TITLE: Broken in Two (2/?)
AUTHOR: Rebecca Parker
EMAIL: LaVelleBelle@aol.com
RATING: PG for now. This story will eventually feature some non-explicit slash.
PAIRINGS: M/L for now.
SUMMARY: An AU spin on "End of the World" where Liz goes back in time instead of Max.
FEEDBACK: Yes please!
DISTRIBUTION: At my site (http://www.ourowndestiny.com) and FINNatics. All others, please ask first.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters. All I own is an intense love for them and the episode "End of the World"
DEDICATION: This fic is written for Jen'fr, one of my greatest assets. Also thanks to everyone who gave me feedback for the first part. I swear there's slash coming! Just have to work it in naturally... LOL
NOTE: The title comes from a lyric in Sheryl Crow's "I Shall Believe". Also, to avoid confusion, Future Liz will be referred to as "F-Liz"



"Max," F-Liz said again, taking a step towards the younger version of her husband. "Max, I'm not going to hurt you."

Max looked F-Liz over, still confused by the whole situation. "Who are you?"

"You know who I am, Max," F-Liz answered.

"You're not my Liz," he said, lowering his hand to his side despite the fact that he still felt at risk.

"I am," she said, nervously tucking her hair behind her ears. "I need you to listen to me, Max. This is all going to seem a little strange, but I need you to believe me."

"Why should I?"

"Because you always have," F-Liz answered, her voice wistful. She looked Max over, feeling sadly reminiscent. She closed her eyes, remembering holding her husband's dying body to her as he told her he loved her one last time and she felt the tears begin to brim underneath her lids. She took a deep breath, looking at Max again, unsure of how to begin.

"So explain this to me," Max said, crossing his arms. "What Liz are you?"

"I am your Liz, 14 years in the future," she answered. "I was sent back to you to- to fix things."

"You're Liz in the future?" Max asked, smiling. He had often pictured what she would look like 10 years down the line and he had to say, his guess hadn't been far off. As expected, her maturity had only deepened her beauty. For some reason, he had never imagined her with her hair shorter, but the cut flattered her.

F-Liz nodded, feeling oddly vulnerable at the moment. "I don't usually look like this," she said, looking down. She examined her hand and the dirt in her knuckles. It had been days since she had showered- Max, Kyle and she had been on the run from the Skins for some time before the fall.

"Look like what?" Max asked her.

"Like I've been sleeping with pigs," she said, looking up at smiling weakly. "I had a rough few days before I came here."

Max looked at her oddly, noting the sad tone of her statement. "Why are you here? You said you needed to fix things?"

F-Liz nodded. "It's all complicated. It will take some time to explain," she said.

Max cast a glance to his open chemistry book and sighed. "Well, I guess I can forget studying."

"Your big Chemistry test?" F-Liz asked, walking over to the book and closing it, running her fingers over the cover. "Don't worry. Mr. Adelson called in sick and the test was postponed," she said, looking back at him. "You get an A anyway. You never had to study as much as you did." She smiled. "I always loved that about you."

"How do you know that?" Max asked, taken aback.

F-Liz smiled. "I'm from the future, remember? I know what's going to happen." She stopped, taking a deep breath. "Which is why I'm here. There are things that happened that we need to change."

Max, still a little phased by everything, looked at her quizzically. "Meaning what?"

F-Liz walked past Max towards his desk, picking up the concert tickets from his book. She looked down at them, remembering that night and all that had happened. She had wanted to go to the concert, but they had found a better way to spend the evening. "The concert," she said, turning around, tickets still in hand.

"What about it?" he asked, taking them from her and looking down at them. "Did I- did I ask you?"

"Yes," F-Liz said, nodding. "Twice actually."

"Twice? Did we go?"

"No," F-Liz said.

"You turned me down," Max said, sighing.

"Not exactly," F-Liz answered. "I turned you down the first time."

"So I'm confused. What did you do the second time I asked you?" Max asked, leaning back against the desk.

"I said yes," F-Liz said, looking down. "But we never made it to the concert."

"Did something happen? Something bad?" Max asked.

"Something happened," F-Liz said, smiling. "It just wasn't anything bad."

"What happened then?" Max asked, sighing. "Just tell me."

"We made love," F-Liz said, looking up at him. "You came to my room and invited me again. You kissed me, and I- I saw this flash. I saw the two of us together and I knew- I knew it was the right time."

"We made love?" Max asked, feeling suddenly lightheaded. "Are you sure?"

F-Liz laughed, covering her mouth quickly. "I'm sorry," she said, smiling. "I didn't mean to laugh. It's just- that's something I'm very sure of." She stopped, her face lighting up for the first time in days as she remembered that night. "It was perfect," she said, looking up at him. "It was so perfect. After that, there was never any doubt that we would be together."

"Wow," Max said, shaking his head. "I didn't think we would- I mean, do that- so soon."

"You had a condom in your wallet," F-Liz said, smirking. "Obviously you had some thoughts about it."

"I'd call them hopes," Max said, blushing. "Very faint, non-realistic hopes."

"Well, it seems they were a bit on the realistic side," F-Liz said, smiling. She stopped, bracing herself for the next part. "We can't let it happen Max."

"Let what happen?"

"We can't sleep together, Max," F-Liz said, her heart breaking as she thought about what she was asking him to do. "We can't let it happen."

"Why not? Did you- did we have a child?" he asked, grasping for straws. "I don't understand."

"No," F-Liz said, shaking her head. "We never had a child. I- I wanted to but things weren't safe so we never did."

"Not safe? What happened?"

F-Liz took a deep breath. "I'm getting ahead of myself. What's most important- why I came back is because I have to stop us from being together. You can't be with me, Max."

Max frowned, faintly aware that his conversations with both Present and Future Liz ended with the same horrible thought- that they wouldn't, or couldn't, be together. "Why not?"

"The four of you- you, Michael, Isabel and Tess. You're special," F-Liz started, fidgeting nervously as she started to pace. Had she had some time to prepare this speech, she would have felt more assured of what she had to say and how she was going to say it. "Your powers are only strongest when you're together. If one of you- isn't there," she said, turning to him, "then you're weaker. You're vulnerable. And the things ahead- the things you're going to have to face- you can't afford to be vulnerable."

"What are you telling me, Liz? That we leave?" he asked, trying to understand a situation he was fairly certain was beyond comprehension.

"No," F-Liz said, "Tess does."

"Tess," Max said, his voice bitter. "I should have known."

"Don't be like that Max," F-Liz said, sighing. "Put yourself in her position. The one person you know you're supposed to be with doesn't want you. You have this great destiny Max, and she's part of it and you shunned her."

"What am I supposed to do? Just ignore my heart and be with her?" Max asked, his voice showing signs of agitation.

"Yes," F-Liz answered, her voice cracking. "Max, you need to be with her." She frowned as she watched Max start to shake his head angrily. "You need to Max. I'm sorry. We can't be together. You don't know what it means if you're not."

"So tell me," he said. "Tell me what it means because there's nothing you can tell me that is going to make me be with her."

"How about Maria and Alex dead?" F-Liz offered, her eyes growing wet with tears. She took in the stunned look on his face and continued before he could speak. "Isabel and Michael too. Everyone Max. It's not just our group that's destroyed. If you don't be with Tess- it's Earth that dies."

Max stood there for a few minutes, unable to say anything. He stared down at his hands for what seemed like forever before F-Liz said anything. "Max," she said, reaching out to touch his hand. "I'm sorry. I don't want this any more than you do, but you have to listen to me."

"Were we happy? Tell me at least that," he asked, looking up at her, his eyes glazed over with disbelief. "Did we get married?"

"Max, I don't think knowing that is going to make it any easier for you," she said, her own voice sad.

"I want to know," Max said adamantly. "If I'm giving up everything, I want to know what that is."

F-Liz sighed, nodding. "We were married," she said. "At 19. In Vegas, believe it or not."

"Vegas? You're kidding," he said, a small smile on his face.

"I know," F-Liz said, laughing. "The Elvis Chapel actually. It really wasn't as tacky as it sounds."

"Whose idea was that? It had to be yours," he said.

"Guilty as charged," F-Liz said, her eyes dancing at the memory of their kiss at the altar, a bad Elvis looking on as a witness. Max was the only one she had ever told about her Elvis fixation. "You loved it though," she added.

"As long as our wedding song wasn't 'Hunka Hunka Burning Love'," Max said, smirking.

"We didn't have an official wedding song," F-Liz said, crossing her arms in front of her. "But we danced to 'I Shall Believe' that night and it's been our song ever since."

"Sheryl Crow?"

"Yes," F-Liz said. "I've always loved that song."

"I know," Max said. "So do I. It makes me think of you." He stopped, the smile fading. "What's going to happen to you? If I do this- if we're not together...."

"I don't know," F-Liz admitted sadly. "I'll probably be alone. I don't think I could ever just move on from you. But I'd rather be alone than lose all of you."

Max nodded, understanding. He looked at her again and marveled at what a beautiful woman his Liz had become and he felt proud that he had something to do with that. Unfortunately, soon after he realized that this Liz would not exist, and worried what Liz would. "So what do we do?"

F-Liz nodded. "I have a plan."


To Be Continued....