew his head down her neck and bit her tender skin.

Liz wrapped her legs around his hips and drew him even closer to her, and began a slow rocking motion against his hardness. “Max.”

“Sorry to interrupt Queen Troian, but we have some very important things to talk about.” A voice said suddenly.

No sooner had the man talked that dream Max had vanished. Liz looked at the man that had spoke to her with anger. “Who are you?” she questioned, slightly angry at the interruption and that dream Max had vanished.

The man that stood in front of her was tall, well over six feet tall, with copper brown hair and intense green eyes. Eyes that Liz recognized. Eyes that she had seen before. She just couldn’t remember what his name was. Who was this man?

He smiled at her. “I’m Larek. I guess you don’t remember everything yet.”

Liz stood up and hugged him. “It’s so wonderful to see you again, Larek. The last time we met I didn’t know who I was.” As they parted, Liz gazed into his face. “So why are you here?”

Larek returned her smile. “Quick to the point, aren’t you? Khivar said that he had Queen Troian here on Earth as his and that she was with child. I knew I had to come find you. To see if it was true. Has Zanier connected to you?” Larek asked concerned for the safety of his friends.

“No, Max and I never consummated our relationship, so we can’t connect.” Liz said regretfully. This all wouldn’t be happening if Future Max hadn’t come back. Alex wouldn’t have died, and Liz’s first sexual experience wouldn’t have been with a monster. “I don’t want him to know. I got myself into this situation and I’ll get myself out of it.” Liz declared. Max didn’t want to anything to do with her, so Liz was sticking to what he had said. He didn’t know that he had turned his back on his wife.

Larek nodded to her. He didn’t agree with her decision, but it was hers to make after all. “Alright. I canvassed the cabin. Khivar has a gun hidden in a desk draw in the living room. There’s a telephone in the living room.”

“If I do somehow manage to get it, can I kill him with it? After all, he’s only using Sean’s body as a host. If I manage to shot him, he could just leave Sean’s body, right?” Liz questioned him.

“Khivar has the communicator. If you turn it on, he can’t use his powers and he can’t leave the host body. If the host body dies while he’s in possession of it, he will die also. He will die on Earth and on Antar.” Larek explained quietly to her.

Liz nodded her head, a plan forming in her mind. “Okay. I manage to get out of here and I turn on the communicator. I get the gun and I shot him.”

“That’s good. Why haven’t you used your powers on him?” Larek asked curiously.

Liz looked at him with surprise. She had powers! Powers that she didn’t know how to use. Khivar knew that she didn’t know how to use them, after all, she hadn’t even know the truth about herself for all these years. “I don’t know what kinds of powers that I have. Wait, I can astral project myself. I did that to Max when he went to New York for the summit.”

“Really?” Larek asked surprised, then he shook his head. “Nah. That won’t really help you out here. That’s a good thing to have though. You’re going to have to go up against him. You’re going to have to fight him, Liz. Unless you want me to contact Max and the others.” At Liz’s shake of her head, he went on. “Then you have to fight him.”

Liz nodded. She would have to have a showdown with him. A fight to the death, if she couldn’t shoot him first. “Do you know where I am? Where he took me?”

Larek nodded, sympathetically. He knew what she was going to do. And his heart went out to her. No one should do what she was going to do. But she was determined to get out of here on her own, with no help from anyone else. “You’re about thirty miles outside of Roswell. In a town called Midway. You want the address?”

Liz smiled at him. “Now, I remember why I liked you so much. You were always so well informed.”

Larek smiled back at her. Maybe he should tell Zanier about her being here. Zanier would want to help getting his wife back from Khivar. Larek couldn’t let her kill Khivar on her own. He couldn’t let her get blood on her hands. “It’s 9856 Oak Way. It’s in the woods, once you get into town.”

“Thanks. Do you know anything about my brothers? Do you know what’s happened to Aiden and Jasper? Were they reborn like me and Alex? Please, Larek, tell me.” Liz said, not wanting to sound desperate to him, even though she was.

Larek didn’t want to raise her hopes, but knew that he had to tell her the truth. She needed to hear the truth. She’d heard nothing but lies her entire life. “I heard rumors that your father had them reborn. But I don’t know for sure. The odds are good, that they were, since you and Lexus were reborn. Your father was devastated by the deaths of his children.”

Liz nodded at Larek’s words. She missed her father, but he was gone and there was nothing that she could do about it. At least she had Jeff Parker, and he had been a great father to her throughout the years. Liz knew that in the past two years, she hadn’t made it easy for her parents, but she loved them so much. They were the only parents that she knew of on this world. “My father was a wonderful man. Do you know how long ago he died?”

Larek looked at her strangely and was silent for a moment. Finally, he cleared his throat and shook his head. “Liz, your father isn’t dead. Khivar does think that your father was poisoned by one of his men. But your father is very much alive. It was all a ruse. He’s still waiting until he has the chance to hold his children in his arms. He’s seen all of you grow, thanks to the technology that they have. But it’s not the same to him. He’s waiting.”

Liz threw her arms around Larek in delight. Her father was alive! She knew that Michael would be happy. He had been his father’s son back on Antar. They had spent a lot of time together, doing things. Liz pulled back and smiled apologetically at him. “I’m sorry. I’m just so happy that my father’s still alive. I thought that he was dead.”

Larek smiled at her, he hadn’t wanted to let her go. She had felt so wonderful in his arms. Stop it, Larek, he told himself. She’ll never see you as anything other than a friend. She loves Zanier on this planet as much as on the last one. “I have to get going. I don’t have much time left, Liz. Are you sure that you don’t want me to contact Max? I can’t let you do this on your own.”

Liz shook her head. “Please, don’t. Don’t tell Max and the others. I need to do this. Tell my father that I love him.” she said softly, tears forming in her eyes.

Larek conceded. “Okay. I won’t tell them. Remember turn on the communicator and then shot him. Get the hell out of there afterwards.” He said, drawing her back into a hug. “Take care of yourself. A lot of people are waiting for their queen to return home.” he said, as he began to slowly disappear.

Liz nodded at his words as she watched him begin to leave. She stood there motionless until he faded away. She would have to take his life. Alex’s killer’s fate was in her hands. Her life and PJ’s life was in her hands. What was she going to do, Liz thought to herself.
posted on 18-Dec-2001 9:48:20 PM
Chapter 5



Maria let out a frustrated grunt. What the hell was wrong with him? Why didn’t he want to think that something bad had happened to Liz. Michael was never one to follow the rules and now when she needed him to break a few of Max’s, he wasn’t getting it. Maria felt as if this was all of her fault. Liz had asked for her help and what did she do? She told her no. She turned her back on her, and left her best friend prey to god knows who.

“Michael! You’re not listening to me. Liz was kidnaped. She had to be. There’s no other explanation. Look she left a message for me on my answering machine. It was really strange. Michael, I’m scared for her.” Maria had started talking strongly to him, but ended up in tears at the end.

Michael sighed impatiently. While he knew that Maria wasn’t genius smart, he knew to trust her instincts. Her instincts were usually right. She’d been right about Topolsky being an alien hunter, when the rest of them had thought that she was just some do gooder counselor. They hadn’t taken Maria seriously until it was too late and they were almost exposed by Topolsky. Could Maria be right about this? And if she was, if Liz had been kidnaped, who had taken her?

“You just found this message now?” He regarded suspiciously after a moment.

Maria nodded her head and wrinkled her forehead in confusion. “That’s what I don’t understand. When I checked before there weren’t any messages, there was nothing. But when I checked today, there was Liz’s message. That message has been there since the day she disappeared.” Maria meet his eyes, utterly terrified. “Michael, has someone been mind warping me?” she asked softly, almost afraid of the answer might be.

Michael felt his anger rising. Could that have happened? Could someone have been mind warping her? Maria was practically religious about checking her machine. He knew this because when they had gotten back together. She’d bitched about him not calling or leaving her any messages on her machine, which she quote-unquote “checked every god damn hour to see if he called.”

The only person that he knew who had the ability to mind warp was Tess. Unless it was the Skins. Michael didn’t understand. If Tess had mind warped Maria, what had been her purpose. Did she know that something was wrong with Liz, and she didn’t want anyone to find out about it. Michael knew that Tess held resentment against Liz about the whole Max thing. But would Tess really allow something bad to happen to Liz, just to for her to be out of the picture.

Michael scratched his ear in deep concentration. He realized that he didn’t know Tess at all. He didn’t know how her mind worked. He didn’t know who deep her resentment of Liz went. Could she actually hate Liz? Could she know what had happened to Liz? Was she hiding the truth from them?

His gut was telling him that he was on the right track. Tess was involved somehow. Tess knew something about where Liz was or who had taken her. How the hell would he be able to get her to talk? Or would she mind warp him into forgetting that they had even talked. He had to talk to Max. Tell Max of his suspicions of Tess. But would Max listen to what he had to say?

If something bad had happened to Liz, Michael knew that he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. These past few days, he had grown increasingly worried for her. Something deep down inside him, told him that something was gravely wrong. But he was determined to follow Max’s word for once. Even though his feelings told him otherwise. They told him that he needed to find her. That he needed to save her.

Especially since he had started having the dreams. Horrible dreams of Liz dressed in a white nightgown, covered in blood. Liz battered and bruised. Liz begging him to save her from Khivar. Liz calling him brother. He didn’t understand the dream. Why would she beg him to save her from Khivar, why was she calling him brother? And the thing was, her calling him brother, seemed perfectly normal to him. As if it was something that had been done before.

Maria bit her lip, watching Michael. He seemed so consumed by his thoughts, that she didn’t want to interrupt him. But they had to get to the bottom of this. “Michael, if someone was mind warping me, then they could be mind warping Liz’s parents the whole time. Making them not go to the police when they realized that she went missing. What are we going to do?” she asked worriedly.

Michael raised his eyes to her. “I’m going to go talk to Max and Isabel. I think that you’re right, Maria. I think that someone took Liz. And when I find out who it was, I’m going to make the bastard pay!” Michael said, strongly, clenching his fists.

Maria sighed. He believed her. He believed her without even hearing the message that Liz had left her. That was great. But now all they had to do was tell Max, Isabel and the gerbil. “I’m going with you, Michael. You need to hear the message that she left for me.”

Michael didn’t answer her as they raced out of the building and hopped onto Michael’s motorcycle. In a second they were racing to Max and Isabel’s.

*************************

Fifteen minutes later, Michael and Maria sat tensely in the Evan’s living room, waiting while Isabel went upstairs to get something for school, and Max had gone into the kitchen to get something to drink. Michael and Maria were anxious to tell them about what they thought. They needed to know that this was serious. Liz’s life was in danger.

“So, what’s this all about?” Isabel asked, coming down the stairs carrying some books in her hands.

Michael and Maria shared a long look, before Michael started. “I think that Maria’s right about Liz being kidnaped.”

“Why do you think that all of a sudden, Michael?” Max asked, entering the room carrying a cherry cola in one hand.

Michael scratched his neck before he went on. “Maria, found a message on her answering machine that wasn’t there before. It’s dated April 6. This message has been on Maria’s machine for almost a week and she just found it.”

Isabel frowned at Michael’s statement. “Um, so? She didn’t check her machine, what’s the big deal?”

Maria let out a frustrated sound. “I always check my machine. Always. It’s been on there and I never saw it. I think that someone mind warped me into not seeing it. That same person could have mind warped Liz’s parents into thinking that they sent her to Florida. She’s not there. I talked to her aunt Meg.” Maria turned her eyes to Max, angry that he wasn’t doing or saying anything. “Here I thought that you loved Liz. But I guess I was wrong. No wonder you and Tess were married back on your planet, your both heartless bastards.” Maria said, not caring if her words hurt him. She didn’t care what was going on with him and Tess. He should help them get Liz back. After all the shit that she had done for them. She had saved them from death, more than once. Maybe she should tell them about what Liz had done last October, would that get their asses in gear to help Liz, Maria wondered.

Maria shook her head at the thought. She had promised Liz that she wouldn’t tell anyone what happened. It was too important, it had been a matter of life and death. But so was this. Liz was in incredible danger. Someone had her and they were doing god knows what to her. Or she could be dead already.

Max flinched at Maria’s words. He knew that he and Tess had not been in love back on Antar. If they had been, why wouldn’t he have a semblance of feelings towards her. He felt nothing when he looked at her. They weren’t the same people that they were back on Antar. They were part human and Max was grateful for that. He didn’t want to be Zan, the King of Antar. He was Max, and that’s all that he would ever be. He didn’t want to be married to Tess. All he wanted was Liz. She was the only woman that he could ever see himself married to.

But Tess had fucked that up. She had been using her powers against him. Making him do things that he would never ever imagine doing. Hurting the one person that he loved more than life itself. Max had warned her. If she tried that again, then she was on her own. That she would get the same punishment that Liz had gotten. Banishment from their group.

Max scratched his ear and finally he nodded his head. “Alright, let’s hear the message that she left for you. We’ll see if there’s anything funny on it.”

Maria handed the same cassette to him, and he walked over to the answering machine and quickly put it in, tossing aside the cassette that had been in there. He pressed the play button once he had it in there.

A moment later, Liz’s voice came on. “Maria, it’s me, Liz. I know that you don’t believe me about Alex being murdered. But I’m on to something. Maria, the night he died, I was the last person that he called. I found the tape. I know that I’m on the right track. I know it. Sean’s with me right now; he said that he would help me. Maria, you and Kyle be careful. Make sure that nothing happens to Michael. I need to talk to him. Ask him to meet me tomorrow. Please.”

“I haven’t seen or heard from Sean in over a week, Max. Something is going on. Something is really wrong. You can’t deny it anymore.” Maria said, when the tape stopped. She prayed that they would recognize the truth finally. They had to. They just had to.

“Who cares about your idiot cousin.” Tess said mockingly as she and Kyle entered the Evans home without knocking.

Maria’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What the fuck is that bitch doing here?” she demanded, looking at Max.

Max looked over at Tess, anger evident in his dark eyes. “What are you doing here, Tess?” he asked, barely able to suppress the evil urges that were tempting him.

“I called them. We shouldn’t be keeping any secrets from one another. Not anymore.” Isabel spoke up, and all eyes were on her.

Michael clenched his jaw. “So the last one who was with Liz was Sean. And you haven’t seen him in over a week? And he hasn’t called?” Michael asked, trying to get back on track of finding Liz. He didn’t understand why Liz would want to talk to him?

Maria shook her head. “Nothing. No word from him. I don’t understand. It might not be anything. He could have left after being with Liz. Sean’s human. And someone mind warped me.” She declared, rubbing her neck tensely.

Tess looked over at Maria slightly shocked. Someone mind warped her. Well, it wasn’t her. It had to be Nicholas or Khivar. But Tess didn’t understand why he would do that. Unless Khivar had her. Tess shuddered at the thought. Why would Khivar want that dirty little bitch? Unless he just wanted to show that he could take more away from Max. First his life and the throne, now Liz. She understood the intense hatred that her brother had for Max. But sometimes she just didn’t know what the hell was going on in her brother’s head. Not that he cared to tell her anything. She might be his sister, but she got the distinct feeling that he would dispose of her at any second.

“Have you been mind warping Maria, Tess?” Max asked harshly as he stepped towards her, anger flashing in his eyes. “Tess has been messing with my head until I figured out what was going on. She made me kiss her at the prom in front of Liz. She made me say all of those horrible things to Liz. Have you been messing with Maria? Have you!?” Max demanded, harshly to Tess.

Kyle stepped away from Tess when Max was talking. Tess had been mind warping Max. She had been on edge lately. Did she know where Liz was? God, she really was a horrible person. Kyle felt disgusted by her and had to get away before he gave into the urge of smacking her in the face. If she knew anything about Liz, he would kill her. Liz had been the very first person who had seen into him. Seen that he was more than just a dumb jock. She was one of the most wonderful people that Kyle had ever known. If Tess knew something, then he would beat it out of her pathetic body.

Maria sprang forth and was about to hit Tess when Michael grabbed her hand, knowing what Maria was about to do. Maria looked at Michael angry that he had stopped her from killing the bitch. But his eyes were trained on Tess.

You bitch! What the hell were you thinking? Huh? Get Liz away so you could jump on Max. Just so you could be queen, am I right? You will never be queen. I will make sure of that.” Michael said angrily as the words flowed from his mouth. He grabbed Tess’ arm roughly. He could tell that he was hurting her, but he didn’t care. All he wanted was to find Liz. That’s all that mattered to him right now. And if this slut knew, than there’d be hell to pay. “If you try your mind warping against us again. I will kill you. Do you understand? I will kill you without a moment’s hesitation!” Michael said shaking her violently.

Tess looked up fearfully at Michael. She had never seen him so angry, she really believed that he would kill her. “I never mind warped Maria. Yes, I did it to Max, but not your stupid slut, Michael. She’s nothing. She’s human. They’re nothing at all to us!” Tess declared, trying to yank her arm away from Michael. But his grip was firm.

Michael suppressed the intense urge to wrap his arm around her throat. It seemed like such a good idea and he really didn’t think that anyone would stop him at this point. But he knew that he could. She was one of them, even if she was a horrible bitch. “You make me sick! You’re the one who’s nothing!” Michael said, letting her go.

“Do you know where Liz is?” Max demanded in his leader’s voice. If she had anything to do with Liz’s disappearance, then he would kill her himself. It would be something that he wouldn’t mind doing. She had been a pain in there asses from the first moment that she had arrived.

Tess shook her head as she rubbed her arm where Michael had grabbed her. “I didn’t do anything to Maria. And I don’t know where Liz is.” Tess stated truthfully. Frankly, she hadn’t cared about what had happened to Liz, but now she had to admit that she was curious about what had happened to Liz. Was is Khivar?

“Someone could have used Sean’s body. Like Larek does to Brody.” Isabel said breaking the harsh intense atmosphere that filled the room.

Max nodded. “She’s right. Someone can be using Sean’s body.” It seemed like a plausible answer to Max. The only question remained was who. Who could be using Sean’s body?

Michael felt a chill run down his spine. “You don’t think that it could be Khivar? That he’s showing us that even from up there, he’s in charge. That he can destroy us?” Michael hated to think that, but there was not much else he could think of right now.

Maria gasped. “Was Liz right? Khivar killed Alex so he could get Isabel, didn’t he?” she wailed.

Isabel shook her head. “No. He didn’t. He didn’t kill Alex and didn’t kidnap Liz. Why would he? Why?” she said as she started to get hysterical at the thought. No, she couldn’t be responsible. She couldn’t.

Max walked over to his sister and gave her a hug. He could tell that she was getting upset by the talk about Khivar. She didn’t want to think that it could be her fault. That Alex had died because of her. Or that Liz had been kidnaped as a ransom for her. Max took control of the situation. “The only way to find out who has Liz is for Isabel to dream walk her.” Max said, releasing Isabel from his hug. He saw Isabel visibly tense up at his words. He grabbed her arms. “You have to, Isabel. You’re the only one who can dream walk. You need to. Liz needs you to!” he said firmly, demanding as the leader and not her younger brother.

Isabel swallowed hard and finally nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it.” she said softly. “Gotta picture?”
posted on 18-Dec-2001 9:53:28 PM
Chapter 6



The door opened with a suddenness that Liz hadn’t been expecting. She looked up and meet Khivar’s eyes. Ever since she had found out that it was him, she hadn’t seen him as Sean DeLuca, only as Khivar. As what she remembered him from Antar, with his toffee colored hair and dead black eyes. He was dressed only in black pants and nothing else.

“I thought that I’d give you something special.” He announced with surprising warmth.

But Liz wasn’t fooled by his words. She knew that there was nothing warm and gentle about him. There would never be. “Really? What do you have in mind?” Liz said softly as she laid a protective hand on her stomach, as if to protect PJ from this monster who stood looking at her.

Khivar looked down to her stomach and grimaced slightly. “I don’t know why you choose that name PJ? Why not something else? Like Tiridates after my father.” he suggested casually.

Liz’s eyes shoot up to meet his own and her mouth dropped open slightly. “No. No! Your lying.” she said after a moment of shock.

Khivar smiled and shook his head. “No. Haven’t you learned by now, Troian. I’d never lie to you. You’re about to be my wife. You’re the mother of my son. You are my top priority on this miserable planet that you call home. You and PJ. Though we’re still going to discuss proper names for the future Emperor of Antar.”

Liz trembled slightly at the plans that he had for her and her son. Her mind tried to grasp what he had told her. He was Zan, Vilandra and Krissane’s half brother. He was disgusting. Sleeping with his own sister just to get the inside information. Liz was sickened by being in the same room with him. She knew that he would never kill her, not while she was pregnant with PJ. No, she’d suffer a fate worse than death. A fate as his wife, compliant to his many beatings and rapes. Her life would be a living hell.

“Oh don’t look so disgusted, Troian. They never knew the truth. Tiridates did and I suspect that Nasira might have. My mother told me on her death bed the secret that had been so deeply buried. Imagine my surprise. There I am, fifteen years old finding out that I should be heir to the throne. But instead my ten year old half brother is the heir. Oh, well. Twenty years later, I took what was mine. Now I’m taking my bride.” Khivar said, the scorn in his voice as he talked about the royals. He walked closer to her until he was barely an inch away from her.

Liz looked away from him, uncomfortable at being so close to him. “So what was this big thing that you wanted to give me?” she asked.

Khivar gave her a feral smile. He looked as if he’d pounce on her any second. “I’d like to do something Nicholas once told me about. Making a connection. So you can see inside of my head and so I can see inside yours.”

Liz shifted uncomfortably on her feet. He wasn’t serious, was he, she wondered. He was doing everything he could to make her obedient of him or to fall in love with him. Liz wasn’t going to do either.

Khivar grabbed her head as gently as possible and held it between his two large hands.

Liz trembled and bit her lip as she felt a connection from and then she was hit by dozens of memories.

*****

“Khivar, where are you, you little bastard.” A tall man yelled as he searched the vast corridor.

A five year old Khivar sat underneath a table, trying his hardest not to make any sound at all. If his father found him then he’d hurt him. Every time his father got into one of his moods he’d come after Khivar, calling him names like a bastard. He didn’t understand why his father would call him that. There was a lot that Khivar didn’t understand about his father.

Suddenly two hands grabbed him roughly. “You bastard!” his father yelled as he slammed his fist into Khivar’s face.

*****

“Come here son.” His mother rasped out.

Khivar forced himself not to start crying or anything. His mother looked so horrible. He knew that she was going to die. She’d been sick on and off since Avarona had been born seven years ago. Khivar sat down on the bed beside his mother and grasped her hand. “Yes, mother.” he said softly.

“I’m sorry about the way your father treated you. The truth is Khivar. He wasn’t your father. Marcus wasn’t your father. Tiridates is.” Melissande said, coughing into a handkerchief.

“What?” Khivar said shocked by his mother’s admission. He began to shake his head. “No!!”

“It’s true, my son. Tiridates and I were lovers before and after he was married. He loved me but he had to marry Nasira. You should be heir to his throne instead of Zanier. You!” Melissande declared in her raspy voice.

Khivar nodded at his mother’s words. She was right, he should be the heir to the throne and the granolith. Did the king even know that he was his son, Khivar wondered. “Does he know?” he asked his mother.

Melissande nodded. “Of course he knows. But he doesn’t care. All he cares about is his children with Nasira. Vilandra, Zanier, and Krissane. You need to take your place with the royals, Khivar. You must take what is yours. You must take the throne from Zanier. Take everything away from him.” she demanded harshly.

Khivar trembled slightly at his mother’s harsh words. Was she really suggesting that he take the throne? To even kill them if necessary. Khivar didn’t know how he was supposed to answer her.

“Remember to always protect your sister. Protect her even from herself.” Melissande said, thinking about her little girl. “Dugin’s making sure that you are trained by the finest. You will be a warrior in the court, serving and protecting your king and the royals. But wait for the right moment to strike. To take what’s yours. Promise me you will, Khivar! Promise me!” she declared raspily.

Khivar nodded at her words. “Yes, mother. I promise you. I will take the throne from Zanier. I will take care of Avarona and take my rightful place. I promise.” Khivar said roughly. His mother was right. It should be his throne and not that ten year old brat’s. His father had abandoned him and his mother, why not take the very thing that was sacred to the king. His children and his throne. He’d kill the royals that were next in line and then he’d take the throne. Plans for revenge began to form in his head. They would never know what hit them. He’d watch them, study them and then he’d make his move. And kill them all.

*****

Khivar heard the orchestra begin to play and turned around just as Queen Nasira announced the entrance of her son, Zanier and his bride, Troian. “Ladies and gentlemen, dear family and friends, I would like to present you my son, Prince Zanier Kiros Eryx and his lovely bride, Lady Troian Jelena Samia, daughter of Lord Unitas.” As they descended down the grand marble staircase, Khivar clenched his jaw tightly at the sight of his half brother and his beautiful bride.

Enjoy her now, little brother. She will be mine one day. All mine, Khivar thought to himself with a grin at the idea of having that beautiful young woman as his bride, as his wife. Of claiming her body as his own. Of her carrying his children. His son’s in her body. How beautiful she would be, heavy with his child.

Once the newly weds were down the stairs, Nasira raised her glass of champagne in the air, as she began her toast. “May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings. Slow to make enemies and quick to make friends. I wish you two the best of luck. May the best be yet to come.”

“Here, here!” Shouts of joy and congratulations were heard as the clink of champagne glasses filled the room for several moments. The guests gave their boisterous approval to the young couple.

Khivar watched them, envy filling him at the sight of Troian’s radiant smile to Zanier as he whispered something into her ear. At that moment, Khivar felt something beside him and looked to see his sister standing there. Holding a glass of champagne, she looked like she wanted to be somewhere else. Just like himself.

Zanier and Troian spun gracefully around the floor, oblivious to anything but one another, the other guests stepped aside and watched the dazzling couple. Gazing into one another’s eyes dancing as if they were on the clouds. Only the two of them. And no one else.

Two pairs of black dead eyes narrowed to mere slits as they watched the young royal couple, so obvious in love. “Khivar.” Avarona whispered in a deadly voice. “What do you have planned?”

Khivar spared his sister with a glance and quickly turned to look back at Troian. Patience, that’s what he needed. He knew that he was far from ready to take the throne from Zanier. He had to be patient and bide his time. He’d take Troian as his wife, and the kingdom as his own. His sister be damned, he didn’t care about her silly little infatuation with Zanier. “I can’t tell you, Avarona. I’m still getting things ready. Things like this take time. Have patience. Everything will fall into place. Just wait.” he said, a feral smile coming over his face as he thought about his plans.

*****



Liz gasped as the flashes ended. Her heart felt as if it was going to explode, she struggled to catch her breathe. God, she had seen so many flashes of his life. So many. She’d seen everything. From his very first child hood memory to his meeting with Nicholas just a few days ago. It had all gone by so fast that she could barely hold onto them and see everything.

Liz drew in uneasy breaths as she rocked unsteadily on her feet. Liz was slightly aware as Khivar laid her on the bed. When she realized what was going on, her tried to raise herself off of the bed. But she was firmly planted between his knees and she knew that she couldn’t get away from him. No matter how hard she tried.

Liz bit her lip as she wondered what the hell he was going to do to her. Was he going to teach her another one of his lessons? Liz’s eyes widened with shock and fear as she saw him pull something out. “What are you going to do?” she asked fearfully. She couldn’t help but be scared about what he had planned for her.

Khivar smiled down at her. “Marking you.” he stated simply.

“Why?” she asked, biting her lip.

“So when we go to Antar, everyone will know that you are mine. My name will be on your body forever. Anyone to tries to touch you will see that you are marked by the Emperor.” Khivar explained, his smile becoming a feral grin. Khivar raised his arm above Liz.

Liz gasped as she saw what he had. He held a knife right above her, with his other hand he tore down the top of her nightgown. Khivar poised the knife right next to her heart and slowly brought it down to her chest.

Aaah!” Liz screamed as Khivar began to cut her with the knife. Pain slammed into Liz as she struggled to breathe, the pain was just so overwhelming. Liz gasped and took in an unsteady breathe. “Please don’t, Khivar. Don’t.” she begged but her words were futile.

Khivar was smiling at the pain that he was causing her. Khivar drew the knife back down to her skin and made another line into her chest, finishing the K that he had carved. Khivar’s smile widened. “Now everyone will know that your mine after we get back to Antar. Mine! Not that idiot’s but mine!” he said, triumphantly.

Liz looked up at him with glazed eyes. She had to get away from this place, he’d end up killing her. She had to get away, was Liz’s last thought as she slipped into the inky blackness that took over her body.
posted on 18-Dec-2001 9:59:24 PM
Chapter 7



Isabel held Liz’s picture in her hand as she sleepily closed her eyes. She focused all of her last remaining thoughts on Liz. Finding Liz. Telling Liz that she was sorry. Becoming a friend to Liz. Isabel felt her head fall to the bed as she fell into a slumber.

Isabel looked around and realized that she was in Liz’s dream plane. Wow, that had happened pretty fast, Isabel thought to herself. Isabel could see Liz laughing and smiling, playing with two little children. A little girl, who looked to be about five, with pretty reddish hair, and adorable big ears. The little girl was dressed in a beautiful purple dress that was similar to Liz’s green one. In Liz’s arms was a little boy, who looked no older than a year, who also had dark hair. What the hell? Isabel thought, she didn’t understand what Liz was dreaming about. She didn’t understand one bit of it.

Isabel watched as Liz twirled around in a circle with the little boy, who giggled in delight. The little girl copied Liz’s moves and fell to the ground with a smile and a laugh. They looked so peaceful and relaxed.

Suddenly, Isabel was pulled away from Liz’s dream plane and she was standing in a bedroom, a blonde haired man, was watching Liz. Sean DeLuca? Who was only wearing a pair of black pants. Isabel felt herself being pulled into his mind, and in the next moment she was seeing everything from his point of view. And that scared Isabel. That had never happened to her before, he was awake and she hadn’t tried to get into his mind in the first place.

Isabel could see a figure on a bed. Liz was lying in a pile of tangled, stained bloodied sheets, her chestnut hair was a tangled mess. Both of her eyes were completely black, and the rest of her face was cut and bruised as well. She was black and blue from head to toe. Isabel turned away for a moment to catch her breath, bile rising in her throat at what had been done to Liz.

“It’s no use, Vilandra. I found her anyway. She’s mine, now. Your pathetic useless brother has lost her forever. The seed has been planted, my son grows inside her.” He said with a chuckle, and forced her out of his head.

Aaahhh!” Isabel screamed as she was roughly pushed out of his mind.

Isabel awoke with a start, gasping for breath. “Oh, my god, Max. Oh, my god.” Isabel said breathlessly, tears falling down her face. She couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t true, but she had seen it with her own two eyes.

“What? What?” Max demanded, shaking Isabel’s shoulders roughly. What the hell could have caused Isabel to act this way? He had never seen her so agitated before. What had she seen?

“Khivar has her, Max. She’s hurt badly.” Isabel whimpered, struggling to tell him what she had seen. “Max, he— he— he said—“ She didn’t know how her brother was going to react when she told him what she had seen.

”He said what, Isabel? What did he say?” Max demanded, roughly shaking his sister’s shoulders. That son of a bitch had Liz. All of his thoughts were on Liz and finding out what had happened.

“He— he said that he found her and that she was h— his. T— that the seed was planted and his s— son grows in— inside her.” Isabel stammered out, confused.

“What?” Max asked, shocked. He didn’t understand what Isabel was talking about. Why would Khivar want Liz? She was nothing to them anymore. She should be out of the danger that Max had forced her into. He had gotten her out of his life, he had been a total bastard to her.

“Max. Khivar is in Sean’s body. That’s how he must have gotten her to go with him. Max, she looks so horrible, she’s covered with bruises, everywhere.” Isabel said, tearfully.

Max felt a shiver run down his back. Khivar had her. That son of a bitch had taken Liz. He had hurt Liz. Liz who had done nothing to hurt anyone. Khivar also said that his son was growing in Liz. Max shook his head. No, he was lying. Liz wasn’t pregnant. She couldn’t be. Khivar wouldn’t dare to force himself on Liz, would he?

Max rubbed his forehead with his hands. He didn’t have a clue at what Khivar would do. He didn’t know anything about the man, he didn’t know what he would do. Since he had Liz, it could be possible. He could have forced himself on Liz. He could have gotten Liz pregnant. Max didn’t have a clue of whether a human could get pregnant by an alien in possession of someone’s body. It was times like these that he wished that Nasedo was around. That Nasedo hadn’t been killed.

Max wasn’t one to believe in God, but right now at this very moment. He prayed to that God, whoever it was, that what Isabel was telling him wasn’t true. That Khivar hadn’t forced himself on Liz. That he hadn’t gotten Liz pregnant. Khivar had to be trying to mess with his head. Trying to force them to do something. Didn’t Khivar want Isabel? Why would he have taken Liz, after everything that Whitaker had told Isabel? Khivar had to be messing with their heads about Liz being pregnant. He couldn’t have gotten Liz pregnant if he was using Khivar’s body. It just wasn’t possible.

“We need to tell the others what you found out.” Max said softly as he stood up from the bed. He couldn’t put it off, they had to know the truth about what Isabel had found out. They had to start forming a plan to get Liz, wherever she was.


************************

What the fuck do you mean that Khivar has her?” Maria bellowed as soon as Max told the others what Isabel had seen.

Michael stood there stunned. Khivar had Liz. Khivar had Liz! That was all that his head could process. Those three little words echoed in his head and scared the shit out of him.

Kyle had stopped breathing once he heard. It couldn’t be true. What was happening to Liz? What was he doing to her? If he was anything like those Skin shedding bastards than they definitely had their work cut out for them. Liz’s kidnaper was the guy who sat on Max’s throne. Someone who was vicious and would stop at noting to kill them all.

Maria was angry. This was what her best friend got. To be kidnaped by some fucked up alien who didn’t even want her, was only using her to get to Isabel. Her anger was rising up inside her at an alarming rate and she knew that she was going to explode soon.

“Khivar has Liz. We know that for a fact. Now what we have to do is save her. I don’t know about what happened to your cousin, Maria, but it’s Khivar in there.” Max said as his mind began to form plans to get Liz. Problem was, they didn’t know where she was. Khivar had her but they had no clue as of where they were. They’d have to talk to Larek and get some answers.

Tess sighed disgusted that her brother had in fact taken the sniveling bitch. What was he thinking? He’d better not be attracted to the breastless wonder. “How are we going to find her majesty Liz?” Tess asked sarcastically.

Kyle turned to Tess and looked at her coldly. “Get out, Tess. Go away. Now. I swear to Buddha that I will hurt you.”

At Tess’s words, Maria finally snapped and leapt at the blonde. She grabbed a handful of Tess’ hair and with her other hand punched her in the nose with her fist. Before Tess could even react, Maria was dragging her to the front door by the hair. After flinging open the door, she shoved Tess out with all of her might, watching as Tess fell to the concrete with a cry of pain. Maria slammed the door and bolted it, walking back into the living room, fuming.

Maria saw their stunned faces and just exploded in anger. “I can’t believe that you let this happen, Max. After all Liz has done for you. Ever since she found out the truth all she cared about was protecting you! She listens to your fucked up future self and saves your sorry ass life along with Michael’s, Isabel’s and the whole fucking world. She saved the god damn planet and never got a thanks only your anger for her so called sleeping with Kyle.” Maria said angrily, ripping into Max, flailing her arms.

Shocked by her words, Max looked over to Kyle who refused to meet his eyes. Max looked back at Maria, stunned. He could understand her anger but what the hell was she talking about. It didn’t make any sense to him at all. “Maria, what are you—“

Shut up, I’m not finished with you! You are so stupid, did you ever think to ask Kyle if they really slept together!? Huh? Did you know that Liz was in her bra and panties and Kyle was wearing boxers. They didn’t even touch one another. But no, you had too much pride and didn’t do anything but treat her with disrespect and scorn. Even after you had that flash in Vegas. Liz told me all about it. You and Liz dressed in wedding clothes. Too bad you’ll never know how real it could have been. Liz has suffered so much because of you!” Maria said, her face red full of rage and pent up anger. She didn’t think that this was her buddy Max, who had been there for her during the summer. He was just the guy that had broken Liz’s heart countless times.

“Is what she saying true, Kyle? That you and Liz never slept together? Is it?” Max demanded. He didn’t know what he was supposed to think. He had never seen Maria this way before. The only ones who knew the truth was Kyle and Liz. Kyle had to tell him the truth.

Kyle sighed and sat down on a chair. “Yes. What she’s saying is true. Liz asked me to help her. We didn’t sleep together. I had no clue about what she had planned. I didn’t even know that you were going to show up. We were talking about how we were the only two people who had been brought back by you and then she looked up. God, the pain in her eyes. After you left, I got up and left her room and I. . .I heard something weird. Someone came out of the bathroom. Someone had been in there the whole time. It was a guy, I remember. I just got the hell out of there. I didn’t know what to think. I just had to leave.” Kyle said, softly meeting Max’s eyes apologetically. He felt sorry for the guy. But what was that Maria had been talking about? That didn’t make any sense at all to him.

Max swiftly turned back to Maria, who looked visibly calmer than before. “Maria, tell me. What did you mean by my future self? Who was in that bathroom? Tell me.” Max demanded, as the pieces to the puzzle were coming together. He still didn’t understand why she had faked sleeping with Kyle.

Maria looked over at Michael, who was as curious as Max. Isabel stood off to the side, not knowing what exactly to think. Maria looked back at Max.

“Back in October, Liz had a visitor the night that you serenaded her. She wasn’t alone up there on her balcony. You were there. At least a future version of you. From 14 years in the future. Liz knew that he wasn’t a skin because he told her things that convinced her. I don’t remember what exactly Liz said he did. But, you asked for her help, change the future. She had to make you fall out of love with her.” Maria said softly, tears forming in her eyes at the pain that her friend had gone through all alone.

“Time travel? Is that even possible?” Michael choked out. He was shocked by what he was hearing. Even more shocked that Liz had actually done something so huge like that.

Maria nodded. “I’m not all that clear on the details. Something to do with the granolith, which is why the Skins want it and some sort of crystal. I’m not sure. She didn’t tell me everything.”

“My future self asked Liz to make my younger self fall out of love with her. Why? Why would I do that?” Max asked, struggling to understand what Maria was telling them. He could never ever fall out of love with Liz. Never.

“Apparently in the future, bitch Tess left cause you and Liz made love the night of some concert. You kicked the bitch to the curb and married Liz when you were nineteen. Years later, in 2014 your enemies came and killed a hell of a lot of people. Innocent people. All of us, but the two of you died. Lizzie sent your future ass back here to change things as the enemies were about to kill you two.” Maria explained the things that Liz had told her. She felt horrible for telling them. But they finally had to know Liz’s sacrifices. Just how far Liz had gone for them.

Kyle sat there with his mouth slightly open. He hadn’t known why Liz had done it. He didn’t know just how big it all was. Liz had been saving the whole fucking world.

“Things that Liz said and did those two days she thought would make you fall out of love with her. When it didn’t work, she got an idea from me apparently. I told her about finding Michael with Courtney. So she asked Kyle to help her. Evidently, it worked because your future self disappeared. He told her that would happen when things changed. A whole new future would be formed and he would vanish. So there you are. That’s what happened. Lizzie protected your asses once again.” Maria finished.

Isabel chocked back a sob that she felt rise up in her throat as Maria had told them the truth. “Liz did that for us. She— I was such a bitch to her.” Isabel said, finally collapsing in tears. The image of Liz lying on that bed came into her head once again. Oh, god. Liz didn’t deserve that. No one deserved to have that happen to them.

Maria looked at Isabel before she went on. “You’ve always been a bitch to her, Isabel. Why do you care now?” she said, the anger washing over her once again. Isabel had no right to feel this way, no right at all to cry over Liz. Isabel was a horrible person to Liz.

Isabel flushed at Maria’s angry words. She knew what Maria said was the truth. She’d been a bitch to Liz, since the day Liz had found out the truth. “Liz doesn’t deserve to have to go the things that she is. I’ve been horrible to her for such a long time. I was horrible to Alex. I won’t have the chance of making it up to him. But I can make it up to Liz. And I fully intend to.” Isabel said tearfully.

Maria scoffed at her words. “Now you believe. If Liz was kidnaped by this asshole then he could have killed Alex. He’s been using Sean’s body. If Khivar wanted you Isabel, then why ever since Sean came home has he been after Liz? I still remember the first time Liz saw Sean, she was mesmerized by him.” Maria said, rubbing her forehead. Liz was human, why would Khivar have taken Liz? Especially after all that shit about him wanting Isabel?

Isabel bit her lip. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore. All I know is what he told me. For all I know he could be lying about all of that. But Liz is there. She’s with him.” she said softly as the tears threatened to fall again.

Michael nodded at her words. “He could be lying. Using Liz as bait to get to us. Make us think that he’s doing things to her. We don’t really know what’s going on. But he does have Liz. And we need to get her back.”

“He kicked me out before I could find out any useful information. I don’t know where she is.” Isabel stated, quietly.

“Isabel’s going to try to dream walk her again. We’re going to find Liz and then I’m going to kill that bastard.” Max declared, clenching his fist.

“Get in line, Max. Get in line.” Kyle said softly as he ran his hand haphazardly through his hair, thoughts of Liz running through his head.
posted on 18-Dec-2001 10:03:10 PM
Chapter 8



“We should get this marriage on the right foot. Shouldn’t we?” Liz said, grasping his head in her hands. She pulled him down until their lips nearly met. Liz licked her lips, causing him to feel her soft tongue for a brief second.

“I think that’s a good idea. One of the best I’ve ever heard, Troian.” Khivar said, his eyes shining with passion and desire for this woman he couldn’t resist. She wasn’t fighting him anymore. She had finally come to terms with everything. She knew that she couldn’t get rid of him. As soon as they were back on Antar, he was going to make her his wife, make her Empress of Antar. His plan was brilliant; he would have the woman that he loved and at the same time the Antarians would be happy to have their beloved Troian back. Having her back could make them compliant to his rule and forget all that nonsense of revolting.

Liz reached out with her tongue and slowly licked his lips. “I don’t think that we should have any secrets between us, Khivar. If we have secrets then people might use them to try to turn us against one another. Secrets are bad.” she said as she traveled her hand down his chest lightly.

Khivar nodded, loving the feel of her hands on his chest. She was gorgeous and she was finally allowing him to be with her. The other times didn’t really count to him, he had taken her but she hadn’t given in to him. Now she was. She was giving herself to him completely. “Anything you ask is yours for the taking. Anything.” he said as his hand began to slowly massage her right breast.

Liz sighed trying not to be disgusted by the movements of Khivar’s hands. But this was one of the fights of her life. She was going to have to do whatever it took to get out of here. Even if it meant that Khivar was doing this to her. Liz remembered a time when someone else was doing this to her. In the car with Max. God, that had been one of the been one of the most exhilarating things she had ever experienced.

“Why don’t we go into the living room. I always wanted to do it on a couch or against the wall.” Liz said huskily as she batted her eyes seductively at him. “The bed is just too puritanical. And I’ve been cooped up in here for a week.”

Khivar smiled at her words. He always knew that she would be a tiger in bed once he’d gotten past those walls of hers. It took all of Khivar’s self control not to jump her. He wanted her so badly but she wanted to talk first. “Nine days. You’ve been here nine days. What do you want to talk about?” he asked, catching his breathe as he struggled to hold himself back.

“What do you have planned for Max?” she asked as Khivar led her out of the room. She’d been in there for so long. She took in everything all around her. The hallway was stark white, nothing on the walls. There was only one door in the hallway and it was closed. It must led to another room. His, she wondered.

“Ah, the pathetic boy. Well, Nicholas and I had planned something but unfortunately Tess did not do her part of the plan.” Khivar said as he led her into the living room.

It was a big room with a couch in the center, and a coffee table right beside it. Sitting on the table was a telephone and the communicator that Larek had told her all about. The room was bleak with nothing on the walls either. She could see a kitchen off to the side of the room. Apparently, it held just the necessities that Khivar needed.

Liz smiled seductively at him and laid her hand on his chest lightly stroking it. “Perfect. Plenty of room for us to have fun.” she purred.

Khivar grabbed her roughly unable to help himself any longer. He kissed her intensely, loving the feel of her. She was finally his. All his.

Liz forced herself not to gag as Khivar slid his tongue into her mouth. Liz pushed him onto the couch and crawled over him. “You were saying something about Tess? What was it?” she asked, rubbing herself against him.

Khivar ran his hands through her mane of chestnut hair. He really missed her beautiful red hair, but this brown was enchanting. He just wanted to bury his head in it. Forget all about his problems and just be one with the woman that he loved so much. “Hmm. Yes. Tess was supposed to get pregnant with Max’s child. So when we went home the people would have Zanier’s son on the throne. I’d have ensured an accident involving my sister and the brat. So that our son could have the throne. The people of Antar always adored you, Troian. That idiot sister of mine didn’t expect him to realize what she’d been doing. So no baby. Oh, well. Tomorrow we’re going home. You and Nicholas will take the granolith while I finally leave this damn body. I’ve always hated blondes. Zanier was one.” Khivar explained as his hands closed around Liz’s breasts.

Khivar felt no pangs of guilt about leaving Tess. She wasn’t really one of the royal four. She was just a reject, who had the sheer luck of Ava’s pod being tampered with, causing Tess to have powers that the other one didn’t have. Only Max was now aware of Tess’ mind warps and their plan was shot to hell. Max was disgusted by the idiot and would never sleep with her now. So Khivar and Nicholas had changed their plans.

Liz gritted her teeth at the contact. God, she hated this bastard so much. He had caused her so much pain and agony in these few days that she had been there, and not to mention that he had killed her brother and father. “Really? We’re going home? How?” Liz said breaking into a smile. “I can’t wait. What about them? Max, Isabel and Michael?” she asked, softly saying her brother’s name.

Khivar withdrew his hands from her, and rubbed his forehead lightly. “To answer your first question, about how we’re getting home is the crystal. The Jagur crystal. We have it and we can go home now. As to your second question, the Skins are going to take care of them. Even Michael. I’m sorry but we can’t take Michael with us, he’s too much of a risk. They can’t be controlled. He can’t be controlled.” Khivar informed her. He knew that she was going to be devastated by the news that she would have to leave her brother. But he’d make it up to her, he promised himself.

Liz felt her mouth drop open. “You have the Jagur crystal? How?” she wondered incredulously. From what Liz remembered, it had been hidden away on Antar. Nasira’s fear that someone would try to gain control of the granolith. If someone had gotten the Jagur crystal, then anything was possible. With the granolith thousands of people could be killed, time could be changed. The power of the granolith was enormous.

Khivar smiled at her, and nodded. “Yes, and we have your brother to thank for that. Alex was the one who transcribed the book that Nasira had given the royal idiots. He told us the location of the crystal. Where it was hidden. Now, we will be unstoppable. No one can stop us now. NO ONE!” he said, ferally.

Liz believed what he said. He was right. He soon would have control of the granolith and with that control no one could defeat him. Max and the others would be powerless in defeating him. “I— What are you going to do to the people on this earth? My friends. Maria and Kyle? Are they going to die?” she asked, slightly fearfully for her friends’ fate. Would Khivar try to destroy the world instead?

“Actually, I decided to leave this pathetic planet alone. It’s not really worth my time. Finding you and killing the royals was all I wanted to do. Though I have grown fond of their music.” Khivar said, shrugging his shoulders. “Your friends can’t come with us. Well, maybe this Maria. Nicholas hasn’t bedded a woman in quite a few years. What does she look like?”

Liz felt a surge of anger at his words. She’d never let that prepubescent anywhere near her best friend. There was something incredibly cruel in his eyes. Must have been all these years he’s spent in a child’s body. Liz flashed Khivar a grateful smile. “Maria’s pretty with blonde hair and green eyes. She’s not as voluptuous as Tess or Isabel. But you know what they say. Dynamite comes in small packages.” Liz said huskily as Khivar sat up slightly and took her right breast into his mouth.

Liz suppressed an intense urge to scream at him. She closed her eyes tightly and forced herself to relax her features, hoping to give him an expression of pleasure. Liz flung her eyes open when she felt him release her breast and lay a hand on her belly. To the small barely noticeable curve where her son lay peacefully. All her thoughts flew to protecting her son from this monster who was his father.

Khivar meet her eyes seriously. “I don’t want to hurt you. But sometimes, you make me hurt you. Why do you make me do these things? To test me? If I had to Troian, I would kill you myself to make sure that Zanier didn’t get to you. I would do it in a second.” Khivar said as his arm gripped hers roughly.

Liz trembled slightly. She believed what he said. He would kill her if he had to. He’d kill her and PJ, if he had to. He wouldn’t care that she was pregnant. That had been something she thought he wouldn’t do. That he wouldn’t beat her to death because she was pregnant with his child. But his words chilled her to the bone. Liz knew that what she was about to do was right. It was the only way for her to escape from him. It was the only way that she would survive. Her and her son’s life depended on what she was about to do.

She had to do this now, Liz determined as she stood up in front of him. She let one strap of the nightgown fall off of her shoulder. She licked her lips and said, “Stand up big boy.”

Khivar stood up in front of her and smiled. She was so beautiful and she was all his. He was the only man who had claimed her body and now she was giving it to him freely.

Liz lifted her hand, her face was filled with rage. Before Liz knew what happened, a bolt of blue light shot out of her hand and lifted Khivar off the ground. The light sent him flying across the room, as if he was a rag doll. He fell to the floor with a loud thud. Liz crossed the room, shocked by what she had just done. She had used her powers. She didn’t know that was a power that she had. She checked to see it he was still awake. It didn’t look like he was conscious. Quickly, Liz grabbed the alien communicator, and hit the pentagon center. It was the only part that didn’t have an alien symbol on it. When she hit the center, a shimmery blue-white color went off. She watched it for a moment, then she set it down on the table.

Alright, step one of her and Larek’s plan was complete. Now she needed to find the gun and shoot the bastard away. She opened the drawer that Larek said it would be in, only to discover that it wasn’t there. She glanced around the room, but couldn’t figure out a place where he could have put the gun. She needed a weapon.

“Shit.” she muttered as she ran to the kitchen, searching through the draws trying to find a knife or something. Silently, she thanked god when she found a butcher knife in one of the drawers. Maybe she should just run her ass out of the cabin, make a get away, she thought to herself.

Liz half walk, half ran back into the living room and found herself standing face to face with Khivar. Liz squared off against Khivar. This was it. It was kill or be killed.

“You bitch. You fucking cunt. I’m going to kill you.” Khivar said, kicking the knife out of her hand. Liz winced when she felt the pain in her arm from his kick. She was momentarily caught off by that and didn’t see when Khivar kicked her in the stomach sending her flying backwards into the wall.

This caused her to lose her breath momentarily. She glared at Khivar. He was so going down, she thought to herself, as she took several breaths before standing up.

“OK.” She said to herself before she lunged into a full front kick to his face. Khivar fell to the ground. But he didn’t stay there long. He jumped back up and kicked her in the face. Liz stumbled back dazed and fell to the ground. He began to punch her over and over in her face.

Liz shoved herself up against him, causing him to get off balance, and she gave him a swift kick in the face. When he fell off of her, Liz took it as her advantage and got up. He grabbed her by the neck and began to choke her.

Liz fell to the ground, and gasped for air. She struggled against him, kicking at his shins and his knees, but he held a firm grip on her throat. Liz saw a flash of something shiny. The knife. Shit, he had the knife, she thought to herself.

Khivar held the knife in front of her face and slashed her from the corner of her lip to the edge of her cheek. “Stupid slut. I’m going to make you so ugly your own mother won’t be able to recognize you!” he roared with anger. Then he moved his hand down to her stomach.

Liz had tried to suppress her scream as he had slashed her face. But she couldn’t stop herself from screaming when an undescribable pain was forced into her stomach as the knife stabbed into her tender skin. Liz shrieked in pain as Khivar continued to stab her several more times. She realized that she was going to die. He was going to kill her and her baby. She was going to die, just like Alex. She was going to die like before.

NO! She yelled to herself. She wasn’t going to give up. She was going to fight for her life. She wasn’t going to allow him to kill her. She was going to kick his ass. She wasn’t going to allow herself to die, today.

Liz balled her hand into a fist and punched him in the nose, catching Khivar off guard. She heard a crack and blood streamed down his face and his eyes began to tear up. Liz kicked him in the shins hard and he fell off of her, with a yell of anger and surprise.

Liz slowly pulled the knife out of her stomach that he hadn’t had the chance of taking. Blood poured out of her wounds. She was really hurt. Liz kicked him in the face as he laid on the floor, trying to stand up. She lunged forward at him with the knife. And stabbed him in the chest.

He stiffened beneath her and then shrieked. Liz had never heard such an awful sound in her entire life. All she saw was red. A bright, blinding piercing red that consumed her. Liz withdrew the knife from his chest and began to stab him repeatedly in the chest, not stopping once until she saw the life drain out of him.

Liz stopped and rubbed her forehead with her right hand. She looked down at her hands at saw that they were covered in blood. Liz gazed down and felt bile rise up in her throat.

Oh, god. What had she done? Liz closed her eyes and began to breath deeply, trying to calm herself down. What was she going to do now? She needed to call someone. Who? Valenti. He would come help. He would.

Liz forced herself to her feet and made her way to the phone in the kitchen. She picked the phone up and dialed the number to Jim’s cell phone. He had given it to all of them just in case of an emergency.

“Hello, Jim Valenti speaking.” The voice said.

Liz opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come out. Only short, small breathes came out of her.

Jim frowned as he held the phone in his hand. Who was on the line? It sounded as if the person was hyperventilating. Jim quickly scanned his caller id, but it showed out of area. Who ever it was wasn’t in Roswell. “Hello.” he repeated. Jim pulled his truck over so he could focus all of his attention on the caller. Something was really wrong. Who was it?

“Sheriff. . . .” The voice said softly, almost as if they were afraid to say anything. “Sheriff. . . .it’s L. .Liz.”

Jim jerked his head up straight. Liz? Max and the others had told him that Liz had been taken by Khivar, and for him to keep a heads up just in case. “Liz? Where are you? Are you okay?” Jim questioned her softly.

“Please, can you come get me. I’m in Midway, it’s about thirty miles from Roswell. The address is 9856 Oak Way. Please can you get me?” Liz managed to say without choking on her words.

“I’ll be there soon. Don’t go anywhere. I’ll get you.” Jim promised her. “I’ll be there soon, Liz.” he said, softly hoping to make her feel better. Whatever had happened to her was bad. She sounded frightened.

“Ok. Ok.” Liz said quietly, as she let the phone fall out of her hand. She collapsed to the floor and sat with her back against the wall. She drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them and the tears poured from her eyes. What had she done?
posted on 18-Dec-2001 10:08:32 PM
Chapter 9



Liz laid in a hospital bed at the Dexter General Hospital, waiting for her parents to arrive. After Valenti had come for her, he had done a few things. He had taken Khivar’s body and wrapped it with a bed sheet and put it in his car. Liz had taken the opportunity to take care of a few things, despite the overwhelming pain that she was in, she had somehow managed to grab the communicator, the Jagur crystal, and the disks that Khivar said held the translation of the destiny book. She had hidden the things in a bag she had found. She knew that Valenti was curious about the things, but he didn’t question her.

He had tried to help her to his car, but she had fended off his hands. She couldn’t stand for him to touch her, it made her think of Khivar. Liz had watched from the passenger seat in the car as Valenti set the cabin on fire. Shortly after they were headed back Dexter, he had thought that it would be safer if they’d go to Dexter instead of the Midway hospital, someone might question her appearance so closely with burning of the cabin.

He’d also called her parents. Liz had just tuned him out and looked out the window. She could hear his voice as he had talked to her parents and also called Max. But Liz was beyond caring at that point about Max Evans. After everything that had happened, she just couldn’t stand seeing him or the others. Not yet anyway. It was just too early, the pain was just too fresh for her. She wouldn’t even know what to say to him after everything that had happened to her.

Liz hated the things that she had said to him, some of them had been true, things that she had longed to say for a long time. It had been wrong of her to say that, especially there at Alex’s wake. She had disrespected Alex so much in the way she had gone about it. But there was no changing the past. The only thing left for her to do was move forward. With her child. Her child was the innocent one out of all of this. He didn’t deserve to be blamed for the sins of his father. Or his mother.

Liz remembered her other life. Her life as Queen Troian. She could remember Zan and her overwhelming love for him, the first time they had made love, their wedding day. Their honeymoon where they had spent hours making love and exploring each other’s bodies. All of the happy times they had spent together as newlyweds, which was practically the whole time they had been married. They had always been at that stage in their marriage. They had to be near each other, they couldn’t stand to be separated from one another. Their joy in finding out after five years of being married that they were going to have a child. A little girl. Knowing that their daughter was the start of a wonderful new generation for Antar.

But it hadn’t happened. She and her daughter were both savagely murdered at the hands of the jealous Avarona. She could still remember the shock in realizing what Avarona was doing. The pain that had coursed her body. How she had tried to protect her child, but she knew that she couldn’t. All she could feel was the pain. The deaths of her and her child had left Zan a hopeless mess. But this time it was so different. She wasn’t having her husband’s child. She was having his enemies son.

God, she felt as if her life had become a soap opera. Things like this did not happen to the average, ordinary person. But then again she wasn’t ordinary. Her mother had a passionate love for soap operas and ever since Liz was little, she and Nancy would watch them. If she remembered correctly, didn’t they have a storyline on General Hospital, where the heroine Laura gave birth to her husband’s enemy. Oh, god. I’m so pathetic, Liz thought. She was comparing her life to a soap opera. Damn TV rotting her brain.

Liz sighed when she heard the door open. Finally, her parents had come for her. Liz was so anxious to talk to them. They must know the truth about her, who she really was. She wanted to talk to them about it. She needed to talk to them about the truth about everything. She had to know why she was sent to earth, why she was here in the first place. Turning to face her parents, Liz’s eyes widened in shock.

“Liz.” Max said softly, walking into the room.

Why was he here? What did he want? He had told her to forget about him, like he’d forget about her. Was he going to tell her not to say anything about what Khivar had done to her. That had to be it, he wanted her to lie for him. He wanted her to forget about it all. To save his own ass, he wanted her to deny the truth. She couldn’t forget about what Khivar had done to her. She wasn’t going to bury her head in the ground. That was what Max did, not her. She would never forget. Liz saw red.

And she lashed out. She grabbed the phone by the bed. She swung like Babe Ruth releasing her makeshift weapon to whistle through the air toward his head, missing him by half an inch.

Get out! Leave me alone!” Liz yelled as she reached for another object, a glass vase on the bed side table. She heaved it at him. Max ducked, barely in time. It crashed into the wall.

“What the hell is going on?” The sound of Jeff Parker’s voice calmed her down. Daddy was here, he’d make everything better. Everything would be fine. Her dad wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.

“Max, I think you’d better leave.” Nancy Parker said stiffly, hate pouring from her eyes staring down Max Evans.

“I— ok. I’ll go.” Max said softly, looking at Liz once more before he left.

“Oh, Mommy. Daddy. I missed you so much.” Liz said tearfully. She hadn’t known how much they had meant to her, until what had happened. They might not be her real parents, but they were her parents in every way that counted. They were the ones that had been there for her since she was born.

Jeff and Nancy rushed to Liz’s side. Nancy took Liz into her arms. “Oh, baby. You’re safe now. We’re going to do everything to take care of you.” Nancy said softly, as she stroked Liz’s hair.

While Nancy held Liz in her arms, murmuring soothing words to calm Liz down, who began to sob hysterically. Jeff saw Jim Valenti standing at the entrance of the door watching them. Giving his wife and daughter one last look, Jeff reluctantly left them and walked over to Jim, quietly closing the door behind him to give Nancy and Liz time alone. “Hey, Jim.” he said softly.

“Jeff. I heard you’re planning on taking Liz out of the hospital.” Jim said quietly. He felt really bad for Jeff Parker, his only child had been beaten and who knows what else? Max, Michael, Isabel and Tess’ enemy kidnaps a Liz, a pretty young teenager. Who knew what else he had done to her. Liz hadn’t said much, but Jim had been a police officer long enough to know what might have happened. The way that Liz had acted back at the cabin had convinced him that she had been horribly brutalized. Used in ways that no one should ever have to go through.

Jeff nodded. “Yeah. We’re taking her to Artesia to see her doctor. Dr. Metzler. She’s been Liz’s doctor since she was a little girl. The only one Liz is comfortable with. Lizzie’s not doing to well right now.”

“Yeah. I saw what happened with Max.” Jim said, shaking his head. “Poor kid.”

Jeff made a ‘hmpf’ sound, and mumbled. “Bastard deserved it.

Jim looked at Jeff with surprise. What the hell? Did Jeff Parker just call Max Evans a bastard who deserved Liz’s throwing things at him? Nah, Jim must have heard Jeff wrong. Jeff Parker wouldn’t have said that? Would he? “What’d you say?”

Jeff meet Jim’s eyes and shook his head. “Nothing. I’m still kinda in shock. Sean DeLuca. I didn’t see that coming. Nancy thought that his time in juvie had changed him for the better. That his relationship with Liz was a good one. She could help him out, that they could be a good influence on each other. But look what happened.”

Jim nodded at Jeff. “Yeah. You have to be careful about the people that you trust now and days. But she’s going to be okay, isn’t she? How badly hurt is she?”

“Yeah, she should be. The doctors say that she refuses to let them touch her. That’s why we think it’d be best if we take her to Dr. Metzler’s; Liz trusts her. I think that she’s just battered and bruised. Nothing broken, I think.” Jeff said gravely. He hated the pain that Lizzie was in. She didn’t deserve for that to happen. It was all that punk Max’s fault. He had let this happen to his baby girl. What a great fucking king he was allowing this to happen to Liz.

“Are you going to take Liz to talk to Deputy Hanson?” Jim asked the burning question. If Jeff took Liz to Hanson then there were going to be a lot of questions that no one would have the answers to. Jim had told Liz that if her parents wanted her to, then Liz would have to make up something. Jim knew that if she was forced to, she’d come up with something believable. Hopefully they wouldn’t have a replay of January, with Isabel and Max.

Shit, Jeff thought. How the fuck was he going to get this done about. Jeff suspected that Jim knew the truth about the kids being aliens. But Jeff was positive that Jim didn’t know about Liz or Alex’s alien status. And that was top priority right now. Keeping Liz safe from Nicholas and those Skin bastards. They’d be looking for revenge for Khivar’s death. “It’s up to Lizzie. I don’t want to have to put her through anything else. We need to sit down and talk about what we’re going to do.”

Jim nodded. “That’s probably a good idea. She might not be able to handle having everyone knowing what happened to her.”

“Yeah. Liz doesn’t like for people to view her as a victim. Ever since she was little she’s been that way. She’s always tried to be strong for everyone.” Jeff said, shaking his head remembering when Liz was little. The things that she would do. Liz was a gift to him. He’d never had any children before and falling in love with Nancy and raising Liz as their daughter had been an honor and joy. She was a truly special girl. Jeff wondered what Jim had planned. He suspected that Jim, Max and Michael would get rid of the body. He hoped that they would do a better job of it this time than they had done with Pierce’s bones. Maybe Jeff should tell them who he was, those boys needed to know how to lead. Obviously, ‘Nasedo’ had not done a good job. No, he couldn’t tell them who he was. His first priority was to keep Liz safe.

“Liz is a good kid. This shouldn’t have happened to her. She’s been through so much already. I know that losing Alex was painful for her.” Jim said, frowning at the thought of what Liz had gone through. Khivar wasn’t Liz’s enemy, she should never have been put into this position. It made him think about Kyle. That something like this could happen to Kyle. Jim didn’t know what he would do if someone hurt his son.

Jeff nodded at Jim’s words. “Losing Alex was more than painful for her. It’s undescribable. She lost more than a friend, she lost her brother. She thought of him as her brother. This shouldn’t have happened to my daughter. Not at all. She cares about everyone and everything. She’s sweet, wonderful, and beautiful. This just shouldn’t have happened.” Jeff said, shaking his head, tears in his eyes. Jeff hated himself for allowing Khivar to get to Liz. He knew that it really wasn’t Max’s fault, but his own. It was his duty to keep her safe and he had failed her. Failed her in two lifetimes.

Jim didn’t know how to answer his friend. He knew exactly what Jeff was feeling. He had felt the same way last year when he had accidentally shot Kyle. He hadn’t meant to do it and his son had almost paid with his life. But bad things happen all the time, to good people like Liz who don’t deserve life to be crappy to them. “I’m sorry, Jeff.” he replied, hoping to make him feel better but he knew that his words were futile. Nothing really could make Jeff feel better after all that had happened.

“Thanks. It makes me feel so much better that you’re here talking to me. But I should really head back in. Nancy and Liz are probably wondering what’s happening to me.” Jeff said softly as he patted Jim on the back and headed back into Liz’s room.

Jim watched Jeff reenter Liz’s room. He didn’t know what he would do if something like that had happened to Tess. She had become like a daughter to him. He would hate to see what happened to Liz Parker happen to her. Jim could only guess what was going on in Jeff’s mind. Jim walked away from the room, wishing that he had known about this sooner, so he could have done something about it. He could have saved Liz from having to take a life. No one should do that. It unnerved him in the occasions that he had to do it. The poor girl.

Jim stopped short when he saw Max sitting in a chair, looking utterly defeated. As if the only thing that he had going in his life was gone. Which could very well be the case with Liz. She wouldn’t ever be the same Liz that she had once been before. The sweet, determined girl had enough pain to last two lifetimes.

“Max? Are you okay?” Jim asked softly, feeling immensely sorry for the teen. He had seen the depth of love that Max had for Liz. The love that those two shared was something that had amazed him, he had never found anything as strong as what he saw in the two of them. It had shocked and saddened him when Kyle had told him about the falling out the two had after Alex’s funeral.

Max looked up at Jim, his eyes filled with tears. Max cleared his throat, hoping that his tears wouldn’t fall. Not now. Not in public, he commanded himself. “I’m fine. Is she okay?” he said quietly, remembering her reaction to seeing him. What had she gone through in those days?

Jim nodded his head. “Yeah. Jeff and Nancy are taking her to her doctor in Artesia. I know that this is a bad time, that you want to talk to Liz, but she’s not ready to see you, and we have several things to do.”

Max rubbed his left eye, forcing his tears back. Damn it, Max Evans, you are not going to cry in public, he told himself. “Yeah. We need to talk care of the body, the cabin, uh, what else?” he said, rubbing his forehead, trying to concentrate on something that he could do. Liz wasn’t ready to see him, and standing around here doing nothing wouldn’t get him anywhere.

“The nightgown. I took it.” Jim said softly, hoping that no one would over hear him. “Don’t worry about the cabin, I took care of it. When Liz and I left, I burned it to the ground. It’s gone. We need to take care of the body and the gown. Obviously Liz can’t tell the police that an alien kidnaped and tried to kill her. If her parents want her to go to Hanson, then she knows that she has come up with some story. You don’t have to worry about anything. She knows what’s she doing.” Jim said solemnly, wishing that this wasn’t happening.

Max nodded his head. Valenti was right. Liz did know what she was doing, whereas he didn’t know what to do about things. Max felt like crying for Liz. She looked so bad. How she survived an attack as vicious as that was completely beyond him. Every part of her body had to be covered in bruises and her beautiful face was covered with a bandage. Max realized that Khivar might have done physically to her body, but he himself had emotionally injured her worse than Khivar. He was just as responsible as Khivar was. He had turned his back on the one person that he loved most in the world. How could she ever forgive him? Could she ever forgive him for everything that he had done to her? So many mistakes he had made. So many lies he had believed. Everything could have been so different if only he had listened to what his heart was thinking instead of listening to his head.

Valenti hesitated to say anything. He could see that Max was so deeply in thought. The poor kid was blaming himself for what had happened to Liz, Jim could tell and he felt sorry for Max. It wasn’t really his fault. Liz was a victim of circumstance. “Um. I called Kyle and told him to get Michael. We’re going to meet them.”

Max rubbed his forehead with his hand roughly. He had to stop this. He was a king, and here he was trying to stop himself from blubbering like a baby. Max could see Liz in his head. She looked so bad. He wanted to heal her, but she was just too upset to see him. He had so much he had to do to make it up to her, but would she let him? Or would it be better if he just stayed away from her? “If you took care of the cabin, where’s the body?” he asked, standing up, wondering what the hell Valenti could have done with the body. If he had burned it along with the house than someone could find the bones.

Jim cleared his throat roughly. “Um, in my trunk. No one will notice, I think. We should hurry up and take care of it.”

“You left him in the trunk?” Max asked quietly, nervously glancing around to make sure that no one had heard the nature of their discussion. He couldn’t believe that Valenti had done that. What if someone had noticed? Max knew that he shouldn’t be second guessing him after all, Valenti had been a cop for almost twenty five years. He must know what he was doing.

Jim shifted uncomfortably. “I thought that it’d be best if I brought Liz to the hospital first. She was in urgent need of care. That’s what I cared about the most.” Jim said pointedly. Jim hadn’t cared about what Max would think. He’d done the right thing. Liz had needed to be taken to the hospital right away. The fact that he had stopped to do those few things filled him with guilt. He had prolonged Liz’s pain.

Max nodded at Jim’s words. He understood why Jim did what he did. Liz had needed to get to the hospital. If Max had been there he wouldn’t have bothered with taking care of things. All he would care about was Liz and making her feel better. “Okay.” he finally said and started walking away from the hall. They had things that they had to do. Standing around here would just waste their time. “Where are we meeting them at?”

Jim quickly fell into step with Max. “At the uh, pod chamber Kyle called it. This time were going to have to crush his bones or something. We can’t have another Pierce. We have to be more careful.” Jim said.

“Yes. I’m not going to let anything happen to Liz. She defended herself against him and I’m not going to let anything happen to her because she did.” Max said, clenching his fingers. It was the least that Max could do after he had been a jerk to her, abandoning her when she needed him the most. She had to protect herself because Max hadn’t.
posted on 18-Dec-2001 10:14:51 PM
Chapter 10



Michael couldn’t believe it. It was all fucking true. He had known that it was true, but when Valenti had called him not more than half an hour ago. The full impact of it hit him. Khivar had kidnaped Liz. That dirty rotten bastard Khivar had kidnaped Liz. When Valenti had called, he had asked him to come with Kyle to the pod chamber so they could dispose of the body among other things.

Michael could still see her in his head. Dressed in a white nightgown drenched in blood. He couldn’t stop the picture from haunting him even though he desperately tried to. He should have done something. When Max had said all of that shit he should have stepped up and told Max to back off. He knew that Max hadn’t been in his right mind, with Tess fucking with his mind. But that didn’t excuse Michael from not doing anything.

Those first few days when he did nothing could have been used to save Liz from Khivar. But no he had to follow Max’s rules for the first time in a very long time and Liz had been in danger. Damn it! If only he had listened to what Maria had told him, then he could have saved Liz. This didn’t have to have happened to her. It shouldn’t have happened to her.

Michael sighed impatiently as he began to pace back and forth in the pod chamber. Where were they? They weren’t even that far away. Midway had to be only what, twenty miles away from Roswell. They should have been here by now. What if something had happened? What if the Skins had attacked them or something?

Michael ran a hand through his hair. Oh, god. Would he have to kill someone else? Even after a year, Michael still felt guilty about taking Pierce’s life. He had done it in self defense and he didn’t regret what he had done. But it didn’t change the fact that he had ended someone’s life.

“How about a cup of coffee or perhaps a tranquilizer?” Kyle asked, breaking the tension that filled the room. He held up a thermos that he had brought for his father. Michael had been pacing back and forth for a long time and it was getting on Kyle’s nerves. Ever since they had gotten here, Michael had been tense and seemed like he could snap at any moment.

Michael stopped dead in his tracks and glared at Kyle. “A tranquilizer? What the hell is that supposed to mean, Valenti? Huh? Do you know what happened to Liz? Khivar had her. He had her!” Michael said angrily.

Kyle stood up from where he sat on the ground. “I know, Michael. There’s nothing that we can do now. She’s not with him anymore. She got away from him. She’s okay now.” Kyle said, hoping to calm Michael down. But he didn’t know Michael well enough to know exactly how to calm him down. Maybe he should call Maria, she might know how to handle Michael’s moods. Kyle didn’t blame Michael for how he was reacting to the news that Liz had been found. He was just a little perplexed about Michael’s behavior. Michael and Liz had never been close friends. Michael’s reactions throughout the last two days were a mystery to him.

“She had to kill him. She killed someone. You don’t know what that’s like to have to kill someone. To take someone’s life away from them. You just don’t understand.” Michael said with a shake of his head. When Valenti had told him what Liz had to do, Michael had been shocked. She shouldn’t have had to do that. Taking someone’s life was one of the most undescribable things ever.

“Your right, I don’t know what it’s like. I’ve seen my father after he’s had to shoot someone. I know how it plagues him afterwards. But I also know that he had to do it. That it was a matter of life and death.” Kyle said softly. Michael was right; he didn’t know what it was like to kill someone, but he did understand what Michael was feeling. He felt the same way at the knowledge of what Liz had to do to get away from Khivar. She shouldn’t have had to. She should never have even been put in that position. If only that day in September hadn’t happened, then Liz would never have been with that alien freak.

“I knew something was wrong.” Michael said, shaking his head in contempt of himself for ignoring his feelings. “I knew that she’d never leave when she was so hell bent on finding out who killed Alex.”

“I knew that she wouldn’t leave either. But I refused to see what was right in front of my eyes because I was scared of what it might mean if Alex was murdered by an alien. Then that would mean that Maria, Liz or I could be next. The thought alone freaked me out. And in the end, Liz was taken.” Kyle replied, softly revealing his fear.

I should have known. I should have!” Michael said, angry at himself. God, Liz must have been so afraid, having to stay with that psychotic. “I shouldn’t have listened to Max. I should have followed my instincts.”

For a moment, Kyle was speechless. He’d never seen Michael so emotional over anything. It shocked Kyle to see him reacting this way about Liz. He knew that they weren’t the closest of people. “Michael, I—“ Kyle began only to be interrupted by the sound of the cave opening.

Half a second later, Max stepped into their view. He looked disheveled and defeated. “We’re here.” he said, stating the obvious. “Come on.” Max quickly walked away from the cave, not bothering to look at the two guys.

Michael urged Kyle to go forward and he walked outside and quickly closed the opening of the cave. Michael half walked, half ran down the mountain to Valenti’s jeep. Just looking at Valenti’s jeep made Michael flash back to Pierce. Of dragging Pierce’s body out of the trunk and setting it on fire. Smelling the burnt flesh that had nearly caused him to throw up.

Michael forced himself to snap out of it. This was different. He hadn’t killed this person, Liz had. Small little Liz Parker had killed someone. Michael bit his lip as Valenti popped open the trunk. Michael glanced over at Max and wondered what the hell he was thinking.

Max could feel Michael’s eyes on him, but he kept his own trained on Valenti’s actions. Liz’s bruised, battered and bandaged face kept popping up in his head.

“Uh. Some help here please.” Jim said, breaking into the tense silence of the desert. A second later, Kyle rushed forward to help his father. He forced himself not to think of this body as a person, but as a thing. As the enemy who deserved to die. An enemy that shouldn’t be his, Liz’s, Maria’s or his father’s. But just because of their connection to the aliens, he was their enemy.

Max stifled a gasp as he watched them bring the covered body out of the trunk. He was covered by a white blanket that was now soaked with blood.

Michael clenched his fists as he saw the body. He had an overwhelming urge to go forward and attack the body. To make sure that he was dead. Khivar had caused Liz so much pain. Michael’s mind desperately tried to stop him. He knew that Khivar had been in DeLuca’s body but had he left. And Liz killed an innocent person? He had no clue if Khivar was really dead? Or if it was just Sean DeLuca who was dead? Michael stepped towards the body slowly. “I wanna see.” He said simply.

“Michael, what?” Max said softly, clearly confused about what Michael was asking for.

Jim shook his head vehemently at Michael. He knew exactly what Michael was asking for. But he knew that he shouldn’t let Michael do it. “Michael, no. It’s not a very pretty sight. I think it’d be best if you didn’t.”

Jim’s words didn’t stop Michael. He wanted to see, to make sure that it really was Khivar that was dead. He had to see for himself. Michael lifted the cover off of the body and gave a strangled gasp.

He had been expecting some strange looking man, but it was Sean DeLuca. Blonde hair, green eyed Sean DeLuca, Maria’s annoying cousin. His green eyes reflected his shock and terror as of what had happened to him. His whole upper body was covered with blood, his shirt jagged with whole’s that must have resulted from the stab wounds.

When Michael lifted the cover, Max had steadied himself for the sight. But he wasn’t prepared for what he saw. Sean DeLuca’s whole chest area was covered with stab wounds and dried blood. Seeing the wounds unsettled something inside of him as he flashed back to that dream he had of Liz. The dream were she had been covered with stab wounds and her white dress had turned an ugly pinkish color from the blood.

Liz had done this. His small, tiny Liz had stabbed someone to death. It shocked Max to the core. Sean had been much taller and bigger than her. How had she been able to overpower him? A question was nagging him, was Khivar really dead or was it just Sean DeLuca’s body that was dead?

“Michael, can we get this over with?” Kyle said, breaking the silence of the still desert. He couldn’t believe this. Liz had done this. It amazed and freaked him out. He’d never seen a dead person and he didn’t want to ever have to. The sight was so terrifying to him. He just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

Michael blinked several times as he heard Kyle’s voice. Michael stood up slowly and looked down at the body. He wanted to get this over with. He wanted to go see Liz, he wanted to talk to her. No, he needed to talk to her. He wanted to make sure for himself that she was okay. That she was safe. Michael wondered if Max had healed her at the hospital or what. “I’ve uh, never done this before.” Michael said, quietly as he held his hand out.

Max stepped forward till he was by Michael’s side. Max held out his hand. He glanced over at Michael and motioned with his hand for him to step away. Michael had taken several steps back, and Max did the same. With his arm straight out, Max shot out a flame that quickly engulfed the whole body.

For several seconds all four of them stood mesmerized by the small flames that covered the body. Each doing their best trying to ignore that disgusting burning smell. Moments later, Max quickly drew his hand over the flames as he had done last year during that grease fire at his home. The flames quickly went out, leaving nothing but charred bones. Max meet Michael’s eyes and stepped away.

Michael raised his arm once again and a large burst of energy shot out of his palm and the bones exploded into a thousand tiny pieces that floated up in the air like lint. There now no one would ever find the bones, Michael thought to himself.

Jim grabbed a bag out of the trunk and threw it onto the ground. Max looked down at it and gasped softly. It was the nightgown, it was white. Exactly like Liz had been in the beginning of that dream of his. Did that mean he saw some of the things that had happened to Liz? But he didn’t get visions like that. Isabel did. Not him. Or could his connection to Liz be so deep that he could see what was happening to her? The dream had told him that Tess had been mind warping him and it had warned him what was happening to Liz. But what was the significance of a red head Liz. And Liz lying dead on the ground, which hadn’t happened. Could it happen?

No, Max told himself. He couldn’t let anything bad happen to Liz. She didn’t deserve any of this shit, she wasn’t an alien. She deserved to have a happy life and have children who wouldn’t be in any danger. She deserved the world. But he couldn’t give it to her.

Maybe the best thing for her would be if he’d do what he said to her, even if Tess had made him say it. If Liz wasn’t involved with them she wouldn’t be in any danger. She would be safe from his enemies, his psycho former wife, and even himself.

Seeing that Max was lost in his own little world, Michael took the liberty of torching Liz’s nightgown. It looked so much like the one that he had seen in his dream. But it wasn’t at all possible. He didn’t get visions, not really. That one that he had gotten from the key was a fluke or something. The dreams were different from that. It was something else. Something that he couldn’t put his finger on. Something that scared him.

One thing Michael knew for sure. If Khivar wasn’t dead than Michael vowed to take care of him. He’d kill Khivar if it was the last thing he did. Khivar would pay for what he did to Liz. As Michael watched the small flames engulf Liz’s nightgown, he vowed to himself that he would make sure that no one would ever hurt Liz or anyone else he loved. He couldn’t let anything happen to the people who mattered most to him. He would die before he let anything else bad happen to them.
posted on 24-Dec-2001 12:12:33 PM
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Some dates have been changed from the show, not a lot. The characters mentioned have names from Dark Angel, but they are not the same characters. I did borrow a few concepts from the show, which I do not own, they belong to James Cameron, etc.


Chapter 11



Liz sat stoically in the back seat of her parent’s car. They were almost to the clinic where she would see Dr. Metzler in Artesia. She hadn’t said a single word or displayed a single emotion since she had cried in her mother’s arms. She was trying to stay strong. If she started crying again, she didn’t know if she would be able to stop. All she wanted to do was to run under her covers and never come out, try to forget about all the shit that had happened to her in the last nine days. But Liz knew that she would never forget about it. Her parents hadn’t told her much. All they had said was that they were taking her to see Dr. Metzler so she could be examined.

Liz knew that she looked like utter crap. She had seen herself in the mirror before they had left the hospital. The doctors there had been reluctant to let them leave, since she hadn’t been examined by a doctor. But her father had told them off, saying that Liz wasn’t comfortable with their doctors and that he would take her to her own doctor. When she was putting on the clothes that her parents had brought for her— pajama bottoms, an oversized flannel shirt, a bra and slippers(what was her father thinking?)— she had looked into the mirror. Her face was swollen on the right side, marked with a rainbow of colors that ranged form an angry purple to a sickly yellow. The left side of her face had a huge purple bruise that covered her whole cheek, in addition to that horizontal slash that began at the corner of her mouth and ended at her mandible an inch away from her ear. The doctors had wanted to sew it up, but Liz had shied away from them, though they had given her a bandage for the wound. She also had a split lip, her arms and legs were covered with bruises, both old and new. She had to move gingerly, every muscle in her body hurt like hell.

Liz lightly touched her upper chest to the slowly healing wound. She still couldn’t believe that he had done that to her. She’d get this fucking thing healed. There was no way in hell that she was going to keep it there. She didn’t even know if she had the power to heal, or of anyone besides Max who did. But she’d get it healed one way or another.

Liz sighed to herself. It had been a while since she had seen Dr. Metzler. Liz had never been one to get sick very often. If she thought about it, she couldn’t remember the last time that she actually had been sick. She guessed that was where she was the same as the others. Not getting sick very often, she thought as she saw that her father had parked at the clinic.

Liz got out of the car reluctantly. As the questions began to run rampant in her head. Did she appear to be completely human? Why else would her parents bring her here? Did they know that she was a hybrid? They had to have known it, right?

Nancy led Liz in through the doors with a firm but gentle hand on her arm. Liz deeply regretted the way that she had begun to act towards her mother for the past two years. Ever since Liz had that biology class back in the 9th grade, she had wondered about herself. Why she didn’t look like her parents? Both of them had blue eyes, just like her grandmother Claudia and Nancy’s own mother, Grace had green eyes. Liz had known that two blue eyed people could not have a dark eyed child.

And that had caused Liz’s mind to run in circles. She had been convinced that her mother must have had an affair or something. That her mother had cheated on her father. Liz couldn’t stand to be near her mother, Nancy had lied to Jeff each and every day. Liz had been almost positive that her father hadn’t known about her mother’s extra circular activities. But now Liz knew that she had been wrong. Her birth hadn’t been the result of an infidelity. She had never told anyone how she felt, or even what she had thought. Her parents must have adopted her. It was the only thing that made any sense to her.

Liz looked around and saw that there were several people in the waiting room. She quickly looked away and down to the ground. She didn’t know who these people were, she’d never seen them before. But whoever they were, she didn’t want anyone to see her the way she was.

Jeff and Nancy quickly lead her into a room. Liz instantly recognized it as Dr. Metzler’s office. She had always loved the office, with paintings by Tor Lundvall and Carolina Flores. She’s always felt comfortable and at home here in her office. Dr. Metzler sat behind her desk, a shy smile on her face.

Liz winced slightly as she smiled at Dr. Metzler, who stood up from behind her desk. It had been awhile since she had seen her, almost a year. Dr. Metzler looked exactly the same. About five seven with a medium build, she had long mink brown hair that fell down her back, olive skinned, with a pointed chin and the most beautiful bright blue eyes that Liz had ever seen.

“Jeff, Nancy. Can you give us some time alone.” Dr. Metzler asked softly, breaking the silence in the room and looked away from Liz, ending her intense study of her.

Jeff nodded slowly and Nancy gave Liz a small smile as they reluctantly left the room.

As soon as they were out the door, Dr. Metzler walked until she was standing in front of Liz and she smiled. “Hello, Liz.” she said, softly pausing for a moment. “Or would you rather be called Troian?” she said, her eyes never leaving Liz’s own.

Liz felt the life drain out of her body, and she stifled a gasp. Dr. Metzler knew who she was. How? Was she an alien? Was she one of the followers of Rath, that Maria had told her about. That had to be it. Why would her parents take her to a doctor who called her by her name in her life before. Dr. Metzler had to be an alien. But was she a good one or a bad one? If she was a follower of Rath, then it explained why she had always been so nice to Liz. After all, Rath was— is her brother. Liz had so many questions about everything. She was desperate to find out why she was sent to Earth in the first place. What purpose was it to serve.

“You have many questions.” Dr. Metzler said quietly, breaking the silence that had enveloped the room.

“Dr. Metzler, I—“ Liz started, but realized she didn’t even know what to say. She was supposed to be a queen and she didn’t even know how to handle this situation, let alone understand it.

“Call me Aryn. I’m a hybrid, my father was an alien and my mother was a human.” Aryn began. “My father and his crew came to Earth in 1961. Talos was one of the protector’s of the royal four. He was able to contact my father about a traitor that had been aboard the ship that crashed in ‘47.” Aryn explained softly to Liz. Aryn felt so bad for Liz, she had her whole life shattered. Liz had lost her brother to murder, her own husband had abandoned her when she needed him the most, she had been kidnaped by the enemy and had to escape from Khivar on her own. The straw that had broken the camel’s back had to be that she was now pregnant with the enemies baby.

“A traitor on the ship? Was the crash an accident or did someone deliberately sabotage the flight?” Liz asked, her mind going in a thousand directions at this new revelation.

“Yes someone deliberately sabotaged the flight. We suspect that it was Curan, the one that you called Nasedo. But we never had any solid proof. The only thing that we could do without calling attention on us was to watch and wait to see what would happen. To see what he would do.” Aryn said, nodding her head at Liz.

Liz remembered her brothers. She had to know if Jasper and Aiden were reborn. “What about my brothers? Were Jasper and Aiden reborn like Alex and I?” she questioned, desperate for the answer. She prayed that it would be the one she wanted.

Aryn watched Liz for a moment, sensing her desperation. “Yes. They were. Jasper’s known as Zack. And Aiden is called Krit.”

Liz smiled happily. They were alive. She would reunite with her brothers after all these years. She had missed them so much. She couldn’t wait to tell Michael that he wasn’t alone in the world. That he had her, and their brothers. “Zack and Krit, huh? When can I see them? I need to see them and talk to them.” Liz stated, as her smile grew wider at the thought of meeting them.

“I understand, Liz. They’re here. They want to see you. But I told them that I would need to explain things to you first. About everything.” Aryn started. She waited until Liz agreed with her on that, before she went on. “You know that your father is a shape shifter. When the real Jeff Parker was killed in the Vietnam war, your father took over his form.”

Liz gave a small gasp. Her father was an alien. All of this time, he was an alien and she never had any clue to it. “What about my mother?” Liz asked curiously, scrunching her forehead in question.

“No. Nancy Parker isn’t an alien. What we did with you, Alex, Zack and Krit was different from the two groups of the Royal 4. They were podded. You weren’t. We took DNA from humans and then we used humans as surrogates for you. You were born to Nancy Parker. She was your surrogate.” Aryn explained to Liz.

“I always wondered how come I didn’t look like my parents. How I got brown eyes when they both had blue eyes. I had kind of convinced myself that my mother had an affair.” Liz said with a slight smile. “But I was wrong. I got my genes from someone else. Whatever happened to the person who’s DNA I share?” she asked. This was all very interesting to her. When she told Michael the truth about who she was, they would have to compare notes about this. Liz grimaced at the thought. If she told Michael, then the others would know about it also. She wasn’t completely ready to face them.

“That’s an easy question.” Aryn said, smiling at Liz. “You got your DNA from my grandmother, Andrea Norris. You were originally implanted in my aunt Sheila, so that when you were born, no one would question how come you looked so much like grandma. But Aunt Sheila was murdered months before you were to be born. After she was killed, my father decided that they should wait a while before they implanted you again. They also decided they needed to give you some extra genes that you make you able to fight, to protect yourself if the occasion arrived. So they gave you a bit of feline DNA. Your not the only one, there are eight others like you, only one other girl.”

Liz’s mouth fell open at the new revelations. She had cat DNA. “How the hell could they have done that?” she wondered out loud, very confused by this new bit of information. “So you’re saying that essentially that you and I are related. Cause my DNA comes from your grandmother.” Liz said. When Aryn nodded, she went on. “What was Sheila’s last name? Norris?”

Aryn shook her head. “No. It was Hubble. Sheila Hubble.”

Liz jerked her head to meet Aryn’s eyes. “Sheila Hubble? As in Everett Hubble?” Liz asked, unsure of Aryn’s answer. She had thought that she had everything, well at least almost everything. But now she finds out that she’s connected to the man who tried to kill Max last year. It was unsettling.

“Yes. Everett married Sheila in 1970. They were incredibly happy. I was barely five years old, but Sheila was so happy, happier than I had ever seen her before. She’d found out that she was pregnant shortly before she was murdered. She didn’t know about what had been done. She didn’t know that it really wasn’t her child. Mom and Dad were going to tell her after you were born. But then she died.” Aryn replied.

“Can you explain all of that to me a little more. I don’t understand how I can have cat DNA and been planted in a second surrogate.” Liz asked, the scientist in her fascinated about how the aliens had done all of this. How they were able to create her and implant her into a human’s womb, not once but twice they had done it.

Aryn smiled at Liz’s interest about all of this. “I think that I should get my father. He can tell you everything that you want to know. Since he was one of the ones who engineered it all.”

“I’d really like that.” Liz said, smiling. She had always liked Dr. Metzler. . .Aryn. She’d always felt a kinship with the woman and here she was finding out that they were related in a weird sort of way. What exactly was Liz to Aryn? Aryn’s grandmother had been like Liz’s mother, since she got her genetics from the woman. So did that make her Aryn’s aunt. It was so weird and confusing.

“Let me call him.” Aryn said, stepping back behind her desk. She picked up the telephone and punched in several numbers. A moment later, she was talking to someone on the other line. “Can you come here, Dad. She’d like to know some of your expertise. Okay.” Aryn hung up the phone and turned back to Liz. “He’s on his way. Zack and Krit are coming with him, too. There really anxious to meet you. You’d like to talk to them?”

“Yes. Yes!” Liz said happily, jumping a little at the thought of meeting her brothers finally, but she sobered up as a thought jumped into her head. “Khivar stabbed me in the stomach. Is my baby okay?”

Aryn walked to Liz and held her hand in front of Liz’s stomach but not touching it. Liz watched dazed as Aryn did this. Wow, the advantages of an alien were so cool, she thought to herself.

Aryn frowned and a moment later, her hand fell away. She meet Liz’s anxious eyes and smiled. “Your baby’s fine. He’s okay.”

Liz smiled. PJ was fine. She felt so great. Her little boy was alright. Liz thought about Aryn’s frown. Was he okay? If he was, why would she frown? “Are you sure?”

Aryn could kick herself for worrying Liz this way. She hadn’t meant to. But something about this pregnancy was different. This pregnancy was developing faster than any normal hybrid pregnancy that she had ever witnessed. But then again, Liz was the first female hybrid pregnancy.

There were only six female hybrids on this Earth that Aryn knew of. Liz, Isabel, Tess, Aryn, Cerina Travers and a girl that she had never met. Her father had never told her the girl’s name, but Aryn knew for a fact that he was her doctor. Aryn didn’t understand why her father was so secretive about this girls identity, but she trusted him and knew that he was doing what was best for all of them. But Liz shouldn’t be the first, Aryn thought to herself. Liz was a seventeen year old girl who deserved to be a teenager. But Liz’s pregnancy was going to be documented, since it was a first. Liz and her baby didn’t deserve that. But Aryn’s own pathetic romantic relationships had never led to anything as serious as a child.

Liz barely noticed Aryn’s silence. She was too busy thinking about her son and her brothers. She was so happy, she was afraid that she was going to burst. She was fine, PJ was fine. She was going to see her brothers for the first time in over 50 years. She couldn’t wait.

The sound of the door opening wrenched both Liz and Aryn out of their thoughts and they both looked to see who walked in without knocking.

A tall man led two others into the room. He was tall and looked rather intimidating. He had a full head of jet black hair and the darkest eyes Liz had ever seen. They looked as dark as night. He kinda reminded Liz of Victor Newman from Young and the Restless, she thought stifling a giggle.

Liz forgot all about him the moment she saw the blonde haired boy. He looked older than her by maybe two years or so. He was tall, definitely over six feet tall, with thick straight blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. There was a hardness to him that Liz ached to take away from him but knew that she couldn’t.

Liz watched him silently for several more seconds, then she launched herself into his arms. “Jasper!” Tears fell from Liz’s eyes as she hugged her brother for what seemed like a lifetime.

Slowly she eased herself away from him and turned to the boy who stood there watching them with a smile. He was also tall, but a little shorter than Jasper, he looked fit and muscular. Instead of blonde hair, he had thick dark chestnut hair and dark eyes. He didn’t have the hardness that Jasper had. He looked more laid back and go with the flow.

“Aiden.” she said, hugging him tightly. So much lost time. They had missed on each other’s life this time around.

Liz drew back and looked at her brothers. They looked so different from one another, how’d that happen? She gave them a lop sided grin. “I’m sorry. You don’t go by those names anymore. You’re Zack and you’re Krit.” she said, pointing first to the blonde and then to the brunette.

Krit returned her smile. “Hi, Lizzie. I missed my baby sister. I’m sorry that we weren’t there for you. He shouldn’t have gotten to you.” he said soberly, his smile fading from his face, making him look a lot older than her actually was.

“He’s right. We should have been there for you. It’s our faults. Can you forgive us?” Zack said quietly, meeting Liz’s eyes.

“No!” she declared. Jasper. . .Zack was the same. Always so hard on himself. “It was my fault. I let it happen. Don’t go taking the blame for something that’s not your fault.” she said sharply, remembering what Alex had told her himself. It wasn’t her fault that he was dead, just like it wasn’t Zack and Krit’s fault that Khivar had taken her.

Bill Metzler cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to interrupt your reunion with your brothers, your highness. But does the king know that Khivar is dead?”

Liz shook her head. “No. I don’t think he knows, yet how large this all turned out to be. When the time is right, he’ll know. I’ll tell him.” Liz told him, then she remembered the questions that she had for him. “I have some questions. How did you do this cat DNA thingy? Whose the other girl that has this thingy? And if I am how will it affect me? How could I be implanted into a human surrogate twice? After Sheila died how did you get me out? How long is a hybrid pregnancy?” Liz questioned, thoughts racing through her head.

Bill smiled at her questions. Troian was exactly the same inquisitive person that she had been back on Antar. Bill had been proud to have known her. She’d been the beloved Queen of Antar. Everyone who knew her loved her gentleness. Apparently Khivar had been obsessed with her to kidnap her.

Bill was filled with self-loathing. He couldn’t believe that he allowed for this to happen to her again. He had thought he’d concealed her identity from their enemies. But they had found her. Bill had once been Troian’s head of security. A friend to her during the hours that they spent together.

The memory of finding Troian’s lifeless body at the old cemetery was burned into his mind forever. He could see himself finding her body swollen with the child that she carried covered in blood. It hadn’t been a pleasant death he could tell as much. He could still hear Zan’s anguished screams as he cradled his pregnant wive’s body to his own. Not noticing the blood that began to stain his clothes.

Bill cleared his throat again, to stop his thoughts. He didn’t want to remember that. That had all happened a long time ago. Troian was a different person, she was now Elizabeth Parker. But she was still his Queen.

[ edited 1 time(s), last at 27-Dec-2001 9:47:30 PM ]
posted on 27-Dec-2001 9:51:37 PM
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Zack and Krit are NOT the ones from Dark Angel, I just modeled them after the DA ones.


Chapter 12



“So full of questions aren’t you, your highness?” Bill said with a smile.

Liz shook her head at him. “Don’t call me that. My names Liz.” she told him, smiling.

“First of all, when we came here to Earth, we took DNA from Andrea Norris and we started to do the whole process. You were kept in a pod like incubation womb while we were doing the rest of the work. It enabled you to not be harmed in any way, not like what we heard happened to one of the royal four pods. It wasn’t until Sheila died that we gave all of you the feline DNA. With this extra kick you would be able to protect yourself both in the womb and out.” Bill began to explain.

“Is that why it seemed so natural to me when I was fighting Khivar? I’ve never done that kind of thing before. I’ve never really been in a fight before so it didn’t make any sense at all to me. It just seemed so natural to me.” Liz said, softly.

Zack smiled at her words. She was a fighter. She had kicked the bastards ass all on her own, he thought. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been a fighter before back on Antar. It was just back then she had been a lady who didn’t do that sort of thing. Liz is not Troian, he told himself. She was LIZ.

“We had to wait until they coroner’s did the autopsy before we were able to take you out of Sheila’s womb. No one suspected anything because she was completely human. Though I’m sad to say that Everett was never the same after Sheila’s death. He just became to hard, he allowed no one to get near him and then there was all that business at the Silo. Everett was a good man, he was just so consumed with his pain that he didn’t see things straight. We put all of you back into the incubation pods after Sheila’s death and we moved to Artesia; we knew that an alien had killed her. With the hand print on her. We waited several years before we started to implant you all again. The pregnancies of you all lasted five years, while Stephanie’s pregnancy with Aryn lasted seven months.” Bill continued.

“Five years? That is such a long time for a pregnancy.” Liz said, shell shocked.

“Yeah. But it was worth it. All of you were born. And as to your question about the feline DNA, there are only two of you. You and Cerina.” Bill went on.

“Cerina?” Liz muttered. He just said Cerina. Was that the Cerina that Future Max had told her about. Liz was so confused. What the hell had happened in that previous time line? If they had known Cerina, then did that mean that Future Max had known about who she was? If he had why had he come back to change things, to make her fall out of love with him? Liz didn’t understand, but damn it she wouldn’t get any answers. The only one who had known what really happened was Future Max and he was freaking gone.

“Krissane. Lexus’s wife back on Antar. One of your best friends.” Krit spoke up with a smile on his face. He was just so happy that his sister was here with them. He and Zack were going to make sure that nothing bad would ever happen to her again. She didn’t deserve for all that shit to happen to her. She looked really bad, her face covered in bruises and that bandage on her face.

Liz nodded at his words. She remembered her. Krissane had been her best friend and her sister-in-law on Antar, twice actually. Krissane was married to Troian’s brother, Lexus and Troian had been married to Krissane’s brother, Zan. She had been closer to Krissane than Vilandra.

“This feline DNA that we gave you gives a number of things that the royal four do not possess. You have enhanced strength, speed and agility. You have advanced telescopic and night vision, you can see farther and you see at night. Your hearing is hyper sensitive, you can hear things from a distance. Your mental processing skills are greater than the average human making you smarter. Your reflexes are like a cat’s, you know how they can always land on there feet. You have a much stronger lung capacity, you can hold your breath for 4 minutes and more. Zack’s had a record of four minutes and twenty six seconds that no one has managed to knock over. Maybe you can.” Bill said, winking at her. “You don’t require more than six hours of sleep. Some can go with only three hours of sleep. And this is the most important thing concerning you and Cerina. After your seventeenth birthday, whenever the V shape is aligned in the sky, females go into a sort of a heat.”

Liz’s mouth dropped open. “What? I go into heat?” she asked shocked by what he had just told her. She hoped that he was just messing with her head about it, but she could tell that he wasn’t.

Aryn shook her head. “Yes. We had no idea what was going on until Cerina started to go through it. We were quite shocked and we figured it out. Luckily for you, since you turned seventeen last year there hasn’t been an alignment. But there’s going to be one in six weeks. It’ll be just us three girls. You, me and Cerina. Don’t worry, Liz. It doesn’t last for long, eighteen hours at the most.” Aryn said, smiling.

Liz bit her lip at Aryn’s words. She was scared about what would happen to her. Would she jump any male that came near her? Liz frowned as she thought about that. She really hoped that she wouldn’t. Liz decided to change the subject to something else. “Where do Zack and Krit get their DNA from?” she asked curiously.

“Well, we decided that it’d be best if we stayed with family genes. So people wouldn’t question why there wouldn’t be a question of paternity. Krit got his DNA from Stephanie’s brother, Christopher. And Zack’s got his from Stephanie’s uncle, Zachary.” Bill explained to Liz.

Liz nodded understanding. “So that’s why Krit and I resemble one another, because Christopher was Andrea’s son. And Zachary was Andrea’s brother.”

Bill nodded. “Yes. So if people questioned the resemblance, you could always say that we are family that wasn’t talking to your own.”

“What about Alex? Why was he separated from us?” Liz asked quietly. In the nine days that she had been with Khivar she had so many questions that needed answers.

“We didn’t have any more male DNA from the Norris family so we used a man named Jonathon Dalton. Charlie married Dalton’s daughter, Annette, so there’d be no suspicions about Alex’s resemblance. We thought that it was best that we separated you because if the Skins found out what we had done they’d be looking for a family of four or five. We couldn’t let them do that so you were separated. We knew that you would you would find your brothers in Roswell, Liz.” Bill explained, hoping that he had answered her question. But the way that her brain worked, Bill wasn’t sure if he had.

“How could we find one another?” Liz questioned. She knew that she must be annoying him with all of her questions. But she needed the answers to them. Her entire life had been a lie.

“We can sense one another.” Bill said pausing. He rubbed his forehead before he went on. “Have you ever watched that show Highlander?” he asked.

Liz frowned. She didn’t quite know where he was going with all of this. “Yes.”

Bill smiled at her confusion. “The immortals are able to feel each other. They’d hear like a sound in their head. The same thing happens to us but without the sound. That’s how you found Alex and why you were always so drawn to Max, even before he saved your life at the Crashdown.”

Zack frowned at the mention of Max. “Dad, Aryn can Krit and I have some time alone with our sister?” he asked, turning to his father.

Bill nodded. “Sure. I’m going to go phone your mother. Steph can’t wait to meet you, Liz.” Bill said as he and Aryn headed out of the room arm in arm.

“Aryn! Can you tell my parents?” Liz asked softly, before Aryn left the room, referring to her pregnancy, hoping that Aryn understood what she was asking for.

Aryn nodded solemnly, fully understanding. She gave Liz a small smile. As soon as the door closed behind them, Zack and Krit turned to meet her eyes.

“Can we heal you, Liz?” Zack asked quietly. His heart was breaking at the sight of his baby sister like this. Khivar had hurt her very badly and he was lucky that he was dead otherwise Zack would have had to kill him with his bare hands.

Liz nodded. “Yeah. But you can’t heal my face completely. Valenti and Max have seen me already. They’ll know that something is going on if I suddenly am all healed.” Liz said softly, as she slowly tore the bandage off of her cheek.

Krit gulped quietly as he saw the wound on her face. He nodded at her words. “Okay. Say do you want us to kick the jerk’s royal ass?” he said, hoping to make his sister smile or laugh. Anything to make her feel better. She looked so sad and desolate. He hated that, he wanted to see her look happy. That’s what she deserved. To be happy.

Liz attempted a smile but the pain was intense. “No. He’s not a horrible person. It’s not his fault. Not at all.” she said, defending Max. Even though she knew that they meant well, she felt that she had to defend Max. They didn’t know him like she did— or had.

Krit moved closer to Liz and held his hand in front of her face. Close but not directly touching her.

Liz closed her eyes, not knowing what to expect. And all of a sudden she felt a warmness on her face that lasted for about half a second before it was gone. She snapped her eyes open and smiled at Krit. It didn’t hurt anymore. “Thanks.” she said softly.

Liz’s hands trembled as she began to unbutton the flannel shirt her father had given her to wear. “Can you heal this?” she asked, pointing to the crude looking K on her chest, near her heart. She didn’t care about any of the bruises that she had. She wanted to get this thing removed from her body. It would be a constant reminder to her of what happened. The memories and eternal inside scars would be enough for her. She didn’t want to have to see this every time she changed her clothes.

“Son of a bitch. If he wasn’t dead, I’d kill him with my bare hands.” Zack growled, gritting his teeth. She was covered with bruises, small cuts, bites marks and stab wounds. That bastard had hurt his baby sister so much. Zack clenched his fist, the anger was swelling up inside him like a volcano getting ready to erupt. Khivar had abused his sister.

Krit bit the inside of his cheek. Red hot anger raced throughout his body at the sight of Liz’s upper body. He wanted to cry for the pain that she had gone through. No one should go through that. When Krit had healed the bruises a bit he had felt a presence in Liz. It was a baby. He didn’t want to believe it. But he knew that it was true. Liz was pregnant. With Khivar’s baby. That bastard got his sister pregnant. Krit knew that he had to be strong for Liz. She needed that right now. She didn’t need anyone’s scorn, shock or disappointment. All she needed was love and support. And damn it, that’s what he was going to give her.

Krit smiled softly at her as he held his hand to the wound and was instantly connected to her. And a series of flashes came to them both.

**********

Four year old Liz rhythmically hitting her head into a wall. Whispering softly to herself. “Aiden. Lexus. Jasper. Rath. Lexus, Jasper. Rath. Aiden.”

“Liz. Liz. Don’t do that, sweetheart. Please don’t.” Nancy Parker said, grabbing Liz carrying her in her arms. Nancy ran her fingers over Liz’s small forehead, checking for any bumps or bruises. But found nothing. Nancy pressed a light kiss on her forehead. “Please, don’t do that. It scares Mommy.”

**********

“I miss her, Zackie.” Six year old Krit announced to his brother.

Zack threw his arm over his brother’s shoulder. “I miss her too, Krit. But dad says that Troian is fine. That she’s safe as long as we aren’t all together. Same goes for Lexus.” Zack said, trying to put his brother at ease.

“Her name’s Lizzie. Lizzie! Not Troian. Just like Lexus’ name is Alex.” Krit said fiercely, giving his brother an evil eye.

**********

“I have some really bad news, guys.” Bill said solemnly.

“What? Liz and Alex didn’t take the news very well, did they?” Zack asked, smiling.

Krit knew the look on his father’s face was serious. Something bad had happened. He prayed to god that it wasn’t Alex or Liz. They were finally learning the truth about who they were, they were finally going to be reunited. Nothing bad could happen to them. Not when they were all so close to the truth. “Dad, what is it?” he asked softly.

“Alex is dead.” Bill stated, tears in his eyes.

Krit felt the air inside him leave. No. No! NO! His brother wasn’t dead. Lexus wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be. He couldn’t. Not again. Krit couldn’t have lost Lexus again. “No. NO! Lexus isn’t dead. You’re wrong.”

“I’m so sorry. He died earlier tonight. Apparently it was a car accident. I’m so very sorry, boys.”

**********

“Alex killed himself. I read the report myself. He killed himself. There was no one there besides him. He did it all on his own. He killed himself!” Max said bluntly, coldly with no emotion.

With all of her might, Liz slapped him across the face. Hard. “Alex wouldn’t have kill himself and I’m going to prove it to all of you. I will find whoever murdered him and make them pay with their life. I will die finding Alex’s killer.” Liz stated with determination.

“I’m going to tell you this once.” Max said, threateningly. “From now on you don’t know me. When you see me look the other way. If you come near me, I will walk the other way. None of us will ever go into the Crashdown again. Forget that you ever knew me. I’ll forget that I ever knew you. But if you ever tell anyone about who we are, you will regret that I saved your life.” Max finished strongly.

Liz exploded in anger. “Who the fuck do you think you are? Threatening me like that? You maybe be their king, but you’re not mine. You are nothing to me. You’ve brought us nothing but pain and heartache. I wish I never knew you. I wish that you never ever saved my life, because that was the day you destroyed it!” Liz lashed out at him, saying things that had built up inside her for years. Things that she had never even dreamed telling him.

A silence followed Liz’s harsh words and a moment later Max stalked out of the room, closely followed by Tess, Isabel and a reluctant looking Michael.

**********

Khivar smiled down at her. “Marking you.” he stated simply.

“Why?” she asked, biting her lip.

“So that everyone will know that you are mine. My name will be on your body forever. Anyone to tries to touch you will see that you are marked by the Emperor.” Khivar explained, his smile becoming a feral grin. Khivar raised his arm above Liz.

Liz gasped as she saw the knife. He tore down the top of her nightgown. Khivar poised the knife right next to her heart and slowly brought it down to her chest.

“Aaah!” Liz screamed as Khivar began to cut her with the knife. Pain slammed into Liz as she struggled to breathe, the pain was just so overwhelming. Liz gasped and took in an unsteady breathe. “Please don’t, Khivar. Don’t.” she begged but her words were futile.

Khivar was smiling at her and drew the knife back down to her skin and made another line into her chest, finishing the K that he had carved. Khivar’s smile widened. “Now everyone will know that your mine after we get back to Antar. Mine! Not that idiot’s but mine!” he said, triumphantly.



[ edited 1 time(s), last at 27-Dec-2001 9:53:16 PM ]
posted on 27-Dec-2001 9:56:37 PM
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Zack and Krit are NOT the ones from DARK ANGEL. I just modeled them after them; cause that show rocks. *happy*


Chapter 13



Krit and Liz gasped as the flashes ended. Krit drew his hand away from her and realized that he had healed all of the marks covering her upper body, not just that cruel looking K. He gave her a smile, letting her know that it was okay. That it was all okay. That it was okay with him what she had seen in his head.

Liz threw herself into Krit’s arms, forgetting that she was half naked. All of her thoughts were on her brother. Oh, god. The night Alex had died they were going to be told the truth. How different things would have been if only she’d stayed at Alex’s house that night. It wouldn’t have happened. He would still be alive.

“I’m so sorry. You weren’t expecting that. You expected your brother to find out the truth instead you find out that he died. I’m sorry.” Liz said softly as she held her brother in her arms.

Krit could feel the tears that threatened to overtake him. A myriad of emotions were going through him. God, what he had seen was horrible. That stupid bastard that they called their king had destroyed his sister and had declared that his brother had killed himself. Krit was so angry at Max. He wanted to cry for the pain of that night, that his father had told him that Alex was dead. But Krit knew that he had to be strong, for his family, for the cause. He couldn’t think about his pain when his planet was suffering so much.

Krit pulled away, slightly embarrassed by his behavior. His pain was nothing compared to Liz’s. “It’s okay. So when’s the baby due?” he asked, changing the subject.

Liz’s eyes widened in shock. How the hell had he found out about PJ? She had wanted to tell them herself, not that it would have been easier that way. He must have found out when he connected with her.

“What? What baby?” Zack demanded an answer to the question he hoped wasn’t true. The fucking bastard had raped his sister, his only sister. Zack felt hot anger course through his body.

Liz cleared her throat nervously. “Uh. Congratulations guys. Your going to be uncles to the most adorable boy on the face of the Earth.” she said lightly, hoping to make them feel better about what she was telling them. She knew that it wouldn’t be easy for them to understand that she was going to keep this baby.

Krit smiled and hugged Liz. Even if it was Khivar’s baby she was happy about it. If she was happy about it, then he was happy. This was his nephew, his baby sister’s baby. Geez, his little sister was going to have a baby at the age of seventeen. Damn, that was way too young for her. She wasn’t even married or anything. She was going to raise her baby all on her own, her son wouldn’t have a father. From what Krit had seen of Max, he didn’t want that prick anywhere near his sister.

Zack stepped closer to Liz and touched her shoulder softly. “Is it Khivar’s or Max’s?” he asked quietly, hoping that the loser had gotten her pregnant. He’d rather have it be Max’s than Khivar’s. Technically, Max was once her husband so he guessed that it was okay that they had slept together. But if it was Khivar’s then that meant that Khivar had raped his sister. He didn’t know what he would do if Khivar was the father.

Liz shook her head sadly. “It’s not Max’s. Khivar is—“ Liz looked away from him, unable to continue with what she was going to say. After a moment, she turned her gaze back to him. “It’s my baby. My son. And that’s all that matters to me.”

Zack drew her in a hug. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m gonna have a nephew. He’s going to be so spoiled. I’m going to buy him toys and everything. What’s his name? You know, Zachary is a great name for a boy.” he said, grinning at her. She had confirmed the worst to them. But what she needed right now was for him to be there for her. He was her brother, and she was going to need him and their whole family while she goes through all of this.

Liz laughed with tears in her eyes. They were accepting her child even with Khivar as his father. “PJ. Short for Peter Jeffrey.”

“Lizzie, who’s gonna be his god father? Me, right?” Krit said, giving her a wink. He could tell that she was indeed happy about her baby. He could still remember how happy she had been on Antar when she found out that she was pregnant with Sorcha. She’d practically been bouncing off the walls.

Zack rolled his eyes at Krit. “Geez, bro, give her some time to think about these things. Besides, she always liked me better so I’m gonna be his god father.” he said, sticking his tongue out at his brother.

“Liked you better? Hah. I think not. The only reason that you think that is because you were the babies of the family. She always liked me better because I was smart, funny and gorgeous.” Krit said devilishly.

Zack’s mouth fell open. “What? I don’t think so. She likes me better.”

Liz stepped between her brothers and smiled at them. They were the same as they had been on Antar. Always fighting and goofing off with one another. They were so cute. “I love you both. You both are smart, funny and gorgeous. Maria is going to be my baby’s god mother. So maybe Michael will be his godfather. Maybe.” she replied.

This time both of their mouths fell open. “Damn that, Rath for being the oldest. You know that’s the only reason why she’s picking him, Zack.” Krit spoke up, looking over at his brother.

Before Liz could respond there was a knock at the door and a moment later Aryn stuck her head in. “Sorry to interrupt you guys. But your parents want to head back, Liz. They have to deal with Valenti.”

Liz nodded and realized that she hadn’t bothered to button her shirt up. “Whoops. Sorry about that guys.” she said as she began to button up her shirt. “Aryn, can I ask you a question?” Liz said softly, biting her lip worriedly.

Aryn came into the room and walked to Liz. “Of course, you can.” she said softly.

Liz looked down at her stomach and back up at Aryn. “I know that my pregnancy isn’t normal. I can tell I’m a bit bigger. How long is my pregnancy going to be?”

Aryn smiled at Liz’s question. “Well, to tell the truth Liz. You are our very first female hybrid pregnancy. The other hybrid pregnancies have been with full blood male aliens and human females. So we don’t know exactly how long your pregnancy is going to be. Since your petite, I think that’s why you can already see the change in your body. Can you connect with your baby?” Aryn asked softly.

Liz nodded and put her hand protectively over her stomach. “Only when I’m dreaming. Not while I’m awake.”

Zack and Krit had been watching their two sisters. They looked like each other, except Aryn was taller and had the same color eyes as Zack. Little things that they did were so alike. “Is that normal, Aryn?” Zack spoke up curiously.

Aryn nodded, reassuring all three of them. “It’s perfectly normal. Usually women see their child in their dream plane looking about a year old or so. At their third month, the connection opens up further and they can feel the connection to the baby when your awake. You can talk to ‘em and everything. Like I said before all this information is from the hybrids births. My own and the others. With the surrogate is takes five years to be born, with my birth it took about seven months.” Aryn told them softly.

“I don’t think I can wait five years.” Liz said scared by the thought. She didn’t know how her mother could have managed to stay pregnant with her for so long without going crazy. She knew that she might go crazy having to wait five years. But then that would be five years to prepare and save for when she did actually have her baby.

“I don’t think that you’ll be pregnant for five years. Actually, I think by Halloween you’ll have given birth. I think your about five weeks. But when did you get pregnant.” Aryn asked looking Liz over.

“Nine days ago.”

Aryn nodded at her words and began to do the calculations in her head. “So in ten days your five weeks. So in about 70 days you should give birth. Maybe by July.”

“So no school for me. People will wonder how come I’m having a child when I haven’t looked pregnant.” Liz said, rubbing her forehead.

Aryn nodded. “That’s probably a very good idea. It might be best if you came to stay with us. The Skins might be coming after you because you killed Khivar. But then again they might keep you alive because of the baby.”

Liz was silent for a moment. She what Aryn was telling her was true. The could kill her for what she had done, or they might want to keep her alive. Just so she could have her baby. Liz nodded. “I know. They will want to get home and I have the Jagur crystal. They’ll be searching for me.”

“You have the Jagur crystal?” Krit said, his mouth dropped open wide with surprise. Damn, his sister was going to be a walking target for the skins. She had killed their leader, and now she had the only way for them to get home.

“Yup. Too bad I don’t know where the granolith is. They never told me where it was. Didn’t trust me anymore. Oh, well.” Liz said shrugging her shoulders.

“Liz, are you ready to go?” Nancy said as she entered the door of the room with Bill at her side.

Liz nodded. “Yeah. I’m ready, Mom.” she said, to her mother. She turned her attention to Bill and zipped open her backpack and pulled out the Jagur crystal to show him. The slim white crystal sparkled in the light. “I think that it would be best if you took care of this. I don’t have any place to hide it.” Liz knew that she could trust him with the crystal. She remembered how he had been back on Antar. She knew that he would do whatever she asked without any questions.

Bill couldn’t believe his eyes. Liz had the Jagur crystal. The only way for them to get home to Antar if they chose to. Bill stepped forward and took the crystal out of her hand. He nodded. “Yeah. I can take care of it.” he said, hoping to reassure her.

“Thanks.” Liz said giving him a smile. She turned to Zack and Krit. She hugged Krit first and then Zack. They were finally together again, and she didn’t want to leave them. “You better call me. We’re going to get together soon.”

Krit nodded. “You bet your ass we are. You aren’t going to get rid of us that easily. We are stuck together forever.” he said laughingly.

“If you ever need anything call us. All you have to do is think about us and call our names. We should hear you even with the distance.” Zack said, not wanting to let his baby sister go. If he let her go, then he couldn’t protect her or PJ. But Zack knew that Jeff would do everything in his power to make sure that nothing would happen to her. He knew that Jeff would sacrifice his own life for Liz’s.

“Ok. I will.” Liz said as she wiped the tears that began to form in her eyes. She didn’t want to leave them, but she knew that it was best for right now. They had a lot of things to deal with before Liz could start her move to Artesia.

Nancy drew a tender arm around Liz’s shoulder. “Call anytime. Anytime at all.” she said looking over at Zack and Krit as she led Liz away from them and out of their sight. Looking over her shoulder, Liz gave them a smile that said ‘til next time.
posted on 1-Jan-2002 5:12:17 PM
Chapter 14



“So why didn’t you guys tell me all this before? How long have you known about Daddy being an alien, Mom?” Liz asked her parents as soon as they were in the car driving home to Roswell. It was dark outside and the stars were sparkling up in the heavens.

Nancy turned around in her seat and gave Liz a weak smile. “We thought that it was best if you had a normal childhood instead of always knowing that you were different from everyone else. That you were special. When I first met your father, I didn’t know that he wasn’t really Jeff Parker. I found out a little later, and he told me the incredible story. The story of a planet who’s royal family was viciously killed. And that he wanted me to give birth to that planet’s queen. I admit that I was beyond shocked. I thought that he didn’t love me. That he’d only used me.” Nancy explained calmly to Liz. She loved Liz more than life itself. Even if she wasn’t her biological child, she had carried Liz in her for five years. Five wonderful years.

Jeff reached over and squeezed Nancy’s hand in comfort, urging her to continue with the story.

“Then I found out that I was pregnant, I was ecstatic, but scared. I didn’t know if my baby would be green and slimy or what. But I loved my baby. I felt instantly connected to him. I told Jeff about the pregnancy, and he took me to see Bill. Bill told me that my son wouldn’t be slimy or anything like you’ve seen in the movies. And that the connection was perfectly normal. Jeff told me that he loved me, he’d married me because he loved me, not because he wanted me to carry the queen. We were back together and we were happy when the worst thing happened.” Nancy said softly, a look of dread coming over her features.

“What?” Liz asked as the pieces began to fall into place for her. Her mother had been pregnant before, but there was no baby. Liz had never seen any pictures of a baby.

“Into my sixth month, I got into a car accident and I lost him. I lost my baby. The doctors told me that I’d never have another child. That I could never get pregnant again, because I had lost one of my fallopian tubes. I was so devastated, Liz. All I had ever wanted to be was a mother. And here I was told that I would never be one.” Nancy said, tears appearing in her eyes as she remembered the pain.

“I couldn’t stand seeing Nancy that way. All the pain that she was in. She wanted a baby so much. I told her that she could still have a baby. That she could give birth to you. Just that you wouldn’t have any of Nancy’s DNA in you. I explained to her about the whole process of how you would be born, how long it would take. Who’s DNA that we used, everything.” Jeff said, kissing his wife’s hand softly.

“I didn’t care about that. All I wanted was to carry a baby. To have that life grow inside of me. Jeff said that it’d be five years before I would give birth to you. Those years were the best five years of my entire life. I loved every single moment that I was pregnant with you. Every day was amazing. I became friends with Stephanie and Annette. We were going through the same thing. Stephanie was pregnant with Zack and Krit at the same time, though she had gotten pregnant two years before I was. Annette Whitman and I were do at the same time. And you know, we gave birth at almost the exact time.” Nancy said smiling at the memories of the past.

“June 21 and June 22.” Liz said, crinkling her nose in thought.

“Yes. Alex was born three minutes before midnight on June 21 and you were born five minutes after midnight on June 22. You’re not the only ones who were born on those two days.” Jeff said grinning.

“Oh, who?” Liz asked slightly confused about who her father was talking about.

“Zack and Krit. Zack was born three minutes before midnight on June 21, 1981. Krit was born five minutes after on June 22, 1981.” Nancy explained to a shocked Liz.

“Wow. We were born at the same time on the same days. It’s a little weird.” Liz said amazed.

“Yes, it must be sweetheart. But they’re good boys. They’ll defend you till the day they die. They’ll never let anything bad happen to you again.” Nancy said knowingly.

“How many other hybrids are around?” Liz asked curiously. Bill hadn’t said exactly how many more were out there. There were five that she knew of— Alex, Zack, Krit, Cerina and Aryn. Who else had they brought back, she wondered to herself.

Jeff scratched his jaw in concentration. “There’s about twelve hybrids. You, Zack, Alex, Krit, Tom, Cerina, Nathan and Simon are the other royal hybrids. The other four are children that some of us had.”

“Yeah. Aryn told me that I was one of two girls that has this feline DNA in me.” Liz said, slightly blushing at the thought of going into heat. It was so embarrassing. She prayed to god that she didn’t something stupid in front of her parents when she went through it. Aryn had told her that she would go through it after her 17th birthday. She’d turned seventeen almost a year ago. But this May, the stars would align perfectly and she’d go through it. It kinda scared Liz. She didn’t know exactly what to expect.

“Yes. Just you two girls. It really doesn’t affect the guys as much, other than them being irritable. They go through some things but it’s nothing like you two. Cerina and Aryn will be there with you all the way. No males are allowed anywhere near you when you go through it. Your liable to jump the first available male. Cerina turned 17 that August shortly before you were shot. Aryn had a hell of a time keeping Cerina from taking the door down.” Jeff said with a small chuckle.

Liz flushed slightly. Oh, hell. It was going to be that bad. She’d jump practically any male which would include her father. Ewww. Good thing that Aryn and Cerina would lock her away during this.

“Anyway. Everything about your birth was completely normal, Liz. I gave birth to you at the clinic. We couldn’t allow anyone outside of us knowing the truth. But right away something seemed wrong with you. You were always so quiet, you never cried. Claudia told us that she thought that something was wrong with you. She said that you had to be autistic.” Nancy said sighing, hoping to lead them away from the topic of Liz’s heat. She could tell that Liz was embarrassed by the talk.

Liz held up her hand, halting the talk. “Wait a minute. Did Grandma know that you were an alien, that you weren’t really her son?” Liz asked her father.

Jeff shook his head. “No. She didn’t know. The real Jeff Parker was KIA in Vietnam. We took it as an opportunity to get one of us on the inside of the Parker’s. Claudia’s father owned the Parkers’ which was a bar back in ‘47. We thought that there might be some information that was hidden somewhere. Someone connected to finding the ship. Bill visited Claudia and told her that it had all been a mistake that Jeff hadn’t been killed, and that set the stage for me to take over his life.” Jeff said, explaining how he had become Jeffrey Peter Parker. “I loved Claudia as if she was my own mother. My own mother died when I was a child back on Antar. Claudia was the only mother I ever had. Anyway, Mom was convinced that something was wrong with you. She begged me to take you to get tested. She even offered to pay for the expenses herself. She bugged the hell out of us. Until Nancy and I decided to finally get her off of our backs by taking you. The doctor told us that you had some form of autism. He said that you were incredibly smart, but that you were locked away in your head. That for some reason you didn’t want to come out.”

“I thought that it had something to do with you missing your brothers. I wanted you to meet them, but Bill and Jeff thought that it was too dangerous since you were just children. Who knew what kind of power you four would exhibit when you were together. The risk was just too great. You would bang your head against the wall all of the time. I didn’t understand why you would do that. It was like something was plaguing your head, and you were trying to get it out. Sometimes at dinner time, you would twirl the plates in the air. It amazed me that you could do that. You were only four years old. But you were so smart.” Nancy said, tears forming in her eyes.

Liz shook her head. “I don’t remember any of that.” she said sadly.

Jeff smiled and nodded. “I didn’t think that you would. One day Nancy took you to the park and you meet Maria. And you just opened up to her completely. You talked for the very first time to her.”

Nancy nodded her head. “It was so wonderful. I couldn’t believe it. You were talking and acting like a normal little girl. I was a bit jealous that you talked to someone you didn’t know first. But I understood. You found someone that you connected to, someone that you recognized. Someone that was like you.” Nancy abruptly stopped where she was. She glanced over at Jeff and gave him an apologetic look.

Instantly bells went off inside of Liz’s head. What was her mother talking about? Why did her father have that look on his face? “What? What do you mean by that?” Liz demanded.

“I’m sorry, Liz. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s not like Maria or Amy have any clue about it.” Nancy amended softly.

“Clue about what? What do you mean, Mom?”

“Maria’s father is— was Curan. The one that you called Nasedo. Amy and Maria have no clue that he was an alien.” Jeff said regretfully, meeting Liz’s eyes in the mirror.

Liz’s mouth dropped open. “You mean that Maria’s an alien? That she’s one of us?” Her eyes were as big as buttons.

“Well, she is an alien. Not like you and the others that were reborn. She was born to a human and an alien. She’s like Aryn. She doesn’t show any of her powers because she isn’t aware that she has any. Hybrids like her and Aryn have to work on their powers more than you or Krit would.” Jeff explained to Liz.

“That’s why I was drawn to her as a child.” Liz muttered to herself, remembering what Bill had told her. “I— how did you find out that Nasedo was Maria’s father?” Liz asked her parents confused.

“Well, we’ve always been on the lookout for any one suspicious ever since Sheila was murdered by a shape shifter. We didn’t want to lose someone else like her. When this Nasedo came last year, we first noticed him as Ed Harding. We were suspicious of him, especially because he had a teenage daughter, who tried to get into your group of friends. But all we could do was watch him. And he went to visit Amy once, as her ex, John. We saw no real reason for him to go do that. Since the first time that I meet Maria, I could tell that she was a hybrid. She had to have been the daughter of one of the aliens from the ‘47 crash, we just didn’t know who her father was. We knew that three of the six members of the ship had died when it crashed. Talos survived and was the one that contacted us and told us that Curan was a traitor and had forcefully crashed the ship. But we hadn’t heard any news on Ashur. So we deduced that her father had to be Curan, Talos or Ashur. But from what we gathered, Talos had died in the hands of the government, who dissected him, to see how he worked. So when this Nasedo character visited Amy, we were still didn’t know if her father was Curan or Ashur. The only thing that we could do was to continue to watch him, waiting for him to make his move. To see if he was the traitor or not. The reason we waited was because if it was confirmed to us that he was indeed the traitor, than we didn’t want him to know what we had done. He might have tried something against you.” Jeff said, scratching the side of his neck.

“When did you find out that he was the traitor?” Liz asked softly, rubbing her neck.

Jeff rubbed his jaw with his hand. “Well, we knew that he took Agent Pierce’s form and went back to DC. We didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary until the day before he came back to Roswell. He got several telephone calls from Arizona.” Jeff began.

“Copper Summit, Arizona, right?” Liz asked, the pieces came together for her.

Jeff nodded his head. “Yes, where the Skins reside. He had no reason to be in contact with them unless he was working with them. We had decided a long time ago, that the only way we would win this war was to beat them, we couldn’t compromise with them. They’d only stab us in the back. They obviously wanted him to do something. Something that he stalled on for way too long. And they killed him because of it.” Jeff continued.

“They wanted Tess to get pregnant with Max’s son, so that the people of Antar would have the King’s child on the throne. Khivar said that he would have arranged for an accident to occur and the child would be dead. So PJ would get the throne.” Liz explained, looking down at her hands. She could feel her parents eyes on her. She hadn’t had the nerve to tell her parents herself that she was pregnant. She was grateful that Aryn had done it for her. “Don’t worry, Max knows that Tess has been messing with his head. She won’t come anywhere near him. He won’t allow her to.”

Jeff nodded. “Bill suspected as much. But we weren’t sure. You know that Tess was the one who betrayed the king on Antar.” Jeff said, hesitantly, not knowing if she knew the whole truth of what led to their kingdom’s downfall.

Liz nodded. “I know exactly what she did. I know that she married Zan after I died. And then she turned around and stabbed him in the back. She helped with his murder, as well as the others.”

“Yes. Only we didn’t know about her involvement in Khivar’s plan when she was sent down to Earth. Khivar’s step father, Lord Dugin told Zanier’s mother, Nasira that he would help her defeat Khivar only if his beloved daughter be sent to Earth, with her husband. Your father threw a fit. He wanted you to be sent with Zanier, you were his first wife, his beloved wife. Zanier hated being married to Avarona. But Nasira needed Dugin’s help so she sent Avarona down. Unitas was convinced that Dugin was using Nasira and he told me so repeatedly.” Jeff explained, his head was back on Antar with all of the memories of the life he’d once had, the things that he’s seen and done.

“So what happened? Did Dugin betray Nasira?” Liz questioned quietly.

“Yes, he did. Once word was sent that they had crashed due to a traitor on board. Dugin went to Khivar. Unitas was pissed. He knew that it would happen. He told Nasira that he wanted to send you and Jasper to Earth, but she said that it was too dangerous. A short while later, more of the family was killed. Nasira’s other daughter, Krissane and her husband, Lexus were killed.” Jeff went on.

“Alex and Cerina, right?” Liz said softly.

“Yes. Alex and Cerina. Unitas only had Aiden left. He’d lost his children and his surrogate son, Bradeon. And then Niko killed Aiden in battle. Your father was destroyed. All that he had left was the idea that you could be reborn like the others. He told Nasira that he wanted you sent to Earth, that most of you were warriors, that Krissane was her daughter, that you were Zanier’s wife. That you were crucial to fight. And so she finally relented. Knowing that it was the only choice that she had left.” Jeff concluded.

“So she sent us down to earth.”

“Yes. She sent you down with two of the finest warriors Kayin and Jirair. They are also cousins of yours on your mother’s side. They both had died in battles. They’re eight of us that were sent down with the royals. Myself, Bill, Charlie, Todd, Miles, Bob, Brian and Caleb. Nancy and I raised you. Charlie and Annette raised Alex. Bill took Krit and Zack and had Aryn with Stephanie. Todd took Cerina. Miles took Tom and had a son, Jon. Brian took Simon. Caleb had a son, Clay. Clay’s a doctor like Aryn. He mainly works with the male hybrids while Aryn takes care of you and Cerina.” Jeff explained to her, knowing that he was giving her a lot of names to process, but then again Liz had always been a smart one. Must be her genes that made her exceptionally smart. She had a photogenic memory.

“What about Maria? Is Aryn her doctor or what?” Liz asked, slightly confused about that. She knew that they couldn’t have allowed Maria to be taken to any doctor, someone might see something that they didn’t understand with Maria’s genes.

Jeff shook his head. “Nah. She didn’t visit Aryn. Bill took care of her. When you and Maria met on the playground and became best friends, Nancy became friendly with Amy and found out that Amy had delivered Maria with the aid of a midwife. Amy was a young girl who didn’t have a lot of money for a hospital. So there were no tests or anything performed on Maria. Amy didn’t get around to getting Maria a birth certificate until it was almost time for her to start school and by that time, the two of you met. I told Amy of a wonderful doctor of mine that wouldn’t charge her much. Dr. William Metzler. Bill got everything squared away for Amy and Maria. He knew that as long as Maria didn’t get into anything serious that her status as an alien would be safe.”

Nancy nodded. “And it still is. Maria doesn’t go to the doctor’s very often. Other than an occasional cold, she’s as healthy as a horse. No one knows anything about any of you. And no one ever will.” Nancy stated. “You should try to get some sleep Liz. We won’t be home for a little while longer and you look like your going to fall right over.”

Liz smiled at her mother’s words. “Okay.” she said, as she closed her eyes trying to sink into the unconsciousness, where she would visited by her children. Hoping desperately she wouldn’t be submerged in anyone of the painful memories that had begun to haunt her sleep.

posted on 1-Jan-2002 5:17:55 PM
Chapter 15



NO!” Liz screamed, writhing and twisting to get away from the hateful touch. “Khivar, no, please let me go!”

“Shut up, you stupid bitch!” he roared and drew his hand back and slapped Liz across the face. “Never speak to me that way again!” He slapped her across the face again, causing blood to spurt from her nose.

Liz woke up with a start, drenched in a cold sweat. Sunlight was streaming through the window, hitting her full in the face. She squinted against the brightness as she attempted to focus her eyes. God, that dream had seemed so real to her. She didn’t want to remember what had happened. She didn’t want to dream about the bad things.

Her eyes landed on the bedside table and saw that it was eight o’clock in the morning. She had slept for about thirty minutes in the car after her talk with her parents, but when they had gotten home sometime after midnight, she had gone straight to bed. Only to toss and turn for a good three hours or so.

Just then her stomach began to rumble with hunger. Liz was just about to get up and get herself some food when there was a soft knock on her door.

“Liz, it’s Maria. Can I come in?”

Liz looked down at her hands for a moment. Was she ready to let Maria see the damage on her face. Thanks to Krit her face was about forty percent healed. The bruises were a faded color now, and the slash on her face wasn’t as deep as it had been before. It still hurt a little, but she decided to keep the bandage on her face, just in case Valenti came by unexpectedly. “Of course, you can come in.” she finally said.

“Oh, Liz. Are you ok? I’m so sorry, I wasn’t there for you. It’s all my fault. Can you ever forgive me?” Maria rambled on, placing the tray that she held on the night stand and moved closer to Liz.

Liz smiled slightly at Maria. “There’s nothing to forgive Maria. You didn’t do anything to me. You had no idea how big all of this would turn out to be.” she stopped before she could reveal more to Maria. She knew that she had sounded mysterious. But she wasn’t ready for Maria to know the truth about her. How would she react to the news that Liz was a hybrid, like the others, except she wasn’t born from a pod. Liz couldn’t risk Maria telling the others about what she knew.

“I really am sorry, Liz. I told Michael that something wasn’t right about your disappearing. But he was following Ma–“ Maria stopped short, realizing that she was going to say Max’s name. Michael had called her late last night and had told her about what Liz had done to Max at the hospital. Not that she blamed Liz for what she had done. She just didn’t know if Liz would react the same way. “Anyway, when he finally realized that I was right, Isabel dream walked you.”

“What? Isabel dream walked me?” Liz questioned confused. What had Isabel seen when she went into her dreams? Had Isabel seen Sorcha and PJ. Or had she seen Liz talking to Larek. Shit, what had Isabel seen? Liz hoped that Isabel hadn’t seen her talking to Larek. She wasn’t ready to face the pod squad and their questions just yet. Quite frankly, she didn’t want to see them right now, well, with the exception of Michael. She wanted to wait until she was all healed up and ready to kick Tess’ ass. Though she couldn’t wait to see Michael.

She wanted to throw her arms around her brother and give him a big kiss on his cheek. She had missed him. She missed the relationship that they once had. She wished that they could get it back. But after all that had happened, she wasn’t sure if they could. Granted, Michael didn’t know the truth of their relationship, he would soon enough. When she was ready, she’d tell him.

Maria watched Liz with sympathy and admiration at what she had went through. She looked so fragile, yet so strong. “How are you feeling? You look good.” she said, trying to change the subject from Isabel and the aliens.

“I look horrible, Maria.” Liz declared, remembering her reflection when she had looked in the mirror earlier. “I’m up and about and only the cuts and bruises need to heal themselves up.” Maria would have been shocked if she had seen her yesterday, Liz thought to herself.

Maria smiled at her best friend. She had missed her so much. She was going to make it up to Liz. “I’ve brought you some breakfast.” Maria removed the cover from the tray, revealing Liz’s favorites— blueberry waffles, scrambled eggs, toast with orange marmalade and a tall glass of milk. “I got all of your favorites, Liz. I hope this. . . “

Before Maria could finish the thought, Liz jumped out of the bed and ran to the bathroom. Her face was a sickly shade of pale green. Maria winced as she heard Liz throwing up in the bathroom.

Liz sat dazed on the bathroom floor, shuddering. That must be the joy of morning sickness, she thought wryly to herself. Liz grabbed a small towel and wiped the perspiration from her brow that had formed. She raised her head to meet Maria’s eyes, who had just barged into the restroom to care for her sick friend.

“Liz, what’s wrong?” Maria said, panicking. She didn’t know what was wrong with Liz or what to do. Maybe she should go get Liz’s parents.

Liz sighed and gave her friend her best smile. “Nothing. Probably just a bug or something. Can you help me back to the bed?” she asked quickly. She wasn’t quite ready to tell Maria about her baby.

Maria bent over and helped Liz off of the floor and they walked slowly to her room. After helping Liz lay down on the bed, Maria went back to the bathroom and returned with a cool wash cloth for Liz.

Maria started to wipe Liz’s face with the wash cloth. “Liz, maybe you should go see the doctor?” she questioned, concerned.

Liz yanked herself up and shook her head adamantly. “No! I’m fine.” She said, as she grabbed the tray and put it on her lap. She really was hungry. She couldn’t believe Maria had made her, her favorites for breakfast. Liz began to cut up the waffles with her fork and knife.

Maria bit her lip, unsure about what she should do. Liz didn’t want her to, but what if something was really wrong with her? “Are you sure? Maybe we should tell your parents?”

“No! I’m fine.” Liz insisted, meeting Maria’s eyes. “We have to talk about more serious things, Maria. Alex.” she said sadly, as she spread the marmalade on her toast.

Maria didn’t say anything, all she did was stare at Liz. Maria tried to prepare herself for the things that she was about to hear. She knew that it wasn’t going to be good things. Looking at the bruises that marred Liz’s face, she knew that Liz had gone through hell. She had gone through all of that to try to find Alex’s killer.

“I was right. Alex was murdered by Khivar.” Liz started, only to be interrupted by Maria.

“Khivar killed Alex because of Isabel?” Maria asked horrified at the thought that her best friend had died over a woman. That Alex had been killed over Isabel. Who hadn’t even cared that someone might have killed him. A person that was only worried about saving their own ass, and to hell with everyone else.

Liz looked away from Maria for a moment, not exactly sure about what she should exactly tel Maria. She couldn’t possibly tell Maria the truth about why Alex was murdered, but she also knew that she couldn’t blame Alex’s death on Isabel. It really wasn’t Isabel’s fault. After a moment, she turned back to her friend. “Not exactly. It’s a long and complicated story, Maria. I want you to tell them that I killed Alex’s murderer. Khivar is no longer a threat to them.”

Maria nodded. She was shocked. Her friend had killed a person. Had taken away someone’s life. Albeit, it that the person had been their enemy and her kidnaper. But it shocked her nonetheless. “Khivar was in Sean’s body?” she asked, urging Liz to go on with what had happened.

“Yes. Like Larek how he possess Brody’s body. It was the same. Once the alien communicator is turned on, aliens in the region can’t use their powers. So, after I turned it on. Khivar couldn’t use his powers, which meant that he couldn’t leave the body he was in. So, I. . .I killed him.” Liz explained, hoping that Maria wouldn’t start asking her questions like How she had known to use the communicator? Then, Liz might have to tell her about Larek visiting her. And if she told her that, Maria would wonder why Larek had came to he. Liz wasn’t ready for that just yet.

Maria bit the inside of her lip at the mention of her cousin. They hadn’t been close, but he was her family. And he was dead. “What about Sean? Did he know that he was going to die?”

Liz shook her head at Maria. “No. Sean’s been dead for months. Sean was brain dead when Khivar took over his body. Khivar’s been in Sean’s body for all this time. I don’t know how exactly Khivar managed to do all of it. He didn’t tell me. He had other things on his mind.” Liz said, ruefully, trying to make light of what had been done to her. The things that she had endured at Khivar’s hands.

“Wait. Khivar lived in my house for all of these months. He pretended to be my cousin. Why would he do that?” Maria asked shocked by the news. She hadn’t even known that it hadn’t been her cousin. He’d had them all fooled. For so many months. “Well, I guess that’s good. He didn’t suffer. I don’t know how you survived there with that bastard. Why did he take you anyway, Liz? Was he going to use you as bait for the others? I don’t understand that.” Maria said, confused. She still didn’t understand what had been Khivar’s motive in taking Liz. “What else did he do to you, Liz?”

“Oh, god. It was so horrible, Maria. He— he formed a connection with me. The things that I saw. It was horrible.” Liz admitted, closing her eyes trying to keep the unwanted memories away. She didn’t want to replay Zan’s death in her head. Or even the disgusting relationship that Khivar had with both Vilandra and Avarona.

“He made a connection to you?” Maria asked shocked at the thought. If she remembered correctly, when Max had made the connection to Liz, she had seen inside of his head, his memories. “Did you see how they died?” she asked curiously. Liz had seen everything through the eyes of a psychotic. She probably knew more than the others did about their lives back on Antar.

Liz nodded. “I didn’t see how Michael died. But I saw how Max and Isabel died. Michael was killed by Nicholas. He bragged about it to Khivar. He said that he made Rathard suffer before he killed him.” She said as she meet Maria’s sad eyes as she thought about Nicholas’ cruel words about her brother’s death.

“Geez, I can’t believe that you saw that. There’s nothing worse than seeing how your loved ones died.” Maria said subdued. She felt so sorry that her friend had to go through that. Seeing how Max had been killed back on his planet.

Liz looked away from Maria. There was something worse than that, she thought to herself. Remembering each and every detail about how you were viciously murdered. Reliving the pain and that last agonizing moment before everything went black. Trying desperately to fight back for your life, to save your child. But being unable to.

“I don’t want them to know about this, Maria. Can you keep this between the two of us?” Liz stated, rather than ask as she began to eat the waffles and eggs.

Maria nodded her head at Liz’s request. It was the least that she owed her friend after she had told them about Future Max. “Umm, Liz. There’s something that I need to tell you.” she began hesitantly.

Liz stopped chewing and frowned at Maria. “What?”

Maria bit her lip, before she began. “I told them about Future Max, Liz. I’m sorry. I was so angry when I found out that Khivar had taken you. I blamed them and I told Max that it was all that damn Future Max’s fault. That if he hadn’t come back, then this wouldn’t have happened. I’m so sorry, Liz. Can you forgive me?”

Liz gave Maria a slight smile. “It’s okay. You were angry, but I’m glad that they know this. That they know the truth finally. I wouldn’t have told them about it. I’m glad that you did.” she said as she ate her toast.

“You’re not mad at me?” Maria asked quietly.

Liz shook her head. “Nah. It is better that they know about what happened. I really wouldn’t have told them. So, how are you? Have you been okay? What about Kyle?” Liz asked, concerned for what had happened to her two friends while she’d been gone.

“I’m fine. Kyle’s fine. Nothing happened to us.” Maria said, biting her lip as she tried to decide whether or not to tell Liz about Tess’ mind warping of Max. Liz should know that the things that Max had told her after Alex’s funeral, he hadn’t meant. He would never had said those things to her, that Tess had made him say all of it. “Tess had been mind warping Max for awhile. She made him say all those horrible things to you at Alex’s funeral.” she threw in, meeting Liz’s sad eyes. Liz’s eyes that looked like they had seen so much for someone so young.

Liz bit the inside of her cheek at the mention of Max. She had know that already. But she wasn’t about to tell Maria that. “Oh. Well, I guess it makes sense now. Why he said the things that he said.” she said simply, not knowing what else she could say.

“Do you want me to rip the bitches hair out?” Maria offered with a smile. She would give anything to see Liz smile. “You know, I actually did get a punch in her face. She said some bitchy comment about you and I finally went off on her. Michael couldn’t stop me even if he tried.”

Liz smiled, despite the pain in her face. Damn, she missed it. She would have given anything to see Maria take down the blonde bitch. She wondered if Maria had done any damage to Tess’ face. Though Liz knew if there’d been even a hint of a bruise, that Tess would have fixed it. Tess had always been a vain person. “I’m sorry I missed that.” she said laughingly.

“I am too. I tossed the little blonde out on her ass. It was so much fun.” Maria said with a smile. “So, Lizzie do you want to go do something. We could go shopping, just have a girls day out. If you don’t mind waiting until after I tell them.” she said, referring to the others.

“It’s Tuesday. So don’t you have school?” Liz asked with a smile.

“Who cares about school? I can skip. Besides, I’m going to miss first period anyway, so I can talk to them. What’s missing a few more classes for my very best friend?” Maria said with a wave of her hand.

“Oh, Maria. That’s a great offer. But you need to go to your classes. School’s going to be over in a month. Besides, I think that my parents would want to keep me home.” Liz asserted.

Maria nodded her head. “Alright. That reminds me, I think that Khivar might have been mind warping your parents. When I had asked them about where you were, they told me that you were at your aunt’s in Florida. I was positive that something was wrong. I knew that you wouldn’t leave, not when you said you were going to find Alex’s killer. But they told me that you were gone. So, how’d they take your sudden appearance in Dexter?” Maria asked.

“Oh, that’s an easy question. Since they were going to send me to my aunt’s, I told them that I hadn’t gone. That I had run away with Sean and that I called my aunt and told her that my parents had changed their minds. They believed me. They were pretty mad at me, but considering what happened they forgave me.” Liz explained, with a small smile. She knew that the story wasn’t hard to believe. It was pretty damn convincing.

“So there convinced about what happened. That’s good.” Maria said, nodding her head.

“Are you girls okay?” Nancy asked as she opened the door to Liz’s room. Nancy smiled warmly at what she saw. Liz was sitting in bed eating the food on the tray on her lap. Maria was sitting next to her smiling. “You girls were just so quiet. I was starting to worry.”

Liz smiled, reassuring her mother. “We’re fine, Mom. Just having some girl talk.”

“I understand. But shouldn’t you be heading to school, Maria?” Nancy asked with a questioning look to Maria. “Besides, Liz and I are going to go car shopping. Jeff and I thought it was about time for her to get a car.”

Liz’s eyes widened. “I’m gonna get a car?! Oh, mom. I can’t that’s too much.” Liz insisted, even though she really did want a car.

“Liz! It’s a car. You know you’ve been wanting one since the 8th grade. Don’t refuse it. Don’t.” Maria urged Liz. “If she doesn’t want a car, I’ll take it.” Maria said brightly, smiling at Nancy.

Nancy laughed at Maria’s words. “Lizzie, please. Take this gift that your father and I are giving to you. You are our little girl and we want to give you this.” Nancy insisted as she walked to Liz’s bed. “Can I take this?” Nancy asked pointing to the tray.

Liz nodded and opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Maria.

“Come on, Lizzie. Let’s get you dressed.” Maria said, grabbing Liz by one hand and leading her to the closet. “Oh, I think that you should wear this.” Maria said once she’d opened the door. She pulled out a pair of pale gray linen pants. “Hmm, now for a shirt. What would look nice with this?” Maria asked herself as she walked over to Liz’s dresser and began looking through the drawers. “Oh, this would look so beautiful with the pants.” Maria said as she threw a crisp white collarless shirt at Liz.

Liz caught the shirt with one hand and laughed at the expression on Maria’s face. Gosh, she’d have to stay away from Maria, she might try to give her a make over or something. Liz didn’t think that she’d have the heart to stop Maria from doing one. “You’d better go, Maria. You’re going to be late.” Liz said, pointing to the clock.

“Alright. Alright. I’ll go and get out of your hair. Now remember Liz, get a red, or blue. Or black. Maybe green. Or purple.” Maria said as she headed out the door of Liz’s room, a smile on her face.

Liz turned to her mother, who shared her smile. “So why am I getting a car?” she asked curiously. She knew that it was something that her parents hadn’t agreed on. Why they had agreed on it now, made her wonder.

“Jeff, Bill and I talked last night. Bill thought that since you’re leaving Roswell you should have your own car. So you’d be able to visit your father and me. We can’t leave. Not right away.” Nancy said quietly. She didn’t want her baby to leave. She wasn’t done being a mother to Liz. But Liz was nearly eighteen years old and she was going to have a baby of her own. “Bill put in a call to a fellow that he knows in Ruidoso. Zack and Krit are going to meet us there to make sure that we get a good deal.”

Liz nodded at her mother’s words. She was going to get her own car, which was something that she’d wanted for such a long time but her parents had told her that they couldn’t afford it. Her getting this car was just another sign that she was getting ready to leave her life in Roswell behind. That she was going to drive away from her hometown, away from everything that she had ever known.

posted on 8-Jan-2002 2:04:16 AM
Chapter 16


“So how’s Liz?” Michael demanded anxiously as Maria walked into Brody’s office where she had asked for them to meet. Michael knew that she was going to talk to them about Liz, what else was the reason for Maria to call her first meeting. Michael was anxious to find out exactly how Liz was really doing. Max and Valenti had both seen her yesterday, but Max hadn’t exactly talked to her. Max had told him that she threw things at him. Not that Michael could blame her.

“She’s okay. She’s tough and doesn’t want anyone to see how hurt she really is. But other than that she’s okay.” Maria said. She was going to wait until the others came before telling them what Liz had told her about Khivar and Alex’s murder. They’d feel so ashamed that they hadn’t believed Liz. That they had been bastards to Liz, when she had been right about the whole thing.

“What did she say about Khivar? Did he tell her things about our past lives on Antar? Did he do things to her?” Michael asked, dread filling him. He hoped that Khivar didn’t do what Isabel had suggested. But anything was possible with that jerk. “When Isabel dream walked Liz. She said that Khivar told her that Liz was pregnant.”

Maria shook her head adamantly at the thought. No way that Liz was pregnant. She couldn’t be. Liz had thrown up, but that didn’t mean that she was pregnant. “No! She’s not pregnant. She would have definitely told me if she was. She’s not.” Maria was trying to convince herself as well as Michael.

Michael nodded at her vehemence. She sounded positive about what she was saying. Khivar might have been messing with Isabel’s mind, knowing that she’d tell Max about it. If Liz was pregnant, she really would have told Maria. The two of them told each other everything. “Okay, so tell me what she said about Khivar. I need to know.” Michael demanded desperately.

“What did she say?” Max asked as he appeared in the doorway. They both turned to look at him. They hadn’t realized that he had even came into the room.

Maria saw that standing behind Max was an tired looking Isabel, a sad eyed Kyle and a reluctant looking Tess. Maria glared at her with hatred in her eyes. It was war between her and Tess now. Maria had tried to be nice to her when Liz had asked her, now all bets were off. That little bitch hadn’t cared when Khivar had taken Liz. It took all of Maria’s self control not to put her fist in Tess’ face. Maria had told them each and everything Liz had said about Future Max, including that Tess was important in their fight, that if they didn’t have the full Royal Four, than they would die. Maria hated having to tell them that. That meant, they could never get rid of that stupid bitch.

“Come on, hurry up and close the door.” Michael said impatiently, gesturing with his hands at them. He needed to know what happened. What exactly Liz knew.

Max walked into the room wearily, he took a seat in a chair at the desk. Isabel followed him and sat by herself away from everyone else. Tess took a seat by the door and refused to meet anyone’s eye. Kyle stood by the desk.

“Alright.” Maria said taking a deep breathe, not knowing exactly where she should start. “Khivar killed Alex, he told Liz as much.”

“Why didn’t she tell us this herself?” Michael asked frowning.

Maria looked at Max. “She’s still doing what the king dictated. Staying away from you. Even after the fucking hell that she went through. She’s still thinking of your welfare. That psychotic murdered my best friend and kidnaped the other. I nearly lost Liz because of you, Max. This could have been avoided.” Maria said harshly. Anger and resentment had built up inside of her for the past weeks since Alex had been murdered. This didn’t have to have happened. It was all that damn Future Max’s fault.

Max looked down at his feet. Maria was right. It was all of his fault. Alex’s murder and Liz’s kidnaping could have been avoided. She wouldn’t have been left alone to fight Khivar off. He wasn’t even her enemy. Max should have been there for her. She shouldn’t have gone through any of it. “I know Maria. It is my fault.” Max said despondently.

Unfortunately for him, Maria was out for blood, alien blood. “Yes, it’s all of your fault. If that stupid future you hadn’t come back than Alex wouldn’t have died. That wouldn’t have happened to Liz. He wouldn’t have—“ Maria stopped suddenly. She had been so close in telling them about the horrific connection that Khivar had given her. She’s violated Liz’s trust once when she had told them about Future Max, but she wasn’t about to do it again. Liz didn’t want them to know. She didn’t want herself seen as a victim.

“He wouldn’t have what, Maria?” Michael asked softly. He hoped that Maria wasn’t going to say what he thought that she was. He didn’t know what he would do if she said that Liz had been raped.

“Nothing.” Maria said cooly, refusing to meet Michael’s pleading eyes. She wasn’t about to tell them about the connection or about the things that Liz had seen.

“Maria, he wouldn’t have what?” Max demanded quietly. He had to know what Maria was going to say.

Maria shook her head at him. “No. If Liz wants to tell you everything than she will. I violated her trust once, I’m not doing it again. Besides we’re talking about Alex.” Maria said, putting them back on track.

“Why was he killed?” Isabel asked, speaking for the first time. Isabel hoped that it wasn’t her fault that Khivar had killed Alex. Just because of some past affair that she once had with him. She wasn’t Vilandra and she would never be. All she could be was Isabel Evans.

“Liz didn’t really go into detail. She told me that Khivar had killed Alex. But she said that it wasn’t your fault, Isabel. She said that in the beginning she hadn’t known how big everything would turn out to be. She didn’t tell me what she meant by that.” Maria said, hoping to give Isabel peace of mind. It really wasn’t her fault that Alex had been killed. She didn’t deserve Maria’s scorn right now. She was in pain. Pain that Maria understood perfectly. It was the same pain that she felt.

“What did she mean by that?” Tess asked, speaking up for the first time. Tess had a look of displeasure on her face.

Maria rolled her eyes at Tess. “I’ll make myself clear. I won’t even use five dollar words to confuse you, Tess. She didn’t tell me what she meant by that. I think she meant that she hadn’t known that Khivar would turn out to be the one that killed Alex. Or that Khivar would kidnap her just to get even with you guys. That’s what I think she meant.”

“Is she okay?” Kyle asked softly, speaking up for the first time. He felt so badly for what had happened to Liz. She hadn’t deserved any of it. All of this shouldn’t have happened. Alex shouldn’t have died and Liz shouldn’t have been kidnaped by Khivar, who didn’t even want her. He’d only used her.

I made sure that she was okay.” A voice said suddenly.

Everyone turned and saw Brody walk into the room. At least Brody’s body, but they recognized it as Larek doing all of the talking.

“Why? Why did you help her?” Max questioned perplexed. He felt a lot better that someone had been there to help Liz but he didn’t understand why it had been Larek. Why Larek had helped her in the first place.

Larek studied Max for several moments. He realized that Max still had no clue who Liz was. Max didn’t know that Liz was Troian, his first wife, the love of his life. “I heard Khivar’s talk about having taken Zanier’s. . . girlfriend.” Larek said, he’d been so close to saying the word wife. “I realized that he must have been talking about Liz. The last time that we talked, I could see how the two of you looked at one another. Khivar’s a cruel man. I had to help her someway. So I went into her dream plane.”

“Why didn’t you just tell us that Khivar had Liz?” Michael asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. He felt that he could trust Larek, after all he had helped them with the gandarium. But what Larek was telling him just didn’t fit for him. Something with it all was wrong.

Larek shifted uncomfortably on his feet. He didn’t want to have to explain why he had done the things that he did. It was obvious to him that they had no clue as of who Liz really was. But Larek could see the protective look in Michael’s eyes at the very mention of Liz. Larek wasn’t about to confession his true feelings for Troian, especially not to Max. “Look, I did what I could for her. It was much easier for me to visit her dreams than have to prepare Brody’s body for me.” Larek said, hoping that his explanation would satisfy them. But he should have known better. Rathard questioned every freaking thing.

“Then why didn’t you come tell us what Liz was going through? You could have gone into our dreams as well.” Michael stated suspiciously.

Larek stiffened at Michael’s words. “Look do you want to know what I did for her or not? I’m not going to explain to you why I did certain things. I did what I could do to help her!”

“We’re grateful for the help you gave Liz. We’re just a little curious as of why you did it.” Max said, trying to ease the tension that enveloped the room. Michael was being really weird, questioning Larek like this. Larek wasn’t the enemy, he was one of their few allies that they had here.

“Yes, thank you Larek. It’s good to know that someone was there to help Liz out.” Maria said, eyeing Max with anger.

“Thanks for helping Liz out.” Kyle said softly, to this strange person. He had helped Liz out and that was all that mattered.

Larek didn’t miss the look Maria gave Max. He knew that it really wasn’t Max’s fault that he hadn’t helped Liz. He hadn’t known what she was going through. Larek knew that he should have gone to Max and told him what was going on with Liz. But the urge to be her protector, to do right by her had overwhelmed him. He loved her so much, and Troian— Liz had no clue about how Larek really felt about her. Though he knew that he could never reveal his love for her. She would never be his. She was his cousin’s wife. The only woman that his cousin had ever loved. The only woman that his cousin had loved in two lifetimes. “I told Liz how she could get away from Khivar. He had a gun in his cabin. I told her that she’d have to figure a way to get to it.”

“But she didn’t shoot him. She stabbed him to death.” Michael said bewildered. Larek was telling them that he had told Liz to shoot him, but Khivar hadn’t been shot.

Tess stifled a gasp. That fucking cunt. She had tried to kill her brother. She knew that her brother couldn’t be dead. He wasn’t. He couldn’t die here on Earth, not while his body was up on Antar. Tess vowed to herself that she was going to go after Liz Parker for what she had tried to do to her brother. That bitch was going to go down.

Larek’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened at what Michael said. “But she di. . .” Larek shook his head, stopping himself from what he was about to say. Poor Troian, something must have gone wrong. Troian had been killed that way on Antar. Larek felt so bad for her, what had been going through her head when she had to do that. When she had to take his life the same way that hers had been taken away from her. “Something must have changed.” he said softly.

“Is he dead? Is Khivar really dead?” Isabel asked. She had to know. Was Alex’s killer really dead? She trusted what Liz had told Maria. But Larek would know for sure. Larek was up there, so close to their home. He would know if Khivar was really dead or if he was just waiting for the right moment to strike.

Larek looked over at her and saw the look of fear in her face. He had never been close to Vilandra, despite the fact that they were family. She had always been spoiled by her father since she had been the eldest child. But she could also be mean to everyone else, she had changed when she became a teen. She became angry and cruel. But Isabel wasn’t Vilandra anymore. She was someone totally different, at least he hoped so. He didn’t think that he could deal with another Vilandra. One had been enough for him.

“Khivar is dead. I told Liz how she could kill him with him possessing someone’s body. I told her that if she turned on the communicator that he couldn’t leave the body.” Larek started as he held up the small alien communicator to show them. “Once it’s turned on, no alien in the area can use their powers. Which meant that Khivar couldn’t have used his powers to leave the body. If the host body is killed then your killed also. Liz knew what she had to do. She had to kill him!”

“So he’s dead?” Tess asked ever so quietly. She couldn’t believe it. Her brother was dead. That stupid bitch Liz had killed him. She had killed her beloved brother.

Larek looked her over and sneered at her. “Yes. I said so, didn’t I?” Larek sighed impatiently, rolling his eyes. “I never liked Avarona. She was always a horrible bitch!” Larek said hatefully. He hated the fact that Avarona had tried to take Troian’s place in everything. In the palace, in Zanier’s heart, with the people. Too bad everyone hated her guts.

Tess sighed at his mention of her. Whatever, like she actually cared what he had thought about her back on Antar. “I’m not that person anymore, Larek. I’m someone different.” she protested innocently. Tess had always hated him anyway. She knew the things that he had tried to do. He had urged Zanier not to marry her, and she suspected that he was the one who had forced Zanier to make sure that she would never be coronated as queen. Larek always had the hots for the bitch Troian.

Max scoffed at that. “Oh, I doubt that, Tess. I might not remember my life back on Antar. But you are a horrible bitch here, so you must be the same as you were up there.” Max replied, not caring if he was hurting her feelings. He knew that he shouldn’t do anything to make her want to leave town, but she was getting on his nerves.

Michael sighed impatiently. “Okay. We all know that Tess is a bitch. That’s beside the point. We’re talking about Khivar. Do you know what the situation back home is?”

Larek nodded at Michael’s questions. “Nasira, Max and Isabel’s mother is working with the rebels to gain back control. Khivar may be gone, but his second in command on Antar, Charon is doing everything in his power to keep your enemies in power. He’s backed with Khivar’s allies and the troops who still believe in what Khivar had told them. It’ll be a tough fight for them, but there’s not really anything that you can do. You might have the granolith but do you have the crystal?” he asked.

“The crystal? What crystal?” Tess asked. She knew what he was talking about, but she had to pretend like she hadn’t known what her dumb ass brother had been planning. But where was the crystal? If Khivar was really dead, where was the crystal? It was the most important part of the granolith and without it they couldn’t get home.

“The Jagur crystal. Without it you can’t go home. The Skins that are here on Earth will die out within the next year or so. But they’ll do whatever it takes to get the granolith and crystal. They want to go home. They might even try to get revenge against Liz for killing their leader.” Larek informed them solemnly.

Isabel bit her lip. “So our mother is still alive?” Isabel asked shocked but delighted at the news. Her mother was still alive!

Larek sighed impatiently at Isabel’s question. He didn’t know why her question bothered him but it did. “Yes, your mother is still alive. Michael, your father’s waiting to see you.” he said, hoping that he would make him feel better. To let him know that he indeed had a family out there.

“My father?” Michael asked dumb struck by the notion. He had a father that actually wanted to see him. Hank hadn’t cared about Michael at all. Only cared about that monthly cheek that would come in so he could spend it on booze. “Do I have any brothers or sisters?”

Larek hesitated to answer Michael’s question about his brothers and sister. “Your mother died when you were a boy. You had three brothers and a sister. But they’re dead. I don’t know if they were recreated.” he said, giving Michael a half truth. He knew that Troian and Lexus had been, but he wasn’t sure about Jasper or Aiden.

“What were their names?” Michael demanded quietly. He had a family, but they were dead. They were all dead. Had Khivar killed them?

Larek studied Michael for a moment, debating whether he should tell him the truth about his family. “Your brother’s names were Lexus, Aiden and Jasper. Your sister’s name was Troian.” he started.

Max felt a jolt go through his body at the name. And an image of Liz popped into his head. The one from the dream where she had that beautiful red hair. Where she was wearing that white dress that was soaked with blood, turning it into a pinkish, red color. Max shook his head desperate to get the image out of his head.

Larek saw the look on Max’s face and wondered if he remembered something about Troian. “Jasper and Troian died before the war with Khivar. We always thought that their deaths were unrelated. After Zanier, Vilandra, Rathard and Avarona’s deaths, Bradeon, Aiden and Lexus were the only men left in your family, Michael. Besides, your father, and they were killed in battle.”

When Larek had been talking about Michael’s sister, Troian, Tess had tried desperately not to smile at the thought of killing that bitch. Still after all this time, they had no clue that she was the one that had killed the once queen of Antar and her brat. Killing Troian had been fun. Actually, it had been more than fun.

“Bradeon? Who’s that? You said that his brothers were Lexus, Jasper and Aiden.” Maria said, slightly confused by what Larek was telling them. She was positive that she hadn’t mentioned this Bradeon character to them before.

“Bradeon was like a brother to Rathard’s family. Bradeon’s father served with Lord Unitas, your father Michael. After his father’s death, Bradeon came to stay with your family.” Larek resolved, hoping that they didn’t have any more questions. He knew that he would have to leave this body soon.

“So there all dead?” Michael resigned. The only family that he had was dead. They were all gone. He couldn’t even remember what they had looked like or how they had acted. Nothing.

“I’m sorry, Rath. I don’t know what your father had planned. If they were reborn then they were hidden away very carefully.” Larek said, thinking about Liz and Alex. They had been hidden right in front of the royal four’s eyes and still had no clue about the truth. Larek understood about the whole secrecy thing. Look what had happened to Liz, Khivar had taken her when he found out who she really was.

Michael nodded his head at Larek’s words. It gave him some hope. They could have been reborn, couldn’t they? His father had arranged for him to be, why not his brothers and sister?

Larek knew that his time was running out. This body was getting weaker and weaker by the moment. He was going to try to give Michael a clue about who Liz really was. He really should know who she was to him. “I should get going. This body won’t hold out any longer.” Larek said, turning away from them, but a moment later he turned back and meet Michael’s eyes. “Remember always trust your instincts. They’re usually right.” And with those final words, he fell to the floor.

Maria rushed towards him with Max hot on her heels. “Brody, Brody. Are you okay?” she said as she shook his shoulders, desperate to wake him up.

Brody blinked several times, surprised to find himself on the floor. “I—what happened?” he said as he struggled into a sitting position.

Max quickly jumped into action. “You said something about your head hurting and you fell to the floor. Are you okay?” Max asked his visibly confused boss.

“I did?” Brody asked as he sat up. “Wow! Your right my head’s pounding. I think I’d better go lie down in my office. Can you help me?” Brody said.

Michael watched as Max and Maria helped Brody to his office. Michael was thinking about what Larek had told him. He should trust his instincts, even if he thought that they were crazy and couldn’t really be true. He had to do something before the questions ate him alive. He had to do something, but what?


posted on 8-Jan-2002 2:07:04 AM
Chapter 17



Michael revved his bike to go faster as he followed Liz in the red Cougar. It was Thursday, it had been two days since Maria had told them everything that Liz had told her. Michael still hadn’t talked to her, instead he opted to follow her instead. He knew that she was the key to what he was feeling. When he had gone to the Crashdown, he had seen the red car and wondered who’s it was. Then he’d watched as Liz got into it. He hadn’t known that her parents had bought her a car. It was one nice looking car. But there was just something about the color that mesmerized him. It reminded him of something, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

Where the hell was she going, Michael thought to himself. First, she went to the cemetery and was there for nearly an hour. An hour at the cemetery! Luckily, Liz hadn’t left the cemetery right away. She had sat in her car for nearly ten minutes. That had given Michael enough time to go check out the graves that she had been at. When he saw the names on the tombstones, he hadn’t understood what the hell was going on.

He had thought that she was just going to visit Alex’s or her grandmother’s. But when he saw what section of the cemetery she was at, he realized that she wasn’t visiting Alex’s. He had assumed that it was her grandmother’s or some other relative that he didn’t know of. But when he’d taken the opportunity to go see who the graves belonged to he received his shock of the day.

The graves that she had left flowers on were of Andrea Norris, Sheila Norris Hubble and Everett Hubble! That crazy old man from last year who had almost killed Max because he had thought that Max was Nasedo. Why would Liz have visited his grave? Why did she leave flowers on his grave? Michael wanted answers but all he got was more questions.

Michael slowed down his bike when he saw Liz pull into a driveway. Michael hadn’t been paying any attention as to where she was going. But now that he had pulled to a stop out of her sight, he finally saw where she was at. Alex’s house.

Michael stood there stunned as he watched Liz ring the doorbell. Several moments later, a solemn looking Mr. Whitman opened the door. Michael watched as Liz hurtled herself into his arms.

It was a bit of a funny sight to Michael. Mr. Whitman towered over Liz by a good foot or so. Even from where he was, he could hear the sounds of their sobs as they continued their embrace. Then Mr. Whitman led Liz into the house, shutting the door behind them.

*************************


Liz smiled tentatively at Charlie Whitman opened the door. Silently, Liz took in his appearance, he looked tired with black circles under his eyes. He looked as if he had just tumbled out of bed and didn’t want to be here, opening the door.

“Liz, I— what are you doing here?” Charlie asked, stumbling for his words. He had expected her to come by sometime, but he hadn’t expected it this soon. He knew from the others that she was going through an awful lot. He wasn’t prepared for her appearance at his home. Whatever she wanted he would give it to her. He’d never been able to deny her anything, ever since Alex had brought her home back when they were nine years old. Liz was his queen and sister to the only son he’d ever known.

“I—“ Liz started, but didn’t know what exactly to say to him. What could she say to make him feel better about the loss of his son? Liz threw her arms around him in a hug. He was so tall compared to her. Her face was pressed into his chest.

Charlie felt tears run down his face. This tiny young woman—his queen was concerned about him. About what he was feeling. How he was doing since Alex’s death. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and Charlie got the distinct feeling that someone was watching them. He lifted his head and looked around but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He’d better get them inside just in case.

Charlie led Liz into the house slowly and closed the door softly behind them. He led her slowly into the living room. As she drew away from him, he smiled solemnly at her. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Liz shook her head and sighed nervously. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Whitman. About everything. Alex shouldn’t have died. It’s not fair that you’ve lost both Mrs. Whitman and Alex. Khivar said that Alex’s death was an unfortunate necessary. But I needed him. I still need him.” Liz said, her emotions were running off of her.

The tears fell freely from Charlie’s eyes at Liz’s words. “An unfortunate necessary?! Alex didn’t deserve that. He deserved to live his life. To get married and have children. Not to die when he was 17 years old. I miss him so much, Liz. I don’t know if I can go on.” Charlie said, falling into the chair. “I loved him. I know that he wasn’t my son, but I loved him. I was the only father that he ever knew.”

Liz fell to her knees in front of the chair. “I miss him, too. Alex was my best friend. He was my brother. I feel so lost without him here. I loved him so much and I didn’t tell him. He loved you. He did. He might not have said it or anything, but I know that he did.” Liz said, as she felt the tears ball up in her eyes.

“Everyone who knew Alex loved him. He was such a great kid. He was so smart. He wanted to be the next Bill Gates. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that he could never be that. That he had to live a life of secrecy. Just like I couldn’t condone his relationship with Isabel. Even with what I knew about Lexus and Vilandra, I couldn’t. Alex loved Isabel for who she was. He didn’t remember Vilandra or Krissane. I allowed him to make the choices himself. And look what happened, he was murdered.” Charlie said softly, the pain evident in his face.

“That wasn’t your fault. You allowed him to make his future and not try to relive his past. My mother tried to keep me away from Max last year cause she was afraid that I’d die like before. But it didn’t work. We have a connection that can’t ever be broken. Alex had one with both Vilandra and Krissane. No one could have changed his feelings for Isabel. No one. He loved her as Isabel, not Vilandra.” Liz insisted as she rubbed her forehead where a painful headache was steadily forming.

“That night that Alex was killed, Bill, Jeff and I decided that it was time for you and Alex to know the truth about who you were. Who you’ve always been. When I came home, I wondered where Alex was. I told him that I had something important to tell him and he agreed to be here when I got home. Alex never went back on his word. If he said he was going to do something, then he’d do it.” Charlie said, biting the inside of his cheek before he went on. “I was worried and I called Jeff. He said that you were downstairs with the others showing off your prom pictures. And then I heard a scream in the background and Jeff ran downstairs.”

“Oh no. Is that how you found out?” Liz asked sadly. She prayed that he hadn’t. That wasn’t the way someone should find out that their child was dead.

Charlie shook his head sadly. “No. Just moments later, the doorbell rang and it was Sheriff Hanson. He told me that Alex had been killed in a car accident. I— I couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t dead. My son wasn’t dead. I could barely function. I was lost for words. After Hanson left, I called your father and he said he knew. That Jim had told you kids. We had to tell Bill. And then we had to take care of Alex’s body. We had to wait until he was taken to the coroner. We saw you kids and we saw Max try to heal him. But he couldn’t, not without the stones and not without his family.” Charlie explained.

Liz’s mouth fell open and she trembled with the news. “He could have been saved?”

Charlie saw the shock and pain in her face. He hated having to hurt her with this news, but she needed the truth. “Yes. He could have been saved if you, Michael, Zack, Max and Krit used the healing stones. But by the time that you kids even showed up at the van, it was already late. It wouldn’t have worked. I’m sorry, Liz.” Charlie said softly, hating that he had told Liz. It wasn’t her fault, it was his own. He could have saved his son, but he had been so numb with pain that he had wasted precious time. Time that could have been used to save his son.

Liz burst out in tears. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” she cried. “Alex told me what happened that night. He remembered what had happened. He remembered that Tess, Nicholas and Khivar had mind warped him for months. He knew what Khivar was going to do to me and he was headed to the Crashdown to tell us everything. But somehow Khivar knew what Alex was doing and he tried to possess Alex’s body. It was like he was having a heart attack and then it was all over. The car crashed.” Liz explained, totally immersed in the things Alex had told her and Khivar’s memories of what had happened. She could see it all in her head.

Charlie shook his head, trying not to picture what Liz was saying. “I knew something was weird with that trip to Sweden. But Alex was so thrilled with the idea of going. I talked it over with Bill and he said that it was fine if Alex went. That he was still a teenager and that he should still have some fun before he knew the truth about himself.” Charlie said, sighing.

Liz opened her mouth to say something but shut it closed when something came to her head. “I totally forgot about last year. The car accident that Max and I were in. I asked Alex if we could use his blood instead of Max’s. And he let us.” She said, her eyes wide with the belated shock at what she had done.

Charlie smiled at the change in subject. “Oh, you wouldn’t believe the lengths that your father and I had to go through. I don’t think that Jeff liked having to become a woman or to flirt with Michael Guerin.” Charlie said chuckling.

Liz’s mouth fell wide open at the very thought of her father having to change into a woman and have to flirt with Michael ‘Stonewall’ Guerin. It was just too much for her and she burst out laughing at the thought. “My father flirting with Michael?”

Charlie nodded at her words. “Yeah. It was quite funny. Both of them were trying to steal blood. Michael was trying to get Max’s and switching it with Alex’s. And Jeff was stealing Alex’s and switching it with a human boy’s. It was funny.” Charlie’s laughter trailed off to a stop.

Liz looked at him and saw that his face had grown serious. She felt so badly for him. He had lost his wife and son. He was now all alone in the world. No, not all alone. He had her, she would make sure that he’d never be alone again.

“I’m going to be moving to Artesia. There’s not really anything here for me. Mostly everyone’s in Artesia. Except for you, your parents and the royal four. But your leaving Roswell too, aren’t you?” Charlie asked quietly.

Liz nodded. “Yes. In a couple of weeks, maybe days. People will wonder how come my pregnancy has advanced so much. Besides, Bill says that I have a lot of training to go through. Tomorrow’s my first day. Zack and Krit are picking me up.” Liz said softly, thinking about how quick her life had changed. She was leaving Roswell for good, the place where she was born and raised to get ready to fight a war and have a baby.

Charlie smiled sadly at her. “I was hoping that you would do me a favor.” he said ever so quietly.

“Anything you need all you have to do is ask.”

Charlie held her eyes. “Umm, I haven’t been able to go through Alex’s stuff, would you? I know that there’s probably things he never wanted his father to see. But I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you went through them. I’m sure that there are things that he’d want you and Maria to have. Maybe the others, too.” Charlie said softly. He couldn’t handle going into Alex’s room, it was too painful. His son, the only son that he’d ever had was gone. Charlie would never have to yell for Alex to get up in time for school.

Liz nodded at his words. This was going to be hard n her. She hadn’t gone in there since that horrible fight with Max. She was going to go through his stuff, see the thousands of things that they had done together, she would relieve the memories. “Of course I can.” she said, standing up.

“I’m sorry that I’m laying this on you. I shouldn’t be. I—“ Charlie said, only to be interrupted by Liz.

“It’s okay. I understand. Don’t worry about me.” Liz insisted as she began to slowly climb the stairs up to Alex’s bedroom.

Liz stood outside of Alex’s bedroom, her heart pounding away in her chest. Her hand was lightly touching the door knob. Taking in a deep breath, she twisted the knob and opened the door slowly entering the room.

Liz stood in the darkened room. It smelled just like Alex, she thought to herself as she turned the light on. Liz bit the inside of her cheek as she looked around the room. Every inch of Alex was in this room. God, she missed him so much. So much that it hurt. Liz walked to the dresser and smiled as she looked at a picture of her, Maria and Alex when they were in the sixth grade.

I love you Alex, she thought to herself as she lightly touched his face on the picture. Liz put the picture back on the dresser and opened one of the drawers, deciding that’s where she would start first, with his clothes. Isabel might like to have some of Alex’s clothes, she thought to herself with a smile.


posted on 24-Jan-2002 8:47:20 PM
Chapter 18



“Liz, is it true that your parents withdrew you from school?” Maria asked quietly as she and Liz walked down the stairs that led to the Parker’s apartment. Maria was just about to start her shift and wanted to talk to Liz before she would punch in.

Liz had been waiting in her living room for her brothers to pick her up for her very first day of training. She’d have a lot more time for training when she moved over there. Looking at her friends face, Liz decided that it was time to tell her the truth; tell her about her pregnancy. Maria didn’t deserve for Liz to keep lying to her. Maria wouldn’t tell them. “No, not entirely. I’m graduating early. I have enough credits.”

Maria gave her a droll look. “I always knew you were smart. But graduating early. That’s just, wow! We won’t graduate together, will we?” she said sadly at the thought of not graduating with her two best friends, Alex and Liz. “Are you going to college early?”

Liz shifted on her feet uncomfortably. Now for the hard part, she thought to herself. Maria’s your best friend; she deserves to know the truth. She won’t tell, Liz commanded herself. “No. I’m moving to Artesia to. . .have my baby.” she said softly.

Maria’s mouth fell open. “What? Baby? Your pregnant? Oh, god. Liz is it his?” Maria said as she grabbed Liz in a fierce hug.

“Yes, Maria. It’s Khivar’s.” Liz admitted quietly.

“When Isabel dream walked you, Khivar told her that you were pregnant. We all thought that he was just trying to mess with Max’s head.” Maria said as the tears formed in her eyes. Liz had gone through so much. So much pain. She didn’t deserve for this to happen to her. She didn’t deserve to have a child whose father was a murderous bastard.

Liz drew away from Maria, slightly uncomfortable at Maria’s stare of her. “He wanted to show them who was really in charge. There wasn’t anything that anyone could do anyway. By the time that you realized that I was gone, I was already pregnant. I’ve been pregnant since that very first night. April 6.”

“I’m so sorry, Lizzie. This shouldn’t have happened. Your first time should have been in love, not rape. I’m sorry.” Maria said, as the tears fell from her eyes. It was all the alien’s fault that Liz was having this child. God, would this child be a monster like Khivar had been.

Liz sensed Maria’s repulsion and shook her head. “Khivar mind warped me. I didn’t know what was going on half the time. He was surprisingly gentle the first time.”

“First time? Was it— more than once?” Maria asked softly, but inside her anger was growing for the man. Thank god he was dead or she’d kill him herself.

Liz bit her lip before she went on. God, this was so hard for her. Telling people what had really happened during those nine horrible days. “It was only once after the first night. He got off on beating me more than anything else. He had these stupid little rules that he wanted me to follow. Even saying Max’s name and I’d get a slap in the face or a punch. Whatever he was in the mood for.”

Maria clenched her teeth. “That bastard. He’s so lucky that’s he’s dead. Or I’d have killed him myself.”

Liz cleared her throat roughly. “Umm, Maria, I don’t want them to know about my pregnancy. Can we keep this between us?” she asked softly. But when Maria didn’t answer her, she went on. “Come on. Your going to be PJ’s godmother. We have to know that we can trust you with this.”

Though Maria tried to remain stoic and declare that Liz needed to go to Max and the others, she couldn’t. This was Liz’s baby. Liz wanted her to be PJ’s godmother. Liz had already named her baby. And as much as Maria wanted to pretend that this baby was an it, wasn’t really a person, she knew that she was wrong. This was a child, a sweet little innocent baby who hadn’t asked to be born or for his father to be a monster. Maria knew that Liz would never kill her own child. “So, what does PJ stand for?” she asked softly.

Liz smiled brightly at Maria. She was accepting that PJ was her child and that she wasn’t going to do anything to jeopardize her child. “Peter Jeffrey, after great grandpa Pete and my dad.” Liz paused for a moment. She needed to make sure that Maria understood that PJ would be nothing like his father, that he would be his own person. “Maria, PJ’s not going to be evil. He will be nothing like Khivar. He’s going to be his own person.”

Maria bit her lip. “I want to believe that, Liz. But don’t you remember all those King Arthur stories. Arthur was good and he had a son with his evil sister. The kid turned out evil, Liz. What if the same thing happens to you? You’re a good person, this baby can turn out to be evil like his father.”

Liz shook her head. “Maria, that’s fiction. There’s not any solid proof that King Arthur was ever a real person. There just stories. Besides, even if that was true. As you said, I am a good person and I will be raising my son. Not Khivar. In those stories, Morgana raised Mordred to be that way. To be evil. I will not let anyone get their hands on my son. I will kill them before I let it happen.” Liz stated firmly. She knew Maria meant well, but Liz wasn’t going to be swayed. No one was going to make her abandon her child. No one!

“So your saying that your going to run off with my Guinevere?” Liz said, hoping to break the tension that had enveloped the room.

Maria giggled at the thought. “Hell, no.” she smirked. “I love you, Liz. You’re my best friend. I don’t want to lose you. I can’t. I don’t know what I would do without you.” she said soberly at the thought of losing her.

“I love you, too, Maria. I’ll always be with you, even if I’m gone. I’ll always be there. Just like Alex. I hold him in my heart. He’ll never be gone.” Liz said, touching her heart as she spoke.

Tears began to form in Maria’s eyes again. “It’s the same for me. He’s always with me. Sometimes I even hear things that he’d say.” Maria admitted with a smile.

“Are you in or what, Maria?” A voice said, interrupting the two girls.

Liz turned and saw that it was Agnes. Why on earth her father kept this woman around was beyond Liz. She was lazy and would ignore the customer’s whenever she felt like it. Liz guessed that her father felt sorry for her. After all she was in her mid fifties and she had no one in her life.

“Alright, alright. Jeez, Agnes.” Maria said as she and Liz began to walk into the café. “So your not working here anymore?” she asked, waving at Kyle who was sitting at the counter, eating his breakfast.

Liz turned when she saw Maria wave at someone and smiled at Kyle. She gave him a wave. “Nah. I’ll be leaving soon. Probably by next week, I’ll be gone.” she said softly. “Which reminds me. Mr. Whitman asked me to go through Alex’s things since he’s going to move. I’ve got some stuff that I think that Alex would have wanted you to have. I’ve got stuff for everyone, even Tess.” she said softly.

Maria arched an eyebrow at Liz’s words. “Tess? What the hell could Alex possibly want to give the bitch?” she said, narrowing her eyes at the thought of Tess owning something that had been Alex’s. Tess had been so fake, pretending that she was sad over Alex’s death. She didn’t even know him, she had no reason to cry like she had. “Do you want me to go get it now?”

“No!” Liz exclaimed loudly, then realized how she must sound to Maria. “I mean, I want to show you some of the stuff. Also, show you if it’s okay with what I’m giving to the others. Which reminds me, if you see Michael tell him if he can meet me. I need to talk to him.”

“About what?” Maria questioned. Did Liz want to tell Michael about what she had planned to tell him the night that she was kidnaped? What had been so important that Liz had needed to tell him? Maria had wondered about it, but she hadn’t pressed Liz for details. She knew that if it was really important to Liz, that she would tell her straight out.

Liz felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention. They were here, she thought to herself. “It’s a very long story.” she said impatiently, as she turned away from Maria and practically flew out of the door to the restaurant. Liz took notice of nothing but her brothers as they emerged from the forest green Ford Escape.

Liz launched herself into Zack’s arms. “Zackie.” she said smiling devilishly. It had seemed like forever since she had last seen them, but it hadn’t been. She had seen them two days ago, when the four of them had gone car shopping.

Liz had completely fallen in love with the car. A brand new Mercury Cougar in a deep ruby red. Zack and Krit had said that it reminded them of her hair on Antar, only it was darker. She’d been a bit surprised at the comment; she hadn’t even noticed how closely it did resemble her hair.

Liz drew away from Zack and smiled warmly at Krit. She gave him a hug and softly whispered in his ear. “No, I didn’t forget about you.”

Krit chuckled at her words. “No one could ever forget about me.” he said devilishly, as they drew away from one another.

“Your right no one can forget how ugly you are.” Zack threw in, rolling his eyes at the two.

Krit raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Yeah. Well, it takes one to know one.”

Zack gave a half smile and gave Liz a droll look. “Oh, that hurt so much. He’s still using those school yard antics, after all I have taught him.”

Krit gave Zack a hard pat on the back. “Oh, you did, brother. I’m just waiting for the right moment to strike. Waiting till you don’t expect me.”

“Okay.” Liz shook her head at their little boy antics. They could be such dorks sometimes, she thought to herself as she grabbed each one by an arm and began to lead them towards the restaurant.

“Oh, Lizzie. Do we have to go inside?” Krit whined like a three year old, giving her a pained look at the thought of having to go inside.

Liz tried her best to give him a fierce look. “Yes. Now stop acting like a five year old.” she said, guiding them forward.

Krit shook his head at her. “I’m six, not five.” He said, sticking his tongue out at her.

Zack stopped and turned to Liz, all playfulness was gone from his face. “Hey, Liz. Across the street, is that who I think it is?”

Liz glanced over her shoulder and nodded. “Yes. That’s Max and Michael.” she said simply.

Krit bit his lip. “You know, you’re going to have to tell Michael. He should know that he is not alone on this world. That he has a family that cares about him. He needs to know Liz. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t known about Zack being my brother.”

Liz nodded and gave them a small smile. She knew that they were right. She had to tell Michael the truth. He really did need to know. Hopefully, he would agree to meet her when Maria would ask him. “I know. I just am waiting for the right moment to tell him. I promise to tell him by the end of the week. I already asked my friend to have him meet me.” she said, raising her hand in girl scout style.

Zack nodded at her words, satisfied with the answer that she had given them. “Okay. You gonna buy us some quick breakfast or just torture us?” he said, knowing that they shouldn’t even eat any breakfast. They wouldn’t have enough time. His father wanted them back in an hour.

Liz laughed and shook her head. “No. You said we wouldn’t have enough time to eat. I already did.” she said, sticking her tongue out at him. “I want to introduce you to my friends. Maria and Kyle. Maria’s a hybrid like Aryn, but she doesn’t know. So don’t say anything.”

Zack’s blue eyes darkened. “Her father’s the traitor?” he questioned.

Liz bit her lip and stopped short. “Yes. He is, but she’s nothing like him. Nothing! She’s my best friend. She’s been my best friend since we were little. She’s always been there for me. You’ll like her. Trust me.” Liz said firmly, as she opened the door and led them into the restaurant. Liz hoped that they would like Maria. She was nothing like Nasedo. Maria was truly her mother’s daughter. Liz couldn’t see any trace of Nasedo in her.

Not allowing them to say anything, she dragged her brothers to a booth towards the back of the restaurant. Zack sat on one side, while Liz took a seat across from him, while Krit sat next to her.

A moment later, Maria came to the table and smiled unsurely at Liz’s friends. She’d watched Liz greet these two guys and she was curious about them. She had never seen them before. They were really cute. How come Liz had never introduced her to them before. “Are you going to introduce me to your friends?” Maria asked slightly uncomfortable with the blonde’s intense stare of her. What did she have something in her teeth, she wondered.

Liz saw Zack’s glare of Maria and she kicked him underneath the table. Zack whipped his head to look at her and she gave him the evil eye. She had told him that she was nothing like Nasedo. “Yeah. This is Krit Metzler.” she said, pointing to her dark haired brother first, then to Zack. “And that’s Zack Metzler. They’re my cousins. Our families had a bit of a falling out years ago, and recently they mended fences. So we’re getting reacquainted with one another.”

Maria smiled at them warmly. Any friend of Liz were hers as well. “Oh, hi. I’m Maria DeLuca, Lizzie’s best friend.” Maria turned around and motioned to Kyle to come forward. She wanted him to meet these guys, too.

Reluctantly, Kyle came forward to the table. He hadn’t seen much of Liz since she had come home. Quite frankly he didn’t know what to say to her. What could be said to her after what she had gone through those nine horrible days. What had Khivar done to her, just because she knew Max and the others. Kyle smiled warmly at Liz and her two friends. “Hi, Liz.”

Liz smiled at him brightly and grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. She hadn’t seen Kyle in a long time, that little wave she had given him earlier didn’t really count. “Zack, Krit. This is Kyle Valenti.”

“The ex?” Krit inquired, sizing up this guy that his little sister had once gone out with. He looked like a jock, but his aura was something completely different. But overall, he looked like he was a good guy who hadn’t treated his sister like crap.

Kyle stood there for a moment, not knowing what to think. He didn’t know who these guys were, but obviously they knew who he had been to Liz. Kyle nodded. “Yeah. Liz and I are better as friends than anything else.”

Zack smiled at Kyle, knowing that this guy was one of the good ones. “Yeah. I know how that’s like.” he said, feeling sympathy for the guy. He knew exactly what it was like to be in love with someone who only wanted to be friends. Cause they loved someone else. Unrequited love sucked.

Krit cocked an eyebrow in surprise. Zack was talking about his personal feelings? What a shock! He never did. Krit leaned over to Liz and whispered in her ear. “Krissy.”

Liz’s eyes widened. “Oh.” she said, fully understanding. She had most of her memories from Antar back. But she didn’t remember some things. Zack had been in love with Cerina back on Antar, but she only had eyes for Alex. “Sometimes you can’t help who you fall in love with.” she said softly, thinking about Max and how she had hurt Kyle last year. She hated what she had done to him, but she had never meant to hurt him the way that she had. He was a great guy and he deserved someone who loved him with their entire heart. Unfortunately, she wasn’t that person.

Maria cracked a smile at Liz’s words. Boy was she right. “Ain’t that the truth. Who knew I’d fall for Mullet Man. You know I’m gonna make him change his hair. I loved the spikes.”

“Mullet Man?” Zack asked curiously. That sounded like something that Krit would think of.

“Michael Guerin a.k.a. Mullet Man.” Kyle said smiling at the nick name that Maria had given Michael. “Well, you now what Buddha said. He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.”

Krit nodded, thinking about what Kyle had said. That explained Kyle to him. Kyle was a Buddhist, who studied that inner peace stuff and reincarnation. Did Kyle know the truth about the Max and the others, Krit wondered to himself. “Wise man that Buddha. You know what Def Leppard says, Love Bites.” he said, eyeing Zack with mischief in his eyes.

Zack looked away from his brother, not wanting to give Krit the satisfaction of a glower. “Well, Liz is right. You can’t help who you fall in love with. But I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been in love.”

“Aah. Don’t feel bad, bro. Neither have I. We Metzlers are too much for any woman to handle.” Krit said, grinning at his brother. He knew that Zack was lying about being in love. Zack was in love with Cerina, just like Krit would never forget the woman that he had loved back on Antar. He’d never forget about Leilah. He would never love anyone like he had loved her.

Liz rolled her eyes at him. “Oh, yes. You are too much for any woman to handle.” she shook her head at him.

Krit grabbed a menu and opened it. “So, what’s good here?” he said, looking over the menu. “Hmm, blood of alien. Sounds interesting. Do you use real alien blood?” Krit asked, raising his eyebrows Groucho Marx style at Maria.

Maria looked over to Liz, who just smiled back at her. She turned her gaze back to Krit and smiled. “Oh, yeah. We keep them in the freezer. We have green blood or red blood. Anyone you want in particular?”

Zack shook his head. “No, come on, Krit. We gotta go. No food.” he said in an authoritative voice. He shouldn’t have said anything about food. Krit was a lumberjack when it came to food. Their father was waiting for them to get back.

Liz looked over at Krit, who looked like he was dying of thirst. A smoothie wouldn’t hurt. Liz looked over at Zack and gave him her puppy dog eyes; hoping that Zack would give Krit a break. “Zack, please. Krit’s so hungry. Can’t he just have a smoothie?” she said, pouting slightly.

Zack shifted uncomfortably. No, don’t look at Liz. Don’t look at her. But Zack knew that he could never deny his baby sister anything. “Oh, alright. Krit can have his blood of alien.” he grumbled, smiling at Krit and Liz.

“Yes!” Krit said, grinning. He turned to Liz and gave her a sloppy kiss on her forehead. “You are my favorite person in the world.” Krit turned to Maria and grinned even wider. “I’ll have green blood, please. More realistic, don’t ya think?” he said, giving her a wink.

Maria shrugged her shoulders at his comment. “I would think so.” she said, walking towards the smoothie machine that was behind the counter.

“Well, I’d better get going. It was nice to meet. It was great seeing you Liz.” Kyle said as he begun to walk away from the table.

Liz grabbed Kyle’s hand. “How about we have dinner here tomorrow night. I haven’t seen you in a while and I’d like to talk to you about some things.” Liz said softly, giving him a small smile. “There’s some stuff of Alex’s that I thought that you might have.”

Kyle froze. She was going to give him some of Alex’s things. “Yeah. Sure. I’d like that. Is about 7:30 fine with you?” Kyle asked as Liz let go of his hand.

“That’s great.” Liz replied smiling.

“I promise to keep the gerbil away from you.” Kyle said, grinning at Liz as he left the Crashdown.

Liz burst out laughing. Oh my gosh. The gerbil. How had Kyle have found out about her secret name for Tess? It must have been Maria. Liz had always been careful about saying something mean about her in front of Kyle. He liked her. Even though it disgusted Liz, she had enough respect for her friend.

Zack and Krit looked at one another, not understanding Liz’s hysterics.

“Tess Harding. Bane of my life. Psychotic bitch on Antar. One of Alex’s killers. The slut.” Liz explained, halting her laughter. “I think that Maria told him my secret name for her.”

“We’re going to have to take care of her. She was involved in Alex’s murder. We have to get justice for our brother.” Zack said quietly, as he glanced around him. Liz had told them everything about Alex’s murder two days ago. That Khivar had Tess and Nicholas mind warp Alex into doing their dirty work.

Liz shook her head. “No. Not we. Me! This is my fight. I’m going to have to take care of her.” Liz said calmly, meeting Zack’s eyes.

“Liz, you can’t. Your pregnant. We can’t let anything happen to you or PJ.” Krit said, grasping Liz’s hand in his own. She couldn’t fight Tess, not in her condition, and besides that she didn’t even know what kinds of powers she had. Liz was simply just not ready to go against Tess. Tess had been raised by the traitor, who knew how powerful she was.

“You can’t stop me. It is my fight. I have to take care of her!” Liz said, softly but firmly. She knew what she had to do. Nothing was going to stop her. Not her brothers, not anyone.

“Liz, you—“ Zack began but stopped when Maria approached the table carrying a Styrofoam cup in one hand.

“One green blood of alien to go.” Maria announced as she set it down in front of Krit. She was still super curious about these two guys. They said that they were Liz’s family. They didn’t really resemble one another. Liz and Krit did though. They had the same hair color and eyes. But the blonde was totally different from them.

“How much do I owe you?” Krit asked, reaching for his wallet.

Maria shook her head. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it. Any friend of Liz’s is a friend of mine.” she said softly, smiling at him. She felt that she could trust him, maybe it was because he reminded her so much of Liz. That he had the same eyes that Liz did, made her trust him.

Krit returned her smile. “I— thanks. I’ll remember you being so nice to me.” he said softly.

Liz looked between her brother and her best friend. Hmm, what is up with those two? Are they flirting? God help us. Are we going to have another Jasper/Krissane/Lexus triangle, Liz thought to herself. She hoped not. The only way it ended was when Jasper had been murdered.

Zack cleared his throat. “We gotta go. I’m serious man. Dad’s gonna freak if we’re not back soon.” he said, standing up from the booth. He meet Maria’s eyes and smiled. “Thanks.”

Krit stood up as well and smiled at Maria again. “Thanks a lot, Maria. I hope to see you soon.”

Liz followed their actions and stood up. She gave Maria a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Love you.” Liz said softly. Just then she got an idea and turned to Krit, smiling. “Hey, how ‘bout a piggy back ride?”

Krit raised his eyebrow at her in amusement and gave her a lop sided grin. “Can’t you walk on your own?” he asked mockingly. “Besides your too heavy. What are you 130 pounds?”

Zack made a strangled coughing noise. He slapped Krit on the back and shook his head. “Krit, bro, she’s only about what 110, 115? Sorry about him, Lizzie. He’s a wimp. Why don’t I give you a ride? I’m the oldest and the strongest.”

Liz smiled as Krit gave a shocked gasp. “Are you kidding? Have you taken a look at these muscles?” Krit said, flexing one for her and she giggled at him. Krit rolled his eyes at Zack. “I’m so much stronger than Zack? He’s the wimp.”

Liz grinned at their antics. She had misses this. “You better not drop me.”

Krit grinned back at her. “Course not baby sister. Hop on.” He crouched down in front of her and Zack helped her onto Krit’s back. He adjusted to her weight on his back and waited until they both hand a firm grip on one another before standing up. He steered them to the door, he staggered down the door and threatened to crash into the walls. He wanted to keep her laughing. He couldn’t remember the last time that he had heard her laugh. After the hell that she went through, she needed to have some fun. Be a teenager and not have the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Zack pushed the doors open for them and then they were outside. Laughing and giggling the whole way to their jeep.

Maria watched the three of them with a smile on her face. As she watched Krit with Liz, she thought to herself that he reminded her of Alex. Little things that he did were the same as Alex. And Zack reminded her somewhat of Michael. How Michael had been when she first got to know him, hard. There was just something about Zack that screamed, ‘I’m the leader.’

But one thing was for sure, Maria hadn’t seen Liz actually look like she was having a good time, enjoying her life as a teenager. Liz deserved to have that. She deserved every single inch of happiness.

Hmm, that name. Metzler. Wasn’t that her doctor’s name? It had been what three years since she had seen her doctor. What was his first name? Wallace? Willard? William! That’s what his name was. Was her doctor related to Zack and Krit somehow? It’s not like Roswell was a big town or anything. But Maria didn’t even know if they lived in Roswell. They probably didn’t. Maria shook her head. Nah, they probably didn’t even know her doctor. They looked nothing like him. Maria turned away whistling, delighted that her friend was happy.
posted on 24-Jan-2002 8:54:10 PM
Chapter 19



Michael sighed in frustration. Why the hell was he here helping Max out? Michael knew the answer to that. He wanted to talk to Max about Liz. About what he had seen yesterday when he had followed her.

He didn’t understand what he had seen, so he knew he had to talk to someone. He couldn’t go to Isabel, Tess or Kyle. That left him with going to either Max or Maria. And he already tried Maria. He couldn’t find her, she had probably went somewhere with her mother. That left him with having to talk to Max about Liz’s strange activities. Hopefully, Max would see that something strange was going on with her.

So here he stood outside the UFO Center, helping Max with some freaking alien sign that he had to hang up or something, Michael hadn’t paid Max the slightest bit of attention. Max was trying to make small talk with him, but Michael’s thoughts were consumed with Liz. What was going on with her?

Finally, Max turned to him, concerned. “Michael, what’s wrong? You said that you needed to talk to me about something important. You’ve been here half an hour and you’ve barely said two words.”

Michael met his eyes. He knew that Max would be pissed at him for following Liz around. Max had warned them against violating her privacy. But that had never stopped him or Isabel before. He had taken her diary to make sure that she was on their side. And he knew that Isabel had dream walked Liz at least once before the kidnaping, even though Isabel hadn’t said anything, he suspected that was how she was able to get in so quickly, cause she’d been there already.

“Max, I followed Liz yesterday.”

“You followed Liz?” Max said, not fully understanding what Michael meant by that. Then it dawned on him. “What the hell? You have no right to be following Liz! What the hell were you thinking? After all that she’s been through, I think that we owe it to her to leave her alone.” As much as it saddened Max to say that, let alone to follow his own advice, he knew it was for the best. She had been to hell and back and didn’t need for them to interfere in her life.

Michael didn’t say anything. Frankly, he didn’t care about what Max was going to say. He just needed to tell Max what he’d seen. “Look, she was kidnaped by Khivar. And beaten up, Max. She had to kill him to get away. I followed her for her own protection. I’m not going to let someone have the chance to grab her again.”

Max was a bit shocked by Michael’s statements. Michael had been acting strange for a while now. He was acting all protective over Liz, acting all concerned for her welfare. Max didn’t understand it at all. “Why do you care about Liz’s welfare all of a sudden?”

A flash of anger went through Michael. “I’ve always cared about what happens to Liz. Always!” Michael stated fiercely to Max. “Like I was saying. I followed her. She went to the cemetery.”

Max didn’t understand where Michael was going with this. So she went to Alex’s grave. What was the mystery by that, Max wondered to himself. “So she went to Alex’s grave. What’s the big deal?”

Michael shook his head. “I didn’t say that she went to visit Alex.”

“So she went to visit her grandmother’s grave. You shouldn’t follow her anymore, Michael. Leave her alone.” Max said sadly.

“Too late for that, Maxwell.” Michael said, sighing before he continued. “She put flowers on the graves of three people. Andrea Norris, Sheila Norris Hubble and Everett Hubble.”

“Hubble!” Max said, shocked. He could still remember the first time he had meet the man. The alien hunter who had supposedly made direct contact. Hubble had been convinced that Max was Nasedo and most likely would have killed him if Valenti and Michael had not come to his rescue. “Why would Liz visit Hubble’s grave?” he wondered out loud.

“Hell if I know, Max. She put flowers on their graves. And stayed there for an hour. An hour!” Michael exclaimed to show his point that something was strange about the whole thing.

“An hour?! What was she doing for an hour?” Max asked perplexed. He was totally lost. Liz had visited Hubble’s grave. What had been her purpose in doing that?

Michael shrugged his shoulders. “Talking to them. Afterwards, she went to Alex’s house. I don’t know what happened, she was there with Mr. Whitman, and after awhile, I got tired of waiting. She’d been there for a good three hours so I went to the library. I wanted to see if Liz had any sort of connection to Hubble. Take a look at Hubble’s wife.” Michael said, taking the old newspaper clipping out of his pocket and handed it to Max.

Max stared at the picture of Sheila Hubble. This was why Hubble had come after him. Her murder by an alien had fueled his revenge. Her murder by Nasedo. That was something that Max didn’t understand. What had been Nasedo’s purpose in killing her? She was just a woman who had been waiting in the car for her husband. Had Nasedo tried to steal the car, and killed her? Max would never know since the only two people who knew what really happened were both dead.

“Don’t you see it, Max. The resemblances. Sheila Hubble looks like Liz. They have the same smile, the same eyes, the hair evens looks like it’s the same color. Just the noses are different. They could be sisters.” Michael said, pointing the features out to Max.

Max could see it. They did look alike. It was as if they were sisters. If Liz was connected to Hubble, why didn’t she say anything last year when the man had tried to kill him. It didn’t make any sense to him at all. “So?” Max said, urging Michael to continue.

“There’s no possible way that Liz could be related to Hubble. From what I gathered from the library, Andrea Norris had three children, Christopher Norris, Sheila Hubble and Stephanie Metzler. Andrea died in ‘63. Stephanie had three kids. And as we know, Sheila was killed back in ‘71. Christopher died in ‘Nam in 1969. That’s all I found out so far.” Michael explained to Max. “I don’t understand how Liz could look like someone who died a good twelve years before she was even born. That’s why I came to you. I thought that you could help me figure this out.”

Max wanted to laugh. Michael came to him for help. How could Max help him, when he didn’t understand himself. There couldn’t be any connection between Liz and the Hubble’s. Sheila Hubble had died nearly thirty years ago.

“Since there’s no way that they could be related, maybe it’s true what they say. Somewhere in the world everyone has a twin.” Max said, steadily, even though he didn’t feel that way at all.

“I don’t— “ Michael started, but stopped suddenly as something from across the street grabbed his attention. “What the hell?”

“What?” Max demanded. He turned around to see what had caught Michael’s attention. Then realized that Liz had. She looked so beautiful even though the clothes that she was wearing plain, just a pair of khakis and a white T-shirt. But she was hugging some blonde guy while a dark haired guy looked on, smiling at the two of them and then Liz hugged the dark haired guy.

Max felt jealousy rip through him. Who were those two guys and why was Liz hugging them? They didn’t look familiar to him. He knew for sure that they didn’t go to school with them. Max knew that he had no right to feel this way. He had no right to interfere with Liz’s life. He had caused everything that had happened to her. By telling her what he really was. He had caused Khivar kidnaping her. Max longed to tell her about Tess’ manipulations. He wanted to tell her that he loved her and that he needed her. Max was so busy watching her that he didn’t see Michael’s reaction.

Michael stared at them silently. Watching Liz with those two guys struck him as something familiar. It looked so right. The three of them together. Michael had the urge to go over and join them. Watching them, one word popped into his mind: family!

Max and Michael continued to watch Liz and her two friends go into the Crashdown. They were stunned silent. Until Michael finally found his voice and said something.

“Who was that with Liz?” Michael asked softly. They didn’t look familiar to him, but they felt familiar. He felt like he knew them. These feelings that he was having freaked him out. They were these strange feelings and he didn’t know how he was supposed to respond to them.

Max shook his head at Michael’s question. He had no idea who they were. But from the looks of it, Liz knew them pretty good. They looked so natural together, like they were supposed to be. When Max saw them with their arms around Liz, he felt jealousy rise up inside of him. They were touching Liz. They had no right to touch her. She was his! Granted they weren’t together but that didn’t change things for him. He was branded on her soul, just like she was on his. He could never belong to anyone but her.

“I don’t know who they are. Old friends? I don’t think I’ve ever seen them before.” Max said, clenching a fist as he thought about the blonde’s arm on her.

Michael shook his head. “Nah. Never seen ‘em before. Maybe Maria knows who they are. She and Liz have been friends since they were four.” Michael decided that going through Maria was the best route. She knew all of Liz’s secrets. Maybe if he told Maria of his suspicions, she might open up to him. She’d been pretty tight lipped about things ever since she told them about Future Max. But Michael could get it out of her.

Max nodded and thought it for a moment. “I don’t think that’d be best. They’re friends of Liz’s and we shouldn’t be checking them out.”

“What? No way. Larek said that the Skins might go after her. Screw it if she doesn’t want us to get involved with her life. She’s in danger. Those two could be Skins. And it’s my duty to find out who they are.” Michael announced slightly shocked by his own words. But it was exactly how he felt. He was second in command, a warrior. His hands were supposed to get dirty, not Max’s.

“Michael!” Max began to protest, but stopped when he saw Kyle walk out of the Crashdown. A smile was on his face. Max knew that smile. It was a smile of someone who had been touched by Liz. He had worn that same smile on his face countless times last year.

“What, Max? Maxwell?!” Michael said, snapping his fingers in Max’s face, hoping to get his attention.

“What?” Max said, snapping out of his thoughts of Liz. He missed her so much. All he wanted was her. To be able to wrap his arms around her and hold her close to him. He would give anything to go back to the year before. When Liz had been his.

“You blanked out on me, Max. I’ve been snapping my fingers in your face for like five minutes. What’s wrong with you? Is the bitch mind warping you again?” Michael asked, his anger forming at the thought of Tess Harding.

Max shook his head sadly. “No, no. I’m fine. I just miss her so much, Michael. I miss her so badly.” Max admitted to Michael. He and Michael hadn’t been close at all this past year. And Max was sorry for that, Michael was his best friend in two lifetimes and Max shouldn’t have been treating him the way that he had been. Max hoped by opening up to Michael, he would change things.

Michael nodded at Max’s words. He understood what Max was going through. “I know. Last summer I was the same. I missed Maria so badly, but I was convinced that I was doing the right thing. That she wouldn’t be in danger if we weren’t togther.”

“Even though I found out what Tess had done, I thought that it was best that I said that crap. Liz wouldn’t be in any danger, she’d be safe from my past, safe from my psychotic former wife, safe from me.” Max explained, opening up even more to Michael. “But look what happened. Khivar took her. He hurt her and he could have raped her. I don’t even know if he did. This just shouldn’t have happened to her. She was innocent in all of this.” Max said, his emotions filling him.

“He didn’t. Maria told me that Liz would have told her if she was. Liz wasn’t raped and she isn’t pregnant with his baby. You can’t blame yourself. You didn’t know what was going to happen. It’s not your fault, Max.” Michael insisted hoping to make his friend feel better. Max and Liz were so much alike. They shouldered all of the problems of the world on themselves.

“I hope that bastard didn’t. She must hate me so much, Michael. I put her in that hell, not Khivar.” Max said softly, looking down at his hands.

Michael shook his head. “She’s just in a real bad place. She’s scared, she’s been hurt. Just give her some time, Max. That’s all she needs.”

“I guess.” Max said as he heard giggles from across the street. Max and Michael both turned and saw Liz looking happier than they had seen her in quite a long time. Max hadn’t seen her that happy since last year. The whole past year had been bleak and depressing. No one had been happy this past year. Isabel’s birthday party had been good for awhile until she had her visions. Yup, the year had sucked for each and everyone of them.

The dark haired guy was carrying Liz piggyback style while the blonde one was trying to suppress his smile, but couldn’t. Liz was giggling at each step as they made their way to the Ford Escape. Max continued to watch them until the three of them drove away in the car.

Max sighed heavily. He would give anything to be with Liz. That was all that he wanted. But Larek’s warning came back to him. The Skins might be coming for her to get their revenge of her killing Khivar. Max didn’t want her to be in any danger, she shouldn’t be. Max knew that what Michael was doing was right by following Liz. Neither of them wanted anything bad to happen to her.

“You know Pam Troy’s spreading a rumor that Liz’s parents withdrew her from school ‘cause she’s in a mental hospital.” Michael said, breaking the silence. What was it about Liz and those two guys that made him want to go join them?

“What? That bitch!” Max said, narrowing his eyes at the thought of Pam Troy. For some reason, she hated Liz with a passion. Liz never paid her the slightest attention and that seemed to infuriate Pam even more.

Michael was slightly shocked at Max’s curse. He had never heard Max say anything stronger than damn it and hell. Never call anyone a bitch even though Tess deserved it on numerous occasions. “Well, we all know that it’s not true. But she is leaving school, that much I know. Want me to ask Maria about it?” he offered.

Max began to nod his head, but stopped short. It wasn’t right what Michael was asking. He didn’t want Liz’s privacy to be invaded. It just wasn’t right. But Max knew that he couldn’t stop Michael. Michael was going to do whatever he thought was right. No matter what Max would tell him. “It doesn’t really matter. Do what you will.” he resigned.

Michael nodded his head at Max’s words. He knew that he was close to finding the answers to this puzzle. He knew that Liz was the key to all of it. Larek had told him to follow his instincts and he was. Damn everyone else. He was. “I’m going to figure this out if it’s the last thing I do.” Michael said, finally shoving the picture of Sheila Hubble back into his pocket. “If it’s true that she’s leaving are you going to let her?” Michael asked softly. He hoped that Max wouldn’t let Liz leave. They needed her.

Max bit the inside of his cheek. He hoped that Liz wasn’t leaving. He didn’t know what he would do if she did. He didn’t know what was worse; Liz being in Roswell, but not talking to him and not even willing to see him. Or Liz leaving town where he would never see her again. “I can’t stop her if she leaves, Michael. In the end it’s really her decision.” He said sadly.

Michael shook his head. He couldn’t believe what Max was resigning himself to the fact that Liz was seriously considering leaving Roswell. Michael didn’t know what he could do. He couldn’t let Liz leave town. He loved her.

Michael froze at his though. Oh My God! Did he just say that he loved Liz Parker, his girlfriend’s best friend? It was true. He loved Liz, but not the way that he loved Maria. With Maria it was a passionate beautiful thing. With Liz it was in a brotherly way. She was like a sister to him. Sometimes an annoying little sister, but a sister nonetheless.

“Max, you can’t let her leave. She’s leaving because of us. We can’t let her leave. Maria already lost Alex because of us. I don’t know what’ll happen to her if she lost Liz because of us.” Michael said softly.

“We all lost Alex, Michael.” Max said sadly. He couldn’t remember the last time that he had actually sat down and talked to Alex. Max had been too busy dealing with all the crap that had been going on to talk to his friend. He remembered how happy Alex had been at the prom with Isabel. Max had never ever seen his sister as happy as she had been that night with Alex.

“Yeah. We all lost Alex. But Liz and Maria knew him better than we all did. They lost more than their friend, they lost their brother. He meant more to them than to us.” Michael said softly, looking down at his hands. He felt so helpless to do anything. Liz was leaving town and there was nothing that he could do to stop her. The only other times he had felt this way was when he was waiting outside the van. Waiting for Max to heal Alex. And when they found out that Khivar had kidnaped Liz.

“Isabel is so lost. I’ve never seen her this way. She misses him so much. She blames herself for what happened to Liz and Alex. I’m worried about her, Michael. She hasn’t been sleeping at night.” Max told Michael quietly. It seemed that he couldn’t do anything for Liz. She didn’t want to have anything to do with him, not that he blamed her. But he could help his sister, he could help Isabel. She’d sit there staring at the prom picture of her and Alex for hours at a time.

“What can we do for her, Max? We can’t change how she feels. We can’t ease the guilt she’s feeling. I know because I feel the same way. It doesn’t go away, it can’t. The only thing for her to do is to go on with her life. Alex is not coming back. She has to go on with her life.” Michael declared. It actually felt pretty good for him to tell Max exactly how he was feeling.

Max watched Michael silently. He didn’t know what to say. Michael had shared his feelings to him. Michael didn’t do that very often, only when he was on serious overload. Max hadn’t realized how Michael felt about Alex’s death. The two hadn’t been close friends, but that didn’t change the way that Michael was feeling. He was feeling the same as they all were feeling. Lost!

“I didn’t know, Michael. I’m sor—“

”Don’t be! Bad things happen all the time to everyone. Why should we be any different. Just because were aliens. Bad things happen to us to. Life goes on, Max. Look, are you going to help me figure out what’s going on with Liz. I’ve never seen these two guys before and neither have you. And what about Liz’s cuts and bruises? Why has she healed up so fast? Didn’t Valenti say that cut on her face was deep enough to scar her?” Michael said. Michael knew something strange was going on. He was going to find out with or without Max’s help.

Max bit the inside of his cheek. Maybe Michael did have a point. Valenti had said that the wound on her face looked bad enough to scar. But from his view of Liz, her face was as clear as it had been before. When he had seen Liz at the hospital she’d looked so bad. But here it was four days later, and she looked as beautiful as she had before. Something did seem a bit suspicious. Why had Liz’s parents bought her a car? Why had she visited Hubble’s grave? He wasn’t understanding what was going on. Max looked back at Michael and nodded his head. “Alright. See what you can find out. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Michael felt relief wash over him. Finally, Max was acknowledging that something was wrong. That something weird was going on with Liz. “Yeah. That’s great. I’m gonna go.” Michael said, as he hopped onto his bike and shot out of there.
posted on 24-Jan-2002 8:59:15 PM
Disclaimer: See 1st post. Mentions of bands, musicans, movies and people. Don't own anything connected to them. In the end belongs to Linkin Park, not me. I just think that they rock. *happy*

Chapter 20



“Lizzie, Lizzie. The king is looking at you again. Should I go kick his ass for you?” Krit asked once the three were in the car. Zack was driving with Liz sitting in the passenger’s seat. Krit sat in the back seat, in the middle so he could see up front.

Liz shook her head. “No. Do you have any CD’s or tapes to listen to. There’s nothing good on the radio.” Liz said, as she heard a Gomez song start. She hadn’t listened to that band in months. Ever since Future Max had told her that about the night that she and Max would have made love. The night of the Gomez concert. She wondered what exactly had happened in that first time line? Was it worse than what was happening now? Liz quickly switched the station and heard the familiar strains of Linkin Park.

“Check in there.” Zack said, pointing to the compartment in front of Liz.

Krit shook his head. “Nah. Don’t change it yet. This song rocks. I tried so hard, and got so far. But in the end, it doesn’t even matter, I had to fall to lose it all, but in the end it doesn’t even matter.” Krit said, singing along with the band. He loved this god damn band, they were so awesome.

Liz opened up the compartment and pulled out several CD’s. She shuffled through them but didn’t recognize any of the bands. “Who are these groups? I never heard of them before. Faster Pussycat, Kix, LA Guns, Bulletboys, Saigon Kick, Ratt.” she said confused.

Krit laid his chin on her shoulder. “Zackie’s got a thing for hair bands of the 80's. Def Leppard’s his favorite. He’s a Def Leppard freak. He’s seen them in concert four times already.”

“Hey, there an awesome band. They’ve had some bad crap happen to them and still came out on top. Rick Allen is one of the world’s best drummers and he does it all with one arm. “ Zack stated, as they began to drive that lead them out of town.

“Jon Bonham’s the best. Closely followed by Keith Moon and Tommy Lee.” Krit protested, shaking his head.

Liz laughed at them. “Oh, no. You both are wrong. No one holds a candle to Lars Ulrich from Metallica.”

“What?” Krit said, shocked by her answer. “Oh, hell no. Zack, you know why she likes him don’t you?” Krit said, smirking.

“He’s a pretty boy. That’s why Lizzie likes him.” Zack said, smiling at his sister.

Liz widened her eyes at him, innocently. “Is that why you think I like him. Just because he’s very nice looking. Hmm, very nice looking. He’s very good at what he does.”

“Uh, huh. Yay, right.” Krit said not believing her for one second.

“This is going to be a long ride.” Zack said as he saw Liz put in Metallica’s S&M CD. Damn, he thought to himself. Guess he hadn’t hid that very well in the compartment. He only had it in there for Krit, because he semi liked them. A very, very long ride.
*************************


“Okay. I’ll admit it. Steve Clark played an awesome riff but nothing compares to James Hetfield. Hetfield is a god.” Liz stated, grinning at her brothers.

Zack shook his head, vehemently. “No, freaking way. No one compares to the works of Clark and Collen; the terror twins. Clark, alone had the most amazing technique ever, and he taught himself. No one compares.” Zack said, as he slowed down the car as soon as they got to a high iron gate.

Liz was shocked by the sight of the huge gate. Wow, this place was surrounded like a fortress, she thought to herself. Zack pulled up to the gate and stopped between the small video cameras on either side. The cameras stared at them like blank, mechanical eyes. Beneath each one, was a small round speaker and a microphone.

Zack rolled his window down, hung his arm out the door and smiled up at the camera. “It’s Zack. Open up.”

The iron gate swung open slowly before them, its hinges releasing a high, metallic sound. Zack drove through the gate and started along the lengthy oak lined drive.

“Liz is amazed, aren’t ya sis? Dad bought it back in the sixties, it’s a really really old house. The things that it didn’t have, he added onto the house. It’s got everything. Our own private gym, pools, both indoor and outdoor, a sauna, wait til ya see the house.” Krit said, laughing at the expression on her face.

The house was not visible from the gate. They had to drive for a while up another incline and then there it was. It wasn’t even a house. It was a mansion. Huge and structured like a fortress, it had a fairy tale aura to it. The gray stone glistened with the morning light. It had twin towers that resembled a castle, there were large stone balconies, roughly carved, and tall mullioned windows. A lush bed of flowers flowed in a semi circle around the front, that Liz thought resembled a moat. From the main structure three lower stone buildings spread out.

“You know, your both wrong. No one compares to Eddie Van Halen. Ed’s a fucking genius, man.” Krit declared, grinning at Liz’s awe over their home.

“Hey, man. Watch your language. PJ can hear you, can’t you little man?” Zack said, pointing to Liz’s stomach, as the three of them got out of the car and started heading to one of the buildings.

Liz laughed at Zack. Ever since he had found out that she was pregnant with PJ, he was taking on the role as PJ’s honorary father. He’d make sure that everyone was watching their language around her, making sure that she was eating properly. Zack used their connection to talk to her countless times during the day and at night, wanting to know if she ate enough veggies. The first time that he had used the connection had freaked her out. But now she was used to it. Liz pitied the poor girl who would marry her brother. Hmm, wonder if Zack’s any closer to Cerina, Liz thought devilishly, suppressing a grin.

“Sorry, kiddo.” Krit said softly, patting Liz’s belly lightly. “Uncle Krit can be an idiot sometimes.” They headed around the large house and to the large gray building closest to the house.

“Sometimes?” Zack said caustically. “I can’t believe that I’m related to you two. Thinking that Hetfield and Van Halen are better than Clark. I wonder what Mike would say?”

“Mike?” Liz said, raising an eyebrow. She knew that Michael hated his name to be shortened like that. “Actually, I think that he would agree with me. He’s an avid Metallica fan. More than avid, rabid. He’s kind of the one that turned me onto them.”

Krit shook his head. “Rath’s a Metallica fan? Zack and I can kick his ass.” he said, winking at Liz.

Liz burst out laughing at the thought of her three brothers duking it out over who’s the best guitar player in the world. “I’d pay to see that!” she said as they walked into the door.

“Are you ready to work out, Liz?” Bill questioned as the three stepped into the gym.

Liz bit her lip as she saw the people who were in there turn to look at her. She was the queen, she shouldn’t allow herself to be intimidated by anyone. She had to be strong and unyielding. Liz kept her head up high. “Yes, I am.” she stated as she looked around the room. There was only one girl in the room. That must be Cerina.

Bill motioned with his hand to the others. They were all dressed the same as she was. Khakis and white T-shirt. “Your looking very nice, Liz. Cerina’s going to be your partner for today.” he said, motioning to Cerina who now stood next to him.

Liz got a good look at Cerina, who had long tri-colored hair, which was mostly dark brown but was streaked with silver and gold. Her eyes were thickly-lashed emerald green swirled with flecks of gold. Her eyes reminded Liz a little of Max’s own amber colored eyes. Cerina was taller than Liz, but than again practically every one was. Liz guessed her height was around 5-6.

“Hi, Liz. I’m Cerina Travers.” Cerina said smiling at Liz. “We were sisters-in-law on Antar. Twice. You were married to my brother and I was married to yours.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Liz saw Zack clench his jaw at Cerina’s words. Liz refocused her attention on Cerina. “Of course I remember you, Krissy. You were one of my best friends on Antar.”

“Not to mention that bitch, Avarona.” Cerina said darkly, her pretty features looking murderous at the thought of her.

Liz felt herself tense up at the mention of her once friend and now enemy. “Let’s not talk about her right now. She will be dealt with in time.”

Cerina nodded. “Good that we understand one another. She helped murder my family.”

Liz nodded and turned to the tall, dark haired young man who had grabbed her attention. She raised an eyebrow in question. “Well, hello Brad.” Right before Valenti had lost his job, Liz had dreamed about this guy. Liz couldn’t believe it. He was right in front of her face.

He blushed at her words. “Sorry about that Liz. I was bored, so I dream walked you. I didn’t know that Vilandra was doing the same thing. But it serves you right for messing with me when I was younger.” he said, grinning at her. “By the way the name’s Tom. Tom McLaren.”

“Well, I guess you’re right. You didn’t like finding that snake in your bed did you?” Liz said after a moment, winking at him devilishly. “Scarred you for life, didn’t it?” she said, referring to something she had did back on Antar.

Tom shook his head vehemently at her words. “What? No! Of course not.” he declared.

“Yeah. It did.” Krit whispered in her ear smiling. “He’s still scared of snakes.”

“Hi. I’m Nathan.” A tall dark blonde haired boy with the most intense gray eyes she’d ever seen said shaking her hand. “You’re my cousin back on Antar. My mother Anara was your aunt.”

Liz nodded. She remembered her two aunts, Anara and Idris. They were high priestess of the Goddess, Antar’s version of God. “I remember you and Aunt Anara. She was the most wonderful person.”

“I’m Simon. Your other cousin. My mother was Idris.” The tall dark haired young man said. His eyes were so purple that it couldn’t possibly be his true eye color.

“Cerina, can you tell Liz how this all works. I’m sure my son’s haven’t told her.” Bill said, interrupting their reunion.

“Sure, Metz.” Cerina sais as she grabbed Liz by one arm and began to show her around the massive gymnasium. “We get together once a week and we work for ten hours. Five hours on mental exercises and the other five are for physical training. For the physical training, we usually start with the basics. We’re timed to see how many laps we can do both in the pool and jogging. We’re also timed when we climb the rope.” Cerina explained as she tugged on the rope that Liz knew was used at school. “We’re timed to see how long we can hold our breathe underwater and we practice judo and tae kwon do.”

“Wow! You do all of that?” Liz asked surprised. That was a lot of stuff that they did. But she guessed that Bill was trying to get them all prepared if they ever had to go into battle. A battle that was about to start any day now, Liz reminded herself.

Cerina nodded her head. “Yup. Plus we spar. We practice on each other. We try not to hurt each other, but occasionally it has happened. Once Zack accidently broke Tom’s wrist. It’s a good thing that Krit and Simon can heal.” Cerina said. “You probably won’t do any underwater activities since your preg. . .nant.” she said hesitantly, meeting Liz’s eyes.

“So you all know?” Liz inquired.

“Yeah. We’ve all got your back, Liz. We’ll make sure that nothing happens to you or PJ.” Cerina said, thinking back to the meeting that Zack and Krit had held two days ago. They had told them that Liz was pregnant with Khivar’s baby. Cerina felt so bad for Liz; she didn’t deserve to be pregnant with that psychopath’s baby. But if Liz was anything like she’d been back on Antar, then there was no way in hell that Liz would do anything to jeopardize her pregnancy. Troian and Zanier had wanted a baby so badly since they had first gotten married but Troian hadn’t gotten pregnant. Though it had saddened them, they didn’t mind much because they were still young and had plenty of time to have a child. Then Troian had gotten pregnant with Sorcha; they’d been so happy that they’d thrown a huge party to celebrate their news. Both Troian and Zanier had loved parties.

Cerina bit her lip as she thought about Troian’s murder. Did Liz remember who had killed her? Cerina knew that Zack recalled his own death. He had confided in her once. He’d told her that he remembered getting shot in the back; the pain; Troian holding his hand, struggling to keep Jasper talking to her, that the last thing he remembered was Troian singing to him.

Cerina blinked away the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. Gosh, Liz must think that she’s a freak for getting consumed by her thoughts.

“Zack and Krit told you what I planned to name him.” Liz said with a smile. “When Alex came to visit me, he wanted me to name the baby after him. But I told him he’d have to. . . Ah, shit. I’m sorry.” Liz said as she realized what she said. The look on Cerina’s face was of utter loss and despair.

Cerina couldn’t believe that she was going to start blubbering like a baby. But just the very thought of Alex was enough to get her started. Her husband was dead. He shouldn’t have died. Cerina shrugged her shoulders. “It’s okay. Of course he’d visit you in your dream plane. After all you’re his sister.”

Liz reached out and squeezed Cerina’s hand, giving her a small smile. “If he had known you, he would have loved you. He just didn’t remember until it was too late.” Liz said, hoping to reassure Cerina in some way.

“Yeah. Well, he had to go through his Vilandra phase first.” Cerina muttered to herself. “I better finish telling you the rest.”

Liz nodded. “Okay. So we meet up once a week for heavy duty training?” she clarified with a wry look.

“Yup. We practice doing all sorts of mental exercises. Most of us have one unique power. All of us can change molecular structures.” Cerina replied.

“Really? That’s cool. What are they?” Liz asked curiously. She wondered what her unique power was. Astral projection? As far as she knew Max, Michael, and Isabel couldn’t do that. “Um, I astral projected myself to Max once and I shot some sort of energy out of my hand at Khivar. Does anyone else have that power?”

Cerina nodded. “Nathan and Clay can astral project. So I doubt that’s your special power. As for the energy, that only happens when you store up so much energy that it erupts like a volcano. It’s really scary when it happens. It happened to me a few times when I went into my heat. I just had all of this energy stored up that needed to be released. I scared the shit out of Aryn when I did it.”

Liz shivered at the thought. “Gosh. I’m kinda scared what’s going to happen to me when I go through that. How did you manage?” Liz wondered.

“Trust me, hon. It is not easy. But with my energy being stored up like that, I started to make sculptures from metal. I was that bored and had that much energy. I’m quite good. “ Cerina said with a smile. “Anyways, I should tell you the kinds of powers that we all have. Zack can send electricity from his hands. Krit can freeze the moisture around him into hard ice; he can make shields and other objects from the ice. It’s really cool. I have a force field that is virtually impenetrable; the guys have tried a lot of different things to penetrate it, but never have been able to. Tom can manipulate fire, you know, by controlling it’s size and intensity. Nathan can translate languages, spoken or written, human or alien. He can decipher codes and computer languages. Simon can walk through solid matter like walls. He calls it Phasing.” Cerina explained.

“I think that Alex’s power must have been close to Nathan’s. Alex was a genius at the computer stuff. He wanted to be the next Bill Gates. If I ever had a computer problem, I could go to him and he’d have it solved within minutes. Alex was the best. He had the most incredible sense of humor. He could always make me laugh. No matter how depressed I was over Max, he could make me laugh.” Liz said, totally immersed in her memories of Alex and all the good times that they had together. Liz realized what she had done again, and meet Cerina’s solemn eyes. “Charlie let me go through Alex’s things. I have some stuff that you might like. I totally forgot to bring it with me today. It’s just some pictures, some shirts that I thought that you might like.” Liz said softly.

Cerina gave Liz a shaky smile. “Thanks, that’s great of you.” Cerina decided to change the subject. “How is Jerel doing?” she said, referring to Charlie by his Antarian name.

“He’s doing better. He’s leaving Roswell. He’s moving to here. There’s not really much for him left in Roswell with Alex gone.” Liz explained quietly. Maybe Charlie would find someone. Maybe he would fall in love again.

Cerina nodded sadly. “It would do him good to be around the rest of us, I guess. Look at us we keep getting off the subject. Metz will kill me.” Cerina said with a grin. “Anyways, we’re supposed to practice our powers by ourselves and when we get together we’re supposed to show how we’ve improved them.”

“How long have you been doing this?” Liz questioned.

“Zack, Krit and Tom were fifteen. Nathan, Simon and I were fourteen. So you and Alex would have been thirteen.” Cerina replied.

“Are you girls ready?” Bill asked from across the gym. It was good to see them together like that again. Cerina had been the only girl among the boys for such a long time, now she had Liz again as well as her own sister and Maria. Bill had finally decided that he was going to have to tell Maria who she really was. Despite the precautions that he’d had for her over the years, there was still a risk for her. And she needed to be clued in on her heritage. But it might be easier for Maria to hear it from Liz, instead of himself.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, he turned to the boys. “Okay, guys. Zack and Nathan, I want you two to show Liz how we spar. Now Zack try not to use too much force.”

Liz watched silently as her brother and cousin started to throw punches. It was almost mechanical the way that they were fighting, in a rhythm. High punch, low punch, backhand right, backhand left, low punch, low punch, high punch. Liz watched fascinated at the two hitting each with systematic punches.


****Tom is the Brad guy from Liz's dream at the beginning of To Serve and Protect.****
posted on 8-Feb-2002 12:58:26 PM
Disclaimer: See 1st post.


Chapter 21



Hours later. . . . . . . . .


“You okay, Liz? You look a little tired. I told you Metz likes to work us to the bone.” Cerina said softly with a concerned look at Liz. Bill could be a real slave driver, but Cerina understood why he did the things that he did. He was preparing them for a war against Khivar and all of their enemies. Except now Khivar was dead. Thanks to Liz, the five foot two, hundred pound queen of Antar had went up against him and kicked his ass.

Liz sighed. Gosh, her muscles ached like a son of a bitch. She’d never had a work out like this before. Five straight hours. Bill hadn’t wanted her to be timed underwater, because it could cause some danger to the baby to be without air for a while. Liz hadn’t known about that. So she’d taken Bill’s advice after all he had raised three children, he knew more about children than she did. “I’m fine. I’ve just never been worked so hard. Damn! You go through this every freaking week.”

Cerina laughed at Liz’s words. “I know, it’s hard but in the end it will come in handy when it’s time to take care of those skin shedding bastards and the skank of Antar: Tess.” Cerina said. Tess. What a stupid name; ugly and plain. It fit Avarona perfectly, since she was both.

In the last hours that Liz had been there it was like no time had passed for the two girls who’d been such close friends on Antar. Though this was a different place and they were totally different from their former lives, they found that they had a lot of things in common. They both loved the music of Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Fats Dimonio, The Runaways, and the Bangles. And that they both loved the paintings of Wassily Kandinsky and Jackson Pollock. They’d decided when they’d have their little weekend with Aryn that they’d rent the movie Pollock.

“Now, it’s time for us to work on our powers. We’ll just see what you can do. I can show you some of the things that I can do. And then you can try it yourself.” Cerina decided. It seemed like a pretty good plan, she thought to herself. Cerina didn’t have a clue as to what Liz’s powers could be, other than the astral projection and the changing of molecular structure, which was something that they all had. Would Liz’s powers be anything like Zack and Krit’s?

“Good idea.” she agreed. Liz was anxious to find out what her powers were. The physical training that she’d gone through had been hell, but like Cerina had told her. It was worth it when they would have to go up against their remaining enemies. The actual thought of going to Antar frightened her so badly. She didn’t think that she was ready to give up her life here on Earth. Moving to Artesia was one thing, but leaving the planet was another. “Oh, my gosh. I totally forgot what my parents told me. They told me that when I was little, I used to spin the dinner plates in the air.”

“Levitation. Tom and Jon can do that. You haven’t met Jon yet, have you?” Cerina questioned.

Liz shook her head. “No. My father told me a little bit about everyone though.”

“Jon is Miles McLaren’s son. Cavan. He was a general back on Antar. Anyways, Jon’s a doctor. He mainly treats the guys. Metz was the one who had been in charge of all of that. But as Metz got older he wanted to spend more time with Stephanie. So Jon took over for him. Stephanie is the best. She’s so nice and sweet. You remind me of her, guess it must be the genes that you share. You’ll really love her. Okay, enough talking. Let’s get busy.” Cerina commanded herself.

Cerina held her hand out in front of her and the next thing Liz knew a huge green force field surrounded Cerina. Liz’s mouth fell open. Wow, she thought to herself. It looked exactly like Max’s. The same green color, only Cerina’s was extended a lot farther than she had seen Max’s.

Liz pointed her finger at the shield and tried to touch it. But the shield stayed firmly in place and her finger didn’t budge. “You know, Max can do a shield. It must be a sibling thing.” she injected.

Cerina frowned slightly. She didn’t really mind if she was like Max. After all, he was her brother. But she didn’t want to be like Vilandra— Isabel. It was so hard for her to think of Vilandra as Isabel. It wasn’t that she wanted Isabel to be Vilandra. But the bad memories she had of her childhood all shared one thing: Vilandra. She had made her life a living hell.

Cerina shook herself out of her memories. They were her memories but than again they weren’t. Cerina put her hand down, dropping her shield. “Really?” she asked softly. She couldn’t wait until she saw her brother again. They had been close back on Antar.

Liz nodded. “Yeah. But I don’t think it’s as big or strong as yours. Granted, I haven’t seen him use it since November.” she said with a hint of anger in her voice. So many bad things that they had done to each other. So much anger and resentment. This year had not been easy on her. Or anyone else for that matter. Liz felt Cerina’s eyes on her and felt that she owed her an explanation.

“Things really went downhill for Max and me when Tess arrived. All of a sudden it was like, she’s your destiny, your wife. And I’m nothing, just a stupid human. I couldn’t stay there when I heard it. I had to get away. I went to Florida to stay with my aunt. It was the most miserable summer ever. All I wanted was Max.” Liz admitted with tears in her eyes. So much pain and heartache for something that was false. Why hadn’t her parents told her the truth then? Why had they allowed for her to go through so much pain?

“I’m sorry about everything, Liz. I—“ Cerina didn’t know what else she could say. She didn’t know how to make Liz feel better. She had no clue about what had happened between them. But if Max was anything like he’d been back on Antar, then he would do everything in his power to get Liz back. The depth of his love for Liz amazed her. “Why don’t you try astral projecting? You know you can do that.” Cerina hoped that she could make Liz forget about those bad memories.

Liz nodded her head. She couldn’t believe that she had been confiding her most personal feelings to Cerina. She wasn’t the type of person who did that. The only people that she had ever confessed her feelings to had been, Maria, Alex and Grandma Claudia. There were rare instances when she had to Isabel, Ava and even to Michael. But Cerina had been her friend once and she was going to be again.

“Now, what were you thinking about the last time?”

“I was thinking about Max. That I had to get to him, to save him. He needed me. He had saved me and I had to save him again.” Liz said subdued. “I thought that it was Isabel because I was holding her hand. We were both concentrating hard on contacting Max. But it wasn’t her, it was me.” Liz gave Cerina a slight smile.

Cerina returned her smile. “Yes, it was you. Not Isabel.”

Liz smiled at the thought. It had been her. Not Isabel. “Okay. Here goes nothing.” Liz closed her eyes and focused all of her thoughts on Max. Sweet wonderful Max who had saved her death and changed her life forever. Max, who stirred such wonderful happy feelings in her. Max, who had been her husband in two lifetimes. The father of her beautiful daughter. Her soul mate.

Liz felt her skin begin to prickle. Ripples like tiny waves washed down her arms. Her heart began to race. A chill went through her and she felt something strange happening to her. It felt as if her molecules were spreading themself apart. Funny, she didn’t remember it being like that last time.

The next thing Liz knew she was standing in a bathroom. Liz looked around dazed. Okay. She had been with Cerina trying to use her astral projection and now she was in a bathroom. Liz figured that it must have worked. Oh My GOD! Who was that guy in the shower??

Standing under the stream of water stood a tall dark haired man. Was that Max? She had been thinking about him. Liz couldn’t help but watch him. This was Max, he’d been her husband once before. It was perfectly alright for her to be looking at his hard wet naked flesh.

She had a perfect view of his back and rear. Her fingers itched to squeeze the high, round flesh. Waves of heat rippled through her, making her knees melt and her thighs quiver. He was beautiful enough to take her breathe away when he was dressed. Naked, he made her think of committing borderline illegal acts.

The sound of his palm hitting the wall shook her out of her thoughts and she took a step closer to the shower.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.” Max muttered to himself, as he slapped the wall with his palm again. He couldn’t let Liz leave town. He didn’t know what he would do if she did. Max felt that if she left, she would never come back to him. He wanted to make it up to her. He wanted to be with her again. He wasn’t whole without her. A part of him was empty without her. “I’m sorry, Liz. I’m sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt.” he moaned.

Liz took another step closer. Max was in pain. He was hurting, just like she was. Liz couldn’t stand to see him in pain. Pain that she was causing him. “I’m sorry, Max.” she said softly, without even realizing what she was doing. Liz felt her skin to prickle again, and then her molecules spreading again.

Max broke out of his reverie when he smelled vanilla and strawberries. Liz’s scent. He turned around and sighed. You’re a stupid fucking idiot, Evans. Of course, she’s not there. She’s not talking to you after you turned your back on her. Max turned back around and shut the water off. He was determined to stop Liz at all costs from leaving town. He couldn’t let her leave. He loved her too much.

Liz gave a small gasp as she realized that she was back with Cerina and the others, who Liz realized were standing watching her like she had grown a second head. “Hey, guys.” Liz said softly, biting her lip.

“Fuck me. Do you realize what you just did Liz?” Cerina said shocked, by what had happened. She couldn’t fucking believe it. She had never seen anything like that before. That was just so amazing.

“Cerina, watch your language.” Bill said, not bothering to look at Cerina. He kept his eyes focused on Liz. He was so amazed by what had just happened. “Liz, do you know what you just did?” he asked her softly.

Liz looked around and saw that they were all shocked. She turned her attention back to Bill and nodded. “Yeah. Didn’t I just astral project myself?”

Bill shook his head at her words. “No, you didn’t astral project. You did something else. Something I’ve never seen. I think we’ve found out what your power is. Did something about it feel different from when you astral projected?”

“Yeah. My skin felt prickly. That didn’t happen to me before.”

Nathan shook his head. “That never happened to me or Jon.”

“Liz, your whole body left. One moment you were here, the next you weren’t. You scared the shit out of me.” Cerina said, giving Liz a smile.

“Really? My whole body left. I still wasn’t here?” Liz asked perplexed. That definitely did not happen the last time. Was that her gift? Being able to transport herself to a different place? If so, she had gone to Max’s. She had been so close to touching him.

“Your whole body left, Liz. You transported yourself somewhere else. I’ve never seen a pure blood alien do that before. It must have something to do with the genes. Your family was always stronger, more powerful because of your blood line. Because you were descendants of the Goddess.” Bill said, thinking that had to be the answer to her powers.

Liz nodded. “Must be.”

Zack looked over at his sister. He wondered where she had gone? “So, little sister, where’d you go? The beach? Back to Roswell?”

Liz felt her cheeks warm up as she thought about Max and his sleek wet tight butt. Liz knew that she couldn’t tell them that she went to Max’s and had seen him in the shower. “Umm, yeah. I went to my bedroom at my house. No one saw me.” She didn’t think that Max had seen her, hopefully he hadn’t heard her.

Cerina cocked an eyebrow at Liz. She knew that she was lying. Liz had been thinking about Max just before she did her thing. Hmm, what had Liz seen when she’d gone? What had she seen Max naked or something? Cerina stifled a smile at the thought. That’s probably what happened.

Bill cleared his throat. “Okay. Go back doing whatever you were doing guys.” he told everyone. He still couldn’t believe the power that Liz had. It was something so strong.

When everyone had gone back to their little groups, Cerina turned to Liz. “You slut! You saw Max naked, didn’t you? What else could make you blush like a tomato?” Cerina said, grinning.

Liz blushed at Cerina’s comment. Damn, Cerina knew her so well in such a short time. Liz shook her head as she began to deny everything, but thought of something else. “I plead the fifth.” she said, giving Cerina a sly smile.

posted on 8-Feb-2002 1:06:24 PM
Disclaimer: See 1st post.


Chapter 22



Liz smiled unsurely at the woman. She was beautiful, Liz thought to herself. Stephanie Norris Metzler was about five four, with thick, straight golden blonde hair, a pointed chin that reminded Liz of Aryn’s and the same bright blue eyes that Zack had. Good looks ran in the Norris family.

“I’m Stephanie. It’s wonderful to finally meet you, Liz. I’ve been waiting for this moment for such a long time. You look just like them, you know.” Stephanie said softly, drawing Liz into a hug, not caring that Liz was still soaking wet from the impulsive jump into the pool with the others.

Liz had to admit, despite that this was supposed to be serious training for her, she was having a lot of fun with the others. It was great getting to be reacquainted with everyone. Her friends and family. After Bill had finally told them that practice was over, they had gone to the pool, where they’d all jumped in despite their clothes. Simon had gotten his camera and had taken pictures; so that they could always remember this day when they were reunited. Of course, Alex was missing, Liz thought sadly.

When Stephanie had taken Liz in her arms, she’d began to protest, but she’d stopped herself. Liz got the feeling that Stephanie needed this. She needed to have this moment.

After what seemed like minutes Stephanie pulled away, tears running down her face. “I don’t have much family, besides Bill and the children. You’re a part of my family, Liz. The blood that’s inside of you is the same— well almost the same as mine. I want you to know that if you ever need anything you can come to me.”

Liz nodded. She didn’t know exactly what to say. Stephanie was right though. Liz was a part of her family. They practically had the same blood in their bodies. Liz felt bad for this woman, who had lost almost her whole family. Her parents, her brother and sister. So much tragedy she had endured over the years.

“I want to show you something, Liz.” Stephanie said as she guided Liz over to the white couch to sit down.

Liz paused. She was still wet and she didn’t want to get the couch all wet. “Oh, I really shouldn’t sit down. I’m all wet.”

Stephanie dismissed her words with a wave of her hand. “Oh don’t worry about that. I can get Bill or one of the boys to fix it later.” she said as she pulled Liz down onto the couch next to her. She gave Liz a tentative smile. “Bill told me that your pregnant. Are you happy with it?” she asked softly. Stephanie hoped that Liz realized that it wasn’t the child’s fault for what she had gone through.

Liz nodded. “Yes, I am. Even though Khivar is his father, I don’t care. PJ is my baby. My son. He’s innocent in all of this. He will have a normal happy childhood.” Liz said, rubbing her stomach with one hand. She knew that it soothed him. It made him fall asleep.

Stephanie smiled at Liz’s words. It was exactly what she’d hoped for. God, Liz was so much like her mother and Sheila. Sheila would do the same thing when she was pregnant, granted Sheila hadn’t known that she was pregnant. “Well, as normal as can be expected for a hybrid. Zack and Krit were such bad little boys growing up. I’m surprised that I don’t have grey hair because of them. I remember one time Krit turned his room into an ice palace. It was summer and he said that he wanted to go ice skating. After several minutes of explaining to him why he couldn’t, he went off to his room pouting. After half an hour of silence, I knew that something was up, so I went to check on him. His whole room was covered in solid ice and he was skating around having the time of his life.”

Liz was grinning at the mental picture of Krit’s ice room and him skating around without a care in the world. It sounded like something he would do. “What did you do?” she asked.

“After I fell on my ass, I made him sit in the corner until Bill came home. But Bill only laughed and said that Krit was pretty good at his power of freezing things. I told Bill that if he didn’t discipline our son then I’d do it myself. Bill knew that I would do. So he grounded Krit from using his powers for a week. And at the end of the week, he made me an ice snowman and said ‘sorry, Mama.’” Stephanie said softly.

Liz sighed. “Aah. That’s so cute. He made you a snowman?” Liz replied, smiling at the thought.

Stephanie nodded as she stood up. She walked over to the mahogany bookcase and pulled out an old looking photo album. She retook her seat next to Liz and opened the album. “I want to show you some pictures. This was my mother when she was six years old. The baby that she’s holding is her brother, Zachary.” Stephanie said pointing to the picture.

Liz’s mouth fell open. “Wow! The resemblance is just so startling. I mean, I know I’m supposed to look like her, but it’s just wow.” Liz said. Liz wondered if her body was the exact same as Andrea Norris’. Did Andrea have the same moles that Liz had? Did she have the same birthmark as Liz?

Stephanie turned the page and pointed to another picture. “This was taken when my mother was about your age. That’s her and my father, Grant. They were going to a party for her friend. It’s always been one of my favorite pictures.”

Liz smiled at the picture. It was like looking in a mirror. Andrea was smiling widely, love shining in her eyes for the young man next to her. Liz knew that look so well. She had it every time she looked at Max. Well, almost every time. Though she hadn’t had that look when she told him off, Liz thought wryly.

“Now, here’s another one of my favorites.” Stephanie said, flipping through the pages and pointed to one. “It was taken a month before Mom died. It’s the whole family. By this time, Dad was already gone. My mother, Uncle Zachary, Sheila, Chris and I celebrated Mom’s birthday. She never liked having big parties.”

It really was a beautiful picture. Andrea was standing next to her daughters, with Zachary and Chris laughing at something. Liz turned her attention back to Stephanie. “Can I ask you a question?” she said softly. She knew that her question might upset Stephanie, but she was just dying to find out the truth.

Stephanie nodded. “Sure.”

“How did Nasedo find out about Sheila? How did he know that she was carrying me?” Liz asked. She’d been curious about it for awhile now. She didn’t know if Stephanie could answer her question, but Liz knew that she had to give it a try.

Stephanie sighed. “I don’t think that he had a clue about that Sheila was carrying you until he touched her. Bill and the others were so careful about everything that they’ve ever done. I think that he was going to take the car and must have felt you or something. And knew he had to get rid of the two of you. At least that’s what Bill and I think. But we’ll never know the truth about what happened.” she said, softly. Her poor baby sister had died because of that bastard.

“Hey, am I interrupting anything?” Cerina said, walking into the library.

Stephanie looked over to the pretty girl and shook her head. “No. Come on, sweetie. Liz and I were just talking about things. I’m going to go make some tea.” she said, standing up. Stephanie always liked Cerina, she was such a sweet girl. She’d always hoped that Cerina and Zack would have gotten together, but Cerina stayed loyal to her memories of Alex. “I’ll be back in a little while girls.” she said as she walked out of the room.

Cerina sat down next to Liz. “Is Steph okay?” she wondered out loud. What had she interrupted?

Liz nodded her head and narrowed her eyes at Cerina. She wasn’t wet from the swim, she must have dried herself. “She’s fine. So, since you dried yourself off with your powers, dry me off.” she stated.

Cerina smiled at Liz. “Sure.” She waved her hand over Liz and a moment later Liz was dry. Cerina stared at Liz for a minute, deciding whether or not she should tell Liz her secret. She didn’t have any to confide in, but now since Liz was here, she had her best friend back. Her best friend who would understand what had happened.

“I thought I was pregnant once.” Cerina admitted, giving Liz a small smile. “I thanked god that I wasn’t. I didn’t know about the connection you’d have with the baby if you were pregnant. So I was freaked. I wasn’t ready to have a baby and the father. Well, that’s a long story.” she said, sighing at the thought of him.

Liz’s mouth had dropped open at Cerina’s revelation. The way that Cerina had acted earlier when they’d talked about Alex, she didn’t think that Cerina would have slept with anyone who wasn’t Alex. “Tell me. I’m interested.” Liz said, touching her hand lightly.

Cerina smiled. She knew that Liz wouldn’t judge her by the mistake that she had made. “Okay. It was during my very first heat a year and a half ago. I literally jumped on the guy. And we slept together. Four times.” she admitted, biting her lip. Despite her feelings of guilt about it, the night was permanently etched in her brain.

Liz’s mouth fell open again. “Four times in one night. Whoa!” Liz said slightly shocked. She envied her. Even if Cerina hadn’t been in love with the guy, her first time had been good for her. At least he’d cared about her feelings. Khivar had cared more about himself than Liz.

A goofy looking smile covered Cerina’s face. “Yeah. It was wonderful. It was beyond wonderful. But I couldn’t help but feel guilty about what I had done. I cheated on Alex. I cheated on my husband. I knew he’d find out, that he’d connect to me and see it. So I said some really horrible things to the guy.” Cerina said sadly as she remembered back to that night. After she’d realized what she had done, she had told him so many horrible things. She hated what she had said to him, but she was married to Alex. And she’d betrayed him.

“But you didn’t even know Alex.” Liz said softly. Cerina didn’t know who Alexander Charles Whitman was, she only remembered Lexus Gavan Unitas, her husband. While Liz had to admit that there were some similarities, Alex was not Lexus.

“I may not have known him, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was my husband. Just like Max is yours.” Cerina said, explaining to Liz what she meant.

Liz shook her head. “That’s where your wrong, Cerina. While Troian and Zan were married on Antar. Max Evans and Elizabeth Parker are not on this Earth. We are not married. Not on this world. You weren’t cheating on Alex since you weren’t together. You didn’t even know each other.” Liz stated. Cerina was wrong in her assessment. They were all different people than before, especially Isabel. Though Isabel tried to act like an Ice Princess, she was nothing like the cold hearted bitch she’d been on Antar.

Cerina bit her lip as she thought about what Liz was telling her. True, she didn’t know who Alex or who he had been. She didn’t know what his favorite book had been or what his hobbies had been. But that didn’t change that she loved him or that he had been her husband. She wished that she could have seen him, talked to him. She’d give anything to have been able to spend time with him. It hurt Cerina so much to know that her husband had been dating Vilandra, her own sister. Vilandra had always been a pro when it came to men. Cerina had known all about Vilandra’s men. Everyone in the palace had known about Vilandra’s revolving partners.

Cerina wished that Isabel wasn’t the same cold hearted bitch she’d been back before. Cerina had watched as her sister played with the men and broken their hearts. Watching her break Lexus heart had been the last straw for her. She’d had it out with her sister once and for all.

“Hey, are you alright?” Liz asked, breaking into Cerina’s thoughts. What was she thinking about, Liz wondered. The next thing that she knew she could hear Cerina’s thoughts: Lexus, Vilandra, a fight.

Cerina froze and stared Liz straight in the eye. “Liz, is that you in my head?” she asked amazed.

Liz bit her lip. “I don’t know. We’re you thinking about Lexus, Vilandra and a fight?” she questioned softly. Could she read minds, also? It’d be really cool if she could. But she’d have to work on it to make sure that no one knew what she was doing.

Cerina nodded her head. Oh, gosh. What if Liz found out the identity of her former lover? Cerina didn’t know what she’d do if Liz found out who he was. “Yeah. After Vilandra dumped Lexus, I finally had it out with her. I was so disgusted by her behavior. Of her sleeping with everyone in the palace. She’d toy with their hearts, fuck ‘em, and dump ‘em. There were a fortunate few she’d never slept with. Zanier, Jasper, Lexus and Rathard.”

Liz wrinkled her nose. Vilandra hadn’t even slept with her own fiancé. “Eww. She slept with Aiden and Bradeon?” Liz sighed. “My poor brothers.”

Cerina nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know the whole story, but she spent nights in their rooms. I think Bradeon was before you came back from the Isle. Aiden was afterwards.” she said shrugging. She didn’t care that Vilandra had slept with those two. But if it had been Lexus or Jasper, than that’d be another story.

Liz shook her head. She didn’t want to think about Vilandra’s lovers. “Say, I really love your hair. Is silver and gold natural or did ya put the streaks in there yourself?” Liz said, changing the subject. What was the point in talking about the past?

Cerina smiled. “No, it’s not natural. I put them in my hair back in the ninth grade, and I love it. It looks so much better than the plain brown. Sorry.” Cerina said, pointing to Liz’s chestnut hair. “Hey, do you want me to give you some highlights or do ya want me to change your whole hair color?”

Liz nodded. “Could you? Some red streaks.” Liz thought that the red would look nice in her hair. A little of how it had been on Antar. She had always loved her hair back on Antar; it had been a symbol of her bloodline. Only children of the Goddess had the red hair that she had. Jasper and Aiden had also had the same red hair, but they’d hated it. Liz remembered that she had loved everything about her life back on Antar. Her childhood with her brothers, and then when she was ten, her grandmother had come for her. Wanted her to study the ways of the Goddess. Though she had been scared to leave her family, she had loved learning the ways. She’d felt closer to her mother who had done the same things.

“Liz, you okay?” Cerina asked as soon as she finished Liz’s hair. Liz was totally spacing out on her.

Liz snapped out of it and smiled at Cerina. “Yeah. I’m fine. So you can put some in my hair?” she asked softly.

Cerina laughed. “I already finished. You were in la-la land. You look wonderful.”

Liz gave Cerina a hug. “Thanks. You are the greatest, you know that.”

Cerina smiled. “Yeah. I know. My dad tells me that all the time.”

“Hey, what are ya’ll doing?” Krit asked as he and the others walked into the library. He got a look at Liz’s hair and smiled. “Hey, love what ya done.” It suited Liz quite nicely.

Zack saw what Krit was talking about and didn’t know if he should be happy about it or not. Liz had red streaks in her hair. The same red that her hair had been back on Antar. But if she wanted her hair to be like that, then who was he to start bitching about it. It wasn’t his hair. “Hey, baby sister. Dad wants to talk to you about something.” he said soberly. He knew that what his father wanted to talk about was serious.

Stephanie and Bill came into the room. Bill carried a huge tray with a tea kettle and cups for everyone and cookies. He set the tray on the table and took a seat near Liz. “We need to talk about the granolith and the Jagur crystal.” he stated.

Liz meet his eyes and nodded. “Boy, do I have a story to tell you.” she said, thinking about Future Max’s visit. She had to tell them just how strong it all was, and to tell Cerina the role that she had in saving the world with Liz and Future Max.


posted on 8-Feb-2002 1:11:46 PM
Disclaimer: See 1st post.


Chapter 23



For the past half hour, Kyle watched Liz with amazement and disgust. She was scarfing down her third stack of pancakes covered in syrup, marmalade and green chile pepper sauce. Several things struck him as funny. The first being that the sauce reminded him of the aliens and their obsession with tabasco sauce on all of the things they ate and drank. And the disgusting combination of toppings on her food. The last thing was that it was her third stack of pancakes! He had never seen her eat so much. It was night time, and she was eating pancakes.

“Hey, Liz. Have your parents been feeding you?” Kyle quipped. He thought that Liz looked great. The weight that she had recently gained made her look more womanly and less of a girl. But there were bags under her eyes. It looked as if she hadn’t been sleeping. Duh, Kyle, she probably is having nightmares that make it hard for her to sleep, he told himself.

Liz looked up from her pancakes. Slightly annoyed by being interrupted from her food, but she flashed him a smile. She loved Kyle. He was such a great guy. She actually wished that she was in love with him, but she wasn’t. He had everything that she would ever want in a guy. The only problem was: He wasn’t Max!

“Of course, they feed me.” Liz replied, laughingly. She realized that Kyle was noticing the fifteen pounds that she had gained. Geez, at the rate that she was going, people might start noticing her expanding waist. Getting out of town was the safest thing for her. But she couldn’t go without telling Michael the truth. She had to tell him that he was her brother before she left. “I guess I’m just so happy that I’m home, that I’m eating everything in sight. I don’t know.” Liz said, shrugging her shoulders. She knew that it was a lame excuse, but that’s all she could think of at the moment.

“Well, I’ve gotta say this, Liz. You look great. Wonderful. You know, Liz. Isabel’s really sorry for what happened to you. She is. She wants to make it up to you.” Kyle said hesitantly, not knowing how Liz would respond to the mention of Isabel. He had heard of her reaction to Max at the hospital. And he felt slightly bad for the alien. Slightly.

“Really? Isabel Evans wants to make it up to me?” Liz said, raising an eyebrow at him in amusement. Ice Princess Evans wanted to make up her horrific behavior to Liz. Liz didn’t know how she should feel about that. She shouldn’t really call her an Ice Princess, it wasn’t very nice, Liz told herself. Isabel wasn’t made of ice. She felt things, she grieved for Alex when he died. Even though Isabel’s behavior was questionable at times, Liz had known that deep down Isabel had loved Alex. But she had been too afraid to tell him, too afraid to let him into her heart. And now she would never have the chance to see him again.

“You know, I’m not gonna go postal if you mention them. That incident with Max was a one time deal. I was just pissed off that he showed up at the hospital. I— I thought that he was going to tell me to lie to the police about what had happened. So I freaked a bit!?” Liz explained to him, giving him a smile.

“Which you had every right to. I don’t blame you. How come I never knew that you had a hell of an arm on you?” Kyle asked, mischief sparkling in his eyes.

Liz grinned at him brightly. “I do, don’t I? I almost got him several times. He kept ducking his damn head.” A mild cramping in her abdomen sent a ripple of discomfort across her eyes. It was gone in a second. Maybe she was getting heartburn from the food, she thought to herself, pushing her food away from her. That’s what it had to be, she told herself, putting her mild fears to rest.

Kyle burst out laughing. “Oh, god. I can see it in my head. Liz Parker throwing things like she’s Babe Ruth and almost hitting him. I can see the objects graze those big ears of his.”

Liz shook off her remaining worries and started laughing at the picture that formed in her head. It was nothing like what had actually happened, but it was definitely funnier than the real thing. “It was nothing like that, Kyle. I wish it had been though.” she said, smiling at him. “You know, Kyle. I love you. You are a great friend to me.”

Kyle smiled at her, but then frowned. “No, I’m not. I should have known you were right. About Alex. You’re more experienced in this whole alien thing than I am. I should have trusted what you were saying. I should have helped you and not let you turn to DeLuca, I mean Khivar.”

Liz reached over the table and squeezed his hand. “It’s okay, Kyle. I understand. You were scared. Alex lost his life, you were afraid of what it might have meant if an alien did kill him. Then that would mean, we all would be in danger.” Liz didn’t tell him that she thought that Tess might have mind warped Kyle, too. Liz didn’t know what the hell was wrong with all of these people who thought that they could have done something. Zack, Krit, Maria, and now Kyle. They should know that it was her own fault, not theirs.

“Let me ask you something, Kyle. Why is that people are convinced that they could have done something. You are the fourth person who has told me that. Is there just something about me? Ya’ll don’t think I could have handled myself?” Liz asked curiously.

Kyle squeezed her hand. “I don’t know about other people. But your— your just so tiny that I can’t help but feel protective over you. You mean a lot to me, Liz. You are more than just a girl I dated. You were the first person who actually saw that I was more than a jock. You saw the real me, not the me that I had on display for people. You’ve helped me become the person that I am today and I will never be able to thank you enough for that.”

Liz smiled and felt tears in her eyes. “Kyle are you trying to make me cry on purpose? I’m really sorry for how I treated you when Max and I started getting to know each other. I was a total bitch. I just wasn’t the right girl for you. You knew that, too. You will know when you meet your soul mate. And if she can’t see how special you are, I’ll kick her ass for you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Kyle said laughingly. He ached to be in so deeply in love with someone that he wouldn’t be able to tell where he ended and she began. But so far he’d never met anyone like that. Liz had been the only one that had come close to that. But her love for Max was stronger than anything that he had ever witnessed. That was what he wanted.

*************************


“So who were those two guys Liz was talking to yesterday?” Michael questioned Maria in the break room. This was Michael’s first opportunity to talk to Maria. He had called and called her yesterday but he hadn’t gotten an answer. He had been forced to leave a message on her answering machine.

Seeing Liz with those two guys had seemed somehow very familiar to him. It had also caused a great sense of longing in him. He had wanted to go join them. That was something that completely baffled Michael. He didn’t understand why he would feel that way about Liz and two people he had never met in his entire life.

“What? Who are you talking about?” Maria asked confused. She had never seen Michael this way. Here she thought that he wanted to talk about where their relationship was heading, and he was talking about Liz and her two friends. Was he jealous? Or was he just asking her for Max’s sake?

“The two guys Liz was talking to! Who were they? The brunette and the blond guy.” Michael said, frustrated by Maria. He ran a hand through his hair. Damn it, he had to know.

Maria frowned, thinking about who Michael could he talking about. And then it hit her and she nodded her head. “You mean, Zack and Krit. Evidently, they’re Liz’s cousins. Her parents had a falling out with their parents, and they recently made up. They were getting reacquainted with Liz. They pretty great guys.” Maria said, nodding her head at the thought of the two young men that she had liked immediately. They were good guys and they were so fiercely protective of Liz. As if at any moment she could break. But it had been great to see Liz having fun with them. She’d looked so happy.

Michael ran his hand through his hair. They were Liz’s cousins? If he remembered correctly, Mr. Parker was an only child. Ah, but he didn’t know anything about Mrs. Parker. But if they were Liz’s cousins, her family, why in the hell did he feel connected to them? And why did he feel connected to Liz? He had to try to deny it for as long as he could remember. He remembered the first time that he had seen Liz Parker when he was eight years old. The first word that had popped into his head had been sister. But he knew that wasn’t possible. He had come from a pod, Liz had been born. Maria had shown him pictures of the two of them when they were little. But Michael couldn’t shake his feelings. He felt as if she was his sister. He had to keep telling himself that it wasn’t true. Liz was human, and there was no physical way that she was connected to him. Not here and not on Antar. He didn’t have any family. None down here on Earth. He was all alone.

Oddly enough, he had felt close to Alex. He felt that Alex was like a brother to him, just like Max. Except for the differences that they had, like Alex being human. Alex had been a great guy. Michael had really appreciated his sense of humor, especially when they were in a really bad situation. Alex could always make him feel better. Michael might not have shown it, but he had been devastated by Alex’s sudden death. It was like he lost a part of himself. He had felt sad when Courtney had killed herself to avoid Nicholas finding out about the granolith, but Alex’s death was something totally different from that. Michael felt as if someone had ripped out his heart and stomped on it.

Damn it, he didn’t understand what the hell was going on with him. He didn’t know why he was feeling things like this. He didn’t know why he felt connected to those two guys, or why Liz felt like a sister to him. And not like how Isabel felt like a sister to him. If he compared the two side by side, Isabel was a poor substitute for what he felt for Liz. The same thing went for Alex and Max. Alex had felt like the real thing to him.

For the past ten years, he had tried to pretend like he didn’t feel that way at all, like he hadn’t cared about the humans, Liz in particular. He’d always wanted to kick Max’s ass every time he saw his friend kiss Liz. He just couldn’t shake these strange, weird, almost familiar feelings that he had. He knew that he had to talk to someone. But who? Who could understand? Definitely not Max. Max couldn’t help him figure out the Liz/Sheila Hubble mystery that plagued Michael’s brain. Isabel was still distraught over Alex’s death. And there was no way in hell he was going to go to the Barbie doll wanna be, Tess. He would die before he even went to her for help.

He actually couldn’t believe that he had once before. That he had actually asked her to help him get to Laurie Dupree. But she had been the only one with the mind warping power. But more and more he thought about her powers, the more suspicious he got of her. When the Skins had come to town, and Tess had done her wonderful fire fart disintegrating the Skins had that been a mind warp? From Max’s telling him that Nicholas had been at the summit, that meant shorty hadn’t been killed by trash’s magical fire fart. She had to be working with the Skins. When they had worked on their powers together last summer, she had never once mentioned that she had that power.

And if she was helping the Skins, then her kidnaping had all been a farce. What had been the point of that? To get their sympathy that someone had hurt her? To play the victim so Max would come running to her rescue? If Tess was in co-hoots with the Skins, had Nasedo been involved with them? After all, Nasedo had raised her.

Something smelled in Roswell and her name was Tess. He had known it the first time he had met her. He couldn’t believe that it had taken him this long to realize that she wasn’t on their side. Tess couldn’t be trusted. There was no way in hell that he was allowing her to get anywhere near Liz or Maria. He’d kill her blonde ass before he allowed that to happen.

“Michael. Hello? Are you there?” Maria said, snapping her fingers in his face, trying to get Michael’s attention. Ever since Liz had been kidnaped, Michael had been spacing out. She wondered what the hell was going on in his head. They were together, a couple. But she hadn’t the slightest clue what he was thinking. She loved him and he needed to confide in her. “Michael, what’s going on with you? You’ve been spacing out a lot? Talk to me, please.” she said, pleading with him.

Michael shook himself out of his reverie. “Sorry, I was thinking about something. Something is really weird. Max isn’t going to stop Liz from leaving town. I need to stop her, Maria. I can’t let her leave!”

Maria had reached the end of her rope. She had to tell someone about Liz. She was going through something so huge and she needed help. Liz was going to have an alien baby. She needed them to know. “Liz is going to hate me for telling you this, Michael. But she needs help. She needs you to help her. She can’t face this all alone. She’s pregnant! That son of a bitch, Khivar raped her. He raped her! She’s going to have his baby. His son!” Maria declared.

Michael meet Maria’s eyes and he knew that she was telling him the truth. No. No! NO! But Michael knew that she wouldn’t lie to him about something this big. Michael shook his head roughly. “That fucking asshole. He raped her. Why? God damn it, why?” Michael questioned angrily. Michael squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to calm his anger down. “Liz never hurt anyone. She’s innocent in all of this. It shouldn’t have happened.”

Maria touched Michael’s arm gently. “I know, Michael. I know. Liz doesn’t deserve this. She never did. First, Alex is murdered. And then you four turn your backs on her. And she’s kidnaped, raped and tortured. She won’t tell me about it. But I know it happened. Khivar formed a connection with her. She saw everything that ever happened in his life. She saw how Max and Isabel died on Antar. She knows so much about your planet. She can’t sleep at night. She’s afraid to close her eyes, Michael. She’s afraid of what she’ll see.”

Michael’s eyes snapped open and he clenched his fist. His anger was overwhelming him. Michael’s fist shot out and struck the wall in front of him. “That son of a bitch. He forced her to see everything. His whole god damn life. I swear, if he wasn’t dead. I’d kill him myself for even touching her.”

*************************


Liz got up from the table. God damn, heartburn was hurting like a son of a bitch. She felt light-headed and disorientated. Something was tightening again in her stomach, and she hoped that it wasn’t something serious. That there wasn’t something wrong with PJ. It was a quiet discomfort now. She lifted her hand to her forehead, where a terrible migraine was rapidly forming. She felt a wetness on her fingers. Liz brought her hand down and realized that she was profusely sweating.

Liz trembled as the queasy feeling became a gripping pain that closed over her like a fist, causing her to gasp and lean forward. Liz struggled to stay standing. She didn’t understand what was wrong with her. Her insides felt as if they were on fire. Every inch of her was on fire. It couldn’t be morning sickness, she hadn’t had that since the day after she escaped. She thought that it was over, something to actually be thankful for with her advanced pregnancy.

Liz took an unsteady step towards the door to the break room. Only to collapse a moment later on the hard floor. She was vaguely aware of Kyle yelling her name.

She was falling fast into the darkness that was coming to claim her. She struggled not to go through it. Thoughts ran at an alarming race through her head. What was wrong with her? And then as if as bolt of lightning struck her, she realized what was wrong. She had seen this happen before!

*************************

“LIZ!!!”

Maria and Michael heard the shout from the restaurant and ran for the door that separated it from the break room. Once they rushed through the door, sprawled on the floor on her back was Liz.

Maria ran to her best friend shouting out her name. “What happened, Kyle? What happened? Why is Liz on the floor?” Maria demanded, touching Liz’s forehead which was covered with a sheen of sweat. Liz had been fine half an hour ago. What had happened? Why did she look so sick and pale?

Michael had been standing behind Maria dazed by the sight. He broke out of his trance and bent down over Liz, who appeared to have passed out. Just then, Liz grabbed his wrist and slowly opened her eyes. They had a white sheen to them. Michael felt a shiver run down his spine.

“Riverdog.” she croaked. “Take me to Riverdog.” Liz closed her eyes once again and her hand fell limply to her side.

It dawned on Michael that this was the same thing that had happened to him last year. When he had joined Riverdog in the sweat lodge. It had disrupted his balance. But why was this happening to Liz? She was human. It had only happened to Nasedo and himself because they were aliens.

Wait, could Liz be an alien? Maybe like himself, she looked like her human DNA donor, that would explain why she looked so much like Sheila Hubble. Michael felt his head spinning wildly out of control. No, Liz couldn’t be an alien. It wasn’t true. It just couldn’t be. He’d seen baby pictures of her. The Parkers had shown him. He had seen her when she was just born. The pictures of Nancy and Liz at the hospital.

“Should we call an ambulance?” Kyle asked concerned. Not knowing what the hell had happened or even what to do. All he knew was that they had to do something to help Liz. Kyle didn’t want anything bad to happen to her, she had gone through enough. She didn’t deserve to be sick.

NO!” Michael barked. If Liz was a hybrid, then he couldn’t risk taking her to the hospital. He knew that the only thing that could save her now was to go to Riverdog and take her into the circle. To restore her balance. That’s what they needed to do.

“Michael, what do we do?” Maria asked him uncertainly. Her best friend was lying on the ground passed out, mumbling the word Riverdog and her boyfriend was refusing to take her to the hospital.

“We take her to Riverdog’s. You need to call Max and Isabel. Tell them to meet us at the cave. Let’s go.” Michael stated, picking Liz up into his arms. Her skin felt so hot, she was burning up. They’d have to get her to Riverdog’s quickly. They’d have to get the stones, otherwise the whole thing wouldn’t work and she could die. Michael’s blood ran cold at the thought. He couldn’t lose Liz. He couldn’t lose his sister.


posted on 8-Feb-2002 1:17:40 PM
Disclaimer: See 1st post.

Chapter 24



Max stepped on the gas harder. Maria had said that it was a matter of life and death when she called. He had tried to press her for more information, but all she told him was that he needed to meet them at the cave. Riverdog’s cave. When she said the name Riverdog, his mind wandered to Michael. He’d asked her if something had happened to Michael. But she only told him that he needed to hurry.

The three of them— Max, Isabel and Tess arrived at the cave half an hour after Maria’s frantic phone call. Max hadn’t wanted to take Tess along, but if there was something wrong with Michael, then she needed to be there. As much as Max hated to admit it, Tess was a part of the royal four and they would need her sometimes. Max lead them to the cave, not even glancing back once. Not to help when Tess fell over a tree branch.

As they reached inside the cave, Max saw Michael, Maria, Kyle and Riverdog. Michael and Maria stood tensely, talking softly to Riverdog, who turned to meet Max’s eyes. Kyle sat on the ground, next to someone who lay on their back in the circle. As Max got closer, he saw who it was.

“Oh my god. Liz!” He said, shocked. He rushed forward to her. He thought back to what had happened with Michael last year and gasped. Why had this happened to Liz? She was completely human, this wasn’t supposed to happen to her.

“Michael, what happened?” Isabel questioned him, confused about what was going on.

Michael ran his hand haphazardly through his hand. “I’m not sure. She collapsed and told us to bring her to Riverdog’s. She’s shown all the signs that I had last year.” Michael said grimly, meeting Max’s shattered eyes.

“Why would she? She’s human.” Tess injected sharply. Isabel had told her what had happened months ago. Tess had vaguely remembered Nasedo telling her something about it. But the one thing she remembered was he said that it only happened because he was an alien.

Michael narrowed his eyes at the short blonde. He didn’t trust her. He hadn’t even wanted to call her to come help Liz. But since Maria had told them the whole story, why they had to keep the bitch with them, he knew that she had to be called too. He knew that she didn’t give a rat’s ass what happened to Liz. But if she could help save Liz, he guessed that it was worth it. Michael shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. But I think that it might have something to do with Max healing her.”

Max felt his blood run cold. Could he have caused this to happen to her? Had his healing her caused something bad to happen to her? “What do we do to save her?” Max said, willing to do anything to save the love of his life. He was angry with himself, it was his fault that this was happening to Liz. He had changed something inside of her.

Riverdog looked over at the young man who was devastated by what he saw. “This young woman’s body has been through enormous pain. Her soul needs to be healed, needs to regain its balance. With Michael it was more physical, but with Liz it’s more emotional. If she doesn’t regain her balance she will die.” he said, explaining to them softly.

Isabel gave a shocked gasp. “But I thought that could only happen to us and not humans.” Things just weren’t making any sense to her. She hadn’t understood why Khivar had kidnaped Liz, especially since Max had broken ties with her, and now Liz could die if she didn’t regain her balance. That had only happened to Michael, because of the alien part inside of him. But if Max had changed something inside of Liz, than it made this all possible. But what about everyone else Max healed, would they be the same?

“There’s a part of her that human, but also something alien. There’s something animalistic inside of her; it’s more noticeable than it was the last time you were here. It’s hard for me to explain because I don’t fully understand what it is.” Riverdog said, getting the bowl of water for the ceremony. They would have to hurry fast, they didn’t have very much time.

“I don’t understand.” Max started, but was silenced when Riverdog raised a hand towards him.

“We must start this now.”

Kyle stood motionless watching as the others walked into the circle grabbing a stone from a bag Isabel held. Michael had told him that they would need five people in the circle, and by the looks of it Tess had already had taken a place within the circle. Kyle didn’t think that she should be in there, she didn’t care for Liz at all. She had said so on a number of occasions since Liz had disappeared. He should be in the circle. He loved Liz like a sister. She was one of the best people that he knew in the world. She didn’t deserve to be stuck with all of this alien shit. She deserved to have a life and not have to worry about being kidnaped by a fucked up alien.

Riverdog stopped in front of Tess and took the stone out of her hands. He shook his head and said, “You can’t join the circle. Only the pure of heart can. All I see is blackness in you.” He looked to Kyle and motioned for him to come forward.

Kyle walked over and held out his hands as Riverdog dropped the stone into his waiting hands. Kyle looked up and meet the wise older man’s eyes.

“You love her very much, don’t you?” Riverdog began and at Kyle’s nod, he went on. “She loves you too. You’re a good friend to her.” Riverdog looked over to Tess who still stood in the circle, he shook his head at her. “Please step away. Your not welcomed in the circle.”

When she finally moved out of the circle and stood behind Kyle, he began the chant and everyone in the circle joined in, closing their eyes for a better concentration.

Tess watched them scornfully. What was it about Liz Parker that made everyone want to save her? Liz put on her damsel in distress routine and Max came running to her. Tess knew that she didn’t have a chance in hell of getting Max after he realized what she had been doing to him. She hadn’t liked having to mind warp him, but there was no other way. He never came to her of his own free will. She’d have to give him a hard shove. Like him seeing how they meet on Antar.

Tess could barely contain her laughter on that. It was true that she had met him for the first time at that party. But it wasn’t as if he even noticed her. He only had eyes for Troian. The good, kindhearted Troian. Avarona and Troian had been friends, at least that’s what Troian had thought. Avarona’s philosophy had always been keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. Avarona had hated Troian with a passion even before she had meet the future king of Antar.

She had wanted him so very badly. But no, it was always Troian this, Troian that. And later when Zanier and Troian were married, it hadn’t stopped her. She flirted with him madly but he never responded to her charms. Then Avarona got her greatest idea ever: Kill Troian.

It had all been very simple. Troian trusted her with her life and didn’t question why Avarona wanted to go to the old cemetery. Avarona hadn’t cared that Troian was about to have a baby. It wasn’t right anyway. Troian shouldn’t have Zanier’s baby. Only Avarona, herself should have his child. Killing Troian and the child— Sorcha was a kick for her. She had loved every single moment of it.

Tess could still remember Troian’s shock and surprise as she stabbed her in the back. The blood that poured out of the wound. And then Troian fell to the ground in pain, and Avarona pounced on her, stabbing her repeatedly. Anywhere and everywhere. Until Troian finally stopping moving. Avarona had licked Troian’s blood off of her hand, relishing in her sweetest victory. Avarona had known that Khivar would help her get away with the murder, even if he was semi in love with the bitch, he wouldn’t let his precious little sister be executed.

But Avarona’s greatest victory had been a year later, when her wonderful father arranged for her to marry the widowed Zanier. Avarona finally had everything that she wanted. She was his wife and she’d have his child, she’s make certain of that. She’d give birth to a son and not a daughter like Troian almost bore him.

Only Zanier never touched her. He stated to her that this was a marriage in name only. He declared that Avarona would never be Queen, only Troian was and no one else would be called Queen until he died. She had been so furious with him, he didn’t realize what he had in her. What a great ally she could be to him. Avarona realized that he wasn’t fit to be king. He was nothing but a child pretending to be a man. Vilandra shouldn’t be queen and next in line, she was a whore who slept with everyone in the palace, except probably for her brother and Rathard, which was ironic, since they were betrothed to one another.

The only one who Avarona thought fit to rule Antar was her brother, Khivar. So Avarona began to help her brother with his rebellion of Antar, taking him secret inside information to him and Nicholas, his second in command. And less than two years later, Khivar had gotten the throne and killed the royals. Avarona, herself had the bad luck of getting caught in the crossfire and she died without anyone ever knowing about her part in the coup.

Here she was many years later and Zanier was once again running to someone else. Tess froze in her memories. No, it couldn’t be, she thought to herself. Liz Parker was not Troian. She couldn’t be. She was completely human. But it did make some sense. The way that Max was always running to Liz’s rescue. How never once after Tess came to Roswell that he wanted her for real. Her mind warps sadly did not count to her. Yes, she did get him to kiss her via mind warp several times. But it wasn’t how Max kissed Liz, they kissed like it could be their last. Tess always felt like second fiddle to Liz. Even Michael and Isabel didn’t welcome Tess into the group. They hadn’t been friends on Antar. Avarona hated super slut Vilandra and bone headed Rathard.

It made sense. Liz had to be Troian, which would explain why Khivar had taken Liz in the first place. Khivar had fancied himself in love with Troian and when he found her, he took her. That left Tess with only one question: Did Liz know the truth?

Tess focused her attention back on the group and she felt a tugging sensation in her head and was wrenched away from her body violently.

The six were in Liz’s dream plane. The strange thing was that Liz wasn’t in the circle, as Michael had been last year. Max, Isabel, Kyle, Maria and Michael stood in the circle in their positions but Liz wasn’t anywhere in sight. Tess stood outside the circle, behind Kyle. Suddenly a giggle was heard in the wide desert range.

Max froze at the sound. Sorcha. It was Sorcha. Where were they, he thought and then he saw Liz appear right before his eyes. She was about seventy yards away directly behind Maria. She was laughing with a little girl with hair that looked a red sort of color. Even from the distance, she looked so familiar to him. He knew that he’d seen her somewhere before. He wanted to run to them and throw his arms around them. But he was frozen in his spot as he saw Liz twirl around with a little boy in her arms. Max’s breath tore away from him as he watched them. Who were these children and what was their connection to Liz?

Michael turned around when he heard the laughter. Relief flooded throughout his body. Liz was okay. She and Sorcha were both alive and okay. Wait a minute, who was Sorcha? The name just sprang into his head and it just felt so right to him. But Michael had no clue as to who the little girl was. She was— is Sorcha. But who’s Sorcha to me and Liz?

Tess stood in Liz’s dream plane surprised that she was even there. Riverdog said that she couldn’t participate because she didn’t have a heart and blah, blah, blah, but here she was. Besides, who needed a heart? Tess sighed, granted she wasn’t in the circle like the others, but behind Kyle. Taking one look at Liz with the two children made her lose her breath. That little girl was Sorcha. Now there was no doubt in Tess’ mind that Liz was Troian. And if Liz was with Sorcha, than that meant that she knew who she was. Shit, what had Khivar told her. Did he tell her what they had planned for Max and the others? Tess felt her entire life collapsing in front of her eyes. They would know that she was the one who betrayed them back on Antar and not Isabel. Damn it all to hell. Maybe Liz didn’t know anything, Tess would just have to take her chances.

Maria broke away from the circle and ran as fast as her legs could take her to Liz. Her best friend was okay. She was alive, Maria was incredibly happy about that. Once Maria reached Liz, she threw her arms around her in a fierce hug, oblivious to the little boy that Liz held in her arms.

“Oh my god. Liz, are you okay?” she said, not letting Liz go even though she felt something pushing into her chest. Reluctantly, Maria backed away from Liz and looked down and noticed the little boy for the first time. He was so cute, and he was a dead ringer for Krit, Liz’s cousin.

Maria’s eyes widened in surprise. “Liz, who’s that?” she asked, pointing to the little boy who waved at her happily. Out of the corner of her eye, Maria saw a little girl. “Who’s that?” she screeched, pointing to the girl.

The little girl stood proudly in front of Maria and held out her hand. “Hi, Auntie Maria. I’m Sorcha.”

Maria looked at Sorcha dumbfounded. Sorcha? Who the hell was that? And why was she here with Liz? And who was that little boy. Was that PJ? What the hell was going on? How could Liz’s son be here? Maria was lost. She didn’t know what to think. None of this made the slightest bit of sense to her.

Liz laughed at the stunned expression on Maria’s face. It wasn’t very often that Maria DeLuca was stunned into silence. Liz knew that it was time. She had been putting it off for so freaking long. But now that they’d seen Sorcha and PJ, there were going to be questions. As the others walked closer to Liz and Maria, she saw Tess standing in the distance. What the hell was she doing here? That bitch had no right to be here, Liz thought angrily.

Michael was the first to reach Liz’s little group. He had taken off after Maria, but he wasn’t as fast as her. Impulsively, Michael wrapped his arms around Liz and PJ. He hugged her for what seemed like an eternity before finally letting her go. Michael didn’t want to let her go but he knew that he had to.

Sorcha stood with her hands on her hips, since Maria had not given her a hand shake as she had wanted. “Uncle Mikey, where’s my hug?” she pouted.

Michael looked at the little girl shocked. Sorcha. It was Sorcha. She looked so beautiful, and innocent. But Michael knew better. This three foot tall minx was a little troublemaker. He could tell as much. Was he seeing Liz’s future children? Maria had said that Liz was pregnant with a son. Khivar’s son. That explained the little boy, but Sorcha? Who was she and why did he feel as if he knew her?

Michael bent down on his knees to Sorcha’s level, and drew her into a hug. She was so tiny and fragile. Michael felt her body tense up and she backed away from him and grabbed Liz’s hand. She looked frightened by something.

“Mommy. The bad lady’s here. Is she going to try to hurt us again, Mommy?” Sorcha asked fearfully. Her little hand gripped Liz’s until it turned white.

Michael and Maria both turned to see who she was talking about. They saw Max, Isabel and Kyle walking towards them. Why the hell were they going so slow, Michael thought angrily. Geez, how far away was Liz from the circle? Michael scanned the area and tried to do the math in his head, but not having much luck. Math just sucked! She had to be about a hundred yards away from where the others had stood. Beyond the circle, stood Tess. Just watching them, not doing anything at all. Michael couldn’t see her face from where he was. Was that who Sorcha was talking about? Could she have meant Tess?

Liz shook her head at Sorcha’s question. “I won’t let anything happen to you or PJ. She won’t hurt you again.”

Sorcha nodded her head. “Okay, Mommy. Uncle Mikey, you didn’t give PJ a hug or anything.” Sorcha looked around the desert searching for something or someone. “Mommy, where’s Uncle Alex?”

“Alex?” Isabel said thunderstruck as the three had finally reached them. The first thing she hears is Alex’s name. How could this little girl know Alex? Who the hell were these kids anyway? The girl looked a tad bit like Max, ear wise anyway. But she didn’t resemble Liz much. Whereas, the little boy looked a great deal like Liz.

Sorcha giggled. “Yes, Auntie Izzy. Uncle Alex plays with me and PJ. He’s the best. I know that you miss him so much. He misses you, too. But he’s gone and he can’t come back, not this time around.” Sorcha said softly and threw her arms around Isabel’s legs.

Isabel stood there paralyzed. Alex was here on Liz’s dream plane. How could that be?

Sorcha let go of Isabel and smiled. “Uncle Alex!” she said, running into the waiting arms of Alexander Charles Whitman.


posted on 8-Feb-2002 1:21:57 PM
Disclaimer: See 1st post.


Chapter 25



Alex stood behind Max. He walked forward until he stood shoulder to shoulder with Liz. Alex kissed Liz’s cheek and said something softly into her ear. Liz looked down into her arms and visibly paled. She shook her head frantically. But Alex only nodded sadly.

“I’m sorry, Lizzie. But this is how things are supposed to happen. I can’t change them. Neither can you.” Alex said sadly, putting Sorcha down onto the ground.

Liz nodded and buried her head into PJ’s little neck. “I’m sorry, baby. So very sorry. But Uncle Alex and Sorcha will take good care of you. They won’t anything bad happen to you. I will always be with you. Always!” Liz said, tears in her eyes.

“Mommy, sorry. Love you!” PJ said in his broken sentences, touching Liz’s cheek.

Sorcha knew what was going to happen. So she decided to make the best of her time. Sorcha stepped towards Maria, who hadn’t said a word since Sorcha had introduced herself. “Auntie Maria. I wish I could stay. Your very cool and you’ve tamed Uncle Mikey, that’s hard. Your mommy’s best friend. Please don’t leave her. She needs you.”

Tears filled Maria’s eyes. This little girl was so sweet and special. Maria only hoped that one day she’d have a child like this. Maria promised herself that she would never leave Liz again in her time of need. Maria vowed to herself that she would never leave Liz like she had before. Never!

Sorcha walked over to Kyle, who stood quietly next to Maria. Sorcha smiled widely at him. “Hi! You’re Kyle, right?” she asked, and at Kyle’s slight nod of his head, she went on. “Can you bend down for me?”

Kyle looked over to Liz, who just smiled at him with tears sparkling in her eyes, encouraging him to do as Sorcha had asked. Kyle bent down on his knees and was surprised when Sorcha gently touched his head.

Moments later, she withdrew her hands from his head. “There you’re all better. You’ll remember what happened in a little while.” Sorcha said, kissing him on the cheek.

Kyle just sat there on his knees, motionless. What did she mean by that he would remember? What had she done to him? Kyle had no clue about it but all he knew that it felt right, nothing about it seemed wrong.

Sorcha walked on down and stopped in front of Isabel. Sorcha grabbed Isabel’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Your not responsible for Uncle Alex’s death, Aunt Izzy. You loved each other so much. But you’ll find love with someone else. Uncle Alex wants you to be happy. You just have to let that person in.” Sorcha said as she gave Isabel’s hand a kiss.

Isabel trembled slightly. She didn’t want to love someone else, all she wanted was Alex. But she knew that she couldn’t. That he was dead, the Alex that was here wasn’t alive on Earth, only alive on this plane. Alex would always hold a special place in her heart. He was the only boy that she had loved. He’d be with her forever, every single day of the rest of her life. She’d never forget about him.

Isabel didn’t watch as to what Sorcha was going to say to Michael, who she had stopped in front of. Alex had come up to her. Isabel gave him a wobbly smile, amazed that he was here, and that she could touch him. Isabel reached out hesitantly and touched him lightly on the arm. Feeling his warm skin underneath her hand, caused her to smile widely. She threw her arms around Alex, relishing in the feel of him. In her heart she knew that this was going to be the last time that she would ever see Alex Whitman.

Meanwhile, Sorcha stood regally in front of Michael, she tugged him by the hand causing him to bend down to his knees, so they were pretty much eye to eye. “Uncle Mikey. I love you. Take care of Mommy and Auntie Maria, especially from that bad lady. She’ll try to hurt Mommy again, I know she will.” Sorcha switched to a smile. “Don’t let Auntie Maria get away from you. You’ll never love anyone like you love her.” she said, giving him a kiss on his cheek.

Michael gave Sorcha a smile. She was so beautiful; she reminded him of someone but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Michael watched Sorcha silently as she flitted her way towards Max, a scowl on her small pretty face.

Alex slowly withdrew away from Isabel. He gave her a smile. He knew that his death would be hard on everyone, he just didn’t realize how hard it would be on Isabel. A part of him had thought that she would be like she’d been on Antar, that she would be resilient. But he knew that she was a completely different person here on Earth. Alex wiped away the tears on her face.

“Feel better?” Alex said softly, looking into her beautiful brown eyes. He loved her, and at the same time he was plagued with his memories of his love for her once before and his love of Krissane, her sister, his wife. But he wouldn’t tell her that. She didn’t need to know about that. All she needed to know was that he loved her. “Sorcha was right, Isabel. My death wasn’t your fault. It was Khivar’s; he was the one who did it. Not you. I love you, Isabel.” he said softly, taking her chin in his hands.

Isabel wrapped her arms more tightly around him and drew his head down to hers. She captured his lips with hers and kissed him for all it was worth. She slanted her mouth to give him more access and he took advantage, dipping his tongue in, possessing her beautiful mouth.

Alex broke away and gave a breathy sigh. This was so hard on him. Alex placed his hand on her cheek wiping away the remainder of her tears with his thumb. “You have to go on with your life, Isabel. I’m not coming back. You’re going to meet someone. At first, he’s going to be a stranger, but gentle. He will be gallant and charming. And he will love you as you are meant to be loved. You’ve always dreamed of a man like that. And you will. You are meant to meet him soon.” he said softly. He knew that she probably didn’t want to hear what he was telling her. But he knew it as the truth. As much as he loved her, he knew that they weren’t meant to be together.

Isabel looked up at him with shattered eyes. No! She shook her head furiously. “No, you’re wrong Alex. I will never love anyone else like I loved you. You are the only one that I ever wanted. I was just too stupid to realize it. Now it’s too late. I’m sorry I never told you before.” she said quietly.

“I always knew you did, Isabel. In my heart, I knew that you loved me. If you fall in love with someone else, it doesn’t mean that you never loved me. Don’t be so scared, you’ll know when it’s right. Just remember that I’ve always loved you, Isabel; I’ve never loved anyone like you.” Alex said softly, running a hand through her beautiful blonde hair.

Isabel shook her head sadly. “I will never love anyone like you, Alex. No one!” She laid her head on his shoulder, her eyes wandered to Max, who was staring wide eyed at Sorcha, who had a scowl marring her pretty face. Isabel lifted her head from Alex’s shoulder and watched Sorcha and Max silently.

Alex followed Isabel’s gaze to Sorcha and Max and frowned. Uh oh. What was the little spitfire going to tell Max? She was probably a little pissed about things. Sorcha was a little Liz, she tended to get a little emotional about the things that she felt strongly about. Sorcha wouldn’t be giving Max a break for the things that he had allowed to happen to her mother.

“Why didn’t you help Mommy? Why did you let the bad man hurt her?” Sorcha said angrily, scowling at Max. “You were so mean to Mommy and you let the bad man hurt her, Daddy. You need to make it up to Mommy and take care of her. The other bad men are going to come look for her, Daddy. She needs your help.” Sorcha said quietly, not wanting Liz to hear what she was telling Max.

Max watched Sorcha silently. She was so beautiful. She looked just like Liz. No, she doesn’t, Max told himself. Sorcha doesn’t look anything like Liz. Why was she calling Liz Mommy? And him Daddy? Did she have something to do with the future that Liz changed? Had they had a child in their future life? A child that had been erased when Liz and his future self changed the future? Max didn’t think that he could handle the idea that he had erased his own child’s life? That he had essentially killed her.

Sorcha yanked on Max’s hand, making him get on his knees. She leaned forward and gave him a kiss on his cheek. “I love you, Daddy. Don’t worry, you’ll see me again. Just wait and see.” And with those words, Sorcha danced away from Max and went back to Liz, smiling.

Max bit his lip at her words. He would see her again, wouldn’t he? Max felt that he would, that one day when it was all right that she would come back to him and Liz. Max gave himself a mental slap in the head. Duh, Evans, first you and Liz need to get back together. Max knew that he had a lot to make up for. He had hurt her so badly.

Alex turned his attention back to Isabel and hugged her for several seconds. As he pulled away from her, he kissed her on her forehead. He knew that he had to get going. That he, Sorcha and PJ needed to leave. Their time here was over. “I love you, Isabel.” he whispered softly to her, as he walked back over to Liz.

Alex took PJ out of Liz’s arms and gave her a small smile. He knew that this was hard on her. But it was right. As much as Liz loved and wanted to give birth to PJ, right now at this moment; it wasn’t right. But Alex knew that someday when Liz was ready to have a child that both Sorcha and PJ were going to be reborn. The gods weren’t cruel.

Liz bit her lip as Alex took PJ out of her arms. She was going to lose her son, her baby. She didn’t think that she could handle it. She’d lost her daughter once before, now she was losing her son. Granted right now wasn’t the perfect time to bring a child into the world, but she didn’t care. All she wanted was to have her baby. But that was being taken away from her. Her son was being taken away from her. “Alex, isn’t there anything that you can do? Please?” she begged.

Alex shook his head sadly. “I’m so sorry, Liz. But I can’t. Don’t worry, you’ll see them again, someday. Your not ready right now. When it’s right, you will have them again. Trust me. I’m your big brother.” he said, smiling at her.

Liz smiled through her tears. She knew that Alex was right. She wasn’t ready for a child. Not when she knew that she would have to go up against Tess and Nicholas for what they had done to Alex. It hurt so badly though. She was losing her babies.

Liz bent down and wrapped her arms around Sorcha. “I love you, baby. Don’t ever forget that. I’ll see you again. Take care of PJ, you’re his older sister, you need to watch out for him. Listen to your Uncle Alex. Okay, baby?” Liz said tearfully, not wanting to let Sorcha go.

Sorcha nodded her head. “You know, I will. Uncle Alex is the best and PJ isn’t a pain in the butt or anything. He’s a good little kid. I love you, Mommy. I know that you’re still a little mad at Daddy, but you know that what he said to you wasn’t his fault, the mean lady made him say that stuff. He’s sorry and he wants to make it up to you. Let him.” Sorcha said, pouting a little. She wanted her parents back together. She knew that neither of them would be happy if they weren’t together.

“Oh, baby. Everything isn’t all that simple. I know he’s sorry.” Liz said softly. She touched Sorcha’s face one more time, relishing in the feel of her little girl. She would miss her baby daughter so much. She’d lost her two times around. Liz stood up and smiled sadly at Alex. “You take care of my babies, okay? And yourself. Do you want me to tell anybody anything?” she said, thinking about Cerina and Charlie. It would do them good if Alex had something to say to them.

Alex nodded. “Yeah. Can you tell my dad that I love him. I didn’t tell him as often as I should have. I know it was hard on him raising me by himself after my mom died. Tell him that he was the best father I could ever have.” he paused, as he thought about Krissane— Cerina. “And uh, could you tell Cerina that I forgive her and Zack for what happened last year.”

Liz looked at him shocked. Was he saying that Cerina’s former lover had been Zack? Their own brother? Oh god. “Are you telling me that Cerina and Zack?”

Alex nodded smiling at Liz’s dumbfound expression. It was not very often that Liz Parker was shocked like this. “Yeah. Zack’s in love with her. Just like Cerina’s in love with him. She’s just scared that’s all. She thought that she was betraying me. Tell her that she wasn’t. Tell her that if I had the chance to know her, I’d probably have loved her.” he said softly. He didn’t Isabel to hear what he was saying. He didn’t want her to be hurt by his words.

Liz nodded. “Okay. I’ll tell them. What about Krit and Tom? Do you want to tell them anything?” she said softly.

“Tell them I miss them, and I’ll try to visit them in their dreams. I still owe Aiden some money.” Alex said with a smile. He touched Liz’s arm lightly as he began to walk away with PJ in his arms and Sorcha holding his right hand. It was time for them to go. He gave Isabel a smile. He stopped and meet Maria’s eyes. “Keep on playing your music. You’re wonderful and you can go places with it. Don’t let the past stop you. I’ve always been proud to call you my friend, Maria.” he said softly.

He looked at Kyle, Michael and Max. “Take care of Liz, Maria and Isabel. If you don’t than I’ll have to come back and kick your asses. No one better mess with my girls. Keep them safe.” Alex looked over at all of them. “You guys were my best friends. I love you, guys.” he said as he started walking off into the distance. When the three had gotten ten yards away from the group, they simply disappeared.

Liz looked down at her feet. Her babies were gone. She’d lost them forever. Was Alex telling her the truth that she’d see them again? Before Liz even got the chance to think more about it, she felt a sharp tugging sensation in her head.

Liz gasped as she realized that something was covering her face. That something was suffocating her. She clawed at the cocoon like thing that covered her whole body. After a moment, she felt her arm break through it and began to sit up.

Liz took in all of her surroundings. She was at Riverdog’s cave. She hadn’t been here since last year when Michael had to regain his balance. She would have to ask Bill about this thing. She didn’t really understand why it had happened to her? Liz smiled tentatively at Maria, who had rushed forward to her.

“Hey.” Liz said softly, not knowing exactly what she should say.

Maria threw her arms around Liz, not allowing her to get up from where she was. “Are you okay? I was so worried about you. We were freaking because we didn’t know why you were saying to take you to Riverdog’s. I almost lost you again.” Maria said tearfully. She’d come so close to losing her best friend once again. Damn that fucking Khivar, he had caused her to almost lose Liz again. Maria released Liz from her death grip hug and helped her stand up. “You okay?”

Liz smiled at Maria’s worry. She felt a hell of a lot better than she did before. Liz stood up with Maria’s help. Liz saw Max, standing silently next to Isabel. Liz looked away from him quickly. She didn’t know what she was supposed to say to him. Hey, I was pregnant with Khivar’s baby, but now I’m not. By the way, Tess is a bad guy. Let’s kick her ass. She couldn’t tell him that. A wave of dizziness washed through Liz and she swayed on her feet. If not for Maria, she could have fallen. Of the three guys who rushed forward to Liz, Kyle got there first.

Michael gritted his teeth as he saw Kyle lift Liz into his arms. Who the fuck did Valenti think he was? Michael knew right now was not the time to start anything. Liz didn’t need to be questioned by him right now. Michael remembered that afterwards, he had headed straight to bed and slept a good thirteen hours. Liz would need her rest, like he had. But that still didn’t stop the feeling that he had to go to Liz’s and just watch her sleep. Just to make sure that she was okay.

Max didn’t know what he was supposed to do. Kyle was carrying Liz in his arms. His Liz! If anyone should be holding her, it should be Max. But Max knew that he shouldn’t object just because he was jealous. He knew that there was nothing romantic going on between Kyle and Liz. The night that they found out Khivar had Liz, Kyle had told Max that he loved Liz like a sister; that he wasn’t in love with Liz. Max bit his lip as he watched Kyle and Maria start outside. Max knew that something was still wrong with Liz. Even as he watched them leave, he was going to go to Liz’s tonight. He was going to tell her that he couldn’t survive without her. That he loved her and wanted to be with her no matter what. He wasn’t ever going to leave Liz again. Never!


posted on 8-Feb-2002 1:27:10 PM
Disclaimer: See 1st post. Tears in Heaven belongs to Eric Clapton.


Chapter 26



Liz cried silent tears as she laid on her bed in a fetal position. Every time she moved she felt a pain in her abdomen. Each and every pain she would have, she would see a picture of her son in her head. Her perfect little boy. Her little boy who was gone; who she had lost.

Maria and Kyle had left her place not more than fifteen minutes ago. They hadn’t wanted to leave her, but she’d told them that she was alright. That they didn’t need to stay and stand guard over her. All that Liz wanted to do was bury herself underneath her covers and never come out. In the car on the ride home, Liz had used her connection to her brothers to call them. She needed them. Liz knew that she had to pull herself together. That she had to tell everyone about Tess. They needed to know that Tess was their enemy and had to be dealt with.

And soon. Putting it off any longer was going to get them nowhere. Tess needed to be disposed of now. And Liz knew that she was the only one that could do it. It was their battle. Tess had won the first time around, but Liz was determined to kick the bleached blonde’s ass in this lifetime.

But that would have to wait until tomorrow. She needed time to recover. Liz looked over at her radio that stood on the table next to her bed. Using her powers, Liz concentrated on the power button to turn on the radio. She wasn’t exactly a pro, yet. But she had to try. Maybe she could heal herself. When Liz heard the satisfying click, she smiled to herself. But she froze when she heard a new song start. Tears formed in her eyes, as she listened.


Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven?
Would you feel the same
If I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong and carry on
‘Cause I know I don’t belong here in heaven. . . .

Would you hold my hand
If I saw you in heaven?
Would you help me stand
If I saw you in heaven?
I’ll find my way through night and day
‘Cause I know I can’t stay here in heaven. . .

Time can bring you down, time can bend your knees
Time can break your heart, have you begging please. . .

Beyond the door there’s peace I’m sure
And I know there’ll be no more tears in heaven. . .

Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven?
Would you feel the same
If I saw you in heaven?
I must be strong and carry on
‘Cause I know I don’t belong here in heaven. . .



Liz turned in her bed and gave a gasp as she fell to the floor. My babies are gone, Liz cried to herself as she drew her legs up to her chest and resumed her fetal position. Why was God so cruel to her? She lost one child already and than he gave her PJ and than took him away from her in a heart beat. Liz’s silent tears turned louder and she gave in to the pain that was overwhelming her.

*************************

Max stood at the foot of the stairs that led to Liz’s balcony. He could feel her desolation from where he was standing. He could hear her soft cries as the night air carried them. He couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. He had to go to her. He needed to tell her everything that had happened. He was willing to do anything to get the love of his life back.

In the car ride back to town, Michael had told them that Liz was pregnant. That Liz was pregnant with Khivar’s baby. When Max heard Michael say those words, he’d closed his eyes, his anger building up so fast in him. That son of a bitch had raped Liz. His Liz! He’d forced himself inside of Liz. Michael had guessed that what happened to Liz was the result of a miscarriage.

Slowly Max climbed up the ladder. He had no idea about how she was going to react. At the cave had been the first time in nearly three weeks they had been in the same room. Not that Liz had taken much notice. She was in pain, he could tell as much. He knew that he had to help her. That he had to heal her pain. The pain over the loss of her child. Her son.

Max softly landed on the balcony and gave a small gasp. She was lying on the floor in a fetal position, sobbing. She was just in so much pain. He softly opened the window and crept into the room. She didn’t move or give any indication that she had heard him enter the room. Max slowly walked towards her.

“Liz.” He said in a whisper. She was in so much pain. Pain that she didn’t deserve to be in. She’d risked her life countless times for them over the past year and a half. She’d deserved a life without pain and heart ache. Max knew that Liz wouldn’t even had gotten pregnant with Khivar’s baby, if he hadn’t turned his back on her. This was all his fault and no one else’s. She’d lost her baby. It didn’t matter to him that it had also been Khivar’s baby. It had been Liz’s.

He had so many questions about what had happened tonight. The little girl had called him Daddy. Why had she done that? He couldn’t be her father he was too young to have a daughter that looked like she was five years old. But he felt as if he knew her. As if he was somehow connected to her, but that was impossible, right? He had known her name even before Liz had said it. Who was Sorcha to him? Was Sorcha his and Liz’s daughter from the previous time line? He had to know the truth about her.

His questions would have to wait. Right now all he cared about was Liz. He had to be there for her. He had to help heal the pain that he had caused her. Even if it took the rest of his life, he was intent to do whatever was necessary.

“Liz.” he repeated a bit louder. He didn’t want to draw any attention to them that would cause her parents to come check up on her.

Liz stopped crying and raised her head gingerly to look at him. Sorrowful amber eyes meet pained chocolate brown eyes. Liz began to sit up and Max saw as she grimaced slightly. She was in pain, he realized. He had to heal her.

“Liz. Let me heal you. Please.” Max pleaded with her desperately. Liz gave him a slight nod. Max slowly drew his hand down her belly and rested it above the apex of her thighs.

Max concentrated on Liz. Thinking about all of the different things that he loved about her and the things that they had done together. The first time that he had seen her and how he had fallen in love with her. The way that her hair smelled like strawberries. The first time that his arm had touched her in biology class and the wonderful feel of it, which had excited him beyond words. The first time they had danced with one another. The first time they had kissed each other. Their first date. The night at Michael’s and the desert, when they were so close into consummating the love that they shared for each other.

And then there it was, Max connected to her fiercely. Relishing in the emotional connection to her, which had been dormant in both of them for too long. It pulsed wildly as the flashes started to whiz right by him.

**********

The sky was a deep purple color, with the stars twinkling brightly in the dark night. They were in a beautiful garden, surrounded by the wildlife, enjoying the stillness of the night.

A tall blonde haired man sat on bended knee in front of a beautiful red haired woman. She wore a beautiful leaf green dress that matched her eyes perfectly. “Marry me, Troian. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you. I need you. I’ve loved you from the first time that I saw you. I knew than that you were the only one that I’d ever want to spend the rest of my life with. Will you marry me?”

“Yes. Yes!” Troian said, throwing her arms around the man in delight.

**********

The same blonde man and red head woman— Troian stood embracing each other on an expansive balcony. He held her from behind, with his chin resting on her delicate shoulder and his arms wrapped around her, loving the feel of this gorgeous woman.

“I was wondering where you went. Let’s go back to bed so I can ravish you.” He whispered in her ear, lightly nipping it with his teeth.

“You are so bad, Zan.” she said laughing softly as they walked off of the balcony and into a room, laughing as they went in.

**********

“She’s a feisty one, isn’t she?” The blonde haired man laughed softly, lightly rubbing the red head’s pregnant belly. He gave her stomach a gentle kiss and was rewarded with a swift kick from their baby daughter.

“Sorcha is such a daddy’s girl.” She said laughing, running her hands through his thick blonde mane.

**********

Four year old Liz rhythmically hitting her head into a wall. Whispering softly to herself. “Aiden. Lexus. Jasper. Rathard. Lexus, Jasper. Rathard. Aiden.”

“Liz. Liz. Don’t do that, sweetheart. Please don’t.” Nancy Parker said, grabbing Liz carrying her in her arms. Nancy ran her fingers over Liz’s small forehead, checking for any bumps or bruises. But found nothing. Nancy pressed a light kiss on her forehead. “Please, don’t do that. It scares Mommy.”

**********

“Aaah!” Liz screamed. She was lying on her back. Sitting atop of her holding her down was Sean DeLuca— Khivar. Pain slammed into her body as she struggled to breathe, the pain was overwhelming. Liz gasped and took in an unsteady breathe. “Please don’t, Khivar. Don’t.” she begged but her words were futile.

Khivar was smiling at the pain that he was causing her. Khivar drew his knife back down to her skin and made another line into he chest, finishing the K that he had carved. Khivar’s smile widened. “Now everyone will know that your mine after we get back to Antar. Mine! Not that idiot’s but mine!” he said, triumphantly.

**********

Liz stood battered and bruised in front of two young men, one blonde and the other a brunette. Liz’s hands trembled as she began to unbutton the flannel shirt she wore. “Can you heal this?” she asked, pointing to the crude looking K on her chest, near her heart.

“Son of a bitch. If he wasn’t dead, I’d kill him with my bare hands.” The tall blonde haired young man growled, gritting his teeth.

The dark haired young man nodded, fully understanding what she was asking. He smiled sadly at her, and lifted his hand to the area and closed his eyes.

A moment later, his eyes popped open and he withdrew his hand away from her to reveal smooth skin that looked as if it hadn’t been marred by a vicious blade. He gave her a smile, letting her know that everything was okay now.

**********



“Liz, what was that? I don’t understand what I saw.” Max said, unevenly. It was weird. He didn’t know who the people were, he’d never seen them before. But he felt like he knew them. It was just a gut feeling that the red headed woman had been Liz, but it couldn’t be her. Could it?

Liz slowly eased herself onto her bed. Thanks to Max she was fine physically. But emotionally she was a wreck. She couldn’t let herself fall into the abyss of pain that was so close to consuming her. She had too much to do. She couldn’t keep putting things off. “Max, we have to talk. There are a lot of things that you don’t know about. There are things that Khivar told me.”

Max grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly as he sat down next to her on the bed. “I’m so sorry, Liz. About everything. Tess, she messed with my head. I’m so sorry about all the things that I said to you. I didn’t mean it. I realized what she had been doing too late. Khivar never should have gotten to you.” Max said emotionally. He would do anything to make it right to Liz. He was the one who was at fault here. Tess had pulled the oldest trick in the book. Divide and Conquer. Max fell for it hook, line and sinker.

He had betrayed Liz and the love that the two of them shared. He’d turned his back on her. As much as he wanted to blame Tess, he knew he couldn’t. It was his and only his. He had started the separation between himself and Liz long before Tess had mind warped him. When he came back from the summit and asked her to be friends, he knew in his heart that they couldn’t. They would never be friends only something stronger, something more passionate than platonic friends.

Liz’s eyes filled with tears by his heart felt words. She knew that he was sorry, that he didn’t know about Tess’ mind warping him, but it was just so hard for her. She had gone to hell and back. She had to do things that she never even thought she was capable of. Taking someone’s life. Albeit, he had been the enemy and she had no choice in the matter. She was a murderer. She understood how Michael had felt when he had killed Pierce last year, how Isabel felt when she killed Whitaker. It was horrible to find out the things that you were capable of.

Liz knew that she had to tell Max the truth. It was time. He had to know about their daughter, her brothers and their enemy who was among them. Their enemy whose life would be over soon, Liz would make sure of that.

“Max, I—“

”Please, let me finish. Turning my back on you was the one of the stupidest things that I have ever done. Along with thinking that you and Kyle had slept together. In my heart, I knew that you wouldn’t. But I couldn’t get the picture out of my head. The two of you in bed together.” Max went on, meeting Liz’s tear filled eyes.

Liz froze at what he was saying. She looked down at her hands. Max’s big strong hand was covering hers, enveloping it in its warm heat. The sight of their hands caused tears to escape from her eyes. It was a simple beautiful gesture that moved her beyond words.

“You and Kyle weren’t even touching each other like lovers do. I was an idiot. I let my pride get in the way in a lot of things. Like when I needed your help with the gandarium. I didn’t come to you.” Max continued, grimacing at his own actions that disgusted himself.

“Yeah, well. That blue jellyfish was damn scary, wasn’t it.” Liz said, trying to break the somber mood that filled the room.

Max smiled at her attempt at a joke to ease up the tension. “Yeah. We never would have done it without you. Maria said that we never thanked you for all of the things that you’ve done for us and I’m so sorry. I don’t know where I would be if it hadn’t been for you. You’ve saved our asses time and time again and you never got thanked for it. I’m sorry.” ax said, lifting Liz’s hand to his mouth and kissed it.

A chill ran down Liz’s spine as he kissed her hand. A part of her wanted to yank her arm away from him. She still wasn’t entirely comfortable with people touching her. This was Max, the man that she loved. Who had caused her immense pain. Liz forced herself to not think about that stuff right now. She had other things to discuss. “I did all of those things because I wanted to. I wanted to help. Not to get recognition. Thank you’s never mattered to me.” She finally answered, meeting his eyes.

Max sobered up quickly, wanting to talk about something else. The baby. Her baby. Whose father had been Khivar, his enemy. “Liz, did Khivar—? Did he rape you?” he forced himself to say, even though he already knew the answer to his question.

Liz’s eyes never left his. “Why do you ask me a question that you already know the answer to?” she said, arching an eyebrow. “Yes, he did.”

Max felt his whole heart breaking for the pain that she went through. Khivar had raped her because of what she had meant to Max. It shouldn’t have happened to her. She didn’t deserve to have her first time be with a monster. Max wished right now that Liz had slept with Kyle last October, then she wouldn’t have known this kind of pain.

“It’s not your fault, Max. Don’t think it is. It was only twice. He got off on beating me more than anything else. He’d forget that I was pregnant and just keep on hitting me. He was a sadistic son of a bitch. But I don’t regret PJ. He was my baby. He was my son. And I wanted him. I was going to keep him. I didn’t care about who his father was.” Liz said, tears falling down her eyes at the mention of her son.

Max wrapped his arms around in her a tight, fierce hug. Liz forgot all about her insecurities about being touched and buried her head into his chest as she let the tears flow from her eyes. She was literally falling apart. She had to tell him everything. No more putting things off, Liz told herself. It was time. He had to know!

They sat there for what seemed like a lifetime, but in reality had only been about twenty minutes. Max didn’t want to let her go again. The last time he did he had nearly lost her. In those days when they had been separated, it had been hell and he thought that he would go insane. It had been worse than last year when she had went to Florida. He had wanted to protect her from all the bad things in the world. He had failed her before but he vowed never again to.

Liz didn’t want to move either. She felt so safe in Max’s arms. Safer than she had felt in almost over a year. It had been that long since she had been in his arms like this. Just holding one another and listening to the beating of each other’s hearts.

Reluctantly, Liz raised her head from his chest and saw that his shirt was covered with her tears. But frankly, she didn’t care. She had more important things to think about. Things that she should have told him when she first got back to Roswell. “Max, there’s something that I have to tell you.” She started slowly.

“What?” he said softly, running his hands into her beautiful hair. He liked what she had done to it, the beautiful red streaks that she had added into her hair. He wanted to bury his face in her hair. Just tune out the world and forget about all of his responsibilities. Forget that he was supposed to be the king of an alien planet, and just be a teenager who was trying to get back with the only girl that he loved.

Liz meet his eyes seriously. It was time for the truth, no more putting it off. Now was the time. Liz took a deep breath. “Max, we have an enemy among us.” she said in a deadly calm voice.

Max frowned and a person popped into his head immediately. But was he right in his guess? Max didn’t want to believe that his guess could be true, but his gut was telling him that he was right. “Who?”

“Tess.”


THE END!
posted on 16-Mar-2002 9:18:24 PM
AUTHOR'S NOTE: You really thought that the story was over. Hah! Here is the sequel to Endings and Beginnings.

Title: Fight or Fall
Author: Lillie (Amber)
Rating: R-NC17.
Disclaimer: Don’t own anything. Katims, Metz, UPN, yada, yada, yada own the show and have no clue with what the hell they’re doing with the characters. Borrowed a few concepts from Dark Angel, cause that show rocks. Fight or Fall is a song by Thin Lizzy. The song used, Eternity Sleeps belongs to Lady Bridget. Don’t own anything.



Chapter 1A



Following Liz’s proclamation of Tess’ guilt as the traitor, the room had been enveloped in silence. It was so quiet, you could if a pin fell to the floor.

“How do you know that Tess is the enemy?” Max asked after several seconds of trying to grasp what she had said. It made a lot of sense to him. After what she had done to him, he didn’t exactly know what she was capable of. He thought that his warning to her had been enough. But now, Max knew that it hadn’t been enough, that Tess was working with the Skins and Khivar all along.

“I— because Khivar. . .” Liz struggled to begin as she tried to find her words. She had a whole speech planned but now that she was actually telling him the truth, she forgot the speech she’d planned.

Liz opened her mouth to continue when there was a sound on her balcony. Instinctively, Max pushed her behind him. He wasn’t about to let anything happen to her. He’d die before he let anything happen. As the window slid open, Max raised his hand for an oncoming battle. Max was just about to put up his shield when he felt Liz move so she could see who had come in.

“Zack! Krit! What are you doing here?” Liz asked quietly as she moved away from Max and towards her two brothers, who were glaring at Max suspiciously.

Max frowned as he looked the two young men over. They were the same ones that had picked up Liz the other day. The blonde one’s hair looked like it was golden and he had bright blue eyes, with an uncompromising jaw and a long, straight nose. He looked muscular and looked like he wanted to kick Max’s ass. The other one was a bit shorter than the blonde, he had dark chestnut hair and dark chocolate eyes, and a long straight nose. He looked like a Liz. A lot like Liz.

Oh, hell no, Zack thought to himself. What the hell was Max doing here in his baby sister’s room in the middle of the night? He shouldn’t be here. “You called.” Zack said as an explanation.

“And we came running.” Krit said lightly, hoping to ease up the tension in the room. He could tell that Zack was angry that Max was here in Liz’s bedroom. Max was probably suspicious about the two of them crawling into Liz’s room through her window. Krit turned his attention to Liz and stifled a laugh as he saw that she looked uncomfortable at Zack and Max’s hard stares of each other.

“I— thanks for coming so quickly. It means a lot to me.” Liz said softly. She knew that she could always count on her brothers. They had always been this way and she loved them for that. Whenever she needed them, they were right there for her.

“Of course we’d come.” Krit said smiling at her. “Zack broke every speed limit in order to get here.”

Liz felt tears start to form in her eyes at the thought of them doing that to get to her. Liz opened her mouth to say something when she heard a ring at the door. “Who’s that?” she wondered, at who could be coming to her house in the middle of the night.

“Don’t worry it’s Mom, Dad and Aryn. We made them come with us.” Zack said softly to his sister. Zack turned his attention back to Max. “What’s he doing here, Liz?” Zack growled, unable to not say anything about this jerk in his baby sister’s room.

Liz sighed. “We were talking about some things. Now can you give us some time alone.” Liz said pointedly. She was going to do what they wanted. Telling him the truth, finally.

“Liz, is that blood on your pants?” Krit asked quietly. He hadn’t noticed it until she had started speaking to them. Questions began to run rampant in his head. From where the blood was, gave him a thought that he didn’t like. Didn’t even want to think could be true.

“What did you do to her, you bastard?” Zack questioned roughly, taking a menacing step towards Max. What had he done to Liz? Had Max raped her or something? Zack was angry with himself. He couldn’t believe that he had allowed for this to happen to her again.

“No, stop. Max didn’t do anything to me. I. . . I—“ Liz began but couldn’t continue. She couldn’t say the words. She couldn’t tell them that she had lost PJ. That her baby was gone.

“She had a miscarriage.” Max said quietly. Who the hell were these people? In the flashes that he had gotten from Liz, they both had been in them. The dark haired one had healed Liz. Where they aliens? Were they Skins like Michael had thought and they were going to hurt Liz? Max stepped closer to Liz, not wanting her in harm’s way.

“What? Oh, god, Lizzie. Are you okay?” Krit said, rushing towards Liz. He attempted to touch her shoulder but Max glared at him and Krit stopped. He looked up at Max in surprise, questioning why Max was stopping him from touching his own sister. Then he remembered that Max didn’t know that he was her brother and he’d never hurt his own sister.

Zack scowled at Max. The jerk wasn’t even letting Krit near his own sister. He probably didn’t want Krit to know what he’d done to Liz. Had Max caused Liz to have a miscarriage? Oh, the King was going to go down, Zack thought to himself.

Liz brushed past Max and drew to Krit’s side. “I’m okay. Really, I am.” she said softly, letting him knowing that she really was okay and Max hadn’t done anything to her. Zack’s anger was radiating off of him, Liz knew that he thought Max had done something to her. He really should know better than that, Liz thought to herself.

Zack walked closer to his brother and sister. He put his hand on Liz’s shoulder. “Can I hurt him?” Zack asked, narrowing his eyes at Max.

“No!” Liz said, shaking her head. Besides, if anyone was going to hurt him, it would be her and no one else. “Please, can you guys go wait for me in the living room. Max and I really need to talk.” Liz pleaded with them, giving them her puppy dog eyes she knew that they couldn’t refuse.

Zack and Krit were reluctant to leave her. She just suffered the most horrible loss imaginable. They had seen what happened to their mother had been after she’d had a miscarriage when they were little. They simply did not want to leave their sister alone with Max after all that they knew happened between the two of them. He’d already caused Liz so much pain.

“Please.” Liz pleaded softly.

Krit smiled sadly at her. “Okay. If he does anything at all to hurt you, call us.” he said, giving her a kiss on her forehead. He couldn’t refuse his baby sister anything. His poor baby sister had lost her baby. Krit had known that she had wanted PJ more than anything.

Zack bit the inside of his cheek. “Alright, since you asked so nicely. You got five minutes, than I’m siccing Aryn and your mom on you. Aryn’s gotta check you out.” he said authoritatively.

“Yes, sir.” Liz said, giving him a mock salute.

Zack raised an eyebrow at her in question and gave her arm a squeeze. “If you hurt her, I will kick your ass.” he said, glaring at Max.

Max nodded. He didn’t know who these two guys were but he could tell that they meant business. If they were Skins wouldn’t they have already tried something, since he was right there in front of them? And if they were Skins who wanted revenge against Liz for killing Khivar, why would they be so protective over her? One thing Max was sure of was that they were aliens, at least the dark haired one. And Liz knew, she knew that he was an alien. She had asked him to heal her.

Why the hell would she keep something like that from him? Cause you were a jackass to her, Max told himself. He had turned his back on her when she needed him the most. She had needed him when Alex died and he’d cold bloodily told her that he had killed himself. He’d abandoned her.

And then Khivar took her from him. Khivar had tried to kill her, Khivar had raped and impregnated her with his child. A child who had almost killed her. What happened earlier tonight told him that aliens and humans could not have children together. He and Liz would never have children together. Uh, hello Max, but you and Liz aren’t even together and you’re thinking about having children together, he scolded himself. He and Liz weren’t together because of the sacrifices that he had forced her to make last year. He had caused her the most agonizing pain ever. He’d hurt the one person he loved in the world, no universe.

“Max. Max.” Liz said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. Jeez, he’d totally spaced out on her.

Max blinked several times and saw her watching him with a frown on her beautiful face. “Sorry.”

“I’ve been calling your name for like a minute. Are you okay?” she asked worriedly. He had just been staring at her, not saying anything at all.

Max nodded his head, feeling his ears turn red with embarrassment. “I’m fine. I was just thinking about things.” he admitted, biting the inside of his cheek nervously. “What did Khivar tell you?”

Liz bit her lip as she looked at him. “I should have told you this days ago. But I was scared about your reactions and I couldn’t face you guys after what’d happened. I felt so horrible about the things I said at Alex’s. Some things I meant, but it was wrong of me to say them. Khivar told me a lot of things, Max. Avarona was his sister back on Antar. Tess was going to continue to mind warp you and force you to sleep with her. In hopes she’d get pregnant.” Liz said softly.

“What?” Max was horrified at the thought. That horrible bitch would have continued her mind warp and most likely would have used the child against him. Thank god, he had snapped out of it due to that dream he’d had. “I would never have slept with her deliberately, Liz. You’re the only one I could ever imagine making love to.” he said, grabbing her hand.

Liz nodded. “I know, Max! But she was going to mind warp you. But sometimes you can’t stop the mind warp. You can’t even tell that it’s happening until it’s too late!” Liz said, with tears in her eyes as she thought back to the night that Khivar had taken her. He had mind warped her into going with him, and he’d mind warped her into bed with him.

“I’m so sorry. So sorry.” Max said as he wrapped his arms around her.

Liz laid her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating and it was a wonderful sound. They stayed that way for several seconds until Liz finally drew herself away from him. There was a hell of a lot more she had to tell him. A lot more.

“Max, the ship didn’t crash on accident back in ‘47. It was sabotaged. One of Khivar’s men was on and he forced it down. Khivar didn’t want you to be born again. There were only three survivors, one was Khivar’s man and two others.” Liz continued, knowing what she was about to tell would shock him. To know that he had trusted the very man who wanted him dead.

“Nasedo. Nasedo was the one that took us to safety in the pod chamber and the other took the other four to New York, right?” Max asked. Khivar had told her an awful lot. Max didn’t understand why he’d told her so much. It was one thing to take her because what she meant to Max, but to tell her all of these details. He must have been planning to kill her or something. Or keep her, Max suddenly realized. After all she had been pregnant with Khivar’s baby. Surely, Khivar wouldn’t have killed the mother of his child. What the hell had Khivar been planning on doing with Liz?

“Max, um—“ Liz began but was interrupted by her bedroom door being flung open.




[ edited 1 time(s), last at 16-Mar-2002 9:21:07 PM ]
posted on 16-Mar-2002 9:26:10 PM
Title: Fight or Fall
Author: Lillie (Amber)
Rating: R-NC17.
Disclaimer: Don’t own anything. Katims, Metz, UPN, yada, yada, yada own the show and have no clue with what the hell they’re doing with the characters. Borrowed a few concepts from Dark Angel, cause that show rocks. Fight or Fall is a song by Thin Lizzy. The song used, Eternity Sleeps belongs to Lady Bridget. Don’t own anything.


Chapter 1B



“Oh, Liz. Oh, Lizzie. Are you okay?” Nancy asked as she rushed into the room and wrapped her arms around her daughter. She couldn’t believe it. She and Jeff had been awaken by the sound of the doorbell ringing and were shocked to see Stephanie, Bill and Aryn; who told her that Liz had contacted Zack and Krit with her powers. They hadn’t known what was wrong, but Zack and Krit had thought that it was something big and they had to go right away. Then when Zack and Krit left Liz’s room, they told her that Liz had a miscarriage. Her poor little girl had lost her baby.

Max saw that there were two women that he had never seen before in his life standing at the door. The older looking woman was short and petite, maybe about 5-4. She had thick, straight blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and a pointed chin. The other woman was taller and younger; the blonde’s daughter, she also had that same pointed chin. She looked to be around 5-7, with long mink brown hair, the same blue eyes as the blonde, but she was olive skinned.

The blonde stepped closer to Liz. “Let’s get her out of those clothes, Nancy.” She said softly.

“Oh. But I’m okay. Really. You don’t have to worry or check me out. I just have to finish talking to Max. We were in the middle of a discussion. We need to finish talking.” Liz insisted as she attempted to move away from her mother.

“No, Liz. She’s right. Stay in bed. We can talk tomorrow. I’ll go.” Max said softly as he headed for the door.

“No! Stay!” Aryn stated. She understood what had been going on. She knew that Liz had been telling Max the truth. Aryn wasn’t about to let him leave without finally knowing the truth. “Please stay for Liz.” she said softly.

Max looked over at Liz and Mrs. Parker and saw that they were both agreeing with what the brunette was saying. Max nodded. “Thanks.” he said softly as he looked at Liz and gave her a smile.

“Can you go to the living room with the others?” Nancy asked quietly, not looking away from her daughter. Her poor Liz. Nancy knew the pain of losing a child and hated that her daughter was now going through the same thing. Liz didn’t deserve for this to be happening to her.

Max nodded again and with one last look at Liz, he walked quietly to the living room. Max saw that Zack was pacing around tensely, while Krit was flipping channels on the TV. Sitting at the table in the dining room was Mr. Parker, still in his bathrobe and a dark haired man. Someone else Max had never seen before. What the hell was up with this people who seemed to know Liz? She’d never mentioned them to him before.

“Who are you?” Max asked suspiciously. He hadn’t had the chance to ask Michael what he had found out about the two guys. He told Michael not to, but he knew Michael was going to anyway.

Zack stopped pacing the room and meet Max’s eyes. Krit stopped flipping channels and also looked at Max. He could also feel Mr. Parker and the man’s eyes on him.

Zack broke his stare of Max and looked over to his father. How was he supposed to answer Max’s question. He didn’t know how much Liz had told Max, but it was apparent that Max didn’t know that Liz was an alien, or that he and Krit were Michael and Liz’s brothers.

“We’re Liz’s family.” The dark haired man sitting next to Mr. Parker announced.

Max narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Were they really Liz’s family? Max didn’t know for sure. He knew from Liz that Mr. Parker was an only child. He didn’t know much about Mrs. Parker’s side, only that she had a sister, Meg who lived in Florida. He’d known that Liz wasn’t close to her mother and she hadn’t told him much about her. Krit was a damn fucking alien! Max was positive about that. He didn’t think that Krit was a Skin, though.

“Daddy! I need you!” A female voice yelled, breaking into Max’s thoughts.

Mr. Parker and the dark haired man both stood up. When the woman had called out, Krit had yanked himself up to his feet. “Stay here, boys.” Bill urged Zack and Krit, leaving the room quickly.

Who the hell were these people, he wondered anxiously. Krit couldn’t possibly be Liz’s family; he was an alien. Krit did kind of look like Liz though. His hair was exactly the same chestnut shade that Liz’s was, and there eyes were the same chocolate color. And they both were olive skinned. Max didn’t know what the hell was going on. Krit, an alien, looked like Liz. What if Krit had been sent down to Earth and they’d used human DNA from someone in Liz’s family. That explained why they looked alike. Same genes, and he still could be an alien. But if that was true, why would Krit have been sent down to Earth? Had Krit been sent down to expose Tess’ guilt? Or could he be one of Khivar’s henchmen and he was just pretending to be one of the good guys, so he could get to Max and the others?

Max’s attention was focused back on the man who came back into the living room. That hadn’t taken long.

“What happened, Dad?” Zack asked anxiously, meeting his father’s eyes. Was his baby sister okay? What had happened to cause Aryn to ask their father for help?

“Liz is okay. She just passed out.” Bill Metzler explained. Zack and Krit had told them that Liz had lost the baby. As much as it saddened Bill, he knew that it had been for the best. He hadn’t wanted to admit that the child had the potential of being a threat. After all Khivar had been his father. But Bill wasn’t going to tell his queen what he really thought. It was his job to keep her safe and sound. He did feel sorry for his queen. She’d lost two children in two lifetimes. Sorcha and PJ. Bill remembered how Stephanie had been after her miscarriages. She’d been distraught, the only thing that kept her going had been Aryn. That their daughter needed her mother to be okay. Liz didn’t have that.

“But she’s okay?” Jeff asked worriedly. His Lizzie had just passed out, nothing else. Was that a good thing or a bad thing, he wondered. Jeff knew that he and Bill would have to tell Unitas what had happened to Liz. Unitas would feel bad for his daughter, but he also would think that it was for the best. His only daughter wouldn’t be bearing Khivar’s child.

“She’s fine. She’s asleep. She needs her rest.” Bill said, looking at Max. He knew that Max had healed whatever damage that had occurred to Liz. She was going to be fine physically. Emotionally, he knew she wouldn’t be.

“Max, would you like to stay with her?” Aryn asked as she came into the room.

Max was still lost. He had no clue as to what the hell was going on with these people. But apparently, Mr. and Mrs. Parker trusted them. So Max figured that he could trust them. He knew that Mr. Parker would never allow anything bad to happen to Liz.

“What? Hell no. I don’t want him anywhere near her!” Zack declared. He didn’t want Max anywhere near his sister’s bed.

Max looked over at Zack with shock. He sure seemed like he was part of Liz’s family. He was pretty damn protective of her. Almost to the point of possessive.

“Zachary William Metzler, watch your mouth.” Stephanie Metzler said, scolding her son. She turned to Max and smiled at him. “Liz, will feel so much better if your there with her. She was asking for you.”

Max gave her a grateful smile. So she was Zack’s mother; he could tell by the way she’d yelled his name. Only a mother would do that.

“Sorry, Mom. But I just don’t want him near her. He’s hurt her enough. She doesn’t need anymore pain.” Zack insisted, looking at Krit, urging his brother to back up with him on this subject. He knew that Krit would.

“He’s right, Mom. Lizzie’s been hurt so much already. I don’t want him with her.” Krit said softly to his mother.

“Liz wants him there. So he can go.” Bill stated to his sons firmly. “You two can camp out on her balcony to make sure that he doesn’t do anything you don’t like.”

Max’s eyes narrowed again when he heard Krit call the blonde woman Mom. Maybe Krit was a good alien; he hadn’t done anything for Max to question his motives. If only he had questioned Tess more when she first came. But would that have matter. She used her powers against him more than once. That bitch would have practically raped him in order to get pregnant with his baby.

//What do you think, Zack? Should we keep on fighting it or just sleep outside?// Krit asked Zack through their connection.

//We’ll just sleep outside. We won’t get anywhere with Dad.// Zack said, meeting his brothers eyes.


“Ok, Dad. We’ll sleep outside.” Zack said, as he meet his father’s eyes. He turned to Max suspicion in his eyes. “I’ll be watching you, Evans. You think about touching one hair on her head. I will hurt you.”

Krit nodded his head, agreeing with his brother. If Max even thought about doing something with Liz, there would be hell for him to pay. No one touched his sister!


posted on 16-Mar-2002 9:28:41 PM
Title: Fight or Fall
Author: Lillie (Amber)
Rating: R-NC17.
Disclaimer: Don’t own anything. Katims, Metz, UPN, yada, yada, yada own the show and have no clue with what the hell they’re doing with the characters. Borrowed a few concepts from Dark Angel, cause that show rocks. Fight or Fall is a song by Thin Lizzy. The song used, Eternity Sleeps belongs to Lady Bridget. Don’t own anything.


Chapter 1C



It was beautiful. Max lay silently next to Liz on the bed, just listening to her breathe. He’d slept next to Liz before; both times last year in the desert and in the van. But this— lying next to her in a bed— seemed much more intimate to him. He had to admit that he liked this. The idea of Liz in bed beside him. He relished in the thought of waking up with her.

Max sighed. Zack and Krit were both very much awake outside on the balcony, listening to each and every move he was making, watching Max making sure that he wasn’t doing anything to hurt Liz. Max understood their concern, after all he had hurt Liz. He claimed that he’d never hurt her, but he had and he had done it without Tess’ help. He’d hurt Liz countless times after she’d pretended to sleep with Kyle, which was something he had forced her to do. At least his future self.

Max was going to keep her safe no matter what. He’d deluded himself long enough, thinking that she was safe because she wouldn’t be in his life anymore. But he was wrong, like he’d been wrong about hundreds of things. But Max Evans learned from his mistakes. Liz would never be safe just like Maria and Kyle and maybe even his own parents.

“Hey, Krit. Can you, uh, tell me what happened after you found her?” Zack asked his brother breaking the stillness of the night. Zack wanted to know what had happened to Troian, how she had died, who’d killed his baby sister. He’d always wondered about it. The way that everyone got all quiet and somber. He’d known that it’d been bad.

Max strained to hear them. His curiosity was piqued. Who was this she that Zack was asking about? Max got the feeling that he could trust the two, but he was very suspicious of them. He was certain that Krit was in fact an alien, but there was really nothing that Max could do. He couldn’t very well run off with Liz, when she was dead to the world. Max felt that he knew them, and that they were some of the good guys, so Max was going to trust his instincts and stay.

Krit sighed heavily as he looked over at his brother. He didn’t want to think about it, let alone talk about it. Like his own death, Krit was haunted with the picture of Troian’s lifeless body. Her killer had never been caught, whoever it’d been had been a smart bastard. A fucking monster who’d ruthlessly killed a pregnant woman. “Zack, I don’t want to talk about it. It was so horrible. Only a monster could have done something like that.”

“Please, Krit. Tell me.” Zack pleaded softly. He had to know how his sister had died. He blamed himself for not being there for her. For dying. Zack knew if he hadn’t died, he could have saved his baby sister. He could have. “I’ve never had the courage to ask Dad about it. I’ve asked Cerina, but she only knows what happened afterwards. She wasn’t there, though. She doesn’t know what you know. Tell me.” Zack pleaded with his brother. Zack finally had to know everything about Troian’s death.

Max was listening to their conversation raptly. He wanted to know who they were talking about? Who was the woman that they were discussing? From what Max was hearing, he assumed that the woman was dead. That someone had murdered her, or something.

Krit bit the inside of his cheek. “Alright. It was a bright beautiful day. No one knew where she was. Father suggested that she went to the old cemetery. You know, how’d she’d always go there when she couldn’t sleep at night. So we went and there she was. She was lying on her side, she had a hand over her stomach, trying to protect the baby. Then he screamed. He wouldn’t stop. He was shattered like the rest of us were.” Krit said, referring to Zanier. If Krit closed his eyes, he could see it all in his head. Zanier’s screams for Troian and Sorcha. The beautiful white dress that Rathard had bought her, now covered in blood.

“She was covered in blood. It was so apparent that she had suffered. Known that she was going to die. Whoever did it was a monster. Father was furious when he found out that his only daughter had been murdered; but he was so sad and he blamed himself for what happened. He told me that he wished he’d kept her with grandma.” Krit said, referring to his father back on Antar, Lord Unitas.

Max frowned as he listened to Krit. It sounded all familiar, what Krit was talking about. Max could imagine it all happening to him. He saw himself running to Liz, who was lying on the ground. Stop it, Max, he told himself. It didn’t happen to you and it won’t happen. It was just his fears talking. He was still scared that something bad could happen to Liz. He didn’t want anything bad at all to happen to her.

Zack swallowed hard, listening to his brother’s words. His baby sister had bene horribly murdered. She knew she had been going to die. Zack knew how that felt. He’d felt the same thing when he’d gotten shot in the back. He hoped that Liz didn’t remember all of her memories from Antar. Reliving your death in your head wasn’t any fun. But if she did, maybe she knew who murdered her. Maybe they could avenge her death after all this time. “What happened afterwards?” Zack said out loud.

Krit rubbed his forehead with his hand. “Everyone was so despondent, so lost and confused. Father, Grandma, Aunt Ana, everyone. We were lost. She couldn’t be gone. He had a mausoleum built in their honor. At the funeral, 28 doves were released, one for each year of her life and one for the baby.”

Zack shook his head at Krit’s words. “I wish I’d been there. Cerina told me everything that happened afterwards. So much had fallen. Everything got fucked up.”

Krit nodded. Zack was right about that. Everything had starting going bad after Troian’s death. The whole royal house had toppled down. Troian and Sorcha had died, Zanier might as well have died at the same time. Zanier was gone emotionally after Troian’s death. They were all suffering so badly with Troian’s death. “Let’s talk about something else. So, tell me what happened between you and Cerina? I know something happened between the two of you. You guys were like so close and than all of a sudden, it’s like tension between you two. What happened?” Krit asked, changing the subject. Thinking about Troian’s death hurt, a lot.

Max sighed as he rubbed his eyes. He was tired, it’d been a long day. But tomorrow was going to be an even longer day. He and Liz would have a lot to talk about. Tess being their enemy. He should have known all along. He should never have trusted her after she’d mind warped him last year. Never again, he was going to make sure Tess paid for what she’d done. She was now his enemy, Max thought to himself as he closed his eyes and fell into a quiet slumber.

Zack shook his head. “Nothing happened between me and Cerina. It’s not like she’d want anything to happen, you know, thinking that she’s betraying Alex and all. Besides, I’ve dated other girls more beautiful than Cerina haven’t I?” Zack said, hoping to get Krit off of his back. He’d promised Cerina last year that he wouldn’t let anyone know what had happened between them. She was ashamed about that night they shared and didn’t want anyone to know. It hurt him, badly, but he pretended that he was alright with it. And he dated plenty of other girls to make her jealous.

Krit didn’t know if he should believe his brother. Krit knew that Zack had a major thing for Cerina, and he knew something had changed in their relationship the year before. What it was, he wasn’t sure. Zack had started dating a whole slew of girls from their school afterwards. He’d date some pretty hot girls at their school. But Krit, himself, knew that no matter how many girls you dated, you never forgot about your first love. Krit could still remember his. Leilah. God, she’d been so beautiful; he’d loved her the first moment that he had been introduced to her by Larek. Larek hadn’t wanted him to date his little sister, but Krit couldn’t help but fall for her.

Krit realized that Zack was talking to him. “Hmm.” Krit said, looking up at his brother. “Sorry, I was just thinking about Leilah. You should have meet her. She was a great person.”

Zack smiled at his brother. “I’m sure she was. I’m sorry I never got to meet her. Come on, let’s get some sleep. There’s a lot we have to do tomorrow. You saw what happened to Lizzie, she didn’t get her sleep and just collapsed.”

Krit nodded his head. “Yeah.” he said, as he rubbed his forehead with one hand. They had a lot to do. By this time tomorrow, Michael would know the truth. Everyone would know the truth.


posted on 16-Mar-2002 9:36:19 PM
Title: Fight or Fall
Author: Lillie (Amber)
Rating: R-NC17.
Disclaimer: Don’t own anything. Katims, Metz, UPN, yada, yada, yada own the show and have no clue with what the hell they’re doing with the characters. Borrowed a few concepts from Dark Angel, cause that show rocks. Fight or Fall is a song by Thin Lizzy. The song used, Eternity Sleeps belongs to Lady Bridget. Don’t own anything.


Chapter 2



“Avarona, where are you? Why must she go so fast?” Troian said, as she tried to catch up faster to Avarona. Here she was about to give birth to her baby and Avarona had decided that she wanted to go to the cemetery. Troian hadn’t wanted to go, but Avarona had insisted and insisted, so Troian had relented. She would do anything for her friends. And Avarona was one.

“Avarona!” she called out, as soon as she got to the clearing. Where was Avarona? Maybe she could go back. Zan would be waking up pretty soon and would wonder where she went off to. Troian loved waking up in the mornings with her husband. And right now, she was missing out on seeing her husband wake up.

Suddenly, Troian felt a sharp stab in her back. Troian gasped as she fell to her knees. What happened? Oh, no. Who was it? Who was doing this to her? “Aaah!” she screamed, as she felt the person stabbing her repeatedly in the back.

When her attacker, stopped for a moment, Troian used the opportunity to turn herself over. Troian gasped as she saw that it was Avarona. “Avarona! Why? Why?” she managed to say. She couldn’t believe it! Avarona was trying to kill her. Trying to kill her and her baby.




Liz bolted out of her dream with the sounds of her screams piercing the room. Liz felt someone touching her, grabbing her arms. Liz reacted instantly to the touch and shot her foot out, kicking the person in the chest. Liz stumbled out of the bed, and backed herself into the wall. “Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!” she screamed.

Liz felt a pair of gentle hands grabbing her arms, and began to fight them.

So come with me now to a place that I know. Where your dreams become real and the streams ever flow o’er the stones.” Zack began to sing to Liz. He’d heard her screams and he and Krit had rushed into the room. They’d thought that Max was doing something to her. But it appeared that she was having some sort of nightmare. Something really bad that she was seeing. They saw her kick Max in the chest and fall to the floor. Zack knew of only one thing that he knew would calm her down. “Here where your heart is apart from your hand. You need not be afraid concrete laid on the land is but sand.

Liz looked up and realized that Zack was singing to her. She took in several deep breaths and looked up with tears in her eyes. That song, was one of her favorite songs back on Antar. Her mother would sing it to her when she was little, and than later when she was with her grandma, she’d sing it to her when she’d get scared.

There is a light that burns bright while you sleep. And your mind finds delight. In the flight of your deep silent sleep. Surely you know that to go where I’m bound. I must tell one I know, I must show, him the ground I have found.” Zack finished.

Liz smiled tentatively at Zack, who was crouched in front of her, Krit and Max were both standing behind hi, watching the two silently. //Grandma used to sing that to me when I’d get scared on the Isle.//

Zack gave Liz a smile. //I know, baby sister. You used to sing that all of the time when you got back. You sang that to me right before I died.//

//You okay, baby sister? What were you dreaming about?// Krit asked, breaking into Liz and Zack’s conversation.

//I’m okay, really. It was just a really really bad dream. I’m okay now.// Liz replied, as Zack helped her get up from the floor.

“Are you okay, Liz?” Max asked softly. Max had been lying awake, just watching Liz as she slept when he’d heard her screams. He hadn’t known what was wrong; what had caused her to scream that way. Zack and Krit had burst into the room, thinking that he had done something to Liz. Max had never been seen her that way, so scared and agitated. He knew that she must have been having some nightmare. About what, he wasn’t too sure. She’d kicked him in the chest, pretty damn hard. Max was sure that he would have a bruise there soon.

Liz gave Max a small smile. “I’m okay, really. Just a nightmare, Max.” Liz replied. Oh, god. That nightmare was so horrible. She’d had it before, but each and every time she had it, it just got worse and worse. It became more clear to her. She could remember her thoughts before it’d happened, the smells of the flowers in the cemetery.

The door swung open and Nancy ran in. “Lizzie, are you okay, sweetie?”

Liz rubbed her forehead with her hand. “Yeah, mom. I’m okay. Just a bad dream.” Liz said softly, giving her mother a smile.

Nancy nodded her head. She had been terrified when she’d heard her daughter’s screams. It had been years since she had heard Liz scream that way. “Everyone’s already up, kids.”

The five of them walked silently to the living room. Max didn’t know what to expect. He knew that he’d be told the inevitable. That Krit was an alien, maybe Zack. And he was prepared for that. If they were his allies, than he’d be grateful for more help. If they were his enemies, he’d crush ‘em like a bug. He would do anything for Liz, even kill.

“Are you feeling better, sweetie?” Stephanie asked concerned as Liz entered the room. She felt so badly for Liz. Losing your child was one of the worst things imaginable. Stephanie had several miscarriages in her life and each one was like she’d been stabbed in the heart.

Liz gave Stephanie a small smile. “I’m okay, really. Don’t worry about me.” Liz said softly. She didn’t want everyone to worry about her. What happened, happened. There was nothing that anyone could do to change it.

“Are you sure your okay, baby?” Jeff asked Liz softly. He hated the thought of his baby girl going through anything bad. He hated to see Liz in any kind of pain. She didn’t deserve it.

Liz nodded her head. “I’m fine, Daddy.” she replied.

Max was taking everything in. He was a little surprised by Liz calling her father Daddy. He knew that they weren’t exactly close. Her having to carry around Max’s secret and lie to her parents hadn’t helped. Max could only guess that almost losing Liz had changed everything for her family.

“So what’s going on?” Max asked, his eyes narrowing over to everyone in the living room. The Parkers, the dark haired man, the brunette and blonde women. Zack and Krit. And finally Liz. She looked as if she was going to take something off of her shoulders. Something huge.

“It’s a long story, Max. It began a long time ago. I’ve only found out about it recently. I should have told you when I first came back, but I was scared.” Liz started slowly. It was right to finally tell Max the truth about everything. She should have when he first came to her at the hospital. Maybe everything would have turned out differently. Maybe she wouldn’t have lost PJ.

No, Liz don’t do this to yourself. You can’t play the what if game with yourself. PJ’s gone and imagining that it’s different, only hurts yourself, Liz told herself silently.

“What do you mean, Liz?” Max asked quietly, as he held her in his arms. For moments all they did was stare into each other’s eyes. Max was anxious for answers.

Liz snapped herself out of his hypnotic eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Liz groaned silently at another interruption. The way things were going, she’d never be able to tell him the truth.

Nancy stood up and walked to the door. She opened the door enough so she could stick her head out. Whoever it was she didn’t want them seeing what was going on in her home. Nancy stifled a gasp as she saw who it was. Isabel Evans and Michael Guerin.

Nancy had always liked Michael. He’d had such a bad childhood. She and Jeff had tried several times to take him into their home so he could grow up with his sister. But for some reason, the child protective people wouldn’t let them. Jeff had done his best to help Michael out. Nancy and Jeff had no secrets between them and he’d told her about Hank’s abuse of Michael. Nancy had felt so badly for him. Jeff had also told her his decision to take care of the man personally.

“Hello, Michael, Isabel. Did you two need something?” Nancy asked, softly. They probably came looking for Max.

Michael hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. With everything that had happened last night all he could think about was Liz. How he should have been there for her. He’d gone to Max’s house from his apartment, only to discover that Max wasn’t there. He’d been so damn anxious to talk to Max about what had happened. Michael had gone to Isabel’s room, but she hadn’t known where Max was, she’d thought that he had gone out for a walk. Michael had fallen asleep on Max’s bed, only to be awaken by a horrible dream of his sister being murdered. He hadn’t been able to see who killed her, but he knew that his sister had been pregnant when she’d been killed. Michael had gone to Isabel’s room and found out that she had the same exact dream that he had. Max still hadn’t returned home and the only place that they thought he could be at was Liz’s. So they’d rushed right over.

“We’re looking for Max. We think that he might be here.” Michael said as an explanation.

“Have you seen my brother?” Isabel asked worriedly. That dream had freaked her out so badly. Michael had told her that it had been his sister. Troian. That someone had murdered her back on Antar. What had scared Isabel was that Max had never made it home? Something could have happened to him.

Nancy looked over her shoulder and meet Jeff’s eyes. Jeff nodded his head and Nancy turned her attention back to the door. Nancy smiled at them. “He’s here, Isabel. Come on in, you two.” Nancy said, opening the door for them to enter.

Michael and Isabel walked into the living room and stopped short when they saw that the living room was filled with people that they didn’t know. Michael did recognize the two teens. They had picked up Liz the day that he’d been trying to talk to Max about Liz. “Who are you people?” Michael asked, narrowing his eyes. Max and Liz were safe, Max was holding Liz. She was dressed in blue flannel pajamas with a dozen marching Marilyns in army fatigues with the words Diamonds are a girl’s best friend— they’re sharper than knives. Michael stifled a laugh at her pajamas, they were cute. He was so damn glad that Liz and Max were both okay. But the other people, who were they, he wondered.

“I’m Bill Metzler. This is my wife, Stephanie. Our daughter, Aryn and our sons, Zack and Krit.” Bill pointed to each person as he introduced them to Michael. This was his first time ever meeting Michael Guerin, the King’s second in command, his Queen’s brother. But he’d seen pictures of Michael growing up. Michael was becoming a fine man and Bill knew that Unitas was proud of his oldest son.

Stephanie smiled at the two. Michael was her sons brother. “Hello, Michael, Isabel.” she said softly.

“Stephanie Norris Metzler. Sheila Hubble’s sister?” Michael asked, shocked. What the hell was Sheila Hubble’s sister doing at Liz’s house? What the fuck was going on here?

“Well, you’ve done your homework, Michael. Your right about Stephanie and Sheila.” Bill said, with a smile. Rathard had always been smart, but people had always assumed that he was all brawn, no brains. It must be the same here.

Jeff cleared his throat. “Come on, Nance. Let’s go open shop.” he said, taking Nancy’s arm in his own. He looked over at Liz and smiled at her.

“Liz, sweetie. If you need anything just come get me. Okay, baby?” Nancy said, softly, to her daughter. She didn’t really want to leave Liz right now. But what was the point in staying, she knew the whole story, while Max, Michael and Isabel didn’t. Besides, if they didn’t open the Crashdown than people might become suspicious.

Liz nodded her head, as she withdrew herself from Max’s arms. She took a seat in between Zack and Krit. “Okay, Mom.” she said, softly to her mother.

Max frowned as Liz’s sat down next to Zack and Krit. Was she still angry about everything that had happened? Not that he would blame her. He’d been a total asshole to her. To everyone. He would have to make amends to everyone for all of the hateful things he had said to them. Maria, Michael, Isabel, Liz, especially Liz and maybe even Alex. Max was going to go to Alex’s grave and ask him for forgiveness.

As soon as the Parkers closed the front door behind them, Michael turned his attention back to the group. “Why does Liz look like Sheila Hubble? Is she related to you? Are you family or what?” Michael asked. Liz and that Krit guy looked a lot alike. They had to be related. But from the info that he had gathered, there wasn’t any way that there could be a connection.

Isabel turned to her brother. He was her concern right now. Though she was curious about what Michael was talking about. The whole Sheila Hubble thing. She wanted to make sure that Max was okay and nothing had happened to him. He looked like he hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep. But than again, Isabel didn’t think that any of them had. “Max, are you okay?” she asked concerned.

Max nodded at his sister. “I’m fine, Isabel. Liz was just about to tell me something important.” Max said softly. He was grateful that he wasn’t alone anymore. That Isabel and Michael had arrived. He really didn’t think that if they were aliens, that they were bad. Liz seemed to have a sixth sense about who she could trust and who she couldn’t. She never trusted that bitch Tess.

Bill suppressed the urge to smile. He knew what he was about to tell them would shock them. “To answer your question, Michael. Yes, Liz is related to us. At least, to Zack and Krit. The same way that she’s related to you. She’s their sister. Just like she’s your sister!”


posted on 16-Mar-2002 9:41:47 PM
Title: Fight or Fall
Author: Lillie (Amber)
Rating: R-NC17.
Disclaimer: Don’t own anything. Katims, Metz, UPN, yada, yada, yada own the show and have no clue with what the hell they’re doing with the characters. Borrowed a few concepts from Dark Angel, cause that show rocks. Fight or Fall is a song by Thin Lizzy. The song used, Eternity Sleeps belongs to Lady Bridget. Don’t own anything.


Chapter 3



“What?” Max, Michael and Isabel said in unison.

Michael snapped his head to look at Liz, who gave him a small smile. Could it really be possible? Could Liz be his sister? He felt like she was his sister, he would die for her. But that didn’t make it true. If Liz was his sister, she was alien and that meant that all of these other people were alien. It would mean that Zack and Krit were his brothers. That would mean that he had a family. Wait, if it was all true, why hadn’t Larek said anything about Liz being his sister?

Max couldn’t believe what he was being told. Liz was an alien? No, she couldn’t be. When he’d healed her he hadn’t felt anything alien inside of her. The whole way that she had found out that he was an alien, was because she compared his cells to hers. Her human ones. Could Liz really be an alien?

Isabel’s mouth fell open. What the hell was going on? This man that she didn’t even know was saying that Liz was an alien, and that she and those two guys were Michael’s family. They couldn’t be. Liz was human, granted Max might have done something to her when he’d healed her. But she was human, wasn’t she?

Krit decided to break up the tension in the room. “Congratulations, Michael Guerin. You’ve won yourself, three brothers and a sister.” he said, teasingly, laughing at Michael’s face of utter confusion.

Liz elbowed Krit in the stomach, shaking her head. She knew that Krit was trying to lighten up the tension in the room.

“Ow! Mom, Liz hit me.” Krit protested, rubbing the spot where she hit him with his hand.

Stephanie turned to Liz and gave her a smile. “Next time, Liz. Hit him in mouth. That way he’ll stop talking.”

Aryn rubbed her forehead with her hand. “Dad, start at the beginning. They’re a little lost.”

Bill nodded at his daughters words. She was right. The best place was to start at the beginning. “Liz was on Antar. She was your sister, Michael. She was Troian. Zack and Krit were your brothers, Jasper and Aiden.” Bill started, but was interrupted by Michael.

“What? Your kidding, right? She’s an alien? You’re an alien?” Michael asked. Liz Parker was his sister, she was an alien?

Bill nodded. Hmm, maybe Michael was like Rathard a lot. Rathard was always interrupting people. “Yes. I am. I came down in 1961 at the behest of Queen Mother Nasira and Lord Unitas, bringing along the eight hybrids.” Bill said, digging into his pocket for the one of the only things he had brought down to earth with him.

“And your saying that Liz is one of these hybrids?” Max asked quietly. He heard what he thought he was going to. That Krit was an alien, even Zack. But Liz? Liz was an alien? She was just like him? And after all of this time, he had never known. Never known that Liz was just like him. What had been their relationship back on Antar, he wondered.

Bill withdrew the coin from his pocket and held it out to Max. Max came forward and took it out of Bill’s hand. “Yes, your highness. Liz was our beloved queen and sister of Rathard, Lexus, Aiden, Jasper and Bradeon. Daughter of Lord Unitas and Sorcha.” Bill explained.

Max was looking at the coin when he heard Bill say that Liz had been the queen. He yanked his head up. “Queen? I thought that Tess was my wife?” he said, softly, hating to even say that horrible name. The people on the coin were the people that he had seen when he'd connected with Liz last night. The blonde man and the red headed woman. He'd guessed that the man was him, and the woman. Was it really Liz? Why else would he have seen those people in Liz's head if it hadn't come from her.

“Troian was your first wife, Antar’s beloved queen. After Troian died, you remarried to Avarona, Khivar’s sister. It was an arranged one. But Avarona was never proclaimed queen. No one would ever take Troian’s place in your heart and in the hearts of the people.” Bill said, softly, his mind wandering back to that horrible day that Troian had been killed. So many things had changed with her death. So many lives had changed.

Max swallowed hard. “I— I don’t know what to say.”

“I do. Why the hell should I believe what you say. For all I know, you’re a Skin. I don’t know you.” Michael said, roughly. He desperately wanted to believe it. Believe that Liz was his sister, that Zack and Krit were his brothers. But it all seemed so impossible.

Liz meet Michael’s eyes. “Michael, I know it’s hard to believe what Metz is saying, but it’s all true. Why the hell do you think Khivar took me? Not because I was some human who Max was in love with? No, not at all.” Liz said, shaking her head at the memories. Liz looked over to Bill. “Should I show him something?”

Bill shook his head. “No. You still need your strength, Liz. Besides your powers aren’t as developed as Zack and Krit’s.” Bill replied. “Zachary, show them something.”

Zack held out his hand and shot out a bolt of electricity that shattered a mirror that was hanging on the wall. Zack smiled to himself as he saw the stunned faces of Max, Michael and Isabel. Maybe, now they would believe his dad.

Liz swatted Zack in the arm. “Zack. My mother loves that mirror. I can’t believe you did that. You’d better fix it.” she said in a low voice.

Zack rolled his eyes at her. “Sisters are always whining about something.”

“Let’s pretend we didn’t hear that, Liz.” Aryn said, droll fully.

“Like hell.” Liz muttered.

Krit stood up and walked over to where the destruction of the mirror lay. He waved his hand over it and it all came back together. Krit picked it up and placed it back on the wall. He took his seat back next to Liz. “Zackie, stop being so mean to our baby sister.”

Liz hugged Krit. “You were always my favorite brother, Krit.” she said, sticking her tongue out at Zack.

Krit stuck his tongue out at Zack. “I told you so, Zack.”

Bill cleared his throat. “Children, can we get back to the topic at hand?”

“Sorry, Dad.” Krit muttered.

“Me, too.” Liz said, softly.

It was true, Max knew it in his heart. That what Bill was telling them was all true. Liz was Michael’s sister. Liz had been his wife back on Antar. Wait, he had turned his back on his own wife. He had allowed Khivar to abduct his wife. Khivar had raped her! Great going, Max. You allowed Khivar to do all that to the one person you loved in two lifetimes. You, stupid fucking jackass, he berated himself.

Isabel didn’t know what to believe. If Liz was really Troian, than that dream that Isabel had had this morning was of Troian’s death. Her murder. Oh, god. It all had to be true. It would explain why ever since Khivar had come to town he had been after Liz. Khivar had never wanted Isabel, he’d only wanted Liz.

A goofy looking smile spread on Michael’s face. Liz was his sister. Zack and Krit were his brothers! He had a family. Wait, Krit said that he had three brothers, hadn’t Larek told him that he had four brothers: Lexus, Jasper, Aiden and Bradeon? Michael looked at Liz. “Three brothers? Shouldn’t there be four?” he asked, softly.

Liz looked to Krit first, than to Zack. //I think that it’s best if I tell him about Alex. What do you guys think?// Liz asked her brothers softly.

//I think Lizzie’s right. She’s known him longer than we have.// Zack said, softly.

Liz turned her attention back to Michael. She took a deep breath before she began. “He’s dead. Our brother, Lexus is dead. Alex is dead.” she said, looking into Michael’s eyes. When she saw the surprise in his eyes, she went on. “Yes, Alex was one of us. He was our brother and Khivar killed him.” she said, with tears in her eyes.

Isabel’s eyes widened at Liz’s words. No. No! NO! Alex hadn’t been one of them. But why would Liz lie to them? She wouldn’t lie about something so cruel as that. She wouldn’t.

Max couldn’t breathe. Liz was telling him that Alex had been an alien. Alex had been one of them. Alex had been Michael’s brother. Alex had been Liz’s brother. Max had told her that Alex had killed himself. That her brother had killed himself.

Michael closed his eyes, trying to stop the tears that threatened to fall. His brother, Alex was dead. His brother was murdered. At least, now Michael knew that he wasn’t going crazy with all the feelings that he had. He had felt that Alex was his brother, that Liz was his sister. And now, it was all true. Michael would never get the chance to do anything with his brother. Michael snapped his eyes open. “Did Alex know who he was when he died?” he croaked.

Bill looked over to Liz, who was looking down at her hands. “Alex found out that night. Tess had been mind warping him for a while. He broke out of it that night. He remembered who he was, and he was on his way to tell Liz the truth about what Khivar was planning to do. Khivar wanted Liz, and he killed to get her. Khivar jumped into Alex’s body and caused him to swerve into the oncoming truck.”

Liz abruptly stood up. “I gotta take a shower. I’ll be in my room.” she said, walking out of the room, without meeting anyone’s eyes.

“Nancy is worried about Liz.” Stephanie injected, moments later. “She says that Liz isn’t sleeping at night. That she takes showers at all hours of night.” Stephanie said, softly. She knew that the talk about Alex was getting to Liz, but Stephanie knew that something else was bothering her.

Aryn nodded. “It’s because of the rapes. Her taking showers is her trying to cleanse herself of what happened to her. I think that it would be best if she went to a group counseling. She needs to talk about what happened. If she doesn’t, it’ll eat away at her.” Aryn replied. Counseling would be the best thing for Liz at this point.

“What’s she going to say? An alien kidnaped me, raped and impregnated me?” Michael said, roughly. That stupid bastard had raped his baby sister. He should have been there for Liz. Been there when she had needed him the most.

“If it helps Liz, than that’s all that matters. I don’t like seeing my baby sister in any pain.” Zack put in. As long as it helped Liz. He hated to see her in any pain. She shouldn’t have to go through anything bad in her life. Back on Antar, their father had pretty much shielded Liz away from all the bad things. Sending her to Grandma Aja’s when she was ten, so she could learn the way of the Goddess, like all the other women in their family. His father had hated sending her their, but he knew that it was a safe place for her.

“I agree with Zack. I hate seeing Liz in pain. She lost Alex, she gets kidnaped, raped and gets pregnant with PJ. Now, she’s lost him. She’s lost her second baby. She needs to talk to someone about all of this.” Krit said, agreeing with his brother 100%.

“What? Her second baby?” Max asked, confused. Murderous thoughts concerning Khivar were swarming through his head. Damn fucking bastard had raped Liz more than once. He didn't know what Krit meant by saying that Liz had lost her second baby. She’d never been pregnant before, so what did he mean?

“Sorcha.” Michael said softly. He knew exactly what Krit was talking about. He didn’t know how he knew, but he did. Krit wasn’t talking about it being Liz’s second pregnancy on Earth; he was talking about Troian’s pregnancy on Antar.

“Sorcha? That little girl that was on Liz’s dream plane?” Max asked, not knowing what kind of answer he was going to get. The little girl who had called him Daddy.

Bill nodded. “Yes. On Antar, King Zanier and Queen Troian were expecting their first child. A daughter, Sorcha. When Queen Troian was killed, so was Sorcha. After their deaths, everything changed in the kingdom. Everything went downhill.” Bill started, as he began to explain everything that happened back on Antar.


********************



Liz sat on the shower floor, leaning against the wall, shaking and weeping. She concentrated hard on trying to stop shaking. Ever since she had come home, she’d start shaking when the memories of Alex and Khivar came back to her. When everything flooded her mind and she couldn’t think about anything else.

She tried not to make a big deal about her shakes, which was why she’d hadn’t bothered to tell anyone about them. Everyone had problems, some worse than others. People coped with them in different ways. Some drank, which wouldn’t help her at all. The one and only time she and Maria had ever tried drinking, things went crazy. Especially when Liz tried to stuff Maria into the washer after she’d spilled something on her clothes. Some smoked; which Liz had tried once and didn’t like at all. She only got the shakes every now and then. Compared to everything else that she had gone through, they didn’t seem so bad to her.


posted on 16-Mar-2002 9:48:55 PM
Title: Fight or Fall
Author: Lillie (Amber)
Rating: R-NC17.
Disclaimer: Don’t own anything. Katims, Metz, UPN, yada, yada, yada own the show and have no clue with what the hell they’re doing with the characters. Borrowed a few concepts from Dark Angel, cause that show rocks. Fight or Fall is a song by Thin Lizzy. The song used, Eternity Sleeps belongs to Lady Bridget. Don’t own anything.


Chapter 4



Liz walked back into the living half an hour later. After dressing in a black cashmere tank top and stretch matte jersey pants and boots, she had called Maria. She decided that Maria had to know right now. Since Max, Michael and Isabel were finally learning the truth; Maria might as well know the truth about herself as well. But unfortunately, Maria hadn’t been home. Liz was a little worried about her friend. Why wasn’t she home? It was already 8:30 in the morning.

“So, what did I miss?” Liz said, softly. She saw that Max, Michael and Isabel had all taken seats and had been listening to Bill raptly. “You know, we need to talk to Maria and try to find Ava. Did you tell them about Ava, yet?” Liz asked, turning to Bill.

Bill shook his head. “No, not yet. We talked about what happened back on Antar and now we’re up to when Sheila was killed. They know Nasedo is the one that caused the crash. We still got more to go through.” Bill said, shaking his head as he thought about it. There was still more for him to explain.

“What did you mean about Ava?” Max asked curiously. He didn’t know how exactly he was supposed to act around Liz now. He found out that she had been his wife back on Antar. That with his wife and daughter’s death, he had let his planet go into the hands of the enemy. Max could understand why that had happened, he honestly did not know what he would do if he ever lost Liz Parker the way he had back on Antar. She was everything to him. She was his soul.

Liz looked over to Bill, asking him permission to tell them the truth. Bill nodded at her. “Tess and Ava were switched. Tess was supposed to be with the New York ones. But something happened to Ava’s pod, and Nasedo switched them. Khivar told me all this. I’m willing to guess that Ava was the first one out of her pod; like Tess was the last one out of hers. We need Ava in order to win. Without her, we’re going to fail.” Liz said calmly. She knew that they were probably shocked by everything that Bill was telling them.

“Hey, sis. Can you get me a glass of milk?” Zack asked his sister. He was kind of tired of staying around here while his father was explaining everything. But he wanted to see their reactions to all of the news. Isabel had taken it quite well that back on Antar, Alex had married her younger sister. Of course, Dad hadn’t told Isabel about her revolving bed on Antar. Zack shook his head at his thoughts, he was a bit antsy; probably because he hadn’t gotten his glass of milk yet. He guessed that it was those feline genes that made him need milk more often that a regular human. At home, they had like three gallons of milk in the fridge.

Krit yanked his head up and looked over to Liz. “Me, too. Usually I’ve had two glasses by now, but whatever. You know, you’re my favorite sister.” he said, grinning at her.

Liz rolled her eyes as she walked to the kitchen. She grabbed three glasses out of the cabinet and placed them on the counter. She turned to the fridge and pulled out the milk, pouring it into the three glasses. As she put the milk back into the fridge, she noticed the date on the calender. April 22. Only eight more days til Beltane.

Liz closed her eyes. Beltane? Liz smiled to herself as she remembered that night so long ago. The night of the Beltane fire. Back to her other life. Her life on Antar.



Perched on the top of her head was a crown of red berries and the spring’s first flowers. The soles of her feet and the palms of her hands had been painted in blue dye. A crescent moon had been painted onto her forehead between her brows; on her breast and belly the full moon had been outlined. Above the red patch of Troian’s body hair a dark moon had been painted. She wore a garland around her middle, and a clock in a rich green was thrown over her.

Troian was a bit scared. She was about to give herself to a perfect stranger. Not, a stranger, she told herself. To the Stag King, the Horned One. There was absolutely nothing wrong with what she was about to. She was going to be the Great Mother; the Goddess. The Great Rite had been performed long before she was even born. Grandma Aja, Aunt Anara, Aunt Idris and even her own mother had performed the ritual.

Several hours later, after the ritual dinner of the deer that the King Stag had killed. The priestess dragged Troian away from the table to adorn her body with more garlands, paint and even added the blood of the slain deer onto her. The priestess left her alone in the cave. Troian laid on the couch of deerskins, waiting for him to join her.

Troian took in a deep breath as she saw that he stood at the door of the cave, the antlers were gone from his head, his hair was streaked, his body was smeared with blue and the blood of the deer. He was only wearing a garland like hers around his loins.

As he walked towards her, and Troian could see his erection that stood rigidly against the cloth. He knelt besides her and Troian reached up to him, grasped his hands drawing him down to her, feeling the warmth of his body next to hers. They quickly shed their loin clothes.

Troian guided him to her, into her, and than they were both moving together. Troian could hear herself crying out, she could hear his voice high and shaken in the silence of the cave. They both groaned in pleasure as he spurt into her womb.

He moaned as he fell forward across her, lifeless except for his hoarse breathing. Troian felt him kiss her naked breasts and she stifled a moan at his actions. As his breathing began to slow, she kissed his hair with tenderness as they both drifted off to sleep.


When Troian awake, it was nearly dawn. She looked to the young man besides her, who was still sleeping. He was tall and strong and beautiful. She was no longer the Great Mother, she was once again Troian. She had given the force of the Virgin to the Horned One, as what had been expected when she had first arrived all those years ago. Troian had long ago accepted her fate; her destiny as a priestess of the Isle. But she sensed that something of importance had happened.

At her side the young man sat up sleepily. “Where are we?” he asked, glancing around. “The cave. It’s almost morning.” he realized, smiling as he reached for her. He pulled her down to a kissing, wrapping his strong arms around her. “Last night you were a Goddess, now I see you’re a woman. I was afraid of you last night. I thought you were larger than life.”

Troian felt shy by his stare of her. “I’m not really. I’m just a priestess of the Isle.”

“Have you ever been with anyone else?” he asked softly, as his hands began to gently explore her breasts, which stirred at his touch.

“No— I’ve never been with anyone else before this. It was supposed to be this way.” Troian said quietly, as she drew him closer to her, drawing his head down to hers in a kiss.

This time was slower that Troian savored every moment of it. His strong gentle hands bringing her pleasure that she had never known before. She fully opened herself up to him. She had never felt so happy before. Everything about it was wonderful. They lay spent in each others arms, caressing each other.

He sighed as the light got brighter. “They’re going to be coming for me soon. I can’t go back to the palace in blood and blue dye. I didn’t even know I was smeared in blood last night. You’re covered with blood where I laid on you.”

Troian felt her breathe leave her at his words. The palace? Troian used to be friends with the Princesses Vilandra and Krissane before she had come to the Isle. She hadn’t seen them in years, but she knew that her brothers were close friends with the whole royal family, including the heir to the throne, Prince Zanier. Troian had always heard rumors that once King Tiridates had participated in the Great Rite. “I know people in the palace.” she began softly, taking a closer look at him. “Zanier?”

He stiffened and raised himself, taking her face into his hands. “Troian? You’re Troian! Rathard’s sister.” Prince Zanier said. He couldn’t believe it. The one person that he had loved since he was a child, he had made love to twice. But she was also his best friend’s little sister. Rath would kill him if he found out that Zan had made love to his little sister.

Troian couldn’t believe her eyes. It was Zanier. Prince Zanier, the future king of Antar. She had known him since she was a child, but she hadn’t seen him in years. She always loved him, and now she had made love to him. But Troian knew that she had a duty to the Goddess before anything else. And her feelings for Zanier would have to be forgotten. She had to forget that it had been she’d given her virginity to. NO! Not him. The King Stag.




Liz gasped as she realized someone was touching her shoulder. Her arm jerked in response to the action and the glasses went crashing to the floor. Liz turned to see her Krit watching her with a frown on his face. “Jeez, you scared me.” she said, as she bent down to clean up the mess, trying to hid her reddened face.

Krit crouched down at her side to help her. “You were gone for like fifteen minutes. Are you okay, baby sister?” he asked, worriedly thinking back to what his mother had told them. Everything was just piling itself on top for her. She was on overload.

Liz smiled at him as she began to wipe up the mess. “I’m fine, really. I was just thinking about something. So how are they taking things? Are they shocked, surprised, grief stricken?”

Krit took the towel out of her hand and waved his hand over the mess, cleaning up the mess. “Oh. Pretty good. Isabel took the news that Alex was married to Cerina, quite well. Though Dad decided not to tell her about her revolving bed. Michael hasn’t said anything. I think that’s a good sign. If he doesn’t believe you, he’ll question everything. As for Max, well, it’s not every day you find out that your dream girl was your wife on another planet. Or that someone murdered her and your child. And that afterwards, you were pretty much emotionally gone. Oh, yeah. They’re taking it all pretty swell.” he said, helping Liz up to her feet.

Liz rolled her eyes at his words. “I hear you were once in Vilandra’s revolving bed.” she said, smirking at her brother.

Krit’s eyes widened. For a moment, he didn’t know what she was talking about and than it hit him. “That’s a lie. Vilandra and I never slept together. Do you remember Lexus and Krissane’s wedding?” At Liz’s nod, he went on. “Okay, well, Vilandra put on her cool face. Pretended like it didn’t matter that he was marrying her sister. But after the wedding, she totally broke down on me. I took her to my room. We didn’t do anything at all. All we did was talk. She really loved him, though. She fell asleep and that’s all that happened.”

Liz nodded her head. She believed what her brother was telling her. “Alright, I’ll believe that. But what about Bradeon? Cerina told me that they had something going on before I came back to the palace. What was it?” she wondered.

Krit shrugged his shoulders. He wasn’t too sure about what had happened between them. Tom never liked to talk about it. “I don’t know. A case of puppy love that turned to hate? They were like fourteen when they dated. Queen Nasira thought they were getting too serious with each other and sent Vilandra away from a few months. Afterwards, Vilandra wouldn’t talk to Bradeon at all. He didn’t know what happened. I know he loved her, but he got over it. He became a swinging bachelor. Tom gave me strict instructions not to tell her that they used to date.”

“Hmm.” Liz murmured, wondering what had happened to change Vilandra’s view of Bradeon. Bradeon had been one of the greatest people she’d ever known. No one hated him. She wanted to know why Tom didn’t want Isabel to know about their past back on Antar.

Krit nudged Liz’s shoulder. “So, what were you thinking about?” he said, narrowing his eyes at her. He grabbed the milk carton out of the fridge and began to drink out of the container.

“Eww. Don’t do that. That’s disgusting.” Liz said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “I’m so not going to tell you what I was thinking about.” she said, lightly. She wasn’t about to tell her brother that she was thinking about the first time that she and Zan had made love. That was something that no one but her and Max should know.

Krit poured two glasses of milk, one for Zack and one for Liz. He crinkled his nose when he thought about what it was that she didn’t want him to know. “Eww, Liz. I don’t want to know about my little sister fantasizing about her sex life. That’s just ewww.”

Liz took the glass from her brother. “Shut up.” she said, rolling her eyes at him. She could feel her face getting red just at the thought. Liz picked up her milk and began to drink it. She could feel Krit’s eyes on her, and she wouldn’t look at him. She didn’t know how he had figured out what she was thinking about.

“We better go give Zack his milk, or he’ll have a cow.” Krit said with a grin. He really did not need Liz to confirm his suspicions. He knew that she had been thinking about her sex life with Zanier. Krit shuddered at the thought. He didn’t want to imagine his baby sister having sex with anyone, including her husband. Krit led Liz back to the living room.

Zack looked up and meet Liz’s eyes. “You okay, baby sister?” he asked as she handed him the glass of milk. He had started getting worried when she hadn’t come back into the living room. So he’d told Krit to go check on her, than he’d heard a crash. He’d known that it had been Krit. Krit was a little bit of a klutz.

“I’m fine. Stop worrying over me. I’m not a Dresden doll, I’m not going to break.” Liz told Zack, she turned to Bill. “Sorry I keep interrupting things, I must be more like Rath than I ever thought I was.” she said, with a smile.

Michael jerked his head up at her words. “What do you mean by that?” he wondered. There was so much that he didn’t know about himself. Yes, Bill was telling them everything and it amazed him to no end about what had been done. To know that he had a family, quite a large one, too made him happy. He’d always wanted a family and now he had one. Liz was his sister! Zack and Krit were his brothers! Alex had been his brother!

Krit started laughing at Michael’s words. Of course, Michael didn’t remember what he had been like back on Antar. “You were always interrupting every single thing people told you. It was so damn infuriating. You were the macho older brother. You only cried once after Momma died. That’s when Troian was leaving to go to the Isle with Grandma.” Krit said, shaking his head as he thought back to the memories of his previous life.

“As I recall, he wasn’t the only one who cried.” Liz said, pointedly.

Krit scoffed at that. “I told you I had something in my eye. I wasn’t crying. I was a very mature twelve year old, whose only sister was leaving. Zack cried the most.” he said, sticking his tongue at Zack.

Zack shook his head at his brother. “My baby sister was leaving. She was my playmate, and I was losing her. We all did. Until she came back. I always wondered what made you come back after almost ten years of being away from the family.” he said, looking at Liz.

Liz looked down at her feet. She remembered why she had come back home, back to the palace. She had come home because of Zan and that night they had shared. Liz shrugged her shoulders. “Oh, I don’t remember.” she said, suppressing her urge to smile.

Max opened his mouth to say something when there was a loud knock on the door. He needed to go talk to Liz, and he hadn’t had the chance in almost an hour. All the things Bill had told them just amazed him. He was going to make sure that no one ever hurt his wife again. He would kill anyone who laid a hand on her.

Liz gasped as she opened the door. Standing at the door was a weary looking Maria, who was trying to keep a half naked Kyle upright. As Liz opened the door wider, Maria lost her hold on Kyle and he fell into Liz’s arms.



[ edited 1 time(s), last at 16-Mar-2002 9:49:28 PM ]
posted on 16-Mar-2002 9:57:50 PM
Title: Fight or Fall
Author: Lillie (Amber)
Rating: R-NC17.
Disclaimer: Don’t own anything. Katims, Metz, UPN, yada, yada, yada own the show and have no clue with what the hell they’re doing with the characters. Borrowed a few concepts from Dark Angel, cause that show rocks. Fight or Fall is a song by Thin Lizzy. The song used, Eternity Sleeps belongs to Lady Bridget. Don’t own anything.

NOTE: There are things that happened on the show, that I changed in this story. For instance, Alex's mom, Maria's dad, the year Sheila Hubble died, Alex's birth year.

Chapter 5



Liz tried her hardest not to fall back, by Kyle’s weight. He’s so heavy, she thought to herself. Liz looked down at Kyle’s bleary face. What was wrong with him, she wondered. “Kyle. Kyle!” she said, trying to draw his attention.

Max rushed forward and drew Kyle away from Liz. She still needed her strength. Max could hear that Kyle was mumbling something incoherently. Max sat Kyle down on the couch. Max turned to Maria, confused. “What happened to him?”

Maria shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I was driving over here, and I saw him wandering the streets. I put him in my car and drove to Michael’s. But no one was there. So I came here, instead.” Maria said, looking at Michael. What the hell was Michael doing at Liz’s house at nine in the morning. And was that her doctor? “Dr. Metzler?”

Bill gave Maria a small smile. “Hello, Maria. It’s been awhile.”

Michael snapped his attention to first Maria than to Bill. What the hell? Maria knew Bill. She’d called him Dr. Metzler. Michael got a feeling in the pit of his stomach. Was Maria an alien? Nah, she couldn’t be. But than why else would she know Bill.

Max bit the urge to pull Liz away from Kyle. She had sat down in front of him, her hands wandering to his face, which was covered in a fine sheen of sweat. He knew that he was being immature about it all. Something had happened to Kyle and here Max was getting jealous because Liz was touching him.

Liz crouched in front of Kyle, touching his forehead with her hand. She’d never seen Kyle this way. He was mumbling something, what it was she couldn’t be sure, and he was shaking like a leaf. “Kyle. Kyle! KYLE!” Liz said, trying to get him to look at her. Liz decided to try something else. She slapped him across the face, trying to knock him out of whatever it was he was in.

Liz grabbed his face in her hands and looked him in the eye. “Kyle, it’s me, Liz. Do you remember me? We met for dinner last night. You were laughing at me because I was eating pancakes with green chile sauce. Remember Babe Ruth?” Liz said, softly, staring into his glazed eyes. “Kyle. Kyle!”

“L— Liz.” Kyle’s voice broke as he said her name. Kyle’s whole body was shaking. “That bitch! I— I walked in on her. Sh— she was talking to some little runt. Som— someone named Nicholas an— and S— Sean. Khivar. Sh— she let him into m— my home.”

Liz grabbed the throw that was over the couch and wrapped it around Kyle’s shaking body. “It’s okay, Kyle. It’s okay.” Liz stood up and turned to the others, the anger apparent in her eyes. “I had a feeling that Tess had mind warped Kyle.”

Max stepped forward. “Kyle, is she still at your house?” he demanded quietly. The anger that Max felt for Tess was overwhelming. She had been working with Khivar and Nicholas to get Liz to Khivar. She was going to pay for what she had done. To all of them, each and everyone of them. Max vowed to make her pay.

Kyle shook his head adamantly. “N— no. I checked. She wasn’ there. Her stuff was gone. I— what did that little girl do to me, Liz?” he asked, looking at Liz.

Liz turned back to Kyle. “She helped you remember what happened, didn’t she? It’ll be okay, Kyle. I promise.” she said, softly. Liz looked over to Maria who was still stunned by Metz being there. Well, now was the time to tell Maria the truth. “Maria, there’s something that you need to know.”

Maria looked over to Bill and than to Zack and Krit. She didn’t understand what the hell was going on. Why was her doctor at Liz’s house? Was he related to Liz’s family after all? “Why’s my doctor here?”

Michael looked at Maria shocked. Bill was Maria’s doctor? What the fuck was going on? “Maria, are you saying that Bill here is your doctor?” he asked deathly quiet.

Maria nodded her head. “Yeah. He’s been my doctor since I was like five. Okay, I’m confused. If your Zack and Krit’s father, than that means that your Liz’s uncle. And if your Liz’s uncle, than how come Mr. Parker told my mother that you were a great doctor. What about that supposed falling out that you had with the Parkers?” she asked, confused.

Max was as equally confused as Michael. He didn’t understand. From what Bill had told them, he was the doctor for the hybrids. So why was he being a doctor to a human? Unless Maria wasn’t quite human after all.

“Maria. There’s something that we should have told you a long time ago. But we didn’t see you in any immediate danger. You were fine; so we weren’t worried about you. Not like we were worried about the others.” Bill began.

Isabel gasped loudly. “Oh, my God. Are you saying that she’s. . . that she’s you know?”

Bill paid no attention to Isabel, he kept his attention focused on Maria. “Maria, you are an alien. A hybrid to be more exact. By the others that I was talking about, I was talking about Zack, Krit, Alex and Liz. They’re also aliens. But you are different. You are like my daughter, Aryn, here. She was born to a full alien and a human woman.”

Maria watched him dumbstruck. What the hell? She wasn’t an alien. She wasn’t like Michael and the others. She was human. Was he trying to be funny. Pull her leg? Saying that Liz and Alex were aliens? “I don’t know what your talking about, Dr. Metzler. But I’m not an alien. I’m human.” she insisted.

Liz looked at her best friend. “Maria, what he’s saying is true. I’m an alien hybrid, so was Alex. So are you. Your father was an alien.”

Maria shook her head adamantly. “No, why are you lying to me about this? I’m not an alien. My father was John Carpenter; he left before I was born. My father’s not some alien.”

“Maria, listen to me! This is not some story, and you had better believe it!” Bill stated. “Your father was an alien from Antar. He pretended to be John Carpenter. His real name was Curan and he was on the ship that crashed in ‘47.”

“Maria, Nasedo was your father.” Liz said, softly, meeting her friend’s eyes.

Maria’s eyes widened at Liz’s words. “No. No! NO!” she said, shaking her head. She couldn’t believe what she was being told. Maria didn’t want to believe that she was related to that jerk who had tried to get Max and Tess together. She didn’t want any part of that. With one last look at Liz, Maria ran out of the house.

Liz started after Maria, but was stopped when Michael grabbed her arm. Liz looked up into her brother’s eyes.

“I’ll go.” he said softly, taking off before Liz could reply.

Liz rubbed her forehead with her hand. Good going Parker, look what you did to Maria. She freaked with the news that Nasedo was her father. Not that Liz could blame her friend. Nasedo hadn’t exactly been the warmest person. Finding out that your father was an alien who hadn’t cared for you was hard. Maybe she shouldn’t have told her that it was Nasedo who had been her father. Maybe that would have been better.

Liz turned her attention towards Isabel, who was now sitting next to Kyle, quietly talking to him. “Isabel, Charlie— Mr. Whitman asked me to clean out Alex’s room for him. I have some things for you. Stuff for pretty much everyone— you, Michael, Max, Maria, Cerina, Zack, Krit, Tom. All of you. I’ll be right back.” she said softly, walking out of the room.

“Liz, we need to talk.” Max said as he followed Liz into her room. He’d been such a fool before. He hadn’t known anything. Now he found out that she had once been his wife. This beautiful wonderful woman had once been his wife.

Liz looked up into his eyes. She wasn’t about to fall into his hypnotic eyes. There was no doubt in her mind that she loved him. But that did not excuse the things he had done. He had done things without Tess’ help. Liz was determined not to become his doormat. If they were going to get back together, they were going to be in this fight together. Liz wouldn’t accept it any other way.

“Fine, let’s talk. You were a bastard to me even before Tess started mind warping you. I understand that you were hurt by thinking Kyle and I had slept together. But I was doing what you asked for. And that hurt so badly, Max.” Liz said angrily. She took a deep breath. “Pain is part of life. Everyone deals with it. I’m dealing with it. I know that everyone thinks that it’s better that I lost my baby, especially with everything that we have to go through still. We still have Tess and Nicholas to deal with, I know. But it doesn’t change that I wanted him so much, he was my beginning, a new start.”

“I’m sorry, Liz. I’m so sorry.” Max said softly. He didn’t know exactly what to say to her that would make her feel better about what had happened. Was there actually anything that he could say to make her feel better. She had lost her child, that was something that you just didn’t get past.

Liz took a deep breath. It hurt too much to talk about PJ, that she decided to change the subject. “Max, I love you. But if you think that we can just get back together after everything that has happened, you’re wrong. I’m not the same Liz that I was a year ago. And I will never be that girl again. That Liz is gone and that’s fine with me because I don’t want to be that Liz again.”

“In that moment, that you said Alex killed himself. That my brother and best friend killed himself. I loved you and hated you at the same moment. I didn’t recognize you and quite frankly, I didn’t want to know you. And I said some things, I’m not proud of but you know what, I did mean some of it. With that one shot at the Crashdown, it changed so many lives. Not just yours and mine. Everyone connected to us. Maria, Alex, Michael, Isabel, Kyle, Valenti, my parents. Everyone. Sometimes I hated that you saved me. When Pierce took you, I knew it was my fault. If you hadn’t saved my life it wouldn’t have happened. But that’s over and done with.” Liz continued, shaking her head at her thoughts.

“It doesn’t change the fact that if you seriously want to get back together with me than you have to get to know me as I am now. You take the good with the bad, Max. You can’t love people in slices. All of me or none of me.” she said softly.

Max had been listening raptly to her words. He didn’t know what to say at first. He knew that she was right. Just like she wasn’t the same; he wasn’t the same. He’d been in pain for almost a year. Pain did a lot of damage to one person. He didn’t like the feelings it’d created inside of him and wished never to feel that again.

Max nodded at her words. “I understand, Liz. You’re not the same. Neither am I. After everything that has happened, we’re all changed. And I would be honored to get to know you as you are now. But I want you to know, that I love you. When I found you. . . I found everything. You are everything to me.” Max said, softly.

Liz smiled at him, but her smile faded as he walked towards her. Max stood in front of her. He gently circled her waist with his arm and drew her close to him. “We’re not together, Max. We’re getting to know each other first.” she insisted. Shut up, Liz, she told herself. Don’t ruin the moment.

Liz sighed as she got used to the feeling of his arms around her. This was Max, the man that she loved. She knew that he would never physically hurt her. He wouldn’t hurt her the way that Khivar had. Being this close to him, Liz couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to make love to him. She remembered what it had been like to make love to Zan, her husband. But Max wasn’t him, not really.

Max lowered his head and kissed Liz so tenderly that she was sure that the whole world had stopped. There was no one else but them two in this moment.


posted on 16-Mar-2002 10:05:29 PM
Title: Fight or Fall
Author: Lillie (Amber)
Rating: R-NC17.
Disclaimer: Don’t own anything. Katims, Metz, UPN, yada, yada, yada own the show and have no clue with what the hell they’re doing with the characters. Borrowed a few concepts from Dark Angel, cause that show rocks. Fight or Fall is a song by Thin Lizzy. The song used, Eternity Sleeps belongs to Lady Bridget. Don’t own anything.


Chapter 6



“Maria, Maria! Wait.” Michael said as he stormed down the stairs after her. He was as equally confused about her paternity as she was.

Maria paid him no heed as she tried to get away from everything. Away from the lies, away from Dr. Metzler, away from Liz, away from Michael. She didn’t to know why they were lying to her. Why they were saying such lies to her?

Michael managed to catch up to her in the back alley of the Crashdown, and grabbed her arm more roughly than he’d wanted to.

“Damn you, Michael. Are you trying to break my arm off or what?” she demanded angrily, meeting his eyes. She didn’t want to be here. She wanted to go home and confront her mother. Ask her mother the truth. If what Liz and Dr. Metzler had told her was the truth.

“Maria, please. Talk to me. I know you just got the shock of your life. But will you please talk to me?” Michael pleaded with her. He wanted to tell her that he loved her and he didn’t care if Nasedo had been her father. He knew that she was nothing like Nasedo, nothing like her father. Liz wouldn’t have lied about that. Not something so serious as that. He knew his sister wouldn’t lie to him.

Maria shook her head. “It had to be a lie, Michael. Right? But why would she lie to me about something like that? Is it true, Michael? Am I an alien? Is she?” she whispered brokenly.

Michael meet her eyes. “Yes, Maria. It’s true. Liz is an alien. She’s my sister. She’s Troian. Those two guys— Zack and Krit, there my brothers. A— Alex was my brother, too.”

“Alex wasn’t one of you. He was human.” Maria said sadly, shaking her head at his words. He was saying that her two best friends that she had known for years had been aliens. She would have known something like that.

“It’s true, Maria. They’re my family. Liz has been keeping some heavy duty secrets. Max was married to her. Max and Liz were married on Antar.” Michael began. He knew that he needed to tell her everything. It would be better if she knew everything.

“What?” Maria asked, forgetting all about her own questionable paternity. Michael was telling her that Liz had been on Antar, and she’d been married to Max. “What about Tess? Wasn’t Max married to super tramp?”

Michael nodded his head. “Liz was his first wife, my sister. After she and Sorcha, their daughter that she’d been pregnant with, died. Max was forced to marry Tess. Awhile later, Khivar attacked us. You know, how they sent us down? Well, they sent eight hybrids down, which included Liz, Alex and my brothers.”

“You believe them? That Liz is your sister? That they’re your brothers. That Alex was.” Maria asked with tears in her eyes. She missed Alex so much it hurt. Maria had always known that Michael wanted a family to call his own. And now he was saying that he had one.

Michael nodded his head. “Yes. I believe them. You don’t know how hard I’ve tried to deny my feelings. I’ve always felt connected to Liz, but it wasn’t in a romantic way. I’ve always felt the urge to protect Liz and Alex. I never understood it, but now knowing that they’re my family it all makes perfect sense to me. Liz is my sister, just like Alex was my brother.” Michael said, explaining his deepest darkest feelings that he never had the guts to confide to Max.

“Oh, Michael. I think that it’s true. I think that it’s all true. If Dr. Metzler is an alien doctor than why else would I be his patient? My father being an alien, it makes perfect sense. It really does. I. . . . I just don’t want to think that Nasedo’s my father. If he was than he never cared about me. He never said anything at all to me. Never. That’s who my great fucking father is. An asshole who didn’t give a damn about me.” Maria said tearfully. She hated the thought of being related to that monster who’d kidnaped her best friend and tried to destroy Liz’s relationship with Max.

Michael wrapped an arm around her, trying to comfort her the best he could. He knew that she had been thrown for such a huge loop in finding out who her father was. Before it had just been a name, not a face on her father. But now, she knew what her father was like, and Michael knew that she was crushed by that. “I know, Maria. But you are nothing like him. Nothing like Nasedo at all. You are your own person. Just like you told me that I am not Rath, you are not like Nasedo.” he said, trying to get through her.

Maria smiled at his words and wiped the tears from her eyes. He was right, she was nothing like that jackass. She was her own person. Maria wondered if her mother knew about the truth? Maria knew that she couldn’t change who her father was. “Thanks, Michael. So, tell me about the rest of the stuff.” she said softly, not wanting to talk about her feelings about the man that had been her father. The man who was now dead. She had to admit that she was very curious about how the hell Liz and Alex could be aliens and she had never known.

Michael kept his arm around Maria. “According to Bill, there were only three survivors of the Crash; Talos, Ashur and Curan— Nasedo. Talos managed to tell Max’s mom, Nasira that a traitor, Curan crashed the ship, Talos later died in the hands of the government, they studied him and dissected him. As for Ashur, nothing was heard from him. Bill has suspicions about what happened to him, but they don’t know anything for sure. And Nasedo, he switched Ava and Tess’ pods, because the government tried to get into Ava’s and it began leaking. Nasedo was the one working with Khivar all along, wanting Tess to get pregnant with Max’s baby. Thank god, Max snapped out of it. Otherwise, who knows what kind of spawn could have been born.” Michael said, with a shudder at the thought.

“So, Tess was mind warping Max and she made him say all those horrible things to Liz right?” Maria asked uncertain.

Michael nodded. “Yes, that bitch made him say all of it. She did it to get my sister away from Max and to Khivar. She helped kill Alex. Tess is going to die. I’m going to kill her for what she did. She’d going to pay for what she did.” Michael vowed, shaking his head. Just the thought of Tess Harding made his anger boil. She had helped Khivar in getting Liz. She helped kill Alex, his brother. She would pay for every rotten and dirty thing she had done to him and his family.

Maria sighed at his words. She wasn’t totally surprised by his words, his need to get revenge. She felt the same thing too. She hadn’t been strong enough to stand by Liz’s side, to help Liz avenge Alex’s death. But the thought of actually going up against an alien scared the shit out of her. She didn’t know how Liz handled going up against Khivar, someone who had killed Max in a previous life. “Michael, I love you. Please be careful. I don’t want to lose you.” Maria whispered softly.

Michael placed a kiss on the top of her head. “I. . . I love you, too, Maria. I’ll try to be careful, but we’ve got a lot to do. The Skins are probably going to come after Liz looking for the crystal. There’s Tess and that little bastard Nicholas still around, not to mention that we don’t know what happened to Lonnie and Rath. They tried to kill Max before to get the Granolith. We’ve got enemies everywhere. We all have to be careful, this includes you, Maria.”

Maria nodded her head. She knew that he was right. It was dangerous for all of them. It wasn’t about just Michael, Max and Isabel. It was about all of them. They were all in danger. “So, tell me more about your past lives. Particularly Liz and Alex. I’m curious to know what went on back then.” Maria said, changing the subject.

Michael bit his lip before he went on. “Well, Bill said that Liz was about twenty one when she married Max, who was twenty three. They married several months after our brother, Jasper. . . Zack died. They were married for five or six years, before she got pregnant with Sorcha. The little girl from Liz’s dream plane. Meanwhile, Isabel and Alex dated. Not for long, she dumped him. But Alex was resilient and he ended up marrying Max and Isabel’s younger sister, Krissane. . . Cerina. Her name is Cerina, now.” Michael corrected himself. He didn’t want to call them by their alien names, he didn’t want Maria to get confused by it all. He was still a little confused by all the names that Bill had told him. He struggled to match a name to a face.

“Alex was married to Isabel’s younger sister? Ouch. But I guess she deserved it if she dumped Alex. So Alex’s former wife is on Earth as well. Hey, when are we going to meet everyone else? I mean, I’d love to meet the woman who Alex had married.” Maria said softly.

Michael smiled at her words. “We better go back inside. They’re probably worrying about where we went.” He said, leading her through the back door and into the break room and up the stairs. When they were at the door, Michael paused before he opened the door. He turned to look at Maria, who was frowning at him. “Please, Maria. Be there for Liz. She needs you more than she’s willing to say. After everything that has happened, she needs her friends around her.”

Maria smiled. Michael was already getting into the older brother protective mode. She couldn’t wait for him to go psychotic over Liz and Max when they got back together. “Of course. She’s my best friend. She’s not alone in this. She has you, me, Max, all of us. We’re all there for her.” she said softly.

Michael gave her a grateful smile as he opened the door and they went back into the Parker’s apartment. Michael smiled at Isabel, who was sitting on the couch with Kyle. His brothers were talking quietly to Bill, Stephanie and Aryn. But Max and Liz were nowhere in sight. “Where’s Max and Liz?” Michael asked, narrowing his eyes. He knew that Max loved Liz, but Max had hurt his little sister so much.

Aryn meet his eyes and suppressed her urge to smile. Someone was getting all protective over his little sister already. “Liz went to get some boxes in the other room. Max went to go help her.” she said softly.

Michael scoffed at that. “Yeah, right. I’ll bet he’s helping her. Sticking his damn tongue down her throat.” he said, glaring towards the direction of Liz’s room.

Zack yanked his head up at Michael’s words. “Max, get your hands off of my baby sister or I will come and kick your ass!” Zack yelled. He’d have to have a talk with Evans about his sister. The only way he would allow Evans to touch his sister was if they were married.

Moments later, Max and Liz came walking back into the living room with several boxes. Liz was shaking her head at Zack.

Zack and Krit both moved forward and took the boxes out of her hands. Zack frowned at her. “Liz, you shouldn’t be carrying heavy things.” he insisted. He didn’t like it that she was carrying around boxes.

Liz groaned. “What the hell did I say? Don’t treat me like an invalid. I’m not one. Cerina taught me some moves and I can kick your asses if I have to.” she said darkly, letting them know that she wasn’t playing around.

Krit took a step away from her. “We should listen, Zack. Cerina’s a deadly little viper when she has to be.” Cerina was his friend, but when she got pissed, you’d better watch your back. He shuddered at the thought of what Cerina could have taught his baby sister.

Zack didn’t pay Liz any attention. He wasn’t going to back down. He wanted Liz to recover all of her strength and carrying boxes wasn’t about to help her. He set the boxes down on the ground. “This Alex’s stuff?” he asked softly.

Liz nodded. “Yeah.” Liz felt her eyes begin to water at the thought of her lost brother. She turned her attention to Bill, not wanting to start crying over Alex. “Tess doesn’t know where the Jagur crystal is. But they’ve probably guessed by now that since I was the last one with Khivar, that I have it. I’m pretty sure that Tess has no clue about the rest of you, guys. But I’m guessing that since she was somehow able to come into my dream plane, that she realized who I was and she took off. It makes sense.” Liz said, wringing her hands.

“Wait, you have the Jagur crystal?” Max asked, meeting her eyes. Larek had told them a little about the crystal. Tess had played dumb and pretended that she hadn’t known what he’d been talking about.

Liz nodded her head. “Yeah. Khivar had it. He was planning on leaving Sean’s body and meeting Nicholas and me back on Antar. He wanted to marry me. He was going to declare me Empress of Antar.” Liz said bitterly.

Max gritted his teeth at her words. That bastard had wanted to marry his wife! Liz was his wife, not Khivar’s.

“Son of a bitch.” Michael growled. He had come so close in losing his sister to that fucking monster. He should have done something. He should have realized that something was wrong and he should have gone after his sister. She shouldn’t have had to kill Khivar on her own.

“Since Tess failed at her mission in getting pregnant by Max via mind warp, he was going to leave her here on Earth. They were going to leave all of the Skins here on Earth, everyone but Nicholas. Nicholas’ probably pissed that he’s not going home. So when Valenti came, I grabbed the stuff. The Jagur crystal, the disks, the communicator. All of it.” Liz said, explaining it for Max, Michael, Isabel, Maria and Kyle. They didn’t know the whole story like the others did. “The crystal is at Metz’s place in Artesia. The disks contain the translation of the destiny book. I think that idiot Tess didn’t realize who Alex was. But Khivar did. Khivar realized who Alex was. And he told Alex his plans for me.” Liz said, shaking her head.

“Is it safe for the stuff to be over there?” Michael questioned, wanting to make sure that no one would find the stuff. If the Skins and Nicholas got it than they’d been in deep shit.

“I trust Metz with my life.” Liz said, softly.

“Yeah. Isn’t that a problem, though. He let you die before.” Michael replied angrily. For a moment, Michael didn’t realize what he had just said. They were all staring at him, shocked and surprised by his harsh words. Michael shook his head. “I don’t know why I just said that.”

Bill swallowed hard. “Because it’s true. Because I didn’t watch her good enough, she died. And her murderer was never caught.”

Zack turned to Liz, who was suddenly looking at the floor. “Baby sister, do you remember who killed you? I remember my death, do you remember yours?” Zack asked, begging her for the answers that they sought.

Isabel gasped. “Oh my god, Michael. The dream. It was Liz’s death that we saw, wasn’t it.” Isabel asked, horrified.

Michael didn’t answer Isabel. He kept his eyes focused on Liz— his sister. He needed to know if she did remember her killer.

Liz muttered a curse. “I didn’t realize that I transmitted it to you. I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have seen it. Yes, I do remember who killed me and my daughter.” Liz said softly. She took in a deep breath before she went on. “It was Avarona. Seems she wanted Zan back then and me and my daughter were in the way of her getting what she wanted. She asked me to go with her to the cemetery, and I not knowing how much she hated me, said yes. We were walking in the cemetery and I lost sight of her. Once I got to the clearing, she attacked me. I tried the best I could to fight back, but she had a skerfan. And she wouldn’t stop. She wouldn’t!” By now, tears were coming from Liz’s eyes, she was lost in her memories of that day she died.

Max wrapped Liz into his arms. “Aw, Liz. . . “ he said, softly. He hated to see her cry. Seeing her cry was as if his own heart was weeping inside of his chest. Her pain was his pain. He wished that she didn’t have the memories of her own death.

“What’s a skerfan?” Maria asked, quietly. Her best friend had just recounted her death. Poor Liz, she knew how she had died back on Antar.

“It’s a knife.” Krit said ever so quietly. He was doing his best not to get lost in his own memories of finding her body. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the sight of her body. “Can we not talk about this anymore.” Krit pleaded with them. He could still hear Zanier’s screams in his head.

“That’s what you were talking about last night, wasn’t it?” Max questioned, running his hand through Liz’s hair. The conversation about the woman who had died had been Liz. Troian. “You were saying that it was horrible, that only a monster could do something like that. That she had been lying on her side, with a hand over her stomach, trying to protect the baby. You were talking about finding Troian. Weren’t you?”

Zack nodded at Max’s words. He had been sure that Max was asleep when they had been talking about Troian’s murder. “I’d already died. I didn’t know much about what happened. Krit did, he’d been there. Dad was there, so was Zanier and Rath.”

Max swallowed hard as he tried to digest the new information. He had found his wife after her murder. He wasn’t about to lose Liz again to that psychotic bitch. Max didn’t know what he would do if he lost her. She was everything to him. Max vowed to himself to protect her at all costs.


posted on 26-Mar-2002 2:11:01 PM
Disclaimer: See previous posts.


Chapter 7


Several hours earlier. . . .



“You stupid, incompetent bitch!” Nicholas roared with anger. All of his plans had been ruined by the little ingrate. “You just ruined all of my plans. No wonder Khivar was going to leave you here on Earth. You’re a fucking idiot.” he said backhanding the girl.

Tess gasped in pain as he hit her. Hadn’t she done the right thing by leaving Roswell? Tess was bound to be found out especially after finding out that Liz was Troian. If Liz knew who Sorcha was than she’d known that Tess had been the one to kill her back on Antar. Who knows what Khivar blabbed to the bitch he’d considered himself in love with.

“But I thought it was best if I did leave. Liz Parker is Troian. I’m positive that she knows how I was involved in Alex’s death. I had to get away from there. They already knew.” Tess said frightened by the menacing look in Nicholas’ eyes. He might look like a child but he was anything but.

“You could have led them right to us, you idiot.” Nicholas said scowling at her. They had moved their head quarters to Plains, Texas for a reason. The stupid royals had known about their place in Arizona, so Khivar had made them move. Nicholas shook his head as he coldly laughed at Tess. “You think I didn’t know about Liz being Troian. I’ve known for quite sometime. That day at the school, when I went into Max’s head, his memories were intermingled. Liz and Troian. Now you know why Khivar took her. He wanted her and he took her.” Nicholas said mirthlessly.

Tess swallowed hard. What was Nicholas going to do to her? If Khivar, her own brother had planned on leaving her here on Earth, what would Nicholas do to her? He had no connection to her what so ever. “You still need me.” she insisted.

Nicholas cocked an eyebrow at her in surprise. “Oh, please. Enlighten me. How do I still need you?”

“I can still get pregnant with Zanier’s baby. We can bring him here and we could force him to sleep with me.” Tess stated.

Nicholas smirked at her words. “My my. How you have fallen. I remember hearing so much about your charms back on Antar. I never got to try you myself. I know Khivar did.”

Tess bit the inside of her cheek at his words. What was he implying?

“I think I can make some accommodations for you.” Nicholas said smirking. “You can keep my bed warm until the real royals are here. Hmm, Troian and Vilandra. Don’t you dare try to defy me, Tess. Lonnie and Rath did and I killed them because of it. I’ll kill you in a moment.” Nicholas said, coldly meeting her eyes.

Tess silently groaned. Oh shit. Who knew what kinds of things he’d make her do? She remembered the gossip back on Antar that he’d been into some weird shit. Tess vowed to herself that if it was the last thing that she did, she would get even with Liz Parker.

Nicholas could tell that Tess was frightened by his words. Good, he thought to himself. The little bitch should be after everything she’d screwed up. Did she really think that he’d let her get pregnant with Zanier’s baby? Nicholas suppressed his urge to chuckle. Fuck no. That slut wasn’t going to have the heir.

The people hadn’t liked Avarona; they had loved Troian. Even after all of this time, the people still worshiped her; still saddened by their beloved Queen’s death. Nicholas saw clearly where Khivar hadn’t. Khivar had been acting like a jealous man. Khivar hadn’t wanted Troian to ever have Zanier’s child; so Khivar wanted Tess to have Zanier’s child instead. It would be a lot easier if Troian did get pregnant instead of Tess. But Tess didn’t need to know that. If the people wanted Zanier and Troian’s heir, than Nicholas would give them the brat.

Tess squirmed at the thought of having to sleep with him. He was in the body of a 13 year old. Damn you, Liz Parker. “So what’s the plan?” Tess asked quietly, hating the idea of this person touching her.

Nicholas smirked at her. Oh, yeah. He had her ass in the palm of his hand and it felt fan-fucking-tastic. The little slut wouldn’t try to double cross him after he’d told her what he did to that tease Lonnie and that bone head Rath. They’d been asking too many fucking questions, especially Rath.

Rath started questioning why they were going to take Liz. Nicholas had told them that it was to just show Max a lesson. But than freaking Rath had an epiphany. He said he knew that Liz was Troian, his sister and he wasn’t going to allow them to take her. Khivar had told Nicholas to kill the freak.

Afterwards, Lonnie started getting all over him, which he hadn’t minded. He’d always wanted to fuck her. But when it became apparent that she was just doing it so he wouldn’t kill her, he snapped. And in a rage he’d killed her. Oh, well, Nicholas thought to himself. She wasn’t one of the real royal four. She was a fucking dupe. When he’d get the real Vilandra, he’d take her. He’d make her cry and bleed, make her suffer because of that bitch Lonnie.

“Well, we’re going to wait awhile. Let them wait and wonder when we’re going to strike. Make them cower in fear. And on May 19, we’re going to attack. We’re going to kill any humans there and take the women, Vilandra and Troian. I’m sure that Max will come for his wife and sister, as will Michael. When they come we will slaughter them, except for the women. They will be my personal prisoners.” Nicholas informed Tess coldly.

“May 19? That’s like a week after school ends. Wouldn’t it be better if we took them from school, that way they can’t use their powers in front of the students?” Tess said, softly, biting her lip. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything at all. He looked like he wanted to smack her across the face.

“Tess, why don’t you keep your fucking opinions to yourself. Besides, we need to do some checking out. Don’t you wonder how the fuck Troian and Lexus got to Earth? Someone from Antar must be here, what if there are others? Why would they send Troian and Lexus but not Jasper, Aiden and Bradeon? What about Lexus’ wife, Krissane. The ravishing Vilandra’s sister? I know much doesn’t go on in your head but still. We need to find out so we know just who we’re dealing with.” Nicholas said, rolling his eyes at the blonde.

“So you think that there might be others?” Tess asked quietly. The prospect of more people from Antar didn’t sound good. The more people that knew about what went on back on Antar meant that Max was bound to find out the truth. That she had lied all of these months, saying that they had been happily married when in fact they hadn’t been. Well, fuck, Tess that doesn’t matter anymore, she told herself. Max wouldn’t have anything to do with her anymore. That bitch probably told him everything.

Nicholas nodded. She really was an idiot, he thought to himself. “Yes, we think it’s a very good possibility. And we need to investigate it fully. Khivar hadn’t cared that there might be others. All he wanted was Liz.”

Tess rolled her eyes at his words. “I don’t see why everyone has had a thing for her. She’s nothing but a cheap tramp.” she said scornfully.

Nicholas smirked at her. “Well, isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black. Don’t worry your little head about what I have planned. Your role is quite simple, Tess. Keeping my bed warm.”

Tess didn’t say anything. She knew what she had to do. She had to bed this man even though he looked like he was a thirteen year old. Even though it made her sick to her stomach. But she’d have to deal with it.

“Now that you know might I suggest that we go to bed.” Nicholas replied, roughly possessing Tess’ arm.

Tess swallowed hard at his words. You are going to die for making me do this Liz Parker, Tess vowed silently.

Greer walked into the room. “What shall we do, Nicholas?” he asked, noting the way that Nicholas was holding Tess’ arm. Greer tried not to smirk at the little bitch. She’d brought this predicament onto herself.

“Find everything you can on Elizabeth Parker and Alexander Whitman. Find out about their fucking families, everything. You’ve got five days to get me all my information.” Nicholas ordered darkly as he led Tess to his private room.

Greer watched Nicholas and Tess. Stupid bitch, he thought to himself. She deserved everything that Nicholas was going to give her.

Nicholas smiled coldly at Tess as they walked to his room. “Now, Tess. I have a box of toys you will greatly enjoy.” he said, smirking at her.


posted on 26-Mar-2002 2:27:41 PM
Disclaimer: See previous posts. American Pie belongs to Don McLean.


Chapter 8



The day had gone by fast. Too fast for Liz. While Bill had called the other adults; Liz had taken it upon herself to call Cerina, Tom, Simon and Nathan. Cerina had been happy that they knew, but Liz knew that Cerina was dreading to meet Isabel. As for Tom, he’d gotten all quiet. Liz quickly told him that Isabel had no clue that they had once dated on Antar. Max, Michael and Isabel had gone home so Max could change.

They had meet up at Valenti’s, when Liz, Maria and the others had taken Kyle home. As soon as Kyle was in bed, they’d informed Valenti about Tess’ deception. Jim had been visibly shaken by the news. He muttered a few curses and than he’d turned to Max and asked him what he was going to do.

In the calmest voice Liz had ever heard Max use, he informed Valenti that Tess was their enemy and they’d kill her. She had killed one of her own— Alex, and she would pay for that.

Liz sighed as she pulled into the alley of the Crashdown. They’d torn apart Tess’ room at Valenti’s, searching for any clue. Liz had found that god damn box of pictures of Max. The stupid bitch had kept them all this time. Finding that box of pictures had pissed Liz off; she couldn’t wait until she got her hands of Tess Harding.

“You okay, baby sister?” Krit asked as three of them got out of the car. He was worried about her. She had been quite for a long time, so had Michael. He’d barely said two words to them all. Krit guessed that Michael was still in shock over finding out that he had a family and that his own girlfriend was an alien.

Liz sighed impatiently. She was agitated, she was frustrated. She needed to do something to get her out of her funk. “I’m just, I don’t know. Pissed, unsure of myself. Max wants us to get back together. I told him that he’d have to know me as I am now. There’s a lot that has changed me. I know I love him, but I’m just so damn confused.” she finally admitted.

Zack bit the inside of his lip. “I think that you’re right. You are not the same person. He does have to get to know you as you are now. It’s okay to be confused, especially after everything that you’ve gone through.”

Krit bit his lip before he decided to say what he wanted to. “He loves you, Liz. I can see it in his eyes. He’s going to look at you as you are now and he’s going to fall in love with the new you. Because no man can look at you and not love you.” Krit said softly. He couldn’t believe he had said something as sappy as that, but it was true. He could tell that Max did love Liz, and that Max would love her the way she was now.

Liz gave him a smile at his words. “You’re just trying to make me feel better, and thanks guys. I love you. So I wonder if Michael took me up on my offer to stay over?” Liz said, changing the subject off of her.

Liz, Krit and Zack had asked Michael to stay over at Liz’s so they could have a chance to talk and get to know each other as family. Honestly, Liz did not know if Michael had come back. Finding out that you had a family was one thing, but bonding with them was totally different. Liz wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t come.

“Hey!” A voice called out in the darkness.

Liz smiled as she recognized it as Michael’s. He had come after all. “Hey, Michael. Where’s Max, Maria and Isabel?” she asked quietly, after noticing that they weren’t there.

“Uh. Bill sent them home. Said that there was nothing left to do tonight. He didn’t want us to miss school tomorrow.” Michael informed them, looking down at his feet. He knew that if he looked at them, than he couldn’t help but grin. The thought that they were his family— his brothers and sister— just filled him with happiness.

Krit grinned at Michael. “I’m so happy to be done with school. It sucked. The only thing I was actually good at was art, everything else was just blah.” The four of them walked into the backdoor of the Crashdown and after bolting the door, they headed for the Parker apartment.

“Hah. I do seem to remember that you also liked the girls at school.” Zack threw in, laughingly.

Michael was a little shocked by Krit’s words. Michael felt the same way that he did. He hated school and the only thing that he could stand was art and of course the Eraser Room with Maria.

“Please. They all liked you. Star quarterback of the football team, captain of the baseball team, all state swimmer. They all wanted you, bro. Ah, but that was okay. Some chicks dig brains over brawn.” Krit said with a grin.

“Hah. What brains? Liz and Alex got all of the brains in our family.” Zack said caustically, as they entered the Parker home.

“Hey, Mom, Dad.” Liz said, smiling at her parents who were quietly talking to Bill, Stephanie and Aryn.

“Hey, sweetie.” Nancy said, smiling at her daughter, who was surrounded by her brothers. It delighted her to see Liz so happy with her brothers. “Are you staying over tonight, Michael?” she asked softly.

“Is that okay with you? I mean. . . it’s your house, after all.” Michael said after a moment of not knowing what to say to Liz’s mom. His sister’s mother.

“We’re just going to hang out and talk. We’ll try not to keep Michael up too late, since he has to go to school tomorrow.” Liz said. She grinned at Michael, when she heard his groan at the mention of school.

“See you guys, tomorrow.” Krit said, grabbing Liz by one arm and leading towards her room. Krit impatiently motioned for Zack and Michael to hurry up. Michael followed them, not knowing what else to do.

Krit gave them a mischievous smile as soon as the door was closed behind them. “Now, we can get this party started! So, Mike, who’s your favorite band?” Krit asked, already anticipating Michael’s answer.

Michael smiled at the question. That was an easy question for him to answer. “Metallica.” he replied.

Krit pretended to be stunned and began laughing. “You like that pansy ass band who’d screw their own fans because they don’t want their shit on the net. I can’t believe that any brother of mine would actually like them. I mean, Hetfield is not the god that people think. And Ulrich, what a punk, and don’t even get me started on Newstead or Hammett, those freaks.”

Michael was quiet while he listened to Krit rag on his favorite band. Oh hell no, was he going to allow him to say anything bad about his band. “Really? Hetfield is a god. No one and I mean no one is anywhere as great as he is. Ulrich is a genius behind those drums. None of those other so called drummers are anywhere as good as he is. Newstead and Hammett both are great in what they do.” Michael insisted, defending his band’s honor.

Liz and Zack both had tried to not laugh during Krit and Michael’s words. But now they couldn’t help it. They both burst out laughing.

Michael frowned at them. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

“You are, Michael. Krit’s just messing with you. He likes Metallica, too.” Zack explained with a smile. “Krit’s a joker. He loves to play pranks on all of us and tell us his corny jokes. You’ll get used to him.”

“Wanna hear a joke, Mikey?” Krit asked, grinning at his brother, plopping down onto Liz’s bed. He was just so freaking happy to have his brother back. It was like he was almost complete. He had almost his whole family together, except for Alex, which was why he wasn’t totally complete. But having Liz, Zack and Michael in his life felt pretty damn good to him.

Michael shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, why not?”

“Why’d the chicken cross the road?”

Liz groaned. She hated these stupid chicken jokes. They were never funny and as corny as Kansas.

“I don’t know.” Michael said, giving up. In the short time that he had known Krit, Michael had to admit that Krit reminded him of Alex. It had unnerved him all day long. It made Michael miss Alex. His lost brother.

“To kick the farmer’s ass.” Krit replied, laughingly.

Zack rolled his eyes and Liz shook her head at the corny answer. Having grown up with Krit, Zack was used to his jokes and pranks. He usually wasn’t involved in Krit’s jokes. As for Liz, she was quickly becoming used to Krit’s mischief nature.

“You call that a joke? My underwear’s made of better stuff.” Michael replied mockingly.

“What underwear? Maria says that you go commando.” Liz said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Michael’s eyes widened and he didn’t know what to say.

“Eww, Liz. That’s way to much info on our big brother.” Krit said, wrinkling his nose. Than a thought hit him. “Hey, Michael. When’s your birthday?”

“November 17. Why?” Michael said confused by why Krit was asking.

Krit grinned at Michael’s birthday. “Whoo hoo!!! Zack and I are older than our big brother. That’s just so cool. Our older brother is now our younger brother.” Krit said, delighted by the fact.

“Really? When’s your birthdays?” Michael asked.

Zack smiled at Michael. “I was born on June 21, 1981. Krit was born about six minutes later on June 22, 1981. Alex was born on June 21, 1983. And Liz was born on June 22, 1983. Amazing, isn’t it?”

Michael nodded his head. “Yay. That’s just wow! All four of you were born on the same days.”

“Same times as well.” Liz replied softly. “It is amazing. Alex and I would sometimes share a party. It was great.” Liz bit her lip as she remembered what Alex had told her to tell them. She couldn’t very well tell Zack in front of everyone, what Alex had said about Cerina.

“Umm, Alex told me to tell you guys some stuff. Krit, Alex said that he still owes you some money from that pool game. He said he’ll try to visit your dreams.” At Krit’s grin, she went on. “And Zack, he said you probably still suck at pool.”

“What? I was better than him and Rath put together. They both stank. I loved the game.” Zack put in.

“Oh yeah. You loved it so much, you had to die on the pool table.” Krit said, shaking his head.

Michael looked at them incredulous. “Do you all remember how you died? Your whole lives on Antar?” Michael asked curiously.

Liz nodded. “Oh yeah. Khivar helped me remember. Almost all of it came back, but there were some holes and blank spots in my memory. I remember just about everything now.”

“Well, I’ve pretty much remembered things since I was little. You know, memories of growing up, playing with Troian. I didn’t remember how I died until I was like fourteen, fifteen. Freaked me out so badly.” Zack said, shaking his head at the memory when he first remembered how he had died.

“That’s the bad thing about remembering. You get the good and the bad. I love remembering my childhood with you freaks. But remembering that pip squeak Nicholas kidnap Leilah for a ransom, makes me sick to my stomach. She was already dead when I went to see him, but I didn’t know that. Let’s not talk about our deaths anymore.” Krit said softly.

Michael nodded. The subject of death was obviously painful for Krit. After all, he remembered what it was like to find Liz after her death. Michael gritted his teeth at the thought. Tess was going to pay for what she had done to his sister.

“Leilah?” Liz said with a frown. She knew that name, but couldn’t remember exactly where from. “Oh my god. You and Larek’s baby sister? When the hell did that happen?”

Krit meet Liz’s eyes and began to explain. “Leilah and I meet after your funeral. I’ve got to say Larek looked pretty damn shattered. Almost as much as Zanier. Leilah had to hold Larek up. I remember thinking that she was beautiful, a little young, but so damn beautiful. We were engaged to get married when Nicholas took her. She’s gone and there’s nothing I can do to get her back ever. At least you and Max have a chance, Liz. You were so happy with him, Lizzie.”

Michael was wondering about himself. Why had he been engaged to Isabel back on Antar. From the sounds of it, there weren’t too many arranged marriages in his family. So why had he been the unlucky one? “So why was I engaged to Isabel?”

Zack bit back a smile. “Cause you were the only one she didn’t screw?” he murmured.

“What?” Michael said. he thought he heard Zack say something, but he wasn’t too sure what he’d said.

“Nothing.” Liz said quickly, giving Zack an evil eye. Liz didn’t think that it was all that important for Michael to know about the things Vilandra had done. Liz knew that Isabel wasn’t Vilandra and Isabel didn’t need to bear the weight of Vilandra’s sins. “Hey, so you guys want to see what I can do?” she suggested, changing the subject.

Without waiting for them to answer her, Liz concentrated all of her energy on her boom box which was on her desk. The CD she wanted to hear was already in there, all she had to do was to start it. A moment later, music flowed out of the speakers.

Liz smiled as the song began. “This was Alex’s favorite song. A long long time ago. . . I can still remember how that music made me smile. And I knew if I had the chance that I could make those people dance and maybe they’d be happy for awhile.” she began, singing softly.

Krit smiled as he recognized the song. “But February made me shiver with every paper I delivered. Bad news on the doorstep; I couldn’t take one more step.” he began, singing along with Liz and the song. “I can’t remember if I cried when I read about his widowed bride. But something touched me deep inside. The day the music died.

Zack and Michael decided to join in on their singing. “So bye-bye Ms. American Pie, drove my chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry. And good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singin’ This’ll be the day that I die. This’ll be the day that I die.


posted on 11-Apr-2002 10:00:13 PM
Disclaimer: Mentions books that do not belong to me.

Nice to see you, Lucky Star. *big*


Chapter 9




“Mom, can I talk to you?” Max asked Diane quietly. He wanted to get a female perspective on how he should win Liz back. he knew that he’d have to work extra hard on winning her back. He didn’t care how long it would take him to get her back, all he wanted was to get her back.

“Sure, sweetie.” Diane said, walking into Max’s room. She noticed that the box he had brought home was still unopened on his bed. “What about, honey?” She had to admit that she was curious over what was in the box. She had seen Isabel carrying an identical one with her.

“About Liz.” he stated simply.

“Oh, how is she doing anyway? I heard that she left with Amy’s nephew and he hurt her. Did he?” Diane asked softly. She’d actually heard that at the supermarket from two teen girls. They’d been gossiping over it. The tall blonde Pam had said Liz was in a mental institution while the other girl had said Liz had ran away with Sean DeLuca, who’d beat her up. Diane hadn’t known what to believe. It’d been a long time since she’d seen Liz Parker.

Max bit the inside of his cheek. He couldn’t very well tell his mother the truth. He couldn’t tell her about what Khivar had done to Liz. So he’d go along with what Liz had said. “Uh yeah. She did. She only turned to him because I said some horrible things to her after Alex died. I was an asshole. I told her Alex killed himself on purpose.” Max said, grimacing as he thought about his horrible words to her. She hadn’t deserved that.

Diane’s mouth fell open. She couldn’t believe that Max was using that kind of language, but she was also disappointed in her son. She couldn’t believe that he would say such a horrible thing like that. “Why would you say something like that?” she finally asked. She didn’t want him to feel as if she was passing judgement on him.

Max could hear his mother’s unhappiness in her words. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was so cold about it. I kept telling her over and over, he killed himself. Even though I knew he wouldn’t. I didn’t care if I hurt her by what I was saying.” Max sighed before he went on. “I love her, Mom. She’s my soul mate.”

“Soul mate?” Diane said softly. She didn’t know if she would agree with his assessment. Soul mate was a very serious term, and she didn’t know if that was what they had. “Max, that’s a serious thing you’re talking about. Soul mates. Frankly, I don’t know if that would apply to you two.”

Max shook his head at her. “That is what we are, Mom. She’s everything to me. I’ve loved her since I first saw her when I was eight years old. My love for her hasn’t changed, it’s grown stronger each and every day, Mom. The term soul mates does apply to us.” he insisted strongly. “I need to make it up to her. I hurt her, I let her down. I did so many stupid things that I need to make up to her.”

“Oh, Max. She’s suffered such a horrible loss. She lost her best friend and you were, I’m sorry to say this, Max, but you were callous about it. Words do hurt. And since she left with Sean, that tells me that you hurt her deeply. That she was looking for a friend. And he hurt her, too. He violated her trust by what he did to her. What I think Liz needs right now. Is for her to know that your there for her. That you love her and you’re there for her, no matter what.” Diane said softly. She hoped that what she was telling Max was the right thing.

Max bit his lip as he contemplated telling his mother about Liz’s rape. He had never known anyone who had been raped, and he didn’t know what was the way one was supposed to treat the person. “Uh. While Liz was with Sean, he really hurt her, Mom. He, uh, he raped her and than he beat her up.”

Diane’s mouth fell open. “Oh, poor Liz.” she said, shaking her head. With the new information, Diane knew that it was not going to be easy for Max. What happened to Liz was something horrible; something that one didn’t just get passed. It was something that would stay with Liz forever. “Max, Liz was violated in the most horrible way. Her trust was shattered. This is more serious than telling her mean things. This is something that she’s not just going to get over. It’s something that she’s going to have to deal with every day of her life. Honestly, I don’t know what you can do. What’s going to be right in this kind of a situation. Maybe you should look it up on the internet. There’s bound to be a lot of information on what to do.”

Max nodded. “Yeah. Your probably right. I hate that I couldn’t stop him from doing that to Liz. She didn’t deserve to have that happen to her. She’s the best person that I’ve ever known. I shouldn’t have said all that crap to her, than she wouldn’t have turned to him, and he wouldn’t have hurt her!”

“Max, you can’t blame yourself for what happened. It wasn’t your fault. The person who’s at fault here is Sean DeLuca, not you, not Liz. Him. He’s the one who did it to her. Yes, your words to her were harsh, and you did hurt her. But he hurt her more than you ever could.” Diane told her son.

Max shook his head. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. What I’m supposed to say. I’d be a special kind of stupid if I though we’d get back together so easily after everything she’d been through. I know it’s not going to be easy. I don’t know if I’m supposed to treat her differently, if I should say things differently to her. I know, she’s a little apprehensive about people touching her. Well, at least she was with me.” Max said softly, trying to gain any insights from his mother. He had no clue about what exactly to do.

Diane smiled sadly at her son. “I’m sorry I don’t know what to do. Is Liz that way around everyone or is it just you?”

“Just me. Liz found out she had a whole slew of family and she’s not the least bit uncomfortable with them. I’ve seen her with them, she’s happy. I know she hasn’t been happy for awhile, because of things I’ve done. I don’t know where to start making it up to her.” Max said, sighing. Of the countless things that he had done wrong, he didn’t know where he was supposed to start.

“Oh, I think that you need to show her that you’re there for her. Through everything. Show her that your not going to leave her, that you are never going to hurt on purpose. She needs reassurance that everything is going to be okay. And I think the reason that she’s apprehensive around you and not her family is because you mean more to her. Your not a family member, you’re her ex boyfriend. Someone she loves.” Diane said softly, hoping that she was saying the right thing to her son.

Max bit the inside of his lip as he thought about what she was saying. It sounded right to him. “Yeah. Maybe your right. Thanks for all your help, Mom. It means a lot to me.” he said, wrapping his arms around her in a hug.

Diane smiled to herself as she felt tears form in her eyes. It had been a long time since Max had hugged her. Quite frankly, she couldn’t remember the last time he had. “I’m sorry I wasn’t much help to you. I really do hope that Liz is okay.”

Max drew away from her and smiled. “She will be. I’m going to do everything in my power to help her out. I’m going to look on the internet and see what I can do to help her. I’m willing to do anything for her.”

“Can I ask you a question, Max?” Diane asked softly. At his nod, she went on. “What’s in the box?”

Max’s expression grew somber. “Umm. Mr. Whitman asked Liz to go through Alex’s things. The stuff in the boxes are his things Liz thought we might like.”

Diane didn’t exactly know what to say. “You haven’t looked through the stuff yet, have you?” Diane finally asked.

Max shook his head. “No, not yet. I haven’t brought myself to open it. I keep remembering what I said to Liz. You might want to go check on Isabel. I know she was anxious about opening it.” Max said quietly, feeling the tears burn in his eyes.

“Are you okay, sweetie? I don’t want to leave if your not.” Diane replied.

Max shook his head. “I’m fine, really. Isabel probably needs you more right now.” he said, urging her to go check on his sister. Max watched as his mother reluctantly left the room. He was happy for the help that his mother had gave him, even if she didn’t know what exactly he should do. But he guessed that the best thing for him to do in order to find some information about rape victims was to look on the internet, he thought to himself as he started up his computer.


********************


Diane smiled to herself as she left Max’s room. It felt good to help her son; to have him confide in her. She loved Max so much and wanted the best for him, which was why she and Phillip thought it best Max see a psychiatrist.

God, Max’s behavior last year had scared them so badly. He wouldn’t eat, he wouldn’t sleep and when he did, he would wake up sweating and screaming. Max hadn’t told them what was wrong, so they thought the doctor was for the best.

But now with Max confiding in her, Diane wondered if that had anything to do with Liz Parker. She’d known that Liz was special to Max. She was the reason that Max’s eyes would lit up with happiness. Her son had become more alive with Liz Parker than anyone else Diane had seen.

Diane frowned as she heard a sob from Isabel’s room. Oh, poor Isabel. Had she opened the box that Liz had given her. Diane knew that Alex’s death had shattered Isabel. Diane tried her best to comfort her daughter, but Diane had never lost anyone close to her. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t help but feel powerless to help her children. She couldn’t really help Max deal with Liz’s rape because she didn’t know anything about it, and she couldn’t help Isabel.

Diane knocked softly on Isabel’s door. “Isabel, it’s Mom. Can I come in?” she asked quietly, not knowing what to expect.

Isabel sniffed and wiped away her tears. “Yeah. Come in, Mom.” Isabel said after a moment.

As Diane opened the door she saw her teary eyed daughter sitting on the bed in front of the opened box. Diane’s heart went out to Isabel. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

Isabel’s mouth trembled at her mother’s words and she felt a new batch of tears begin. “No, Mom. I— Liz went through Alex’s things and she— she gave me some stuff she thought I’d like.” she said, tearfully.

“I know, sweetie. Max told me.” Diane wrapped her arms around her daughter. Whatever Liz had gave Isabel made her cry. She wondered what it was. “That was nice of Liz and Mr. Whitman. What did she give you?” Diane asked softly.

Isabel sniffled and gave Diane a weak smile. “Some t-shirts, his ski cap, his slippers, pictures— lots of pictures. Some CD’s, some books.” Isabel said subdued.

Diane smooth her daughter’s hair trying to soothe her. “That’s nice. What kind of books and CD’s did she give you?”

Isabel whimpered. “She gave me his favorite books. Catcher in the Rye, Mists of Avalon, Clan of the Cave Bear, Cujo, Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, Great Expectations, Jeanne Kalogridis’ The Diaries of the family Dracul. Poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Frost.” Isabel replied sadly.

Diane smiled. “That’s a nice eclectic bunch of books. She really must have given you just his favorite books.”

Isabel nodded and felt tears well up in her eyes. “Yeah. She did. Just looking at all of this stuff makes me miss him so much. It hurts so much, Mom. I wish that he hadn’t died. I wished that I had told him how much I loved him. I had plenty of opportunities to tell him, but I never did. I wasted my chances of telling him.” Isabel said sadly, looking down at her hands.

“Oh, baby. I know that there are things that you regret not telling Alex. But he knew, didn’t he? He knew that you loved him. Instead of thinking what might have been, Isabel. Just remember all of the things that you two did together. Remember the good times.” Diane said softly.

Isabel nodded. “Yeah. Your right, Mom. That’s all I can do. Alex is gone. He’s never coming back. He did know that I loved him. And I should have opened myself up to him when I had the chance. I’m the one who had the choice of being with him or not, and I was just too scared. I was the one who didn’t allow for him to love me. And now it’s too late.”

“You’re never going to forget about him, Isabel. He’s going to be with you each and every day of your life. Nothing can change that. Nothing!” Diane stated, holding her now sobbing daughter closer to her. “I think that Alex would have wanted you to go on with your life, Isabel. To be happy.”

Isabel nodded sadly. She knew what her mother was saying was true. Alex did want her to be happy, he wanted her to fall in love with someone else. Even though Isabel was sure that she would never love anyone like she had loved Alex, it still hurt that he had said those things to her. She didn’t want anyone else. But it was too late for her to be with Alex. There was nothing else for her to do but to go on with her life. Alex would have wanted that.


TBC. . . . . . .
posted on 11-Apr-2002 10:10:37 PM
Chapter 10


In the darkened room, Maria sat in a chair facing the window. She was still trying to fully come to grips with all of the things that she had been told. She hated the fact that Nasedo had been her father. Maria was fairly positive that her mother had no clue about it.

It devastated her so much to find that the father that she had always wished to meet, that the father she wanted desperately to love her was someone who hadn’t cared about her. Someone who she had seen her and had never told her the truth. Someone who had betrayed Max’s family. Someone who had kidnaped her best friend and tried to ruin Max and Liz’s relationship with that bitch Tess.

Maria had never thought that she would hate her own father. Throughout the years, she always thought that she would be happy when her father came into her life; a little angry at first but than overjoyed by the fact that he was in her life again. But now that she knew who he was, she hated the man. Hated each and everything that he had ever done since he had first come to Roswell.

Though Maria was happy for Michael. He got what he always wanted, a family of his own. Maria knew that he considered Max and Isabel his family, even though they weren’t related by blood. Now, he had an actual blood family of his own. Maria was still trying to get used to the fact that Liz and Alex were his family. Alex had been Michael’s brother. And Liz was his sister.

Her best friend was Michael’s sister. Both Liz and Alex had been aliens. Maria was still trying to understand that. She had known them for so long and she’d never once had known the truth. Well, hell, Maria, they didn’t even know about it themselves until recently, she told herself.

Life sure was funny. Max and Liz had been married back on Antar, that didn’t surprise her much considering the way that they were here on Earth. She was happy for them. They would finally, finally have their happiness. They knew the truth about Antar. That Max— Zanier, hadn’t loved the evil psycho bitch. Maria knew that Liz was still sorting out all the bad shit that had happened to her, and she knew that it would take some time before they would actually get back together.

After Liz had told them about remembering how she had died at the hands of that tramp, Maria had extracted Liz from Max’s arms and had talked to her best friend. The two had talked for fifteen minutes at the most until Max had come into the room like a father bear trying to protect his baby cub. Afterwards, they’d taken Kyle back to his house, and told Jim all about psycho bitch and what she had done to everyone.

Maria had to admit that she felt sorry for Jim. He had taken Tess into his house; into his heart, treating her like a daughter. And what does she do? She tries to destroy countless lives. She’d mind warped Jim’s own son. Maria couldn’t wait until she got her hands on Tess Harding. She would make Tess pay for each and everything that she had ever done to Liz. She’d strangle Tess with her bare hands. When they found her, that bitch was going down, Maria thought fiercely.

Just than there was a knock on her door. “Maria, sweetie. Are you awake?” Amy asked softly. Maria had come home less than an hour ago, looking tense and worn out, carrying a box. Amy hadn’t said anything. She thought that if Maria wanted to tell her what was wrong, she would. But Maria had stayed in her room since she came home, not leaving once. It worried Amy, so she decided to check up on her.

“Yeah. I’m still awake. Come on in.” Maria called out to her mother. Maria didn’t exactly know what to say to her mother. Should she tell her mother the truth? Maria didn’t have a clue about how her mother would take the news. Finding out that you once slept with an alien and gave birth to a half breed alien, would come as a shock to her.

Amy frowned as she opened Maria’s door. Maria was sitting in the dark. “Honey, why are you sitting in the dark? Did you and Michael have a fight?” she wondered. Normally, she and Maria were close and Maria would tell her what went on in her life. But the past year and a half, Maria had started keeping secrets from her. Amy had always wondered if it had anything to do with Michael Guerin. He was a huge mystery to Amy. One second she’d think that she had him figured out and than he’d do something to take her completely by surprise.

“I’m fine, Mom. Really? I was just thinking about things. You know, Alex, Sean, everything.” Maria replied, shrugging her shoulders. Maria didn’t exactly know what to tell her mother. Maria honestly did not think that her mother would be ready to handle the truth about having an alien daughter.

Amy flipped the light on and walked over to her daughter. “I know, everything’s been a mess. With Sean running off with Liz and everything afterwards. Life has been hectic. Are you okay?” she asked softly. She still couldn’t believe it. Sean and Liz? They were nothing alike.

Maria nodded. “Yeah. I’m okay. Just trying to understand everything that’s happened. But I’d like to think that with everything that’s happened it’s made me and Liz closer friends, it’s making me and Michael closer.” she said softly. Maybe now that Michael knew that he had a family, it would make him more open towards her. With nearly losing Liz, she knew that she definitely going to be closer to her best friend.

“I guess if one good thing comes out of all of this, it’s that.” Amy said quietly. “I know that you’ve been having a hard time with Alex gone. Losing him was hard on everyone.” She said, thinking about how Maria had been in the days that followed Alex’s death. Amy had comforted her daughter the best that she could, but she knew that her best wasn’t good enough for Maria.

“I miss him so much, Mom. He was my best friend and now he’s gone. It hurts so much to think of him, lying in that coffin. It just hurts so bad.” Maria said sadly. She hadn’t even been able to open the box Liz had given her. It hurt too much. She needed a few days before she could open it. “Mom, can you just go. I need some time alone. Please?” she asked. She hoped that she didn’t hurt her mother’s feelings. But she needed more time alone to think about things, to try to process it all. And Maria knew that if her mother was here than she’d feel the need to tell her mother the truth.

Amy gave Maria a small smile. “Of course, baby. I understand. If you need anything, just come and tell me.” Amy hoped that Maria would take her up on her offer. She hated to think of her daughter in any pain. Maria meant the world to her. Alex’s death made her realize that life was precious; accidents happen all of the time. Maria could be on a bus and the bus could crash. There were just so many ways of losing a person in this world. Amy didn’t think that she could handle it if she lost her daughter.

Maria nodded. “Okay, thanks Mom.” she said quietly. Maria turned her attention back to the window after watching her mother leave the room. Maybe her mother would take the news better than Maria was giving her credit for. Maria had surprised herself taking the news so well. But after everything that had happened, it kind of made sense. Why else would her doctor be an alien doctor for the others?

Maria sighed as she thought about it. Life sure worked in mysterious ways. She’d always been afraid that because Michael was an alien, he would someday leave her for his life on Antar, and now she finds out that they were the same. Well, almost the same. He was an engineered alien, while she wasn’t. It was amazing how things turned out.

Max got what he always wanted. He found out tramp Tess had lied about their life back on Antar. They hadn’t been the happily married couple she frequently told him. Liz had. Liz had been the only woman that Max had ever loved in two lifetimes. Michael got the family he had always dreamed about. Brothers, a sister, a father who loved him, cousins. Maria was truly happy for him. No one deserved it more than him.

Maria looked over at her clock and saw that it was already ten o’clock. She hadn’t realized what time it was. She’d better go to sleep soon, or she’d been a bear in the morning. Not getting her required eight hours made her a bit of a bitch in the morning, she thought to herself as she quickly changed into her night clothes. For some reason, she thought that tomorrow would be a big day.


********************


Jim knocked softly on his bedroom door. When Max and the kids had brought Kyle home, he’d put his son in his room. Kyle had looked so bad when they had brought him back. His skin was so pale and he was tense. And it was all Tess fault. She had done that his child. Just thinking about what she’d done to Kyle, angered him.

He had taken the girl into his home, into his heart. And she betrayed him and Kyle. She’d used them as if they were nothing to pathetic useless humans who had gotten in her way. It pissed him off so much.

“Kyle, are you okay?” Jim asked softly as he entered the room. It was dark and Jim could barely make out his son in the shadows. When he didn’t get a response, he moved further into the room; his fear rising. “Kyle?”

Kyle raised his head from the pillow which it had been lying on. He been sleeping all day, or at least trying to sleep. Visions of Tess and Nicholas stayed in his head. He tried to stop them but it wouldn’t leave his head. It just wouldn’t. “I’m fine, Dad. Really.” he said, trying to reassure his father.

Jim didn’t believe one word Kyle said. He knew that his son wasn’t alright with what had happened. “Kyle, don’t lie to me. I know that you’re not alright. Talk to me. I might be able to help you.” he said, softly.

Kyle shook his head roughly. “No, you can’t Dad. You can’t stop the images in my head. I see it over and over again. Tess talking to Nicholas about what she was going to do. Talking about mind warping Max; trying to get him away from Liz. She was such a horrible person, Dad. She was so horrible and I never realized it.” he said, angry at himself for what had happened. He had liked her, he’d even thought of her in a romantic way, he’d let her into his heart, and she had betrayed everyone.

Jim sat down on the bed besides his son. “She used us for her own selfish reasons. We might never know exactly why she had done the things that she did. We felt sorry for her and we tried to make her apart of our family, but she was playing us all the time, Kyle. It’s not our faults.” Jim said, trying to make Kyle feel better, even though he felt that he should have known about what she was doing. He’d been a police officer for twenty five years and he’d fallen for Tess’ act.

“Alex is dead because of her. She helped kill Alex. She lived in our house for months. A killer lived in our house. Sat at our dinner table, bitched to us about not having a god damn fucking chair for her. I hate her! I hate her for what she’s done!” Kyle said, letting out all of his anger. He didn’t even realize that he’d said a bad word.

“I know, Kyle. She helped kill Alex and she used you. There’s nothing that we can do about that now. She’s gone, but she’s going to pay for the things that she’s done. I know she will. Max and the others aren’t going to allow her to get away with what she’s done.” Jim said, not even the least saddened by what he knew was going to happen to Tess Harding. He had let that girl into his home, into his heart and she used them like they were nothing.

It reminded him so much of what had happened with Hubble. When he’d found out the truth about what Hubble had done, Jim had wanted to get revenge on the man so badly. Hubble was the reason that his father was the way that he was. But Jim had been looking forward to getting his revenge on him through the system. He hadn’t realized exactly how messed up Hubble was. Attempting to kill Max. He didn’t regret what he had done for a moment. He had saved Max’s life.

“She fucked with my head. Who knows what else she did to me?” Kyle said, trembling at the thought alone. He didn’t know exactly what she had done to him. It scared him so badly to think about it.

“It’ll be okay, Kyle. I’ll make sure that it’ll all be okay. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.” Jim said, hoping to make his son feel better. He’d tried to keep Kyle safe throughout the years, and he’d failed his son more often than he’d like. He was going to make sure that Tess did not do anything else to harm his son or any of the others.

With everything that had happened, Jim was going to make one of the hugest decisions in his life. He had seen what had happened to Max and Liz, he knew that they loved each other, that it was something so strong. He was planning on asking Amy to marry him.

He’d never thought that he would love another woman after Michelle had left him and Kyle all those years ago. To be honest with himself, Jim hadn’t wanted to love another woman like that. To give her the power to own his heart the way Michelle had. To have the power to rip it out and stomp on it if she chose so. But he loved Amy, and seeing what had happened to Liz made him realize that he was losing out on the love of a wonderful woman.

Why should he deprive himself of her love? Granted he didn’t know if she was ready for something as huge as marriage. But it wouldn’t hurt for him to ask her anyway. He’d be happy just to be with her and to love her, but more than anything else in the world he wanted the chance to call her his wife. To have the opportunity to grow old with her, maybe even have another child.

“Kyle are you alright?” Jim asked concerned as he looked over Kyle’s trembling body, and worn out eyes. Eyes that had seen too much too soon.

Kyle nodded. “I’m fine, really. Um, do you mind if I sleep in your bed tonight. I don’t want to go anywhere near that room.” Kyle said, quietly. He didn’t want to be anywhere near Tess’ things, and he didn’t like the idea of having to sleep on that couch. It was lumpy at places and hurt his back.

Jim nodded his head. “Yeah. That’s fine. You can sleep in here, tonight. I’m just going to get a book and read for awhile before I go to bed, myself.” he said, softly, grabbing a book from his night table and settling himself in the chair in front of a the window. He wanted to watch Kyle for awhile. Make sure that he was okay and didn’t have nightmares. Just like he had done when Kyle was little. He wished that he could take away all of Kyle’s pain; just like he had always tried to do when Kyle was a child. He’d give anything to see Kyle better.


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . .
posted on 11-Apr-2002 10:31:01 PM
Disclaimer: Run Lola Run does not belong to me.

Chapter 11



“Max, have you seen Michael? He wasn’t in home room or second period. I’ve called him at his place, but I didn’t get any answer. I haven’t talked to him since last night before you and Isabel took me home.” Maria said, bouncing her way towards Max, who was standing at his locker. It was already time for lunch and Max and Maria were the only ones in the hallway.

Max looked at her and smiled. Michael definitely hadn’t seen Maria, if he did, he would have told her something about the way she was dressed. She was wearing a wine colored shirt and a short, hip hugging tangerine colored skirt. If Michael had seen her skirt, he would have blown a gasket. “No. I haven’t seen him. I’m sure he’s okay. I know that he wanted to spend time with Liz, Zack and Krit.” he said.

Max had to admit that he was a little jealous by that. He understood that Michael wanted to get to know his family, but Max wanted to spend some time with Liz. They’d barely had any time yesterday to talk. After turning Tess’ room upside down for any clues, Zack and Krit had refused to let Liz leave their side.

“You think he’s okay?” Maria asked worriedly. She knew that yesterday he’d learned a lot. Hell, they’d all learned a lot. She thought he’d handled it all pretty well, but did he really?

Max nodded his head. “I’m sure that he’s okay. I mean, we all learned a lot yesterday. He took it all pretty well.” he said, thinking about everything he’d learned. It’d been a hell of a lot.

“Oh, yeah. So did you. It’s not everyday that you find out the love of your life was your wife on another planet.” Maria said, grinning at him. For the first time in months, she didn’t feel anger and resentment towards him for everything that happened. She realized that it wasn’t all his fault. It was Khivar’s and that damned Future Max. But this Max wasn’t Future Max. Maria realized that now. “Look about everything, I’m sorry for all the shit I said to you. I mean, I meant it but I shouldn’t have placed all the blame on your shoulders.” she said, changing the subject.

“It’s okay, Maria. I understand why you said it. It was my fault. Just as much as it was Khivar’s.” Max said darkly, hating to even say that horrible name. He knew that no matter what anyone said, it was his fault. His future self had forced Liz to make such a huge sacrifice when it hadn’t even been necessary.

Maria shook her head at him. “No, it wasn’t, Max. It took me awhile to realize it, but it wasn’t your fault. If your talking about Future Max than yeah. It was his fault, but you’re not him. He became who he was because of whatever the hell happened. But things are different now. You are not him, Max.” she said, hoping to make him feel better about what happened.

For a moment, Max didn’t know what he was supposed to say. He knew that it wasn’t very often that she said she was sorry for something. “Thanks for saying that, Maria. I have a lot to make up to Liz.”

After he had talked to his mother, he had stayed up half the night trying to get as much information about rape victims that he could. The statistics were scary. One out of six women in the US were raped. He’d read a page called Things not to say to a rape survivor. He’d read it twice to make sure that he didn’t miss anything. From the other things he’d read, she needed to be provided with a safe atmosphere, not to be avoided or treated like the plague. That Liz might be uncomfortable with people touching her, that she could get flashbacks about what happened to her. That she could suffer from post traumatic stress disorder.

Reading about PTSD made Max realize that he had suffered from that himself last year. With the whole Pierce thing. He’d suffered from nightmares all the time. He recalled the talk yesterday when Aryn had said that Liz had been taking showers at all hours of the night, trying to cleanse herself over what had happened.

“You okay, buddy?” Maria asked waving her hand in front of his face. He’d like blanked out on her. Maria had a feeling that he was thinking about Liz. “You know, Max. I know that Liz is dealing with a lot. And I know that you’re going to be there for her and help her through it all. At least, I hope that you are. If you do anything to hurt my Lizzie girl, I’ll go medieval on your ass.” Maria paused, slapping herself lightly on the head. “Wait, I don’t have to do that. She’s got herself some mighty big brothers who I personally think would love to tear you apart if you hurt her.”

Max smiled at her words. Boy, was that the truth. He could tell just by the looks that Zack and Krit were giving him yesterday that if he hurt Liz in anyway that they’d hurt him pretty badly. He understood there concern, after all the stupid shit he’d done to Liz. Hell, if he was in their position he’d do the same thing.

“Hey, guys. Look who I ran into.” Isabel announced as she made her way towards Max and Maria. At her side was a weary looking Kyle. Isabel had ran into him before fourth period and she’d dragged him off with her to the bleachers outside. They had talked about things. Kyle had become a great friend to her during the past month. Isabel only hoped that she could make it up to him, for everything he had done for her.

“Hey, Kyle.” Maria said brightly. He looked so much better than he had yesterday. She really felt so badly for him for everything that had happened.

Kyle gave her a small smile. “Hey, guys.” he said, quietly. He could feel their eyes on him, and he didn’t like it one bit. He didn’t want to be treated like a victim. “We all got a big shock yesterday, didn’t we?” he said, his smile widening.

Maria grinned at his words. “Yeah, you bet your butt we did. Life sure is funny sometimes. The girl who’d ran screaming into the night after finding out that Max was a Czechoslovakian, now finds out that she herself is one. Isn’t that funny?” she replied.

“You never told me that.” Michael declared, making his presence known to the group.

Maria smiled at him. “I didn’t want you to know. I was ashamed of my behavior. It was stupid and immature of me. I like to think that I’ve grown up a lot since than, with everything that’s happened the past year and a half. Where have you been?” she wondered.

Michael nodded. “Um. I was over at Liz’s, with her, Zack and Krit. I woke up late this morning. Uh, there going back to Artesia. You know, Bill, Stephanie and Aryn all have lives back there. But Zack and Krit are going to stay around for awhile. They’re going to be pick up the others. Tom, Cerina, Nathan and Simon.” he informed them. “Liz, thought that you might like to meet your sister.”

Michael had a great time with them last night, getting to know his brothers and sister. He’d fallen asleep sometime around midnight, he wasn’t too sure about the time. Zack, Liz and Krit had been talking when he’d fallen asleep. When he’d woken up, they were talking and laughing. Michael hadn’t understood the joke until he looked in the mirror and saw his face. They had put some red stuff on his cheeks, and some green stuff on his eyelids. They’d put damn makeup on his face. Yelling at them had been useless, they had just laughed their asses off at him.

“My sister?” Max asked in disbelief. He liked the idea of having another sister. But he was a little scared of meeting her. Cerina, his sister, was someone had he didn’t know. He hadn’t the slightest clue about what she was like, what her favorite book was, anything. She grew up without him or Isabel in her life. He knew that if he hadn’t had Isabel, he would have gone stir crazy. He hated that he wasn’t there for his sister. Max was very curious to see how she was coping with Alex’s death, since they were married back on Antar. It was definitely going to be a very interesting meeting with Isabel, he thought wryly.

Isabel didn’t say anything. She just bit the inside of her cheek. She was going to meet her sister. Her sister who had been married to Alex back on Antar. Isabel had always wanted a sister, and now she had one. The only thing was that she didn’t know how she was supposed to act around her sister. What she was supposed to say? Alex loved me more than you! She couldn’t do that.

“Why don’t we go to lunch?” Kyle asked, changing the subject. He and Isabel had talked about that earlier, about her sister being married to Alex back on Antar. Looking at her now, he could see that she was uncomfortable about it. And Kyle couldn’t really blame her. Who knew what her sister would be like?

“Good idea, Kyle. I’m starving.” Maria said, as they began to walk towards the cafeteria. She was starving, and she couldn’t wait till school was over. She was dying to meet the woman that Alex had been married to back on Antar. She’d been right, thinking that today was going to be a big day.

Max followed behind Maria and Michael. He didn’t want to be here at school. Not without Liz, but she wasn’t coming back to school. She’d graduated and was all done with school, even though he had another year to go. It sucked that he wouldn’t be able to see Liz each and every day at school. But he’d see her every day after school, he’d make sure.

“Michael, are you wearing mascara?” Maria asked him. It looked as though he was, but she couldn’t be too sure. It had been bugging her like hell since he’d come up to them.

“What?” Michael roared. He’d thought that he’d gotten it all off of him. Obviously, he’d been wrong. “No!” he replied, not meeting her eyes.


********************


“I am not the least bit nervous.” Tom declared, from the backseat of the car. Just because he was going to come face to face with his first love didn’t mean he was scared or freaking. His relationship with Vilandra had been over and done with for years. They had been kids when they were together, than she’d gone away and came back hating him. He’d never understood what had happened.

“Oh, you are such a liar, Tommy. You are freaking out that you’re going to see Vilandra, after all of this time. I know you too well.” Cerina said, with a smile on her face. She was putting on a strong bravado about having to see Vilandra. She was scared about meeting her sister. She didn’t know her at all.

“Isabel! Her name is Isabel. Please don’t call her Vilandra.” Liz put in, not taking her eyes off of the road. She knew that Isabel was still wary about Vilandra’s past sins. Liz couldn’t blame Isabel, she’d feel the same way if that had been her.

“Isabel. That sounds like a nice name.” Tom said sighing. It would be hard to think of Isabel as Isabel and not Vilandra. But that was a good thing he guessed. Vilandra hadn’t been the warmest or nicest person. Something had changed her. Something made her cold and bitter. He hoped that Isabel wasn’t like that.

“Sounds like a hooker’s name. Fits her pretty good doesn’t it?” Cerina threw in. She knew that she was acting like a bitch. Cerina saw the look that Liz was giving her. “Don’t tell me that she doesn’t date. I bet she does. How many guys has she dated or been involved with since you’ve known her?” Cerina asked, giving Liz a hard look.

Liz sighed resigned. Hell, she wasn’t sure about how many guys. Liz knew that Isabel dated often, but none of them meant anything to her. The only one that had meant something to her had been Alex.

“So are you going to tell us what happened between you and Vilandra?” Cerina asked curiously, not waiting for Liz’s answer. She knew that Liz wasn’t going to answer her question.

Tom sighed. “You will never understand what was between us.” he said sadly. He liked to think that it had been wonderful while it lasted.

“God I hope so.” Cerina said sarcastically. She didn’t want to understand, all she wanted was to know. She’d been a kid when everything had happened. She’d been eleven years old when her fourteen year old sister had been sent away by their mother. Had it been because their mother thought Vilandra was getting too seriously involved with Bradeon?

“Why don’t we talk about something else besides Isabel?” Liz suggested, swiftly changing the subject.

Cerina sighed. Talking about Vilandra— Isabel wouldn’t get her anywhere. It only brought back her old insecurities, the pain and bitterness that she felt. “So Liz. If you had the opportunity to sleep with any rock star. Who would it be?” Cerina asked. Given everything that had happened, Cerina didn’t think that she should treat Liz any differently.

Liz shrugged her shoulders. She was gratefully that Cerina wasn’t treating her any differently. That Cerina didn’t think that she would shrink away in disgust at the mention of sex. Liz was determined not to let what Khivar had done to her, ruin her opinion of sex. Liz knew that one day when she and Max would finally make love, it would be wonderful and it would take away all of the bad memories. At least, she hoped it would.

“I’d so fuck Scott Weiland. He’s a total babe; he’s got a great ass.” Cerina said dreamily.

“Hell, I’d fuck him.” Tom declared.

Both Cerina and Liz looked at Tom with surprise at his words.

“What? I’m comfortable with my masculinity to answer that question.” Tom explained. It was a total hypothetical question and he didn’t think that there was anything wrong with him answering it.

“Well, I found this web site where groupies post their experiences. It’s like believe it if you want. Anyway, they say that those Back street boys and N’Sync boys are all man whores. I believe it because all pretty boys are man whores.” Cerina said smugly.

Tom shook his head adamantly. “I’m not a man whore and I’m damn pretty.” he replied.

Liz smiled at his words. She regretted not spending time with Tom since she found out the truth. Tom was her brother just as much as Zack, Krit, Alex and Michael were. Just because he wasn’t her blood brother didn’t mean anything. That was the reason she made Tom and Cerina come in her car on the ride to Roswell.

Cerina scoffed at his words. “Liar. You were a total man whore on Antar. You dated so many women; it was hard keeping up with them. We started giving them nicknames to remember them. Remember, Troi?” Cerina said, grinning at Liz, oblivious to the fact that she’d called Liz by her previous name.

Liz nodded. “Oh, yeah. I remember. There was Bubble butt, Two back, Duck Lady. Damn we were so mean to those women.” Liz said, shaking her head at the memories.

Cerina shrugged. “Oh, it’s not our fault if they looked like that. Bubble butt’s ass was bigger than Jennifer Lopez’s. Two back had no boobs. Duck Lady had webbed fingers and toes.” Cerina explained, giving Tom a wry look.

“Ok, Cosima’s fingers looked a little webbed. I’ll admit that. But her feet—“ Tom paused, thinking back. “Well, it would make sense. She never let me see her bare feet, even in the damn shower.”

Liz and Cerina burst out laughing. “You sure know how to pick ‘em.” Liz said, grinning.

“Well, he’s been making up for it, haven’t you? I think that the only one who isn’t a man whore is Krit. He’s dated like five girls. Zack’s turned into quite a man whore. Must be your influence.” Cerina said, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice. It hurt like hell that Zack had started dating up a storm after their night together. But she’d been such a bitch to him.

She’d told him that if he breathed a word about what happened between them that she’d pull a Lorena Bobbitt on him. She’d felt that she’d betrayed Alex by sleeping with his own brother. But her attraction to Zack was something that she struggled with even back on Antar. Back on Antar, it had ended when Jasper died.

When he died on Antar, it had felt like her own heart had been ripped out. She grieved for him in private for a long time. Than three years later, after Vilandra and Lexus failed relationship, she’d gotten involved with Lexus.

Tom dismissed Cerina’s words with a wave of his hand. Cerina was completely wrong about Zack. “Oh, all those girls have been after Zack for a long time. He just finally relented and dated a few of them. I’ve got to say to say though. He should have dated Tracy Lyndon more.”

“Who’s Tracy Lyndon?” Liz asked, curiously.

“Head bitch, I mean cheerleader. Homecoming queen, prom princess, among other things. Hates my guts.” Cerina explained, rolling her eyes.

“Hmm. My designated hater’s always been Pam Troy. Now I got her and Tess. Ain’t I lucky?” Liz said sarcastically.

“Pam Troy and Tracy Lyndon are nothing to us. They’re stupid high school bitches. Now Tess. She’s the enemy who’s going to be a sitting duck. Especially since my loveable dim witted brother finally knows about the bitch and her ass is going to die.” Cerina replied. She didn’t feel any doubt about what was going to happen to Tess. She’d get everything she deserved.

“Cerina, you are scary sometimes. I thought Nathan was bad when he’s watched Patton, but you’re way scarier than him.” Tom said, lightening up the mood in the car.

“Why don’t we enjoy meeting the others. You’ve never meet your brother and sister. So let’s enjoy it. Why don’t put in a CD?” Liz suggested.

Cerina shuffled through Liz’s CD’s. “Run Lola Run soundtrack. I love that movie. My Dad couldn’t keep up with the subtitles.” Cerina said, putting the CD in.

Tom popped a M&M into his mouth, chewing with his mouth open. “You know, Lizzard. That movie’s a lot like your life. 3 different time lines. The first was on Antar, the second was that time line you and Future dick changed and this one’s the third one. Kind a cool isn’t it?”

Liz nodded. She’d never thought of it like that. Hmm, on Antar, she had died, which was like the first part on Run Lola Run. The second, well the whole freaking world had died, sort of similar to the second part of the movie. But this, the third time around, would it end happily just like the movie? Liz was determined to make sure that it would.


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . .
posted on 11-Apr-2002 10:41:09 PM
Disclaimer: Mentions TV shows that do not belong to me.

Chapter 12



“Oh, come on. Let me in, please?” Tom pleaded with Liz and Cerina. They were being sexist, not allowing him to come into Liz’s room. He wanted to hear their talk. He liked hearing girl talk. He and Cerina had always been close friends, and he’d heard his fair share of periods, cramps and what not. He didn’t see why Cerina wouldn’t let him hear their talk.

“No! I know you’ve heard girl talk before, but not now. Liz and I want to talk without you around. You know, I love you. Now go away!” Cerina said, letting him know that she meant what she was saying. She slammed the door on his face.

“Damn women!” Tom swore, walking back to the living room, where all the other guys were. Krit held the remote in his hand, flipping channels.

Nathan took one look at Tom’s expression and started chuckling. “They kicked you out, didn’t they? I think you lost your girlfriend status with Cerina.” he said, wryly, getting a kick out of it all.

“Shut up!” Tom said, sullenly, plopping down next to Krit on the couch. “What’s on TV?” he wondered. If the girls weren’t going to let him into their room, he might as well watch some TV.

Krit shook his head disgusted. “A lot of damn soap operas. There’s gotta be like ten on.” he replied, rolling his eyes at the thought. Nothing good was on at all. Liz had like fifty channels and there was nothing good on.

“Hey, is Passions on? I love that show. Julian’s so hilarious. And Timmy, the doll makes his own Martimmy’s. Did ya know that?” Simon said, reaching for the remote. He loved that damn show. It was a riot.

Krit held the remote away from him. “Go watch your girlie shows at home. We Metzlers’ don’t watch soap operas.” he declared, sticking his tongue out.

Zack threw his brother a wry look. “Hey. Don’t you watch reruns of that dumb ass show all of the time. What’s it called? Sisters?” he said, smirking. He’d caught Krit watching that show several times, once it even looked like he’d had tears in his eyes.

“Why don’t we watch a movie? Lizzie’s bound to have something good here.” Krit said, changing the subject off of himself. Just what he needed, everyone to know that he watched Sisters. But it wasn’t a freaking soap opera, it was a drama. That happened to be about women. Damn fine looking women.

“Hey, they’ve got Scream. Let’s watch that.” Nathan said, holding the movie up for everyone to see.

“Yeah!”

“Whoo!”

“Put it on.”


*****************


“You okay, Liz?” Cerina asked concerned. She had the feeling that something had been bothering Liz but she didn’t know exactly what it was. There was actually a lot that could be bugging Liz.

Liz smiled at Cerina’s concern and began to shake her head. “I’d be lying if I said no. I get the feeling that everyone thinks that it was best that I lost PJ. Is that what you think? Please, you’re my friend. Tell me the truth.” Liz finally said. There was so much that she was keeping to herself, and things that she didn’t want people to know. It felt good to tell someone a little about what she was thinking.

Cerina meet Liz’s eyes and nodded. Liz did deserve to know the truth about what people were thinking. “Alright. I know that some people think its better, in terms of everything that we still need to do. Life’s going to be crazy and right now is definitely not the right time to bring a child into the world. I’m sorry sweetie. But what happened, happened. You’re my friend and I hate to see you in such pain. If I could I would take it away from you.” Cerina said softly. Cerina knew that Liz didn’t want to be coddled in anyway.

Liz nodded with tears shimmering in her eyes. “At least I know that he’s safe and happy with Alex and Sorcha. Life has given me quite a few twists and turns. I do know that it’s better for PJ not to be born now, but I just loved my baby so much.” she said, sadly. It hurt so much to think about it.

Deciding to change the subject, she gave Cerina a smile. “Speaking of Alex. You total slut. I know who you slept with. Alex told me. It was Zack.” she said, grinning wickedly at Cerina.

Cerina gulped down her shocked gasp. “Fuck. Alex knew? Damn it. How the hell did he find out?” she wondered, not even bothering to lie to Liz about it. She didn’t see the point in lying about, since Liz knew that it was true. But to think that Alex knew about it, scared her. He knew that she had betrayed him with his own brother. That she had made love, no had sex with his brother.

Liz shrugged her shoulders. “Damned if I know. When I got sick, he was in my dream plane. I asked him if there was anything he wanted you to know. And he said, tell Cerina I forgive her for what happened with Zack. He said that you love Zack as much as Zack loves you. But you both think you’re betraying him. He wants you to know you’re not if you and Zack get back together. He also said, that if he had known you, he would have loved you.” Liz said softly, not knowing how Cerina would take her last sentence.

Cerina turned her back to Liz. She didn’t want Liz to see how hurt that made her. That Alex could have loved her. But he hadn’t. He hadn’t loved her. “I don’t love him. I don’t love Zack!” she said, trying to convince herself more than Liz. She couldn’t love Zack. She couldn’t do that to Alex. She couldn’t love his brother after everything. It would be wrong of her.

“Oh, Krissy. It’s okay. You don’t have to pretend with me. You don’t.” Liz said, wrapping her arms around her weeping friend.

“It’s wrong. I can’t do that to Alex. Zack was his brother. We betrayed Alex here on Earth. Back on Antar, we didn’t do anything like what we did here. Jasper was one of my friends. Lexus was my hero, he was so strong, so smart and caring. I knew I wanted to marry him one day. I was in love with them both of at the same time. I loved them both and Jasper died. He left me. And a few years later, Lexus and I got together. Even after our marriage, I felt I was betraying Jasper by marrying Lexus. Now Alex is gone, but Zack’s here. I feel that I betrayed Alex with Zack. I’m so confused. I don’t want to hurt anyone, I don’t want to feel horrible about myself. I don’t.” Cerina admitted, tears pouring from her eyes.

Liz let her friend cry. When Cerina sobs finally stopped minutes later, Liz gave her a wry look. “My boobs are too big. None of my bras fit me anymore. They started getting bigger with my pregnancy.” Liz said, knowing that Cerina wouldn’t want to talk about what she had just admitted. She knew that Cerina would need some time to process her thoughts.

Cerina smiled gratefully. Liz seemed to know exactly what she needed. Cerina didn’t want to talk about her mixed up feelings for Zack and Alex. She didn’t understand them herself, so she didn’t expect Liz to understand them. Liz was already dealing with a lot, she didn’t need Cerina’s problems stacked on her own. “Did you ask Aryn about it?” Cerina finally asked. She felt so badly for all the things that Liz was going through. Cerina knew that Liz would have been a wonderful mother.

Liz nodded. “Yeah. She said that it differs with some women. Some women’s breasts go back down to size while others stay the same. I asked her if it was normal for me to start my period right after a miscarriage, since I did. She said it was normal.” Liz said quietly.

“I’m sorry, Liz.” Cerina said. The words didn’t take the pain away, but she hoped it could do some to help her.

“I’m sorry, too.” Liz replied, meaning what Cerina was going through. Her confusion over her feelings for Zack and Alex. She was glad that she wasn’t in Cerina’s shoes. Liz briefly wondered what would have happened if Zan, Max’s dupe were still alive. Would she be in the same predicament as Cerina? Nah, she couldn’t love anyone the way she loved Max.

“We are a sorry bunch. Why don’t you tell me about your friends. I’m really curious to meet them.” Cerina said, smiling at Liz. She couldn’t wait to meet Max, her brother. She knew that he would be a great guy, a little slow on the uptake from everything she’d gathered.

“Maria’s been my best friend since we were four years old. I love her like a sister. Her dad’s Curan, but trust me. She’s nothing like him. She’s a bit eccentric, a little hyper at times, and can exaggerate a bit. But she’s the best. There’s nothing that she won’t do for her friends.” Liz explained about Maria as she began to shuffle through a box to find a picture of them all. When she found one, she handed it over to Cerina.

Cerina studied the picture intently. It wasn’t a new picture. It looked to be at least a year old. Instead of a haunted look in Liz’s eyes there was a serene smile on her lips and a twinkle of happiness in her eyes. Liz was sitting on the lap of a dark haired young man who had a smile on his face. Cerina could tell that he wasn’t the type who smiled often; it was one of those rare smiles of happiness. “Is that Zanier? Max?” she asked, softly.

Liz nodded. “Yeah. That was taken last year before the tramp came to wreck havoc on our lives. Maria’s the short blonde, Michael’s the spiky haired one. Alex is the tall dark haired one, and Isabel is the tall blonde next to him.” Liz finished. Cerina had probably figured out on her own who Isabel was.

Cerina lightly traced Alex’s face with her finger. She always knew that he would be good looking. He was Zack’s complete opposite, where Zack had golden blonde hair, Alex’s hair was so dark it looked black. Where Zack was hard and muscular, Alex appeared to be lanky. Zack had his tense, ‘I’m the leader’ quality, whereas Alex’s aura looked to be more laid back. “He was a great person, wasn’t he?” she asked. She didn’t like that she was comparing Alex to Zack, it wasn’t fair or right of her.

Liz nodded as she gave Cerina a bittersweet smile. “Yeah, he was. Him and Krit are a lot alike. Telling jokes and what not. Alex was my best friend.”

Cerina shook her head, trying to stop the images of her past life with him. Liz was right, Alex was not Lexus. Even if Alex had been a lot of the same qualities as Lexus, she’d never know. Alex hadn’t been her husband. Cerina tossed the picture aside, she couldn’t stand to look at it anymore. “Okay, tell me about Maxie boy.”

Liz sighed. Talking about Max was a complicated subject. Very complicated. “Alright. Max is a very protective brother, sometimes over protective of Isabel, which she hates, since she’s the older one. He’s really smart, we shared the same AP classes. Max always tries to do what’s best for everyone, even at his own expense. You’ll really like him.” Liz said quietly.

Cerina rolled her eyes. That’s not exactly what she wanted to know. “So now that he knows that you were his wife back on Antar. Are you back together or not?” she wondered.

Liz shook her head. “No, we’re not back together. I told him that he would have to get to know me as I am know. I’m not the same person I was last year. Hell, I’m not the same person I was a month ago. There are so many things that I would do differently. I mean, if I was back at the prom and seeing Max swap spit with Tess, I’d rip her hair out of her head and force it down her damn throat. I would never have gone with Se—“ Liz shuddered at the direction of her thoughts.

“Liz, what’s wrong?” Cerina asked, concerned. Liz’s expression was one of a shocking realization.

Liz shook her head. “I just realized that when I left the prom and went to Sean. It wasn’t Sean I went to. It was Khivar that I went to.” Liz said, with another shudder. “Damn, I was such a fucking idiot.” she said, balling her hands into fists.

“It’s not your fault. It was that fucking bastard’s fault. He tricked you. You had no way in knowing the truth.” Cerina said, trying to make Liz feel better. But she knew that it wouldn’t make Liz feel better. Nothing would make Liz feel better.


***************


Max, Michael, Isabel, Maria and Kyle squeezed themselves into the Jeep. The atmosphere in there was tense as Max made his way towards the Crashdown.

Max’s mind was focused on two alternating thoughts. Cerina, his sister that he had never known. And Liz. He couldn’t really call her his wife or girlfriend, since she insisted that they weren’t together. Love of his life and soul mate fit her perfectly. He couldn’t wait to meet his sister or to see Liz.

Isabel, though she kept a cool look on her face was internally freaking out. She’d always wanted a sister and now she had one. But she didn’t know exactly how she was supposed to act around her, though. She knew that she shouldn’t mention Alex to Cerina. It would be cruel of her is she told Cerina anything about things she and Alex had done. And she wanted to get off on the right foot with her sister. She wanted to bond and have fun with her sister.

Michael felt pretty calm about the whole thing. He didn’t feel all that worried or apprehensive about meeting the others. He heard from Liz, Zack and Krit about the others, and he was curious about meeting them. Definitely Cerina, he wanted to know what kind of a person that his brother had been married to. And Tom. He’d heard a lot of funny shit about Tom.

Sitting in the backseat next to Michael, Maria hummed softly to herself. She couldn’t wait until she met Cerina, to meet the person Alex had once been married to. Maria knew she’d like her in a minute. And if Nathan, Tom and Simon were anything like Zack and Krit, she knew she’d like them too. All throughout yesterday, Maria had thought that Krit reminded her of Alex. Always joking and making light out of things. She’d felt a stab in her heart when the thought had hit her, but she knew that they were two different people. When she’d laugh at his corny jokes, she’d tell herself that Krit wasn’t a replacement for Alex. No one could replace him in her heart.

Kyle sighed, running a hand through his hair, trying not to hit Maria as he did. The memory of Tess talking to Khivar and Nicholas hadn’t all together left him. But it wasn’t the only thing that dominated his mind like yesterday. Thank God for that. He was still shocked to find out that Liz, Maria and Alex were all aliens. He’d dated a freaking alien and had never known it. He was like the only human left in the group.

“Do you guys want to know what Liz, Zack and Krit told me about the others?” Michael asked, breaking the silence of the Jeep. It was annoying him that no one was saying anything at all.

Maria nodded. “Great idea, Michael. Tell us everything you know.” she said, before anyone could say anything else.

“Well, Liz said that Nathan’s a big teddy bear. I saw a picture of the guy, he’s gotta be at least 6'4; he’s like a freaking brick wall. Simon’s supposed to be shy and quiet but Liz says he’s a great photographer. From what I’ve gathered about Cerina, the two of them have become fast friends. Cerina’s a babe. Ow.” Michael said, when he felt Maria hit him in the stomach. “If you like the tall, curvy type. They told me some funny stuff about Tom. He seems like a great guy, too. They all sound like great people.”

No one said anything as they listened to Michael’s words. All they did was sit there, trying to imagine what they were like. Imagine what kind of people they were.


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . .
posted on 24-Apr-2002 12:15:19 AM
Disclaimer: See previous post.

Chapter 13



They treaded up the stairs to the Parker apartment. Their apprehension, fear, and guilt was detectable in the air. With one arm around Maria, Michael reached the door first. He knocked on the door, rolling his eyes as he heard cat calls coming from inside. He recognized Krit’s voice.

At the sound of the knock, all movement inside the living room stopped. The only sounds in the room were the sounds coming from the television. Tom looked down at the ground, while Zack meet Krit’s eyes.

Simon moved first, walking to the door. He grinned widely as he opened the door. “Hey.” he said, softly, letting them into the house.

With a protective arm around Maria, Michael moved through the doorway. Max followed them into the room, paying no attention to the young men that were in the room as his eyes searched for Liz.

Isabel and Kyle followed Max in. Here she was, about to meet her sister for the first tine. From what Bill had told them yesterday, she got the feeling that she and Cerina hadn’t been the best of friends. Isabel hoped that she could change that.

For several moments, no one said anything until Krit finally got tired of the silence. “Lizzie, CeCe. They’re here.” he called out to the girls using his nicknames for them.

Not even ten seconds later, Liz and Cerina walked into the room. Cerina chuckled as she saw the way that her brother’s eyes instantly went to Liz’s. She cleared her throat. “Uh. You are the same as you were back on Antar, Max. You and Liz still got that whole I missed you madly after you’ve been separated for like a couple of hours.” Cerina said, grinning at both Max and Liz.

Max wretched his eyes away from Liz. Maybe it was because he’d been without her all day long, but he’d been enchanted by the sight of her. But she looked so beautiful. She was wearing some black silky camisole and white capris, and sandals; Max could tell that she wasn’t wearing a bra. He wanted to take Liz into his arms and tell her that he never leave her again and that he’d loved her. Than he’d tell her to go put a bra on. He didn’t want anyone seeing her this way. He looked at the tall, tri-colored hair girl next to Liz wearing black leather pants and a violet blouse. His sister. “Really?” he asked softly, not knowing what else to say to her. That was his little sister.

Liz nodded. “Why don’t we introduce ourselves.” she suggested in the silence. No one knew what to do or to say. She noticed that Tom was sitting on the couch, with his head down. Her heart went out to him. Was he afraid what Isabel would say when she saw him?

“I’m Maria DeLuca, Liz’s best friend. Just found out that my father was a psychotic son of a bitch who kidnaped my best friend once, who tried to ruin Max and Liz’s relationship with the help of super skank. I really hope that it’s not genetic cause than I’m screwed. This lunk head with the Mullet is my boyfriend, Michael Guerin, who used to be Rath on Antar.” Maria started, grinning at them widely.

At Maria’s words, Michael nodded his head.

Cerina bit her lip to not laugh out loud. She knew that she’d like Maria. If she could handle Rathard, than she was definitely a great person. Cerina tried not to look at Isabel, but she couldn’t help but sneak a glance at her sister. Isabel looked the opposite of how she’d looked back on Antar. Back on Antar, Vilandra had the most luxurious ebony colored hair and gray eyes. Isabel seemed to be the same height that she’d been back on Antar, about 5'11. She still had that voluptuous look going on. Cerina tried not to roll her eyes. She bet guys liked Isabel’s twin towers more than her.

Clearing his throat, Nathan moved forward. “I’m Nathan Elliot, who was Kayin, Anara’s son back on Antar. Everyone but Zanier, Vilandra, Krissane were my cousins. We were all related by our mothers. It’s good to finally meet everyone.” he said, quietly.

Max, Michael, Maria, Isabel and Kyle looked at him dumb founded. Michael hadn’t been kidding when he said that Nathan was a big guy. He was at least 6'3, maybe even 6'4. They hadn’t expected him to talk so quietly compared to his large build.

“I’m Cerina Travers, used to be Krissane, the younger sister of Vilandra and Zanier. But Liz tells me that now I’m the older one, since my birthday is August 11, 1982, months before both of yours.” Cerina said, introducing herself. She hoped that she’d kept that sneer out of her voice at the mention of Vilandra.

“I’m Max, your brother, who used to be Zanier. That’s Isabel.” Max said softly, pointing to Isabel, who offered a tentative smile. This was his sister. He felt giddy at the thought. He’d always wanted a big family and now he had another sister.

“I’m Kyle Valenti, a member of the I-Know-An-Alien club, founded by Ms. Liz over there. My father also knows about the aliens; he’s actually helped us out before.” Kyle said, stepping forward.

Zack nodded. “Your father was the one that Liz called afterwards, right?” he asked, hating to think about what his sister had gone through with that bastard Khivar.

Kyle nodded. “Yeah.”

Tom took in a deep breath as he stood up from the couch. He knew that he shouldn’t be nervous, but he couldn’t help it. Plastering a fake smile on his face, he stepped forward. “Tom McLaren, used to be Bradeon back on Antar. When my parents died on Antar, Lord Unitas took me in and raised me along with his own children.” he said, not daring to look in Isabel’s direction.

Isabel gasped as she recognized the tall, dark haired young man. She’d seen him before. Months ago, when she’d first dream walked Liz. He’d been in that dream that had taken place at the Crashdown. There had been roses falling from the sky and Max.”Oh my God! I know you!” she declared. She flushed when she realized that everyone was looking at her.

Tom nodded. “Yes.” he said simply, not knowing if she meant that she knew him from back on Antar or from Liz’s dream.

“It was in January, before the sheriff lost his job. It was the same night that Laurie came to me. I dream walked both Kyle and Liz. You were there. With Liz. You were in Liz’s dream.” Isabel explained. She didn’t understand why he’d been in Liz’s dream.

Tom nodded, relief flooding through him. She didn’t know about them back on Antar. He though that she might. Since he’d been told that Michael remembered a thing or two. Tom guessed that the reason Michael recalled the things was because of the close proximity of being with the ones who knew the truth. After all, Liz hadn’t known anything until Khivar had. . . . Tom gulped as he thought about it. He might have to test out his theory sometime.

“You dream walked Liz?” Max asked quietly. He’d always told Michael and Isabel to leave Liz alone. He hadn’t wanted her privacy to be invaded in any way and here Isabel was telling them that she had in fact dream walked Liz.

“Yeah, that was Tom, Isabel. He can dream walk and that night he decided to pay me a little visit and mess with my head. I’ll get him back for what he did. When he least expects it.” Liz said for Tom. She could tell he didn’t want to talk about it. Liz turned to Max and gave him a smile. “It was months ago, Max. She wasn’t invading my privacy or anything. As long as she doesn’t do it on a regular basis.” Liz said, winking at Isabel.

Max nodded, not wanting to say anything about how miffed he was with Isabel for doing what she did. He didn’t like the idea of anyone invading Liz’s privacy that way. It was just so wrong.

Simon stepped forward. It was his turn. “Simon Curtis, used to be Jirair; Idris’ son.” he said shyly. He was happy that he was with his family, he was just a little nervous about finally meeting everyone.

Liz smiled. “Well, you know the rest of us. So what do we talk about?” she said, biting her lip. She was happy that everyone was all back together but she was a little worried about Tom and Cerina and their reactions to Isabel.

Maria left Michael’s side and came forward to Liz. “Don’t know about you guys, but I need to talk to my chica before anything else.” she declared, grinning widely at Liz.

Liz smiled as Maria grabbed her arm and lead her towards the kitchen, so they could talk in private. “What’s up?” she asked Maria.

While Maria had grabbed Liz’s arm, Michael had turned to Zack, Krit and Tom and started talking to them. He wanted to confront them about the mascara that they hadn’t told him about. That had been totally wrong of them. Meanwhile, Kyle had moved away from Isabel, giving her a chance to talk to Cerina, and went to go talk to Simon and Nathan.

Isabel smiled brightly at Cerina. “Hey, Cerina. How are you?” she finally said after a moment of looking her sister over. She and Cerina looked nothing alike. Cerina was a brunette with streaks of silver and gold, whereas she was blonde. Cerina didn’t say anything, she just looked at Isabel, her eyes unreadable. “Just trying to break the ice.” she muttered.

Isabel’s words snapped Cerina out of her reverie. “Don’t! I like ice.” she said cooly. She couldn’t believe it. She was already allowing Isabel to get to her.

Isabel licked her dry lips. “I guess we weren’t friends on Antar.” she said quietly. She didn’t know what else to say. She didn’t know everything that she had done back on Antar. There had to be a million different things she had done wrong back than. Damn it! Sometimes she wished that she could remember the things that she had done; the person that she’d been back on Antar. But on the other hand, knowing what she had done scared the shit out of her.

Cerina cocked an eyebrow at Isabel. “That’s an understatement. Look, I don’t want to get into this bull shit with you right now.” she said. She really didn’t think that now was the right time to even get into all of this. There was too much pain and hurt that she carried towards Isabel.

“Hey, Cerina. Come here!” Liz called out. She could tell that Cerina and Isabel were standing around watching each other awkwardly. She knew that she had to step up and do something, so she called Cerina over to her.

Isabel watched as Cerina walked to where Liz and Maria were without a second glance at her. Great, her past was coming back to haunt her, Isabel realized. Her sister seemed like she hated her guts. What next? she wondered.

Cerina smiled warmly at Maria. She knew that Isabel was only trying to be nice, and for some reason that bothered the hell out of her. Cerina wished like hell that she and Isabel could be friends, but with everything she knew of Antar, could they honestly be that? “Love the skirt. We so have to go shopping together. Just the three of us, I mean, the four of us.” Cerina amended, when Liz pinched her in the side.

Maria nodded. “I’d love to. Your pants are great. Which reminds me, chica. You’re not wearing a bra. You know what that is doing to Max?” she said, grinning. She was a little surprised by Liz’s lack of a bra. She knew that Liz was a reserved person, who had told her one more than one occasion that she wasn’t comfortable without wearing a bra.

Liz rolled her eyes at Maria’s words. “I would if any of my bras fit me. Which is why we have to go shopping.” she informed them. She knew that there was a lot for them to do. They still had to start their search for Ava, but Liz had already figured out a much quicker way to find Ava. Liz thought that she would try finding Ava by using her new found power; she’d transport herself to Ava. But she needed to buy some damn bras before anything else.

“Victoria’s Secret. We have to go there. I love that place. Hey, what are you doing tomorrow, Maria? We should go.” Cerina suggested. Of what Cerina had seen of Maria, she liked her a lot.

Maria sighed heavily. “Crappy school. School ends on May 9, way earlier than last year. After this week, next weeks all finals, and those last three days of school, no one’s gonna show.” Maria said with a wave of her hand.

“If you need any help studying, I can help, Maria.” Liz offered. She, Maria and Alex usually studied for their finals together. Alex wouldn’t study for anything anymore, even if Liz wasn’t going to school, she wasn’t going to not help Maria out with the school stuff. Liz was grateful that she wouldn’t have to go to school anymore. Yes, she wouldn’t see Max, Maria, or Michael all day, but she didn’t think that she would feel comfortable going back there. Not after everything that had happened. She was thankful that her parents had a personal talk with the principal, who had allowed her to take her finals at home and allow her to graduate, even if it was without all the fanfare, which she hadn’t even wanted.

“Me too.” Cerina chimed. “Oh, and if you need any help with any languages or anything. You can go to Nathan. He’s the best at that.” she informed Maria. She had used Nathan’s power herself for her school work on various occasions. It never ceased to amaze her that if she put her work in front of him, he would have like five pages of Spanish deciphered in five minutes tops.

“Thanks for the offers. Hopefully, I’ll do fine. But I haven’t been doing too well with everything that went on.” Maria said, rolling her eyes. That was a freaking understatement. She’d gone crazy worrying about Liz when Khivar had her. It had been hell for her, going to school and trying to pretend that nothing was wrong. When she had been the only one who had been convinced that something had been wrong. Maria didn’t even want to think what might have happened if she hadn’t finally been able to convince Michael what she thought.

Meanwhile, the girls were talking to one another, the guys were standing around talking to each. Max was trying to take it all in. These guys were Liz’s brothers and cousins. He knew that if he did anything to hurt Liz, they would probably kick his ass. He thought that he could take them on, if they didn’t gang up on him, except maybe for that Nathan guy. He was one big fellow. Michael hadn’t been kidding.

“So Simon, Liz told us a little bit about your power, but I didn’t really understand what the hell she was saying.” Michael said, looking over the tall, dark haired guy.

Simon bit his lip as he thought about how exactly he should explain it to Michael. It wasn’t as if it was totally complicated. Then it hit him. “I know. Have you ever seen the movie ‘Ghost’?” he asked.

Michael gave a mirthless laugh. “Romances make me want to kill myself.”

“Hey, guys. I got a great idea!” Maria called out. “Why don’t we play that game where we each make up several questions, put them in a hat and draw one out randomly, answering them truthfully. That way we can learn a little more about each other.” she said, proud of herself. She thought that it was a great idea. A great way to get to know each other.

“Good suggestion, Maria.” Kyle chimed in. He could tell that everyone wasn’t as happy about it as others were. But it was a good idea. There was twelve of them in Liz’s house and how exactly were they supposed to get to know each other. Just mingle around the room?

“Great idea. Come on guys.” Krit threw in. He liked the idea. He knew practically everyone. But he was curious about Max and Isabel. Especially Max. After all, he wanted to see what kind of a guy Evans was. Krit knew that Evans was willing to do anything to get back together with Liz. But he wanted to make sure that the guy was worthy of his baby sister. After all, Liz had been hurt by Evans too many times.


posted on 24-Apr-2002 12:26:58 AM
Disclaimer: See previous post.

Chapter 14



“So who’s the first victim?” Michael grumbled twenty minutes later. They had all the questions written out and in a hat of Liz’s. He wasn’t all too comfortable with having to answer a question truthfully. Who knew what kind of a question he would draw out? With his luck it would be something intensely personal.

“I’ll go.” Tom offered. He wasn’t too nervous about answering these questions. He just hoped that there was nothing too personal that he had to answer. Even if it was something that he didn’t want to talk about, he would still answer it.

Tom stuck his hand into the hat and pulled out a small white piece of paper. Unfolding the paper, he gave a sigh of relief as he saw the question. “Half empty or half full?” he said, reading the paper.

“Easy ass question. Who wrote that one?” Krit grumbled.

Tom rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well. You’re just jealous that you didn’t get it. Anyway, I’ve been called an eternal optimist. So I’m picking half full.” he said with a grin. Just what he’d hoped for. An easy question. Tom’s smile widened as he held the hat out to Max. “Since I went, I choose who’s next. Your turn, Evans.” he said, eyes flashing all innocently.

Max reluctantly reached out and took the hat out of his hands. He plucked out a piece of paper. Please, don’t let it be too personal. Please, don’t, he asked quietly. Opening the paper, he didn’t know if he should be happy or sad? “Boxers or briefs?” Max scratched his ear before saying anything. “Umm. Both.”

Liz cocked an eyebrow at Cerina, silently asking if that had been her question. But Cerina only shrugged. At Max’s words, Liz’s mind flashed back to the other day when she’d teleported herself to his bathroom. She imagined his golden behind encased in silky boxers or even tight red briefs. Liz let out a tiny sigh at her thought. How the hell was his butt golden? Did he tan nude, she wondered.

Isabel wrinkled her nose. “Over share, Max.” she replied.

Cerina rolled her eyes at Isabel’s words. “Honey, that’s the whole point of the game. Finding out more about each other.” she said, slightly irritated. Isabel didn’t respond to Cerina’s words.

Max watched the two girls, his sisters perplexed. “Okay, I get to pick.” he said, looking around the room. Should he pick Liz or not? “Umm, Maria.” he finally decided.

Maria leaned forward and took the hat out of Max’s hands. She made a show out of grabbing a paper. As she read the question, she laughed out loud. “Wonderful question. What is the most annoying habit that a romantic partner of yours has?

Maria looked at Michael, who was looking rather tense. She blew him a kiss. “Sorry, babe. Now, where to start? He broods a hell of a lot, and tries to baby me by protecting me. Doing things without consulting me, like changing his hair, among other things. Sorry babe, but I hate your hair. The Jesus Christ Superstar look has got to go, I miss the spikes.” she informed them. “Your turn, Michael.” she said, holding the hat out for him.

Michael grabbed the hat from her and sighed. This totally sucked. It was bad enough that Maria had a very personal question, which involved him. Now he’d have to answer a question truthfully. Maybe he should take her suggestion and go back to the spiked look. It’d been a bitch always having to buy gel for them, which was why he’d gone with the long hair. That and because he was lazy.

Silently reading the paper, Michael groaned out loud. No. No freaking way was he going to answer this question. No damn way.

Seeing the look on Michael’s face, Krit grabbed the paper away from him. “What turns you on?” he read laughingly. Sounded like one of Cerina’s questions.

Maria looked at Michael curiously. “‘Fess up, Michael. You have to answer. It’s the point of the game, getting to know each other.” she told him, smiling.

Michael sighed. He knew that there was no way to get out of it. He knew that they wouldn’t leave him alone until he finally told them the truth. “Fine! Alright! When she sucks on my earlobes. Are you happy now?” he said, not meeting anyone’s eyes. He hated this freaking game.

“I do that all the time.” Maria said, grinning wildly.

“Eww.” Liz said, wrinkling her nose. She didn’t need to know that at all. She didn’t need to know what her brother and best friend would do. Eww. And she had actually seen them going at it once. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.

“Your turn, Krit.” Michael said, glaring at him evilly. After all, he’d read the question out loud. He wanted to get some revenge on his brother for what he’d done.

Krit grinned widely as he grabbed the hat. Pulling a paper out, he read it out loud. “Who is the most beautiful person you know (inside and outside)?” That was an easy question. He knew how he would answer that.

“Sorry to hurt your feelings, guys. But the most beautiful person I know is my mom. Stephanie Norris Metzler is the most beautiful person inside and outside. She’s the best mother any guy could have.” Krit informed them. It was true, his mother was.

“Aw, how sweet.” Maria exclaimed. He had to be the only guy who would admit that his mother was the best person he knew. It was kinda cute, she thought to herself with a smile.

“Mama’s boy.” Zack said, laughing at his brother. Though he did agree with Krit. She was the most beautiful person he’d ever known. The warmth that radiated off of her was something wonderful. Though he loved his mother from Antar, he knew that she was gone and he knew that she wouldn’t be angry if he happened to love another mother.

“Bite me.” Krit shot back, rolling his eyes at his brother. “Your turn, Zackie boy.” he said, passing the hat to his brother.

Zack grabbed the hat from his brother unscathed. He took his time drawing out a paper. He grinned widely as he finally read the paper. “What is your favorite color?”

“Easy question.” Kyle mumbled. That was probably one of Michael’s questions.

“Blue, almost any shade of blue. But baby blue. Hate that damn color.” Zack replied, shaking his head. “Your turn, Lizard.” he said, handing the hat to his sister.

Liz took the hat from him and drew out a question. She bit her lip as she read it out loud. “What is your most romantic memory?” Liz looked over at Max and meet his eyes. “Sorry, honey. But I’m gonna give away a few of our secrets from Antar.” she said softly.

Cerina sighed loudly. “No, please don’t. We don’t need to hear about the sex crazed life of you two sex kittens. I still have nightmares of hearing you, two. Especially Zan yelling like he’s fucking Tarzan.” she said dryly.

Max flushed a shade of red at his sister’s words. Of course, he knew that he and Liz had slept together back on Antar. After all, they’d been married and had a child. But he didn’t appreciate Cerina talking this way. It was a bit embarrassing, especially since he had none of his memories, and didn’t know exactly how he should reply to her words. Well, he’d only seen a few things from Liz’s memories and he’d loved what he’d seen. From the flashes he’d gotten, it was obvious that he’d loved her so much. But than again, he couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t been in love with Liz.

Liz elbowed Cerina in the stomach. “Shut up! Your embarrassing him.” she told her friend. Though she did think that Max looked cute in that particular shade of red.

“Bitch!” Cerina said darkly, rubbing the spot where Liz hit her.

“Slut!” Liz threw back, meeting her friend’s eyes. Even though they were exchanging words like this, Liz knew that neither one of them were taking it serious.

“Are you sure that you two aren’t related? You sure fight like you are.” Kyle said, cocking an eyebrow at the two girls.

“Hah! You should have heard them on the ride over. Bitch and moan. Bitch and moan. That’s all they do.” Tom said, grinning at Kyle. He liked the guy; he seemed pretty cool.

“Shut up, Weiland lover.” Cerina said, meeting Tom’s eyes. Liz started chuckling at the expression on Tom’s face.

“I don’t want to know.” Zack threw in. Who knew what the hell Cerina was talking about.

Cerina meet his eyes cooly. “Good cause your not going to know.” she retorted, daring him to test her; daring him to challenge her.

Liz cleared her throat, trying to take the focus off of Zack and Cerina. Their stares at each other were intense. “Okay, can we get back to the subject at hand. Me?” she suggested, pointing to herself.

Cerina looked away from Zack. “Yes, your highness.” she replied sarcastically.

“Yeah, yeah. On with the porn, I mean story.” Kyle encouraged, mock slapping himself on the forehead at his obvious slip up. He thought that it was funny. Max had turned several different shades of red at Cerina’s words.

Liz rolled her eyes at his words. “Hah! Hah! You’re so funny. Like I was saying. This happened back on Antar. Zan and I were dating; one night he surprised me by taking me on a midnight picnic, just the two of us and no one else. It was beautiful outside, the sky was a deep purple color and the stars were twinkling brightly. Afterwards, we were lying on our backs, watching the stars, well at least I was. I looked over at Zan, who was just staring at me, I asked him, ‘What are you thinking about?’ He smiled at me and said, ‘You and how beautiful your eyes are.’ The next thing I knew, he was on bended knee and he was asking me to marry him. It was the most wonderful sweetest romantic thing that ever happened. Max’s serenading me is a close second. There were just a lot of happy memories.” she said, with a little sigh as she thought about that long ago night. She’d given them the PG version of the story, she’d left out the parts where she and Zan had made love twice. They didn’t need to know that.

“Oh, that’s so sweet. Michael, why don’t you ever do anything like that for me?” Maria grumbled. She loved Michael with her entire heart, but sometimes she wished that he could be a little more romantic.

“Because I’m not a sappy, dumb ass.” Michael countered, shaking his head in disgust at Max.

“I’m not a dumb ass. I’m a wonderful romantic. You might want to try it. Apparently, my romantic streak got me laid quite a few times.” Max said, winking at Liz, with mischief in his eyes.

Liz blushed at his words. She hadn’t expected that from him, but she had to admit that she liked it. “He’s right, Michael.” she said, looking at Michael from the corner of her eye.

“Hey! That’s my sister your talking about!” Zack said, scowling at Max.

“No more talk about your sex life. I’m getting nauseated.” Tom said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. He so did not need to hear all of this.

Liz rolled her eyes at them. “Your turn, Cerina.”

Cerina took the hat away from Liz. “Okay. Let’s see what this thing says.” Cerina frowned as she read the question out loud. “Have you, the person you are now, ever been in love?

“No.” Cerina stated, not looking at anyone or with any emotion in her voice. Saying no seemed so much simpler than actually telling everyone about her screwed up feelings for Zack and Alex. And it wasn’t like it was their god damn business anyway. Liz was the only person she’d ever confided to about how she felt. “Your turn, Nathan.”

Nathan took the hat from Cerina. He had known her long enough to know that she was lying. Not that he knew who she would have been in love with, but he knew that she was lying about it though. He wasn’t about to say anything, she probably had her own reasons for lying. “What is your favorite movie?” he said, reading the question out loud.

“That’s an easy question. Bound by Honor with Benjamin Bratt and Jesse Borego. Awesome movie.” Nathan told them.

“Oh! Benjamin Bratt’s so freaking hot!!” Maria said dreamily. He was her favorite actor. Gorgeous, smart, gorgeous, talented, gorgeous.

Cerina shook her head. She didn’t want to be thinking about that stupid fucking question that she drew. “Hell, no. Jesse Borego is one hot guy. I felt so badly for his character. I mean, he got his fucking back broken, and accidentally caused his little brother’s death.” she retorted.

“They’re all hot, even the blonde one. Now, I felt bad for his character. He got the short end of the stick. Had to go to jail, and than his freaking cousin shots off his damn leg.” Liz threw in.

Zack cleared his throat. “Okay, who’s next?” he said. He was still reeling from what Cerina had stated. That she’d never been in love. On Antar, he’d thought that she had a semblance of feelings for him and he’d been convinced that she had some for him here. At least he prayed and hoped for it. It kind of hurt to realize that she didn’t have any feelings for him. Both on Antar and on Earth. Even after that memorable night they’d shared together. A night that haunted his dreams.

Nathan pointed at Isabel. “Your turn, Isabel.” he said, handing her the hat. He had never been close to the royal family back on Antar. He had preferred to stay close to his family. He knew about the rumors about Vilandra’s sexual escapades, and he was curious as to whether or not Isabel was the same as she had been back on Antar.

Isabel took the hat out of his hands. She’d been quiet as she’d listened to what everyone would say. She hated the fact that it seemed like her sister didn’t like her. It must have been all the bad shit she’d done to Cerina back on Antar, whatever that had been. Unfolding the paper, she read it out load. “Which relationship appeals to you more: a wild passionate one or a quiet calm one?

Isabel thought about it for a moment. She honestly didn’t want any kind of relationship because they wouldn’t be with Alex. No relationship she’d ever have would be the same. “I guess a quite, calm one. I’ve had enough excitement to last me a lifetime. I don’t need anymore.” she told them. “Umm, Kyle’s turn.” she said, handing him the hat.

Kyle grabbed the hat from Isabel and quickly unfolded a paper. “If you could go back in time and meet anyone, who would it be and why?

Kyle smiled at the question. He could easily answer it. “That’s easy. I’d go back and meet Buddha. That’s pretty much explanatory. He’s a genius.” he informed them. When he saw that they only stared at him, he insisted. “He’s a genius. Shame on you if you don’t realize that. Okay, Simon, your turn.” he told the quiet young man.

Simon grabbed the hat from Kyle and withdrew one of the papers. “What do you like on your pizza?” After looking at the paper for several moments, he shook his head. “Dumb question.” he muttered.

Shrugging his shoulders, he answered. “Anchovies, peppers and pineapple. Hmm, getting hungry just thinking about it.” Simon rubbed his stomach at his own words.

“If ya’ll are hungry, we can order up some pizza.” Liz informed them. She should have prepared better for this. She should have thought of getting food for this get together. Oh hell. She could order up some pizza now.

“And plenty of milk.” Krit threw in. Despite this semi personal gab fest they were having, which he didn’t like to have to talk about his personal feelings and such, he was having some fun. He’d learned some very interesting things about the others.

“What’s with the milk?” Isabel wondered perplexed. They’d been told a lot of things yesterday, but the milk thing was something new. And she didn’t quite understand it.

“Same thing with your tabasco fixation. We drink a large amount of milk because of the feline DNA injected into us.” Liz informed them.

Maria nodded her head. “Yeah. I always thought it was weird. Liz always drank milk. Not soda but milk.” Maria realized, shaking her head. That was something she hadn’t even known.

“So what are we getting?” Liz asked them. They began to call out what they wanted. Liz rolled her eyes as they went on. Losers, like she could understand what they were saying when they were shouting like a bunch of three year olds.


posted on 24-Apr-2002 12:30:49 AM
Disclaimer: See previous post.

Chapter 15



“I feel so fat!” Krit declared, rubbing his stomach in a soothing motion.

“Yeah! You look it too.” Liz chimed in as she poked him in the belly, Pillsbury Dough boy style.

“Ah! Your hurting my feelings.” Krit cried, pretending to be deeply wounded by her words.

“What feelings?” Michael retorted, cocking an eyebrow at his brother.

Maria suppressed a smile. She’d been watching Michael all night, watching him interact with Liz, Zack, and Krit. It was nice to see Michael enjoying himself, trading insults with each other. Michael finally had the family that he wanted. But a part of her was afraid that since Michael had a family, she’d lose him. Not totally, but a part of him.

“Your kidding?” Max asked as Cerina told him about the high jinks he had done back on Antar. He couldn’t believe that he would do something like that.

“Do I look like I’m kidding?” Cerina said, meeting his eyes.

“I don’t know. We just meet.” Max said, trying to tell if she was kidding or not. Either she was a very good liar or she was telling the truth. He thought that she was telling the truth about it though.

Cerina nodded her head. “Yes, you did that. You put a snake in Vilandra’s bathroom.” she said, smiling at the memory. Zanier had been only eleven years old when he had done that to the so-called mature twelve year old Vilandra. Cerina knew that Zanier had gotten the idea from Troian, who had done the same thing to Bradeon.

“Come on. We’re not done with the game. We’ve only started.” Maria declared, clapping her hands. This was really fun. She was getting to know everyone, and so far she liked everything that she’d seen and heard. Well, the only thing she wondered about was Cerina. Her statement that she had never been in love. Maria knew that she was being silly, but she’d hoped that Cerina had loved Alex. Even though she knew that Cerina hadn’t known Alex.

Michael groaned. “Oh, do we have to?” he grumbled.

“Yes, we do! We’re trying to get to know each other and answering one measly question will not accomplish that.” Liz retorted. She liked this. She liked getting to know more about everyone. She was getting to know her brothers and cousins better. And getting insights on Michael and Isabel (which had surprised her immensely) and Max. She’d liked his question. She’d liked the image that had formed in her head.

Isabel and Krit began gathering the remains of the empty pizza boxes and took them to the kitchen. Looking at the dark haired young man, she frowned. There was something about him that reminded her of Alex. Not so much looks wise, but attitude wise. The jokes he’d make, a gesture or two. “Can I ask you a question?” she said softly.

Krit turned to her with surprise. She’d barely said anything all night. He’d thought that she was still sad over Alex’s death and he hadn’t blamed her for that. With all of them here tonight, he’d been thinking about his missing brother a lot. Alex should have been here, but he wasn’t. “Sure.”

Biting the inside of her cheek, she started. “Was I a horrible person on Antar? I don’t remember and people keep telling me things I’ve done that I don’t even remember. Did I help Khivar?” she asked quietly, hoping to get her answers from him.

Krit debated to himself for a moment if he should tell her or not. “I don’t know if you helped him willingly. I do know that you were involved with him even though you were engaged to marry Rathard. I always thought that you were used. But who knows? Everything was so messed up. Zanier couldn’t cope after Troian’s death. It was like he’d died with them. Everything was just so messed up. We were all so busy with our own lives.” he told her. He knew that he hadn’t told her what she wanted to hear, but that was all that he knew.

Isabel nodded at his words. She knew that he might not have known things about her, but she had to at least try. Try to find out what happened all those years ago. Find out if it was true that she’d been a horrible traitor. “Thanks for telling me what you know.” she said quietly.

Krit nodded. “Yeah. If I was in your shoes, I’d do the same thing. Come on, let’s go back.” he said, smiling at her. He knew that she wasn’t a bad person. He could tell she was just a little lost and afraid. Just like she’d been back on Antar.

Walking back into the living room, Isabel noticed that everyone was sitting down. Max was sitting next to Liz. Isabel frowned as she saw Tom looking at her with the strangest expression on his face. She tried to read him but he looked away. Isabel sat down next to Kyle on the couch.

“I’ll go first!” Maria offered. After all she was the one who wanted to ask more questions. Drawing out a question from the hat, she unwrapped it, reading it out loud. “What is your favorite book?

Maria smiled at the question. “Oh, that’s an easy one. Anthem by Ayn Rand. Great wonderful book. They made us read it in 10th grade and I’ve read it at least 30 times since than. I love it.”

“Have you read the Fountainhead? Now, that’s a great book.” Nathan asked with a shy smile to the pretty blonde.

Maria shook her head. “No, that books like a thousand pages. I never had the time to read it. You know, dodging evil aliens. Umm, Kyle’s turn.” she said with a smirk. It was a miracle that she was passing her classes as it is with all the stuff that had gone on.

Kyle took the hat from Maria and pulled out a question. Unfolding the question, he read it out loud. “How far have you gone?

“Alright. I’m going to be honest with all of you. Please don’t kill me. This was before I found Enlightenment with Buddha. Home room with Vicky Delaney and um, second base with Liz.” Kyle said, anticipating some anger.

“You what?! You and Liz went that far?!” Zack said angrily. He didn’t like that one bit.

“What do you consider second base?” Cerina asked curiously.

Kyle scratched his forehead as he thought it for a moment. “Well, first base is just general kissing. Second base is some Frenching with some light petting. You know, just ‘accidentally’ brush your hand against her breast. Third base is lots of Frenching and heavier petting. You know, just outright touching her breasts and even places south of the border. All of you know what a home room is. At least I’d hope so.” Kyle finished with a wink.

Max was glaring at Kyle. He knew about it, because Kyle had told him last Valentine’s Day, but he didn’t like it. He didn’t like the idea of Liz kissing Valenti or Valenti accidentally touching Liz’s breasts. Even though Max wanted to be the only one, he knew that he wasn’t. But he knew that he would be the only one to marry her; that she would be the only woman to ever have his children. And that made him feel better.

Liz rolled her eyes at him. “Oh yes. Those times he ‘accidentally’ touched my breasts, I ‘accidentally’ punched him in the stomach with my elbow and that one time I ‘accidentally’ kneed him in the groin. But he didn’t tell you that.” Liz said with an evil grin.

Kyle shook his head. “Let’s not talk about that. It’s painful even to think about it. Isabel, your turn.” he said, handing her the hat.

Isabel suppressed her grin at Liz’s words and took the hat from him. “If you had a crystal ball, what’s the one thing you’d like to know about the future and why?

Isabel nodded. That was an easy question for her to answer. “Whether or not we will defeat Nicholas, the Skins and Tess. I want to know that they will pay. That they will get what they deserve. That she will pay for every dirty rotten thing that she’s ever done!” Isabel said, the anger apparent in her words.

Cerina had to admit that she agreed with Isabel’s answer. That was something that she’d want to know herself. She wanted to know that Tess would be dealt with; that Tess would pay for her part in Alex’s murder. She knew that they’d make Tess pay, but she’d want to know for sure. She wanted to know if she would be the one to take care of Tess personally. She wanted to take care of Tess personally.

Isabel realized that everyone’s eyes were on her, but she didn’t care. Not at all. She’d answered the question as truthfully as possible. This was how she really felt. It was what she wanted to know. “Max, your turn.” she said, handing him the hat.

Max took the hat away from her with a concerned look. He’d agreed 100% with her words. He’d want to know the same thing. Pulling a question, he read it out loud. “If you had the chance to fix one mistake, would you do it?

Max sighed. “Just one? I’ve made so many that it’s not funny. Yes, I would. I would change what I’ve done. Maybe than a lot of things might be different.” Max told them. Maybe everything would have been different. If he had never pushed Liz away in the first place, than maybe they would have been inseparable when Tess came to town, proclaiming the he was hers. Maybe they would have never broken up when they learned about his so called destiny from his mother. Maybe Liz would never have been kidnaped and . . . .

NO! Don’t do this to yourself, Max. Don’t. Imagining what might have been would get him nowhere. Nowhere at all. “Your turn, Liz.” he said, handing her the hat.

Liz took the hat away from him, flashing him a smile. She didn’t like that question. She hated imagining what could have been. It was a stupid question, because it would never happen. Drawing out a paper, she read it. “What is the single most significant turning point in your life?

With a smile to Max, she began. “I would have to say that the single most significant turning point in my life is when Max saved my life. It began everything in my life. It started me one a journey that hasn’t even finished. It gave me the love of my life back, it gave me two new friends.” she said, with a smile to Isabel and Michael. “It made my bond stronger to Maria and Alex. It also gave me back my brothers and my cousins, and maybe even my father.”

Max smiled at her and grabbed her hand, squeezing it in his own. He loved her more than words. She was just everything to him. And her answer just had him bursting with love. He would make sure that she’d never regret what happened. Her words came flooding back to him. I wish that you never ever saved my life, because that was the day you destroyed it! He knew that she had said that in anger; anger at him for the horrible things that he had said to her. But it hurt as he thought about it. He’d make sure that she would never regret the day that he saved her life. Saving her life had also been the most significant turning point in his life.

Liz smiled at Max as he began to gently rub her hand with his thumb. She knew that she wanted to go slow with him because of everything that had happened, but sometimes she had the urge to rip his clothes off of him and make love to him. Sometimes Liz wanted to feel his hands on her body, while other times she didn’t want for anyone to touch her. Liz didn’t know what to do about her screwed up feelings. She was so confused about it. Stop thinking about that, she ordered herself. “Cerina, your next.” Liz finally said, shaking herself out of her thoughts.

Taking the hat out of Liz’s hands, Cerina quickly unfolded her question. “Where did you live for most of your childhood life?

Cerina rolled her eyes at the question. But at least it wasn’t anything else super personal. She was still fuming over the question that she had to answer last time. She was going to find out who had written that question and give them a little smack down. “13201 Glen Oaks Drive in Artesia, New Mexico. Parents are Todd Travers a.k.a. Rohan and Janelle.” she informed them. “Your turn, Tommy.” she said, handing him the hat.

Tom took the hat willingly out of her hands. Looking at his question, he groaned out loud. “What was your biggest childhood fear?

He glared at Liz, shaking his head. “I bet that was your question, Lizzard. Fine. I’ll tell you. Snakes. Okay. Snakes have always freaked me out. And it’s all her fault.” he declared, pointing his finger at Liz.

Liz gave a small gasp and pretended to look wounded. “Me? What on Earth could I have done to make you afraid of snakes?” she asked innocently, even though she knew what she had done.

“You put that snake in my bed back on Antar. It was shortly after I came to stay with you. You had to be about nine years old, and you put that damn snake in there to scare me. You scarred me for life, you know that?” Tom said, shaking his head at her.

Max smiled at Liz. “Really? You did that? Cerina says I did the same thing to Isabel back on Antar. I must have gotten that idea from you.” he said.

Liz nodded. “You did. She was being such a meanie, so you decided to get revenge on her. I told you about what I had done to Bradeon and you decided to do the same thing. Only you put the snake in the bath tub instead of the bed. And you got in trouble for doing that. Your mom was angry at you, whereas my dad only laughed about it. Ah, memories.” she recalled, with a tilt of her head.

Krit groaned. “Oh no. She’s going to start singing, isn’t she? Please, no Liz. Don’t sing. Don’t sing.” he pleaded with her.

“Okay, Nay Dog it’s your turn.” Tom said, handing Nathan the hat.

Nathan took the hat away from Tom with a smile. “If you could date anyone in the world who would it be?

Nathan bit the inside of his cheek at the question. He knew that he would have to tell the truth about it. “Alright. It wouldn’t be an actress or a model, or anyone remotely famous. It would be Jerica O’Connor.” he informed them, with a shy smile. Jerica O’Connor had been one of the most popular girls in school. He’d always liked her, but he’d never had the guts to even talk to her.

“Who’s Jerica O’Connor?” Isabel asked curiously. She was still a bit shocked that this tall, well built guy seemed to be super shy. She had to admit that it was a little cute.

“Jerica O’Connor was one of the most popular girls in our school. Cheerleader, sex personified. Beautiful red head with a killer body.” Zack informed them with a smile. He had to admit that Jerica was one beautiful girl, but he would have answered the question differently. He would have said Cerina. Well, not if he had gotten that question himself. He would have said someone else, like Angelina Jolie.

Nathan felt himself redden at Zack’s words about Jerica. She was a great person, and he wished that he knew her much better. But with his entire life so screwed with the past, it had been hard to let anyone besides the people in the room into his life. “Your turn, Krit.” he said, handing the hat over to Krit.

Krit happily accepted the hat. He hadn’t known that Nathan liked Jerica. Maybe he could try to help his buddy out. He had gone out on a date with Jerica way back in ninth grade and they had stayed friends over the years. “What’s your favorite holiday?” Krit smirked at the question. “Easy. My birthday.”

Michael shook his head. “That is not a holiday.” he retorted, rolling his eyes at his brother.

“Actually, his birthday is pretty close to a holiday. June 21 is midsummer. The summer solstice, in honor of the Sun God. It’s supposed to promote fertility of animals and crops.” Liz informed them. When they only looked at her curiously. “It was a holiday that was celebrated back on Antar. There were only eight holidays celebrated: Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Midsummer, Lamma, Mabon and Samhain.”

Max frowned at her words. Beltane. The word sounded so familiar to him. He didn’t think that he had heard it before, but it sounded really familiar. He shook his thoughts away. He didn’t like thinking about Antar; it made everything all too real for him. Not that he was opposed of Liz having been his wife. But he hated to think about that she and their daughter had died at the hands of that bitch Tess.

Krit smiled at Liz. “Thanks for the history lesson, baby sister. Now, it’s Simon’s turn.” he informed his cousin, handing over the hat.

Simon took the hat away from Krit. Drawing out a question, he unfolded it. “If you could be a comic book character, who would you be and why?

Simon grinned. “Oh, now that’s an easy question. I would be Cyclops from X Men. He’s a leader, he’s got a great woman by his side, super cool powers. Though he did have to deal with that crazy chick Madeline. I’d still pick him.” he told them. X Men was his favorite comic book. He collected them since he was little. “Michael, your turn.”

Michael took the hat out of Simon’s hand. With a groan, he pulled out a paper. Quickly unfolding it, he read it aloud. “What was the one thing you wanted as a child, but never received?

Michael stared at the paper for a moment, contemplating if he should tell the truth about it or not. “I wanted a family. A family that I could call my own. It took me a few years, but I have them now. A bratty little sister, three annoying brothers, two likeable cousins.” he said with a small smile. And Alex, his lost brother. He would never forget about all the times that he’d had with Alex, which unfortunately hadn’t been a lot. But he would remember Alex corny jokes in tense moments, and his protective streak over Maria. He would never forget his brother. Never! “Your turn, Zack.” he said, handing the hat over to his blonde haired brother.

Zack leaned forward and took the hat away from Michael, giving him a smile. He was sad by Michael’s answer. Michael had gone through so many years alone, with his family. True, he had Max and Isabel, but they weren’t his real family. Zack knew that he and the others would make sure that Michael was never alone again. With a look towards Maria, Zack knew that Michael would never be alone, not with her at his side. “What is the difference between love, romance and sex?

Cocking an eyebrow, he answered. “Well, I think that love is when you can’t imagine what your life would be like without that person in your life. When that person makes you so much better than you are; when that person completes a part of you. Romance is a necessity to a relationship. It’s something I’ve learned, women like to be romanced. Wined and dined, to feel that they are special. Sex, and not making love is just a physical thing. Sometimes people confuse the two, but when your heart is not involved, when you don’t love that person that you are with, than it’s sex.” Zack informed them. His words were directed entirely at Cerina. And he could tell that she knew it.

Cerina tried not to look at Zack. She knew that he had been talking to her. But she didn’t care. She had finally come to a decision throughout the night. Whatever her feelings for Zack were, she was not going to act upon them. She couldn’t— wouldn’t do this to Alex. She wouldn’t get involved with his brother. It wasn’t right. Not one bit.

Liz opened her mouth to reply to her brother’s words, when a knock on the door interrupted her. Her mouth was wide open at the knock. Who could it be? Who would come to her home at night?

Kyle jumped up at the sound and walked to the door. If it was a bad guy, than he didn’t want them to get hurt. After all, he wasn’t as important as Max or Liz were. If anything happened to him, than they would have a little time to get themselves prepared. “I’ll get it.”

“No. Kyle, don’t!” Isabel protested to her friend. She didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. He had been there for her throughout the past weeks, and she didn’t want for him to get hurt by her enemies.

Looking through the peep hole, Kyle was shocked at who he saw there. Throwing the door open, he sneered. “What are you doing here?” he question, his displeasure apparent in his words.


posted on 30-Apr-2002 9:24:16 PM
Disclaimer: See previous post.


Chapter 16



“What are you doing here?” Kyle repeated, meeting Sheriff Hanson’s eyes. He had never liked the man. He’d always thought of him as an ass kisser. He didn’t like this man one bit. He had taken his father’s job and that was something that Kyle would never forgive.

“Hello, Kyle. I’ve come to talk to Liz and her parents. They are home, aren’t they?” Hanson asked, trying to look into the living room.

Michael walked to the door and glared at Hanson. “Why do you want to talk to Liz?” he questioned harshly. He didn’t know why this man wanted to talk to his sister. Did it have something to do with Liz’s cover story? What if he knew something? No, he couldn’t know anything. They had gotten rid of Sean’s body, Valenti had burned down the cabin and the night gown that Liz had been wearing. All the evidence was gone, so why the hell was this guy here?

Liz bit her lip upon hearing Hanson’s words. She knew that he was going to ask her questions about what had happened. He’d ask her who had beat her up. She didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t like to think about it. Now, Hanson was going to ask her all about it. Liz reluctantly let go of Max’s hand and walked to the door with her head held high.

“I’m right here. Can someone go get my parents? They’re downstairs in the office, I think.” Liz said, opening the door a bit wider to look Hanson in the eye. At Liz’s words, Tom nodded his head and went out the front door.

“Sorry to interrupt the party, but it’s very important that we discuss this, Liz. I’ve left several messages on your answering machine, but no one has answered.” Hanson explained to the girl.

Liz nodded, not bothering to answer him. She knew that she would have to get rid of him, somehow. She’d have to think of some lie to his questions. Liz turned towards the others. “Can you guys go, give us some time?”

Zack shook his head. “No. We’re not going to go anywhere.” he declared, glaring at Hanson. He didn’t like that his guy was here demanding answers. It would bring back all of Liz’s memories of what had happened to her. She didn’t need any more reminders of what she had gone through.

Max walked towards Liz and touched her arm gently. “He’s right. We’re not going anywhere.” he turned his attention to Hanson and shook his head. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Hanson was befuddled. He didn’t understand why these kids were refusing to leave Liz’s side. Well, on one hand he did. She had gone through something really bad and they didn’t want to leave her alone. But he was going to try to get justice for her. He would bring her attacker to justice. Shouldn’t she be eager to help him out?

Liz shot Zack a look, urging him to leave her. She knew that Hanson was probably getting suspicious. //Zack, Krit. You guys have to go. Hanson’s probably going to get suspicious that you don’t want to leave. I can handle him. I know I can. I’ll just tell him some lie. He can’t know anything at all.// Liz told them silently, wondering if Michael could hear them.

//I don’t think that Mike can hear us.// Krit told her with a smile.

//Okay, Liz. We’ll go. Your right. He’s probably questioning why we’re refusing to leave your side. We can’t let anyone else get suspicious. Who knows what this rodent will do?// Zack consented finally.


Zack looked around the room. “Come on, guys. We should go. They need to talk to Hanson alone.” he started moving his hands impatiently, when no one was moving. “Well, don’t just stand there. Go!” he urged them.

Everyone but Max, Liz and Hanson began moving. Michael didn’t want to leave her. He didn’t think that he should leave Liz right now. Krit saw this and slapped his brother on the back.

“She’ll be okay, Mike. Evans better keep an eye on her or I’ll kick his ass. She’ll be okay.” Krit said in a low voice. With a wave to Liz, he told her. “We’ll be downstairs getting some ice cream.” As he walked down the stairs, he passed Mr. and Mrs. Parker.

Max held Liz’s hand in his own. He didn’t understand why Hanson was coming here quite so late? It had to be sometime after seven o’clock. He watched as Mr. and Mrs. Parker walked through the door, closing it behind them.

“Can you leave Mr. Evans. It should just be Liz and her parents?” Hanson said, with a look at Liz and Max, who were holding hands. From the looks of it, Max had no intention of leaving.

“No!” Liz protested. She didn’t think that she could do this without Max present. She needed him to be right beside her. She needed his encouragement and his strength. She knew that she had her parents and as grateful as she was for that, she needed Max. And only Max.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Max said, tightening his hold on Liz’s hand. No one would make him leave Liz right now. He’d promised himself that he wouldn’t abandon her again and he wasn’t. Fuck whoever tried to make him leave.

Hanson sighed agitated. From the looks of it, there was no changing their minds. He looked to Mr. and Mrs. Parker, trying to get their help. But they didn’t look helpful. “Mr. and Mrs. Parker, really this is something that needs to be discussed in private. I think it’d be best if Max left us alone.”

Jeff shook his head. He knew that there was no point in asking Max to leave. He knew that Max wouldn’t leave Liz. And Jeff was happy about that. Liz needed Max right now. “If Max doesn’t stay, than I guess you won’t be talking to my daughter.” he told Hanson unflinching.

Hanson turned to Mrs. Parker, pleading with her to try to talk some sense into her husband and daughter. “Mrs. Parker, this isn’t protocol.” he insisted.

“Screw protocol. My daughter wants him here and if he doesn’t stay than you will not talk to her.” Nancy said forcefully, letting him know that nothing would change her mind. Well, only one thing would change her mind. Liz. If Liz wanted Max here, than Nancy would let the boy stay.

Despite all of her efforts last year to keep Liz away from Max, she knew that it was futile. She’d never be able to keep them away from each other. The only thing she wanted for her daughter was for her to be safe and happy. If she wasn’t with Max than she wasn’t happy. And hell, with and without Max, Liz still wasn’t safe.

“Alright. Fine, Mr. Evans can stay. Can you tell me what happened Liz? How did you get injured?” Hanson asked.

Liz took in a deep breathe. Could she tell him the lie she’d told before? Could she ruin Sean DeLuca’s name that way? Have him forever known as a monster? As a rapist? As an attempted murderer? She couldn’t. She couldn’t do that.

“Alright. It’s true that I left town with Sean DeLuca, but he wasn’t the one who did this to me.” Liz told him. At her words, she felt Max tighten his grip on her hand in surprise. She could feel everyone’s eyes on her.

Hanson frowned at her words. From what he knew DeLuca had been the one. And he couldn’t believe what she was telling him. “If Sean DeLuca didn’t do this to you, Liz. Than who did?”

Max knew what she was doing and he loved her for it. She didn’t want everyone to think badly about Sean. Because even if it had been DeLuca’s body, it hadn’t been the real Sean. The real Sean had died, thanks to Khivar. Max loved Liz for what she was doing.

Liz bit her lip. “I don’t know who it was. Sean and I— we got into a fight and I left. I was an idiot. I started to hitchhike. I got a ride with some guy. He seemed like he was a nice guy. But he did something to me. He gave me something. I don’t remember much of what happened.” she told him. It wasn’t a total lie. Khivar had done something to her.

“How long were you with him, Liz?” Hanson questioned her, as he wrote everything she was saying on a small notepad.

Liz shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know I’m not too sure. It was after Alex died.” she said quietly, trying to appear all defenseless and lost for Hanson.

Max wrapped his arm around Liz’s shoulders. She looked so tiny and lost. Just having her talk about this was bringing back all of his anger for himself. If only he hadn’t let himself be so defenseless against Tess; so easy to be manipulated.

“Liz was gone for nine days, that’s including her being with Sean. We thought that she was staying with my sister Meg in Florida.” Nancy threw in, with a look to Liz.

“So many about a week or even a few days. I’m really not too sure. My sense of time was all screwed up.” Liz replied, biting her lip.

“So this man that you have no idea who he is, is the one that attacked you. He held you hostage for several days. Besides beating you, did he do anything else?” Hanson asked, trying to read her expression.

Liz clenched her jaw at his question. No! She didn’t want anyone to know what had happened. It wasn’t something she wanted the whole damn world to know about. “No. Nothing else besides that.” she finally said.

Hanson watched her with sympathetic eyes. He’d been pretty sure that she had been raped. From what the doctors had said of how she’d acted at the hospital; not allowing anyone to touch her. And he knew that she wouldn’t want to press charges. Not a great deal of women and girls pressed charges against their attackers. “Are you sure, Liz?”

Liz let out a dry laugh. “Yeah, I think I’m pretty damn sure. After all, it happened to me.”

“Well, if you can give us a description of the guy, we can press charges against him. Assault, battery, attempted murder.” Hanson told her.

Liz shook her head. “No! I don’t want to. I don’t want to have to relive the nightmare over agin. I can’t— I won’t.” Liz told him strongly.

“We can make a case, Liz. It will be your word against his own. Hopefully, wherever he took you still has some evidence. Cause I’ve been told by the hospital that the evidence has disappeared. All of the evidence regarding your attack, Liz. Do you have any idea what could have happened to it?” Hanson questioned, watching Liz intently. He was disgusted that the hospital could have lost the evidence.

Liz frowned at his words, she shook her head. “Sorry, I don’t know anything about it. I mean, gosh, how stupid can a hospital be to lose evidence.” she wondered. Than it hit her. Her dad! After all, he’d done it before. Why wouldn’t he do it again?

Hanson shook his head. “I don’t know. But it’s all gone. The nightgown, the records, everything that the Midway hospital took care of. We’re going to have to contact your own doctor since he examined you afterwards.” Hanson replied.

Liz shook her head again. “No. I don’t want to press charges. I don’t want to go through all of it. It’s too much. Please, I can’t.” Liz protested tearfully. She was trying to give the best performance of her life. She was turning on the waterworks for him, trying to get him out of her house.

“Mr. Parker, Mrs. Parker. It’ll be better if Liz presses charges.” Hanson began, only to stop once he saw Mrs. Parker glaring at him.

Jeff shook his head. “No! My daughter doesn’t want to press charges. She doesn’t want anyone to know about what happened. Even if she did, you can’t promise her secrecy.”

“What if he comes after her again?” Hanson demanded, hoping that he could scare her into pressing charges.

“He won’t! He won’t come anywhere near her.” Max said loudly. He wanted Hanson to leave already. Max could tell that Liz was getting upset and he didn’t like it one bit. Besides, Khivar would never touch Liz again, since he was dead. Besides, if Khivar wasn’t dead, than Max would have killed him himself.

“Liz told you what happened, Sheriff Hanson. She won’t press charges, now would you please leave. You’ve already upset my daughter enough. Please leave.” Nancy said angrily, standing up to usher Hanson out of her home. She didn’t like this one bit. She hated to see her daughter in pain. She wanted Hanson to leave Liz alone. He should be damn lucky that they’d even allowed him into their home.

“If you don’t press charges than something like this can happen to someone else. Could you live with that Liz? Knowing that you could have stopped something from happening but didn’t?” Hanson said as Jeff Parker began to push him out of the door.

Liz couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had done her part. She had saved the whole fucking planet from aliens before. Now this man was trying to make her feel guilty about something that wasn’t even a problem. NO! She wouldn’t be talked to this way. Khivar wouldn’t have the chance to do something like this to someone else. He was dead. She’d killed him. He’d never have the chance to hurt anyone else.

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Liz screeched at him, wanting him to go away. To stop talking to her. He didn’t know anything. Anything at all. He didn’t know about all of the sacrifices that she had made over the year. He didn’t know.

Max kept his arm tightly around Liz. Her anger was radiating off of her. Hanson had said the wrong thing. Liz had done enough. She didn’t need this scrawny, pathetic man try to make her feel guilty.

Jeff gave Hanson one last push out the door and shut it behind him. Jeff sighed angrily. He wished that he could have mind warped Hanson. But he knew that if he did something like that than there would be a lot of questions asked why Hanson wasn’t following up on Liz’s case.

“Daddy, have you been pretending to be a woman again?” Liz asked, with a grin, breaking the tense silence in the room.

“What?” Max asked shocked by Liz’s question.

Jeff let out a laugh as he turned around to face his daughter. He hadn’t expected her to say that. “No. That wasn’t all me. I did get your records though.” he informed them.

“What?” Max repeated, still shocked.

Nancy smiled at the expression on the boy’s face. It was priceless. “Oh, Max. So much you don’t know. Jeffrey has taken care of quite a few things throughout the years. When you and Liz were in that accident last year, who do you think took care of everything. We knew all about yours and Alex’s blood swapping. Jeff had to switch Alex’s blood with a humans. Michael doesn’t know that Jeff had to shift into a woman. I don’t think that Michael would think it’s very funny that the woman he thought he had been flirting with to switch the blood was actually Jeff.” she told him.

“What?” Max repeated, trying to understand what he was being told.

Liz laughed at Max’s face. “Oh, honey. Daddy just pretended to be a woman to get Alex’s blood sample. Do you know what happened to all the stuff Hanson was talking about?” she asked curiously.

Max blinked several times, still trying to absorb what he’d been told. “Oh, yeah. Valenti took some stuff. You know that we burned the body and the nightgown. We don’t have anything to worry about. Nothing will be found. Well, we still have to worry about that loser Hanson trying to find out what really happened. Why didn’t you tell him that it had been Sean?” he asked, though he suspected that he already knew the answer.

“I couldn’t let people think that Sean had done that to me. It wasn’t Sean, it was Khivar. Sean didn’t deserve his memory to be screwed up that way.” Liz explained softly. She didn’t want Amy or Maria to have to hear bad things about Sean, especially since he hadn’t done any of it.

Nancy nodded. She had suspected as much. She loved her daughter for what she had done. “That was nice to you, Lizzie. Are you okay?”

Liz nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine. Really. Can you guys give Max and me some time to talk?” she asked, smiling at her parents.

Jeff and Nancy shared a look, trying to decide if they should. Finally, Jeff nodded. “Alright, sweetie. Come on, Nance.” he said, taking Nancy’s hand in his own.

Liz waited until her parents were gone before she turned to meet Max’s eyes. He looked at her questioningly. “We haven’t had a lot of time to talk about things, Max. Sorry about that. There’s still so much that needs to be said. And we need some time alone to talk about everything.” she told him quietly.

Max nodded at her words. If she hadn’t said it, than he would have. If they were supposed to be getting back together than they needed to talk to each other; find out what the other was feeling. “Yes. We need to, Liz. How about tomorrow night? Just the two of us?” he asked, not really knowing how she would answer his question. Would she feel comfortable to be alone with him?

Liz nodded. “I’d really like that.” she informed him with a shy smile. She wanted to talk to him with no one around. They hadn’t had any chance to. And there was so much that they needed to talk about. So much that had happened. Liz took a step closer to him. “Max, I want to kiss you.” she said, suddenly feeling shy.

Max didn’t say anything for a moment. Finally, he nodded and moved closer to her.

They each leaned in, and touched lips, sweetly and innocently. But than Liz reached up and pulled Max’s mouth more firmly against hers. She opened her lips and pressed her tongue against the line of his mouth. Max had started opening his mouth when a front door was thrown opened, and they yanked apart.

Michael narrowed his eyes at the scene in front of him. Had Max just been kissing his sister? He definitely have to have a talk with his friend about that.

Cerina looked between Max and Liz and suppressed a smile. “So we having a sleep over tonight, Lizzie?” she asked, trying to take some of the pressure off of Max and Liz.

“Why not? My house has become Grand Central Station. So are we going to go shopping tomorrow, Cerina?” Liz asked her friend, thankful that Cerina wasn’t saying anything about how she and Max had been caught.

Maria nodded. “I think that we should. Just us girls. What do you say Isabel?” She had say that Cerina and Isabel weren’t all that comfortable around each other. And she hoped that maybe this would help them out. Maria had the feeling that they would never be great friends, but she didn’t want them to hate each other.

Isabel shook her head. “Sorry, I can’t ditch school or anything. You know, early graduating and all. Sorry.” she said, even though she was anything but.

Liz nodded. “Okay. Sorry you can’t come with us, Isabel.” she said softly. She was about to say more when her parents came back into the room.

Jeff smiled at the kids. It felt so great to see that they were back together. All of them. “Guys, I think it’s time for you to go. It’s getting late.” he told them. When they groaned, his smile widened. “I know. I know. Time to go kids.”

At Jeff’s words, Max turned to Liz and ran a hand through her hair. “So I’ll come by tomorrow, about 6:00 o’clock?” he asked.

Liz nodded. “That’s great.”

“You be careful tomorrow. Okay?” Max told her softly.

“We’ll be fine. They won’t let anything happen to me. I love you, Max.” Liz said quietly.

Max felt his heart constrict at her words. It felt so wonderful to hear those words out of Liz’s mouth. He’d thought that he might never hear it again. “I love you, too.”

“Sorry to interrupt you two love birds, but it’s time for you to leave, Maxwell.” Michael said, motioning towards the door.

“You staying over tonight, Michael?” Nancy asked.

Liz didn’t pay any attention to everyone else. She watched as Max reluctantly left, with the others. She couldn’t wait until tomorrow night. They would actually talk to each other. About everything. About their life on Antar. About Khivar. About everything. If Liz told him about all the things that Khivar had done, would Max look at her differently?


posted on 29-May-2002 12:41:53 AM
Disclaimer: Stand By Me belongs to Ben E. King.


Chapter 17



“Are you going to buy that?” Cerina asked Maria, pointing at the shirt that Maria was studying intently. Hell, if Maria wouldn’t buy it than she would. It would go great with a pair of her leather pants.

“Yes. I’m going to buy that.” Maria said, holding the shirt to her protectively. Maria looked around trying to find Liz. “Hey, where’s Liz?”

Cerina pointed to the far right of the store. She grinned as she saw Liz looking at the bra section of Victoria’s Secret. “Maxie boy is going to love me. I mean, I think that Liz already has a basket full of things. Slips, camisoles, chemises, and lets not forget the main item, bras.”

Maria grabbed Cerina by one arm and they began walking over to Liz. Zack, Tom and Krit had gone along with them to the mall. At this very moment, they were standing outside of the store. They hadn’t wanted to come into the store, since it was all girly and stuff. Michael had wanted to go with them, but Maria had convinced him that he had to go to school. Maria knew that he wouldn’t want to go. But after almost half an hour, she had convinced him to go to school.

“Hey, Liz! Find anything interesting?” Maria said as they approached Liz.

Liz turned and meet Maria’s eyes. “You know I did. Victoria’s Secret is going to have so much of my money. I got slips, camisoles, chemises, panties, a couple of shirts. Now I just need to find some bras. But there’s just so many to choose from. Which should I get?” she said. She held a basket full of clothes in one hand.

“I always liked the Miracle Bra. It gave me that oomph that I don’t have.” Maria stated, pointing to her chest.

“It’s all about the Second Skin Satin line. Now, that’s a great bra. You should get that one.” Cerina informed them. In the time that she had gotten to know Maria, Cerina liked her a lot. She could see why Liz was friends with her.

Liz turned back to the wall and shrugged. “I sort of like this European lingerie. With the animal prints. What do you think?” she said.

Maria began coughing at Liz’s words. “Liz, hon. That comes with a garter belt and a thong. You really going to wear that?” she asked astounded. She couldn’t believe that she was hearing this from her innocent friend’s mouth.

Liz meet her friend’s eyes again. “I know that, Maria. Of course, I’d wear it. Otherwise, what’s the point in buying something, you’re never going to wear.”

“So, you look to be about a C cup, Liz. Let’s try to find some for you. Than we’re going to go back to your house and find the most perfect outfit to wear for your night of passion with my brother.” Cerina said, taking control of the situation. She watched with a smile as Liz’s cheeks flushed at her words.

“Cerina!” Liz exclaimed.

“Oh, come on, chica. We’re going to make this one night that you and Max Evans won’t forget.” Maria declared, grabbing her friend by her arm and leading her to the dressing room. She knew that Liz and Max weren’t together yet, but tonight was just the first step in them getting back to where they were. Well, not exactly. They could never get back to that. Because that was gone.

Liz smiled. “You guys are the best. I’m just so nervous about tonight. I want everything to be perfect. But I– I’m afraid that if he knows about everything that Khivar did to me that he won’t ever look at me the same. That he might be disgusted by what happened.” she admitted.

“But Liz, he hasn’t looked at you any differently because of what happened, has he?” Maria asked, slightly confused.

Liz shook her head. “But he doesn’t know everything. He doesn’t know everything that has happened. And if I don’t tell him about it all, than it’s always going to be stuck between us. And I don’t want that. But I’m just scared when I do tell him everything, he’ll look at me differently.” she explained.

“Liz, it’ll be okay. He loves you. That dumb ass brother of mine loves you. He knows that you went through a horrendous thing, and he understands that. And he’s going to stay by your side no matter what. And if he doesn’t, I will go medieval on his ass.” Cerina told her friend.

Liz shook her head at Cerina’s words. “Okay, come on. Let’s go try on some bras. We can talk about all of this later on.” she urged her friends. She hoped that what Cerina was saying was true. Liz didn’t know what she would do if she didn’t have Max by her side. She didn’t feel quite as capable as she was without him at her side. He was her strength.


****************************



Max was so nervous. He wanted everything to be perfect for Liz. Tonight was their night. All about them and no one else. He wanted everything to go smoothly. He had everything planned for tonight. Liz had actually given him the suggestion about it.

He planned for them to have a picnic in the desert. He wasn’t trying to replicate the night from Antar for Liz. But from Liz’s words last night, she’d loved that night. And Max wanted to give her that night again. Well, he wasn’t going to ask her to marry him or anything. That was way too soon. They weren’t ready for that. Hell, they weren’t even together, yet.

Tonight they would learn more about each other. And maybe, just maybe after tonight they would be together like he wanted to. He wanted to show that her that he would never leave her. That he was going to stand by her side through everything. Through her bad memories of her imprisonment by Khivar. Everything.

Max dressed warmly in khakis and a green t-shirt with a green sweater over it. Though the days were hot, the nights were cool. He didn’t want to chance him getting cold. He had everything all set up. He had the blanket in his Jeep already, a couple of thermal lamps, the basket of food that he had made for them. Tonight was going to be so perfect. He’d make it a night that Liz would never ever forget.


****************************



Max stood nervously outside of Liz’s apartment. He wanted this to be like a normal date, so he’d come to the front door instead of going to her balcony. They had no reason to hide their relationship anymore. No one was going to stop them from being together. No one at all.

A moment later, the front door was pulled open. A grinning Tom opened the door. “Hey, Max. Come on in.” he said, urging Max to come forward. Once Max was inside, he shut the door behind him.

Max looked around the room, and noticed that Zack, Krit, Michael and Tom were in the room. Where were Simon and Nathan? “Hey, where’s Simon and Nathan?” he asked curiously.

Krit shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, they went back home to Artesia. You know, having us all here, might draw more attention than we need.” he informed Max.

Max nodded. He understood. Max noticed that they had started to come closer to him. He smiled nervously at them. They were surrounding him like he was some kind of animal that they were going to attack. If he thought that this would be easy, than he had been wrong. It wasn’t anywhere near easy. Not with these guys around.

Max looked to Michael, to help him out. But Michael didn’t look to be any help at all. What a great friend, Max thought to himself. “Are you guys going to hurt me?”

Zack meet Max’s eyes with a hard look in his. “Unfortunately, no! Look, the only reason that I’m agreeing to you seeing my sister, because I know that I can’t stop Liz. She loves your dumb stupid ass. But if you ever—“

”Ever—“ Krit continued harshly.

“—hurt Liz—“ Tom went on, with a deadly look in his eyes.

“I will, without hesitation, tear off your head.” Zack finished. He didn’t care what Liz would think because they were here warning Max about what he’d do. They didn’t want to see Liz hurt anymore than she already had been.

Michael wasn’t satisfied with their words to Max. He had seen Liz come home with all of those bags from Victoria’s Secret. He meet Max’s eyes. “If you touch my sister in any sexual sort of way, I will rip off your balls and force them down your damn throat. Got me, buddy?” he said with a glower.

Max bit down on his tongue at his friend’s words. Hell, Michael was sure acting like a big brother. If Isabel thought that he was bad, wait till she find out about Michael. Max opened his mouth to reply back to their words, when he heard Cerina’s voice call out.

“Okay, close your eyes, Max. The queen is about to come out. Ready?” Cerina called out, laughing as she almost tripped over Maria’s feet.

Max didn’t do as Cerina said. He smiled brightly as he watched Liz enter the room. She looked so beautiful. She was wearing blue pants and a white halter top. “Hey, you look wonderful.” he told her, forgetting about everyone else in the room. All he could see was her.

Liz smiled at him. “So do you.” As much as she loved his casual style, sometimes she couldn’t help but remember the way that Future Max had looked in that leather and that long hair. Maybe she should buy Max some leather.

“Of course, she looks beautiful, Max.” Maria threw in, breaking up Liz and Max’s moment.

“Now, kids, you have to be home at a respectable time.” Cerina said, as she began to shake a finger at them. She was internally laughing over the way that Max’s ears were turning a red. Damn, where was a camera when you need one?

“Cerina!” Liz exclaimed, with a look to her friend.

“She’s right!” Zack declared, with a stern look to Max. He wanted Evans to bring Liz home before 11:00 o’clock, otherwise he’d go medieval on Evans ass.

“You better bring her back by 11:00 o’clock, Max.” Michael informed them, narrowing his eyes at Max, who was turning a red color.

Max nodded, finally finding his voice. “Of course, there’s school tomorrow— at least for me. I’ll make sure that Liz is home in time by 11.” he told them, nodding his head. Max was still a little freaked about Michael’s behavior. He remembered times before they had found out that Michael was Liz’s brother; Michael had been protective over Liz before. Like that time last year, when Max had confided in his friend about kissing Tess in front of Liz. How he had been sure that Tess had did something. How Michael had went insane on him for doing something like that to Liz. It all made sense now. Perfect sense.

Liz rolled her eyes. “OK, guys. Stop with this. Max and I are going to go out and spend some quality time together. And we will be back at whatever time we please because we don’t need to answer to any of you. Now are you ready to go?” Liz asked turning her attention to Max.

Max nodded. “Uh, yeah. Bye everyone.” he told them, as he and Liz began walking to the door. Max inhaled deeply at Liz’s smell. He loved the way that she smelled. Like vanilla and strawberries. It was his favorite smell in the entire world.

“Oh, wait, Liz.” Maria called out to her friend. When Liz turned around, Maria held up Liz’s new jean jacket that they had bought earlier.

Liz left Max’s side and walked to her best friend, taking the jacket away. “Hey, try to keep Michael off of my back, will you?” she asked softly.

Maria nodded, suppressing a grin. “Oh, sure, chica. Now don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” she said in a sing song voice, causing Liz to blush.

“Thanks, Maria.” Liz said, as she walked back over to Max’s side. With a wave to her brothers, Liz opened the front door, walking down the stairs with Max following her. She didn’t quite know what she was supposed to do. Was she supposed to hold his hand or what? What was she supposed to do?

Max followed Liz silently. He didn’t want to force her to do anything that she wasn’t comfortable with. Like holding her hand. He really wanted to, just to feel her skin on his own, her warmth. Her feelings came first to him and he wasn’t about to do anything at all to make her sad, uncomfortable or anything like that.

Once they reached Max’s Jeep, Liz had gone over to the passenger’s side with the intent of getting in by herself. But she soon discovered that Max wouldn’t allow that.

Max shook his head at her. “What kind of gentleman would I be if I allowed the Queen to open her own door?” he said with a smile on his face. He unlocked the door and opened the door for her. He ushered her in with his smile widening every moment.

Liz waited until he was in the car besides her before she said anything. “Thanks. You were always the perfect gentleman.” she said with a shy smile at him as he started up the Jeep. Liz couldn’t help but feel awkward in his presence. This wasn’t like spending time with her family or Cerina. This was Max. He meant just so much to her. She would hate to see disappointment in his eyes. She would hate knowing that she had caused that.

She didn’t want to talk to him about what had happened with Khivar. It was just so much. So much had happened in those nine days. So much that had changed her life. Liz thought that she was better off just forgetting about it. Forget that it all had happened. After all there was nothing that she could do about it.

“So?” Liz asked, breaking the tense silence of the Jeep. She knew that this was her and Max’s opportunity to talk, but she hadn’t the slightest clue what to say. There was just so many things to say, she didn’t know where to start. Their past lives on Antar? Or the fact that he had abandoned her when she needed him. That his rude behavior of her had started long before Tess had mind warped him at Alex’s funeral.

“So?” Max said with a smile on his lips. He thought that she looked so pretty. She wasn’t all decked out the way that Isabel always was for her dates. But than again, that hadn’t been Liz’s style. She hadn’t needed it. He knew that she would look beautiful if she was wearing a paper bag.

“So what do you think about Cerina?” Liz asked. That seemed like a safe subject at the moment.

“Oh, I like her. She seems like a great person. I feel really bad that I didn’t grow up with her. I mean, I would have been lost with Isabel when I was younger. I don’t know how she managed it all.” Max admitted. His new sister was a great person, at least he thought so. Max didn’t know how Isabel felt about Cerina. He noticed that the two of them had been awkward towards each other. He guessed that it was because of the whole Alex thing. He could understand it. He just hoped that he wouldn’t be put in the middle of it. And that they could work it all out. After all they were family.

Liz nodded. “Oh, yeah. She’s great. I mean, we haven’t known each other a long time. I guess it’s some of my memories from Antar that’s made us so close in such a short period of time.” she told him. When he looked over at her, Liz felt all shy and looked down at the ground. “Hey, I’m going to put on the radio, is there anything that you want to hear?”

“Well, I’ve been listening a lot to101.1; it’s a great station.” Max told her with a small smile.

Liz looked at him shyly, surprised by his words. “I didn’t know that you were into the oldies station.” she said, as she turned to the station that he had told her.

Max shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, I wasn’t before. The past couple of months, I’ve been listening to it. The music recently hasn’t been all that great. I mean, um, not to me. I, uh. . . it doesn’t tell a story like the music from back than did.” he told her nervously.

Liz thought about his words for a moment. “Hmm, I’m not too sure about that. I mean, I do think that there are some songs out there right now that do tell a story. You know, country songs and all. But a lot don’t. So hotshot, who’s this singing?” she asked, pointing to the radio with a smile on her face.

“Easy that is Ben E. King. And the song is called Stand By Me. It’s been used in a lot of movies. Great song.” Max replied, with a small smile.

Liz had to admit that she liked the song. The words were calling out to her. She felt that she would be okay as long as Max stood by her; just like the song was saying. “This is a nice song.” Liz said so softly that Max could barely hear her. A content look was on her face.

Max didn’t say anything. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she listened to the music. He loved the look on her face. She was just so beautiful in every way to him. And he would tell her so tonight. But not right now. Now they would just enjoy the music that surrounded them and the sheer fact that they were here together.

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No, I won't be afraid
No, I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand
Stand by me



TBC. . . . . . . . . .
posted on 29-May-2002 12:45:28 AM
Chapter 18



“Shit. I need something to do. If we just stand around here than I won’t be able to think of anything but Max being alone with Liz.” Zack said as he paced around the room. Max and Liz had barely left thirty minutes ago, and he was going stir crazy.

“I know what you mean.” Michael said, running a hand through his hair. He wasn’t liking this one bit. Max was his friend, but now that he found out Liz was his sister, Michael was having a hard time trusting his friend with her. Especially after the hell that she had gone through.

Maria rolled her eyes at him. “It never bothered you before, Michael.” Maria pointed out. She had to admit that she was a little jealous about the way Michael was acting. He’d never acted jealous about her this way. She knew that he didn’t mean it in a romantic way, but a brotherly way to Liz.

Michael meet Maria’s eyes. “That was before I found out that Liz was my sister. It changed everything. I mean, he’s sticking his tongue down her throat. That’s my sister that he’s doing that to. I don’t like it one bit.” he grumbled.

“Well, I think that your warning was enough to him. I think that he gets the idea.” Krit said with a grin. The way that Max had turned all red was something that Krit was going to be laughing about for quite a bit of time. Max had damn near swallowed his tongue at Michael’s words.

“So you guys want to watch a movie or something? Or get some food?” Tom questioned, shaking his head at them. That just might get their minds off of Liz and Max and what they could possibly be doing. The four of them were getting antsy about all of this. Cerina had been the smart one. She had decided to go take a bath to get her mind off of things.

Maria nodded her head. “Oh, yeah. Why don’t we go down to the Crashdown and get something to eat and than come back here and watch some movies. Liz has got the biggest collection of movies.” she said with a smile.

The five of them stood up and began walking to the door. They were just about to walk out of the apartment when Michael stopped abruptly.

“We can’t leave Cerina in the apartment alone. What if someone comes on by?” Michael informed them.

Zack bit the inside of his cheek. “I’ll stay.” he said. It would actually give him some time to talk to Cerina. It had been a long time since they had talked. She usually refused to be alone with him anywhere. It was okay if there were other people, but not if she was alone. Maybe when she got out, the two of them could have a heart to heart talk that should have happened a long time ago.

“You sure?” Maria asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. She had to admit that she was curious about this guy. He seemed like a really great guy, but she could tell that he had a sadness to him. She wanted to know what it was. What could have possibly made Zack a sad person?

Zack nodded. “Yes. I’ll stay. Get me a burger and fries.” he said, unflinching. He was determined to stay here and talk to Cerina. He wasn’t going to let her get away from him. They needed to have a serious talk and tonight was the night.

Tom nodded. “Alright, troops. Let’s go. Damn, Rath, move your ass.” he said, pushing Michael by the shoulder.

“Alright, alright, alright.” Michael said, walking down the stairs with a sigh. He really hoped that Max wasn’t doing anything to mess Liz up. She had went through hell and the last thing that she needed was for Max to be pushing her in any sort of way.

After ordering their food from the Crashdown, the four of them took seats in their favorite booth. “You know, we have a lot of shit to do. We need to find that damn slut Tess and make her ass pay for what she’s done to Liz and Max. And Alex.” Michael said, in a low voice. There weren’t too many people in the Crashdown, but he didn’t want anyone hearing them.

Tom nodded. “You know, whenever a woman lacks imagination, she’s quite predictable. And that is Tess. I am positive that she is with those Skin shedding freaks at this very moment. After all, she was working with them. Where else would she run to?”

Krit nodded. “Your probably right. No one else would want her. She’s with them.”

Maria didn’t want to talk about Tess. Every time she thought about the horrible gerbil, she would get angry. And right now, she didn’t want to be angry. She wanted to have some fun with Michael and his brothers. “So, guys. What do you think Max and Liz are doing, right now?” she wondered.

Michael groaned. He didn’t want to think about that. “I don’t want to know. He just better not hurt my sister, or he will lose his balls.” he growled.

“I think that we should keep an open mind about them. Mine is wide open. Come on. They’ve had it so rough, they need time together.” Krit said, and than realized that he was being the voice of reason out of all of them.

Tom rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I can feel the breeze.” he said to Krit.

Krit pretended to be hurt. “Ow. That hurts my feelings, you know that. I don’t know why I allow a simpleton to hurt my feelings with their opinions.” he said, shaking his head at Tom.

Tom shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t care about anyone’s opinion.” he told them.

Krit nodded. “Well, you know. You’re right. The only voice that really matters is the one inside your head.” he said with a grin to his brother.

Tom stuck out his tongue. “Hah! Which one?” he said laughingly.

Michael shook his head at Tom. He was really liking all the stuff that he saw from Tom. He’d never known anyone quite like them. They had a sense of humor and they weren’t always serious, they way that he, Max and Isabel had always been. It was a change that he liked. “You are one demented dude.” he said, shaking his finger at Tom.

Tom nodded. “You’re probably right.” he said, grinning. Tom lost his smile as he thought about something. “Hey, you meet Nicholas. What was he like? I went up against him before and he killed me. I’m curious to see how that dumb fucking bastard is.” he said to Michael.

Michael chuckled. “Well, that dumb fucking bastard is in the body of a child. A body of at least a thirteen year old. He looks harmless, but he’s not. He said that he killed me back on Antar. But he’s pretty damn strong.” Michael admitted, thinking back to that loser.

“You know, if he wasn’t rotten, mean and crazy, he wouldn’t have a personality at all.” Krit said wryly, thinking about the man who had played a part in his fiancé murder. Nicholas sure had gotten around. He’d killed quite a few of them.

“You know, if he is as strong as you say, Michael. When we go up against him, we gotta pull a gang bang on him. It’s the only way. If all of us are attacking him at once, his ass is will be toast. Screw the other ones. They’re nothing compared to taking Nicholas down.” Tom injected, thinking about it all.

“Well, what do you think about Ava? Do you really think that she is better than Tess? That she isn’t an evil bitch like Tess?” Krit wondered. He hoped for all of their sakes that Ava wasn’t anything like Tess. But who knew?

Michael shook his head. “Look, I didn’t spend much time with her. Isabel and I were interrogating her for awhile. She seemed meek like a mouse. She didn’t act anything at all like Tess. I think that she was treated horribly by the dupes. That probably made her the way that she is.” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Maria gasped as a thought hit her. She began laughing so hard that people were looking at her. She couldn’t believe it. She just couldn’t!

“What the hell are you laughing about?” Michael asked, confused.

Maria struggled to stop laughing. “I’m sorry. It’s just when they came to town. Rath, he approached Liz in the hallway at school. He, oh my God. He kissed her.” she told them, unable to stop laughing.

“What? I don’t understand.” Krit said, shaking his head, trying to grasp what she was telling them.

Maria sighed. “Why is it that all the cute ones are slow? Rath, kissed Liz. He kissed his own sister.” she clarified for him, who looked at her with wide eyes.

“Uh. That’s so. . . I didn’t need to know that, Maria. I didn’t.” Michael declared, shaking his head at the thought.

Tom swallowed hard as the image came into his head. He didn’t like it one bit. “What else do you know?” he asked, a little apprehensive about what she could know.

Maria chuckled. She was saved from having to say anything because the waitress came to their table, their food in several take out bags. “Thanks, Jen.” she said, smiling.


****************************



“Was there a reason that you made sure that we were alone?” Cerina asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. She had just come out of the bathroom and found herself alone with Zack. She had known that he had something to do with that. Who else would it have been?

Zack shrugged. “Some one needed to stay. Just in case, you know. So I volunteered. We never really talked about what happened, and I thought it was about damn time we did. You know, people are starting to get suspicious. They all know that we were friends, and than all of a sudden we just stopped. They’re not stupid, Cerina.”

Cerina sighed angrily. She didn’t want to talk about this. Not now. Not ever. She just wanted to forget about that momentarily lapse of judgement that had caused her to sleep with him. “You think you’re a big man, don’t you? Being the one to talk about this reasonably? Well, screw you, Zack. I don’t want to talk about this, got it?”

Zack sighed, standing up to face her. “Look, stop acting like a bitch for one second. We need to talk about this. I need to talk about this. We can’t spend the rest of our lives avoiding each other and not talking about what happened.”

Cerina shook her head. Talking about this wouldn’t help ease the guilt that she carried. It wouldn’t make what she had done to Alex any less worse than it had been. She had cheated on him, with his brother. She had once been married to Alex and she had sex with his brother. More than once. It hadn’t been right. Forgetting that it even happened was the only thing that she wanted to do. “Forget it, Zack. I don’t need to talk about this. I don’t want to talk about this.”

Zack sighed. “Well, I do. I need to talk about this. Before all of this, Cerina, we were friends. But this has fucked it all up. I need you in my life. I do.” he told her quietly.

Cerina gritted her teeth. She didn’t need to hear him say that. Hearing him say that put a small crack in the iron facade that she was desperate to keep up. She didn’t trust herself around him anymore. “I don’t need you.” she said coldly, meeting his eyes with determination.

Zack growled frustrated by her words. They stung so much. Cerina was so god damn prickly. One minute she was doing one thing, the next she was doing another. “I’ll tell you what you need. A good fucking Prozac.” he told her, the urge to hurt her as much as she had hurt him.

Cerina rolled her eyes at his words. “Ow. Like that hurt. If this gets out to anyone, the next words you’ll say will be muffled by your own butt.” she threatened. Liz and Alex had known, but Cerina was certain that no one else would ever know about it. Cerina was determined not to let anyone else know.

Zack shook his head. “What happened between us was not a betrayal to Alex. We didn’t even know him, not really know him like Liz did. He’s my own brother, and I think that he would have wanted the both of us to be happy. We owe that to ourselves first and foremost don’t we?” he said, trying to talk some sense into her. But he knew that it was futile, Cerina was so damn stubborn sometimes and he guessed that today was one of them.

Cerina shook her head. “No, I don’t need you to be happy. I’m quite happy on my own. You don’t have anything at all to do with my happiness or anything else that I feel.” she said lowly and dangerously.

Zack sighed angrily. “I know you, Cerina. I know that you must feel something about what happened. I’m not a fucking idiot. I can read you like an open book. I saw the way that you were with Isabel yesterday. I knew exactly how you were feeling. You were pissed at her because of what she had with Alex. Because she loved Alex. And because he didn’t love you, right? That’s why you were a bitch to her all night. You’re jealous of her, aren’t you? She had everything that you didn’t have. Your brother, Alex. I know that I’m right.” he said. He knew that his words might be hurting her but he knew that what he was saying was true. That Cerina was resentful to Isabel, he knew her so well.

Cerina’s blood was ran cold at his words. How dare he talk to her that way. Tell her how she felt about Isabel. He didn’t know anything at all that happened. He didn’t know anything about how she was feeling. He had no fuckin right talking to her about all of this. Her anger pulsated throughout her body like a freight train. “I hate you.” she said coldly, wanting to lash out at him. To make him hurt as much as he was making her hurt.

“Sure you do.” Zack replied flippantly, even though those three little words she said struck him in the heart deeply. He knew that he would piss her off with his words, but he hadn’t expected her to reply the way that she had.

Cerina gave him a look that could freeze water. “Don’t you ever talk to me about how the fuck I feel. Cause you don’t know at all. Just leave me alone. Don’t even talk to me if you don’t have to. Because I won’t talk to you.” she said, giving him one last look at him, before she walked away from him without a glance back.


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
posted on 29-May-2002 12:48:38 AM
Chapter 19




“Cerina’s shield is so much like your own. Even the same color as yours. But I do have to say that it appeared stronger. Probably because she’s worked on hers so much longer. At the practice, the guys they used their powers to try to break through it. But nothing worked. Nothing. I mean, fire, ice, electricity and nothing. Nothing worked and it was really neat. I saw it all.” Liz finished lamely. She realized that she was babbling. She was going on and on about his sister.

“I’m babbling aren’t I?” Liz asked with a grin.

Max shrugged his shoulders. “That’s okay. I like it. It’s cute.” he said with a shy smile to her. He loved the way that she was blushing at her own words. He really liked it that she was such great friends with Cerina. Liz and Isabel had never been friends and that had disappointed him. He had always wanted Isabel to see what kind of a great person that Liz was. To get to know the girl that he had fallen so deeply in love with. But Isabel had never really bothered to get to know Liz.

“Where are we going? Are we going out to the pod chamber?” Liz asked curiously. They had driven on the highway out of town and now they were currently driving closer to the pod chamber. She hadn’t been there in almost a year. Not since she had ran away from Max after learning about his so called destiny. Which they had found out was a load of shit, well at least Max and Tess’ parts in all of it.

Max nodded. “Yeah. We’re going to go to the pod chamber. I think that it’s about time that you see the granolith.” he said softly, not wanting to tell her about the picnic he was going to set up for them. He wanted that to be a surprise for her. But maybe she didn’t like surprises anymore, he thought suddenly.

“I, uh. . . . was going to set up a picnic outside of the pod chamber. I’m not trying to recreate that night on Antar for you. I just. . . want us to have something like that here on Earth.” Max told her with a shy smile. He felt so nervous with Liz like this. His palms were sweating, and he didn’t know exactly what he was supposed to say.

Liz bit her lip at his words. That was so sweet, she thought to herself. Liz wished that she could give him the memory of that night, but she didn’t know if he’d see more than that memory. She didn’t know what she would do if he saw what had happened with Khivar. “That’s so sweet, Max. You know, I uh. . . left out a few parts of that story. There were a few things I’m sure that everyone wouldn’t want yo know.” she said softly.

“What?” Max wondered what she could be talking about.

Liz felt a flush come over her face. “We, uh. . . . we made love twice that night. I didn’t think that everyone would appreciate hearing that. Besides there are some things that people shouldn’t know.” she finished softly, looking at him shyly.

Max felt his pulse race at her words. Whoa! So he and Liz— Troian and Zan, the people that they had been had made love before they were married. For some reason, the word Beltane came to his mind. “I. . . . uh. . . it’s a good thing you didn’t say anything. Who knows how your brothers would have reacted. Especially Michael. Liz, what does Beltane mean? I feel as if I know it but I’m not too sure. It’s like on the tip of my memory but I just can’t grasp it.” he said as he stopped the Jeep near the cave. It had been a slightly rocky ride on the desert sand but Liz hadn’t complained once.

Liz sighed as she looked out the window. It was still light out, but the sun was finally setting making the sky beautiful shades of purple, pink and a yellowy-orange. Liz looked at the place that she had ran away from almost a year ago. It looked exactly the same as it had been. But it seemed so different to her. How different a year made things, she thought to herself.

“Beltane is a fertility ritual that was performed on Antar. A young man takes on the role of the Sun God, the Horned One— there are a lot of different names that he’s given. A young, unmarried virgin girl takes on the role of the Mother Goddess. The unity of these two coming together is supposed ensure fertility of the coming season, you know crops and such. Uh, the reason that you know the name is because you once were in the ritual. We both were. We didn’t know it was each other at first.” Liz explained, meeting his eyes.

Max was momentarily at a lose for words. He had been in a ritual before. He and Liz. No, Zan and Troian. It was so hard to disconnect the two from each other. He had never been able to think of Tess as his wife when she had come, but since finding out that Liz had been his wife, it became so easy for him to accept it. For him to think of everything that Zan and Troian had done, it had been he and Liz. But he was wrong. It hadn’t been he and Liz. They weren’t Zan and Troian, they were themselves. Zan and Troian would always be a part of them, but it didn’t make them who they were today. Their life on Earth had made them the way that they were.

“I. . . that was the first time that Zan and Troian made love, right?” Max finally asked, still shocked by her words. He couldn’t believe it.

Liz nodded. “Yeah, it was. When Zack was asking me last night why I had come back to the palace after being gone for almost ten years, it was because of you. Because of Zan and that night that we spent together. I just. . . we had to talk about what happened because we never did afterwards. I had such a crush on you back on Antar when I was little. I always thought that it would just a case of puppy love, but it wasn’t. You were just so cute. You know, that you look totally opposite from Antar. But your eyes. . . they’re the same. They’re the same color. I think that even with our human DNA that we have a few qualities from our Antarian selves. I mean, I know I do.” she said with a wry smile.

Max frowned at her. “Like what? What do you have that’s the same?” he asked curiously. It was all so interesting to him. He knew that Michael looked the same as his human DNA donor, Charles Dupree. But did they actually have some of the same things that they had from Antar. Max knew that Liz wasn’t lying to him about it. He wondered what she could have that was the same.

Liz blushed at his words. Maybe she shouldn’t have told him about that. Now, she’d have to tell him about the birth mark. “I, uh. . . have this birth mark that’s the same.” she said quietly, not wanting to tell him exactly where it was.

Max looked at her and smiled at her blush. She didn’t want him to know where it was, but he wanted to keep things light right now between him and Liz. He didn’t want her to have to worry about anything really serious right now. “So where is it?” he asked innocently.

Liz bit the inside of her lip at his words. “It’s in a place that you will not see until we are married.” she said with a small smile. She’d always felt embarrassed about having a birth mark on her butt. That had to be the worst place for one to be at. Max definitely wasn’t going to see that until they were married.

Max’s smile widened at her blush. He decided not to say anything else about it. He tilted his head to the side. “Come on.” he said softly, opening his door. Max quickly walked over to her side, wanting to open the door for her. She deserved to be treated like the Queen that she was. But she’d already opened her door. Max held out his hand for her, helping her out of the car.

Liz smiled brightly at him. He was really serious about treating her this way. It was kind of cute. “So, what we need to do?” she asked, her eyes twinkling with delight.

Max laced his fingers with Liz, not wanting to let go of her. He led her to the back of the Jeep, reluctantly letting go of her hand so he could open the back. Max grabbed the Southwestern style blanket, which he placed into Liz’s waiting arms. Max took the picnic basket into his hands and juggled the two thermal lamps that he had brought along for when it got darker.

“You thought of everything didn’t you?” Liz asked, grinning at him. She loved the expression on his face. The slight blush that had come to his face and his nervousness. “Where do you want to set this all up?” she asked.

“Anywhere you like.” Max told her softly, his eyes never leaving her face once.

“How about in front of the Jeep, that way we can also listen to music at the same time.” Liz suggested, after thinking about it for a moment. What a perfect way to spend their time together. With a picnic under the stars, and possibly even dancing.

“I should have brought along a radio, or something.” Max said, grimacing. He hadn’t thought about that.

Liz shrugged her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I’m here with you.” she said with a smile, as the two began to set up their little picnic.

Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting on the blanket, just looking at each other shyly. Liz couldn’t believe it. After all that they had found out about each other, they were acting as silly as children with each other. They had been married on another planet, but things hadn’t gone very smoothly for them on this planet, she told herself.

“Hmm, so what’s for dinner?” Liz asked curiously, giving Max a smile as she reached over to the basket, trying to see what was in there. But he pulled the basket closer to him, not allowing her to see.

“Allow me.” Max told her with a wide grin as he opened the basket. He pulled out several containers. “I know that the containers really suck, but it was the best thing one such short notice. I have here breaded turkey breasts, Jambalaya salad, fried okra, and strawberry filled bread for desert, tabasco and milk.” he told her.

Liz smiled widely at him. “Max, I can’t believe that you made all of that. It sounds so great. I can’t wait to have some of that strawberry bread, but that’s for desert.” she told herself, not wanting to ruin her appetite by eating the bread. She thought that it was so sweet that Max had made all of this himself.

“I got these from my mother’s recipes. Hopefully, I can cook better than she can. She can cook regular stuff like chicken and all, but when she gets creative, beware for your life. It’s not very good food that she makes. But we don’t tell her because we don’t want to hurt her feelings.” Max informed her with a silly grin on his face.

“Oh, but she tries. Doesn’t she? That’s all that matters right?” Liz said, smiling at her own words. The thought of them eating his mother’s food even though it was less than appealing was kinda funny and cute. Only a devoted son would do something like that. Who would rather eat the bad food than tell her that it was bad.

Max nodded. “Yeah. She does try. And that is all that matters. Okay, we’d better start eating.” he said softly. Though he really didn’t care about the food, all he cared was about being here with Liz. That was all that mattered to him. Him and Liz.

As Max began to get the food out, Liz looked up and watched as the sun was getting lower and lower. The sky was beautiful colors of red, purple, orange and pink. She’d never seen a prettier sun set than this one. Maybe what made it so much better was that Max was with her.

She loved being here with Max. This was their new start. And after everything else that had happened, they both deserved it.


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
posted on 29-May-2002 12:51:46 AM
Disclaimer: I only have eyes for you belongs to The Flamingos.

Chapter 20 A




“What?” Liz asked as she looked at Max. He was just staring at her. They had already put their food away and had just started talking about things. Nothing quite deep yet.

Max blinked several times. “I’m sorry. . . . . I was just looking at you.” he said lamely. He guessed that she knew that already.

“Oh.”

“What made you fall in love with me? I mean, here and on Antar? I’ve heard some bad things about myself from you know, Nicholas and all.” Max asked curiously. She knew about what had happened back on Antar, and he knew that she wouldn’t lie to him about the past. They didn’t need to try to sacrifice anything for the other by lying. The truth was going to come out in the open. The truth about everything.

Liz gave him a small smile. “I always had a sort of crush on you, when I was little. You were my brother’s friend. You and Rath were always close even though he was two years older than you. And than Father sent me to stay with Grandma Aja on the Isle. And we didn’t see each other for a long time. The first time we saw each other was Beltane. But the reason that I fell in love with you because you were everything. It’s the same here, too. You are the most wonderful man that I have ever known. You’re caring and unselfish. . . . and generous and you give me strength. . . . and love. You’re just so much to me, Max.”

“I wish I could remember. It sounds that we had a wonderful life with each other.” Max said softly. He wished that he knew about their life. Their marriage, everything. He knew that it wasn’t them. . . not really, but their previous selves. He couldn’t believe how easy it was for him to think that he had been married to Liz; but it had been so difficult for him to think of himself be married to Tess.

Liz bit her lip at his words. They had a good life back on Antar. But that had been than; it wasn’t now. They were totally different people here on Earth. “Yes, we did have a great life. We were happy together for a long time. But that was than, Max. It’s not who we are now.” she told him softly.

Max nodded. “I know. We’re not Zan and Troian. We’re Max and Liz. And we can’t be anyone other than who we are. I just wish that things would have turned out differently.” he said, biting the inside of his cheek.

Liz shook her head at him. “Wishing that things could have been different is really dumb. Because they never will be. Things happen for a reason and everything that has happened has made me a stronger person.” she admitted.

“And you’ve had to be stronger because of everything that’s happened. It was all of my fault. I mean, if I— the future version of myself hadn’t forced you to do what you had done than everything would have been different. It’s all of my fault.” Max said guiltily.

“Don’t do that Max. Don’t blame yourself for what happened. Because it’s not your fault. I went along with Future Max’s plan even though I didn’t want to. I’ve been thinking a lot about it. I mean, when Future Max came to see me, he told me that I would become friends with someone named Cerina. I mean, Cerina, your sister. I think that he came to me because when Tess left in their time line, they didn’t know that she was the enemy. That we didn’t know about Ava or even about the damn Skins. I mean, what Khivar did to Sean, that was something more than what Larek did Brody. Khivar was in full control of Sean’s body, you remember when we got Larek to talk to us, Larek said it was like Brody was having a heart attack or something. Khivar had been planning it for a long time. I’m pretty sure about that. He would have come after me anyway.” Liz told him, not wanting him to continue thinking that it was all of his fault, because it wasn’t.

Max tightened his jaw at her words. He knew that it wasn’t really his fault, but sometimes he just couldn’t help it. Couldn’t help be disgusted at himself for what’d happened. For everything that Liz had been forced to endure. His cold rude behavior to Liz after something he’d forced her to do. With Liz’s words, he suddenly realized something. “Did Larek know who you really were when he helped you get away from Khivar?”

Liz nodded. “Yeah. He knew exactly who I was. He visited me in my dream plane and we talked. Larek has always been a bit of a strange one. He’s your cousin, you know. Your mother and his mother were sisters. Queen Nasira and Queen Milena. I feel really badly for Larek. He seems a little bit sad, a little bit lost. I mean, he comes from somewhere else. And he will never find the people that he loved before. Because they’re gone. Zan’s gone, Troian’s gone, Leilah’s gone.”

Max gave Liz’s hand a squeeze. “Who’s Leilah?” he asked curiously.

“Leilah was Larek’s younger sister. She and Krit were engaged back on Antar. Krit told me that Leilah was kidnaped by Khivar’s people. And they killed her. She was murdered.” Liz informed him. Liz rubbed her forehead for a moment as she contemplated telling Max the truth about his connection to Khivar. She hadn’t told anyone. She wanted him to be the first one to know the truth.

“Uh, Max. There’s something that you should know about. I haven’t told anyone. Not Metz, not my brothers, or anyone else. I thought that it was only fair if you knew first.” she told him hesitantly, not really knowing what his reaction would be about finding out that Khivar was his brother.

“What?” Max asked softly. There was something about the way that she had said it that worried him. He knew that whatever it was that she was going to tell him would be something important.

“Khivar said that he was your brother.”

“What?” Max asked, trying to understand what she had just told him. That Khivar was his brother.

“Khivar told me that he shared a father with you. When Khivar was fourteen years old, his mother told him that his father was King Tiridates, your father. She said that Tiridates knew that Khivar was his son, but he didn’t care. She told him that he needed to take what was his. To take the throne from you. That Zanier didn’t deserve the throne. I think it was than that Khivar began to truly hate you.” Liz informed him solemnly.

Max swallowed hard at her words. Khivar had been his brother? His own brother had hated him so much that he had wanted to kill him? “But what about Isabel? I mean, Vilandra?”

Liz meet his eyes. “He forced a connection with me. That’s how I know about what his mother told him. And he did have a relationship with Vilandra. A sexual one. Also one with Avarona. I know, it’s disgusting. He slept with his own sisters. From what I saw, Vilandra didn’t know that Khivar was using her. But Avarona did. She knew exactly what he was doing. She was helping him out.”

“Do you really think that Ava isn’t anything like Tess or Avarona? That we can trust her and she won’t betray us?” Max asked softly. He’d already let Tess into their group and she had betrayed them in the worst possible way. She had helped with Alex’s murder.

Liz nodded. “Ava and I spent enough time together. I know that she’s nothing like Tess or Avarona. She won’t do anything at all to hurt us. Though she loved Zan, nothing came of it. She told me that he was waiting for someone else the whole time. You saw how Lonnie and Rath treated her. She was so scared of Michael and Isabel when they were confronting her. She was so afraid that they were going to hurt her. I’d like to think that Avarona and Troian were friends once. But Avarona changed so much.” Liz told him truthfully.

“Troian and Avarona were friends? How? I mean, what happened that made her do what she did?”

“To go Charles Manson on me?” Liz asked drollfully. She knew that she shouldn’t be making a joke about it. It was serious after all. But now that she thought about it, the similarities were frightening. A Manson victim had been an 8 month pregnant woman. Like Troian had been. And both had been stabbed to death. Liz shivered at the thought.

“Are you cold?” Max asked her. It was already getting colder since the sun had set. Then he thought of something else. Liz might not want to talk about it. “You don’t have to tell me anything that you don’t want to. I’m just interested in everything that happened. There’s just so much that I don’t know.”

Liz shrugged her shoulders. “I think that gradually you’ll start to get your memories back. Michael’s got a few of them. Little things though. It doesn’t hurt to talk to about Avarona. I mean, not really. I can’t change what happened back on Antar, no one can. We were kind of related. Actually, she’s closer related to Kayin than to Troian. Kayin’s father was Avarona’s uncle. When Avarona was eleven, her father, Lord Dugin begged Auntie Ana to let Avarona learn the ways of the Goddess. Auntie Anara said okay. Since we were the two closest in age, we became friends. And while I never left the Isle to visit my family, Avarona did. She left quite frequently. And while, I’m not excusing what Avarona did to me, I do understand why she became the way she did. I understand, because Khivar showed me his memories. I understand what happened to change her life so drastically.”

“What?” Max asked softly. He had an idea of what might have happened. Khivar had done something to his own sister.

“When she went home for a visit, when she was about fourteen or fifteen, Khivar. . . he raped her, Max. It seems Khivar likes taking women by force. I don’t know what else happened but I do remember that when Avarona came back; she and Grandma Aja spent a whole afternoon talking. When I finally did see her, she wouldn’t tell me what was wrong. And a few days later, she woke me up because she was bleeding all over the place. After I got Grandma, I didn’t see Avarona for more than a week. When I did see her again, she told me that she was leaving the Isle. She didn’t tell me where she was going, because she didn’t know where she was going either. I didn’t see her for a long time after that. Not until when I saw you again after Beltane. You know, thinking back to all of it, I think that maybe she got pregnant or something.” Liz confessed.

Max couldn’t believe what she had told him. Khivar had been one sick bastard. Sleeping with his own sisters, raping women. “Geez, Liz. I. . . can you tell me what happened in those nine days, Liz? When I healed you, I got a flash of something. Khivar putting a K on your chest. But it’s not there anymore. Did it really happen?” Max asked, not knowing if she would want to talk about it.

For a moment, Liz didn’t say anything. She just stared at Max, pondering what to tell him. She finally decided that it wouldn’t hurt for her to tell him about it. “Uh, yeah, it did. You know, he was going to take me back to Antar. He wanted everyone to know who I belonged to. Krit healed it, you know. I’d really rather not talk about Khivar or anything that happened, Max. I mean, it’s over and done with. Talking about it will do no good at all.” she informed her, biting the inside of her cheek.

Max nodded. He didn’t want to push her into telling him anything. If she wasn’t ready to talk about it, than he wouldn’t say one word about it. “I understand. So, what do you want to talk about?” he asked uncertainly.

Liz shrugged her shoulders. “Hell if I know. I mean, things have changed so much between us. I don’t know where to start exactly. So much has happened, so much has changed. We are not the same people that we were. I don’t know where we are supposed to start.” she said quietly.

Max covered her hand in his own. “I understand, Liz. I don’t know where to start either. You’re not Troian and I’m not Zanier. We are Max and Liz. And we’ve been through hell over the last two years. It might take us awhile to get on the right track, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to find it.”

Liz moved closer to Max and smiled at him. “Dance with me.” she said softly.

“But the radio’s not on.” Max told her, trying to suppress a smile. She looked so pretty. Her dark chocolate eyes were dancing, and her smile was catching, and he ended up smiling.

“So turn it on.” Liz told him, as she helped him up to his feet. “Or I can.” Turning to face his Jeep, she held out her hand and focused all of her energy on turning the radio on. It took several moments, but when it finally did, Liz burst out with a smile.

Max smiled at her. Her excitement about turning it on. Max gently held Liz in his arms. It had been way too long since she had been in his arms. He loved everything about her. Her smell, the feel of her, how she fit so perfectly to him. It was like they had been made for each other.

“I want you to know. You’ve taken my soul away from me, Liz. Without you, I have no life.” Max told her softly.

Liz’s hand skimmed the back of his neck. “It’s the same for me, too, Max. It’s the same.” she said, as she laid her head on his chest, loving the feel of it. Loving the feel of his heartbeat in his chest.

My love must be a kind of blind love
I can’t see anyone but you
Sha bop sha bop
Are the stars out tonight
I don't know if it's cloudy or bright
I only have eyes for you dear
The moon may be high
But I can't see a thing in the sky
I only have eyes for you
I don't know if we're in a garden
Or on a crowded avenue
You are here and so am I
Maybe millions of people go by
But they all disappear from view
And I only have eyes for you



TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
posted on 29-May-2002 12:54:10 AM
Chapter 20 B




“So this is the Granolith?” Liz asked as she looked at the huge object that stood in the middle of the chamber. This was the thing that had the enormous power that Future Max had told her about. It had been under her nose the whole time and she had never known it. “Wow!”

“Yeah, what exactly did my Future self tell you about the Granolith?” Max asked, breaking into her reverie. He was still so curious about what had been said, done, everything about what had happened. Other than knowing what happened, he didn’t know much else.

Without taking her eyes off of the Granolith, Liz replied. “He said that it was capable of great power. And that if it ever got in the wrong hands, the effects would be devastating. He didn’t really tell me much about it. You know, can’t know too much about the future, even though we were going to screw with things anyway.”

“What exactly did he tell you about us? I mean, our future selves? We were happy, weren’t we?” Max asked quietly. He knew that it didn’t make much of a difference if the future selves of he and Liz had once been happy. So much was different from the lives that those people had lived. Everything was completely changed. But he still hoped that he and Liz had been happy in their fourteen years together.

Liz looked up at Max and gave him a smile. “Yeah, from what he told me we were happy. We got married when we were nineteen years old. We were pretty damn happy until the year 2014, when our enemies came to Earth.”

“And we didn’t have any children?” Max asked softly, not knowing how she would react to that question about children.

For a moment Liz didn’t say anything. Her thoughts drifted to Sorcha and PJ. Her two children. That she would never see again. Liz didn’t know how long she stayed silent, but when she finally looked up, she caught Max watching her. She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. But than again, I do doubt that he would have told me if we did. You know, essentially wiping out a kid’s life, I wouldn’t have been able to do something like that.”

Max nodded. He knew that he one day wanted to have children with Liz. More than anything else. He would love to have a daughter that looked exactly like Liz. But he knew that she might not ever be ready for that. She’d already lost two children, one had been his own daughter, even if he couldn’t remember Troian’s pregnancy. He could remember how Sorcha had looked in Liz’s dream plane. He was honored to call that beautiful little girl his daughter. His child.

“Yeah, that would have been hard to do.” he whispered. He knew that if it had been the other way around, and if he had known that he had a child sometime down the future, he would never have been able to change things.

Liz didn’t respond to his words. Sorcha, her beautiful little daughter had deserved to grow up. Sorcha had deserved to live a childhood with her family. Liz remembered that back on Antar, she had been so happy to discover that she was finally pregnant. She had been so scared that she would screw up at being a mother, regardless of the fact that back on the Isle she had helped raise a child with her Grandma. She’d had a lot of fun with little Keziah, whose mother had died giving birth to her, and her father who had been busy with his duties for a young child. But she’d always known that was different, helping with Keziah would have been totally different from raising her own child.

“Liz, you okay?” Max asked her. She had been quiet for at least five minutes already, just sort of staring off into space. Max deduced that she was thinking about things from Antar. He wished that she would share the memories with him, not talking about it or anything, but for them to connect and for him to see it. To feel everything that he had once felt before. He wanted to be able to share the memories of his past life with Liz.

Liz looked up and him and gave him a weak smile. Was she okay? Would she ever be okay? Probably not. Like she had told Max before, she wasn’t the same person that she had been. She would never be the same. “Yeah, I’m fine. Really.” she tried to reassure him.

Max rubbed her arm gently. “It’s getting late. You know. If I don’t take you home soon, than you’re brothers are going to go ape shit on me. Especially Michael. They, uh, kind of gave me a warning when I went to pick you up.” he told her hesitantly.

Liz hit her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Oh Jeez. What did they tell you? No, let me guess? They threatened to beat you up, right? Jackasses. I’m going to kick their asses.” she said, wringing her hand at the thought of them doing that. She didn’t like them threatening Max like that. It wasn’t right.

Max looked at her rather shocked by her language. He’d never heard Liz say a bad word before. “Liz, you’re cussing. You’ve never done that.” he said, shocked.

Liz rolled her eyes at him. “You know, it’s all your sister’s fault. She’s a bad influence on me. You know that? Always encourages me to do bad things, ya know? Trust me, when you spend more time with her, you will start cursing like a sailor. She’s got a mouth on her.” she told him, smiling.

Max smiled at her words. “I want to get to know her better. I wish that she didn’t have to grow up by herself. It wasn’t fair. Isabel and I should have grown up with her. That would have been great. Maybe Isabel and Cerina wouldn’t be so awkward with each other. Does it have something to do with Antar?”

Liz nodded. “Yeah, it does. You know, Cerina remembers Antar. She remembers what happened. Krissane and Vilandra weren’t the closest of sisters. So that doesn’t really help much. Not to mention the Alex factor. It kind of hurts her that the person that was once her husband was in love with her sister, who broke his heart back on Antar.”

Max nodded his head. “Yeah, that must be kind of weird. I hope that Cerina can get past all of the awkwardness. No matter what we’re a family. They’ll have to get past it all. We have to work together. We’re going to have to go against the Skins, and we can’t have any more inter group bullshit.” he said softly, nodding his head at his own words.

Liz nodded in agreement. She agreed with what he was saying. She wanted the same thing for Zack and Cerina. She wanted them to be able to get past their shit with each other. So much was going to happen, and they didn’t need any cracks in their front. And as much as Liz hated to say it or even think it, but it seemed that Cerina was the weakest one. Cerina was the one that had these personal problems with both Zack and Isabel.

“I agree, Max. There’s just so much that we have to do. So much that we’re going to go through. This is a war and we can not let our personal problems interfere with what we are going to do.” Liz told him, thinking about her own problems as well as Cerina’s. She didn’t want everyone to know about her little shaking spells. They didn’t come very often, but they did come.

Liz didn’t want to think about that. She looked down at the base of the Granolith at the small little space that it had. Was that where the Jagur crystal went, she wondered. Liz squatted down and looked at it closer, without touching it. “This is probably where the Jagur crystal goes. You know, there are actually two similar crystals. The Jagur crystal and the Parlan crystal are nearly identical. If you’ve never seen it before than you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference in them. The Parlan crystal was made as sort of a dupe for the Jagur crystal. In case the enemies got the Parlan crystal and the Granolith than when they would put the Parlan crystal in the Granolith, it would be destroyed.”

“Really? The Granolith could be destroyed so easily? I mean, just the wrong crystal can do that to it? I wonder exactly what other type of power that the Granolith is capable of?” Max asked quietly, as he thought about it for a moment.

Liz didn’t look up at his question. She kept her eyes on the Granolith. “Uh, well, we know it’s powerful enough to be used to create a tear in time, so someone can go to the past. But of course, no one can go to the future, because the future’s not set in stone yet. And I think that the Granolith is some kind of life force. I mean, the Skins wanted to get it after all. Maybe it can do something to make them stop shedding their skins after all of this time. And can be used to go back to Antar.” she informed him, after she thought about it for a moment.

Max nodded as he looked down at his watch. It was already 10:00. He hadn’t realized how fast time had gone. He and Liz had been having some fun with each other. He loved getting to know her again. “It’s getting late. We should probably go already.” he said regretfully.

Liz nodded. She knew that this time would have come soon enough. It sucked, but what could she honestly do about it? She sighed heavily. “Yeah, you’re probably right. They’ll start bitching at me if I’m not there. And they will probably give you a hard time. Come on.” she said, grabbing his hand in her own.

Max bit back a sigh. He didn’t say anything or do anything. She was allowing him to touch her. He knew that it was probably some sort of a break through for her. Well, the website that he had read said that she might have a hard time allowing people to touch her. But here she was holding his hand in her own. And it felt damn great. So great that he never wanted to let her hand go.


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
posted on 29-May-2002 1:00:40 AM
Chapter 21



“Zack, can I talk to you, alone?” Liz asked her brother once she’d changed out of her clothes and into her pjs. Her face was still slightly red from scrubbing off what little makeup that she had worn for her date with Max. There’d been a little awkwardness when he had brought her home. Max hadn’t given her a goodnight kiss or anything like that. She was a little miffed by that. She had wanted one.

Zack nodded. His fight with Cerina had taken a lot out of him. He’d hated that he hurt her feelings by some of the things that he had said. But someone had to force the issue, and since it looked like she wasn’t going to do it, he had to. “Yeah, little sister. Where do you want to talk?”

“You’re going to talk without me? I thought I was your favorite brother? You’ve lied to me the whole time, haven’t you?” Krit said, feigning anger. He turned to Cerina with a pout on his face. “Cerina, can I have a hug?”

“Buy a blow up doll.” Cerina told him, not looking away from the movie that was playing on the TV.

“He’s already got one, CeCe. But he left her at home.” Tom retorted as he watched Wesley Snipes karate chop a bad guy. Blade totally kicked ass. He was carefully studying the movie so he could reenact the moves himself.

“Where’s Michael and Maria?” Liz asked as she looked around the room. That was something of a surprise. In the past few days, Michael had become something of a protective father like figure. Him and her brothers giving Max a hard time earlier.

“Oh, well, Maria’s mother called and started bitching when Michael answered the phone. It was kind of funny, Michael was making these little noises and saying ‘yes, ma’am’ and ‘no, ma’am’. You missed it all, Lizzard.” Tom said, grinning at the thought of it all.

Liz shook her head at them as she and Zack walked to her room. Liz had decided on the car ride back to talk to Zack about Cerina. She should have talked to him a few days ago, but she hadn’t gotten around to it.

“So how was your big date with Maxie boy?” Zack asked as he sat down on Liz’s bed. He really didn’t know what she wanted to talk about. But he was thinking that maybe, just maybe that she wanted to talk about what they had told Max. It wasn’t as if he was ashamed of what he had said; hell, he would do it all over again.

Liz smiled at his question. “It was wonderful. But that’s not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about you and Cerina and Alex.” she informed him, watching his expression.

Zack was surprised at her words. But forced himself not to let his expression change. He really hadn’t expected her to say that. Did she knew about what’d happened between him and Cerina? If she did, than who had told her. From how Cerina felt, it hadn’t been her. Or him. He’d never told anyone. Not Krit, not Tom. Not anyone. “What are you talking about?”

Liz meet his gaze unflinchingly. “You know what I’m talking about.” she informed him. She stared at him straight in the eye until he started to shift uncomfortably under her eyes. “You and Cerina slept together.”

Zack swallowed hard at her words. So she knew! How the hell had she found out about that? Who had told her? “What are you talking about?” he asked, pretending that he didn’t know what she was talking about.

Liz gave him a withering look. “Zack, you and Cerina slept together. A year and a half ago. It was about a month after I was shot. It was during Cerina’s first heat. The two of you did it.”

Zack nodded. He saw no point in trying to deny it to his own sister. She’d know that he was lying anyway. “Alright. Yes, I did. Look, I don’t know what to do anymore. I tried talking to her earlier but she’s just so hard headed and angry. I don’t think that I made it any better.”

“Zack, Cerina’s going through a real confusing time. She’s so confused about everything. Who she’s supposed to be now that Alex is gone. I mean, come on. She thought that she’d one day be with him, now he’s gone. He was in love with Isabel, her own sister, who made her life a living hell on Antar. You don’t know what that does to her.” Liz began to explain, with a sigh.

Zack nodded his head. “I know. I know. Can you give me some advice about what the hell to do? I’m lost. What do I do?”

Liz bit her lip as she thought about it. She didn’t want to tell him the wrong thing. She hated to see her brother and friend both so unhappy. “Give her time and space, Zack. The feelings that she has they won’t go away at the snap of a finger.”

Zack gave his sister and incredulous look. “That’s it? Just give her time? Shit, she’s already had a year and a half. How much time does she need?” he retorted. Freaking time. Hadn’t that year been enough for her. They’d both stayed away from each other as much as they could.

Liz shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. It’s not like I’m an expert. Just look at the Max/Liz saga.” Liz said softly. She and Max were far from a perfect relationship. In fact, they’d never had one.

Zack didn’t want to think about Liz’s relationship with Max. If he began to compare the two, he’d feel like a jackass because Max and Liz had been through so much more than he and Cerina had. “Women! Don’t ya’ll know anything? I need great advice, not freaking time.”

“Zackie, Cerina’s very confused. About everything. Isabel, Alex, you. Despite knowing about her entire life on Antar and with Alex dying and her feelings towards Isabel; she needs time to process everything. She’s still convinced that she loved Alex, even though she did not know him. She still thinks that she betrayed him when the two of you slept together. That she betrayed her husband with his own damn brother.” Liz confessed. She felt bad that she was telling Zack this stuff. That she was telling him how Cerina was feeling. But she wanted them to get over their shit with each other. To at least be friends.

“She said that?” Zack asked quietly. Liz was telling him exactly how Cerina was feeling.

Liz smacked him lightly on the head in impatience. “Duh, dumb ass. Why else would I say it? For someone related to me, you’re awfully dumb. Look, don’t tell her that I said anything. I just want you two to get over your hard feelings. We have to work as a team and we can’t if you two are fighting about things.”

Zack didn’t want to give her time; Cerina had enough of that. She needed to face what happened and when she did, would she admit that she loved him, like he loved her? Maybe he needed to help her with her feelings. “What about making her jealous to realize how she feels?” he suggested, a plan forming in his head.

Liz shook her head. “Uh! Am I really related to you? That is the stupidest thing I ever heard of. You will piss Cerina off. No girl wants to be forced to face her feelings. You know, she’ll realize them all on her own.”

“Maybe I should use Isabel to make Cerina jealous?” Zack continued, not paying Liz any attention. It wasn’t as if he thought about Isabel that way. Yeah, she was pretty and all, but not as beautiful as Cerina. Isabel had that Barbie doll look going on. He really didn’t go for that. But he knew that Tom liked it.

Liz shook her head adamantly. “Don’t even think about it. You know how Cerina feels about Isabel. Just don’t do that. It wouldn’t be fair to either Cerina or Isabel.” Liz told him, hoping to talk some sense into him.

Zack thought about it for a moment. Liz was right. It wouldn’t be fair to either Cerina or Isabel. He knew that Cerina was messed up over her feelings towards Isabel. That Cerina couldn’t help but remember the treatment from Vilandra. He knew that it probably didn’t help that Isabel had been with Alex. And as for Isabel, it was wrong of him to use her. Just wrong.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t do that. Fine, I’ll give her time. And space. I won’t bug her about Alex or Isabel or anything else.” Zack relented, with a heavy sigh.

Liz gave Zack a hug. “I know that you love her. And I know that she really does care about you. But her feelings are really complex.” she said softly, hating that this was hurting him. Hating the pain and confusion they both were in.

****************************



Half an hour later, Liz and Cerina were in Liz’s room. They were getting ready to dream walk Ava. Or at least to try to find her. Cerina would be the one to begin it and she’d pull Liz with her, hoping that Liz could find Ava. Cerina had done that before, she and Tom had tried doing that when they were younger. And though it had been awhile since she’d tried it, Cerina thought that she could do it.

“I have a confession to make.” Cerina said, breaking the silence in Liz’s room.

Liz turned to her friend. “About what?” she wondered as she watched Cerina curiously.

“About how I died back on Antar. You know that Nicholas and Khivar captured me and Lexus. Khivar, he raped me in front of Lexus. Nice, huh? Lexus couldn’t do anything to stop him. And Khivar and Nicholas both began to torture us. We couldn’t stop what was happening to the other. Sometimes, at nights I can still hear the screams in my head. Lexus’ screams. My screams.” Cerina confessed, as she twisted her hands painfully. This was the first time she’d ever told anyone about what happened. Even though Zack had told her about how he’d been killed, she could never bring herself to tell him.

“Oh, sweetie. I’m sorry. What else happened?” Liz asked softly. She was curious about what had happened after she had died. Poor Cerina and Alex, they had gone through such a horrible time. Cerina had been raped at the hands of her own half brother. Damn that Khivar!

“We were beaten and tortured for almost a week. When Khivar finally got tired of Lexus. He killed him right in front of me. I was so helpless to do anything. And then he turned to me with this look in his eyes. When he came close to me, I could see the terrible cruelty in his face and the need to destroy. He dragged me to a tub filled with water. And dunked my head in the water. And every time he’d take my head out, he’d yell and scream at me. Weird things. Like ‘your father can’t save you.’ Or ‘I’m going to kill you like I killed your brother.’ Finally, I just let myself go. I practically begged the Goddess to take me away. To end all of the pain.” Cerina concluded, with tears in her eyes.

“Fucking bastard! I’m so glad that I killed him. He hurt so many people. He hurt so many people on purpose. To see their pain.” Liz spat out. He’d hurt her family and friends. He’d done it all and enjoyed every moment of it. Laughed about it with Nicholas. Liz had thought that she’d seen his entire life, but she hadn’t seen the part about what he’d done to Krissane. Or Lexus.

Cerina bit the inside of her cheek at Liz’s words. She’d felt the same way when she found out that Khivar had Liz. Cerina had wanted for Khivar to pay for everything he’d done with his life. And Liz had done it. She’d ended it all. Ended that miserable asshole’s life. “Alright. Let’s find Ava. You ready, Liz?”

Liz nodded. It’d taken a bit of convincing for Cerina to believe that Ava would be one of the good guys. Cerina hadn’t relented until Liz told her that she would just transport herself if Cerina didn’t help her. And since Liz hadn’t perfected her power, Cerina hadn’t wanted to take the chance of Liz getting lost somewhere. “Yeah, I’m ready. Are you?” Liz said softly, as she held Cerina’s hand. Cerina had told her that contact was the best way for Liz to be pulled in with Cerina.

Cerina nodded as she laid down on the bed, with Liz beside her. Cerina regulated her breathing and concentrated on getting asleep.

Liz watched as Cerina closed her eyes; her breathing calm and steady. She felt so badly for Cerina. Cerina had gone through the same thing that she had. Except for the whole baby part. Cerina hadn’t gotten pregnant by Khivar like she had.

Liz closed her eyes as she felt something tugging at her mind. That must be Cerina, she realized. Liz had known that Cerina was stronger than Max or Isabel, which was understandable since she’d practically grown up using her powers.

Shut up, Liz.

Liz frowned as she heard the voice. That was Cerina’s voice. Liz opened her eyes and looked around. It kind of felt like she was floating. Liz looked down and saw that she was standing on water. The sky was beautiful hues of purple and pink. Floating around in the air were hundreds of little orbs. Each one was a different color. They were all colors of the rainbow.

“Pretty cool, isn’t it?” Cerina said, wryly, as she saw the look on Liz’s face. “You know I can probably change the background if I wanted to.”

Liz turned to look at Cerina, who was grinning in amusement. “This is really cool. Each one of these little orbs is a different person. I bet we can find Maria’s or Michael’s.”

“Or Max’s.” Cerina said as she reached out. Cerina began to shuffle through a small pile of orbs. “Come out, come out, wherever you are. Maxwell Evans, why are you hiding at the bottom of the pile?”

Liz watched as Cerina brought out an emerald green orb. Cerina held it out to her, offering it. Liz didn’t move a muscle even though she wanted to. It was Max’s. Max’s orb and she couldn’t help the curiosity that was stirred inside of her. She wanted to know what he was dreaming about.

“Oh, come on. You know you want to. Come on, Lizzie. He wants you to.” Cerina said knowingly. There was no harm in Liz taking a little peek as to what Max was dreaming about. Besides, he was probably dreaming about Liz anyways.

Liz stepped forward and Cerina handed her the orb. Liz held it protectively to her chest, not knowing exactly what to do. Liz opened her mouth to ask Cerina, when she felt herself float into the orb.

Cold. It was cold, Liz realized as she stood in the dark. She really couldn’t tell where she was. It looked like some sort of cave and the only light was coming from the small fire that was on the other side of the cave. Liz stared at the couple who were lying on the floor.

Liz smiled widely as she realized who they were. It was her and Max. No, not her and Max. It was Troian and Zanier, except that there faces were of her and Max. Max was dreaming about the first time they’d made love. OH! Did that mean that Max’s memories of Antar were coming back to him?

Liz felt so happy that she let out a little squeal of delight. The next thing that she knew she was back with Cerina. “Oh, what happened?”

“You can’t let yourself get majorly overwhelmed. Don’t worry about it. You’ll get the hang of it. Let’s go hunting for Ava.” Cerina said as she took Max’s orb away from Liz. Cerina didn’t pay her friend any attention at her pout.

For the next twenty minutes the two girls searched for Ava’s orb. Though they did find numerous inhabitants of Roswell, including Brody’s. Finding Brody’s made Liz think about Larek, Max’s cousin. She wanted to thank him again for what he’d done for her. Finally, Liz had found a pale pink orb that was separated from the others. Liz knew instantly that it was Ava’s. “Cerina, I’ve found it.”

Cerina quickly made her way over to Liz. She put Liz’s hand over the orb and than placed her own on top of Liz’s. A moment later, the two girls were in.


Ava walked behind Lonnie, Rath and Zan as they laughed at the man in the sequined jumpsuit.

“Cornball.” Rath said, rolling his eyes as he bounced the ball on the ground.

Ava caught Rath and Lonnie’s look and wondered what was going on. Before she could say anything, she watched in silent horror as Rath bounced the ball to Zan, and the ball went into the street.

As Zan reached out to try to grab the ball, Rath pushed Zan with all of his might. Ava watched as Zan looked up from the ground, shocked by what Rath had done, only to meet the headlights of the semi.

Ava let out a piercing scream as she watched the truck run over Zan. She was about to scream again when she felt Rath out his hand over her face roughly.

“Shut the fuck up, killer.” Rath said harshly. “Don’t you even think about going against us. If you do than, I’ll kill you the same way you killed my sister!”

All Ava could do was to nod at his words.



Liz clutched Cerina’s arm. Oh, Jeez. That was how Zan had died. He had known that he was going to die. And he’d known exactly who was responsible for his death. Oh God! And Ava, she’d been called killer by Rath. They had known all about what Avarona had done back on Antar; but Ava shouldn’t have been blamed or called a killer.

Liz forced herself not to think about it. She closed her eyes for a moment to steady her breathe. Once she had her breathing under control, she opened her eyes, only to discover that the scene had changed. Rath, Lonnie and Ava were somewhere underground. “Ava!” Liz called out.

Ava gasped as she heard her name. She looked around the room and saw two girls looking at her. One of them was Liz Parker. “Liz, whatcha doin’ here? Who are you?”

Liz took a step towards Ava. “This is my friend, Cerina. She was Krissane back on Antar. Do you remember her?”

Ava nodded. “Shit, you Zan and Lonnie’s sister. Whatcha doin’ here?” she asked, taking several steps towards the two girls. She was surprised. She’d never known that their sister was on Earth.

Cerina cocked an eyebrow at Ava. “Actually, I’m Max and Isabel’s sister. Not theirs.” she said prickly. From what Cerina had seen, Lonnie acted a lot more like Vilandra than Isabel did. Cerina didn’t want to be related to someone who’d killed their own brother.

Ava didn’t say anything at her words. She didn’t blame her for her words. She didn’t like reminders that she was Khivar’s sister. She hated the fact that she had been related to that sick son of a bitch. That she remembered their disgusting relationship.

“Ava, we need you to come back to Roswell. You shouldn’t have been with them. You should have been in Roswell. They switched your pod with Tess’.” Liz told her without any preamble. She didn’t see the point in wasting any time. Just quick and to the point.

Ava blinked several times. “Ya smoking crack or something? I’m a fucking dupe. A screw up on the doc’s part. I ain’t nothin’. Why you care anyways, Liz?”

“Khivar kidnaped me about a month ago, Ava. I found out who I was. I’m Troian. And we were friends once, Ava. Don’t you remember?” Liz told her softly, remembering the young girl who had once been her friend so long ago, before Khivar had ruined her.

Ava didn’t say anything for a moment. She didn’t know what to say. Several moments later, she finally found her voice. “Well, I ain’t all that surprised. I did think that a time or two. So if you saying that I’m supposed to be with the cornballs, who switched the pods?” she asked curiously. She hadn’t been shocked that Liz was Troian. While she was in Roswell, she had thought that a time or two. Liz’s kindness was the same that it had been back on Antar.

Cerina decided to take over for Liz. “One of the protectors on the ship was a traitor. He forced the ship down and afterwards, the government had the pods, right? And they started messing with one of the pod’s. Your pod. Look, Ava, I’m not too sure about this. Okay, you killed Liz back on Antar. Ya helped in killing my family. But Liz says that we can trust you. That you aren’t the evil psychotic bitch that Avarona was back on Antar. So we need you. We need you to complete the four square. Max, Michael and Isabel will be stronger with you.” Cerina informed her seriously.

“Please, Ava. Will you come back to Roswell? We need you. We need your help in dealing with the Skins, Nicholas and Tess. Please Ava.” Liz said softly.

Ava wanted to. In the few days that she had spent with Liz, she’d felt that she had found a friend; someone who actually cared about her. Liz had saved her from Michael and Isabel’s wraith. The least she could do was to do the same for Liz and the others. Especially Liz. She had so much to make up to her for what happened back on Antar.

“‘K, I’ll come. You helped me, Liz. Now, it’s my turn to help you. I’ll take a bus and come as soon as I can.” Ava told them.

Liz hugged Ava tightly, grateful that Ava was coming. “Oh, Ava. You won’t regret it. Practically everyone is here. Jasper, Aiden, Bradeon, Kayin, Jirair.”

“Yo, where’s Lexus? If she’s here where’s her hubby?” Ava asked, as she and Liz drew away, pointing at Cerina.

A dark look flashed over Cerina’s face. “He’s dead. Khivar, Nicholas and Tess killed him.”

“Sorry.” Ava mumbled, sorry that she even said anything about him.

“It’s okay, Ava. By the way, Khivar’s dead. I killed him.” Liz said softly.

A look of relief came over Ava’s face. “You shitting me? You killed him? ‘Bout time someone did. Fuckin’ bastard deserved it.”

“We gotta go, Liz. Thanks for coming, Ava. I realize that you are probably not the same as you were on Antar. Sometimes I can’t stop the shit that comes out of my mouth. I’m still learning that things aren’t going to be the same as Antar.” Cerina told Ava softly.

“S’okay. I understand. I’ll come as soon as I can.” Ava told them.

“Hey, where’d you go anyway?” Liz asked.

Ava gave Liz and Cerina a wide smile. “Where I always wanted to go. Disney Land.”


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
posted on 29-May-2002 1:03:13 AM
Chapter 22




When Max heard the sound at his window, he had woken up instantly, but he pretended to be asleep. Gingerly, he reached the side of his bed where he kept the baseball bat. Ever since the FBI had taken him, sometimes Max couldn’t sleep unless he had his bat next to him.

With the bat gripped firmly in his hand, Max opened his eyes watching silently as the person came into his room. Max sighed as he saw who it was. Max reached to the night stand and turned on the lamp. “Michael, it’s freaking 3:14 in the morning. What are you doing here?”

Michael looked at his friend for a moment, and than began pacing in front of the window. “I couldn’t sleep. I mean, things have just been racking my brain. I just had to come talk to you about what exactly your intentions are towards Liz. I know that you two were once married on Antar. But we’re not on Antar, and Liz has gone through a hell of a time.”

Max let the bat slip from his grip to the ground, as he stood straight up in his bed. “You picked a hell of a time to come ask me questions. Look, Michael, I’m— I’m not too comfortable talking to you about this. I mean, you’re her brother.”

Michael rolled his eyes at Max’s words. “I’m your friend, too, Max. Just because we know now that Liz is my sister doesn’t make it all different. Well, it does. But she’s my damn sister and she’s been through so much and she’s had to be so strong because of all the shit in our lives. I want her to be happy and safe. And I don’t want to see you rushing her into doing anything.” he confessed, wringing his hands together.

Max completely understood Michael’s distress. He felt the same things, too. Max worried about things that he would say to Liz, or if any of his actions might frighten her or anything. “I’m not going to rush Liz into doing anything at all. I know that she has been through hell and back. That is something that I think about every day since I found out that she had been taken by Khivar. Knowing that it was all of my fault. That I was the one that caused for it all to happen. That I put her in that situation. She wouldn’t have been there if it hadn’t been for me.” he said, disgusted by the thought of all that she had to endure because of his passiveness.

Michael bit the inside of his cheek at Max’s words. He didn’t know how he was supposed to feel by Max’s words. He didn’t know what to say either. Was he supposed to say, ‘Good, it was all your fault.’ Or was he supposed to coddle his friend, by saying, ‘Oh, it really wasn’t your fault.’ Michael couldn’t bring himself to do either. “So what are you planning?” he said instead.

Max got out of the bed and sighed heavily. “I’m going to do whatever I can to make Liz feel better. I’m not going to rush her into doing anything. I’m just going to be there for her whenever she needs me. We’re starting over, Michael. We’re getting to know each other again, and it feels pretty damn good. Because we’ve both changed so much. I’m not going to make the same mistakes again.”

Michael scoffed at his friend’s words. Easier said that done, he thought. “Oh, no. You’re going make all new ones.” he replied, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He hated the way that he was sounding, but it was true wasn’t it?

Max meet his friend’s eyes. “Isn’t that what a relationship is about. Getting to know someone, making mistakes, making up. Jeez, Michael. I love Liz. That’s something that hasn’t changed. I’ve known for a very long time that I love Liz. Ever since I was little, I knew that I loved her. And I’m happy just being with her. Learning all about her again.” he said softly.

Michael nodded. “Alright. What do you think about Liz going to go see a doctor? Do you think that she should?” he asked quietly, wanting to know what Max thought. Michael didn’t know what to think. On one hand, he wanted Liz to get better, to actually talk about her problems with someone. And on the other, he knew that there would be so much that Liz couldn’t tell the doctor. She couldn’t say that she was kidnaped, raped and impregnated by an evil son of a bitch named Khivar.

“She refuses to talk much about what happened, Michael. And I actually do think that it would be some help if she did go to talk to someone. I mean, talking to that damn doctor that my parents made me see actually did help, even though there was so much that I couldn’t tell him. Liz might benefit from being able to talk about what happened. I mean, she can’t say that it was an alien who did that or anything.” Max confessed, as he watched Michael begin to pace around the room again.

Michael rubbed his forehead with his hand as he began pacing. “She doesn’t want to talk about it. That’s not good, Max. When you don’t talk about things, your emotions start getting bottled inside of you. Until they explode. I know exactly what I’m talking about, Max. The same thing happened after I got shot. I wasn’t freaking dealing with it all. She needs to deal with it.” he said, as he stopped pacing to look at Max.

“Like I said, Michael. I’m not going to force her to do anything. And this is one of them. We can’t force her to go talk to someone. She needs to decide on her own. Right now, she’s thinking that it’s over and done with, so she doesn’t need to talk about it. She will have to come to terms with it all soon enough, Michael. Let her come to the conclusion herself. Let’s not push her.” Max said softly, knowing that what he was saying was the right thing. They couldn’t push Liz into doing anything, even if they felt that the best thing was for her to talk to someone.

Michael nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. I just. . . . hate feeling so helpless, unable to do anything. Unable to help her out. She’s my sister and I want to help her. I want to so much.” he confessed.

Michael’s confession left Max quiet. Though they had been friends for such a long time, Max wasn’t used to having Michael bare his soul this way. Max felt the same way. He hated feeling helpless to do anything to help Liz. But he knew that he couldn’t push her in any way. Max wasn’t sure how long they stayed silent. It could have been seconds, or it could have been minutes.

“So you decided to change your hair after all?” Max asked, breaking the tension in the room. He’d noticed it when Michael had first came in, but he hadn’t wanted to say anything.

Michael nodded his head. “Yeah, well, you know, Maria said she hated the long look. Liz agreed with her. It was easier to manage since I was so damn lazy, but hell, what are alien powers for anyway.” he said, shrugging his shoulders as he thought about it. Michael had to admit that the others were getting to him. He was feeling happier than he had in a long time, not always so scared that something could happen in a minute. He liked the feeling.

Max nodded. “So are you ready for our workout on Saturday. I’ve been told that it’s hell on Earth. Five hours of working on physical things, and another five hours on using your powers. Liz has gotten pretty good at using her powers. She turned on the radio with her powers.” he said, with a smile as he thought about it.

“So are you and Maria doing okay?” Max went on without waiting for Michael’s answer. He hadn’t been much of a friend to Michael. He hadn’t inquired about his relationship with Maria or anything like that. Or if Michael was okay, after everything that had happened. Everything with getting shot, with Liz being kidnaped, to finding out that she was his sister.

“The truth is that Maria is kind of, uh. . . . “ Michael began, unable to think of the right word. There were so many words that he could use to describe Maria and how he felt, but none of them seemed accurate. She was beautiful, she was the love of his life. He’d never known anyone like her before.

“That sentence could end in a million different ways.” Max said, with a grin. He knew that Michael had strong feelings for Maria, but he didn’t know if Michael loved her, or even what Michael wanted to do with the rest of his life. There was so much that he didn’t know about his friend.

Michael smiled at that. “You bet your ass there are a million ways that could end. I love her, I really do. I’ve never known anyone quite like her. She’s special and beautiful and she loves me. Flaws and all. I’ve never thought that anyone could. It was something that Hank would tell me. ‘No one’s going to love you, you stupid bastard.’ I sort of resigned myself into thinking that, but she changed that. She changed me, and I love her for it. I don’t feel like Michael Stonewall Guerin, anymore.” he confessed.

Max swallowed hard at Michael’s words. He’d never known that Hank had said those things to him. It was a good thing that the man was gone. Hell, he hadn’t even known that Hank would hit Michael, either. He was a sucky friend. “I didn’t know about Hank, ever hitting you or talking to you this way, Michael. I haven’t been a good friend to you and I’m sorry. I wasn’t there when you needed me.”

Michael shrugged his shoulders. “Why should we talk about this now? It’s already done and over with. You’re my best friend, Max. And I didn’t want you to know about the special hell that Hank had for me. I was ashamed and didn’t want anyone to know. Or for anyone to feel sorry for me. It’s enough for me that we’re working to repair our friendship. Zack, Krit and Tom are my brothers and I am getting close to them, but you were my friend first. And that’s not going to change. Oh, Jeez. You look like your going to hug me. Don’t!”

Max nodded his head. “Fine, I won’t hug you. There’s a lot that I have to make up for and not being there for you is one of them.”

Michael cleared his throat abruptly. “Okay, no offense, pal. But you’re starting to get all mushy on me. And it might work with my sister, but it’s not really working on me. Liz and Cerina were able to contact Ava. She’s on her way.” he declared.

“Oh, so she’s coming for sure. Do you know where she was?” Max asked. Ava was on her way to Roswell. A person who looked exactly like Tess, was coming. But Max couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her. She had grown up with Lonnie and Rath, and they hadn’t been the nicest people. They’d freaking tried to kill him. Who knows what Ava had to deal with when she’d grown up with them?

Michael smirked. “Liz and Cerina told me that she went to Disney Land. Can you believe that? Of all the places in the US, she goes to Disney Land. She always seemed a little strange to me. She always acted like I was just going to slap her across the face or something. I guess Rath had her pretty badly intimidated. Look, I’d better be going. Zack’s probably wondering where the hell I’m at.”

“Oh, he’s still awake at this hour?” Max asked curiously.

Michael nodded as he opened the window to leave. “Yeah, he likes to stay up late, making sure that things are okay. You know, we have little competitions to see who can stay up longer, and I just keep on losing. Must be the genes or something. I’ve got one question left for you, Max.” he said, turning back to look at Max.

“What?”

“You’re not willing to let her die again, are you?” Michael asked softly. He wanted to make sure that Max would do everything in his power to make sure that nothing bad would happen to Liz. That they would do everything they could to make sure that she was safe.

Max nodded. “I will die before I let anything else happen to Liz. I owe it to her since I wasn’t there to help her twice.” he said seriously. He’d make sure that Liz was safe if it was the last thing that he did. He never wanted to see her get hurt again. Never!

Michael nodded. “Good, that’s what I was hoping you’d say. I’ll see you tomorrow at school.” he said, jumping out of the window.

Max watched silently as Michael retreated. He felt better that he had talked to Michael. He understood things better. He knew that things were going to be better now. Things would get better. At least that’s what he was hoping for.


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 23



“What did you find out?” Nicholas asked as he watched Greer enter the room. Greer had better have found something. He needed to know what he was dealing with. He needed to know who else he was supposed to kill. Well, if there were any men, they were sitting ducks. He’d kill them all. But if there were any other women from Antar, he’d keep them around.

Greer bit the inside of his lip, hating what he was about to tell Nicholas. He didn’t want to have Nicholas’ wrath on him, but he had to tell him the truth about what he had found out. “Not much. Elizabeth Parker and Alexander Whitman were both born at the same place. By the same doctor, too.”

Nicholas smiled to himself. “So they were both delivered by the same doctor. Was anyone else born to this doctor?” he asked, his interest piqued. It was very likely that there could be more. Especially if Krissane was brought to Earth. Oh yeah, he had some fond memories of her. The torturing sessions that he and Khivar had with both her and Lexus. Nicholas regretted that he hadn’t had the opportunity to make young Lexus. . . Alex, whatever his name had been, suffer more before he died.

“Uh, I don’t know. We didn’t check. This Dr. Metzler delivered both kids practically on the same day, though. Whitman was born at 11:57 p.m. on June 21,1983 and the girl was born at 12:03 a.m on the following day. We thought that it was very interesting.” Greer replied. He and his men hadn’t checked about anyone else being born by the same doctor. They hadn’t thought that it was important. But now that he was standing in front of Nicholas, he was thinking that they should have.

Nicholas narrowed his eyes at Greer. “What the hell do you mean that you didn’t check? What the fuck were you thinking? I tell you to check things out and you do a half assed job. You don’t even check this doctor out.”

Greer’s cheek began to twitch in fear. “Uh, we did find out that this Dr. William Metzler is married to a Stephanie Norris. Her sister was Sheila Hubble. The woman Curan claims to have killed because she was pregnant with the queen.” he quickly told Nicholas, hoping to appease his leader. Nicholas was now their leader, with Khivar dead. At least that’s what Nicholas had said. Greer just wanted to stay on the side that was going to win. And he wanted off this planet.

“So you didn’t check out if anyone else could have been born at the clinic? Been delivered by this doctor. You need to go back and find out some fucking information, you idiot. I am thinking that Jasper, Aiden, Bradeon and possibly Krissane could have been brought here to Earth. I want you to go back and find out more about this damn doctor. I gave you five fucking days and you give me bullshit. I want all of this information on Monday. If this Metzler guy delivered anyone else other than Troian and Lexus. Got it?” Nicholas asked roughly, letting Greer know that he was serious about what he wanted.

Greer nodded his head rapidly. “Yes, sir. We’ll have the information about Dr. Metzler for you on Monday.” he said, wanting to get out of the room as fast as he could. Nicholas looked like he was going to rip his head off. And Greer would rather leave the room and have Nicholas take his frustration out on that bitch Tess.

“Good. Now, get the hell out of my face before I do something that you’re going to regret.” Nicholas ordered. The man left as fast as his feet could carry him. Nicholas sighed heavily and threw his hands up. “Why do I have to deal with such incompetent people?”

Nicholas quickly walked to the hidden panel in the wall, and took out the hexagon shaped crystal. It was almost time for him to talk to Charon and see what was going on back on Antar. If the former Queen and the rebels were still fighting or what not. Within moments of setting it up, the crystal came to life, as a hologram came up.

“Nicholas, good to see you’re still alive. Things over here have been tense to say the least. Nasira and her forces aren’t backing down. Now that Khivar is dead, people are joining in on the fight. They’re not scared anymore.” Charon began, without preamble. They had some serious business to talk about. Those damn royals especially.

“We’re going to take care of the royals. We already have most of the plans already. We’re working on a serum that will render them powerless. It paid to have Curan pose as an FBI agent. He got the serum from them that they used against young Zanier.” Nicholas said with a smile, as he thought about it. He and Curan had laughed about how the FBI had tortured the idiot king. Nicholas had liked Curan well enough, until he started going back on his word. But it had been by Khivar’s demand that Curan be killed and Nicholas’ hadn’t hesitated to tell Vanessa to kill him.

“So you’re going to kill all of the men? What are you going to do with the women? Take them as your own personal prisoners?” Charon asked, cocking an eyebrow. He knew all about Nicholas’ penchant for treating his prisoners for anything and everything. Charon, himself had never been involved with any of that.

Nicholas smiled. “Of course, I am. I already have Avarona, only she isn’t the way that Khivar used to talk about her. She’s a pathetic, useless little bitch. Hmm, there’s always that other Avarona. And Vilandra and Troian. Anyway, we just need to take care of Zanier, and the others, and than we’ll take the Granolith back to Antar. We should parade the royal women on the street like animals. Than the people will know that we are still in charge of everything.”

“Sounds good to me. You do have the Jagur crystal in order to get home right?” Charon asked.

Nicholas nodded his head. What Charon didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, he thought. Khivar had been a freaking idiot to keep the crystal at that cabin that he had Troian at. That girl had made Khivar act so differently. And it pissed Nicholas off. He couldn’t understand how that slip of a girl had made Khivar act like a fucking idiot. “Of course, we have the Jagur crystal. Actually, we’re hoping that the idiot Zanier will get Troian pregnant, that way when we go back to Antar, there is a heir on the way. And if she’s not, than we won’t kill him right away. We’re going to make sure that we have an heir before we kill Zanier.”

Charon nodded his head. “That’s a good idea. Having an heir for the people. I know that Khivar hadn’t wanted Troian to be pregnant with Zanier’s baby, which I have to admit I thought was pretty stupid. Zanier wouldn’t want to have a kid with Avarona. Yes, things are going to work out quite well, aren’t they?” he said with a smile. All they had to do was hold out back on Antar and once Nicholas brought the royals back everything would be okay.

Nicholas was so caught up in his conversation with Charon that he didn’t notice another presence in the room, listening to every word that was being said. A plan of forming in the person’s mind.

****************************



“Jim, is there something wrong? Is that why you wanted to talk to me?” Amy asked, curiously as she meet Jim’s eyes. He had called her earlier and had asked to come over. She’d been a little surprised. She hadn’t talked to Jim in a few days. Amy had begun thinking that she had a relationship like her daughter did with her boyfriend. An on-again, off-again relationship. Amy had to admit that she was getting quite tired of it. But she didn’t want to push things.

Jim sat down on the couch next to Amy. “No. Nothing’s wrong. It’s just that we haven’t been spending a lot of time together. Well, I actually do want to talk to you about something. I can’t keep it to myself anymore. It’s about Liz. You know that she called me that night.” he told her softly. He kept seeing it in his head night after night. Liz, in that blood soaked nightgown with her arms wrapped around herself.

“Oh, Jim. I. . . . what exactly happened?” Amy asked softly. She’d heard several rumors going around that Sean had been the one responsible for what happened to Liz. Though Amy didn’t know of all the details. Hell, no one knew what the details of what happened were. Amy didn’t want to push Maria into telling her what happened, and she hadn’t heard from Sean in quite awhile, but than again, he’d always been that way. And that damn idiot Hanson hadn’t told her anything when she’d called him.

Jim cleared his throat. “You know that it wasn’t Sean who did that to Liz. Hanson. . . he actually came by and talked to me. I couldn’t believe it myself. He came and told me what Liz had told him when he talked to her. What happened to Liz. God, Amy. I don’t ever want to see something like that again. She looked so bad. Battered and bleeding, and sobbing, her arms wrapped around her. Trying to shield herself from anything else.” he said, warily, rubbing his forehead.

“Poor Liz. Why would someone do such a thing to a young girl? With all the rumors going around, I was starting to believe that it was really Sean. I haven’t heard from him in awhile. I know that Sean did some bad things in his life, but deep down inside, I know that he was a good person. That he wouldn’t hurt anyone. And it’s good to know that he didn’t do this. But then, what kind of a disgusting person would hurt Liz? She is such a good person. Why do all the bad things in the world happen to the good people. It’s just so not far!” Amy declared, as tears ran down her face. She hated to think of what Liz was going through. Being hurt by some weirdo.

Jim shrugged his shoulders. “There are a lot of deranged people out there. But Liz— she’s getting better. She has the support of her friends and family and that’s what matters.” he told her.

“Why did she call you, Jim? Why you and not the police?” Amy asked curiously. She didn’t understand why Liz had done that. It wasn’t as if Jim was a police officer anymore. Or had he been the only one that Liz could have trusted?

“She trusts me. I mean, that’s the only thing that I can come up with. No offense but I wouldn’t have wanted to go to Hanson. She knew me from when she dated Kyle. I’ve always liked the girl and I told her that if she ever needed anything that all she had to do was to call me. And when she needed me, she did.” Jim said, nodding his head as he thought about it. He liked to think of it like that. That Liz had trusted him out of everyone that she knew. That she had wanted him to come help her in her time of need.

He knew all about Liz being an alien, just like Max. And quite frankly, he wasn’t so surprised. Kyle had told him the other day. That Liz, along with some other people had been sent down to Earth sometime after Max and the others had been. That Liz and Max had been married back on their planet. And it all made sense. It was why that Khivar guy had taken Liz in the first place.

Dammit Jim, he told himself. You’re getting off track here. There was something else that he had wanted to do, and he was still talking about Liz. Jim knew that he couldn’t tell Amy the truth about what had happened. He knew that Amy might be told by Maria. And he was going to let her tell Amy.

“Uh, Amy there was something that I wanted to ask you.” Jim began hesitantly, as his hand dug for the small box that was in his jacket pocket. He was going to do this now. As long as he didn’t chicken out or anything. He wanted this. He wanted to be married to Amy. She was beautiful. One of the most beautiful women that he had ever seen. He’d always liked her, even when they were younger. When they had first meet. When he had arrested her.

Amy wiped away her tears. She hated crying like a baby. But Liz was one of Maria’s oldest friends. Liz was okay, though. Liz was strong, tough, a survivor. Even though Amy wanted to know more about what had happened, she didn’t think that she could stomach it all. “What did you want to ask me?” she asked, after a moment.

“I want you to know that I love you, Amy. I never thought that I could love anyone again after Michelle left as those years ago. But I have. I’ve fallen in love with you. You are so wonderful and beautiful, and you help make me a better person.” Jim began. This felt so right. Telling Amy, asking her to marry him.

Amy didn’t know what to say. She loved him too. Who’d have guessed it? Amy DeLuca, who people considered one of the eccentric people in town and Jim Valenti, former sheriff of Roswell. But being with him felt so good, so wonderful. “I love you too, Jim. I really do. You mean so much to me. I never really thought that I would be happy with a man after John and everything.” she told him softly.

Holding the ring in his jacket pocket, Jim was about to take the ring out when suddenly the door was thrown open and Maria came barging into the room.

Maria did a double take when she saw them on the couch. “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I interrupting anything?” she asked, looking between her mother and Jim.

Jim shook his head. The moment was killed. She’d totally ruined the moment. “No, Maria. You’re not interrupting anything.” he said with a strained smile on his face. Jim knew that he would have another chance to ask her to marry him.

“Are you going somewhere tonight, Maria?” Amy asked, worried about her daughter. With what happened to Liz, Amy couldn’t help but worry about her daughter. She didn’t want anything bad to happen to her little girl.

Maria nodded. “Yeah. A whole bunch of us are going to go over to Max and Isabel’s house. Michael’s on his way to pick me up. I, uh. . . came to ask you if could braid my hair for me. I can never do it on my own.” she asked softly, wondering again if she had interrupted something important.

“Of course, sweetie. Come sit on the floor in front of me and I’ll do your hair.” Amy said softly. She knew that if Maria was with Michael, that nothing bad would happen. Amy knew that Michael Guerin would do just about anything for her daughter. She could tell by the look in his eyes.

Jim watched as Maria sat down and Amy began to do Maria’s hair. Watching her at this moment, Jim knew that he wanted to have more children. He wanted to have children with Amy. Maybe even a daughter. A daughter that Amy could braid her hair, or maybe even a son. A son like Kyle. He wanted that. He wanted that a lot.


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
posted on 23-Jun-2002 11:47:49 PM
posted on 23-Jun-2002 11:51:33 PM
Disclaimer: Secret Garden belongs to Bruce Springsteen.

Chapter 24



Liz took a deep breath, trying to calm down her racing heart. She knew that she shouldn’t be getting nervous or anything, but she couldn’t help it. Being in this dark movie theater was affecting her more than she was willing to admit.

Her right hand gripped the arm of the chair and she tried to focus her attention on the movie. Tonight was her second date with Max. And she wanted everything to go fine. She didn’t want to disrupt anything by her fucked up behavior.

Taking in another deep breathe she tried to focus on the movie. Damn it! Why was it so damn hard for her? Being in the dark like this, it was bringing back her memories. And she didn’t like it one bit. She didn’t want to remember. Khivar had liked to come into her room in the middle of the night when she wasn’t expecting him too.

That’s what she was scared of right now. She knew that it was stupid, impractical even. But she couldn’t help it. The feeling that someone was just going to jump up and attack her was overwhelming. She couldn’t stop it.

Liz let out a small moan as a memory popped up in her mind. Stop it! Damn it! Stop it, she commanded, not wanting to remember the horrible, vivid memories.

“Liz, are you okay?” Max asked concerned, looking at her. She didn’t look too well. It looked like she was having trouble breathing or something. Her face was a ghastly white, and he saw some perspiration making it’s way down her face. Her right hand was gripping the arm chair like her life depended on it. Something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong with her.

Liz clenched her jaw tightly as she struggled to regulate her breathing. She felt like she didn’t have any breath inside of her body. She was vaguely aware of a hand touching her arm. No. No! NO! Stop! Don’t touch me!!

Max figured that Liz was having some sort of a flashback. He knew that he had to do something. That he had to do something to help her. He grabbed her chin in his hands, forcing her to look at him. He saw that her eyes had a glazed over look. “Liz, it’s me, Max. Liz, I know you can hear me. Focus on me. You’re safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You’re safe.” he told her.

Liz bit down on her lip as she Max’s words were seeping into her brain. She gave an involuntary shudder as the memories finally stopped flowing to her brain. “Max, I—“ she began, unable to continue.

“It’s okay, baby. Do you want to go?” Max asked softly, not knowing exactly what else to do. He wanted to talk to Liz alone. The talk that he had to Michael came flooding back to him. Could this be one of the reactions Liz would have because she refused to talk about what happened. He didn’t want to push her into doing anything, but he was scared about what was going on with her. He wanted her to get better, and he was willing to do whatever it would take to help her.

Liz nodded her head adamantly. She had to get out of here and she had to leave now. She didn’t want people to see her like this. Oh GOD!! She didn’t want Max to see her like this. She didn’t want him to think of her as some kind of freak who couldn’t handle being at the movies. Liz was vaguely aware of Max and her walking out of the movie theater and into the bright lights of the lobby. “Bathroom. I. . . need to go to the bathroom.” she forced out, trying to get a rein on her emotions.

“Liz, are you sure? Are you sure that you’re okay?” Max asked hesitantly, not wanting to let her out of his sight. He didn’t want her to be alone right now. He didn’t want her to deal with what she was going through on her own. But he knew that right now he had to trust what she was saying.

Liz nodded her head. “Yes, I. . . I’ll be okay. I just need to collect myself.” she forced out painfully. Before he could say anything, she fled to the bathroom as fast as her feet could take her. Calm down, Parker, she ordered herself.

Walking to the sink, Liz turned the faucet on and splashed her face with water. Looking up into the mirror, Liz gave a strangled gasp. Who was that person in the mirror? Chalky skin, flashing eyes, lips tightened, chest heaving, brow perspiring. Who was that? That was her? It didn’t look anything like her?

Liz collapsed to the floor, wrapping her arms around her legs. She didn’t like this. She didn’t want to remember what had happened. It wasn’t fair. Why did she have to remember it all? It was over, wasn’t it? It was over, so why did she have to remember it?

It was so horrible though. She had been transported back to what happened. Shuddering, Liz could feel everything. She could see the room, feel the sensations, the terror. She could remember all of it and she hated it.

Hated that she feel it all happening to her again. She could feel the insertion of something vile and disgusting between her legs; something that didn’t bring any pleasure like she had always imagined when she’d make love. It only brought horror, revulsion, desperation and pain. So much pain to her. And Khivar’s hatred, his rage, his consuming desire to dominate her and bring pain. His voice full of repressed fury pouring out all over her.

Stop it! Stop it! Stop it, Liz commanded herself. No more thinking about it. No more. She didn’t want to. It had already ruined the movie for her and Max. It had ruined their second date and it was all of her damn fault for it coming back to her.

A soft knock came at the door. “Liz, are you okay?” Max asked softly. He didn’t know exactly what to do or to expect. He didn’t want to just walk into the bathroom and violate Liz’s privacy. What he had to do though was to be Liz’s rock. That’s what he had to do. Just let her know that he was here for her and that he wasn’t going to abandon her, not like when she needed him the last time.

Liz didn’t say anything for several moments. “Y. . yeah. I’m fine. Give me a minute.” she finally called out, once she found her voice. She knew that things would be better if she just didn’t think about it all. If she did think about it, all she would do was remember the pain and she didn’t want to. There was only so much that she could handle.

Standing up her legs felt a little shaky, but Liz knew that she had to go. She felt safe with Max, she always had. And she wanted to be with him, even if it was just in his presence. He had the ability to calm her down. That was all that she needed. To be near him, with his calming presence.

Liz plastered a fake smile on her face as she walked out of the bathroom, and right into Max. She felt instantly better just seeing him. She hated having ruined this for them.

“Do you want me to take you back home?” Max asked quietly. She still didn’t look very good. Though she did look better than she had been when she had gone into the bathroom. Max couldn’t help but feel a burst of anger for Khivar for what he had done to Liz. What he had done to Liz was going to affect her for the rest of her life. Affect each and everything that she would do.

Liz nodded her head. “Yeah, can you? But I. . . I don’t want you to leave me. Can you stay with me?” she asked hesitantly. She was afraid that he might say no because he was freaked out about what had happened. She hoped not. She needed him so much right now.

Max nodded his head. “Of course, I will.” he said, as he motioned for them to leave. Though he desperately wanted to comfort her, he knew that he shouldn’t. That he should let her make the first move. To tell him that she would be comfortable with him touching her.

Liz walked at his side and breathed in his scent. It was definitely working. She was feeling better just with him. Maybe she should tell him to go to his house, since that was where everyone else was. Isabel, Kyle, Michael, Maria, Zack, Tom and Cerina. If they went over there, than maybe their night wouldn’t be a total lose. They could spend some time with their friends and family.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Liz knew that she didn’t want to go over there. Her brothers would probably figure out that something was wrong with her and get all protective over her. Or maybe she should talk to Cerina. Ask Cerina how she coped with everything. Coped with the dreams and memories and not go totally freaking insane.

“We’re at the car, angel.” Max told her, noting that she had been very quiet. His heart was constricting at the evident pain that she was in and that he couldn’t do anything to help her. That he couldn’t do anything to stop the pain. Michael was right. Liz needed to see someone.

Liz nodded her head, coming out over her reverie and walked mechanically to the passenger door. Quickly opening the door, and sitting down, she knew that things would be better when she got home. She would be safe when she got home. Not that she wasn’t safe here with Max, but at home there wouldn’t be any threats or any bad memories.

Max didn’t say anything as he started the Jeep. She was just looking out the window. He didn’t to disturb her. She looked so lost, so confused, and he knew that she was trying to be strong. That she was desperately trying to keep up the facade that she was fine, when she really wasn’t. He hated that she was hurting so much over what had happened to her. It was wrong. And it should never have happened. Max stayed silent as he turned on the radio, wanting to give her the space that he was thinking that she needed.

She'll let you in her house
If you come knockin' late at night
She'll let you in her mouth
If the words you say are right
If you pay the price
She'll let you deep inside
But there's a secret garden she hides

She'll let you in her car
To go drivin' round
She'll let you into the parts of herself
That'll bring you down
She'll let you in her heart
If you got a hammer and a vise
But into her secret garden, don't think twice

You've gone a million miles
How far'd you get
To that place where you can't remember
And you can't forget

She'll lead you down a path
There'll be tenderness in the air
She'll let you come just far enough
So you know she's really there
She'll look at you and smile
And her eyes will say
She's got a secret garden
Where everything you want
Where everything you need
Will always stay
A million miles away



Pulling into the alley of the Crashdown, Max clicked off the radio and turned to her seriously. “Are you okay, Liz? I mean, really are you?” he asked softly. He had been so scared for her. He loved her so much and he hated that she had all of this emotional stuff to deal with, and she was trying to force it down, so she wouldn’t have to deal with it all. He wanted her to be alright, but she wouldn’t until she dealt with it all.

Liz dug her fingers into the material of the seat. Was she okay? Was she? What exactly was okay, anyway? Nothing she knew. She hadn’t been okay in a long time and she had to admit that it was wearing thin on her. But she was pretty positive that it would all go away if she just didn’t think about it. If she didn’t think about it, than it would go away. It would!

Thinking about it only brought it back. She was sure about that. She had been thinking about the dark and Khivar and it had come back to her. That was why it had happened. Because she had been thinking about it. It was all so simple. Don’t think about it, it won’t come back to her. It was that easy, wasn’t it?

“I’m fine, really. Sorry I freaked on you. I don’t know why I did.” Liz finally told him, not wanting to elaborate on what exactly she had seen in her head. It hadn’t been pretty and she just didn’t want him to know about it all.

Max shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, Liz. Going to the movies was a dumb idea.” he said, berating himself for doing that. He honestly hadn’t thought that anything bad would happen. He thought that at the movies, they could have a good time, watching the stupid movie Zoolander, and Liz wouldn’t have to worry having to tell him about everything that had happened with Khivar. He did want to know, but he didn’t want to push her or anything. He wanted her to tell him on his own and he’d also thought that the movies was a normal type thing that they would do. Something fun and not too serious.

Liz shook her head, not wanting him to think that it was his fault, because it hadn’t been. It had been her fault. She was the one that had screwed it up for them. She’d freaking flipped out on him, it was her fault! “It’s not your fault, Max. It was mine. I mean, I’m the one that ruined the evening for us.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Liz. None of it was. Never think that.” Max told her, talking about everything not just the movie thing. He never wanted her to think of what happened as her fault. None of the things that had happened to Liz had been her fault. He hated her to even think that it had been her fault, when it wasn’t. None of it was her fault.

Liz opened her mouth to say something when a movement in the alley caught her eye. “Max, I think that there’s someone in the alley watching us.” she said quietly, not wanting to start freaking out. She knew that they were going to have to deal with their enemies, but it scared her. The Skins wouldn’t stop until they were all dead and they had the Granolith and the Jagur crystal to go home.

But before Max could do anything, Liz jumped out of the car. “What the? Stop, Liz.” he shouted as he jumped out, not wanting her to get hurt if it was one of their enemies. Max wasn’t prepared for what he saw when he came face to face with the mysterious person that Liz was smiling at.

“Ava.”


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
posted on 23-Jun-2002 11:56:54 PM
Disclaimer: Jokes are courtesy of http://www.lotsofjokes.com

Chapter 25



“Oh, come on, girls. Tell us what is the worst pickup line that you have ever heard?” Tom asked, knowing that this was going to amuse him. Everyone except for Max and Liz were over at the Evans home. Tom had been a little unsure of it at first, because of his feelings for Isabel. He knew that she wasn’t Vilandra; she looked nothing like Vilandra. But she was damn beautiful and it was definitely affecting him more than he wanted to admit.

Isabel laughed and shook her head. Tom was just such an ambiguous person. When Isabel had first meet him, she had thought that he was a serious kind of guy, but he was definitely changing her opinion of that. It was becoming apparent that he liked to laugh about things and make jokes. There was something about him that seemed so familiar to him, Isabel didn’t know what it was though.

Krit nodded, wanting to know. “Oh, hell, yeah. You’d better tell us about that.”

Maria threw Isabel and Cerina a look from her seat on the couch. “Should we girls? I mean, it’s something very personal after all. Do we feel comfortable telling these fine young gentlemen about it. Wait, we should. So they don’t make the same mistake.” she said laughingly. She could so see either Krit or Kyle telling some girl a really bad pick up line. But she couldn’t see either Zack or Tom. And Michael definitely wasn’t the type to try to pick up anyone.

Isabel nodded her head, she was having more fun than she had in a long time, and she didn’t want it to end anytime soon. “The worst pickup line I ever heard was from Paulie Newman. He told me, ‘Your father must have been a thief, because he stole the stars from heaven and put them in your eyes.’ Pathetic, that is so third grade.” she said, laughing about the day in ninth grade.

Kyle couldn’t help but laugh at that. He remembered Paulie telling him about that. But Paulie had described it a different way. He’d said that Isabel had been all over him after he told her his pick up line. Kyle had never believed what Paulie had said anyway.

Cerina shook her head. That was nothing compared to the one that she had heard. “That’s nothing. There’s about three that I consider horrible that they are on the verge of insults. And they were all by the same person, too. Ben Langley. One of them was: You’re like a championship bass, I don’t know if I should mount you or eat you. Another one was: I may not be Fred Flinstone, but I sure can make your bed rock. Another was: Baby, my dick is so big, I’m gonna touch your heart. Needless to say, poor Ben found himself with a broken nose after one of his lame pickups.”

Zack shook his head. He hated Ben Langley. That jerk had come onto Cerina more than once. Damn, if he had know, he would have kicked the punk’s ass himself. Coming onto his woman that way. Shut up, Zack, he commanded himself. He was freaking acting like a cave man, my woman. As much as he wanted her to be, Cerina wasn’t his woman. Life sucked. Maybe he needed to get laid or something.

Michael was dreading to hear Maria’s answer. He didn’t want to hear about some loser who had tried to pick up his girlfriend. Well, he hoped that she would say it. Maybe he would go visit the guy and bash his brains in for coming on to her. Oh, yeah. That would be nice, he thought with a smile.

Maria wrinkled her nose. “Oh, damn Cerina. Those were really bad. Good thing you punched that pervo. The worst that I heard was: I wish you were a carousel outside of a Walmart, that way I could ride you all day for a quarter. Can you say pathetic. I kneed him in the groin.” she said with a reminiscing smile.

Michael narrowed his eyes as he looked at his girlfriend. “Who was it?” he asked roughly, wanting to know the punk who’d come onto his girl.

Maria was about to laugh when she saw the look on Michael’s face and decided against it. He looked a little bit mad. Maria laid a comforting hand on his own, and rubbed his in a soothing manner. “Oh, Michael. It was no one that you have to worry about. He was a loser anyway.” she said innocently.

Tom looked at Kyle with a wide smile on his face. “Hey, Kyle. Liz told me that you were a Buddhist. Is it all bullshit, or what? What exactly is Buddhism?” he asked curiously. He didn’t know much about it all. He remembered seeing some pictures in his history books about Buddhist monks setting themselves on fire.

“Buddhism is a way of life. The practice of Buddhism entails consistent meditation and mindfulness for the purpose of reducing one’s poisons or delusions and arriving at a clear state of mind— the Enlightened Mind of the Buddha. The goal of all Buddhist is the same: to bring an end to suffering by taming the mind. Human conditions contain many different forms of suffering, the Buddha taught many paths to liberation. There’s nine essentials of Buddhism: Four Noble Truths, Noble Eightfold Path, Three Characteristics of Existence, Four Boundless States, Seven Factors of Enlightenment, Five Hindrances, Ten Perfections, Five Aggregates, Ten Fetters of Existence.” Kyle said, taking in a deep breath.

Krit nodded at Kyle’s words. He really didn’t understand much of what Kyle had said. “So I say this special with Sting on Showtime. He’s a Buddhist, and he believes in yoga, Tantric sex and the kama sutra. Do you believe in that shit? Now, not that I’m a pervert or anything, but some of that kama sutra stuff looks like it would hurt.” he said seriously, nodding his head at the thought.

Snickers were heard in the room after hearing Krit’s words.

“You are such a pervert, Krit!” Cerina exclaimed, as she desperately tried not to laugh in his face. She couldn’t believe that he had said that out loud. Sometimes he acted like such an idiot, that it made her wonder if he had lacked oxygen when he had been born.

Krit shrugged his shoulders at Cerina’s words. “Well, how the hell would I know anything about Buddha? It really isn’t my area of expertise.” he stated.

Zack nodded his head. “Yeah, it isn’t your area. You don’t have an area unless it’s a playground with slides, swings and a jungle gym.” he said mockingly.

“Ow. That hurt.” Krit exclaimed, looking hurt.

“Oh, the poor baby. Don’t hurt his feelings anymore. I can’t stand it when his brown eyes get all watery.” Maria protested.

Isabel shot Kyle a look of sympathy. “Why don’t you not answer Krit’s question, Kyle. At least not in front of all of us, anyway. I just. . . ugh. . . don’t answer the question, Kyle. Please.” she asked, shuddering.

Tom decided to speak up. “You want to hear some wise words from Thomas Miles McLaren? Life is a tale told by an idiot.” he said, changing the subject off of his old friend. Poor Krit, wasn’t really a perv, just a little stupid where some things were concerned.

Cerina raised her hands to the ceiling in exasperation. “We should just be grateful that we found each other. No matter how dumb we all are.”

Zack cocked an eyebrow at her. “What the hell are you talking about? I think I’m the sanest one out of all of you. You are all a bunch of fruitcakes, who can’t do anything right.” he said in his leader type voice.

“Hah. I never did one thing right in my entire life. Not one! Now, that takes skill.” Michael exclaimed, nodding as he looked at Zack.

Maria opened her mouth to protest Michael’s words. She didn’t agree with what he was saying. He had done right things in his life, even if he didn’t realize it himself. But than she saw Mrs. Evans step into the room and nearly swallowed her tongue.

“Oh, Izzy. I didn’t know that you were going to have friend over, tonight.” Diane stated as she looked around the room, only recognizing a few faces. She knew Maria DeLuca, Michael, Kyle Valenti. But she didn’t recognize the others.

Isabel stood up and smiled tensely at her mother. She had thought that her mother was going to stay with her father while he went to Clovis for business. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Mom. It’s just a friendly gathering. No party or anything.” she informed her mother.

Diane nodded. She knew that Isabel wasn’t lying about that. It didn’t have a party type atmosphere to it. “Is Max here? And are you going to introduce me to your friends? The ones that I don’t know?”

Isabel shook her head. “No, Max isn’t here. He and Liz went to the movies to see Zoolander. And uh. . . you know, Michael, Maria and Kyle. The others are. . . uh. . . Zack and Krit Metzler. Cerina Travers and Tom McLaren.” she said, pointing out each person to her mother.

Diane smiled widely at them. “Are you two brothers? You don’t look very much alike. Cerina, have we ever meet before? You look familiar?” she asked warmly looking at her daughter’s friends.

Cerina bit the inside of her cheek. Damn it! She was jealous. She was jealous of Isabel Evans. Not only had Isabel had Max, their brother, but it was apparent that her mother loved her very much. While Cerina’s had never had a mother in her life. Janelle, the woman that her protector/father had been married to had died giving birth to her. A freak thing that hadn’t happened to any of the others. “No, Mrs. Evans, we’ve never meet before. I’m not from Roswell.” she said, not wanting to elaborate.

Zack decided to speak up. “Yeah, Krit and I are twin brothers. I know that we don’t look much alike. But we are.” he said, warmly to Isabel’s mother.

“Actually, Mrs. Evans. There’s this theory that I have. I think that Zack was switched with my real brother. He’s just so blonde, compared to the rest of our family. He’s the odd man out.” Krit said, nodding his head.

Tom rolled his eyes at Krit’s words. “Don’t pay him any attention, Mrs. Evans. We’ve always thought that Krit was deprived of oxygen at birth. He’s always been a bit of a strange ranger.” he said, trying to make it sound like he was telling her some inside information.

Diane smiled warmly at the teens. “Well, I should get out of your way. It was nice meeting you four and nice seeing everyone. Have fun kids.” she said, as she began to make her way out of the room. It seemed that Isabel was happy, or at least having some fun with those kids. That was a good sign. A very good sign for her daughter.

“Your mom seems like a nice person.” Zack commented with a smile to Isabel.

Isabel nodded. “She’s great. She’s the best mother that I could have. I just wish that she knew the truth about everything.” she said quietly. There were so many times throughout the years that she had wanted for her mother to know the truth about her and Max. And with the threat of the Skins, her parents could be in danger. Wasn’t that a good reason for her and Max to finally tell their parents? Hmm, she would have to discuss it with Max when they had the time.

Maria could sympathize with Isabel’s plight. She understood. She was going through the same thing right now. She didn’t know whether or not to tell her mother the truth about her bastard father, the truth about herself. With what had happened to Liz, her mother might be in some danger, and Maria didn’t want that. “I understand, Isabel. I’ve been thinking about telling my mother the truth for awhile. I mean, I know that she’s going to have a minor freak out. But she could be in danger because of what we are in and I don’t want her to be caught off guard, you know.”

Michael wrapped his arm around Maria. He definitely thought that Amy would freak out a little, but she did deserve to know the truth about it all. Michael knew that Maria would be lost if anything happened to her mother.

Kyle blew out a breathe. “I think that the I Know An Alien society is going to grow larger each and every day. I think that they should know about it all. After all, they are your parents and they love you. They’ve loved you for a long time. They’d understand that even though you are not completely human, that you are there child and they love you.” he said softly, knowing that what he was saying was the right thing. He knew that if he was in there place that he wouldn’t be able to keep this secret from his father. Though they had a strained relationship at times, Kyle knew that his father loved him, no matter what.

Tom nodded his head, agreeing with what Kyle was saying. “I think that Kyle’s right. I mean, there are so many ways of losing people and so few of holding on to them. If you kept this secret and those Skin shedding freaks came, your parents wouldn’t have the slightest clue as to what was going on. They’d be innocent victims in all of this, because of all the bullshit from the past.”

Isabel nodded, happy that they agreed with what she wanted. “Max and I probably need to talk about things before I do anything. But it’s nice to know that some of you agree with me on this. Thanks. Okay, why don’t we talk about something besides my sob fest?” she said with a smile, wanting to take the attention off of her.

“Hmm, so what do we talk about?” Zack asked after a moment of silence from everyone. No one knew what to say anymore.

“I like it when people notice me.” Krit said with a goofy smile on his face, wanting to draw attention to something else.

“Is he serious?” Michael asked in disbelief.

Cerina nodded. “Oh, yeah. He is. Just do what we do lie to him. Of course, they will, Krit, my love, they all will at the right time.” she told her friend. She knew that he was just being silly to try to get Isabel’s mind off of the serious subject matter. He had done it over the years for her. Cerina could feel the wall that she had up towards Isabel start to crumble a little and she was worried about that. Her mind was telling her that Isabel wasn’t Vilandra, but her heart kept telling her that she could be like Vilandra. She hated feeling this way.

“No wonder he’s single.” Kyle said, winking at him with a smile on his face.

Krit scoffed at Kyle’s words. “Oh, it’s because I’m way too much for a girl to handle. I’m so tough and manly, they can’t handle me.” he said with a shrug. Truth be told, no girl had come close to his memory of Leilah. His beautiful Leilah. He had dated a few girls, but they weren’t what he wanted.

“So what’s for dinner? We going to get some pizza? Chinese food? Mexican? Italian?” Michael asked, as his stomach started grumbling.

Maria slapped him across the head. “Is that all you think about? Food? With how much you consume, I’m surprised that you’re not fat yet.” she exclaimed, with a grin to her boyfriend.

Tom scoffed at Maria’s words. “What you talking about? You can see, our beloved Michael is getting some love handles, or do you call it pleasantly plump?” he said winking, letting them know that he was kidding with them. Tom saw Isabel grinning at him, and he couldn’t help but smile back at her. Damn her, he thought to himself. She was stirring up feelings up inside of him. He had told himself that he wouldn’t have any romantic feelings towards her, but he couldn’t help himself. He knew that it was major wrong of him to have any feelings towards Isabel. While Isabel had once been Vilandra, she really wasn’t anymore. And Isabel had been with Alex. Isabel was still mourning his lose, hell, so was he. He missed not knowing the guy he’d considered a brother to him.

Isabel couldn’t help but feel that she had some sort of connection to Tom. It was really weird, but not a creepy weird or anything. She knew that she had probably known him on Antar and all, but for some reason she thought that she had a deeper connection to him. A part of her was wondering if it was a romantic connection to him and all. That would be way awkward for her. Isabel was still in love with Alex, even though he wasn’t here anymore. She was still in love with Alex, and if she had dated Tom back on Antar, that would weird her out a little bit. She wished that she knew about what had went on back on Antar. Maybe she should just ask Cerina and hope that her sister would tell her.

“I saw that we get a little bit of both.” Kyle spoke up, noting that Isabel seemed a little preoccupied with something. Was it her mother? Was she still thinking about wanting to tell her parents the truth about everything? Kyle couldn’t blame her. He had told his father the truth about pretty much everything. Except for the part about Maria. She had asked him if he could keep that to himself, until she found the courage to tell her mother and Jim herself. Kyle had agreed with her.

“Oh, good idea. A little Chinese, little Mexican. One question, who’s going to go get it?” Zack asked, looking around at everyone and seeing that no one was stepping forward. Uh huh uh huh. Lazy asses, he thought to himself.

“Why don’t we just make something here by ourselves.” Maria suggested. She was usually one of the ones sent on food runs and she hated it. And she was having way too much fun to leave all of this.

“Oh, no. Don’t let Maria touch anything. She’ll burn the house down. She will.” Michael exclaimed laughingly. Maria was okay as a waitress and that was only because she didn’t have anything to do with making the food.

Kyle nodded his head, as he recalled Maria once trying to cook a dinner for their parents over the summer. It hadn’t gone very well. It had been awful. “Michael, is right. She nearly burned down my kitchen when she tried to cook a romantic dinner for Dad and Amy last summer. It was scary. I thought that I was going to die again.” he said with a laugh.

“Alright. No food making for Maria DeLuca. And I can be the supervisor. I’m so good at that.” Krit said, nodding his head, proud of his accomplishments at being a supervisor. He was damn good at that.

Cerina shook her head. “Supervisor is just another word for sitting on his lazy ass all night long. Which, I do have to admit, he is very good at that.”

“Alright. Let’s go raid the kitchen, troops.” Tom stated, with a wide grin on his face as he stood up. He watched as Maria and Michael stood up, closely followed by the others. He was having so much damn fun with everyone. He only hoped that Max and Liz were having as much fun as he was.


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chapter 26



“Hey.” Ava said hesitantly, looking at the mirror image of Zan. She knew that he wasn’t really Zan. Not her Zan. Not that Zan had been her’s anyway. He had cared about her, but it wasn’t what she wanted from him. Ava didn’t want to think about that now, it was another story.

Liz’s smile widened as she hugged Ava tightly. Liz could tell just by looking at Ava that she was different from the bitch Tess. Ava wasn’t anything like Tess or how Avarona had been back on Antar, after Khivar had screwed her up. “You look great, Ava. Have fun in Florida?” she asked warmly. She had been way surprised that Ava had gone to Disney Land, but she couldn’t help to think that it was cute. She’d always wanted to go there.

Max watched them silently. He was still a little bit undecided about Ava. Max knew that Liz said that she could be trusted and all, and Liz usually had a second sense when it came to trusting people. Except for Khivar, but Max knew that she probably wouldn’t have trusted him if things hadn’t been so screwed up between the two of them. Maybe if he knew more about Ava, he would feel better about trusting her. “We’d better go on up inside.” he suggested.

Liz drew away from Ava and gave them a smile. She linked her arm with Ava’s. “He’s right. We should go on up.” she said, nodding her head. She was so damn happy that Ava was here. Liz could tell that Max was still a little bit unsure about the whole Ava thing. But she knew that once Max saw that Ava was a nice person, that he would realize that she wasn’t anything like that mind warping whore Tess.

Max shook his head at them when they began walking towards the back door of the Crashdown. “Stay here. Don’t move. I need to go lock the car doors.” he told them, as he hurried back to the Jeep and locked the doors, and went back to Liz and Ava. They weren’t saying anything, Liz was just smiling softly at Ava. “Ready?”

The three of them quickly made their way to Liz’s place, making sure to lock the doors behind them. No one said anything, no one knew exactly what to say or where to start for that matter. There was just too much that needed to be said.

Max opened his mouth to say something when the three of them were in Liz’s living room; but he couldn’t form any words. Liz had taken a seat on the couch, and Ava was looking out the window, a sad expression on her face. Max got a look at the girl he hadn’t seen in months. There were some similarities to her and Tess, but there looked to be more differences. Ava’s hair seemed more of a silvery color, and with the chunks of pink streaks. The lip and eyebrow ring that had once been there weren’t there anymore. Looking at her, the idea that she was a completely different person from Tess was reinforced.

“I guess that the best place for us to start is the beginning.” Liz spoke up. She could tell that neither Max or Ava knew exactly what to say to each other. “Umm, you know that Cerina and I told you about your pod getting messed up by the government. Well, Nasedo— he’d been Curan on Antar— he was the one that sent the ship crashing to the ground. He was Khivar’s lackey. And when he realized that your pod had been tampered, he took it upon himself to switch yours and Tess’s.”

“So I’s a screw up, anyways.” Ava said, not knowing exactly what to think about it. She had always felt that she had never belonged with Lonnie, Rath and Zan. Well, maybe with Zan. He hadn’t been a horrible person. Yeah, they had done some bad things and all at times, but Zan had always seemed lost to her; like he was looking for something that he just couldn’t find. And she was looking at it.

Liz shook her head, not wanting Ava to think that about herself. “No, your not. You should have been with Max, Michael and Isabel. They would have been your family.” she protested softly.

Max swallowed hard before he began to talk. “Your not a screw up, Ava. Not at all. And I’m sorry, but there’s no use of talking about what might have been, because things aren’t going to change.”

Liz knew that Max was right. Talking about what might have been was just bullshit. She had said it on a number of occasions and here she was doing it herself. “Yeah. I— what was it like growing up with Lonnie, Rath and Zan? In the dream, Rath called you a killer. Did he do that often, call you that?”

“Yea, he’s did. I busted out of the pod when I’s was like five or so. At least, I’s looked it.” Ava nodded, taking in a deep breathe. She had been working on trying to hide her accent for months. People in Florida had looked a little funny at her when she talked to them. And she’d also taken out her lip and eyebrow ring, in an effort to blend in. “I’s got used to it all. The way that they treated me. And they’s always wanted to know why I never knew of the past, like they did.”

Max cocked an eyebrow at her words. He wanted to know pretty much everything that had happened back in New York. He considered Rath and Lonnie his enemies that they would have to defeat. Max was pretty sure that they were also with Nicholas. It made sense. After all, they had been working with him the last time. “They treated you badly because you didn’t know about what happened on Antar?”

“Did Zan treat you that way, too?” Liz couldn’t help but ask. She was intrigued about the person that Zan had been. If he had been anything like Max? Or if he had been like Lonnie and Rath? Liz hoped for Ava’s sake that Zan at least had been decent towards her. The way that they had treated her was horrible.

Ava shrugged her shoulders, cocking a smile at them. “I’s been working on my accent for awhile. That was one of the reasons that they were that way towards me. It was like a I’s a second class citizen to them. They didn’t give a shit about what happened to me at times. But Zan, he didn’t outright hate me like Rath or Lonnie. He cared for me, but it was nothing like love or anything like that. He loved you, Troian.” she informed them with an ironic smile. Troian was here right in front of her face. What would have happened if Zan hadn’t been killed and he had found out about Liz?

“I’m sorry.” Liz said softly, unable to think of anything else to say. What else could she say to make it better for Ava? Nothing. Nothing could.

Max couldn’t help but sorry for her. It didn’t sound right of her to be treated that way all of her life. She hadn’t deserved to be treated like that. Despite, who they were in their past lives, that was then, this was now.

Ava shrugged her shoulders, nonchalantly, even though she felt like she wanted to cry. Lonnie had hated her so much, called her a bitch and a whore, a slut. Rath had hated her from the moment that he saw her, hating that she was here instead of his own sister. But he’d hated her even more when he found out the part she’d played in Troian’s murder. “Yea. Well, when I’s like twelve or thirteen, Zan asked me why I’s couldn’t remember Antar. And he offered to help me out. I’s said okay. I’d never been able to deny him anything. I’s loved him even though he didn’t feel the same way. So he helped me, and what I saw, he saw. Let’s just say that it didn’t help improve the way that they felt about me.”

Liz grimaced at the thought. She knew that Zan probably had seen Avarona murder Troian and she hated it. Hated the impact that it could have had on the both of them. Both trapped by their feelings of the past. Poor Ava. “What happened?”

“Let’s just say that he didn’t care too much about me, afterwards. The only reason I stayed with them was because Zan said that we had to, no matter how we felt about each other. We were the four square and bullshit like that. Rath called me names like killer, retard, bitch, slut, things like that. I blocked him out most of the time, though sometimes he would smack me around when I ignored him. Most of the time when Zan wasn’t around or anything. Lonnie didn’t give a shit about what happened to me. She didn’t care. Besides, she had her own problems. Nightmares, they’d keep her up all the time. She called out a name a few times in her sleep. Something with a K. I used to think that it was Khivar, but it wasn’t. Probably one of the hundreds of other guys she’d slept with. Sorry.” Ava said, grimacing as she looked at Max. Ava wasn’t sure if he knew about his sister’s reputation back on Antar, but by the looks of it, she didn’t think that he did.

Max’s eyes widened at her words. Was she saying that Isabel— Vilandra had been a. . . a whore back on Antar. That she’d slept around with a lot of men. Geez, she was, wasn’t she? Max didn’t think that it would do any good for Isabel to know about this. The past was behind them and Isabel didn’t need to know that not only had her former self been consorting with Khivar, and a lot of men. No, it wouldn’t do any good at all for her to know about that. That wouldn’t do Isabel any good. “Um, can we not tell Isabel about this. The three of us don’t really know much about our past, and I don’t think that we would even remember what happened. She doesn’t need to know about this.”

Liz didn’t agree with what he was saying. She didn’t think that they should keep it a secret from Isabel. She was bound to find out about it sooner or later. And it would just hurt if she found out about it later. “I don’t know about that. I mean, Michael remembers a little bit of things. Like he remembers playing with Bradeon, Aiden, Jasper and Lexus. And what about that dream that you had, Max? You remembered something.” she clamped her mouth shut at her words. He hadn’t told her about the dream that he’d had of the two of them at Beltane, and she hadn’t said anything either. She had been waiting for him to bring it up, but he hadn’t.

Max turned and looked at least, surprised. What the hell? How had she known about the dream? He hadn’t mentioned it to her, he’d been a little embarrassed that he’d had a sex dream about him and Liz. Well, not that he hadn’t had one before. But that it was from the past, he was pretty sure about that. That it had been from when Zan and Troian had first made love. But the only difference in the dream was that it had been him and Liz. “How did you know about that?”

Liz dug her toe into the floor, and meet his eyes. “Alright. When we were looking for Ava, Cerina and I had a little fun. And she made me. I swear, she did. She made me look at what you were dreaming. It was only a peek.” she informed him, feeling shy under his gaze.

Max didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t like he minded that Liz had looked at what he was dreaming. Now, if it had been Isabel or someone else, than hell yeah, he would have been pissed but it had been Liz and he could forgive that. “It’s okay. Let’s not make it a regular occurrence.” he said, trying to make himself sound serious, when he really wasn’t.

Liz gave him a mock salute. “Eye yi, captain.” she said, giving him a mischievous smile. The look that he gave her melted her heart. She loved that man more than life itself.

Ava was watching them and couldn’t help but think that it was sweet. They were so perfect for each other. Ava knew that she had hated that back on Antar, but she didn’t care here on Earth. Ava recalled that back on Antar, she had been so jealous of the things that Troian had. She’d been jealous about the power that Troian would have as a priestess, which was because she was of the bloodline. Than she’d been jealous about the whole Zanier thing, even though she had hardly known Zanier. Avarona had simply been jealous of everything that Troian had had.

Max smiled at Liz again before turning his attention back to Ava, who had been watching them silently. “So Lonnie and Rath were working with Nicholas and the whole summit thing about me going back was just to get them moving in their plan right? And because Zan wasn’t going to go, right?” he asked, even though he knew that he was right in his questions. That they had been working with Nicholas.

Ava nodded. “Yup. Zan didn’t want to go to the summit. He didn’t see the whole freaking point of trying to get back to a planet that was fighting all the time. And he didn’t see a future for himself without Troian, and he knew that he would never have her back. He didn’t care about anything. Nothing at all. And when Nicholas came along bugging us in the summer before the summit, we found out that there were two sets of pods. Two sets of us. Zan got a little happy. I think that he thought that Troian might have been with you guys. But Nicholas told him it wasn’t so. And Nicholas started asking about the Granolith, and I knew that we weren’t the real royals, cause if we had been, we would have had the Granolith, but we didn’t. Nicholas said that only one set of us would go home. That he didn’t care which four it was as long as they had one of me, one of Zan, one of Lonnie and one of Rath, whether it was us or you guys. Zan’s refusal to have anything to do with all that was I guess the main reason that they did what they did to him. Decided to kill him. That it was the only way to get back to Antar.”

“Shit.” Max said, as he thought about it. Part of Max was saddened that his dupe had been killed for such an idiotic reason like that, but if his dupe was actually still alive and had come to Roswell, than what would have happened if he had seen Liz and decided that he wanted him for himself. Max didn’t like that. Not one bit. “Nicholas, thought that you guys in New York had the Granolith and that was why that he came to you first. He thought that the New York ones were the real royals. Damn, I wonder how long they had been watching us? I mean, Whitaker was one of them. Well, hell, there was Nasedo and he had been working with them. I guess, Nasedo didn’t think that we had the Granolith. Damn, I hate not knowing what the hell really happened.” he said, rubbing his forehead.

Liz got off the couch and moved to where he was standing and wrapped an arm around his waist, wanting to make him feel better. She hated seeing him this way, all tensed up. “Sit down, Max. I’ll rub your shoulders for you.” she said softly.

Max smiled warmly at her. He knew that this was something big that she was offering him. Compared to earlier, when she looked like she didn’t want him to touch her or anything. “Yeah, sure.” he said, as they made their way to the couch, and sat down. Max nearly stopped breathing as her soft hands worked on the tense muscles in his shoulders. He wanted to give that back to her. And he would.

Ava couldn’t help but smile at the picture that was before her. They just fit together like nothing else that she had ever seen in her life. And she couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous. It was so obvious that those two loved each other more than anything else, and she, herself had never had anything like that before in her life. She had cared a great deal for Zan, but lately she had begun thinking that it hadn’t really been love; it wasn’t the way that Max and Liz loved each other. Ava wanted what they had. She wanted for someone to love her because of who she was. Someone to love her despite the faults that she had. “You two are exactly the same like you were on Antar. I’s can feel the love that you two have for each other; its radiating off of you. I think that back on Antar, a part of me died or was destroyed or made me incapable of loving someone when Khivar raped me.”

Liz swallowed hard as she continued working the hard muscles in Max’s shoulders. She didn’t like that. She didn’t want to think that a part of her had died when Khivar had raped her. Liz knew that what Khivar did to her didn’t make her incapable of loving anyone. She loved Max. She knew this and she wasn’t going to let anything ruin that for her. Her love for Max was something pure and beautiful. It was one of the few things that had kept her sane. “We’re having a practice tomorrow, Ava. You know, practicing our powers and all. And you’re invited and I’m not taking no as an answer. So you’re going to sleep over tonight. Let me go get a blanket and a pillow for you.” she said briskly, quickly leaving the room to get the things for Ava.

Ava was a bit puzzled over Liz’s sudden leaving the room, and she turned to look at Max curiously. She got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. “What happened with Khivar?”

Max held her eyes for a moment. If one person would understood what Liz had gone through it would be Ava. Ava had gone through the same sort of thing. At least, Avarona had. It might do Liz some good to talk to Ava about what had happened. “He— he raped her and she killed him.”

Ava took in a sharp breath. Fucking bastard. It was a good thing that he was dead, because Ava was damn sure that if he was still alive, Max would have killed him with his bare hands. Ava could tell that under Max’s calm facade that he had anger inside of him. Deadly anger. “Shit. It’s a good thing that the asshole’s dead.”

Max clenched his jaw tightly at her words. Yeah, if Khivar had been alive, Max would have done everything in his power to track down the bastard and than he would have killed him slowly and painfully for all the pain that he had caused for Liz. It scared Max a little bit that he was sure that he would actually get pleasure from hurting Khivar for what he’d done to Liz. “That’s not all. He got her pregnant. And she had a miscarriage.”

Ava took in another deep breath. That was so terrible. She hated that Liz had gone through something like that. That bastard Khivar. He had done the same thing to her back on Antar. He had raped her and he had even got her pregnant. And Aja had given her something to get rid of the pregnancy. Ava couldn’t help but let out a brittle laugh. “Fucker, did the same thing to me. The same fucking thing. I’m so happy that he’s dead.”

“So am I. So am I.”


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
posted on 23-Jun-2002 11:59:44 PM
posted on 25-Jul-2002 1:48:05 AM
Disclaimer: Sheila belongs to Tommy Roe.

Chapter 27



Was he doing the right thing? Max couldn’t figure it out if he was or not. If by keeping the truth away from Isabel about the things that Vilandra did was right. Liz was right that things were coming back to Michael and to himself. Isabel was bound to remember things on her own, and he didn’t want her to be shocked about it all.

Diane smiled warmly at her children. They were practically grown ups. She honestly did not know where the time had gone. One minute they had been children, the next they were young adults. “What are you two planning on doing today?” she asked curiously. She was curious as to why they were up at seven in the morning on a Saturday.

Isabel meet Max’s eyes for a moment. She had seen him looking at her earlier and had been curious by what was up with her brother, but hadn’t bothered to say anything. She and Max hadn’t had a chance to talk about telling their parents the truth about who they were, but Isabel was damn sure to talk to him about it when they had the time and privacy. Max had told her before their mother had come down to the table that Ava had arrived in Roswell last night and was staying at Liz’s, which hadn’t surprised her. Everyone was staying at Liz’s lately. “Um, actually we’re going to take a trip to the reservation. You know that Liz’s grandmother had been an archeologist, and Liz is going to take some pictures, try to get her grandmother’s book finished up. It was almost done last year, before she died and all.”

That was a surprise for Diane, and for a moment she didn’t know what to say. It was a good sign after all, wasn’t it? That Liz was working through the issues that she was bound to have over being raped. “Oh, that’s very interesting. Did you pack any lunches or anything?”

Max nodded his head. He was getting a little bit uncomfortable about lying to his mother about things. But he was still scared about what would happen if they did tell her and she turned her back on them. He knew that he couldn’t handle that if it happened. “Yeah, we got everything all ready.”

Diane opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. She walked over to the phone and picked it up. “Hello.”

“Um, hello. Can I speak to Max?” Liz asked nervously. She was sure that it wasn’t Isabel, but Mrs. Evans.

“Yes, of course. This is Liz, right?” Diane asked softly, though she was pretty sure that it was. Diane credited Liz for being able to make her son smile. For being able to get Max to open up to her somewhat. She knew that Max kept up a guard around himself, it wasn’t anything like the one that Michael Guerin had though. Liz had brought so much joy into her son’s life.

“Yes, it is.” Liz replied, not knowing what else she was supposed to say to Max’s mother. Liz had begun thinking about things last night. It had started with thinking that Isabel needed to know the truth about her past as Vilandra, but bloomed into thinking that both the Evans needed to know the truth about them. It just didn’t seem right to her that this secret was being kept. They were practically in a war and both the Evans be hurt in the process.

“How have you been, dear? It’s been too long since the last time that I saw you? We’ve missed you around here.” Diane said warmly, blissfully unaware of the look that Max was shooting her at the very moment.

Max shot his mother a severe look. Liz was on the phone and his mother was talking to her? A part of him wanted to yell at her, ‘Mom, Liz didn’t call to talk to you. Me, she called for me,” but he bit down on his tongue so he wouldn’t say it. Max didn’t know why she was calling him, since they were going to see each other in less than an hour. Unless something important had happened. He hoped that nothing bad had happened.

“Oh, I’m fine, Mrs. Evans. Life has been a little hectic for me. My cousins told me that they meet you last night. Zack, Krit and Tom. They spoke very highly of you, Mrs. Evans.” Liz said politely. They had talked a little bit about what had happened at the Evans home, before they found out about Ava staying with them. Her brothers had been a little bit freaked by Ava being there. Liz hadn’t seen why they were because they had known that Ava was on her way. Maybe it was just because she was there in front of them and they had to face whatever feelings that they had.

“Oh, yes. They were nice boys. Very nice. Oh, I’d better give the phone to Max, he’s shooting me death ray eyes. It was nice talking to you, Liz. I hope that I see you again soon.” Diane said, once she caught the look that her son was giving her. She quickly handed him the phone and couldn’t help but smile at the look on his face.

“Hey. You okay? Everything okay?” Max asked, smiling into the telephone. He knew that she was probably fine, but he couldn’t help but worry about her. He would give anything to make her better, to make things right for her. But he knew that Liz had a lot to work out first. A lot.

“Oh, I’m fine. We’re all fine. Sorry if I worried you. Metz called earlier and said for me to tell you guys to bring your swimsuits. He wants to time us to see how long we can hold our breath under water.” Liz informed him. Truthfully, she didn’t understand the whole point of doing something like that. Than it hit her. Cerina drowned back on Antar, was that the reason why they wanted them to be tested?

“Yeah. It seems a little bit pointless. But he knows what to do. Isabel and I should head over to your place in the next ten minutes or so. How’s you know who?” Max asked, not wanting to say Ava’s name or anything. His mother had never heard him say her name before so he didn’t want her to get curious.

“Ava’s fine. Well, just a bit nervous and tense. But that’s probably because of everything you know. Being here in Roswell, we’ll it’s going to be major adjusting for her. I mean, her whole life was in New York. All we have to do is make her feel welcomed and I’m sure that things are going to be fine. Well, that’s all that I wanted to tell you, bring the suits. I love you.” Liz said softly, unable to help herself. She had to say those three little words to him.

“I love you, too, Liz. I’ll be there in a bit.” Max said softly, and regretfully hanging up the telephone. He placed the phone back on its charger and saw that his mother was smiling at him. Max froze and looked at his mother. “What?”

Isabel didn’t say anything to her brother. She thought that it was cute. It saddened her a little bit though. She didn’t have what he had. She would never hear Alex say that he loved her, or she would never have the chance to tell him how much she loved him. Would anyone ever love her the way that Alex had? Accept her the way that Alex had?

Diane smiled widely at her son. It was beautiful. The way that her son was with Liz Parker. Though she was still worried about everything that had happened. Liz’s ordeal that she was going through, that she would continue to go through, Diane knew that Max was going to stay by Liz’s side. He wasn’t the type to walk away. She knew he wouldn’t walk away from Liz at all. It was beautiful. “Nothing, sweetie. Have fun today.” she said simply.

Isabel nodded her head. She knew that she was just feeling sorry for herself. And she would have to get over it all. Alex was never going to come back, no matter how much she wished and hoped. And prayed. He wasn’t coming back. “Bye, Mom. Love you.” she said, as she kissed her mother on the cheek before slowly walking out of the dining room, her mind still on Alex.

Max frowned as he watched his sister. He knew that there was something wrong with her, and he would find out what it was later on. “I’ll see you later, Mom.” he said softly, as he followed Isabel out of the kitchen.

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“So Ava, Lizzard told me that you went to Disney Land. Was it cool? I’ve never been there before. Hell, I’ve never even been out of the state.” Tom injected into the car. He was sitting up in the front seat next to Zack, with one hand on the station button, looking for a good station to listen to.

Ava tensed up, not from the question or anything. But because he had asked her. She knew who Tom was. That he was Bradeon, Troian’s brother from Antar. On Antar, she hadn’t known him very well. He was someone that she’d see at parties, but never really talked to. Tom seemed like a really nice guy. And Ava hadn’t missed the gazes that Tom and Isabel sent each other, when the other wasn’t looking. She was a little curious about what the hell that was all about. “It. . it was nice. Florida’s a really nice state.” she said softly.

Liz nodded her head, trying to take off some of the pressure that she was sure that Ava was feeling. She would practically kiss Tom and Kyle for trying to make Ava feel better, while Zack hadn’t said all that much about it. He knew that there was nothing that he could do. “She’s right. Florida’s a real beautiful place. Has anyone been to any interesting places out of New Mexico?”

Isabel cocked a smile at Liz. Isabel was determined to finally let down her guard and become friendly with Liz. Isabel was damn sure that someday Liz Parker would become her sister-in-law. “I’ve only been to Arizona, and it wasn’t really for a fun reason, right, Liz?”

Liz nodded her head, not wanting to think about the Skins. “Oh, no. It wasn’t very fun. Not fun at all. What about you, Kyle?”

Kyle shrugged his shoulders. “Not really. I went to Texas with my mom when I was little. But that’s about it.” he replied, looking at Ava. Her being here was a little weird for him. Not that she was the identical of Tess, but it was the feelings that she caused for him that was weirding him out. She seemed really nice from what he’d seen, which hadn’t been a lot though.

Tom finally found something good to listen to and began banging his hands against the dashboard. “Me and Sheila go for a ride, oh, oh, oh, oh, feel funny inside. When little Sheila whispers in my ear. Oh, oh, oh, oh, I love you Sheila dear. Sheila says she loves me. She says she’ll never leave me. True love will never die.” he began singing along with the radio.

“Tom, please stop singing. I’m going to lose my hearing.” Zack said, speaking for the first time. He was a little bit tense about things. A lot of things were just weighing down on his shoulders. Not knowing what they were going to do about the Skins, his feelings for Cerina. Hell, that was one of the few things that he could deal with right now. Maybe he should just try to get on with his life. Cerina wasn’t about to come to her senses anytime soon.

“You’re weird.” Isabel commented, shaking her head at him.

“You’re just saying that to be nice.” Tom said laughingly at her words.

“We’re here.” Zack announced as he pulled up to the gate that surrounded the house.

“Wow! A gate. This has got to be a fortress.” Kyle said, his eyes widening as he looked at the huge iron gate. Kyle couldn’t help but wonder what lay behind the gate for them.

%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%


“You know, I think that Maxie poo isn’t in a very good mood. I mean, we separated him for his Lizzie bear.” Maria said innocently, looking at Max from her seat in the back of the Jeep. In the Jeep was her, Max, Michael, Cerina and Krit. Everyone else was in the Escape.

Michael threw his friend a look from the passengers seat. He simply shrugged his shoulders. “Security reasons, Maxwell. I tell you that damn Zack is getting to me. Making think about security and things like that. But he’s right, Maxwell. If these bastard Skins decided to try something when we’re on the road. Well, both you and Liz would have backup.” he explained.

“Okay, I hate to interrupt this wonderful convo that you’re having. But why in the name of Ozzy Osbourne are we listening to this oldie crap?” Krit cried out, unable to hold back any longer. It had been bugging him for so long. It wasn’t that he hated listening to the oldies, but there was only so much that he could stand.

Cerina shook her head at Krit. “Now, Krit, darling. This is classic music. This is Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. There are classic. You even touch that station Michael Guerin and I will bite your fingers off.” she said to Michael, who had his hand on the radio switch.

Max laughed as he saw Michael pull his fingers back quickly, not liking the prospect of losing them. “Cerina is absolutely right. This is classic music. Besides, this is my car and don’t I have final say on what we listen to?” he asked jokingly.

“Well. . . . . . . . “ Krit grumbled.

“What was that?” Michael asked, turning in his seat to look at his brother.

“He said, well, I guess so.” Maria tattled, a grin on her face. Maria’s mouth dropped open by the sight of the huge gate. Shit, this was a damn fortress. Well, hell. Dr. Metzler was damn serious about keeping his family safe. “This is where you grew up?”

Krit nodded his head. “Yeah. It’s freaking big. I mean, the house has everything. Private gym, pools— both indoor and outdoor, a sauna. Enough bedrooms for a family of twenty.”

Max scratched his forehead, as he looked out the windshield at the high iron gate. Max followed Zack up the lengthy oak lined drive. It was only when they were driving up the incline that the house came into his view. It wasn’t even a house. It was a mansion. Huge and structured like a fortress, it had a fairy tale aura to it. The gray stone glistened with the morning light. It had twin towers that resembled a castle, there were large stone balconies, roughly carved, and tall mullioned windows. A lush bed of flowers flowed in a semi circle around the front. From the main structure three lower stone buildings spread out. Max stopped the jeep along side Zack’s.

For a moment there wasn’t any movement in the Jeep, but once Max saw Liz hop out of the other car, he followed her example. He was so busy looking at Liz that he didn’t notice the woman that came running out of the house.

“Oh, my little boys.” Stephanie exclaimed, running out of the house to hug her sons. She had been watching for them out of the window, waiting for them to arrive. Stephanie threw her arms around Zack and Krit. It had been too long since she had seen her sons. “Oh, are you two okay? We’ve missed you around the house.”

Krit smiled as he reluctantly pulled away from his mother first. “We’re fine, Ma.”

“You know you just missed Jon and Clay. They were hoping that they’d see you guys. Oh, Tom, Jon had a message for you. He said that you still owe him twenty dollars, and if you don’t give it to him, he will kick your behind.” Stephanie said, smiling at the young man, as he began grumbling at the mention of his older brother. Stephanie saw the multicolored haired girl that she didn’t recognize, and realized that must be the Ava person that Bill had been so worried about. Stephanie smiled widely at her, wanting to make her feel like she fit in. “Hello. I’m Stephanie Metzler. You must be Ava. It’s nice to have you here.”

Ava looked at the older woman nervously. It was strange. People were acting like they actually wanted her to be here. They were being so nice to her. That was something that she wasn’t used to. She’d never really had much of that in her life before. “Hi.” she replied, shyly, not knowing what else to say.

“Well, come on, kids. Bill is waiting for you in the gym. He’s got a nice intense work out planned out for you. Especially for you, Max, Michael, and Isabel. He wants to see what you three are made of.” Stephanie said winking at them, as she watched Max move closer to Liz’s side. Stephanie looked at the other kids and was surprised to see Tom looking at Isabel and Kyle was eyeing Ava. Hmm, very interesting, she thought to herself. Very interesting.


Chapter 28



“Is she supposed to stay down that long?” Max asked worriedly, as he watched the pool. Liz had been underwater for at least three minutes. The longest three minutes of his entire life. Liz was underwater, just holding her breath. He, Isabel, Michael and Ava had already done it. But none of them had lasted for three minutes, like Liz was doing right now.

Bill nodded his head. “Yes, it’s perfectly normal. I think that Liz is trying to beat Nathan’s record of 4:48 seconds. All she’s got is to last for another minute or so.” he said with a smile. He was damn proud of Liz. She was going to be an excellent queen.

“I tell you— we Sy’rai’s have always had a rather persistent strength.” Krit said, cocking a smile at his words.

Nathan nodded his blonde head. “Amen, my brother. We are damn strong. Don’t you think so cousin?” he asked Ava, smiling at her. Back on Antar, he and Avarona had never been really close. He had barely even known his father, who had been Avarona’s uncle, making him her cousin. But he hadn’t cared. He hadn’t spent any time at all with his father’s side of the family. Nathan hoped that he could change that now. The Ava that was standing next to him, appeared to be nothing like her previous self. Ava seemed like a sweet person from what he’d seen so far.

Ava smiled nervously at him. She had never once thought of him as her family back on Antar. They’d barely even known each other. But here they were on Earth and he was calling her his cousin. Ava didn’t know exactly what she was supposed to do. Everyone was just accepting her into their circle; it was something that she had never felt before. Ava nodded her head at him, but didn’t say anything.

Kyle nudged her with his arm. He could tell that she was still nervous over things, and he wanted to make her feel better. She looked so fragile and a little lost, he wanted to take that away from her. He wanted to know what she would look like with a smile across of her face, to see her eyes sparkle. “You okay?”

Ava turned to him and gave him a weak smile; she had to admit that he was pretty cute, and all he was wearing were swim shorts. Just looking at him was making her heart beat faster. It had never been that way when she looked at Zan. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just not used to seeing such a close family.” she confessed shyly. They were all so close to one another. She could see how much they all cared for one another. It was great. She wished that she could have had something like that. She never had. Not here on Earth, not back on Antar.

Kyle nodded his head. “Yeah, they do seem pretty close, don’t they? You’d think that they had known each other forever instead of barely three weeks. We all want you to feel like you fit in— because you should. You are a part of our group now. And we are like a pack of wolves. You’re not going to get away from us.” he said, the smile on his face widening when he saw a smile come to her lips. That was exactly what he wanted. To see her smile. To see her face light up. He couldn’t help think that she was pretty.

“No offense, but I don’t see the whole point in doing this? I mean, really. Why do we need to see how long we can hold our breath underwater?” Maria injected, unable to stay quiet any longer. They had powers. She probably had powers. And it was cool. If anything would happen, they would use their powers to blast those skin losers.

Cerina couldn’t help but speak up. While Metz had never said anything to her, she suspected that he knew how she had died back on Antar. That she been drowned, and that was the reason that he wanted them to be able to hold their breath underwater. “You know, drowning’s nice. You can see your whole life flashing before your eyes.”

Isabel looked at Cerina shocked by her words. She didn’t like the way that Cerina had said that. It was like Cerina knew about that personally. Isabel wanted for her sister to be able to trust her. Hell, Isabel wanted to be able to trust her own sister. “No.” she said softly.

Cerina cocked an eyebrow at Isabel and shrugged her shoulders. “You’re right. Who wants a rerun of your boring life?” she said, blowing off her own words. She wished that she could put the past behind her, but sometimes she just couldn’t.

Max opened his mouth to say something when Liz emerged from the water. He rushed over to the side of the pool, a towel in his hand, handing it to her when she exited the pool. “You okay? You were in there for a long time.”

Liz smiled at him as she took the towel away from him. She had to admit that it had been pretty fun doing that. “I’m fine. That was pretty fun. How long was I under, Metz?”

Metz shook his head at her. “Sorry to tell you, Liz. But you were seven seconds behind him. Got you at 4:41 seconds. Now, who’s next? Maria or Kyle?” he asked, looking at the two who had yet to be timed.

Kyle shot Ava a look before he moved to the side of the pool, jumping in without saying anything.

Ava smiled as she watched him jump into the pool. She liked him. There was just something about him that she liked a lot. It was very weird for her though. She had never felt that way about anyone. Zan had never made her feel this way by just a look. Ava knew that her life in Roswell was going to be so differently from what it had been in New York. It was going to be so much better.

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“Alright. Now, I want Zack and Max to spar. No overzealous stuff, Zachary.” Bill stated, watching their expressions change in confusion for several moments. Bill didn’t miss the worried look that Liz sent to Max. Or the smile that appeared on Zack’s face before fading away.

“Man, you’re in trouble.” Krit said in a sing song voice as he looked at Max. He knew that his brother was one of the best fighters in the family. Hell, if not the best. Max definitely had his work cut out for him.

Max looked at Krit for a moment before he stood up. Hell, would Zack hurt him? Oh, well. There was nothing that he could do. It was a good thing that he could heal himself if he was hurt. Or he could always play up his injuries to Liz, he thought devilishly. The two young men looked at each other, surveying each other. Trying to calculate weakness.

Zack moved first. Grabbing Max into a headlock like something out of the WWF. Max remembered what he had learned from wrestling section in gym class and pretended to struggle helplessly to make Zack believe that he had the upper hand. When Zack smugly loosened his grip, Max grabbed his arm and quickly pulled his head away and shoved Zack away from him. Zack couldn’t help but smile as he looked at Max before he struck.

Zack clenched his fist, drew back his arm, and drove it straight into Max’s face. Bright red blood flowed from Max’s face as he stumbled backwards, momentarily stunned.

Liz gasped as she watched the blood pour from Max’s nose. Damn her brother! He had done that on purpose. Oh, no, she wasn’t going to let him get away with doing that to Max. It wasn’t right. “Zack!” she screeched, as she bounced up to her feet, an angry look across her face.

Zack swallowed hard when he saw the look on Liz’s face. Uh oh. She looked mighty pissed off at him for hitting Max. But damn, they were supposed to spar, and that’s what they did. It wasn’t his fault that Evans wasn’t all that good at it. “What?”

Liz shook her head at him, as she made her way to Max, who was holding his head back, trying to stop the blood that was pouring. “Don’t do that, Max. You’re not supposed to hold your head back. It can make the blood go down your throat.” she informed him, pulling his head back down. She couldn’t believe that her brother had done that to poor Max. Oh, she would have to kick his ass for doing it to her man.

Max lifted up the bottom of his white t-shirt and used it to put pressure on his bleeding nose. Well, that hadn’t been much fun, getting punched in the nose. But Liz had sure run quickly to see if he was okay, so maybe that was the good thing about it. Max saw Liz lick her lips at his actions that exposed his stomach to her. He couldn’t help the heat rise up in his body.

“Are you okay, Max? It looked like he hit you pretty hard?” Liz asked worriedly, taking her eyes off of his trim, golden stomach. She couldn’t help the feelings that were rising up inside of her. It was like a raw hunger. She wanted to reach out and touch his stomach. Hell, she wanted to much more than just touch his stomach.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I’m tough. I can handle a punch.” Max said softly, even though it was hurting as hell. He knew that he should probably fix it with his powers, but he didn’t want Liz to leave him.

“Good.” Liz said rubbing his arm soothingly. She cast a dark look to Zack, who simply shrugged his shoulders, pretending that he didn’t mean to hit Max that hard. But Liz knew better. She knew that he had done that on purpose. And she wasn’t about to let her big brother get away with it. She had let him get away with making Max feel uncomfortable when they went on their first date. But this was it. “You did that on purpose!”

“Zachary, I told you not to get overzealous.” Bill said, shaking his head at his son. He was pretty damn sure that Zack had done it on purpose. And hell, he knew that he was going to have himself a nice long laugh when he was by himself. It was a little bit funny, though he wasn’t about to admit it to anyone. Especially not when he saw the look on Liz’s face. Zack was a dead man walking.

Zack shrugged his shoulders and attempted to do his best to look innocent for his sister, though by the look on her face, he didn’t think that he was accomplishing it. “I didn’t mean to hit him so hard. You’re okay, right, Evans?” he called out.

“Nothing that a power won’t fix.” Max replied sarcastically, as he healed his nose, which he couldn’t handle the throbbing pain anymore. Damn it hurt so much. It felt like Zack had broken his nose. Hell, he probably had.

“If you like hitting people, so much. Come on. Let’s go.” Liz said, getting up into his face. She wanted to show him that he couldn’t get away with hitting Max like that.

Zack shook his head. He couldn’t. He couldn’t hit his little sister. He couldn’t spar with her. That wouldn’t be fair. He was way taller and bigger than she was. “I’m too big to hit.” he told her cockily, giving her his most charming smile.

Liz arched an eyebrow at him. “Not with a car. Come on, Zack. Let’s go. Let’s see what you are made of?” she pestered.

“Wimp!” Michael coughed out. He got the feeling that Liz would kick Zack’s ass and that was something that he wanted to see. He wanted to see the power and strength that his five foot sister had.

“Wimp! Wimp! Wimp!” Tom and Krit mimicked.

Liz would have kissed them for what they were doing. She knew that Zack didn’t like to be called a wimp and she could tell that he was thinking about doing it. Going up against her. Hmm, maybe she could show off to Max? And offer to help him with some moves? That is only if he practiced with his shirt off. Shut up, Liz! “Come on, big man.”

Zack clenched his jaw. He didn’t like to be mimicked like Michael, Tom and Krit were doing. But on the other hand, he didn’t want to be hitting his sister. That was his baby sister and he couldn’t hit her. Hell, all the times that he had gone against Cerina, they hadn’t been any fun. He hadn’t used everything he had against Cerina. Yeah, that’s what he would do. He wouldn’t use everything he had against Liz, like he did to Max. “Fine. Come on, Lizzie. We don’t have all day.”

Zack and Liz stood watching each other for a moment, before either one of them moved. Zack came at Liz with several punches, which she blocked, landing a kick in Zack’s stomach and than landing another one at his jaw. Zack grunted as he felt the blood in his mouth and realized that Liz was dead serious about doing this.

When Liz swung her balled up fist at Zack’s face, he caught her hand in mid air, wrenching her arm backwards. It was than that Zack didn’t know what to do. He had a move that he would usually do, but he didn’t want to hurt her. Before he could make up his mind, Liz had stomped on his foot, which caused him to lose hold on her arm.

Liz looked her brother in the face, before elbowing him hard in the face. When Zack grabbed her and held her to him tightly, she was unable to move. She extended her leg to kick him when her foot hit something. Something that wasn’t Zack.

“Shit!” Krit screeched as he was kicked in the face by his sister’s wandering foot. As the blood poured out over his shirt, he covered his nose with his hand. Shit, did he have bad luck or what? Here he had been minding his own damn business, when he gets kicked in the face.

Zack put Liz down when he saw the blood pouring from his brother’s nose. He couldn’t help but start laughing at it. The sight of Krit trying to stop his bloody nose was just too much for him. When Liz elbowed him in the stomach, it didn’t stop him from laughing.

“Krit, I’m so sorry. Are you okay? I didn’t mean to hit you. I was aiming for our idiot brother.” Liz asked, as she knelt down next to him. She really hadn’t meant to do it to him. But hell, maybe she had done it on purpose. As an unconscious way to get back at him for ganging up on Max.

“I’m fine. It’s just a disgusting bloody nose. That I can take care of. Don’t worry about me.” Krit informed her darkly, as he used his powers to fix his nose. Shit, that had damn well hurt.

Max couldn't help but smile. WOW!! She kicked ass. He couldn't help but wonder where she had learned all of that from. He had never known that she could do the things that she did. He could feel his heart bursting with pride at his kick ass girlfriend. She had defended him against her own brother.

“Everyone better watch out for Liz. It’s Liz, Warrior Princess.” Kyle joked, trying to break the mood. It had kicked ass when Liz started kicking ass. No wonder she had been able to kill Khivar. The things that she had done looked like they came naturally to her.

“Alright, kids. Come on. We have other things to do. Are you two done acting like you are four years old?” Bill asked in a stern voice. This was bound to keep him laughing for the rest of the night. Oh hell, he would have to tell Stephanie all about it. It was way funny.

“Yes, sir.” Cerina said, as she stood up from her position on the floor. Cerina held her hand out for Krit, who was currently changing his bloodied shirt back to a sparkling white. Krit held his hand up for her and she pulled him up to his feet. Lazy ass, she thought.

Liz walked close to Zack, narrowing her eyes at him. “I’m watching you, big brother. You’d better be nice to Max. No more ganging up on him.”


posted on 25-Jul-2002 1:50:42 AM
Chapter 29



“Are you alright?” Maria asked worriedly as she looked at Krit, who was looking a little worn down. He was such a cutie. Maria couldn’t help but think that maybe if she wasn’t with Michael, that she would be interested in him. Or maybe it was just because he reminded her of Alex.

“Yeah, just an old football injury.” Krit said, gasping as he stretched his body in a painful way. Damn, he hated workouts; they weren’t fun. Well, he liked practicing his powers, that was a fun workout, but not the physical stuff. That sucked.

“I didn’t know you played.” Isabel replied, looking at him as she took a bite of her tuna salad sandwich. Krit really didn’t seem like the type to play football. But who knew? Kyle didn’t seem the type to be a Buddhist.

“I fell off the bleachers.” Krit clarified with a shrug as he plopped down in between Cerina and Ava. He began scarfing down his sandwich and apple slices before he could say anything else. His mother was the best cook in the whole world. He wasn’t ever going to leave her home. Especially since he didn’t know how to cook or anything like that.

Isabel turned to look at Zack who was sitting across from her at the table. She wanted to ask him a few things about his powers and how they worked. She gave him a hesitant smile. “I was curious about your powers. How exactly they work.”

Zack smiled at her as he chewed his food. “Well, there’s the general things that I can do. Same things that others can do. Change molecular structures. Color of my sheets, shirts, things like that. I’m pretty sure you’ve done that before.”

“Nail polish.” Liz spoke up with a smile, remembering the time when Isabel changed that nail polish for her so long ago. That was one of the few times that Liz thought that Isabel had let down her guard, but it quickly went back up. Liz had sympathized with that, with Isabel having a guard, but she didn’t truly understand. Not until now, anyway.

Max nodded from beside Liz. “Her outfits.” He had decided that he should tell Isabel about Vilandra’s past. Liz was right. She had to know. If she didn’t know when she started getting flashbacks, than she’d be freaked. He didn’t want that to happen to Isabel. The whole reason he hadn’t wanted to tell her was because of her reaction to finding out about Vilandra; she had been freaked by it.

Isabel shrugged her shoulders. “Well, what’s the point of alien powers if you don’t use them?” She had never thought that it was a big deal of doing little things with her powers. It hadn’t been like she was changing some life alternating thing.

Zack cocked his head to the side and nodded. “Yeah. I guess. I can also absorb and re-channel various forms of energy. It comes in handy if— well, Cerina or Liz is going through their little heat. Cerina kept all of her energy locked inside of her and I can just grab a hold of her arm and take it all away. Well, most of it at least.” he went on, biting the inside of his cheek at his own words. He’d helped Cerina with her energy in another way. But hell, they didn’t need to know about that.

Cerina cocked an eyebrow when she heard her name mentioned, but she didn’t say anything. Zack wasn’t the only one that could re-channel energy. So could Krit and Nathan. They had all helped her out on numerous occasions. It had helped, but it hadn’t helped the overwhelming need to just. . . . get laid.

“I’m also able to discharge mind numbing mental bolts. The first time I ever did it I freaked myself out. I didn’t know what I had done. But then we realized what exactly they were. And I’m not the only one that can do them. Krit can and Nathan can. Maybe Liz and Michael might be able to do them too. It seems that it’s sort of a family trait. But my main power is being able to send electric bolts from my hands. It’s pretty kick ass if I say so myself.” Zack said with a smile as he thought about it. He considered his power to be one of the cool ones.

Cerina couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Man, he really is in love with himself. I thought it was only a summer thing.” she said, nudging Krit with her elbow. It was bothering her that Zack was talking to Isabel. She didn’t like it, but she wasn’t about to say anything. She had told Zack to leave her alone, and he had been. He’d been leaving her alone, which had been what she wanted, wasn’t it?

Zack narrowed his eyes at her. Frankly, he didn’t understand Cerina sometimes. He loved her and at the same time she pissed him off. He knew that he was fighting a lost cause. Cerina was never going to realize that they belonged together. That they should be together. And he was going to stop it all. He had to get on with his life. Maybe he should give Tracy Lyndon a call. She was beautiful, not as beautiful as Cerina, but hell, Cerina was never going to be with him. So what the hell was the point of being alone?

Tom nodded his head, agreeing with Cerina’s words. “CeCe is right. Anyway, let’s not talk about powers and stuff like that. That’s boring. You know I saw this fine ass girl in the Crashdown the other day. I swear her body was something out of Busty Biker Babes.” he said, than mentally kicked himself for what he said. Damn he was a dumb ass. Isabel. He said it right in front of Isabel. Well, it wasn’t like she knew about their past relationship back on Antar. And hell, that had been back on Antar. They weren’t on Antar. They were on Earth.

“Hey, I love that magazine. It’s great. It’s one of the best.” Kyle injected, a smile on his face, not really caring what people would think about him reading a porn magazine. It wasn’t about the pics, well, hell, it was. But there was some very interesting stuff in the magazines too.

“That’s not something to brag about.” Michael threw in. Hell, he looked at porn, but it wasn’t like he was going to start advertising all about it. Besides, part of him thought that if Maria knew about his porn stash that she would have a fit. And that was something that he didn’t want to see. It wasn’t as if he wanted any of those other girls. Maria was enough for him, perfect for him, exactly what he wanted in his life.

“Have you ever been in love, Tom?” Maria asked curiously. He was a great guy, but for some reason she didn’t think that she could see him in love. Hell, she had never imagined Michael to be the type that was in love. But he was. He was in love with her, she thought giddily. She was way curious about their Antar lives. She couldn’t help it; she wanted to know more and more about it all. She knew that Michael wasn’t in love with Isabel or anything, but Maria wondered about if Rathard had been in love with Vilandra. Did that count against Michael if Rathard had been in love with Vilandra? Maria knew that she was going to drive herself insane with these questions.

Tom acted shocked by her question. And for a moment, he didn’t know how to answer it. He didn’t want to say that he had memories of Bradeon in love with Vilandra, because hell that wasn’t anyone’s business. But he knew that Maria was asking an innocent question, she just didn’t know that he was muddled about it all. “Of course, I’ve been in love.”

Simon cocked an eyebrow at his cousin. “Oh, with who were you in love with?” he asked from his end of the table.

“I’ll have you know that I was in love with Elva Lopez.” Tom stated, thinking back to that hot lifeguard when he was younger. Oh, yeah. She’d been damn hot. And the star of his fantasies during his early teenage years.

“Elva? Elva Lopez?” Cerina cackled, unable to help herself. Not that Elva had been an ugly person or anything. She’d been like eighteen when Tom had been thirteen.

“I loved her. And she broke my heart when she married that loser Jesse Ramirez. I mean, come on. She was eighteen and he was at least twenty six. Damn cradle robber.” Tom said darkly, as he remembered how that had broken his thirteen year old heart when Elva had gotten married to that loser. He really knew that he hadn’t been in love with Elva. It hadn’t been love, just a crush or lust.

Isabel’s smile froze on her face at his words. They sounded so familiar to her. Like she had heard them from somewhere before. Like he had said those words before.


“I loved her, Aiden. I loved her so much, and she broke my heart.” Bradeon said passionately, as he sat drunkenly on the chair.

Vilandra rolled her eyes at his words. She didn’t care what he said. She knew that he was talking about her, but she didn’t care. LOVE?! He said that he loved her and look where it had gotten her. Nothing but pain and lose. Loving Bradeon had caused nothing good to happen in her life. Bradeon didn’t love her. He didn’t love anyone but himself.

Quiet frankly, she didn’t even know why she had gotten involved with him when she was younger. It wasn’t like he was any match for her. He wasn’t from a truly good family, like her own or Aiden’s. His father had been a solider and his mother had died giving birth to him. He was an orphan who had been taken in by Lord Unitas. He was nothing but an orphan who had the sheer fortune of being taken in.

Over the years, Vilandra hadn’t had anything to do with him. She stayed away from him as far as possible, which had been relatively easy. She had kept herself occupied with her boy toy of the moment— anywhere between a royal guard to her own school teacher. Her parents would have had a fit if they had known the men that she had slept with. Yes, she was slowly and systematically going through the entire palace. There were so many more that she hadn’t had the chance to be with.

But now things were going to change. Her brother was marrying Troian, Bradeon’s sister. Her brother had been motivated by Jasper’s death to finally get married. And Vilandra knew that she would run into Bradeon more often than before. But that was okay with her. She had her next conquest all lined up for her.

Lexus.

Lexus was a fine looking man. He was long legged, with a broad shouldered build, he walked with a manly grace of an athlete. Lexus had chestnut brown hair and beautiful leaf green eyes. Out of the whole family, Lexus and Rathard looked like each other the most, except Rathard had more of a worn look to himself.

Just the thought of Lexus caused her to lick her lips. She knew that Krissane had feelings for him, and that was going to be double the pleasure for her. He looked like he would be very enjoyable in her bed.

Vilandra jumped when she felt a hand touch her shoulder, and she turned around instantly, to give the person a stern warning about touching her. That is until she saw who it was. The object of her thoughts. “Lexus!”



“Alright, kids. Time to go back to practice!” Bill announced to the kids, who began grumbling and grudgingly getting up from the table. Bill frowned as he looked at Isabel. She was sitting there staring off into space, as if she hadn’t heard anything. “Isabel! Are you okay?”

Isabel blinked as she came out of the memory. What the hell was that all about? She had been Vilandra. She had watched as Bradeon got himself drunk, as Aiden carried Bradeon away from the bar. She could see it so clearly in her mind. And Lexus. She saw Lexus. He hadn’t looked anything like Alex, but she had known that was him. And she had known everything that Vilandra was thinking and feeling. She looked up and saw that Bill was watching her closely, looking around she saw that everyone was getting up from the table. “Sorry.”

Her mind was still reeling at the memory flash that she had gotten. She had an affair with Bradeon when she was on Antar. And she’d also deliberately gotten involved with Lexus, because he was Bradeon’s brother and because her own sister had wanted him. What the hell kind of person had Vilandra been, she thought disgusted.

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Damn it, Isabel! Can’t you freaking concentrate, she berated herself. But Isabel knew that she couldn’t. Not since she had that flash from Antar. She was disgusted with herself, the kind of person that she had been. That she had slept with so many men back on Antar. That she had been a whore. She had deliberately gotten involved with Alex because of who he had been.

NO!! It hadn’t been Alex. It had been Lexus. It had been Lexus that she had gotten involved with. But the reasons that she had gotten involved with him had been horrid. She had only gotten involved with him because Bradeon had been his brother. GOD! She could remember the hatred that she had for Bradeon. It was so freaking weird. It wasn’t her, was it?

“Isabel, you okay?” Max asked concerned for his sister. She didn’t look very good. It was like she had something on her mind. Something that was affecting her a lot. Well, hell, Max, you idiot. She’s probably not over Alex.

Isabel nodded her head. “Yeah. I’m fine. Sorry for not concentrating on things.” she said softly, not meeting his eyes. Did Max know? Who knew about the kind of person that Vilandra had been? Shit, did Tom know? Isabel couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and ashamed at the same moment. “Let’s get back to work.”

Max nodded his head, as he watched his sister curiously. She had been acting strange for the last few hours, but he hadn’t said anything about it. He turned his attention to the others, who were practicing their powers against each other. Seeing everyone using their powers was such a shock. Especially, Liz’s. He had nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw her disappear and than reappear. It was amazing. Right now, Liz was working with Krit. Maria was working with Cerina. Maria had been delighted when she realized that she could change molecular structures. He didn’t think that he’d ever heard her screech so loudly.

For the past couple of hours they had been working on their powers, except for Kyle, who didn’t have any powers; he had gone to the house to relax and watch some TV. Isabel had tried— not very successfully— to see if she could do something besides dreamwalk. Something that would be of use to them when they went against the Skins. Isabel had never figured out how she had taken out Whitaker. Tess— who had supposedly killed the Skins the same way— had never told her exactly how she had done it. But she knew better know. That bitch probably hadn’t even killed the Skins.

Isabel’s hatred for Tess had grown immensely over the past week. She wanted Tess to be dead. And she wanted to be the one that would take care of her. That bitch needed to go down. And Isabel wanted to be the one that would send her bleached blonde ass to hell. Isabel wanted to make Tess suffer slowly, and that was something that scared her a little bit. The intensity of her hatred.

“Alright, people. Time to switch partners. Isabel and Krit. Michael and Tom. Max and Simon. Liz and Nathan. Ava, Zack and Cerina.” Bill announced, watching them shuffle around to their new partners.

“Krit, can I ask you a question?” Isabel asked softly, as she approached him on the other side of the gym. She wanted to forget about what she had remembered and just wanted to concentrate on working on her powers. Maybe she could find out what the hell she had done to Whitaker.

“Sure, Isabel.” Krit replied, nodding his head. He couldn’t help but be curious about what she wanted to ask him. Now that he thought about it, she was acting a little bit funny. Like something was freaking her out. He didn’t know what it could be.

“I did this thing a few months ago to Whitaker— one of the Skins. I. . . uh, used some kind of power against her and she was just destroyed into a thousand pieces. It’s a power that I’ve never used before and I haven’t used since. I was just wondering if you knew what it was that I had done.” Isabel asked, shrugging her shoulders. Maybe Krit knew what it was. It seemed to be the only action like power that she had.

“Oh, I think that sounds like a mind bolt. You know, what Zack was telling you about earlier. Hmm. . . . he thought that it might be a family trait, well, his theory is wrong. I’m pretty sure that’s what it is. Who knows?” Krit said, shrugging his shoulders. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but that’s what it sounded like.

“Really? Pretty cool. Okay, come on, let’s get practicing.” Isabel said, nodding her head, wanting to actually get something done. Just so she wouldn’t have to think about Vilandra. Or the horrible things and feelings that Vilandra had done.


posted on 25-Jul-2002 1:53:29 AM
Chapter 30



“So what did you want to talk about?” Liz asked softly, as she looked at Stephanie. Liz couldn’t help the knot in her stomach. There were several things that Stephanie could want to talk to her about, but she didn’t know which one of the things that she would want to talk about.

“Liz, sweetie. You— you have to deal with what has happened to you. You’re dealing with just so much right now. You’re dealing with the lose of a child. You’re dealing with being raped, not to mention having your memories from Antar. I only want the best for you, sweetheart. But you haven’t been dealing with what’s happened.” Stephanie said softly, not knowing how Liz was going to take all of this. She had told Bill that she would try to talk some sense into Liz.

Liz bit the inside of her cheek at Stephanie’s words. It was the thing that she had been dreading that Stephanie would want to talk about. What was the point of talking about PJ? Talking about him wasn’t going to bring him back anytime soon? Her son wasn’t ever going to come back. There was no point in talking. Liz shook her head at Stephanie. “What’s the point in talking? It’s not going to change anything that happened. I was raped, PJ is gone, what happened on Antar happened a long time ago. There’s just NO point in talking.”

Stephanie took a seat next to Liz. She knew exactly what she was going through. She had been through the same things. “Liz, sweetie. I know what you are going through. I know how hard it is. I just. . . . want you to know that if you ever want to talk about it. I’m here whenever you need me. All you have to do is pick up the phone, and I’ll be here for you.”

Liz didn’t know what to say. Even though she didn’t see any point in talking about it all, she liked the idea that Stephanie was there. Maybe Stephanie did understand about it. Stephanie had gone through a miscarriage like she had. Liz couldn’t help but be curious. “I. . . what happened to you? That caused you to lose your baby?”

Stephanie gave Liz a weak smile. “I don’t know exactly why I lost my babies. I lost two, you know. I was a few years after Aryn was born. And the second time was when the boys were about five or so. As for why I lost them, who knows? Things just happen. I had never expected to lose them. The idea had never crossed my mind. With my first miscarriage, it came out of the blue. One day I was at home washing the clothes and I just collapsed in pain. I scared the hell out of Bill and Aryn. I lost the baby within an hour.”

“I’m sorry.” Liz said softly, unable to think of anything better to say. What was the right thing to say to someone who had lost their child? No words could properly express the feelings. This woman had lost her child. Her baby. A baby that she had carried inside of her baby. It hurt. It hurt so badly. The pain of losing a baby.

“It hurts, doesn’t it, Liz?” Stephanie asked softly, hoping that Liz would open up to her. That Liz would let someone in. Who better, than her? Stephanie had gone through two miscarriages. She knew exactly what Liz was going through.

Liz nodded with tears in her eyes. “Yes, it does. I think about them both all of the time. My daughter and my son. They both deserved to live. To grow up, to be happy. But they didn’t. They never got the chance. It hurts every time I see a pregnant woman on the streets. She’s having a baby, while I lost mine. I’ve lost two babies in two lifetimes. Am I being punished? Why did it happen, Stephanie? Why?”

Stephanie wrapped her arms around the small girl, smoothing back Liz’s hair with her hands. Trying to make her feel better. “I’m sorry, sweetie.”

Liz took in a deep breath at Stephanie’s words. NO! She didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t want to talk about it. She didn’t want to talk about it. And no one could make her talk about. Stephanie couldn’t make her talk about it. Talking about it only brought the hurt back and she didn’t want to hurt. Liz wrenched herself away from Stephanie’s embrace. “NO! I don’t want to talk about this.”

Before Stephanie could say anything, Liz escaped from the room. Perfect, Stephanie. Just perfect, she told herself. It was painfully obvious that Liz just wasn’t dealing with everything that had happened to her. She knew that if Liz didn’t deal with it all, that one day she was simply just going to explode. Something had to be done about it.

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Max bit his lip nervously as he watched the door, waiting for Liz to come through the door. No one had said anything when Stephanie had asked for Liz to come talk to her in private. Max had seen the look on her face, and he had started to step forward and tell the older woman no, when Liz went with her. He didn’t know what it was all about, but he didn’t like it. He didn’t like it period.

“Hey, Max. Can I talk to you in private?” Zack said, coming up to Max’s side. He had realized a few things throughout the day. A few things about himself, about his feelings and Evans.

Max nodded his head, wondering what Zack wanted to talk about. Max followed Zack as he moved to a corner of the room, so no one would hear what they were going to talk about. Max kept one eye on the door, as Zack looked at him seriously. “What do you want to talk about?”

Zack sighed heavily as he looked at Max. This was the guy that his baby sister was in love with. The guy that he was certain she would spend the rest of her life with. And as much fun as he had been having messing with Evans, he knew that he really shouldn’t have been doing it. “Look, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about earlier. I did what I did on purpose and it was wrong of me.”

Max looked at him shocked. What the hell? Zack was actually apologizing for what happened earlier? What the hell had made him do that? “You’re apologizing to me?” he asked a little shocked. Liz’s brother was actually apologizing?

Zack nodded his head. “Yeah. Look, I realized something a little while ago. Liz is my sister. She’s my baby sister. I get a little over protective. And I’ve still got some anger where you are concerned. I mean, come on. My sister went through some bad shit, and I guess, that I blame you for it happening to her. And that’s not really right of me, is it?” Zack confessed, feeling like a load was coming off of his shoulders. It felt good to say it. To get it out in the open. He was taking out his anger about what happened to Liz on Max. And it wasn’t really right of him.

Max swallowed hard at Zack’s words. He understood what Zack was saying. He felt anger for himself for everything that Liz had gone through. So much pain and heartache that she had endured. Most of it was because of him. He had caused so much that hurt her. “I understand, Zack. Honestly, I do. I. . . I blame myself for everything that happened to her. If I hadn’t been such a fucking idiot, and been such a bastard to her after Alex died, she wouldn’t have gone through that hell. I understand perfectly.”

Zack looked at Max intently. Max’s eyes were filled with tears, and Zack couldn’t help but feel badly for the guy. It wasn’t really Max’s fault. Zack knew that Khivar would have come after Liz anyway. The bastard had just waited for the right moment and pretended to be her friend. Stupid prick Khivar, he thought angrily. “Look, Evans. He would have come after her anyway. It was just the timing that made him go after her then.”

“Yeah. My being a prick to her was the perfect timing.” Max muttered to himself. Hell, it was his fault. Other people might claim that it wasn’t, but he knew better. His behavior had been heinous, but he was going to make it up to Liz. He was going to make everything better for her. He was going to work for the rest of his life making it better for her. Not a day in his life would go by that he wouldn’t work to make it better. Make up his utter stupidity to the love of his life.

“Look, Evans. Don’t beat yourself up about it. It won’t do you any good. I know that you love my sister. It’s pretty damn obvious by the way that you look at her. And frankly, I couldn’t blame you. Liz is the best. She’s a wonderful, sweet person, who can kick ass when she has to. I know that she loves you. And I’m certain that one day— hopefully, not any time soon. That the two of you will get married, have children, the whole nine yards. We might give you a hard time, but it’s all in good nature, Max. I just wanted to say sorry about earlier. I got a little happy that I would be kicking your butt.” Zack said with a smile. It felt really good to tell Max the truth, to hear some of the truth. Though he really didn’t like it that Max was blaming himself for what had happened.

Max gave a weak smile at the mention of marrying Liz. He wanted to. He wanted that so badly. And he hoped that it would happen. Just the thought of being married to Liz, having children with Liz, left him with a giddy thought. Elizabeth Evans. It had such a wonderful ring to it all. Elizabeth Parker Evans. Mrs. Max Evans. That was what he wanted. And a daughter. A little girl that would look like Liz. Shut up, Evans, he commanded himself. He was being an idiot. Thinking about marriage, having a child with Liz.

“Whoa! Calm down, Max. That smile is way too bright for my eyes. Guess you like the idea of marrying my little sister. Don’t worry, you’re the only one that she has ever loved. So we cool?” Zack asked with a smirk on his face. It felt better to smooth things over with Max. To let him know that the things that they did to him was in good nature and they didn’t mean anything bad. Except for the fighting instance. He had meant to do that.

“Yeah. We’re cool.” Max said softly, trying to break out of his thoughts of marrying Liz. Oh boy, did he want that someday. He wanted to wake up next to her every morning. He wanted to cook her breakfast every morning. He wanted to see what it would be like for her to be pregnant with his child. To see it grow inside of her stomach. But it would be awhile before that happened.

Before Zack could say anything else, Krit’s voice rose in the room. “Come on, you don’t believe in crop circles? What the hell do you think that they are anyway?”

“Oh what the hell do you think that they are, Krit? A message from Antar, saying, ‘We love you Aiden, come home, please?’” Tom asked jokingly. He had never believed in any of that bullshit about crop circles or anything like that.

“Hah hah. You are so funny. Who knows what they are saying. But I’m telling you it is something important. It has to be.” Krit said seriously.

Max shook his head at their words. He was a little worried about Isabel. She seemed very uncomfortable about something. He was going to wait until they got home before he talked to her about whatever was bothering her. Liz! Where the hell was Liz going? Max quickly left the room, not paying any attention to the looks that people were sending him. He had seen Liz practically running down the hallway.

“Liz, what’s wrong?” Max asked softly, as he came up behind her outside the house. He wanted to know what had happened, why Liz had been so upset that she had run outside? What had Stephanie said to Liz?

“I’m fine, Max. Really.” Liz said softly, not wanting to look at him. She had tears in her eyes. She didn’t want to think about what had happened. She didn’t want to think about losing PJ. She just wanted to go on with her life, why weren’t people letting that happen. Why did they want her to face things when she thought that she didn’t need to.

“Liz.” Max said softly. He knew that something was wrong. But she was determined to say that she was strong and that she didn’t need anything. He knew that the things that she refused to talk about were just going to overwhelm her one of these days. And he hated that. He wished that there was something that he could do for her. That he could help her with everything that she was going through. But he knew that she wasn’t ready to confess all to him, and he was just going to have to be patient and wait for her.

“I— Max. . . . can you just hold me? Please?” Liz asked brokenly. She just wanted to know that she was safe and sound in Max’s arms. Being in Max’s arms had always made her feel safe and that nothing bad would happen to her.

Max nodded his head and moved to her, wrapping his arms around her. Liz buried her face into his chest and Max could feel his heart constrict at the motion. She felt so tiny and helpless in his arms, that it was so easy for him to forget that earlier she had been kicking her own brother’s butt. When Max heard a sniffle coming from her, tears welled up in his eyes. All he wanted was to take away her pain, but Max knew that he couldn’t. He couldn’t do a damn thing and it hurt. It hurt so much.

%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%


“Isabel, are you okay?” Max asked softly, as he looked at his older sister. They were at home and had the privacy of Isabel’s bedroom to be able to talk about the whole Vilandra thing. He did think that she should know all about it. That way when if the memories started coming back, she wouldn’t be freaked out. He knew that even with his best intentions, it wasn’t right. She had to know.

Isabel took in a deep breath. She had tried not to think about what kind of a person Vilandra was, but she couldn’t help it. It was on her mind, and it wouldn’t leave her alone. When she looked at Tom early tonight, she couldn’t help but wonder what he knew. If he even knew. “No— no, I’m not okay, Max. I was going to keep quiet, but that’s not the thing that I should do. If I do, it’s going to eat away at me, and I did that before after Whitaker told me about Vilandra. And I don’t want that again.”

“Did you remember something?” Max questioned. He could feel it in his gut. Isabel had remembered something from Antar. And he couldn’t blame her for the way that she was feeling. Finding out something like that was a shock.

“Yeah, I did. In the flash that I had earlier, Vilandra was watching as Bradeon got drunk and talked about her. He said that he loved her and she broke his heart. I know what she was feeling at that moment. Thinking that he was a liar, that he didn’t love anyone but himself and that it only caused me pain. And than thinking that I would get him back by sleeping with Lexus. Vilandra was a slut, Max. She was.” Isabel admitted, not looking at her brother. Part of her knew that it wasn’t her. That she wasn’t Vilandra, but another part was saying, well, aren’t you a little?

Max’s mouth fell open at her words. Vilandra and Bradeon? For a moment, Max couldn’t remember which one had been Bradeon, than realized that it had been Tom. Tom had never given him any clue that he remembered having a secret past with Vilandra. “I’m sorry, Isabel. I wanted to tell you. I found out last night. Ava mentioned something. You know that it’s not you. You are not Vilandra anymore than I’m Zanier. I may not remember what Vilandra was like but you are not a promiscuous person that she was.”

Isabel snorted in disbelief. “Promiscuous is a fancy word for slut, Max. But aren’t I at least somewhat like her. What about Grant? Or that Dave guy I met in Vegas? I have to be a little bit like her. I had Alex and I blew him off more than once for other guys. What does that say about me?” she asked, feeling tears in her eyes at her mention of Alex. She hated what she had done to him. Isabel wished so much that she could go back and be with Alex, instead of doing the things that she had.

Max shifted uneasily at her mention. “But that wasn’t the same thing. You aren’t like Vilandra, so stop thinking that. You’re Isabel. None of those guys held a candle to Alex. He knows that you loved him and you were scared, which you’ve had every right to be. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to tell you first. I should have told you last night when I found out.”

Isabel shrugged her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. I should have told you when I found out about the whole Vilandra-Khivar thing last fall. I understand why you did what you did. I’d be a hypocrite if I said I didn’t. I just can’t help but wonder if Tom knows about the whole thing. I felt so uncomfortable earlier. I mean, Vilandra was involved with him.”

“Vilandra, not you. You’re not Vilandra. Not at all, Isabel.” Max stated. He didn’t want Isabel to be weirded out about the whole thing. He didn’t want Isabel to worry that she was Vilandra, because she wasn’t.

“Yeah, I guess. Look, Max. I’m really tired, can I get some sleep?” Isabel asked, not wanting to go deeper into the whole Vilandra thing. She just needed some time to come to terms with it all. To come to terms with the kind of person that Vilandra had been, and the things that she might have done over the years.

“Are you sure?” Max asked, not wanting to leave her alone. He hoped that she would realize that she wasn’t anything like Vilandra, that she was the person that she chose to be. She was Isabel, and no one could take that away from her.

“Yeah, I’m sure, Max. I know that I’m not Vilandra, but I just can’t help but can’t help but wonder how much of her I’ve got inside of me. I don’t want to be her, or anything like her. From what I saw, she wasn’t a good person. But I think that maybe whatever Vilandra did back on Antar, is affecting me and Cerina. Maybe that’s why Cerina’s a little belligerent towards me. And I want to be able to get past all of that. Thanks for talking to me.” Isabel said, as she helped Max to the door, letting him know that she was fine. That she was okay.

“Alright, Isabel. I trust you. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Max said, as he walked to his room. His thoughts filled with both Liz and Isabel. He wanted them both to be alright. They both deserved it.

Isabel closed the door behind him, and sat down on her bed. Max was right, wasn’t he? She wasn’t anymore Vilandra than he was Zanier. True, they might have some of them inside, but that’s not who they were. They had the chance to be someone new. That’s all that Isabel wanted. Was to be herself and not have Vilandra hanging over her head.


posted on 25-Jul-2002 1:56:18 AM
Chapter 31



“Max, Isabel. Where are you kids going to?” Diane asked, as she watched them head towards the front door. They had come home so late last night. It had been nearly midnight before they’d come home. And they hadn’t woken up until eleven o’clock. Here it was noon, and they were once again leaving. She couldn’t help but be curious about what was going on with her children.

Max froze, his hand clutching the door knob. He turned to look at his mother with a smile on his face. He hadn’t thought that his mother would have been interested in what they were doing. “Oh, we were going to go to the Crashdown to meet Liz and the others for lunch. You know, just a friendly gathering.” he informed her.

Isabel nodded her head. She knew that last night when she and Max had been talking that she should have told him that she wanted to tell their parents, but she had been so messed up about the whole Vilandra being a slut thing. Truthfully, she hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep. She’d been thinking about things. About Vilandra. About herself. Trying to figure out if she was anything like the her.

“Oh, that sounds like some fun. Would you mind if I went along? I haven’t had any lunch myself and I don’t really feel like making myself something.” Diane said with a smile. There wasn’t much for her to do this weekend, with Phillip being in Hondo on business. Some client needed something or other, she wasn’t all too sure.

Max and Isabel meet eyes and tried to think of something to say. They couldn’t very well tell their mother that she couldn’t come. She would suspect something. “Of course. Is it okay if we take separate cars? I’m kinda hoping to spend some time with Liz.” Max finally said, giving Diane a weak smile. He knew that his mother might wonder about Ava, since she looked exactly like Tess, minus a few details. Max couldn’t help but feel tired. Tired of lying about things. Tired of not being able to tell the truth, tired of always having to watch his back. That he had to watch what he said or did.

“Sure. Max— I want you to know that I’m proud of you. Standing by Liz through her ordeal. I’m proud of both of you, kids. Graduating early, Isabel.” Diane said with a proud smile. She was so proud of them. She loved them so much.

“Thanks Mom.” Isabel said with a smile. She hadn’t know that Max had told their mother about Liz being raped. It was a surprise, but maybe that was a sign that Max was ready for their parents to know the truth about themselves. She wanted her parents to know. It just didn’t seem right that they didn’t know about it. There was so much going on in their lives right now, and they needed to know. A part of Isabel wanted to tell her mother about her past life as Vilandra. She wanted to be able to confide in her mother about so many things.

“Let me just get my purse.” Diane said as she quickly went to retrieve her purse. She wanted to be more involved in her children’s lives. She had always known that they had sort of kept themselves distanced from her and Phillip and others at times. Diane had always thought that it had been because of whatever had happened when they were little. What had happened that they had been abandoned on the side of the road. She had always thought that it had something to do with it all, and during the last two years or so, she had noticed that they had distanced themselves even more. And it hurt.

It hurt that she didn’t know what was going on with them. Especially Max and those horrible nightmares that he would get. She’d assumed that they had something to do with his life before coming to live with them. But he had never told her anything. She had thought that the psychiatrist had helped him. But after a few weeks Max had asked that he not have to go anymore. And when Diane had seen the look on her son’s face, she had agreed. She hoped that Isabel and Max didn’t think that she was trying to butt in their lives; all she wanted was to be a part of their lives. Diane walked back to them with a smile on her face. “All ready.”

Isabel didn’t say anything as she and Max walked to the Jeep. She wanted to ask him a few things. Once they got in the Jeep, she turned to her brother. “Mom, knows about Liz, being raped? You told her?” she asked softly, unable to keep the surprise out of her voice. She just couldn’t believe it. It did seem like a good sign that Max might be willing to let their parents know.

Max nodded his head as he pulled the Jeep out of the driveway. “Yeah, I did. I needed to talk to someone. So I told Mom. Of course, I couldn’t tell her everything that had happened, but you know.” he said, shrugging his shoulders. He didn’t really know how to explain why he had told his mother. But it had felt good to tell his mother.

“I want to tell them, Max. I want Mom and Dad to know about us. I think that they should.” Isabel stated. She thought that they deserved to know about it all. She knew that secrets always came back to haunt you if you didn’t deal with them. And she didn’t want this to be sprung on her parents unexpectedly.

Max took in a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts. He knew how much it meant to Isabel about finally telling their parents the truth. But he was scared. He was scared that they would look at him differently, like he was some kind of freak, a monster that they didn’t want to have anything to do with. And he didn’t think that he could handle it. They were his parents and he loved them. “I don’t know, Isabel. I just don’t know.” he said unsurely.

“I want them to know, Max. I know that I have doubts about it, thinking that they might not take it all that well, but they do deserve to know. They are our parents. They have raised us for twelve years. I don’t think that they will love us any less.” Isabel said softly, even though she was afraid that they would change the way that they felt about her and Max. She hated that fear. But fearing things wasn’t the way to live life. Isabel didn’t want to live her life in fear anymore.

“Can you give some time to think about it. Please? I just need a little time to figure out what the right thing to do is.” Max said quietly. He honestly didn’t know about what to do. One part wanted to tell his parents everything, tell them why he had been acting the way he had. But another part of him was scared. Scared that they would change the way that they felt about him. And he didn’t want that to happen. He didn’t think that he could stand it if they did. They were his parents. The only parents that he had ever known.

“Alright.” Isabel said softly, looking down at her hands. She was a little disappointed that Max needed some time to think. She thought that twelve years would have been enough time to think about it. Hell, it had been one of things that she had always thought about. For such a long time she’d always wanted to tell her parents. “Max, what about Ava? If Mom sees Ava, she’s going to think that something is up.”

Max nodded his head. He and Liz had already thought of that. They already thought of an excuse to tell people. Even though the easiest thing would have been for Ava to pretend to be Tess, Liz had been vehemently against it. So they were simply going to say that Ava was Tess’ twin sister, who had come looking for her sister. And if any one asked further questions about Tess, they even had a cover story. “Yeah, can you give them a call, warning them that Mom’s coming.”

Isabel nodded, taking her cell phone out of her purse. That was another thing that they were going to lie to her mother about. Isabel resisted the urge to shake her head at that. They had so many secrets in their lives.

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Diane’s mouth fell open at the blonde. That wasn’t Tess Harding, was it? Granted it did look like her except for the hair and clothes, the hair looked more to be of a silver sort of color with chunks of pink. Diane had to admit that she had never really liked Tess Harding; there had been something about the girl that she simply hadn’t trusted. Maybe it had to do with the way that she had looked at her son. It had just given her such a weird feeling.

“Hi, Mrs. Evans. This is Ava. Ava Terhune. As you can probably see, she’s Tess’ twin sister.” Liz said jumping in before Mrs. Evans could say something about Ava. She hated to even mention that bitch Tess, but she had to. It was obvious that Ava would have some connection to Tess.

“Yeah, she came to Roswell looking for Tess, but she went off to visit some great aunt of hers in Canada.” Max said smoothly, backing up Liz. He gave Liz a smile. Max honestly thought that red was the most beautiful color that Liz wore. She was wearing red slacks and a striped T-shirt. Simple and beautiful.

“Yeah, I talked to her on the phone the other night. She said that her great aunt needed her so she couldn’t get away. I’m thinking about going up there to see her in a few days or so.” Ava said, playing along with the whole thing. Liz had done so much for her, it was the least that she could do. Pretend for Mrs. Evans sake, since the older woman had no clue as to who they all were.

“Can we eat? I’m hungry.” Michael stated, trying ease up the tension that he was feeling. He didn’t think that Mrs. Evans would be suspicious of the story that had been thought of. It was pretty good, and the best that they could have done without telling her the exact truth.

“Always thinking with your stomach, aren’t you, Michael?” Tom said with a grin. He turned to Mrs. Evans with mischief twinkling in his eyes. “So wonderful to see you again. And I must say that blue is a wonderful color on you. It makes your beautiful eyes stand out even more.”

Isabel bit the inside of her lip at his words. She wanted to know so badly if he knew the truth about the relationship that Bradeon and Vilandra had? What exactly had happened that had made Vilandra hate him so much? But if he knew, he was doing a great job of hiding it. And Isabel wasn’t quite ready to confront him about it all. Not yet, anyway.

“Why thank you, Tom isn’t it?” Diane said with a smile. This one was a charmer. She bet that there wasn’t one girl who hadn’t been charmed by him. Diane looked over at her daughter, who had suddenly found the floor interesting. At those words, everyone situated themselves in a seat, taking up two of the back booths in the Crashdown. Diane watched with a smile as Max sat next to Liz.

Max smiled warmly to Liz. He hadn’t asked her what had happened with her and Stephanie last night. He knew that she would open up to him when she was ready. When she felt comfortable in confiding into him about things. And as much as he wanted her to confide to him, he knew that it was way too early for her. She was still dealing with so much. Or rather not, a voice nagged him. It didn’t seem that she was dealing with things. Only that she was trying to ignore what she was feeling.

Ava repressed the urge to smile at Max and Liz. They were just so cute, and so perfect for each other. But hell, they had a lot to deal with. Ava hated to think that Liz would turn out like Avarona back on Antar, sometimes feeling disgusted in your own skin, or bouncing into sexual relationships, even with the person that had raped her. Avarona hadn’t even dealt with what had happened. She had simply buried it so deep in her that it had deadened something inside of Avarona. Ava felt like laughing. It was weird, thinking about her former self. But it really wasn’t her former self. Only she would get confused over all of it.

Liz bit her lip as she looked at Max from the corner of her eye. She had wanted to talk to him so much last night. The conversation that she had with Stephanie had brought back so much to her. It had made her think about Sorcha and how much she missed her daughter. About on Antar, how much Troian and Zan had wanted her. How they had decorated the nursery for their baby daughter that should have been born. And Liz wanted to tell him about it. She had wanted to talk to Max about all of that, but she had been a coward. She got scared, because she had also wanted to share the memories with him. Show him what he didn’t remember.

Max watched Liz curiously. He wanted so much to know what was going on with her. So much. Just than, Liz grabbed his hand tightly from underneath the table, and before Max knew what was happening, a flash came to him.


Zanier bit his lip impatiently. Where was she? He knew that she was supposed to come. Rath had said that she was going on come to this party. It was the only reason that he was here right now. Not that he didn’t like parties, he did. But he knew that he should have just waited at the palace for Troian to come. But instead, he was going to see Troian for the first time in nearly six months at this party that Vilandra was having.

“Hey, why do you look so glum?” Rathard asked, smacking his friend on his back.

Zanier shrugged his shoulders. He couldn’t honestly tell Rathard that he was waiting for Troian to come. That he was in love with his best friend’s little sister. For some reason, Zanier knew that Rathard wouldn’t take it all that well. Especially if he ever found out that Troian and he had performed in the Beltane ritual. But Zanier wasn’t about to let anyone ever know about that. It was something that would be between him and Troian. “Didn’t really feel like a party. But you know, how could I not come. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen Troian.”

Rathard nodded his head. “Yeah. It’s been awhile for me, too. Grandma didn’t want Troian to come home; I overheard Father talking to her in the imager. The whole reason was because Grandma had a vision about Troian being hurt or something. You’ve got to believe Grandma when she says things like that.”

Zanier nodded his head, and opened his mouth to say something when he saw her coming towards him. She looked like a Goddess to him. She was so beautiful. Troian was wearing a dress of the richest green. He knew that it was the same color as her eyes. Zanier swallowed hard as he elbowed his friend in the stomach.

A huge smile broke across of Rathard’s face. “Troian!” he exclaimed, as he recognized his baby sister. He wrapped his arms around her in a fierce hug.

Zanier watched them with a smile on his face. Troian caught his eyes while still wrapped in her brother’s hug. He knew that things were going to be so differently for him. They were going to change for the better since Troian was here. She was finally here and he wasn’t about to do anything that would make her leave him. He honestly didn’t think that he could go on without her.



Max blinked several times as he snapped out of the flash. He saw Troian so perfectly in his head. And even though she hadn’t looked anything like his Liz, he had known that it was her. That he had loved her. Loved everything about her. Max gave Liz a slow smile, wondering if she had known what had just happened or not. If the flash had come from her, or if it had come from somewhere inside of him. Right now, he didn’t want to analyze it or anything. He just wanted to enjoy his time with the love of his life.

Diane watched her son curiously. It had almost been like he had been on another planet. He had gotten such a dazed look in his eyes, but Liz had been smiling. And now, Max was smiling at her, too. Diane couldn’t help but be curious about whatever had happened. But whatever it had been, it had brought a smile to her son’s face. And that was all that mattered.


posted on 25-Jul-2002 1:58:51 AM
posted on 25-Jul-2002 2:02:05 AM
Disclaimer: Chapel of Love belongs to the Dixie Cups.

Chapter 32

R++++ *wink*

Max sighed as he rubbed his eye. Damn! He hated finals. He had about sixty hours before he would start taking his finals. Finals were three days, Thursday, Friday and Monday. Whoever came up with that had been an idiot. As if he didn’t have enough to do over the weekend. He would have practice. Bill had said that he would be working with him, Isabel, Michael and Ava. To see exactly what kind of power could be generated. Max couldn’t help but be curious about it himself.

Okay, Max. Concentrate on Algebra II. This crap was supposed to be important in his life later on. Yeah, right, he thought to himself. They had so much to do. They had to defeat those Skin jerks, Nicholas, Tess. And here he was trying to concentrate on his stupid math work. Trying being the word.

Max looked down at his book as he began tapping his fingers as he began humming softly to the song that the radio was playing. Seeing that no one would hear him, Max began singing. “Because we’re, going to the chapel. And we’re gonna get married. Going to the chapel; and we’re gonna get married. Gee, I really love you; and we’re gonna get married. Going to the chapel of love.

Liz couldn’t help but giggle as she opened his window. She could hear him singing from outside. And the song that he was singing. Liz had to admit to herself that he had a beautiful voice. If only he let people know about it, she thought to herself. “Hey, Max.”

Max jumped in the chair at her words. He held his hand over his rapidly beating heart. “I think that I almost had a heart attack. I didn’t know that you were coming over.” he said, as he stood up, to help her from the window sill.

Liz took his hand gratefully as she hopped down from the window. “You look nice.” she said softly, taking in his sweats and t-shirt. Well, maybe it only looked nice because it was on him.

Max shook his head at her. “No, I think that you’ve got that backwards. You look great.” he said, looking over her dress. She looked beautiful. She just got more and more beautiful each and every time that he saw her. She was wearing some sort of wrap dress in the print of bamboo. He had never seen that dress before, so he was thinking that it was new. That she had gotten it when she had gone shopping with Maria and Cerina.

“I missed you, Max.” Liz said softly, as she reached up and brushed a lock of hair off of his forehead. It was so silky and soft. She didn’t think that she had ever felt anything quite as soft and silky as his hair.

“I missed you, too, Liz.” Max said softly, feeling his heart pounding at her touch. He was so surprised that she was here. Not that he was going to send her away or anything. He was surprised that Zack and the others had let her out. They watched her like a hawk. Not that he blamed them, because he did the same thing when he was with her.

Liz trailed her hand lightly across his forehead, down his temple and against his cheek. She wanted more. She wanted him so much at this moment. It reminded her of last year when they had found the orb, but it felt stronger to her. Liz slowly traced his lips one at a time. First his upper and than his lower with excruciating slowness. She wanted to explore every part of him. Slowly and surely. Not wanting to miss anything.

“Liz, what are you doing?” Max asked softly, feeling his legs start to quiver at her touch. His heart was pounding like a freight train, but he didn’t want it to stop anytime soon. But he knew that they shouldn’t be doing this. Not when they were at his house. Not when his mother and sister were in the house.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Liz told him, as she pushed her finger into his mouth. A smile crossed her face as he began to suckle her finger. It felt so good, but she wanted more. She wanted more from Max. She knew that if she and Max made love right now, that things would be better.

Regretfully, she pulled her finger slowly out of his mouth. As her smile widened, she ran her wet finger slowly down his chin, his neck to the base. Liz’s finger lingered there for a moment, before she pushed Max down to the bed. Liz straddled his hips, causing her dress to creep up her thighs. Liz tugged at his shirt over his head in one quick moment. Liz licked her lips at the sight of his bare chest. It had been so long since she’d seen it, since she had been able to touch his chest. “Take me, NOW!” she said aggressively.

“Where? I’m low on gas and you really need a jacket.” Max said jokingly. He felt like he was going to explode. The way that she was looking at him. He felt like he could barely breathe with that look of lust in her eyes. Max’s breathe caught in his throat when Liz grabbed his hands and placed them on her stomach where the belt of the dress was.

“Don’t play with me, Max. I want you way too much for that.” Liz said licking her lips. She felt like she was going to explode if he didn’t touch her soon. Liz knew that it would make all of the hurt go away if she made love to Max. Because than she would only have good memories. Not bad ones.

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Isabel looked at herself in the mirror. She looked at her cornsilk blonde hair and her blue eyes. She knew that she didn’t look anything like Vilandra. If she closed her eyes, she could see Vilandra in her head. It had come to her last night. But Isabel knew that she did not resembled Vilandra at all.

Though the height was almost the same, Vilandra had thick, straight, long ebony colored hair and wide set gray eyes under perfectly arched eyebrows. And Vilandra’s body was one of those to die for bodies, not that Isabel would have wanted it anyway. But Isabel had seen some similarities. She had seen that Vilandra had always been meticulous in how she presented herself, a way that she— Isabel was.

Isabel couldn’t help but wonder why? Why Vilandra had hated Bradeon so much? What had he done to her? She knew that they had some sort of romance. She was guessing a childhood romance, but Isabel wasn’t positive. Isabel wanted to know why Vilandra had hated him. Why she had purposely gotten involved with Lexus to spite both Bradeon and Krissane. That had been wrong, Isabel knew that. But the lingering question remained. Why? “Why did Vilandra hate Bradeon so much?” Isabel asked herself, as a flash came to her.


“Why do you hate Bradeon so much?” Khivar asked , running his hand along the length of Vilandra’s arm.

Vilandra meet the midnight black eyes of her lover. Khivar was like no one that she had ever known before. Not that she knew him all that well anyway. She knew that he was a fierce commander and that he had great ambitions, and he seemed like a loyal brother to his sister. Something that she couldn’t say the same for Zanier. All Zanier ever thought about was Troian. Troian this, Troian that. And it had gotten worse when they found out that Troian was pregnant. “Oh, why are you so interested in why I hate Bradeon?”

Khivar shrugged his shoulders. “Curiosity.”

“I bet you never knew that Bradeon was my first lover. We were fourteen years old. And hardly knew what we were doing, but boy did we have some fun learning what to do. And it was fun for quite awhile. My mother found out the extent of our relationship and she sent me away. She sent me away like I had done something wrong. Like I was the one that had to be punished. In my exile, I began to hate him. Hate that I was treated that way because all I did was love him.” Vilandra confessed, not knowing why she was telling Khivar about what had happened. Well, she wasn’t about to tell him everything. Only a handful of people knew the whole truth. Knew about everything that had happened.

“Really? That’s interesting. You hate him because of your exile. So tell me why exactly were you exiled? Did you go off and have his illegitimate child?” Khivar asked with a smirk on his face.

Vilandra cocked an eyebrow at him at his assumption. “Of course, I didn’t. Are you trying to dig up something incriminating on me? Something that you could use to blackmail me? Well, you won’t find anything. Even if there was anything, you honestly think that I or my parents would have been idiots and not have hidden our secrets very well? You won’t find anything on me.” she informed him.

Khivar shrugged his shoulders again. “It would have been more interesting if you had. But alas, I guess that did not happen. Oh, well. From what I’ve seen Bradeon’s a pain in the ass. He’s involved with quite a bit of women in society. Quite a bit. Must be like a stab in the heart for you. Your first boyfriend and lover such a play boy.”

Vilandra shook her head. “Not in the least. I have nothing but hatred for Bradeon. Just hatred.” she informed him coldly.



The sound of a knock at her door shook Isabel out of the flash. She blinked her eyes, several times dazed from what she had seen. That wasn’t me, she told herself. Isabel knew that she wasn’t anything like Vilandra. She wasn’t Vilandra. She was nothing like her. Isabel didn’t hate Bradeon, she loved her brother and cared for her sister, even if her sister wasn’t all that nice to her. Isabel was determined not to be anything like Vilandra. She didn’t want to have anything to do with what Vilandra had been or done. She knew that wasn’t who she was. She was Isabel Evans. She was Isabel Evans and she could never be anyone but herself.

At the sound of the knock, Isabel realized that someone was still at the door. Isabel shook her head, wanting to stop her thoughts. She opened her door and plastered a fake smile on her face. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”

Diane smiled at her daughter, even though she felt concerned. There was something in Isabel’s eyes that made her pause. Her daughter had sadness in her eyes. Alex! Her daughter must be thinking about him. Her poor little girl was still so messed up over Alex’s death. Not that she blamed her. Isabel had loved Alex, and now he was gone. “I was wondering what you wanted for dinner? Dad had a late meeting so I’m not too sure if he’s going to join us or not. I was thinking that maybe we should just order some pizza. What do you think?”

Isabel nodded her head absently. “Yeah, sure. That’s fine, Mom.” she told her mother. She rubbed her forehead where a pounding headache had formed. She wanted to talk to her mother. She wanted to tell her mother. She wanted to tell her mother everything. All she was waiting for was Max. Max needed some time to think about it. And Isabel hoped that he would say yes. She wanted to tell her mother so badly.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” Diane asked concerned. She wanted so much to know what was going on inside Isabel’s head. And Max’s. Sometimes it seemed like her children were virtual strangers to her. Most of the time, Diane thought that it had something to do with their lives before they had come to live with her and Phillip. Suddenly, a thought came to her head. What if Max and Isabel had found their birth parents and that’s why they were being so distant from her and Phillip? She didn’t like the idea. They had left Max and Isabel abandoned on the side of the road, they had no right to even know her beautiful children. Stop it, Diane, she told herself. She was jumping to conclusions.

“I’m fine, Mom. Really. Don’t worry about me.” Isabel reassured her mother. Even though she didn’t want to think about Vilandra, Isabel knew that she wouldn’t be able to do anything else tonight. Vilandra was going to be on her mind for a long time. Isabel was slowly realizing that she wasn’t Vilandra. Isabel wasn’t anything like that horrible person. Vilandra had helped betray Zan and Isabel wasn’t about to do that to her brother. She would die before she betrayed her brother.

“Alright, sweetie. I’m going to go ask your brother what he wants on the pizza.” Diane said with a smile. She knew that she shouldn’t push her daughter into telling her anything. When Isabel was ready to tell her what she was feeling, she hoped that Isabel would. But Diane knew with Max, it was a little different. She might have to do a little pushing if she wanted to get to whatever was going on with him.

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Max took in a sharp breath. Oh hell. He couldn’t believe that Liz was doing this to him. She had her hand down his pants. She had her hand on him. She was holding his. . . his power source in her hand. And her dress was off. She was still sitting astride him, clad in a daffodil colored chemise. She looked so beautiful. Max wanted more. He wanted to make love to her. But another part of him was thinking that they couldn’t. That it was too early. That it was too soon after everything that Liz had gone through. His brain was trying to tell him that this wasn’t right, but he just couldn’t stop it.

Max’s breath froze as her hand slowly began moving up and down on him. Oh hell. Oh hell, he thought. Just when he thought that it couldn’t get any worse, Liz leaned down and circled his right nipple with her tongue. Oh hell. When she leaned down like that, Max could see her breasts. Her perfect breasts that he so wanted to touch. He wanted so much just to reach out and touch them. But he held back.

Liz smiled at Max’s nervousness. She couldn’t blame him for being nervous. Hell, she was a little nervous herself. This was going to be the first time that she would ever make love to anyone. She wanted to make love to the love of her life. She wanted to slowly drive him insane. Liz continued stroking his shaft. It just felt amazing for her to be doing all of this. It felt amazing for her to be holding him in her hand like this.

When Liz heard the knock on the door, she groaned. It always had to happen. Every time that she and Max had been getting anywhere someone, usually Maria had interrupted them. Liz sighed impatiently at the insistent knock. Damn that Isabel. “Go away, Isabel. I’m trying to make love to my husband.”

Max opened his mouth to tell Liz that his mother was home, when the door swung open. Revealing a shocked and confused Diane Evans. “Mom!” Max said surprised, hoping that this was all some sort of a dream. Yes, that’s what it was, he told himself. It had to be. It had to be.

Liz quickly removed her hand out of Max’s pants and moved off of him. She could feel the heat rising up inside her at this utter humiliation. She couldn’t believe it. She and Max had been caught by his own mother. OH MY GOD!!!! Take a damn deep breath, Liz ordered herself. She just couldn’t believe it. She just couldn’t believe it.

Diane swallowed hard as she assessed the situation. She was no fool. She knew what had been going on in her son’s bedroom. It was something that she just hadn’t been expecting. Max had told her that Liz was raped, but here she was straddling her son, who had his shirt off. What the hell was going on? Had Max lied to her about that? And the whole husband thing? What the hell was that about? “I want the two of you to get dressed and be in the living room in five minutes.” she said, moving away from the door as fast as she could.

Isabel had been watching at the doorway of her room as her mother went to Max’s room. As her mother moved away from Max’s doorway, she looked mighty pissed off. Moving quickly towards Max’s room, she froze at what she saw in Max’s bedroom. Max had his shirt off and Liz was hurriedly putting on a dress. “What the hell is going on?” she asked bewildered.

“Uh. . . . “ Max said, pinching himself on the arm, but realizing that this was not a dream. That it had been real. That he had been caught by his mother. That his girlfriend had her hand down his pants.

Liz took in a deep breath as she belted up her dress. She couldn’t believe that she had been such an idiot. What the hell had she been thinking? Coming here like this? Getting aggressive with Max, wanting to make love to him? Wanting to block the ugly things that Khivar had done to her with happy memories Max making love to her. She and Max had been caught by his mother. His mother who had heard her call Max her husband. Shit. His mother would wonder what the hell Liz had meant by that. “Max, I called you my husband. Your mother’s going to wonder what I meant by that.” she said, biting her lower lip.

Max nodded his head, realizing that she had indeed called him her husband. Oh hell. Things weren’t going to be pretty. Max picked up his discarded shirt from the floor and pulled it over. He sat down heavily on the bed, rubbing his forehead. “I think that we should tell Mom and Dad the truth, right now. I know that I’m scared that they might look at us differently, think differently about us. But with everything that is going on, they could be in danger. And I don’t want them to be hurt because of something that we are in.” he informed his sister.

Liz wrapped an arm around Max at his words. She knew that this decision of his had taken a lot of courage. That he was scared about being viewed a monster by his own parents. Liz didn’t think that they would. It was apparent to her that they loved Max and Isabel. But she knew that they were scared, and she understood. “It will be okay, Max. I know that it will. Your parents love you and they want the best for you. I don’t think that they would ever look at you differently.” she told him softly.

Isabel let out a sigh of relief. She was so happy. Max wanted their parents to know. It felt so good. It felt as if a huge weight was slowly being taken off of her shoulders. Her parents were going to know the truth. And even though a part of her was scared that they would look at her differently, she knew that it was the right thing to do. That it was right. “Thank you, Max. Thank you.” Isabel said softly, feeling her eyes tear up.

Max nodded his head. “We should go to the living room and talk to Mom.” he told them quietly. With Liz at his side, Max stood up, giving his sister a smile. He hoped that things would be okay. That his parents would take it all okay. The three of them walked slowly to the living room, ready to tell the truth.


Chapter 33



“Well, Greer, what have you found out for me? You have found out something of use haven’t you?” Nicholas asked as he watched the man come into the room, holding several papers. Maybe he shouldn’t have sent Greer to do this for him. The man was acting mighty incompetent. Must be all the years that he spent on Earth. It was obviously affecting the way that his brain worked.

“They’re alive, sir. I believe that they are all alive.” Greer said, nodding his head animatedly. He couldn’t believe what he had found. He just couldn’t believe it all. They were alive. He was pretty sure about it all.

“Who’s alive? Who is all alive?” Nicholas asked impatiently, wanting Greer to get to the bottom of the story already. He knew that Troian and Lexus had been brought here, so who else had? Had the rest of Troian’s family been brought down to Earth, he wondered.

“They are all alive. I’m not positive about it all. But I do think that Troian’s brothers are all alive. There were eleven babies born to Dr. William Metzler within the last thirty years or so. The first one was born in 1965. A girl by the name of Aryn Andrea Metzler. Most of the others were born in the 80's, except for two others, Jonathon Miles McLaren was born in 1972. And Clayton Caleb Foster was born in 1975. The other eight were born within two years in the eighties. Zachary William Metzler was born on June 21, 1981 at 11:57 p.m., and his twin brother, Christopher William Metzler was born on June 22, 1981 at 12:03 a.m. Thomas Miles McLaren was born on August 27, 1981. Cerina Janelle Travers was born on August 11, 1982. Nathaniel Thomas Elliot was born on December 14, 1982. Simon James Curtis was born on January 3, 1983. Alexander Charles Whitman was born on June 21, 1983 at 11:57 p.m. And Elizabeth Claudia Parker was born on June 22, 1983 at 12:03 a.m.” Greer told Nicholas running out of breath.

Nicholas nodded his head, adding up all the figures in his head. Eleven babies born to the same doctor, two of which he was positive had been on Antar. But who were the other nine? Now, the twin boys that had been born coincided with Troian and Lexus own dates of birth, even the same time. He was willing to guess that those two were Aiden and Jasper. They had to be. And the younger girl, the Cerina girl. He was willing to bet that she was Krissane, especially since Lexus had been born less than a year after her. But than who were the others? The other six people? One of them had to be Bradeon, but which one could it be? And who were the others. Nicholas felt that he had more questions than answers.

“What else did you find out?” Nicholas questioned, trying to figure out who the others could be. Trying to connect the dots together.

“Well, all of them with the exception of Elizabeth Parker and Alexander Whitman were raised in Artesia, New Mexico, about forty miles away from Roswell. Aryn Metzler is a doctor in the same practice as her so called father. And she is Elizabeth’s doctor. I don’t think that the three that were born before the eighties are any one from Antar. It doesn’t make much sense to me, sir.” Greer said, than remembered his place was to give the information, not express his own thoughts.

Nicholas narrowed his eyes at Greer. The man could be an idiot at times. Nicholas didn’t give a damn about his opinion. He had so much to deal with. Getting the serum ready for when they took the royals. Getting all of the plans ready were taking time. But he knew that everything would go perfectly. That his plan would be perfect. On May 19, they would not know what hit them. “Is that all that you found out? What about the doctor? Who is he?”

Greer shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t have any clue at all about who Metzler was. He supposed that Metzler might have been one of Queen Troian’s so called guards. Or someone who had been connected to Nasira or Zanier. “I don’t know who Metzler is. But I’m sure that there are others. The ones that took the others. Because they were raised all by different people. I think that maybe there is a group of them that came down to Earth with the others.”

Nicholas sighed angrily. Just what he needed. Greer was just telling him, I think, I think, I think. No hard facts about who was here. He needed to know who exactly was here. Who he was dealing with. “You think, look, stop thinking. I need to know the facts. Who the hell are these others that raised the kids. Do you know that much at least?” he asked, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

Greer nodded his head. He had done his homework this time. He hadn’t wanted to get his ass in trouble again. He didn’t want to get in the middle of Nicholas’s anger. He’d leave all of that to that idiot Tess. “Yes, I did. There’s William and Stephanie Metzler, Jeffrey and Nancy Parker, Charles and Annette Whitman. Todd and Janelle Travers, Miles and Sonia McLaren, Robert and Cynthia Elliot. Brian and Genie Curtis, Caleb and Rebecca Foster. I’m pretty sure that all of the women are humans, but all the men are Antarian. Who’s exactly who. . . I don’t know.”

Nicholas nodded his head, as he began to pace around the room. He knew that they had to be Antarians, because it wouldn’t make any sense if they had been adopted by humans. It wouldn’t make any sense at all. But than again, Metzler, who seemed to be the leader of it all was responsible. “Did you dig deeper into the backgrounds of these people? So we could try to find out if they are Antarian or not?”

Greer gave a half nod. “We tried, but we didn’t get entirely far with it all. We didn’t find much on them before the 1960's. And most of our info on them came from after they were all married. But there was some information on Jeff Parker. Seems that the government thought that he was missing in action in Vietnam, but he turned out alive. I think that person who is pretending to be Jeff Parker is an Antarian. I’m thinking his either Jerel, Cahal, or Galen. I’m not too sure.”

Nicholas gritted his teeth. “Will you shut the hell up about what you think? You don’t have any hard facts telling me who is who. Is that it?” he asked angrily, wanting the man out of his sight before he did something to him.

Greer nodded his head, he could tell that Nicholas was getting angry at his words and wanted to get the hell out of there. “Yes, sir.”

“Get out. And send Tess in.” Nicholas said, shooing the man away. He wanted to do something else. Something or someone to take his anger out on. And Tess was the perfect person for him to do that to. She deserved everything that he gave her. She deserved all of the pain and suffering that he was giving her.

And it felt good. It was like he was sticking it to Khivar when he put Tess through all of that. Khivar had ruined so much with his inane plans. Nicholas had to rework everything again because of Khivar’s dumb ideas. Shame that their leader had been messed up over a woman. And Troian. Truthfully, he had never understood the appeal of that one. She hadn’t been anything like Vilandra. Now that was one great woman, he thought to himself with a smirk as he watched Tess enter the room, a fearful look on her face. He knew that he would get Vilandra again. Or Isabel as she called herself, but for now, he was stuck with the gerbil. But not forever.

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“What did you find out?” Taryn asked as she watched the dark haired man come into the room. He was just about the only person that she had ever trusted. Everyone else was on Nicholas and Khivar’s side of the war, while she and Shep weren’t. Though they would never tell anyone.

“They’re alive, Taryn. The others are alive. I’m not 100% positive about it all. But I think that they are. Troian, Lexus— at least, he was, but he’s dead now— Jasper, Aiden.” Shep told the pretty red head softly. He knew that she might react strongly to the name Aiden. He knew what that did to her. The mention of him.

Taryn took a deep breath when Shep mentioned Aiden. It hurt so much to think about him. The love of her life. No, it wasn’t her life. She wasn’t Leilah anymore. She was Taryn. She was nothing like the sweet innocent Leilah that she had been on Antar. She was tough, and she could be a bitch. That came from her years of living here in the enemy camp. And she knew that they would use her when push came to shove. That they would use her against Larek, her own brother. If they ever had to deal with Larek, they would use her. She knew that. “Are you sure about all of this?”

Shep nodded his head. He was damn sure about the whole thing. He had been listening to Nicholas’ conversations for the last few weeks. Nicholas and Khivar’s talks, Nicholas and Charon. He knew everything that they were thinking. And he and Leilah— Taryn were waiting for their opportunity. Though Shep was getting mighty impatient with it all. He wanted to get to it already. He wanted back on Antar. And he wanted to be there now. And he knew— he knew that the fact that Aiden was here, was going to screw it all up. Screw up all of his plans.

“Yes, I’m sure of it. Well, Greer told Nicholas about the doctor that delivered both Troian and Lexus— the man also delivered nine other children. Most of them were boys, only two were girls. I’m assuming at least one of these girls is Krissane. And there were two boys born only minutes apart, I think those two are Jasper and Aiden. One’s name is Zachary and the other’s name is Christopher.” Shep explained to her.

Taryn ran a hand through her hair. She hated the way that she looked here on Earth. She was nothing like her old self. Here she was short, five three and she had bright red hair and her eyes were a shade somewhere between green and grey. Sometimes she wished that she was back on Antar, while other times, she was happy that she was here on Earth. But those occasions were rare. She didn’t want to go back to Antar. Her mother hadn’t been the most stable person. She had been nutty as a fruitcake, only things had been kept quiet because people didn’t need to know that their Queen was a fucking nut. “So they are here. Nicky boy sure has his work cut out for him?” she said with a smile.

Shep nodded his head at her words. That was the truth. Things were definitely cut out for Nicholas. And if Nicholas wanted them to be the perfect little soldiers they would go along with it all. But they weren’t. He and Taryn were not the perfect soldiers. All Shep wanted was to go home to Antar. Go to his family that he had been forced to leave behind because of that idiot Khivar. He would do just about anything to go home. Which was the reason that he was working with Taryn. He knew that he had better chances of going home if he worked with Taryn. Nicholas was going to lead them all to their deaths. He could feel it coming and Shep wasn’t about to be on the losing side.

Taryn turned her back to Shep, thinking about Aiden, wondering who he was, Zachary or Christopher. She had loved him once so long ago. Back on Antar. In her other life. But she wasn’t in love with him now, was she? She couldn’t be. Here on Earth, there was no Aiden. There only was this new person who he was. Just like she wasn’t the same. She wasn’t Leilah. She was the person that she was now. Thanks to Nicholas and Khivar she got a second chance at life. Taryn rolled her eyes at her sarcastic thoughts. Khivar and Nicholas’ plans for her were simple, she was their pawn if they had ever found the others. But when they actually had found Zanier, Vilandra and Rathard, they’d decided not to use her after all. Not yet anyway.

They had kept her around as a back up. As a back up that they could emotionally blackmail the others with. Like Zanier or Vilandra would even remember her. From what Taryn had heard, they hadn’t had a semblance of memories of Antar. So they wouldn’t remember her. Even if she had been their cousin. Besides, Zanier had been a virtual mess after Troian’s death, and Vilandra had always been busy with her boy toy of the moment. Rathard, who had about to become her brother-in-law had the greater chance of remembering her. That is, if she ever saw them again.

Taryn sighed at her thoughts. To be Leilah or to be Taryn? That was the question. She found herself growing weary of the thought of going back to Antar. It simply wasn’t home anymore. The only reason to go home would to see Larek. Her brother. She had missed him over the years. But Taryn knew exactly what she wanted to do. She wanted to help defeat Nicholas and than enjoy life on Earth. A place where there was no on going war as Antar had become. Antar just wasn’t her home anymore.

“What are we going to do Taryn? Nicholas and his cronies are working on the serum to render them powerless and they plan on taking them on May 19. What are we going to do?” Shep asked softly, breaking into her thoughts.

Taryn gave Shep a feral smile at his words. “That gives us some time to continue with our plans. We’ll maybe tamper with the serum a little bit. Not so much that they would know. That way that the royals will be here when the time does come. They have the Granolith and the only way home. And we can help them. And the enemy shall be overcome, one by one.”


posted on 2-Aug-2002 1:38:19 AM
Chapter 34



Diane paced around the living room, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. She had just caught her son and his girlfriend in his bedroom making out. And while that been surprising, the thing that shocked her had been Liz’s words. What had come out of her mouth. Liz Parker had called Max her husband? Diane couldn’t help but wonder if that had anything to do with that trip he and the others had taken to Las Vegas. At the time, Diane had feigned anger, but a part of her had been happy that Max had done that. That he and Isabel had been acting like teenagers, instead of acting like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Diane looked up as her children and Liz walked into the living room. There was a look of seriousness on each of their faces, and she could feel her heart clench. Were they going to tell her that in Las Vegas, Max and Liz had gotten married?

“Mom, there’s something that Max and I want to tell you.” Isabel said softly, feeling tears come to her eyes again. She was about to tell her mother the truth and it felt wonderful. It felt so wonderful that her mother would finally know. That the secret wouldn’t be on them anymore. That they could be open with their own mother.

“What is it, Isabel?” Diane questioned as she watched her daughter curiously. Why were there tears in Isabel’s eyes? Diane’s thoughts raced back to what she had thought earlier. Had Max and Isabel found their birth parents? Was that what this was all about? Had she and Phillip lost their beautiful children?

“I think that maybe you should sit down, Mom.” Max told his mother, taking in a deep breath. He hoped that everything would work out okay. He didn’t know what he would do if he lost his parents. They were the only ones that he had ever known. The only ones that he knew loved him. But he knew that Isabel and Liz were right. They did deserve to know about it all. They could be in danger and he had been sitting on his ass once again. But not anymore.

Diane sat down heavily on the chair as she continued looking at her children. Isabel looked rather happy, even with the tears in her eyes, while Max had somewhat of a scared look on his face. And Liz, Diane couldn’t quite figure her out. She was holding Max’s hand, though, giving him emotional support for whatever revelation they were about to tell her. “What is it? What is going on with you two? I want to know the truth. I think that I have the right. I am your mother.”

“It’s a long story, Mom. A real long story.” Isabel said, blinking the tears away from her eyes. She knew that if she didn’t stop her sob fest that her mother would never know the truth.

“Why don’t we all sit down?” Liz suggested. She knew that this was going to be a long talk and it wouldn’t be a very good idea if Max and Isabel just stood while they were telling Mrs. Evans.

Max nodded his head as he sat down on the couch, with Liz on his right hand side and Isabel on his left hand side. Max took in a deep breath as he tried to figure out exactly where he was supposed to start.

“I want to know something. Liz, you called Max your husband? When you kids were in Las Vegas, did you two get married?” Diane questioned, part of her scared about what the answer could be. If he said yes, she would be mighty disappointed in him, but there wouldn’t be much that she could do since he was already eighteen years old.

Max meet Liz’s eyes for a moment before he looked back at his mother. He took in a deep breath as Liz squeezed his hand. “Um. No, we didn’t get married in Las Vegas, Mom. It’s actually part of the long story that Isabel said. Um. . . . Isabel and I aren’t. . . . we aren’t. . . “

”We’re not human, Mom. We’re aliens.” Isabel said hastily, when she realized that Max was having some trouble coming out and saying the words. Isabel took in a deep breath as she looked at her mother, waiting for a sign, any sign.

Diane blinked several times trying to understand what Isabel had just said to her. Isabel had just said that she and Max weren’t human. That they were aliens. What the hell? That couldn’t be true, could it? Diane knew that somehow Max had to be different. The tape of him. . . healing. . . that bird had been something. Diane honestly hadn’t known what to think when she had seen that tape. But could they honestly be aliens? “I. . . I don’t understand.” she finally said.

Isabel took in an unsteady breath, as she looked over at Max and Liz, who were holding hands. Isabel could see that Max was scared about what she had just said. And Isabel knew that it was up to her to speak up. “Mom, Max and I. . . we aren’t human. Not completely anyway. We are aliens from the 1947 crash.”

Diane looked between her daughter and son, utterly shocked by Isabel’s words. It couldn’t be true? Her children were aliens? But from the looks on their faces, Diane could tell that they were being serious, that they were not lying. But aliens? “You’re saying that you and Max are aliens from the ‘47 crash? If so, than how come you two are only eighteen years old. It’s been more than fifty years since the crash?” she questioned. Even though her head was telling her that it was something out of the Twilight Zone, her heart was saying that it could be true. That just maybe, it could be true.

Max knew that he had to step up and tell her the truth. That he shouldn’t just leave it up to Isabel to tell his mother the truth. It was his secret, too. “Um. . . Isabel and I were in incubation pods for most of the years. Our protector was the one that put is in the pod chamber, in order to keep us safe. And we grew in the pods during the years. I don’t know exactly everything, but when we broke out of our pods, we looked about six years olds. And we left the pod chamber and you and Dad found us.” he explained.

Diane twisted her hands in her lap at her son’s words. The way that her son and daughter were talking, she knew that it had to be true. It just had to be. Her children were aliens. “So the night that me and your father found you two, you had left your. . . your pods. And it was just the two of you. . . that were in these pods?” she asked, her mind instantly wandering to Michael Guerin.

Liz meet Max’s eyes, wondering how they were going to answer Mrs. Evans question. Where they going to tell her about Michael and the others? Max questioned her with his eyes if it was okay to tell his mother the truth about Michael being with them, and Liz nodded her head. She might as well know the truth about all of them. There was no way past any of it.

“Um. . . . no, we weren’t the only ones that were in the pods. In all there were four of us.” Max reluctantly said, taking in a deep breathe. It did feel really good to tell his mother the truth about it all. And she wasn’t looking at him as if he was some sort of freak.

Diane looked over at Liz, who was clutching Max’s hand. “Were you with them, Liz?” she asked curiously. If Max and Liz were the same, wouldn’t that sort of explain why the two of them were so attached to each other.

Liz shook her head. “No, I wasn’t with them.

Diane frowned at the pretty girl’s words. That she wasn’t with them. But was she one of them?

“Liz wasn’t with us, Mom. She is one of us, but that’s another story. The two that were with us was Michael and Tess. Michael, Max and I broke out of our pods at the same time. Tess didn’t come out until later.” Isabel said darkly, hating that she even had to mention Alex’s murderer.

Diane nodded her head, knowing that she was right. Michael Guerin was the same as her children and that dreadful Tess Harding. She didn’t like that girl one bit. Wait a minute. If Tess was the same as Max and Isabel, than that girl Ava had to be the same, too. And what was this about Liz not being with them, but that she was one of them. Diane felt that she had more questions than answers. “Alright. Max, Isabel, Michael and Tess were together in these pods. But Liz— you’re the same as them. And what about that Ava girl? She’s the same isn’t she?”

Max nodded his head. “It’s kind of complicated, Mom. There’s a whole history of things that you don’t know about. Umm. . . the whole reason that we were brought to Earth in the first place was because. . . uh. . . our planet’s name is Antar, and I’m not entirely sure where exactly it is from here or anything. But we were other people on that planet. And we were recreated and brought here to Earth. On Antar, Isabel was my sister. I was Zanier, Isabel was Vilandra, Michael was Rathard and Tess was Avarona. And me and Isabel— we were from a royal family. I was the king, and Isabel was a princess. Zanier was married to Avarona and Vilandra was engaged to Rathard. And we all were killed in a war that was going on Antar. And Zanier and Vilandra’s mother, Nasira was responsible for bringing us down to Earth, hoping that one day that we would come back and save the damn planet.”

Diane’s eyes widened at Max’s words. Max and Isabel were royalty from an alien planet. Her son had been the king of a planet? No wonder that he always seemed that he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, because in a way he had. He really had been. The fate of his home planet. “Oh, my God. Have you always known this? That you these other people?”

Isabel shook her head. “No, we didn’t. You know when we started getting more and more distant last year. It was because of something that happened at the Crashdown.” she began.

Max nodded his head. This was his part to tell. He had started everything when he had healed Liz. “That day at the Crashdown when someone took a shot, Liz was hit. And she could have died. She would have died, if I hadn’t saved her. Like what I did to the bird, Mom. That’s what I did to her. All of us are able to manipulate molecular structure and that’s what I did to Liz. I manipulated the bullet until it wasn’t there anymore. And well, that lead to a lot of questions for Liz.” he said, giving his girlfriend a smile.

Diane frowned at his words. Hadn’t they just said that Liz was the same as they were. But Max just said that when he healed Liz that there had been a lot of questions. “I don’t understand. If Liz is like you are, than why were there a lot of questions?”

Liz cleared her throat, thinking that it would be best if she answered that question. There was just so much that Diane did not know. “Well, when Max healed me. . . I didn’t know that I was like him. Neither did he, or Isabel. I thought that I was human, but I. . . we didn’t find out that I was like them until recently. But when Max healed me, there were a ton of questions that I had.”

Max nodded his head, thinking back to that day that she had questioned him in the art room. He had been so excited and scared at the same time. “It was after I healed Liz that we started trying to find out where we were from and all of that stuff. And it wasn’t until last spring that the answers came to us. When Tess and Nasedo– our protector came to town.”

“Tess was your wife back on Antar?” Diane asked with a frown.

Max repressed the urge to shudder at the words of his former self being married to her. But it was true. Max reluctantly nodded his head. “Yes, she was my second wife. Zanier had been married twice. The first time had been to Troian, that was who Liz had been back on Antar.” he said with a smile. He loved few memories that he had gotten about Troian. He only wished that he remembered more.

Isabel rolled her eyes at Max’s words. Of course, Max would tell Mom about him and Liz. Or rather Zanier and Troian being married. And of course, he’d say it all with a smile on his face. “Anyways, when Tess and Nasedo came is when we found out the truth about things. Though they did lie to us about things. Tess, who knew things from Antar, did not tell Max a thing about Troian. Or that Nasedo was the one who was responsible for the ship crashing to Earth in ‘47. We only learned that recently. Because of Max healing Liz at the Crashdown, a special unit from the FBI started investigation all of us. And Nasedo— he used Liz in order to try to get the FBI off of our tracks.”

Max scowled at the mention of what had happened last year. “He used Liz and she had almost gotten hurt because of it all. And the FBI took me instead. They held me at a military base for. . . um. . . I think two days, maybe. Doing tests on me, trying to see who I worked and all.” he said, softly. This was the first time that he had come out and talked about what had happened last year. After it happened, he hadn’t wanted to talk about it to anyone. Not to Michael, not to Liz, not to anyone.

Diane let out a shocked gasp at her son’s words. Max had been held by the FBI for two days. And she had never even known it. Was she just such a horrible mother that she didn’t see what her son was going through? The nightmares that he had must have been caused by what had happened there. “Oh, Max. I’m so sorry. I. . . I wish that you would have told us. I. . . were you two scared about telling your father and me the truth about it all? We love you both so much. Your our children and we love you.” she told them, tears falling down.

“I’m sorry, Mom. It’s just the way that Isabel, Michael and I have always been. We vowed that we would never tell anyone, and I sort of broke the rules when I healed Liz and told her the truth. I. . . I was scared. Scared that you and Dad would look at me differently because I wasn’t human. I’m mean, we are half human and half alien. But you know. I was scared. Still am.” Max confessed, feeling so much better that he was telling his mother the truth. Now, all they had to do was tell their father.

“Oh, Max, sweetie. We love you so much. You’re our children and we would never have looked at you differently. I understand why you kept it a secret for so long. You were scared, and it was something that you kept a secret for so long. You were so unhappy last year, and I didn’t know why. I never want the two of you to think that your father and I won’t be there for you. We love you.” Diane said fiercely, wanting her children to know that she was serious. That they could come to her whenever they needed her.

“I’m sorry, Mom.” Max said quietly, feeling badly about it all. He wished that he could have told his mother sooner. But he had been paralyzed by fear. Fear that he would be treated differently by his parents.

“Me too, Mom. I wanted to tell you so many times. But it wasn’t only my secret to tell. But Max’s and Michael’s. And than Tess’.” Isabel said, her eyes narrowing at the mention of Tess. But that’s how it had been.

“When you say Tess’s name, you say it like your angry at her. What happened to her? Is she really in Canada like you said or not?” Diane wondered. She could see anger in her daughter’s eyes when she had said the name Tess, and she wanted to know what the hell had happened. Diane noted the way that Max’s jaw tightened and Isabel’s eyes blazed with anger.

“Alex was one of us, too. And Tess played a part in Alex’s death. Alex was murdered. It’s a very complicated thing, Mrs. Evans. We didn’t know that Tess wasn’t supposed to be with Max, Michael and Isabel. Ava was. But Nasedo— that lying bastard switched the pods. And Tess was helping our enemies. And she helped kill Alex.” Liz explained, as she saw the looks in Max and Isabel’s eyes. She could see their anger and sadness.

“What do you mean that Ava should have been with you? And Alex was an alien? How? How are you and Alex aliens?” Diane asked confused. She had more answers but also more questions too. It felt wonderful to finally know what was going on with her children.

“When the four of us were sent down from Antar, they were two sets of us. Like, there were two Max’s, two Michael’s, and two of me. But the other batch weren’t made correctly. They were more of their Antarian selves than us. And Ava should have been with us originally, but Nasedo— he switched Ava with Tess’ pod, because after the Crash, the government had our pods and messed with Ava’s, causing her’s to start leaking. So her’s was messed up and Nasedo needed a strong Avarona, in order to fill the plans of Khivar, who took Max’s throne from him. And uh, Liz maybe you should answer the question about how you and Alex came to Earth.” Isabel explained, giving a small smile to the girl she was sure would someday become her sister in law.

Liz nodded. “It was a few years after Max and the others were brought down to Earth. They brought down me, Alex and my brothers, cousins and Max and Isabel’s sister. They used a different way with us than they had with Max. What they did with us was implant us into the wombs of a human female. You’ve meet my brothers, Mrs. Evans. Zack, Krit, Tom, Alex, Michael. They’re all my brothers.”

“I. . . . wow! You two have a sister that I never knew about?” Diane asked with wide eyes. She didn’t like it that Max and Isabel had grown up without their own sister. It wasn’t right.

“Yes, Mom. Isabel’s and my sister is Cerina. I think you’ve meet her.” Max informed her.

“What the hell is going on? What the hell is this talk about pods and implanting into human wombs? What the hell is this talk about a sister?” Phillip asked angrily, as he stood at the doorway of the living room. He had come home and found his wife and children and Liz Parker discussing something about weird things. He wanted to know what the hell was going on.

“Phillip! I. . . what are you doing here?” Diane asked, seeing the expression on her husband. Damn! They were barely into this and now they would have to start over to tell Phillip everything.

“I live here, Diane. What is going on? What’s is all this talk about?” Phillip demanded, wanting answers now. He just didn’t understand what the hell all of this talk was about. It didn’t make the slightest bit of sense to him.

“Sweetheart, Max, Isabel and Liz were telling me the truth. About themselves. They’re not entirely human. They’re aliens from another planet?” Diane told him softly, watching Phillip’s face change in a shocked surprise.

“What the hell are you on? Are you all on drugs? There’s no such thing as aliens. Diane, can’t you tell that it’s all a ploy?” Phillip exploded, not believing it for one moment. There was no such thing as aliens.

Isabel bit her lip nervously at her father’s words. She hadn’t been expecting that from him. Hell, they hadn’t even expected him home quite yet. She knew that the only way for him to believe what they were saying was for her to do something. Isabel laid her hand on her purple shirt and than laid it on the burgundy couch, changing the color.

Phillip’s mouth dropped open in shock at his daughter’s actions. “Diane, what the hell is going on?”

Diane smiled at the look of shock on her husband’s face. She stood up on guided him to the chair she had been occupying and sat him down. “Sit down, darling. Max, Liz and Isabel aren’t done telling me everything. Don’t worry, you can ask your lawyer questions, once you close your mouth.”


posted on 2-Aug-2002 1:41:00 AM
Chapter 35



Isabel took in a deep breath as she stood at the edge of the cliff. She knew that it was only a dream, but it was a nice one. And the view was simply gorgeous. She had never seen it before, so she was thinking that maybe it was something from Antar. The sky wasn’t blue or anything, it was more of a lavender color. And there were three moons.

“Isabel.”

Isabel’s closed her eyes tightly at her name. The voice. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be who she thought it was. There was no way that it could be. But it sounded so much like him. It sounded so much like Alex.

“Isabel. It’s all right. You can open your eyes.” Alex said with a smile on his face. She was still as beautiful as the last time that he had seen her. Maybe even more. He missed her so much, but he knew that there was nothing that he could do to change that.

Isabel opened her eyes and turned around, smiling widely at Alex. He looked so good. So gorgeous. And oh, god, did she miss him so much. She missed everything about him. “Oh, Alex. I miss you so much.” she said, throwing her arms around him.

Alex’s smile widened as he ran his hands through her long blonde hair. He’d always thought that she had the prettiest hair that he had ever seen. “I’ve missed you, too, Isabel. So tell me, what’s going on with you and Cerina?” he asked, reluctantly drawing away from her.

Isabel frowned at the mention of her sister. That’s why Alex had come to her. To talk about Cerina? Isabel couldn’t help but feel jealous, but she knew that she was being crazy. Alex hadn’t even known Cerina, so she had no reason at all to be jealous. Besides, she was here with Alex, and she hadn’t ever thought that she would see him again. “Oh, Alex. I’m trying. I just don’t know what else I’m supposed to do.”

Alex nodded his head, as he lead drew her to sit down on the floor besides him. “I know, Isabel. I just want you to know that things are going to take some time with her. She’s still so messed up over Antar. It’s hard for her to realize that you are not the same person. But she’s trying. I’ve seen that, but it is hard. You know about Antar, don’t you? The kind of person that Vilandra was, don’t you? You know, that it wasn’t you. You are nothing like Vilandra on Antar.”

Isabel smiled at him as she felt tears come to her eyes. She knew that she wasn’t Vilandra. She was realizing that on her own. The few memories that had come to her, they had made her realize that wasn’t her. She hadn’t been anything like Vilandra. “Yeah, I know that I’m not her. But sometimes I doubt myself. I mean, I know that I would never ever betray Max the way that Vilandra had back on Antar, but I could be like her in other ways. And I don’t want to be anything like her at all. I know the whole reason that Vilandra got involved with Lexus.”

Alex cocked an eyebrow at her. Oh, this was going to be interesting. Isabel knew the whole reason why. Or did she only know some of it, he wondered. “Oh, what was the reason that Vilandra got involved with Lexus?”

Isabel sighed deeply as she looked for the right thing to say to him. “I. . . Vilandra only got involved with Lexus because of Bradeon. She was still pissed off at him for whatever screwed up reason that she had. Lexus was his brother and she was systematically making the rounds in the castle, and it didn’t hurt that Krissane had somewhat of a crush on Lexus. That was the whole reason. Was Vilandra as horrible as the memories I have gotten?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders at her question. Truth was, Vilandra had been one fucked up person. And from what Isabel had just told him, she still didn’t know everything that had happened. “Vilandra wasn’t all together a horrible person. Yes, she did some bad things. But the Vilandra that Lexus knew was a good person, or at least trying to. But I don’t know. She just had so much. . . . hate inside of her that she turned away from Lexus.”

Isabel swallowed hard at his words. “Oh, god. That sounds so much like me. I turned you away from me and dated all of those other guys. I’m sorry, Alex.”

Alex reached out and touched her shoulder gently, not wanting her to start crying. “Hey, don’t cry about it all. I know why you, Isabel Evans did all of that. You were scared. I understand everything so perfectly. Guess that’s what happens when your dead? Okay, so that wasn’t funny. But I do. I understand, Isabel. But even though you dated your fair share of guys here on Earth, you never did anything with them, not the way that Vilandra did. She did much more than you have. Vilandra had bad intentions towards people, while you don’t. Vilandra did bad things on purpose and she didn’t regret them. You don’t have any bad intentions towards anyone and you don’t do bad things on purpose, not caring about the impact that it would have on other people. That’s what makes you different from Vilandra.”

“But I do have bad intentions. Towards Tess. I want her to die for what she did to you. I want that so badly that it hurts. Is that horrible of me, Alex?” Isabel asked, meeting his green eyes. She had always loved his eyes. They were such a beautiful emerald color.

Alex shook his head. “No, that doesn’t make you a horrible person. I want her to pay for what she’s done. For what she did. Her part in everything. And trust me, Isabel, Tess is going to get what she deserves. But your not going to be the one to give it to her. It’s going to be someone else.” he said with a knowing smile.

“Are you psychic now?” Isabel asked with a laugh. It felt good to know that Tess would indeed pay for all the horrible things that she had done to so many people. Though Isabel couldn’t help but feel disappointed that she wouldn’t be the one to make sure that Tess would pay. She couldn’t help but wonder who it could be. “So, Mr. Psychic, are Cerina and I ever going to get along?”

Alex nodded his head. “Yes, you are. Just really give her some time. She really does want to have you as her sister. She just needs to really realize that you are not Vilandra. The best thing for you to do is to talk to her. If the two of you had a talk, I know that things will be so much better. She’s probably a bit jealous that you had me, while she didn’t.” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her. Well, Cerina had Zack, while he had Isabel.

Isabel smiled at his words. Yes, that was another reason she thought that it might be so hard on Cerina. After all, she had been with Alex, albeit, they hadn’t been together for a long time. But she had been with him, and Cerina might have thought that she had prior claim on Alex, even though she really didn’t. “Well, that’s a good thing to know. I should probably try to spend some more time with her. After all, she is my sister. But there’s so much that’s going to happen in the next two weeks. You know, exams coming up and we work out every Saturday and you know, graduating. I can’t help but feel excited about that, though I haven’t really talked about it much with anyone. Everyone’s been really busy. You know, Max is preoccupied with Liz, Cerina’s keeping a distance, Michael with Maria, and trying to get to know your brothers. Kyle’s been a good friend to me. A real good friend.”

“Yeah, Kyle is a great guy. I just hate that I never spent more time with him. He really isn’t the jock that I always thought that he was. When we were stuck with the gandarium we had us some fun. It was nice. Tell me what else is going on with Lizzie. She’s not okay, is she?” Alex asked softly, hating everything that his sister was going through. He knew that none of it would have happened if he hadn’t died. But he had and there was a single thing that he could do to make things better for her. He hated that.

Isabel didn’t know exactly how she was supposed to answer that question. She didn’t think that Liz was handing things very well, but she wasn’t exactly sure. She hadn’t spent much time with her. “I don’t think so, Alex. Max is trying to be there for her, but I think that it might be best if she goes to see someone. I mean, of course, she can’t tell the whole story, but she could get better if she talked to someone about it all. I think that I’m going to have to talk to Max about it tomorrow.”

Alex nodded his head. “Yeah, Liz does need to talk to someone. Help Max see that. I know that he’s trying not to push her, but she does need a little push in order to see that she does need some help. He needs to know this. I know that he’s afraid of losing her, if he pushed her too hard, but he won’t. She loves him so much.”

“I will, Alex. I’ll talk to him, tomorrow. I promise.” Isabel told him. She felt that he was going to be leaving soon and she didn’t want him to. “Alex, what do you think about Tom?”

Alex forced himself not to smile at her question. Tom. “Well, granted I don’t know him. I mean, I never meet him. But from the things that I have seen, he’s a great guy. He would make just about any girl happy. And don’t worry, Isabel. He knows that you are not Vilandra.”

Isabel bit her lip at his words. “Does that mean that Tom knows all about Bradeon and Vilandra?” she wondered, hoping that he didn’t. She didn’t want to feel awkward around him. He was a nice guy, and she didn’t want to have to worry about what he saw when he looked at her.

Alex shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to give her an answer. He really didn’t think that was his place to tell her. “The only person who knows the answer to that is Tom. I should be going. I want you to tell the others to be careful. Not know, but in a few weeks. The Skins have plans, and you all need to be ready for them. Tell them, alright.” he said, as he stood up from the ground.

Isabel stood up and sighed. “Your leaving already? I miss you so much Alex. I feel so lost without you. I see that Max has Liz, and Michael has Maria, but I don’t have you. It’s not fair.” she whispered.

“I know that it’s not fair. But I’m dead, honey. But you know. There’s no rule that love has to die, too. I love you. And I don’t— I refuse to watch you not allow anyone into your heart. You’re a wonderful person, the only one that I have ever loved. And someday, I swear, to you. That you are going to fall in love. And that’s alright with me, because I know that we can never be together. And there is no use in mourning a dead man. You’re alive, you have a life. I know that I might not be making any sense. But it will happen one day. Your going to meet someone and he’s going to capture your heart, just don’t be afraid to open it to him.” Alex told her, hating his own words.

But he was right. He knew that she was going to be okay. That she had to go on with her life. It was the only way. He knew that it wasn’t going to be today or tomorrow, but she would be happy and in love one day. With someone that wasn’t him. But he also knew that she would never forget him. Alex drew Isabel in his arms in a fierce hug. “I love you, Isabel Evans.” he told her, just before he felt himself vanish out of her dreams.


Isabel woke up with a start, and for a moment she didn’t know where she was. She had thought that she was back at the cliff with Alex, but she wasn’t. It had only been a dream. A wonderful, sad dream. Isabel grabbed the picture of Alex from her night stand and held it to her chest as she felt the tears fall down her eyes.

“I love you, Alex.”

%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%


“Sorry to interrupt this NC17 dream, Cerina. But we got to talk!” Alex stated with a smile, as he watched Cerina look up dazed from the bed where she had pinned down a familiar blonde.

Cerina looked up stunned at the tall dark haired boy that was watching her with a smile on his face. Cerina nearly swallowed her tongue when she realized who it was. “Alex?! What are you doing here?”

Alex cocked an eyebrow at her as he saw the blonde disappear from the dream. “Well, I was doing the rounds, and you are on my list. We’ve got to talk about things. Talk about a certain blonde haired guy that just happened to disappear from your dream.”

Cerina shrugged her shoulders as she sat down on the bed, patting the bed next to her for him to sit down. When he had, she finally opened her mouth. “I don’t know where he came from. I mean, I’m not in love with him or anything. So get that out of your head. I mean, he was a really good friend before I fucked that up. I’m really not interested in him in a sexual way.” she protested.

“Oh, young grasshopper, who are you kidding? I swear, you are so hardheaded. You remind me a little bit of Michael. Are you sure that your not related to us?” Alex joked, knowing that it wasn’t true. But damn was she hardheaded. He could see the trouble that Isabel was having with her.

Cerina rolled her eyes at his words. She knew that she wasn’t in love with Zack. She really wasn’t. Hell, did she even know what love was? Cerina had known that back on Antar, Krissane had been in love with Lexus, but that had been Antar, and Cerina had always thought that when she meet Alex, that they would fall in love like before. But that hadn’t happened. She’d screwed that up when she’d screwed his brother and than Alex had died. “I’m not in love with him. It wouldn’t be right of me if I was. He’s your brother!”

“And Isabel is your sister. And I hate to tell you this, but I was in love with Isabel. Still am. And you know what, if I had still been alive when I meet you, hell, there would have been a huge triangle, maybe even a quadrangle with Zack added into the mix. But you know what, that’s never gonna happen. I’m dead as a doornail. And here you have a chance to be happy, grasshopper. Don’t fuck it up.” Alex told her, hoping that his words were having an impact on her. He only wanted to see Cerina happy. And he really thought that she could be happy with Zack. He was a great guy and loved the hell out of her.

“Don’t call me grasshopper, or I’ll kick you.” Cerina threatened, as she thought over his words. He was right, though. It hurt to think that Alex had loved Isabel, that he still did. But she really didn’t think that it was right of her to get involved with Zack. Damn, she was so fucking confused. She didn’t know what the hell to do about things. She really did care about Zack and she hated it that they weren’t friends anymore, but she wasn’t in love with him, and she really didn’t want to be involved with him romantically. She just wasn’t ready for that. Hell, she wasn’t ready for a romantic relationship with anyone.

“Look, Alex, I’m just really not ready for any sort of relationship. I know that you might not believe what I’m saying, but it’s true. I’m so not ready. And now, would be the most fucking wrong time. We have so much to do. Those damn Skins, Nicholas, bitch Tess. We’re going to have to deal with all of that. And if I decided that I wanted to go screw Zack, it would be the wrong time.” Cerina told him.

“So you do have some feelings for my boy?” Alex said, wiggling his eyebrows at her in a Groucho Marx way. He liked her, he only wished that he had spent more time with her, hell, he wished that he hadn’t died period. “Come on, admit it to me. Trust me. Who am I going to tell?”

Cerina looked Alex in the eye. “Didn’t you say that you were doing the rounds? Who’s next on your list? Max, going to give my brother a beat down? Michael? Zack? Why should I trust you, Alex Whitman? Your not my Lexus. My Lexus didn’t have much of a sense of humor.”

“Thanks heavens for my sense of humor. It’s got me through a many bad situations. Except for the whole dying thing. My jokes didn’t work in favor of that. Anyway, I care about you, about Zack, about Isabel. I only want all of you to be happy. Don’t blame Isabel for the past either. She’s not Vilandra. She’s really not. She’s a good person. You’ll see it. You’ll see what I fell in love with. And right now, you know what, you all don’t need to be arguing over things. There’s too much to do without these little in group fights. Time’s running out on me here, grasshopper. Promise that you will give both Isabel and Zack a fair chance. If you don’t, I swear, I’m going to haunt you from my grave. And you know, I’d rather be doing other things, like looking at naked women. Promise me.” Alex told her, grinning at his own words. He knew that Cerina and Zack were meant to be together, except that they were two hard headed people, who were both struggling with their feelings. Alex knew that they would be happy in the future, if only they let themselves give into their love.

“Alright. I’ll give them both a chance. Mainly Isabel. She is my sister, and I do want to be closer to her. I’ve always wanted to be closer to my sister, I wanted to on Antar, but that hadn’t worked out. This is sort of a second chance, isn’t it, Alex?” Cerina asked, not wanting him to leave her just yet. She was having some fun talking to him. She really did like his sense of humor. He was reminding her of Krit.

Alex nodded his head. “Yeah. It is a second chance. It really is. Don’t let it go to waste. You are not Krissane. You are Cerina, remember that.” he told her, kissing her on the cheek.

“Will I ever see you again, Alex?”

Alex smiled warmly at her. “Of course you will. Just close your eyes. . . . think of me. . . and I will always be there. Bye, grasshopper.” he told her, before vanishing in front of her eyes.


Cerina woke up with a start and sat up from her sleeping bag on the floor. She knew that Zack was outside at his position, along with Krit. And she couldn’t help but wonder if he was awake or not. Cerina looked away from the window as she settled herself back in the sleeping bag. It had been such a weird dream but it had also been a good one. She was happy that she had meet Alex, he did seem like the great guy that she had been told about. And she could also see that he wasn’t much like Lexus had been.

Cerina knew that at one o’clock in the morning wasn’t the right time to start analyzing what the hell that her dream had been about. She would have plenty of time in the morning. And she’d work on trying to make her relationship with Isabel better. She wanted to have her sister in her life, to have her sister as her friend. No matter the past.

%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%*%


“Hey, quarterback. This is what your dreaming about?” Alex joked, unable to help himself. This was something really funny. His brother was dreaming about being a big football hero and having the girl that he loved watch him proudly from the stands. He knew that Cerina and Zack had it so bad for each other but they were so stubborn, he thought as he waved at Zack’s dream Cerina.

Zack took in a sharp breath as he looked at the dark haired guy. Zack felt his mouth drop open when he realized just exactly who it was that was in his dream. “Alex? What the hell are you doing here?”

Alex let out a laugh as he saw the expression on Zack’s face. He looked just so shocked at his sudden appearance. Not that he really blamed his brother. This was actually the first time that the two of them had ever meet. “Hey, don’t swallow your tongue. I mean, I might be a ghost and all, but I’m not that scary. Now, Woody Allen is scary and he’s freaking human and alive.”

“Okay, that’s really not funny. You know that. It’s a little morbid.”Zack commented, unable to help himself. This was his brother. The brother that he would never see face to face, other than in the dreams of course. His brother that he hadn’t been there for. His brother who was dead. His brother that he had failed to protect.

“Yeah, well, I guess that’s what happens when your dead. Look, we’ve got to talk, quarterback. About Cerina, that hard headed stubborn gal that you happen to be in love with. What are you planning on doing about her?” Alex said, cocking an eyebrow at him. He was making his rounds and he was having some fun at the same time. He had loved meeting Cerina, and he could really tell that she was a good person, just a little screwed up. But than again, who wasn’t? And seeing Isabel again, had been so wonderful. Alex just hoped that it really wasn’t the last time, but he did think that it was. And he hated that.

“Have you always been this morbid? Liz told me that you had a great sense of humor, but, you know what. I’m just happy to be able to meet you. I never thought that I would get the chance. But here, you are. My brother in all his glory. It’s better than looking at a picture. I’m sorry that I never got the chance to meet you, Alex. I really am.” Zack said, unable to help the sadness in his voice. He had thought of so many things that he would be able to do with his brother, but he would never get the chance. His brother was dead. And there was nothing that Zack could do to bring him back.

“Hey, are you trying to change the subject on me, quarterback. Look, I’m sorry that I never got to meet you. I wish that I could have. You’re my brother, and I miss you all even though I really didn’t know all of ya’ll. I miss Isabel, I miss my father, I miss my guitar. By the way, Liz gave that to you, right?” Alex asked. He couldn’t help his melancholy. There was so much that he had wanted to do with his life and he didn’t have the chance. He would never have the chance. But everyone else did.

“Yeah, Liz gave it to me. She gave me your electric and she gave Maria the acoustic. I love it, man. And I can always get flashes of you when I touch it. You dancing with Mary Lou.” Zack said, with a grin, talking about Alex’s name for his guitar. The flashes of Alex that he had gotten were so amazing, and it actually made him feel so much closer to his brother. But it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough for him. But it was going to be all that he would ever get.

“That’s cool. But you are not going to be changing the whole subject on me, you know that. Let’s not talk about me. Let’s talk about you and Cerina. You two have got to stop fighting with each other. You know that it will be a weakness when it comes to the others. The Skins, they’re coming Zack. There’s only a few things that they want: the Granolith, Max’s heir and probably the girls. You remember Niko on Antar, right? Well, that’s Nicholas and he’s got an itching for our women.” Alex told him seriously, wanting to get to the point. He and Zack would have a little time to talk about other things, but not right now.

“Are you serious? You think that Nicholas wants them? Liz, Cerina, Isabel, Maria? That he would do anything to get them? And what the hell is this about Max’s heir? Isn’t that what Tess was trying to do? How the hell would they get Max’s heir? You think that they would force Max to sleep with Tess in order to get an heir?” Zack asked, restraining for the urge to shudder at the very thought of it. When he saw the look Alex gave him, he realized what he meant. “You mean, that they want Liz to get pregnant with Max’s baby. Whoa! Nothing’s ever easy for those two, is it?”

Alex let out a small laugh at that. Boy, was that true. “Yeah. Nothing’s been easy for them. But trust me, after you all kick the Skins ass, things will be so much easier for everyone. I’m sure about that. I just want you and Cerina to get over the hard feelings that you have. I know that you love her and she— I really do think— that she loves you. But she’s scared. She’s scared of betraying a dead man. She’ll realize that. Just be careful and be ready for the Skins when the time comes. It may not be in a week, or two. But it is coming. They will be coming for you all.”

Zack took in a deep breath at Alex’s words. It hurt to think that Cerina did love him, but she was just so worried about betraying Alex. Betraying someone that she hadn’t even known. Just because she remembered Antar. But also the fact that the Skins were coming, and that Nicholas, that bastard had plans on getting what he wanted. And he would hurt everyone involved to get it. “So you going to tell me where you got all of your information from? Anywhere in particular?”

Alex let out another laugh at Zack’s words. There was no way that he was ever going to tell him how he knew things. But Alex knew how they would all work out. He knew everything, but he knew that he also couldn’t tell Zack about it all. “Look, if it makes you feel better, especially when Liz and Max tie the knot, you’re going fall in love with some lucky girl, could be Cerina, could be someone else. You’re going to buy a big house for her, you’re gonna marry her. You’re gonna have kids with her. Maybe not in that order. But trust me, it will happen.”

“You so got to tell me where you got all of this information!” Zack protested, wanting to know more about it all. Alex was giving him hope, lots of hope with the mention of Cerina, maybe being the person that he would marry. But he hadn’t missed that mention of Max and Liz tying the knot. He so wasn’t going to let that happen anytime soon. He sister so wasn’t ready for that.

“Time’s running out for me, brother. Take care of our girls. All of them. Isabel, Cerina, Liz, Maria. And the guys. Tell them that I might be visiting them sometime soon. Bye, quarterback.” Alex said with a small wave as he vanished before Zack’s eyes.


Zack gasped as he woke up from the dream. It seemed so real. He had seen Alex and Alex had told him things. Told him that things would happen sometime. That the Skins were planning on coming and that they had to be ready. Ready for the battle that was coming. But Alex also gave him some hope. By saying that Max and Liz would get married, by saying that he would get married and have kids one day was also a clue to him. They would beat the Skins he was sure about that.

“Hey, you okay?” Krit asked worriedly as he looked at his brother. Zack looked like something had startled him. The two of them were taking turns sleeping, just in case that someone came by. They had to be careful. Michael and Tom were inside in the living room at the moment, Michael probably snoring away while Tom stayed up watching porn or something else.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just had a dream. About Alex. He was there. He told me stuff. Let me tell you about it.” Zack said with a sigh as he turned to his brother. He wanted Krit to know about what Alex had said about the Skins. They had to know that something serious was going to happen and they had to be prepared for the worst.


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


posted on 11-Aug-2002 12:57:43 AM
posted on 21-Aug-2002 1:05:04 AM
Disclaimer: Article in italics is courtesy of: http://www.rapecrisisbv.org/ (Rape Crisis Center, Brazos Valley.


Chapter 36



Max bit his lip worriedly as he looked over the article again. He had known that Liz wasn’t okay, which had been understandable because of what she had gone through. But last night just really hit him that something was really wrong. She had practically jumped him, which wasn’t something that he had minded, but it had been eating away at him all night. Wondering and wondering about it. If that sort of reaction was normal. So here he was in the library looking things up on the internet and he found the answer.

Problems of sexual function are common for sexual abuse victims, especially while they are working through their past trauma. The sexual problems of victims usually take the form of one of two extremes. They may either totally close themselves off as a sexual being, or they may become very active sexually to the point of promiscuity.

Each response is understandable, considering the dynamics of sexual abuse. The person who shuts down sexually is probably doing so in order to eliminate, or at least minimize, the emotional pain associated with her abuse. This withdrawal may be limited to only lovemaking and intercourse, or it may include any form of physical contact or affection from another person perceived as threatening. Some learn to "do their duty" for their partners, but usually with little or no personal pleasure and a lot of resentment.

The person who reacts toward the extreme that she becomes so sexually active she harms herself and her relationships has her reasons, too (the reasons aren't always fully conscious). This woman has difficulty distinguishing between love, caring affection, and human warmth on the one hand, and sexual behavior on the other. She tends to equate the two and believe that in order to get care, warmth, etc., she has to be sexual. She usually finds men who are happy to manipulate her confusion in this area.

Sometimes victims will vacillate between these two extremes. Neither extreme brings them what they need, and both can be frustrating and threatening to the spouses.

If you have read this far, you have no doubt become aware that I view your wife's abuse as not just her problem, but something the two of you share. Your acceptance or rejection of this premise will play an important part in your relationship with her and in her resolving her pain from the past. Most sexual abuse victims live with a sense of isolation. At first it is the secret they must keep that forces them into a private world. Then, if they tell their secret, they are often made to feel that they are different, even contaminated, for what has happened to them. For you to take the attitude that it is "her problem" alone reinforces this feeling of isolation.



Max stared at the screen in front of him. He found his answers. When Liz didn’t want to touch him, and than yesterday when she had nearly jumped him. It was a sign to him. A sign that he wasn’t going to ignore any longer. Max realized that she did need to go see someone. Even Isabel had mentioned something to him earlier. Liz needed help and he had to make sure that she got it. If she didn’t get any help, things would only get worse. And she didn’t need that. And it wasn’t only her problem, this also affected him too.

“Well, look who I found. You still dating your psycho girl?” Pam Troy asked smugly, coming up beside Max.

Max forced himself not to roll his eyes at her, as he quickly closed the page that he had been in. He didn’t want weirdo Pam to get any ideas. He never liked the girl, she was always so rude and mean to Liz. “Shut up. Don’t ever say that about Liz again.” he told her coldly.

Pam shrugged her shoulders at his words. There was just something about him. He had such a mysterious air to him, and he had never really dated anyone in school other than Liz. Not to mention some weird thing with Tess Harding. Now, Pam had to admit that she didn’t like Tess any better than Liz. Tess was just one huge slut, Pam had heard some stories about her. “Max, come on. You know that it’s all true. I’ve heard this rumor that it wasn’t Sean DeLuca that attacked Liz. That it was someone else. And that Liz is refusing to do anything about it. What the hell is she thinking? I mean, hell, it could be freaking Ted Bundy or something out there. And your girlfriend is sitting on her ass.”

Max narrowed his eyes at her words. “For your information, Pam. Ted Bundy is dead. And you don’t know what happened to Liz. So don’t make your little snide comments. You know what, I don’t understand why the hell your always so rude and mean to Liz. What has she ever done to you? Or are you just jealous of Liz? I mean, she’s everything that your not. She’s smart, beautiful, funny. She’s everything that your not, and that’s why your jealous of her. Your so pathetic. Just leave me alone!” he told her, grabbing his stuff and tried to get away as fast as his feet could take him. It felt pretty damn good to tell Pam Troy that stuff. But Max knew that she wouldn’t get the picture, she was such an airhead.

“Hey, where you going in such a rush, Maxwell?” Michael asked, as he grabbed his friend’s arm, before Max could make it down the hallway. He and Max hadn’t had the chance to talk in awhile. On Sunday, all of them had just hung around and had some fun. It had been something that they hadn’t done in awhile, and it had been great. But Michael knew that there were some things that he needed to talk to Max about. He needed to talk to Max about what Zack had told him.

“Just running away from Pam Troy. She was saying some stuff about Liz, and I kind of told her off. She’s a pain in the ass, and I’m happy that I finally said something to her. It’s felt like forever since I talked to you. How are things going on your end?” Max asked, as the two of them made their way down the hallway.

“Ah, things are okay. I mean, there’s something that I actually want to talk to you about. But it would be best if we went somewhere else to discuss it. Zack had a weird dream last night. He said that Alex came to him in the dream.” Michael said quietly, not wanting anyone to overhear what they were talking about. The two of their way to a little nook outside the lunch patio.

Once the two of them were seated on the bench, Max turned to look at Michael, questions filling his eyes. Zack had a dream about Alex? “So tell me what this is all about? Zack had a dream about Alex? Alex came in his dream?”

“Yeah. He said that Alex came into his dream and told him some stuff about the future. He said that Nicholas wants the girls. He wants Isabel, Liz, Cerina and Maria. And that Nicholas wants for Liz to get pregnant with your heir. Maybe that means something. Maybe that means that Tess is dead, cause Nicholas wanted the gerbil to get pregnant with your baby.” Michael told his friend, seriously. He knew that it might be something of a shock. Hell, it had been a shock to him. It scared him to death that Nicholas might try to get Maria, or even hurt Maria. He didn’t know what he would do if he lost her. She was everything to him.

“Jeez!” Max said, unable to say anything else. All of this talk about getting an heir. First, Tess would have tried raping him in order to get his child, and now they wanted him to get Liz pregnant. They must be planning on using his child in order to appease the people of Antar. That was what made sense to him. But what would they do if Liz wasn’t pregnant? Would they keep him alive and try to make him sleep with Liz in order for her to get pregnant and than kill him, and take Liz back to Antar, so she could have the child? Or were they planning on just taking them all to Antar, and parading them as slaves on the streets in Antar like they had done in ancient Rome?

“Yeah, you’re right about that. We all know that Liz isn’t ready for an sort of intimacy. Jeez, did I just say that? Anyways, we know that if and when they come, that Liz will not be pregnant. I mean, if she happens to get pregnant it has to be a Virgin birth because you should know better than to sleep with my sister, after she’s been raped. And if Liz isn’t pregnant that’s also a good sign. That means that they would have to keep you alive in order for her to get pregnant. I can’t believe that I’m talking about my sister not getting pregnant in order to keep you alive.” Michael said, shaking his head at his own words. But it was the truth. That would be the only way for the damn Skins not to kill Max, if Liz wasn’t pregnant.

“Look, Michael. I want you to know that Liz and I are not anywhere near getting intimate with each other. She has been through way too much, and she has a huge recovery ahead of her. I’m going to be by her side through it all. I love her, but your right. When it’s time for us to deal with the Skins, since Liz is not going to be pregnant, it is something that will keep me alive in the long run. Cause they do want to get my child no matter what. What else did Alex tell Zack?” Max informed his friend. He knew that last night had been a sign for him. And after reading that site on the internet had also been another clue to him. Liz needed to get some help.

“Well, he also told Zack some inside information about the future. He said that we would kick the Skins ass, which I have absolutely no doubt about that. Cause we will. We’ve kicked pretty much everyone else’s ass. But he said that you and Liz would get married, which does not shock me at all. And he also said that the Skins were going to be coming in a matter of weeks. Doesn’t that just suck? I mean, not only do we have to worry about finals, but we have to worry about whether or not we’re going to live or die. I swear, sometimes I just hate my life. Nothing can ever be easy for us, can it?” Michael said, frustrated about having to worry about so many things. But he knew that his life was never going to be easy. It wasn’t easy when you were an alien.

“Everyone’s a bit screwed up, Michael. Some more than others. We just happen to be the others. But I’m sure that once the Skins are dealt with, things are going to be easier for us. We don’t have to worry about the FBI, there not chasing us anymore. But than again, there’s always that thing about Antar. I mean, what if someone comes down with a ship. What if they want us to come back to Antar? Do you honestly think that you could go back?” Max questioned curiously, unable to help himself. It was a question that weighed heavily on him. He had wondered about it so much ever since he found out about where he was from. And he didn’t know if he really would ever be able to go back there. He knew that he could only go back if Liz went with him. But than again, he didn’t know if he could his parents, his home, everything that made a semblance of sense to him. He didn’t know anything about Antar, but people there wanted him back. He just was stuck somewhere in between.

Michael sighed heavily as he shrugged his shoulders. “You know, I always wondered about what it would be like to go back home. If I ever had the chance, but that was before everything, before Liz got shot, before Maria, before everything. I don’t know if I could go. If we did go, people wouldn’t think of me as Michael, they would think of me as Rathard, and that’s not who I am. That’s not who I want to be. I want to be able to be myself, be Michael. I like being known as a part of Michael and Maria, but I don’t know. I know that I’m probably not making much sense to you. But I make sense to myself. I know that we sort of do have a responsibility to those people back on Antar. They are living in a war zone, something that our former selves had a huge role in, and that we should try to make it all better. I don’t know, I guess if I have Maria with me, I’ll be fine. I really do love her, Maxwell.”

“I understand perfectly, what your saying, Michael. I mean, I’m not Zan, I’m no king, and there are people up there wanting for me to come and rule them. I don’t think that I could do that. But I can’t help but feel somewhat of a responsibility. Towards Zan’s mother, towards all those people. I mean, they are waiting for us to come and rescue them. I don’t know what I would do about it all. I mean, with the Granolith, we would be able to get back home. I mean, with the crystal that Liz took from Khivar, we could get home. I mean, we could go home now and wouldn’t have to deal with the Skins, and they would die out on us. But that would be the coward’s way out of things, and they might come after our family instead. Plus, the dupes are still around and Tess, they all need to be taken care of. I mean, I don’t know how we would take care of them. Lonnie and Rath tried to kill me, but it’s not like we can just kill them because of it all. I know that Liz is really gun-ho about Tess paying for Alex, not that I can blame her. Hell, what does that say about me?” Max said, wiping his forehead with his hand nervously. He really didn’t know if he could cold bloodedly kill someone, even if they did deserve it.

“Come on, Maxwell. Your just about one of the only ones that hasn’t killed someone. Isabel took care of Whitaker, I took care of Pierce, Liz took care of Khivar. I mean, that’s what your just scared about. I don’t know how to explain it or anything. But I understand why Liz wants Tess to die, she killed one of us on purpose. She helped to kill Alex on purpose and I want her to pay for it all. I don’t think that I’m really helping, Maxwell.” Michael said, biting his lip. He really didn’t know how he was supposed to respond to his friend’s question. He wanted Tess to pay so much, but did that make him cold blooded, a killer? Michael didn’t want to think about all of that. He had went through enough when he’d killed Pierce, and that had been an accident. “Look, Maxwell, can we not talk about this anymore. I just don’t want to.”

“Yeah, sure. We don’t have to talk about it. Um. There’s actually something that I need to tell you. Isabel and I told our parents last night. We told them the truth that we’re aliens, and we told them about Liz, you and the others. They know everything.” Max said quietly, not knowing how his friend was going to react. He knew that Michael might not agree with the decision to tell his parents, but they had really needed to know the truth.

Michael opened his mouth to say something, but closed his mouth. “They know everything? They know that I’m like you? Well, I guessed that it was going to be any day now that they would find out. I mean, Isabel was saying things about telling your parents the other day. But there’s nothing that I can do about it. How’d they take it? Did they freak or anything?”

Max smiled at Michael’s words. His mother had taken the news all pretty well, but it had been his father the lawyer that had been more stunned speechless. Boy, had that been funny. But in the end, his father had taken it all okay. He’d come to terms with it all.


“My children are aliens? I. . . . how. . . . can this be? They are from another planet? They were different people on this other planet?” Phillip said, shock dominating his face. He knew what he had seen. He’d seen Isabel change the color of the couch. Phillip looked over at his children, on the still purple couch. He knew that it had to be true. There was no other explanation for it all.

“Phillip, yes. I know that it’s hard to believe. But it does make sense. That fire that Max put out, he used his powers and than the video of the bird. Max healed the bird. They were other people on their planet, but they are still our children. They are still the same wonderful children we have raised for the past eleven years.” Diane said, softly, grasping her husband’s arm.

“I love you, Daddy. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.” Isabel said softly, sniffling. She wanted her father to understand, to accept it as simply as their mother had. Their mother had taken it all so well.

Max bit the inside of his lip, as he felt Liz squeeze his hand. He wanted the same thing too. He wanted for his father to accept it like his mother had. But he knew that his father might not be able to. His father was a lawyer, a lawyer who needed hard facts. Max turned to Liz, who gave him a smile. He was so grateful that she had been here with him when he’d told his parents. If not, he might have lost his nerve earlier.

“Of course, your not going to lose me, Isabel, Max. You two are never going to lose me. Don’t ever think that you are. I love you, two.” Phillip said after a moment of silence. He couldn’t believe that his children really were afraid that they would lose him, just because of the truth about them. But they never would.



“Yeah, they took it all pretty good. My dad was way shocked and confused at first. You know, the lawyer in him had needed some proof. And Isabel changed the color of the couch, which had shocked him. But Mom took it great. She just accepted everything that we said. It was great.” Max said, unable to help the smile that graced his face. His fear of telling them had been unfounded. His parents had accepted it all. They accepted him for who he was. Accepted him and Isabel for who they were. Still thought of them as their children instead of monsters.

“So Liz was over at your place last night? I know that she was, but she didn’t say a single thing about telling your parents. I guess that she wanted for you to be the one to tell me. You know, I am sort of glad that you told them. We have a lot to deal with and now we don’t have to act all secretive around your parents.” Michael said, nodding his head at the thought. The old Michael Guerin would never have been able to say that. The old Michael had been too afraid of what Max’s parents might do, but not anymore. It was better to get the secrets all out in the open.

“Yeah, she was. We, uh. . . talked a little bit. And she was there when Isabel and I told our parents. I don’t think that I could have been able to do it without her. She was the only reason I was able to tell them.” Max said with a grin on his face.

“Uh okay. Stop smiling so brightly, your starting to scare me. Max Evans does not smile like that. Are you sure that your not a pod person? Oh, wait, yes, you are. Look, I’m going to go over to Maria’s tonight, so I’m just warning you. I don’t think that anything should happen. But it’s been really quiet, and as much as I’ve enjoyed the quiet, I know that what Alex said to Zack is true. In a matter of weeks, those skin shedding freaks are coming. So—“ Michael said, only to be interrupted by the ringing of the school bell, declaring it passing period. Michael sighed, as he ran a hand through his hair, which he liked so much better with the spikes back. “Look, we’ll have to talk later. I’ve got to go to Chemistry. Rand hates it when I’m late.”

Max nodded his head. “Yeah, thanks for telling me. I don’t think that I’m going to go over to Liz’s tonight. There’s something else that I have to do.” he said, thinking about Cerina. Tonight, he was going to have a talk with his sister about Liz. Cerina was the person that could help him try to help Liz. He was sure about it.


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . .


Chapter 37



“So what did you want to talk about?” Cerina asked as she looked at Max. She had been a tad bit shocked when Max had asked her to come over to his house. But than, she thought that maybe he wanted to get to know her better, and that made her feel better. She and Zan had been close on Antar, they’d been closer to each other than to Vilandra. But that had been understandable the way that Vilandra had been; she’d been really closed off from people, including her own family.

“I want to talk about Liz to you. I know that she’s not okay. I know that you’ve seen that too. You’ve got to since you spend time with her. I want you to help me get Liz some help. I’m thinking that maybe I should give Aryn a call. After all, she is a doctor and she would know of someone that Liz could speak to.” Max told her, taking in a deep breath. He had decided earlier that this had to be done, and now. Liz really did need to talk to someone. She needed to face that she had things that she had to work out, things that she had to talk about.

Cerina didn’t know what to say for a moment. Max wanted to get Liz help? That was good. Cerina knew that Liz needed some help but she didn’t know exactly what to do. What the right thing to do was. They couldn’t very well just attack Liz and tell her that she needed to talk to someone. But he was right. Aryn would know exactly what they had to do. Aryn was a doctor and might have some friends that could help. “I think that’s a good idea, Max. I really do. Liz does need some help. I’ve seen that, but I haven’t really been doing anything. That’s my fault, I should have done something. Do you want me to call Aryn and ask her what we’re supposed to do?”

“Nah, I’ll call. But I need the number. I don’t know what the number is. I love her so much, Cerina and it hurts to see her going through so much pain. Pain that she doesn’t deserve to be going through. I want to be able to help her, help her pain, but I don’t really think that I can do much for her. She does need someone who’s a trained professional.” Max said quietly, as he reached for the telephone that was at his side.

Cerina told him the number and watched him as he dialed the number. She had never ceased to be amazed by the love that her brother had for Liz. On Antar, she’d always dreamt of having a husband who loved her as much as her brother had loved Troian. And as much as she’d loved Lexus, a small part of her had said that he wasn’t it for her. That it had been Jasper. But Jasper had been dead, so she’d just ignored her feelings. Ah, what she would give for an attentive man who loved her despite all of her faults, her bitchiness, her insecurities, everything about her. Alex had never said that Zack loved her; how could Zack love her? She was just so screwed up, jealous of her own sister.

“Hello, Aryn. It’s Max. Look, I need some help. It’s about Liz.” Max said into the phone, once Aryn had answered. He knew that this was the right decision. Liz wasn’t going to get better on her own. There was really just no way. He knew that things wouldn’t go away. Max still had nightmares about being in the White Room with Pierce, though they weren’t as often as before. They were still there, and he had also realized something else when his mother had made a comment to him. She had said that he was getting too skinny, and that had made him start to wonder if it had anything to do with his memories of what happened to him.

“What’s happened to Liz? It shouldn’t be her heat. She and Cerina shouldn’t go through it until the end of May. I’m pretty sure. At least that damn star program I had said so.” Aryn said, as her mind began jumping at the possibilities.

“No, no, no. That’s not it. It’s. . . Liz needs some help, Aryn, and I thought that you were the best person that could tell me what I’m to do. Liz isn’t dealing with what happened to her. I’m positive of it. Look, Friday we were at the movies and she had sort of a bad reaction to something. And I think that it had something to do with Khivar and what happened to her. I’m pretty sure that it did. And she’s done some other things that have made me question her behavior. Sometimes her behavior is somewhat sexual.” Max confessed, knowing that his ears were burning and that Cerina’s curious eyes were on him. But he had to ignore that right now. Helping Liz was his number one concern.

Cerina couldn’t help but cock an eyebrow at Max’s words. Liz’s behavior had been sexual at times? Well, thinking about it, Cerina could see what he was talking about. At their Saturday practice, Liz had been looking at Max like she wanted to eat him or something. Though she had tried to ignore that, not wanting to lose her lunch or get extremely jealous. But that behavior wasn’t normal of a rape victim. No, survivor. That was the proper term for it.

Aryn took in a deep breath. Liz’s behavior was something that she was worried about. She hadn’t exactly known how Liz would react, but now she knew. And Aryn knew exactly what she would have to do. Liz did need some help. She knew that Liz’s behavior would only become more and more erratic until one day when she’d explode. And the explosion wasn’t going to be a pretty thing. “Thank you for telling me, Max. I know what I have to do. We’re going to have to try to convince Liz to get help of some kind. She needs it. And I’m going to come to Roswell tomorrow and we’ll have an intervention for her. Just family, because we really can’t bring in any outside people in to it. It might be an emotional time and Liz might say something that might have people question things.”

“So you’re going to come, that’s great. I want to be there when we do this thing. I want Liz to know that I’m there for her no matter what.” Max said, nodding his head at his words. He wanted to be there, to let her know that he was there for her. Max needed to be at Liz’s side, he needed to let her know that he was there, that he was never going to abandon her again. He had once before and it had been all of his fault for what had happened to her; for what she was going through right now. It was something he’d made happen and he needed to be there for her.

“Max, I don’t think that it would be a good idea. I really don’t think that it would. Liz might not be able to feel comfortable to discuss her feelings if you are around. I’m sorry, really I am. I mean, I know that Liz loves you and you love her. I’m sorry, I really am Max. But I don’t think that Liz is quite ready to express her deepest feelings to you, in front of you.” Aryn said quietly, already sensing that he wouldn’t like her decision, but she wasn’t about to change her mind. She didn’t honestly think that having Max around when they confronted Liz would be the best thing. She wouldn’t be as free to talk about what happened with him around. At least Aryn didn’t think so. If Liz had been comfortable talking about it to Max, than she would have already.

“What? No, I want to be there for her. I need to be there for her. I have to be!” Max stated, his heart clenching at the thought of not being there with her. He wanted to be the one to hold her hand, while she told her story. He wanted to be the one that would dry off her tears. He wanted to be the one to take her pain away, but he knew that he couldn’t. That the only way that her pain could be taken away was if she talked to someone. Someone who could help her.

“Max, I know that you are the King and all. But I said NO! You can not be there when I talk to Liz. I simply can’t allow it. I know that I am not an expert at this, but I did have a residency in the psychiatric department. And specifically I remember a girl who had been raped coming in, and she had been utterly afraid of telling her boyfriend. She loved him, but she was deathly afraid that he would change how he felt about her. That he would look at her differently. I’m sure that Liz might be thinking the same thing, and my immediate concern is Liz. Don’t make this harder than it has to be. It’ll be hard enough trying to get Liz to face her own feelings. I don’t need you to be there to interfere.” Aryn said quietly but firmly. She wanted him to know that he would not be able to change her mind about it.

“But, I. . . . . I just want to be there for her. That’s all I want to do.” Max told her quietly, feeling his heart breaking at not being able to be there with her. He wanted to so badly, but Aryn wouldn’t let him. But with him not being there when they intervened would that be better? Liz would be able to talk about what she felt without him being there. And Liz being able to talk was the best thing, wasn’t it? Her being able to admit to whatever she was feeling, that was exactly what he wanted. He just hated that he wouldn’t be there for her, with her when she said it all.

Liz was the most important thing here. Her being able to come clean with her feelings, to realize that she really did need to talk to someone was the most important thing. No matter how he felt about not being able to be there with Liz, her well being was the thing here. It was all that he wanted. Her to be able to talk about it; to realize that she did have a problem. And if that meant he wouldn’t be there, he would just have to live with it all. “Alright, fine. I won’t be there when you talk to Liz. Thanks, Aryn. Thank you so much. Liz means everything to me and I just want her to be okay.”

“I know, Max. I know and I’m sorry, but it’s for the best. I’d better let you go. Bye, Max.” Aryn said, hanging up the telephone. She would have to go to Roswell tomorrow, with her mother and talk to Liz. Liz needed help and she wasn’t going to waste any time at all. She hated that she had told Max that he couldn’t be there tomorrow. But she had to think about Liz, no matter if she knew that it broke Max’s heart that he wouldn’t be there with Liz. Liz was her main concern.

“Max, are you okay?” Cerina asked softly, watching as her brother set the phone down. She had listened to his conversation with Aryn, but had decided not to say a single word. She had seen the devastated look on his face when he said that he wanted to be there for Liz. And Cerina was willing to guess that Aryn didn’t think that it would be best if he was there when they talked to Liz.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I. . . just Aryn doesn’t think that it’s a good idea for me to be there when they talk to Liz. I want to be there, but she thinks that if I’m there, Liz might not be able to talk about how she feels. I just can’t help feeling so useless. That I’m not doing anything to help Liz. After all I got her into all of this.” Max said, biting the inside of his lip. Part of him wanted to scream out from the helpless feeling. He hated feeling that way. It had been the way that he’d felt when Liz came back and she hadn’t wanted anything to do with them.

“Um. . . I think that I’m going to be there when Aryn does talk to Liz. It would probably be the best. I. . . no, Krissane was raped back on Antar. By Khivar. I really do sort of understand what Liz is going through. I also think that Ava should be there. I know about Khivar raping her too. Sick bastard wasn’t he?” Cerina said, not looking at her brother. She knew that he might be surprised by her revelation. But she thought that she could be of some help to Liz. That if Liz needed someone to talk to, share her feelings with, Cerina could do that. As well as Ava. They all knew what it was like.

“What? Jeez, you don’t know how glad I am that he’s dead. He was just such a son of a bitch. He hurt so many people.” Max said through clenched teeth. Part of him wished that he would have been the one that had killed Khivar, even though another part of him was saying that he couldn’t do that. That he couldn’t kill someone. But Khivar had hurt so many of the people that he loved. His sisters and Liz.

“Yes, he was a bastard. And it is a good thing that he’s dead.” Cerina said, nodding her head. Khivar had paid and she was happy for that. He had deserved exactly what he had gotten. All of it.

“Hey, Max. Are you done with the phone?” Isabel asked, coming into the room without knocking. Her mouth fell open when she saw that he wasn’t alone. That Cerina said cross legged on the bed, while her brother sat at his desk chair. “Oh, I’m sorry. Am I interrupting something?”

Max shook his head. “No, your not interrupting anything. Cerina and I were just talking. Aryn’s coming into town, and she’s going to talk to Liz about getting some help. Cerina and Ava will probably be there when it all happens.”

“I. . . why?” Isabel asked, wondering what exactly Cerina would have to do with the whole thing. What exactly did Cerina know about a rape victim? She wouldn’t exactly know what to do, would she?

“Hey, I’ve been dead once already. You know, it’s very liberating. You might think of it as therapy. Look, back on Antar, Krissane was raped by Khivar after you guys had died. I might be able to help her since she knows about what happened.” Cerina explained, shrugging her shoulders, not wanting for them to think of it as a big deal or anything.

“I’m sorry.” Isabel said quietly, not knowing exactly what to say to her sister.

“Don’t be. It was someone else, not me.” Cerina said softly. She had begun to realize that she wasn’t Krissane, anymore than Isabel was Vilandra. They weren’t the people that they had been on Antar and that was a good thing at least in Vilandra’s case. And Cerina sort of liked the possibility that she could be closer to her sister. On Antar, they hadn’t been close, and this was a second chance.

“Can I ask you a few things, Cerina?” Isabel asked quietly, not wanting to be fighting with her sister. She wanted to be able to put the bad feelings beside them. And she wanted to ask a few questions about Bradeon and what exactly her relationship had been with him.

“Sure.”

“Can we cease and deist of all the bad feelings? I know that on Antar I was a horrendous bitch, and even though I can be a be a bit of a bitch or an Ice Princess, as some people have said. I’m not Vilandra. And I never will be her.” Isabel told her sister, her heart clenching, hoping that her sister would say yes.

“I’m trying, I really am. I’m realizing that you aren’t Vilandra, but sometimes these damn feelings won’t shut up. Look, if I’m an insensitive bitch, which I can be on occasion, let me know. Look, I should get going. Everything will be okay for Liz, for us, Isabel. I’m sure. Just give me some time. Sometimes Krissane’s feelings just pop up.” Cerina admitted as she stood up from Max’s bed. She knew that she should be getting back to Liz’s.

Max couldn’t help but smile at the picture of the two of them. His sisters were finally starting to get on the right track and he for one was happy. They deserved to have a sisterly relationship without having Antar’s past hanging over their heads. They simply weren’t on Antar and weren’t the same people that they were before. And he thought that it was great that they both were realizing that they weren’t Vilandra and Krissane.

“Wait? Bradeon and Vilandra were involved weren’t they? Do you think that Tom knows about it?” Isabel asked quietly, needing to know if he did or not. She didn’t want Tom to think of her as Vilandra, because that simply wasn’t who she was. And she would never be that person.

“I think so. I’m really not sure. The only person that knows the answer to that is Tom. And you should probably ask him about it.” Cerina said softly. She turned to Max and gave him a mock salute and Isabel a wave. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“I’m proud of you, Isabel. I really am. It took a lot of courage to talk to Cerina like that. I know that you probably wanted to talk to her longer, but it was a start, wasn’t it?” Max asked quietly. Just than he thought about something. “Oh, shoot. Who’s going to take Cerina home? She got a ride over here. I’d better go after her.”

Isabel laughed as she watched Max jump out of his chair and race to follow after Cerina. She was proud of herself, even though she knew that Vilandra’s sins would sometimes hang over her head, she knew that she wasn’t anything like her. Isabel knew that she wasn’t Vilandra. She was nothing like that cold hearted bitch who had hurt people and she vowed never ever to be like that.


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . .



[ edited 1 time(s), last at 14-Oct-2002 4:24:46 PM ]
posted on 14-Oct-2002 4:24:09 PM
Chapter 38



“Are you okay, Michael?” Maria asked softly, as she threaded her fingers through her boyfriend’s hair. She loved the way that it looked. She had fallen in love with the spikes and had hated that Jesus Christ look. Sometimes she’d think that she was dating a hobo. Maria knew that she shouldn’t really care about what the hell his hair looked like. At least they were togther.

“Okay? What’s okay? I haven’t seen okay in almost two years.” Michael scoffed, as he rubbed his forehead. Things hadn’t been okay for him in a long time. His life with Hank had never been a picnic, and than when Liz had gotten shot, he’d been so angry that his friend had saved her life. What a difference a year made. He found out that Liz was his sister, his sister that if he had his way back than, he would have let her die. He hated that.

“Neither have I, Michael. I haven’t seen normal for quite a while. You know, I don’t know if I should tell my mother about it all. I know that Max and Isabel told their parents. And that’s good for them, because they are actually in more danger than I could ever be. Max is the king and Isabel is the princess. I’m really nothing to it all. Nicholas doesn’t want me. I’m nothing. I’m Nasedo’s daughter.” Maria said, disgusted at saying that word. She knew that she wasn’t anything like her horrible jerk of a father. And she was pretty sure that Nicholas and company wouldn’t want her. She wasn’t important like the others. And she never would be.

“Being Nasedo’s daughter, isn’t the only thing that defines you, Maria. You’re so much more than that. You’re so much like your mother, sometimes it scares me. Your mother scares the hell out of me. She’s a five foot mini General Patton. I like your mother, really, I do. And I think that you should tell her the truth eventually. She does deserve to know. Otherwise, it’s going to be a secret between the two of you for a long time, and it will start affecting your relationship.” Michael informed her. He knew that he was right. He’d seen what had happened with Max and Isabel’s relationship with their parents. And though he tried to be nonchalant and try not to care about it, he had. He’d always been jealous of the relationship that they had with their parents, and that Michael himself had never had a family like that.

“I know that it isn’t the only thing. But that one is the one that I hate. I hate having to be his daughter. I mean, he was such a horrible person. All the things that he had done. You don’t know how happy I am that he’s dead. That I will never have to see him again. That he’ll never play a part in my life or my mother’s.” Maria said with a sigh. She didn’t want to talk anymore about him. Nasedo, her father. He didn’t even deserve to be called that. A father was someone that was there for their child. And he never had been. In fact, he’d never even cared.

“You know, I can’t help but wonder if Tess knew all along about you being his daughter or not? I mean, she was his partner in crime. Did she know? I guess that’s something that I’ll have to ask her when I’m kicking the crap out of her.” Michael said, as he picked up the remote control and began surfing to see what was on TV. He liked this. He liked how this felt. For him and Maria to just be spending a private night together. With no interruptions, with no family barging on in. Of course, he had enjoyed every moment that he had spent with his family, but being with Maria was something different.

“Let not talk about that, please, Michael. I wanted to get you here alone. Just the two of us. No family to bother us. And we haven’t been spending a lot of time with each other. And I just wanted you to myself. Let’s not talk about my so called father.” Maria said with a sigh as she wrapped her arm around Michael, just wanting to feel him close to her.

Michael moved closer to her, so that her head was resting on his shoulder. He couldn’t help but place a kiss on the top of her blonde head. He had never seen such a beautiful hair color in his life. Ever since he had seen Maria back when he was little, her hair had always drove him crazy. When he was little, he’d always get the urge just to pull it. “We don’t have to talk about anything that you don’t want to. But there’s actually something that I do want to talk about. I. . . want to tell you about Hank, what it was like growing up there.” he said, moving the remote aside.

Maria nodded her head, unable to form any words. Michael wanted to tell her what it had been like growing up with Hank. It was a good thing that Hank wasn’t in Roswell anymore, because he had been such a bastard to Michael. Michael had never come out and said it, but Maria knew that Hank had abused Michael. That he had hit Michael, and she hated that. She hated that that man had done that to Michael. “I’d like to know.”

Michael took in a deep breath at her words. He wanted to confess to her what it had been like growing up with Hank. “You know, I went to go live with him when I was twelve, right? Well, he wasn’t a horrible person when I went to live with him. He and his wife, Carrie, they were great to me. I wasn’t as close to Hank as I was to Carrie. She was great, and I loved her. It was like I finally had a mother of my own. But she— died only two years later, and Hank— he became mean afterwards. Her death was what changed him. And he got meaner and only kept me around in order to get that check so he could drink himself into a stupor. I never told anyone about what happened because it wasn’t any of their business. What went on in my life, and I was a little ashamed of it, too.”

“You had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of, Michael. You didn’t do anything wrong, Michael. It was all Hank. He’s the one that should be ashamed. He was the one that would hit a child. He’s the one that was wrong in all of this. He should have known better.” Maria declared, willing to give anything to be in the same room with the guy. He had hurt Michael so much during the years, and Michael was the one who thought that he had to be ashamed of it.

“But I should have done something. I mean, when I was getting bigger than he was. I still couldn’t do anything. I mean, what if I did something to hurt him. I couldn’t let that happen, and another part of me, remembered Hank how he had been before Sheri died. I mean, he hadn’t always been the way that he was.” Michael said quietly, clenching his fists. He hated the way that he felt about Hank. Michael could never force himself to hate Hank. He had known that Hank hadn’t always been a bad person.

Maria bit her lip at his words. She didn’t know how she was supposed to respond to that. “Oh, Michael. You don’t know how glad that I am that Hank doesn’t have a single thing to do with you anymore. He was a jerk. And I’m. . . so glad that he left the way that he did.”

Michael grinned at her words. He knew exactly what she meant, because he felt the same way. He was so happy that Hank wasn’t around anymore. His life was so much better without Hank in it. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I’m glad that he’s gone, and I hope that I never see him again. You know, part of me wishes that that chick that he ran off with dumped him. He would deserve that.”

“Honestly, I don’t know what anyone could see in Hank. He was nothing but a drunk and a loser. Why would any woman want to run off with him? I mean, honestly Michael!” Maria said, curling her lip at the thought. She couldn’t understand what the hell Hank had to offer for any woman. “Oh my God, Michael. What if— nah, I’m wrong.”

“What?” Michael asked curiously, frowning at the expression on her face. What was she thinking?

“I don’t know. I just got this crazy idea. I mean, what did Hank have to offer to anyone? He spent most of his money on beer, so why would any one actually want him? I mean, this happened right before Nasedo came to town, right? What if Nasedo had something to do with what happened to Hank? Or maybe it was Mr. Parker? See, I told you that it was weird. I mean, why would any woman want to run away with Hank. It just doesn’t make an ounce of sense to me.” Maria explained to him. She knew that it was a weird theory and all, but she didn’t understand what someone would see in Hank.

“I never gave it a thought. I mean, what if your right, Maria. What if Hank didn’t leave Roswell? What if something happened to him? What if it was Mr. Parker? Or Nasedo? Well, maybe not Nasedo. He never really cared about what happened, I mean, not really. I mean, he pretended that he cared about our well fare, but really he didn’t. So if something had really happened to Hank than could it have been Mr. Parker? You know, I should probably just ask Mr. Parker about the whole thing, instead of just questioning and wondering about this all.” Michael said, nodding his head. He’d never really given Hank’s leaving a single thought. He’d just been happy that Hank was gone and out of his life. But what if someone had killed Hank?

“Yeah, your right. You should just ask Mr. Parker about it. I just. . . . I don’t know. It sort of hit me all of a sudden. Why don’t we talk about something else?” Maria said, wanting to change the subject. It was something weird that none of them had thought about it before. But what if something had happened to Hank?

“You know, I’m really happy about Max and Isabel telling their parents. I mean, it is a good idea. Come on! Our lives are in danger and they could be in danger too. It was for the best.” Michael informed her. He knew that everything would be okay. The Evans were great parents to Max and Isabel and he knew that they would never look at their children differently. That’s something that he’d always been jealous of. Max and Isabel’s relationship with their parents. He had wanted that in his life.

Maria couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face at his words. Michael was happy about this? Michael was happy about the Evans knowing the truth. That was a surprise. She remembered over a year ago, he hadn’t wanted them to know. But that just showed how much he had grown and matured over the year. That he was okay with the Evans knowing the truth. “You know, Michael. You surprise me sometimes. You can act like a jerk sometimes, but you can be amazingly the best. I mean, with that Christmas present you got for me. That was such a wonderful surprise.”

“Yeah, nothing’s too expensive for you.” Michael said with a fake smile on his face. It was a good thing that Maria didn’t know that Isabel had been the one to buy it for her. He had seriously thought that the bumper would be a great gift. After all the damage that he had done to her car. But Isabel had been right. But he knew that he was going to have to get her a better present for her this coming Christmas.

Maria let out a squeal of delight at his words. She couldn’t wait till next Christmas. She had been a tad bit disappointed that he hadn’t gotten her anything for her birthday, but than again, things had been so hectic at the time. “Okay, I’d better calm down. My brain’s wondering what you got planned for me. Why don’t we find something to watch on TV?”

“Yeah.” Michael replied, knowing that he was in for it when Christmas rolled around. He’d have to get her something bigger and better than last Christmas. Hell, he might have Isabel help him get the right thing. Isabel knew what women wanted. Michael grabbed the remote control and started flipping the channels. If he didn’t get Maria something for both Christmas and her birthday, he’d be in hot water. But damn, why did her birthday have to be only a month after Christmas?

“Oh!! Stop the presses. We so have to watch that movie!” Maria declared, as she caught sight of one of her favorite movies. Allison Anders is one of the best directors out there. “Things Behind the Sun is a freaking great movie, Michael.”

“Oh, Maria. But Evil Dead is on. That is one of the best movies. Bruce Campbell is a genius.” Michael protested, wanting to watch one of his favorite horror movies. There was no way that he was going to watch some chick flick. Especially not when Evil freaking Dead was on TV.

“What’s so great about that movie, Michael? Okay, let me tell you about Things Behind the Sun. Owen, a rock reporter in LA, goes to Florida in order to interview, Sherry, whose an up and coming singer. Owen actually knows her from their school days. And also—“ Maria stopped short, once she remembered what else had happened in the movie. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea if they watched that movie. Michael might not want to watch it considering what had happened with Liz.

“What?” Michael asked curiously. Why had Maria just stopped right there?

“I just remembered that in the movie Sherry is. . . she’s raped, Michael. I don’t think that we should see the movie after all.” Maria told him quietly. It didn’t seem like the most appropriate movie to watch. In fact, she didn’t want to watch it anymore.

Michael nodded his head at her words. He didn’t want to watch that movie. There was just no freaking way that he could see that movie. Not when it had someone being raped. Not when that same thing had happened to his sister. There was just no way he could see it. “NO! I don’t want to see that, Maria! We. . . we shouldn’t watch Evil Dead either. A girl— she’s raped by a damn tree. I’ve watched it before and I’ve laughed about it, Maria. What does that say about me?”

Maria felt her heart breaking at the sound of his voice. He sounded so angry at himself. “Michael, it doesn’t say anything about you. It’s only a movie. That can’t happen in real life. I mean, a woman raped by a tree? It doesn’t mean anything about you!”

“But doesn’t it? I mean, I’ve laughed about it. This is something that has happened to my sister. My god damn sister!” Michael growled, angry at himself for it. Liz had been through a horrible experience, and he had gotten his kicks in watching a movie where someone was raped. It had to say something about him.

“What happened in that movie and what Liz is going through are two different things, Michael. She wasn’t raped by a tree. It was someone real. Someone horrible who only wanted to make her suffer. It doesn’t say anything about you. I know that you’re a good person. You really are. I know that you love Liz and only want the best for her. Damn it! Stop beating yourself up about a freaking movie that you watched!” Maria told him, not wanting him to feel angry at himself for it.

“I. . . . I should have been there for her, Maria. I should have known that she was my sister. And I should have been able to protect her from everything. I should have been there for her after Alex had died. And I should have known that Khivar was coming after her.” Michael declared, his pent up anger surfacing. He hated himself for not being there for Liz. His sister had needed him but he hadn’t been there for her. He had never been there for her when she needed him.

Maria wrapped her arms around Michael at his words. She knew that he had some pent up feelings about this, and she had hoped that he would talk to her about it. And now he finally was. Maria hated that Michael was blaming himself for not being there for Liz. But it hadn’t been his fault. “It’s okay, Michael. Let it all out.”


TBC. . . . . . . . . . . . . .


posted on 14-Oct-2002 4:27:19 PM