A/N: I am so sorry about the long wait on this story and my other stories, real life went a bit crazy for me. But, I'm finally back, and should have updates for everything else soon too.
Chapter Eleven ~ Reason in Madness
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
– A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allen Poe
Michael leaned against the wall and watched Liz pace, back and forth, back and forth, her small hands clenched into fists so tight he wouldn't be surprised if her nails were drawing blood. Ava caught his gaze and raised a questioning eyebrow; he shook his head, indicating that he didn't know what was wrong with her. Unless Maria had broken up with her too he thought with a bitter snort. There was a brief knock on the door and then it swung open, revealing Isabel and Kyle, leaving 'Leanna' as the only missing member of the meeting.
Kyle looked slightly awkward, his arms hanging loosely at his sides, and Michael wondered distantly if the two of them had been holding hands before they opened the door. He hadn't yet decided how he felt about the apparently blooming romance between his sister and the midget, and so refrained from commenting, instead turning his eyes back to the petite brunette who had finally stopped pacing and faced all four of them with her arms crossed protectively over her chest, her face as blank as he'd ever seen it.
"I need to tell you something before Leanna shows up; I lied to her about the time," Liz stated, her face still expressionless but her voice shaking slightly, and Michael's eyes widened in surprise as he wondered if she was finally going to share some of her secrets. She turned slightly, so that she wasn't really facing any of them, and took a deep breath, her fingers tightening on her arms until the knuckles whitened. "Well, technically I have two things to tell you, so I'll start with the easiest. Max visited me last night."
Isabel gasped, Kyle instinctively wrapping his around her from his place next to her on the couch, and Ava exchanged a glance with Michael before turning her sharp gaze on Liz, who was looking at them with worried brown eyes. "Something's wrong with him, I don't know if it was Tess, or something else, but his aura," she shuddered, "It's tainted and it's doing something to him. He blew up all the glass in the door and almost…" she trailed off, running an agitated hand through her hair, and then shook her head when she saw the angry look on Michael's face. "He didn't hurt me, but I think it's only a matter of time before he hurts someone; we need to figure out what's wrong, and how to fix it, before it's too late."
Kyle chuckled darkly, still gently rubbing Isabel's back. "Well if that's your idea of easy, I don't think I want to hear the hard thing you have to say."
Liz grimaced, her eyes shuttering as she once again tilted her face so that none of them could meet her gaze. "I don't want to say it," she murmured quietly, entire body hunching inward. "But I need to; I should have a long time ago. If I had – " She let out a shuddering breath, a single tear trickling down her cheek, curdling Michael's stomach with dread. "Well, let's just say things would have turned out differently."
She didn't wipe the tear away, instead her eyes slid closed and she continued speaking, voice so soft that Michael had to strain to hear. "Last year, a couple months after school started, Max showed up in my bedroom. Only it wasn't Max, not our Max." Visions of shape shifters, of Skins, of more duplicates, started rushing through Michael's mind, and it took all of his self-control not to walk over and rip whatever she was talking about right out of her mind, find out what had changed her so much, because he knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was when Liz Parker had been broken.
"He said he was from the year 2014; that he'd come here because the world had ended, and that it was all our fault." She gave one, sharp-edged, bitter laugh and shook her head, eyes still closed, words falling off her tongue quick and despairing. "I didn't believe him of course, but he provided proof and gradually I accepted that he was telling the truth, and that I needed to do whatever it took to change the future he told me about; a future where everyone but he and I had been killed. He told me that because he and I were together, Tess left town, and that without her, they weren't strong enough to defeat your enemies. He told me that I had to get her and Max together, no matter the cost." She finally opened her eyes, now dry and cold as she flicked her gaze to Kyle, who had a look of shocked comprehension on his face, before meeting Michael's dark and angry eyes.
"It took a few tries, and methods I won't go into now, but as you all know it worked. And as you all know, he and I were fucking idiots, and all we did was make things worse. All we did," her voice broke slightly and she angrily bit her lip, obviously fighting tears, "All we did was ensure that Alex died too young and that we fell right into Kivar's plans." Her bottom lip was stained crimson where she'd bit it too hard, and Michael focused on that instead of how much he wanted to shake her for not coming to him, for keeping such a horrible, important secret for so damn long.
She tore her gaze away from him and focused on Isabel, who had tears streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry; I thought I was doing the right thing and I was so wrong, and so stupid, and I'm sorry." Her last words ended in a choked sob and she turned away, shoulders shaking as tears stained her cheeks. Ava leapt to her feet and wrapped her arms around the other girl, murmuring something in her ear that Michael couldn't hear, and he turned away from both of the crying women in his living room, his hands clenched into fists and his breathing heavy as he barely stopped himself from punching a hole in the wall.
God, their lives were so fucked up, and every day it only got worse. What the hell were they supposed to do now? How could they ever fix a cluster-fuck of these proportions?
~x~
The room was silent and tense when Leanna finally showed up, the sound of her knocking on the door startling everyone out of their dark thoughts. Her pale green eyes widened slightly when Michael wrenched open the door, face stoic and forbidding, and she saw that everyone else looked similarly welcoming. Liz was sitting on the floor against the wall, her arms wrapped around her knees and Ava's arm around her shoulders. Isabel was still on the couch, Kyle's arm wrapped around her waist, and after closing the door behind the blonde alien, Michael resumed his post leaning against the wall opposite the one Liz was sitting against, still finding it hard to look at the tiny brunette without anger rising like bile in his throat.
Leanna stood uncertainly by the door, her gaze darting between him and Liz, clearly unsure who she should be addressing. Liz didn't even look up, so she settled on Michael, her shoulders straightening as she assumed a more formal air. "Would you rather have a more detailed update on my actions here? Or the current situation on Antar?"
Michael too found his gaze drawn unbidden to Liz; she'd been the one to direct their questions so far, but she was still withdrawn inside herself, although he could tell by how tense her frame was that she was listening, so he scratched his eyebrow in frustration before turning back to the blonde he still didn't trust and ordered; "Tell us everything that's happened since we were killed."
She looked a little surprised, but covered it quickly, and nodded, her voice taking on an almost rhythmic cadence as she spoke, reminding him of the way Ava sometimes talked. "Queen Rìghan and Lord Bethadh managed to escape the Palace slaughter and reach the Granilith chamber with your bodies; it sealed itself and remained protected against all of Kivar's attempts to break through. The Granilith then transported them to one of the royal laboratories and they were able to clone your essences. Earth was one of the planets that the Granilith had advised expeditions to before, and it instructed them to send you here, the planet it had chosen for its new resting place, as Kivar had ordered the execution of all Vaneth and forbidden the populace from mentioning or invoking the Granilith's name."
Ava frowned, muttering something under her breath that Michael didn't catch, but Leanna continued before he could ask. "They sent you here with several of the royal guards and the only other surviving Vaneth besides you and Lord Bethadh, but one of the lab technicians ran and turned traitor, informing Kivar of the plan. The Queen and Lord Bethadh were able to escape before Kivar found them, but he sent a ship after you, a ship that contained the one you call Nasedo and two other shape shifters."
Isabel looked up at that, her tears long dried and her face firmed into the strong-as-steel ice princess Michael knew she could be, making his mood lighten ever so slightly. "You mean Nasedo wasn't our protector? Why did he help us then? Why didn't he let the FBI take us all?"
"Because Kivar wanted something from you. You and Ava weren't supposed to be killed in the initial attack – you because you were his partner and lover, and her at your request." Isabel paled, her grip on Kyle's hand tightening at the first confirmation from an ally of her role in their downfall, but didn't react other than that, earning a proud and supportive smile from both boys. "When he realized that your pods had been delayed, and that the Granilith had abandoned Antar, he created the plan to have Nasedo retrieve the four of you, and Ava's child, hoping he could gain control of the Granilith through her offspring, and so that he could have you back."
"Why not go to the Duplicates then?" Liz asked quietly, raising her head and speaking for the first time after glancing briefly at Ava, who was still frowning in obvious thought.
Leanna looked at Liz, her stance a touch more deferential than it had been when she was focused on Michael, making him deeply curious since Liz had no rank with their people, at least as far as he knew. "Because the Granilith had removed its blessing from the duplicates, and he would not have been able to use them or their offspring to commune with it."
Ava looked shocked and horrified, and Liz squeezed her hand until the hybrid looked at her, speaking softly and earnestly. "Hey, you've felt its power since then, and you told me the others couldn't; you're not like them." After a moment the blonde nodded, and Liz gave her a flickering smile before looking back over at Leanna, asking coldly. "You were going to tell us about the situation on Antar?"
The Vaneth's jaw clenched slightly at Liz's tone, but her tone maintained the same level of deference as she spoke again. "The Queen and Lord Bethadh have remained in hiding, gathering supporters and encouraging rebellion, but Kivar controls the bulk of the armies, and has the backing of the alliance; and until now, the Granilith has refused to take a more active role." She tilted her head and included all of them in her gaze. "We believe it has been waiting for you."
Michael felt his own jaw go slack and saw similar shock in the others' gazes, and in Liz's, similar anger. "And it couldn't bother interfering before Tess betrayed us, before Alex died, before we lost Max's son?" she spat bitterly, glaring fiercely at the tall blonde alien who stared stoically back until Liz spoke again, making her inhale sharply in horror. "Frankly, the Granilith can go to hell for all I care."
Leanna flinched, glancing briefly upwards as if expecting a crack of lightning or some equally ominous response to Liz's words. Nothing happened, the room remained silent and tension filled, and Michael chuckled darkly, unable to do anything but agree with the brunette, even if he had been a servant of the being in a past life. Pushing away from the wall, he arched a disparaging eyebrow at the alien woman and drawled sarcastically. "Well, you've given us a lot to discuss, but we still don't trust you, so if you could leave while we talk that'd be great."
She stiffened, but before she could speak, Liz rose to her feet, arms still crossed over her chest and eyes burning with dark, cold fire. "Meet us back here at nine tomorrow morning; we'll have more questions."
Her lips thinned angrily, but Leanna nodded, then spun on her heel and left, the door closing quietly behind her instead of slamming as Michael half-expected, although the thick silence left in her wake was no less tension-filled.
"You know Liz, you didn't use such foul language when we were dating; was Max a closet potty mouth?" Kyle asked dryly, breaking the weighty silence and earning a sharp look from Isabel, and a chuckle from Michael. Liz stared at him for a moment and then started to laugh as she slumped back against the wall, rubbing a hand over her face and shaking her head, eyes lightening momentarily as she gave Kyle a slightly manic grin.
"No, Kyle, I just didn't want to blow your innocent little mind."
