Title: On My Knees
Title: On My Knees
Disclaimer: I don't own anything
Author's note: So this is sort of a parallel chapter to the last one. Which means that the big confrontation you are probably all waiting for… you're still going to have to wait. Sorry.
Summary: Five years, and she's still struggling just to survive.
Chapter Nine: Fool Me Twice
Fool me once, shame on you
Fool me twice, shame on me
Once, when Maria was little, her school had participated in the yearly parents' night. All the children in the class had their parents come and sit with them during the evening while the teacher talked about the class and the goals for the students. Then they had apple juice and cookies.
She had been excited. It was parents' night, and that meant that all her friends would be there with their families. Her mother was going to let her wear her dark red dress with the butterflies on it. And everything was going to be perfect.
Perfect was, of course, a relative term. Pam Troy, the bossy girl who pushed Alex in the playground, had come up to her and demanded haughtily, "Where is your father? My Daddy came with me. Why didn't yours come with you?"
It was a good question, one she hadn't been able to answer. "I don't know," she had stammered, tears filling her blue eyes. "My Mommy says he's just not around."
"Doesn't he love you?" Pam had asked.
"Yes!" Maria had replied shaking. But she couldn't back up that answer with any proof, and Pam had flounced away, smirking.
Later, she asked her mother about her father and why he wasn't in their life anymore.
"You don't need him, sweetheart," her mother had replied.
But she did need him. She couldn't tell that to her mother, but she did need him, did need to know that he loved her. Eventually that need faded, along with the memory of Pam's cruel words, but the underlying feelings remained. Her father had left her, leaving her open to doubts and fears and confusion. He'd made a fool of her and her mother, and she was never going to let anyone do that to her… ever.
When his cell phone rang, Nick glanced at the caller ID and frowned, realizing his didn't recognize it. He flipped the phone open and lifted it to his ear, still glancing over the documents spread out on his desk. "Hello?" he asked absently.
"Hello, Nick."
Nick started. "Who is this?"
"A friend," the voice answered calmly, coolly. "You had a little run in with Max Evans today, didn't you?"
"How do you know that?" Nick demanded, his heart rate speeding up as he frantically tried to remember what Tess had said about the enemies out there, the ones who had killed her friend. Could this be one of them? Were they in danger?
"I have my sources," the voice answered. "So… are you going to speak to Mr. Evans?"
"Why do you care?" Nick hissed. "I'm not answering anymore questions until you tell me who you are and what you want."
"Hmm… caution. A good trait, given what you are up against." There was a pause as the voice seemed to consider its options, then it said, "I'm a… colleague of Mr. Harding's." Again, a silence, then… "I'm from the FBI."
"You're one of the people who approached Tess and Kate in the shopping mall," Nick breathed.
"That's right," the voice answered. "And now it is you that I must speak to. We need your help. Or, more specifically, your son needs your help."
"What does Alex have to do with this?" Nick demanded hoarsely. If Alex was in any danger, he would ignore every one of Tess' warnings and take matters into his own hands. Nobody was going to lay a finger on his son.
"Everything," was the simple answer.
"Explain yourself," Nick said tersely. He shifted the papers to the side of his desk and pulled out a pad of paper. He wasn't sure if he would need to take notes, but he certainly wasn't going to let this opportunity to glean more information pass him by.
"Ms. Harding is scared. And she has every reason to be, she's up against something… nearly unstoppable. Matters are far beyond her own control, and believe me when I say this battle is going to land on her doorstep, whether she wants it or not."
"What is she up against? What is going on?"
"Hmm… now that is the question of the hour, isn't it? The question isn't what is she up against, it is how is she… and her son… going to survive? She has some powerful allies on her side, people who would help her if she just told them the truth."
"Max Evans," Nick murmured, rubbing his eyes. "Max Evans would be able to help her."
"Exactly. Now, we both know she isn't going to confront the past on her own. But she needs to confront that past. You need to make her." The voice stopped for a moment, then added, "For everyone's sake, you need to make her understand."
"I can't force her to do something she doesn't want to," Nick pointed out.
"But you could seek out Mr. Evans on your own."
Isabel scanned the airport baggage claim area as she searched for any sign of her brother. Max had promised to pick her up from the airport, and she was eagerly awaiting his arrival. She needed to see him, needed to convince herself that he was alright, that Tess hadn't somehow stolen him away from them as well.
Jesse had stayed in Boston. It was a hard decision, and he'd promised to drop everything and fly to Seattle the moment she needed him. But for now, she felt better knowing that he was safe and far away from all of this.
"Izzy?"
Max's voice, faint as though not quite believing she was really there, drifted towards her and she spun around to see the alien king staring at her. They stood absolutely still for a moment, then she walked straight into his arms, giving him a tight hug.
"Hey, Max."
"Is that everything you brought?" Max asked, nodding at the suitcase. It was small enough to be rolled onto the plane, and he was surprised. Isabel usually never went anywhere without several extra shoes, half the shirts in her wardrobe, and an entire department store of cosmetics.
"Yeah," Isabel answered with a smile. "I had to pack quickly. I figure I'll just by extra shoes while I'm here."
Max took the suitcase from her with an answering grin and the two started walking from the airport. As they walked, a comfortable silence fell between them, but it was punctured by Isabel's slanted looks at her brother until, in exasperation, Max said, "Did you want to say something?"
"How's Liz?"
Max swallowed painfully. "Okay, I guess. It's… hard. She's in the hospital now. The treatments are… difficult. Draining."
"I imagine it helps to have Maria there," Isabel suggested.
Max nodded. "Yeah, some. It's hard for her, too. I mean… she hasn't seen Liz like this. Not this bad."
"And… how did Liz take the news of Tess' appearance?" Isabel asked, forcing her mouth to form the fourth hybrid's hated name.
Max gave a dark chuckle as he lead her through the parking lot towards the car. "She was upset. She didn't really talk about it much, but… We weren't expecting it, you know. We weren't expecting to ever see her again."
"Have you… have you managed to locate her?" Isabel questioned diffidently, unsure if she wanted the answer.
"No. Michael's already talk to Kal about it. But… Seattle is a big city. It's hard to find just one person in it. We're still looking." Max paused next to the car and opened the trunk, placing Isabel's suitcase inside. "Michael is staying in California."
"Yeah, he told me," Isabel replied. "It… it makes sense, I guess. I mean, we're still at war. He needs to deal with all that." She hadn't been thrilled about the fact that he was staying behind, and she knew he hadn't been happy about it either. But they needed someone to keep an eye on the skins, and that meant that someone had to stay in California with Kal.
Especially now that the reports had come about the bioterrorism attack in New York City. Kal was convinced the skins were behind it, and Max knew that if the shape-shifter had a hunch, it was probably right. He had no idea what the skins hoped to accomplish by killing a whole bunch of people in a city on the other side of the country from their enemy alien king, but Max had no doubt that it was part of some elaborate plan that would most likely end with his death. And he had no intention of letting that happen, not without a fight.
He walked to the driver's side of the car, opened the door, and slid into the seat. A moment later, Isabel took her seat next to him on the passenger's side, and he closed his door shut with a heavy slam. But instead of putting the keys in the ignition and turning the car on, he just sat there, staring blankly at the dimly lit parking garage all around them, staring off into nothing.
Isabel placed a hand on his shoulder. "What now?" she asked. She knew better than to push him towards driving, he was far too upset to focus on that right now.
"I need to find Tess. She has my son. She must have him. I need… I need to save him."
"Easier said than done," Isabel murmured. "We have no idea where she could be."
"She was with another guy," Max said. "I don't know who he is, though. But if he's a skin, then we're up against more than just her."
"She's in league with out enemies, Max," Isabel pointed out. "Of course we are up against more than just her."
He looked at her, or rather, looked right through her, his eyes seeing nothing. Then he blinked, and the distance look was gone, replaced by one of heavy resignation. "I know," he said. "I just… I have no idea what to do now." He looked down at the steering wheel. "Can you dream-walk her?
"It's never worked before," Isabel replied, "but I can keep trying."
Max shoved the keys into the ignition and turned the car on. "Alright," he said wearily. "I guess that's where we will start, then."
Nick leaned over the phone, staring down at the list of hotel names on the pad of paper. He'd already called the first six, but the hotels had no record of a Max Evans staying there. He dialed the phone number for the seventh hotel, chancing a quick glance at the clock. It was two in the afternoon. Alex would be done with daycare soon, and he had promised Tess he would pick up the boy today. She was at work and wouldn't be home until the evening.
When the receptionist at the other end of the line answered, startling Nick back into the present, he stuttered over the first question. "Yes, I'm looking for a friend of mine, Max Evans. I think he's staying at your hotel, but I don't remember the phone number."
"Alright, sir, let me just check for a moment," the receptionist said complacently. There was a pause and he heard the faint click of fingers across a keyboard, then, "Oh, yes, here he is. Room 335. Would you like me to connect you?"
"Oh, no thank you. I'll just stop by" Nick said pleasantly, scribbling 335 next to the name of the hotel and circling the entire line. As he hung up the phone, he ran a hand through his hair and wondered what to do now. He could go to Tess with this information, but he doubted she would do anything about it. Or he could go to Max directly and speak to him instead…
He needed to pick up Alex soon…
He dialed another number on the phone, wondering if he was doing the right thing. But he'd already come this far, and he had no intention of going back now.
"Hey, Nick."
"Kate. I have to stay at work this afternoon. Any chance you can watch Alex for me?"
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine. I just… have some work."
"Sure, I'll watch him. Is he at daycare?"
"Yes. Thank you." Nick hung up the phone, rose to his feet, and grabbed his sweater. Pulling it on over his head, he pulled out car keys, glanced once more at the pad of paper by the phone, at the address circled on the top page, then headed towards the door.
Kyle watched Emily playing with a large stuffed bear. She was sitting on the ground, chewing contentedly on the bear's left foot. She was wearing a blue dress with a bow in her hair, and her heart-shaped face and wide grin reminded Kyle so much of his wife that he almost burst into tears.
"Kyle?"
He turned as his father entered the room, looking old and tired. It was the first time Kyle had really noticed the drawn expression on Jim's face or the way his eyes dimmed slightly as he stared at his son. Tess' betrayal and the resulting fallout with the group had taken a severe toll on both of them.
And now to learn the truth about Jenni…
Kyle gave a bitter smile. "I guess I just keep falling for the wrong girl, don't I?" he said softly, darkly. He hadn't fallen for Tess in any romantic way, but she had been his sister, and, apparently like Jenni, she was more than she appeared to be.
"You can't think like that," Jim said, taking a seat across from Kyle. "We don't know the full details about Jennifer. We don't know… well, we don't know anything about it. Not really."
"She was FBI," Kyle argued. "What more do I need to know?"
"She was killed by the FBI as well," Jim pointed out. "You don't know for certain why she joined them, or if it had anything to do with you." He looked at Emily. "And she gave you something amazing, you know."
Kyle followed his father's gaze and watched as Emily pulled at the bear's nose, attempting to remove it from the stuffed animal's face. She was wearing a curious expression as though not quite sure what she was holding. She looked up as she sensed two sets of eyes on her, and smiled broadly at her father.
"Bear!" she said proudly, holding the bear out to her father. "Brown Bear!"
Kyle smiled and reached over to ruffle her hair. "Yeah… it's a brown bear."
"Remember Jenni the way you want to remember her. As a loving wife and a wonderful mother. Don't let her memory be ruined by whatever Michael has told us."
Kyle shook his head. "It isn't that easy, Dad. I can't just remember her the way I want to, not if it isn't the truth." He crossed his arms over his chest in a defiant gesture, and added, "Especially not if the FBI isn't done with us yet."
"You think they might come after you?" Jim asked with a frown. Michael had suggested that it was a possibility, but one that Jim had dismissed. He just couldn't believe that his daughter-in-law, the woman who had finally brought smiles back into Kyle's face, could have been lying to them all, using them for her own ends.
And yet…
"What if she wasn't the target, Dad?" Kyle said, voicing a concern that had been plaguing him for a while now. "What if they had meant to kill me? Or Emily? What if she wasn't supposed to be the one in the car that day?"
But Jim shook his head. "Why would the FBI want to kill Emily?"
Kyle said nothing. He had to admit that it was unlikely that any secret organization would be targeting his daughter. There was nothing special about Emily that would make her useful to anyone, nothing remotely alien. But what if the FBI was after him? What if they wanted to get to Max and the others, and were using Kyle as bait?
A knock at the door caught Jim's attention, and he crossed the room to see who could possibly be visiting them at this hour. He hadn't scheduled any visitors, and he hadn't really wanted them. The dinner at the Parkers was the last time he and Kyle had been social, and he had seen how upset Kyle was during most of the dinner. He didn't want to inflict more of that on his already suffering son.
It was Amy DeLuca, and she looked upset.
"Amy, what's wrong?"
She glanced past him at Kyle and Emily. "Jim, can I talk to you alone?" she asked quietly.
Kyle picked up Emily and carried her from the room, silently wondering what his father and Amy had to talk about. He knew that, at one point, they were in a relationship. But that had been a long time ago, and he wasn't entirely convinced that his father was looking to start dating again.
Still, it was his father's decision, so Kyle left them alone.
Once Amy was sure Kyle was gone, she turned to Jim with a worried look on her face. Rubbing her arms absently, she said, "I… I spoke to Maria this morning."
"How is she?" Jim asked, concerned. He couldn't think of what would have made Amy that upset, unless something had happened to Liz. Perhaps the treatments weren't going well, or maybe she'd developed an infection or some other dangerous complication?
"Maria's fine," Amy said, stepping a little further into the house. "She was worried about me, actually. She… uh, she thought it was possible we might be in danger."
"Why?" Jim asked.
"She didn't really say much," Amy replied. She never said much, not to her mother, anyway. Amy knew that Maria was simply trying to keep her mother as much out of the loop as possible to protect both Amy and herself. The less people who knew any dangerous information, the less likely it was that information could fall into the wrong hands.
But this morning, Maria had been worried that something might happen to Amy if she didn't know what was going on. Worried that an enemy had returned, one who was cold and ruthless and could quite easily destroy anything that stood in her way.
"What did she say?" Jim asked.
Neither of them noticed Kyle in the doorway of the room. He'd come back to get another one of Emily's toys, a stuffed rabbit that had been left on the sofa. Sensing he was interrupting something, he backed silently away, hoping to stay unnoticed until he had left the room.
Until Amy's next words stopped him in his tracks.
"It's Tess Harding. Maria says that she's on Earth. In Seattle."
Nick waited until he had screwed up enough courage to face the unknown that lurked behind the door, then he raised his hand, fingers bent into a fist, and rapped his knuckles against the door.
It was opened by a woman he didn't recognize. She was tall, and stunningly pretty, but her eyes were ringed with dark shadows as though she hadn't slept in several days. "Can I help you?" she asked warily.
"Yes, I… I'm looking for Max Evans," Nick said, a little unsure.
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why?" she demanded, her voice suddenly filled with hostility.
Before he could answer the question, however, Max himself appeared, rubbing his eyes with one hand and asking in a mumbled tone, "Who's at the door, Izzy?"
And then he froze when he saw Nick. "You," he hissed, and his face lost all its color. He raised one hand, and then something strange happened. Sparks of electricity seemed to crackle along his skin, appearing out of nowhere as though he had somehow magically conjured them.
"Max, don't!" the woman referred to as Izzy said, her eyes darting nervously to the hallway. "Exposure," she hissed, obviously frightened of something. She pushed Max back into the room, then pulled Nick with her as well, and slammed the door, locking it.
"Who are you?" Max demanded, turning to Nick.
"What are you?" Nick shot back, his eyes still fixed on the electricity sparkling on Max's fingers.
"Max, who was it…?" another voice said, and a blonde woman stepped out of the bathroom, staring in confusion between Nick and the other two.
"Maria, stay back," Max ordered tersely. He raised his hand again, and Nick felt an invisible force knock him off his feet and send him flying into the wall. He smashed against it, the air rushing from his body, and crumpled to the floor in a heap.
"Max!" Isabel said, worried. "What are you…?"
"It's him," Max said with a sneer, his eyes filled with anger. "He's the one who was with Tess." He turned back to Nick who had pulled himself to his feet and was staring at Max in horror. "Tell me where she is," he said furiously. "Tell me what you've done with my son, and I might just let you walk out of here alive."
"What… what did you… how?" Nick asked, his words falling from his lips in a jumbled mess. Shock was settling over his body, he couldn't understand what had happened.
"Are you a skin?" the woman named Maria asked, taking a hesitant step forward.
"He seems pretty clueless for a skin," Isabel replied, giving him a searching look. "Besides, if he was, he would have just attacked us instead of waiting for Max to strike the first blow."
"What's a skin?"
"He has to be one of Khivar's," Max argued, briefly glancing at Isabel. "Why else would he be with Tess?"
Nick rose to his feet, looking warily between the three people in front of him. Bits and pieces of what Tess had told him were filling his mind, and he remembered that Isabel was Max's sister, and Maria was the girlfriend of one of Max's best friends.
And, obviously, they thought Tess was the enemy.
"Look, I just came to talk to you about Tess," Nick said quickly. "I… look, there's been a misunderstanding. And we… we need your help."
"Tess needs our help?" Maria asked, almost laughing. "And she thinks we're just going to give it to her? Willingly?" She shook her head, eyes narrowed furiously.
"Where is she?" Max asked. "Where is my son? What has she done with him?"
"She's raised him," Nick replied as though it was obvious. "What else would she have done?"
"That murderer…" Isabel started, but Nick cut her off heatedly.
"She is not a murderer!"
"This doesn't make any sense, Max," Isabel murmured, turning to her brother. "Why doesn't he know what's going on? Why isn't he attacking us?"
"It's some kind of trap," Maria suggested. "It has to be. He's working with Tess, for God's sake. He's the enemy."
"Take me to Tess," Max said finally, unsure what else to do. He was confused as to why Nick wasn't fighting back, but he agreed with Maria. Anyone who was working with Tess had to be evil, had to be the enemy.
"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on," Nick argued. "What are you?"
At that, Isabel waved a hand, and Nick cried out in pain, sinking to his knees and clutching his head. The pain was radiating through his body, starting in his head and exploding outward from there, coursing through every vein, wrapping around every cell. He couldn't see straight, couldn't think, couldn't form a sentence, couldn't even breathe.
"Tell us what you've done with Max's son," Isabel said forcefully as she lowered her hand, and the pain faded away. "Now."
Nick shook his head as tears swam in his eyes, making the entire world blur around him. He couldn't understand what was happening, but he knew one thing; these people were dangerous. But Tess had said that they were on the side of good, that they weren't the enemy. So why were they attacking him like this? How did they have these abilities?
Isabel raised her hand again, threatening him. "Tell me," she ordered.
And then she was flying through the air, smashing into the far wall. Max and Maria both turned towards her, crying out her name in surprise, but Isabel looked past them towards the woman standing in the doorway, the one who had attacked her.
"Don't you dare hurt my boyfriend," the woman said, her voice icy cold and dripping with venom.
"Tess…"
Maria stared at the woman. She looked different from what the blonde human remembered. Her hair was longer and her eyes were harder, but there was something else about her, a sense of weariness and fatigue. And underneath it all, a steely resolve to fight to the death.
She remembered the first time they had met Tess. She remembered hearing about destiny. She remembered the way Liz's eyes lowered whenever Tess walked by, the hardening of her jaw, the expression of despair and pain. She remembered Alex's lifeless body, Isabel's sobs, and Liz's unemotional exterior as she slowly crumbled inside.
And here stood this man, Nick, acting like Tess hadn't destroyed them all, like she was just as much a victim as everyone else. And there was Tess, cold and cruel and vicious, eyes narrowed in calculating anger.
She should never have trusted Tess, never. How could she have ever been so stupid, so blind? Why didn't they see the truth that shined at them from those icy blue eyes?
Tess had fooled them all once.
And Maria had no intention of letting her do it again.