Title: Time After Time
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Author's note: Well, I am finally back in the country and able to update this story. Oh, also, I wanted to give a little warning that this chapter might seem to be Rebel-oriented, but it isn't. Well... the chapter is, but the story isn't. The story is definitely very strongly Dreamer. I promise.
Chapter Twenty-One : Who Am I?
"I think you should listen to him."
"Wh-what?" Whatever Maria had expected Michael to say, that was not it. She'd showed up at his apartment the moment she knew he'd be off work, and related the encounter with Nasedo and the shape-shifter's offer. Michael still harbored such a great suspicion for Nasedo that she was sure he would be more cautious, would refuse any deal. He was also no coward, and any threat to his own life and safety wouldn't have been enough to force him to agree to a plan that could end up in innocent lives being lost.
But Maria had made the mistake of not thinking about Michael's desire to protect his family. She saw it then, the gleam of fear that passed so quickly through his eyes she might have mistaken it for some other emotion if she didn't know him so well.
"It gets you out of the mess, doesn't it?" Michael countered softly, firmly.
"At what cost?" Maria replied pointedly. "I'm not about to trust a cold-blooded alien killer, and you shouldn't either!"
Michael's lips pressed into a thin line. "I'm well aware of what I should and shouldn't do," he snapped irritably.
Maria ran a hand through her hair and exhaled sharply, annoyance filling her features. Lately, it seemed like every conversation she'd had with Michael had turned into some form of argument, and she was beginning to wonder if it was worth the trouble. Was he ever going to stop being so stubborn and just listen to her for once?
Michael, for his part, was doing his best to avoid glaring at Maria. The last thing he wanted was to antagonize her further, but she simply wasn't being reasonable about this. She might be willing to risk her own life and safety, but he wasn't about to take a chance that she, Max, Isabel, or Tess would get hurt. And Nasedo did have a point, it was only a matter of time before someone... the wrong someone... started getting suspicious again. They'd barely escaped with their lives last time, and with the skins here, they didn't have the luxury of facing two opponents. Any plan that kept the government far away was a good plan.
"Look," Maria said finally, fighting to remain calm, "we can't just agree to something that could end up getting other people killed."
"So you want to what?" Michael asked pointedly. "Wait and see?" He folded his arms across his chest, eyes narrowed. "You and Max. Neither wants to be proactive."
Maria rose to her feet from her spot on the sofa and retorted, "Better than becoming a murderer." She had every intention of stalking from the apartment, irritated that she had not received the support she was looking for, when Michael was suddenly standing in front of her, his face darkened with a fury she had seen on him only once before, last year, when he had explained about Hank threatening to expose his family.
"Is that what you think I am?"
Maria took a step back. A wave of fear flooded her veins, but then passed as soon as it had come. This was Michael, after all, and she knew he would never purposefully physically hurt her. But she still couldn't quite shake the unnerved feeling that twisted in the pit of her stomach when she looked into those glittering eyes.
"Of course not," she said finally, forcing the words from her dry throat. "But Nasedo is."
Michael opened his mouth to say something, then stepped aside, and gestured towards the door. "You can go, if you want," he muttered, no longer blocking her exit.
With a frustrated sigh, Maria turned to leave, unsure what else to say. The distance between the two of them was growing wider every day, and reaching him was like trying to cross a huge chasm she couldn't even begin to comprehend. She glanced at him again, but Michael had already walked away, and was standing by the window, staring out at the sinking sun, at the fiery sky. His profile was tense, the line of jaw pulled so tight she knew he was clenching his teeth. And somehow, although she couldn't see his eyes, she knew that his expression was filled again with that same fear.
It was strange, she reflected. She'd only known Michael for about a year. Well... she'd known who he was for a long time. But it had only been a year since they truly started interacting, since she'd learned his secret, since she'd taken any interest in the real boy behind the tough facade. It had been even less time since they started dating. She didn't know him, not really. Not the way she knew Alex an Liz. With them, she knew every in and out of their personality, every story they'd ever told, every feeling they'd ever felt. Michael was still a mystery, something she couldn't grasp, something beyond her understanding.
And yet... she didn't even have to look at him to know that, in that moment, he was trembling with fear, rage, and a sense of helplessness. For someone who she didn't know at all, she knew him so incredibly well.
The ring of the telephone interrupted her thoughts, and Michael turned to answer it, pausing only to give her a look that said very clearly, why haven't you left yet?
Even though she was on the other side of the room, Maria could still hear Isabel's voice, tinged with upset panic, drifting through the phone lines. "Michael? Did you see Max today?"
"He was at the Crashdown earlier," Michael answered, obviously concerned. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"Was he acting strange then?" Isabel asked.
Michael considered this for a moment, then shook his head. A moment later, he realized Isabel wouldn't be able to see that gesture, and he said, "No. He was normal Maxwell. Why?"
"He came home and he was... just strange. He was really quiet during dinner. When I tried to talk to him before and after dinner, he said he didn't want to talk to me. He said he didn't need to talk to me, because he was the king, and he didn't need to do anything." There was a pause, the sound of a choked sob as Isabel clearly tried her best to get her emotions under control, then she continued, "And apparently he started a fight with Kyle. A fist fight. He told me and he was... well, not proud. But not apologetic either. Like it didn't matter that he'd punched someone. He said Kyle deserved it."
Kyle deserved a lot of things, Michael knew, not the least of which was a good beating from Max for the way he had treated the hybrid king. But Max was not violent, and he certainly would not declare some royal prerogative to do something like this. As for not wanting to talk to Isabel... well, Michael could understand that. Maybe not what Max had said, not his justification for ignoring his sister, but the underlying resentment. Isabel had lied to them about something incredibly important, and as far as he could tell had no intention of revealing that truth had Tess not done it for her. He understood the anger and betrayal Max was feeling because he felt it himself as well.
"Is Max still there?" Michael asked finally.
"No. He left a few minutes ago to go for a walk. I thought he might either be going to you or Liz. But I don't know."
"Okay... Um, Izzy, I'm going to see if I can find him. If he comes back... call Tess. Don't be alone with him. Not until we know what's going on." Already, horrible scenarios were running through his mind, images of Max being possessed by the skins or influenced by some strange alien virus. Although none of his actions had been that unreasonable, they still weren't things Max himself would do. And that terrified Michael, because if there was one thing he could count on in this crazy world, it was that some aspects of Max simply would not change.
As he hung up the phone, he glanced over at Maria. "I've got to go," he said, his words almost dismissive in the way he so casually moved past her towards the door, his mind on other issues. "Lock the door behind you." And then he was gone.
Liz shaded her eyes with one hand and peered at the figure that was walking slowly on the other side of the street, apparently oblivious to his surroundings. Max's head was held tall on a stiff neck, as though he was exuding some type of royal aura. But his eyes were unfocused, and she could tell, even from all the way across the street, that he had no idea where he was or where he was walking to.
She glanced to make sure no oncoming cars would hit her, then hurried to his side. He looked up at the sound of her approach, a little startled. The look in his eyes caused her to come to complete halt, surprised and wary. There was something different there, something foreign, something that she didn't recognize. It wasn't anything concrete, just the strangest sensation that those eyes were not the eyes of her Max.
"Hello, Liz," Max said, and his words were formal and laced with a bored indifference.
"You left so quickly from the diner," Liz said uncertainly. "I was worried. I called your house. Did you mother give you the message?"
"Yes," Max answered agreeably. "I never got the change to call you back. I was preoccupied by other things." There was no apology in his tone, not even the faintest trace of regret.
"Is everything aright?" Liz demanded worriedly.
"Of course," Max answered off-handedly. But then his gaze slid past her, and his eyes fell on something else. She turned around, and saw a car pull up a few steps behind her, and the door swing open. She recognized it as Kyle's car, but it was Tess who climbed out of it.
The blonde hybrid marched up to Max, her curls bouncing, her eyes narrowed with fury. She paid no attention to Liz, but had her gaze fixed fully on Max.
"Tess," Max said, and his detached tone faded into one of happiness. "I was just thinking about coming to find you."
"I was on my way to find you," Tess spat back, her tone clearly displeased. "What were you thinking this afternoon? What on Earth got into you?"
"Tess, please," Max said, holding up one hand in a sign of surrender. He placed his other on her arm just above the elbow. "I am sorry that my actions upset you. That was never my intention. I would die before I did anything to purposefully hurt you."
Tess blinked, momentarily stunned by his words. She stuttered for a moment, as though unable to come up with anything to say, then hissed, "What is wrong with you? You are not acting like yourself!"
Max frowned. He looked from Tess to Liz, and then back, puzzled. "Tess, I know that you don't like us dragging Kyle or Jim Valenti into any of this, but don't you see that Kyle started it? I was only offering retribution."
"By punching him?" Tess asked softy.
"Wait, what?" Liz asked incredulously, eyes widening. "What did you do?" she asked Max hoarsely. "Why? When?"
Max gave her a strange look. "I fail to understand how my interactions with Kyle are any of your concern," he said, his voice sounding tense, as though he had been forced to speak the words through his teeth.
Liz looked taken aback, and automatically sent Tess a questioning gaze. But Tess wasn't looking at her. Instead, she was staring at Max with a look of complete distrust and suspicion. The brunette felt remarkably out of place, as though somehow she wasn't even supposed to be here. But she shook those thoughts away and instead focused all her attention on the conversation at hand.
"Max, you aren't acting like yourself," Tess said finally, her eyes still narrowed. She could sense that the man standing in front of her was most definitely Max, but something didn't feel quite right. It was like looking at a replica of Max, but the features had been distorted just enough so that you could only tell something was different on close inspection. She let out a frustrated sigh, and watched the concern simmer behind Max's darkening gaze.
"What do you mean?" Max asked, confused. "I feel like myself."
"You hit Kyle!" Tess hissed in response.
"He had it coming," Max answered vaguely, shaking his head. He was somewhat dismayed that Tess was still taking Kyle's side in the matter. Hadn't she realized that her human brother's actions had been uncalled for and unacceptable? He was not going to be treated like some common trash, and anyone who behaved in such a way deserved whatever he retribution he decided to doll out.
"Max you don't hit people," Liz cut in. "You never have. Why now?"
Max gave her another look, this time tinged with annoyance. "Liz, my interactions with Kyle don't concern you," he said again, his words tight.
"Max!" Liz protested, tears pooling in her eyes.
"Liz, stay out of it," Max and Tess both said at exactly the same moment, and Liz did a double take. It wasn't so much the fact that they said the same phrase, but she could suddenly see the same expression mirrored in both their expressions. Tess' was laced with concern, and Max's with confusion, but the tilt of the head, the hardening of the jaw, the narrowing of the eyes... it was like looking at twins.
Tess broke the spell by turning to Max and saying fiercely, "What is wrong with you?" Obviously, his blatant dismissal of Liz had upset her as it was so completely out of character.
"Nothing," Max defended himself again, this time with more fervor. "Everything is fine."
"Right..." Tess shook her head, and glanced over at Liz. She was starting to be afraid, although she was unsure as to whether it was fear for Max or for herself she was feeling. She didn't know this Max, couldn't understand why he was acting so strangely, and it left her with lingering vestiges of worry that would not subside. To Liz, she said under her breath, "Let's get out of here."
Liz seemed to understand the unspoken message, and, after a reluctant nod and one final, hurt-filled look at Max, she turned to walk away. Tess followed, but before she could get very far, Max had caught her by the arm.
"Don't walk away from me!"
Tess spun round at the anger in his tone, eyes widening, blue orbs frozen like deer in the headlights of an oncoming car. A moment later, she gathered her wits again and yanked her arm out of his grip, snapping, "Let go of me!"
And then her vision seemed to twist sideways, and she was seeing something different... and yet so familiar.
"Ava, you cannot go. Please, just hear me out." He followed her, stumbling over roots and rocks in his haste to keep up with her swift stride.
"I will not!" She looked at him, anger obvious, and shook her head.
His anger was just as quick to follow, and he seized her arm. "I am your king! Do not walk away from me."
She wrenched her arm from his grasp. "Let go of me."
Tess swallowed nervously, the pieces of the convoluted puzzle coming together to make something... well, not whole, but at least a little less vague.
The knock on the door surprised Isabel, who had been so preoccupied by her worries over Max that she seemed to forget there was more to her world than just her brother. She pulled open the bedroom door, running a hand through her hair as she did so, and paused, mouth open in surprise.
"Is this a bad time?" Alex asked, taking in the look of Isabel's face and wondering how he was supposed to interpret it. In the mess that had resulted from the excursion to Copper Summit, he had barely taken any time to even think about Isabel. Maria had been his primary concern, but that had faded when, with a jolt and a horrible feeling of guilt, he had remembered Isabel's predicament. He'd come over instantly, but now he was starting to think calling first might have been a better idea.
"No... I mean..." Isabel struggled vainly for words, then shook her head and conceded, "I really don't know."
"Did something else happen?" Alex asked. She hadn't yet invited him into the room, so he stood a little awkwardly in the doorway, waiting.
Isabel blinked. "Uh..." She glanced past him into the hall. She could hear the sound of her mother's footsteps in the kitchen on the floor below. "Max. He's acting strange."
"How so?" Alex asked.
Isabel looked at him for a long moment, scrutinizing his expression. Then she said quietly, "Alex... I don't know why you're here. But I've got a pretty good guess, based on how Max and Michael are acting, and I... look, I just can't deal with this right now. I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have lied. I... I just... I'll talk to you about it later if you want. I just need time to..." She shrugged helplessly. "I can't do this right now."
Alex returned her gaze without flinching, and without making any moves to leave. "Is that really why you think I would have come? To yell at you, to lecture you?" Isabel didn't answer, and Alex continued, "I just came to see how you were doing."
"Oh." Her tone made it quite clear that she didn't actually believe that statement, and Alex bridled under her suspicion. He pushed past her into the room, and she turned to watch his pace angrily across the floor.
"How could you think I would do that?" Alex demanded hotly.
Isabel slammed the door shut behind her. "Well, you haven't called me, talked to me, so much as looked at me, since Tess' little revelation. What else was I supposed to think? You were acting just like everybody else."
Alex felt his anger fade as the way her voice broke slightly, at the tears he knew she wouldn't allow to even glimmer slightly in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," Alex said sincerely. "I was with Maria most of the time."
And that was exactly the wrong thing to say.
"Well, shouldn't you be with her now?" Isabel asked snidely. "Doesn't she still need someone to hold her hand and tell her everything is going to be okay?"
"Isabel, stop it," Alex retorted, frowning. "Leave Maria out of this."
It took Isabel a moment to calm the sudden burst of jealousy at his words. It was completely irrational, as she well knew, but it was hard to look past the fact that Alex had spent all his time helping Maria with her problem, and had somehow managed to completely forget about the girl he was sort-of dating. "Fine," she said finally, her words biting. She turned away from him and walked over to the window, staring up at the sky. A few minutes ago she would have given anything at all to have someone here, comforting her. But now that Alex had shown up, all she wanted was for him to leave.
Alex shifted from one foot to the other, staring at Isabel's back. He could see the rigid lines of tension and wondered how soon it would be before all her walls broke down and the hurt and confusion and anger underneath just exploded. He was somewhat surprised he had missed it before, the fact that this was taking such a toll on her. But Isabel, he reflected, had always been able to get through whatever was wrong by relying on the fact that she had her friends and family to support her. Now what was wrong was that she didn't have that support... and so the problem was exacerbated by the fact that she had no one to go to.
"Look, Isabel, I'm sorry it took me this long to come over," Alex murmured finally. "And I really didn't mean to be ignoring you at school. I just..."
"You were too busy worrying about Maria," Isabel said quietly. There was no malice in her words, but when she turned towards Alex again, he could see the anger in her expression. He opened his mouth to protest, but she continued without giving him a chance to speak. "Just like Michael was too worried about Maria to talk to me. Just like Max was too worried about... well, whatever..." She shook her head.
"Can you blame them for being upset?"
Isabel gave Alex a searching look. "Liz was expressly ordered not to tell anyone our secret, and yet she did. You, and then Maria. But Max... Max didn't even get angry at her. It was like he could forgive her for anything she did because..." She trailed off. "And you know, maybe the trip to Marathon wasn't Maria's fault since Michael did pretty much abduct her, but this more recent excursion to Copper Summit? They put all of us at risk, and Maria was just as much to blame for it. Yet Max is less upset with Michael, and no one even thinks to blame Maria for any of it." She bit her lip indecisively, then rubbed her eyes with the palm of one hand. "But they won't talk to me. No one will... For God's sake, I'm Max's sister! I'm Michael's family, and I..."
"And Max trusted that you would always be honest with him," Alex said softly. "That's what hurts him the most about this."
Isabel crossed to the bed and sat down. "I trusted he would always keep us safe. And he did... right up until he decided to expose our secret to an entire diner packed with people..."
Alex cautiously took a seat next to her, and let out a sigh of relief when she didn't jump to her feet just to get away from him. "I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier," he said again. "I can't offer you much other comfort... I can't tell you what Max is thinking or why Michael doesn't want to talk to you. But... I'm here now. And I'm not going anywhere. Okay? I promise you that, I am not going to walk away."
Isabel looked at him, a small smile gracing her lips. "Thanks," she whispered, and then leaned in to kiss him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him backwards until they both collapsed onto the bed.
"Huh... so didn't need to see that," a voice drawled, and Isabel pushed away from Alex and sat up abruptly to find Tess standing in the doorway of her room, an incredibly confused looking Liz trailing behind.
"Tess. What are you doing here?" Isabel asked, flushing darkly and looking slightly flustered by everything. She slanted a look at Liz, wondering what the brunette waitress was doing in Tess' company, but before she could question that, Tess had pushed Liz into the room and closed the door sharply behind her.
"We need to talk," Tess said quickly, worriedly. "I told Max I needed a couple minutes to talk to you... girl talk... but I think he's going to get impatient soon. He's not used to people ignoring him."
"What are you talking about?" Isabel asked, worried.
"Have you noticed anything different about him lately?" Tess demanded. She leaned against the wall, and Liz took a seat on the chair by the desk.
"Yeah. He's been acting like..."
"Like someone who expects to be treated with the utmost respect by everyone," Tess supplied. "Like someone who expects to always get their way?"
There was a silence, then Liz murmured pointedly, "Like a king."
"Oh... you don't think...?" Isabel didn't bother finishing the question, just looked from one girl to the other with widened eyes.
"Izzy, he practically declared he loved me in the park. In front of Kyle and Chris. In front of people," Tess said, her words exploding from her lips, colored with panic and annoyance. "He punched Kyle. He dismissed Liz without a single glance. He... Isabel, I know that personality. I recognize it. And it isn't Max."
"What did Kyle and Chris do?" Alex asked, swiftly interjecting himself into the conversation.
"They think he was drunk," Tess replied. At Alex's surprised look, she added, "I made them think that."
"He was so... he just ignored me," Isabel said. "Do you think... do you think Zan really felt that way about me?"
Neither Alex nor Liz could answer that question, but Tess said, "If you were raised to believe that you were a king, that your family would always support you... and then your sister sells you out to your worst enemy? Yeah, I think Zan would hate you a lot more than Max ever could."
"Is it even possible to do this? To make him think he's Zan?" Alex asked, now looking at Isabel.
"I don't think he does think that," Liz replied. "I mean... he knew who he was. He knew he was Max. He knew I was Liz. He..." She stopped, unable to explain just what she thought might have happened. With a helpless little shrug, she continued, "But maybe... maybe he just... his personality is shifting more. Becoming Zan... without really becoming Zan. You know?"
"Which presents at least three serious problems," Tess added with a sharp look at Isabel.
"What problems?" Alex asked, once again feeling slightly out of the loop.
"People are going to notice that Max is acting strange. With all the media attention on Maria, we really can't afford more bizarre happenings. The last thing we want is to bring the FBI back into this mess," Isabel answered, ticking off one of the problems on her fingers.
"And we also don't know much about Zan," Tess added, addressing the second problem. "He obviously wasn't evil, or a cold-blooded killer, but he wasn't... isn't... completely safe. He attacked Kyle, and even if it was only a punch..." She frowned, lost in thought, then blinked, pulling herself back into the present, and said, "It could have turned into a lot worse of a fight if I hadn't been there to stop it. I think... I think we need to be a little wary of Zan. He obviously plays by different rules."
"I refuse to believe that Zan would hurt us," Liz said staunchly. "Not physically, anyway," she added, remembering the hurt she had felt at the coldness in Max's words when he spoke to her. "After all, Max is part Zan."
"Yeah, and Isabel's past life turned out to be a traitor," Tess retorted, jerking her head towards Isabel and rolling her eyes at Liz. Isabel flinched, but Tess continued without even a pause, "Which most of us probably wouldn't have guessed either. Face it, we don't know anything about our past lives. At least... we certainly don't know enough to guarantee that we're all safe around Max right now."
"And the third problem?" Alex asked softly when it became evident that no one was about to break the uneasy silence that had fallen. Isabel looked close to tears, and she eagerly seized the opportunity to change the subject.
"It is pretty unlikely that this just... happened."
Alex grasped the unspoken meaning and gaped at her, before stuttering, "You think someone did this to Max?"
"It is a definite possibility," Tess replied seriously. "The shed skin in the desert, the one Liz found at the Crashdown... the fact that Senator Whitaker, Nicolas Crawford, and the Mayor are all either skins or somehow related to the skins..."
"We've known for a while that we weren't alone," Isabel agreed in a voice barely above a whisper.
"So what now?" Alex asked.
Before anyone could answer, Max pushed the door open and walked into the room. "Done yet?" he asked, or rather, demanded, facing Tess. "I don't know why you need to spend so much time on girl talk." He shot Alex a suspicious glare, then added, "And Alex isn't a girl."
"Yeah, but he's more tolerant of our conversations about clothing and boys," Tess replied off-handedly.
Isabel moved closer to Tess and whispered in a voice only she could hear, "I'm going to talk to Michael. Tell him what's going on. You... talk to Max. Try to convince him to act normal again."
"Secrets?" Max asked, giving Isabel a suspicious look. "Why are you whispering?"
"It doesn't matter," Tess said. "It wasn't important."
Max hesitated, then shook his head. "Fine," he said shortly. "But don't do it again."
"Did you just give me an order?" Isabel snapped hotly, forgetting her resolve not to lose her cool around Max. This wasn't her brother, not the brother that she knew, and she had to proceed cautiously. Tess was right... they didn't know him and he could be dangerous.
"I have reason to be wary of secrets muttered around me," Max replied haughtily. "There are plenty of rumors already circulating, you know. I have to be careful. I have enemies."
"They are all our enemies," Isabel replied, feeling the renewed burning in her eyes, the desire to burst into tears at the look of complete disdain coming from Max.
Max didn't say anything.
"Max, why don't we go talk in your room," Tess suggested, but her tone made it clear that this was more of an order than a request. "Leave Isabel alone."
"I have every reason to worry," Max protested.
Tess narrowed her eyes. "Let's go."
"I'm not done," Max argued as Tess grabbed him by the arm and pulled him from the room. "Tess, I said I'm..."
"I heard you," Tess retorted, spinning to face him with a flushed face. "But I don't really care. I want to talk to you, in private, now."
Max's hard expression softened into one of bemusement, and he gave a low chuckle. "Still as temperamental as always, I see. You haven't changed, Tess."
She gave him a piercing look, then said with a semi-sad sigh, "Maybe not. But you have." And without another word, she gestured Max from the room.
Liz watched them go, her eyes never leaving Max's face. He didn't look at Tess with love, but with something else she couldn't quite identify. Reverence, perhaps, or admiration. But even if it wasn't pure love in his eyes, she noticed how his gaze never wandered from her, how he seemed to see nothing but the blonde in front of him. Nothing else could claim his attention when she was standing there, and Liz was helpless to do anything but watch as the boy she loved followed another woman out of the room.
"He loves her," Liz said as she pulled a pillow into her chest and leaned back against the wall. She was sitting on Maria's bed, forcing back the tears that wanted desperately to cascade down her face. "I could see it. He... All he could see was her."
"Chica, we've already established that this isn't Max," Maria replied. She'd come to Liz with the intention of venting about her own problems with Michael, but that had been instantly forgotten in the wake of Liz's recounting of the events of the day. The whole thing seemed like some twisted dream, and if she hadn't known that Liz wouldn't lie to her about something like this, she probably wouldn't have believed it.
Liz sighed. "I thought... I kept reassuring myself that it wasn't... that Zan and Ava weren't... weren't Max and Tess. And I know they're aren't but... Maria, you didn't see the way he acted around her. The way he listened to her. The way looked at her as though she was the only woman in the world. In the universe."
"And when he's Max again, he'll look at her the same we Max has always looked at her. Like she's an annoying teenage Queen Bee who he only puts up with because she is, technically, family."
Liz tried to force a faint smile at Maria's words, but it didn't reach her eyes. "What if he doesn't?" she asked finally, worriedly. "What if? Maria... what if when he becomes Max again... he still... he still wants to be with her?"
There really wasn't much Maria could say to that.
Next Chapter: The Consequences of Our Actions
Due: Sun 7/6 (hopefully)