The sounds of bombs and guns exploded around the frantic figure as he searched the rubble for the most precious thing in his life – Liz. All around him on the battlefield that once was Roswell, New Mexico people were felled by stray bullets; their screams of pain and the silence of death mixing and fading with the explosions.
Two out of the "Royal Four" lay dead with their leader too absorbed in his quest for his love to be much help. Isabel had died shortly after the attack started, dying by the one person she least expected… Tess, one-time good friend and part of the alien team now their betrayer. Michael, the third alien, lasted awhile longer but soon he too was done for as he took a bullet that was meant for the King, Max.
Unknown to everyone, Tess had grown more and more dissatisfied with the things around her. She felt like she was out of the loop of the original team – Alex, Isabel, Liz, Max, Maria and Michael. She had finally had enough and joined sides with the enemy, the Skins.
All of this was the farthest thing from Max's mind as he tossed the bricks and other fragments that once made up the Medical Building to the sides. Liz had to be underneath the fallen structure and he couldn't rest until he completed the task.
A low moan alerted him to struggling survivalist. He rushed over freeing the debris weighing the person down, giving a wordless cry when he spotted the familiar face covered with dust, bruises and smeared blood.
"Liz!" Max exclaimed gathering her close in his arms, getting ready to start healing her. He paused when he felt her weak touch staying his hand. He gazed into her dark, fathomless eyes that were filled with love, his own eyes questioning.
"Save your strength… You still have to stop… Tess." Her words were interrupted by coughs that tore through her body, making her chest feel on fire.
"But you…" He looked at her in bewilderment and pain at seeing her like that. "I might be able to save you."
"I don't… want you to. There's something I want… to tell you…" She reached up with a blood –soaked hand to caress his jaw, grazing over the week's worth of stubble.
"What?" He laid his hand up on hers, turning to place a tender kiss upon her palm.
"That time… with Kyle and I…" She blinked back tears, seeing the flash of hurt darkening his eyes. "It wasn't… what you think."
"Do we have to talk about this?" He tried not to pull away from her. That night, so long ago still haunted him to this day.
"I think you should know the truth about what happened… Kyle and I… never had sex. It was all… pretend to get you to fall out of love with me."
"Why?" That simple word conveyed everything he was feeling both then and in the past. A simple, broken question in a voice clogged with tears.
She closed her eyes for a moment, making Max's heart beat faster in fear that she had left him. He heaved a sigh of relief as her eyes opened once more, though her voice had gone considerably weaker.
"Why? Because you told me to… A future Max came to me… telling me our love would destroy the… Earth. All these years wasted… and it's still coming true…" She gave a faint, bitter laugh, the look on her face convincing him of her statement. "I never stopped loving you… There was no one else for me." She gave him a ghost of a smile that broke his heart.
He blinked remembering the look of defeat and hopelessness in her eyes that night before he walked away. He was too blinded by anger after catching her in bed with Kyle Valenti to notice her reaction. He leaned his forehead against hers, blowing out an uneven breathe of air.
"The future me was stupid. Being with you, no matter what happened, would have been the best thing…" He closed his eyes as a single tear trailed down his hair-roughened cheek to fall upon her cheek, mingling with her tears.
"You were always with… me. You were in my heart… I love you…" With that bittersweet declaration, she closed her eyes falling limp in his arms.
He pulled back a little to look into her peaceful face before letting loose a heart-wrenching scream that echoed about the now quiet battlefield. He noticed neither the silence nor the countless bodies around him too wrapped up in his loss of Liz. He buried his head in the curve of her neck, sobbing out his grief.
The perfect love ending in tragedy to rival Shakespeare's. If only he could change the past once more…
Max bolted upright in bed gasping for air as the dream faded away. He shoved a sweat-slickened hand through his hair wondering what it could have meant. He swung his legs over the side of the bed; his shirt drenched in sweat as his breathing came raggedly. What could this mean? He jumped up to pace around the room in nothing but his boxers, the thought racing through his mind.
He had to get out of there, to take a walk and think this through. He hurriedly put on his clothes and left the house not even bothering with the jeep. He shoved his hands deep in the pockets of his blue jeans hunching his shoulders as he walked. He wasn't surprised to find himself heading towards the street where Liz lived. Perhaps she would know what it meant… Or at least she could help him figure it out. He knew it was over between them, but they did decide to remain friends… didn't they? Or was she just humoring him? He sighed not knowing what to believe anymore.
He climbed the fire escape that led to Liz's room trying to be as quiet as he can. He really didn't want to deal with her parents, especially as late as it was. They would not be pleased to find him in their daughter's room at three in the morning.
He looked in the window to find her sprawled in a haphazard position on her bed; her face was scrunched up as if caught in a bad dream. He wondered what exactly she was dreaming…
The weight of the rocks on her was unbearable. How long had she been under there? An hour or two? It was hard for her to think the dust around her making her cough and wheeze. She stifled a moan as the simple act of coughing made the searing pain shoot throughout her body.
It had taken her by surprise when the bombs had gone off. She had known for some time that trouble was brewing, especially when Tess had disappeared and joined up with the Skins. She had been in the lab studying some chemical reactions when the first shot was fired. Everyone screamed in panic as they all tried to escape from the building. Most of them meeting their death as soon as they exited, the others getting trampled in the process. Liz had stood paralyzed for a few moments in shock and then tried to escape as a slow rumbling indicated that the Medical Building was falling down. She didn't know what to do as the first rock came crashing down upon her.
Max would come for her… That was the only thing that kept her going. There was so much she had to tell him. She had to tell him about that night with Kyle and about her real feelings. All this time had gone by with him believing the worst of her. Yet, no matter how badly she hurt him he was always there for her.
She heard scraping sounds and squeezed her eyes shut fearing that she was going to get crushed further. But nothing happened so she opened her eyes to realize there was someone nearby that was sifting through the rubble. She tried to call out but all she could manage was a moan of pain. It must have been enough for in a few short moments the stone was moved from off of her to reveal the beloved face of Max.
He called her name and grabbed her up in an embrace. It hurt to move, but she wouldn't complain. She never wanted to leave his arms no matter how much pain it caused her. She watched as he moved his hands to her body in preparation to heal her. She had to stop him from using his strength. There was so much he had to do. He had to stop Tess for one thing and to heal her would leave him vulnerable.
She reached out her hand to stop him, gazing up at him with all the love that was in her battered body.
"Save your strength… You still have to stop… Tess." Just the act of talking cost her as she coughed, her body shuddering from the force of it.
"But you…" She watched his eyes fill with bewilderment and pain and almost wept. "I might be able to save you."
"I don't… want you to. There's something I want… to tell you…" She reached up with a blood –soaked hand to caress his jaw, grazing over the week's worth of stubble wishing she could touch him forever.
"What?" She curled her fingers against his own hand as he kissed her palm.
"That time… with Kyle and I…" She blinked back tears, seeing the flash of hurt darkening his eyes. "It wasn't… what you think."
"Do we have to talk about this?" She watched the indecision in his eyes as he held himself close to her. She knew it bothered him, and it upset her to be the cause of it all.
"I think you should know the truth about what happened… Kyle and I… never had sex. It was all… pretend to get you to fall out of love with me."
"Why?"
She closed her eyes for a moment at the sound of his voice, trying to block out the look on Max's face without success. She slowly opened them to answer his question noting his sigh of relief.
"Why? Because you told me to… A future Max came to me… telling me our love would destroy the… Earth. All these years wasted… and it's still coming true…" She gave a faint, bitter laugh. "I never stopped loving you… There was no one else for me." She gave him a ghost of a smile.
"The future me was stupid. Being with you, no matter what happened, would have been the best thing…" He closed his eyes as a single tear trailed down his hair-roughened cheek to fall upon her cheek, mingling with her tears.
"You were always with… me. You were in my heart… I love you…" With that bittersweet declaration, she closed her eyes falling limp in his arms.
Liz panted heavily as she sat up in bed her sheet falling around her waist. She looked up to see Max standing in her window, his eyes watching her movements. She shoved a hand through her hair as she got up to unlatch her window for him to enter. She drew an unsteady breath watching him enter into her bedroom.
"M-Max… What are you doing here?" She whispered softly to him, not wanting her parents to wake up.
"I had to come see you… I had a dream… A vivid one that I thought you could help me out with."
Her eyes flew to his own in alarm, wondering what he could be talking about. Did he have the same dream that she had? And if so, how would he react to find out the truth… Would he get upset to find out the truth? Should she stick with the lie she had been telling?
"Wh-what dream?" She licked her lips nervously noticing Max's eyes follow the movement getting darker with desire. He blinked slowly his eyes sliding up to meet her own causing what little breath she had to escape on a gasp.
He approached her slowly giving her time to back away from him, but it was hopeless. There was no denying her feelings to him or to herself. She wanted him to kiss her almost as much as he wanted to. With a tremulous smile, she met him halfway curling her arms around his neck as his lips descended upon hers. She kissed him back with equal passion, her tongue mating with his while her fingers sifted through his soft hair.
He gave a low groan wrapping his arms tightly about her waist bringing her closer to his body and his arousal. He thrust his tongue inside her mouth exploring, his hands running up and down her back restlessly.
"Oh Max…" She sighed before pulling away from him, resting her head upon his chest as she tried to steady her breath. "I… We can't…"
He reached up with a finger to stop her words tracing the tip across her kiss-swollen bottom lip.
"Shhhhh…. Just… let me hold you." His beautiful eyes pleaded with her to allow him this one time, the need her undoing. She sobbed his name, burying her face against his neck. He burrowed his face in her silky hair, closing his eyes as a few stray tears trickled down his cheek.
"The dream was awful… I thought I'd lost you for good. I couldn't bear it…" His broken words making her shudder as her own tears dampened his skin. "I need to know… Was it all true?"
She had a moments panic before she finally gave in, nodding in agreement. She couldn't speak around the tight knot in her throat. She felt his arms tighten around her as he rocked her back and forth in his arms, chanting her name over and over again.
She rubbed his back soothingly, trying to give him any amount of comfort that she could. A few moments passed and he was able to pull away to look down at her, pain deep in his eyes. She reached up with an unsteady hand to brush the tears from his cheek, her own tormented gaze meeting his.
"Then what I said…. It holds true. If that is our destiny… Please let me spend it with you."
"I don't know what to do anymore… Either way, we're doomed."
"But if we're doomed… Wouldn't it be better to have our last moments in each other's arms?"
She searched his eyes and found only love… Love for her. After all she had put him through, their whole relationship, he still loved her. Her eyes filled with tears for everything that had happened and was going to happen. She knew he was right. Even if it meant that the whole world was in peril, at least they could make them the happiest possible. Either way, the world was going to end because of Tess….
"Oh Max… I love you!"
He grinned through his own tears, pulling her close once more as they shared a kiss that sealed their love. He would make her happy, no matter what lay ahead. With her, he could do anything…