Title: Dimensionality
Disclaimer: I don't own anything
Author's note: So, we jump forward in time about two years, but there will be a few flashbacks in this chapter to address some important things that happened in the intervening time.
The Eleventh Dimension II: Continuum
Since time is a continuum, the moment is always different, so the music is always different.
- Herbie Hancock
"So… what happened? How did Nick handle everything?"
Tess gave Liz and incredulous, and somewhat annoyed, stare. "I told Nick I was pregnant with somebody else's child. How do you think he took it?" Even as she said the words, though, the bitterness was seeping from her expression, and she hunched over, almost burying her head in her hands.
Liz's eyes narrowed at the anger in Tess' tone, but then her expression softened and she said, "It'll be okay."
Tess laughed darkly. "Yeah. Right. Sure it will."
Liz turned towards Max, throwing a helpless look in his direction, but all he could do was shrug. There was little anyone could say to make this easier. He knew how much Tess liked – possibly even loved – Nick, and doing this to him was undoubtedly hurting her as well.
"God… you should have seen his face," Tess continued in that same sour voice. "I mean… he looked like I'd torn out his heart and ripped it to shreds." She sniffled a few times, then said quietly, "I guess I did."
Isabel, who had been listening to the conversation quietly, came to sit next to Tess. "You made a mistake. It's not the end of the world."
"I'm pregnant and my boyfriend… ex-boyfriend… hates me," Tess retorted. Her eyes were swimming with tears, but she pushed them away and said in a shaky voice, "It might not be the end of the world, but it feels pretty damn close."
Max looked from Tess to Liz, one eyebrow raised in a silent question. Nobody had asked the question yet, and Max wasn't entirely sure he wanted to be the one to do it. But it had become quickly apparent that neither Liz nor Isabel had any intention of broaching the subject, and so he found himself asking hesitantly, "Have you told Kyle?"
Tess snapped her head towards Max, eyes suddenly hard and cold. "Yes," she said, biting off the word. And with that simple answer, with the fire that flashed momentarily through her blue eyes, Max knew that whatever Kyle had said or done in response to Tess' confession…
He clearly hadn't taken it well.
"But hey… I guess this is just one more thing that is never going to change, huh?" Tess said.
"What do you mean?" Isabel asked, eyebrows drawn together, face reflecting the same confusion that Max felt.
Tess wiped a hand across her face. "In the timelines when Max and I…" Liz winced, and Tess paused, then pulled herself together and pressed on, "It's never right, you know? I get a kid because I screwed up, not because I actually wanted one. And now with Kyle… it's like it's the same thing all over. I mean, I'm not making deals with Khivar or anything, but I still… I still get a kid for all the wrong reasons."
"But you do… you do want this baby, right?" Isabel murmured tentatively. "I mean, you might not have planned it, but now that you are pregnant…"
"Yeah," Tess answered, her hands moving automatically to her stomach. "Yeah, I really do."
Two years later...
In his mind, this day would always be the happiest and worst day of his life. He didn't know at the time just how quickly things were going to unravel, didn't understand the significance of the disease sweeping through New York City. Didn't know that the epidemic was the beginning of the end for him – for the war – or that he had anything to fear. But looking back, he saw the pattern clear as day, and knew that the very moment that the first citizen of the Big Apple got sick was the moment that started everything.
But in that moment, nothing mattered, nothing except the small box burning a hole in his pocket and the nervous beating of his own heart.
Liz was leaning against the counter in the kitchen of their apartment, the one they had shared for the last several months. She was watching the television, dark hair following over her eyes, obscuring her face from his view. But he could tell by the tense line in her shoulders that she was upset, and he turned his own gaze towards the screen.
"What's going on?"
She started and looked at him, apparently having not heard him enter the room. "Epidemic of some kind," she answered, nodding to the image of an overcrowded emergency room on the television. "They think it might be the flu. A particularly virulent one."
Max thinned his lips. "Michael and Maria? Kyle and Tess?"
"Already out of the city. They're in New Jersey right now, and might come up here if things get bad," Liz answered with a frown. She turned the television off and looked at him. "I'm sure they'll be fine."
"As long as Michael and Tess don't end up in the hospital," Max agreed with a heavy sigh.
Liz shrugged. "If they get sick, you'll heal them. They both know enough to not go to a hospital. And to not take Abby there, either."
Max nodded.
It should have occurred to him then. He knew it should have, because he knew about the bioterrorist attacks in the other timeline. Liz had told him, and the Max from the future had told her, and they knew that at some point an lien virus would spread quickly through New York City, destroying virtually anyone in its path, and bringing the FBI into the city to investigate.
But the hand in his pocket closed around the small box and Liz was looking at him, and he couldn't think of anything else.
"Liz," he began, his tone far too formal for his liking. But now that he had fallen into this manner of speaking, it felt as though he couldn't let go of it. "I was hoping we could speak…"
"Are you alright?" Liz asked, a flash of worry and amusement passing through her features.
His fingers tightened reflexively, the edges of the box pressing into his palm, and he tried to calm down. Tried to tell himself there was no reason to be nervous. But it was the rest of his life that would be affected by this, and even if he was fairly certain he knew how she would respond, it did nothing at all to ease the knot of tension slowly forming in the pit of his stomach.
"I keep thinking about all the futures," he said. "All the different timelines. And how screwed up everything was. And… I don't know, it feels different here. I mean, the timeline hasn't been perfect, but we're going to graduate soon and go out into the real world, and maybe… maybe this time we'll be more prepared for everything. Alien and human. You know?"
Liz nodded mutely. It had taken several months after the attack in New York before she could quite get over the fact that maybe Maria's death wasn't necessary in all those other timelines, and even now, Max wasn't sure how often she thought back on it. It didn't upset her as much, but the thoughts were still there, haunting them all.
All the things they had lost, and still could lose, if they didn't get it right this time.
"But there's so much we don't know. Why hasn't Khivar attacked us again? Why hasn't anything at all happened in the past two years? What is he waiting for, what is he planning? I can't help but worry about it all, and wonder if… if we'll survive whatever is coming next." Max sighed and ran his free hand through his hair. "But I also know that… that I love you. And sometimes, that seems like the only thing that really matters. And I want to be with you forever, no matter how short or long that is."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small box, carefully opening it to reveal the ring inside. It was a simple silver band with a single diamond in the middle, nothing too extravagant. But it didn't really matter to either of them what it looked like. All that mattered was what it represented.
"Liz Parker," Max said, his throat suddenly dry, "will you marry me?"
There was a long pause, and Liz simply stared at him, as though she could not find the right words. But there was only one word she needed to say, and as a soft smile lit up her face, she forced out a choked, "Y-yes…"
He slid the ring onto her finger, and she wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, resting her head on his chest. He held her tightly, and for that brief moment, nothing else in the world really mattered.
But in New York City, the epidemic continued to spread, and a few members of the FBI began to wonder.
For once, Max was actually relieved to be away from Liz. It wasn't that he didn't love being around her, didn't enjoy seeing her so eagerly planning her own wedding, ecstatic over every detail. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate just how important this was to her, or that he didn't like the way her face lit up whenever he walked into the room, or that he wasn't happy that her parents and his parents were so supportive of them.
It was that she'd asked Isabel to help with the planning.
Alex placed a Coke on the table in front of Max and bit back a grin. "You look a little shell-shocked, man."
Max shook his head wordlessly, then managed to sputter, "There were flowers and different kinds of cake and Isabel kept going on and on about vows and I just…"
"Yes, well… you are Isabel's brother," Alex pointed out lightly as he took a sip of his own soda. "She wants the wedding to be perfect for you."
Max grimaced. "It's going to be a whole lot less perfect for everyone if she drives me insane first. We'll have to have the wedding in some kind of mental hospital."
"Well, at least she has Maria to balance her out," Alex said after a pause.
Max nodded, and said with a touch of irony in his voice, "I never thought I'd say this, but Maria has been the voice of reason in all this."
Alex chuckled. "Well, you are the one who proposed, Max. You had to know what would happen the minute you told Isabel that you were getting married." Then he sobered and asked, "You're sure it's not too much stress? I mean, I don't think Liz would mind if you pushed the wedding out a few months…"
"No," Max said firmly. "I'm not changing this."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "That was… emphatic."
Max looked down at the table and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I know. I just… We're not in control. This is Khivar's game, and he's making all the rules, and he knows it."
Frown lines momentarily marred Alex's features, and he asked in obvious confusion, "What?"
Max swallowed uneasily. "I killed Nicolas, and Khivar didn't attack us again for over a year. Then he tries to take Isabel and fails, and again doesn't attack us for two years. Then Rath and Lonnie and some skins try to kill Maria and we defeat them and Khivar does nothing. And I know that we should think of this… this respite… as a good thing, but it's not. Khivar is always the one to attack. We're waiting for him to make the moves, to do everything. To fight the war. It's all on his terms, and we don't know when or how he'll strike next. Yes, knowing about the future helps a little, but not enough. He's still the one controlling this war. I mean… Alex, it's been two years and we still don't know why they went after Maria."
It wasn't a conversation he meant to have with Alex. It was more the sort of thing he'd talk to Michael about, or Isabel and Liz, or even Tess. But none of them were there at the moment, and he needed to say this, needed to explain, because it was weighing heavily on his mind. As long as they were always on the defensive, how could they ever hope to win?
"I have to go through this wedding, now, the way we want it. Because… because I love Liz and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want this to be something that she and I control, not… not something controlled by other people."
"I'm talking about delaying the wedding so that you don't have to plan it during your finals and so close to graduation, Max," Alex said gently. "Not because we're at war."
"I know. But I just… I don't want to give in to anything else. Not even college. I want to marry Liz, and if she wants to get married over the summer, then we'll get married over the summer. And nothing is going to prevent that."
"Mr. Evans. Might we have a moment of your time?"
Max looked up, surprised. He was sitting at the library, his head buried in a book as he tried to do some last minute studying before finals. He had not heard the nondescript man approach, and was caught completely unaware.
His gaze ran up and down over the man. Brown hair and brown eyes, tan skin. Average height, average build. Average in almost every way.
That alone was enough to tell Max that this man was anything but average.
And if he had any doubts about who the man was, they were quickly discarded as the man reached into the pocket of his sports jacket and withdrew an FBI badge, holding it up for Max to see.
Max swallowed. "What is this about… Agent White?" he asked, reading the name on the badge.
Agent White smiled, and said coolly, "Are you sure that is a conversation you want to have in public? Believe me, that won't end well for you." He glanced around the library with an air of distaste, as though he couldn't quite believe he'd deigned to enter such a place. Then he switched his gaze back to Max, wearing the same infernal smile, and Max shuddered.
He glanced down, and noticed that Agent White's right hand was resting on the gun he wore on his belt. He quickly straightened himself, refusing to allow the FBI agent to see his fear. "Did you have somewhere in mind?" he asked.
"I believe that the library has a few conference rooms, and I am sure that one of them is empty. Perhaps we should talk there. And don't worry, I've already swept that room for bugs. You don't have to be concerned about being… overheard."
That was little comfort to Max, but he allowed himself to be lead towards the conference room. In his mind, he ran quickly through a list of possible escape plans, considering everything from demanding a lawyer to simply using his powers and fleeing. But he wasn't sure which one was the best, wasn't sure which one would cause the least amount of problematic repercussions.
And so he had no plan at all, and ended up standing in the empty conference room across from an FBI agent who quite obviously knew who and what he was.
"Mr. Evans, please, have a seat," Agent White said, nodding towards the table.
Max thought fleetingly of refusing, but decided against it. He pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, trying his best to keep his breathing under control and steady his racing heartbeat.
"I am sorry to interrupt your studying," Agent White continued as he slid into the seat across from Max and studied the hybrid with a feral glint in his eyes. "I am sure this is a stressful time for you, having to worry about graduation and a wedding." A slight pause, then, "And how is Ms. Parker?"
Max's eyes narrowed. "Leave Liz out of this. She has nothing to do with any of it."
Agent White laughed, a chilling sound. "Doesn't she, though?" he murmured, leaning forward. Max didn't say anything, and White continued, "Alright, let's get right down to business, shall we? I'd like to ask you a few questions about your… friends. Starting with…" he pulled out a photograph and placed it in front of Max, "her."
Max looked down at the chubby cheeks and bright blue eyes of the toddler. The girl was looking at something just to the right of the camera, smiling happily and clapping her hands. Behind the girl stood two people in their earlier twenties, the woman with blonde curls and the man with brown locks.
Max inhaled slowly, then lifted his gaze to Agent White. "I don't know who she is," he answered.
Agent White snorted. "You have nothing to gain from lying, Mr. Evans," he said, rolling his eyes. He leaned forward even further, and added, "Let me make this situation a bit clearer for you, Mr. Evans. The library is being watched by other Agents from my team. You may have some crazy notion that you can either lie or fight your way out of this conversation, but I assure you, it is not that simple. I have waited a long time to speak to you, and I have no intention of allowing you to walk out of here without providing some answers. So if you want to keep yourself, your friends," he tapped his finger on the photograph, "and this pretty little girl safe, then I suggest you start talking."
Max remained silent.
"Fine," Agent White snapped, "Do you need a reminder? Her name is Abby Valenti, her parents are Tess Harding and Kyle Valenti. Is that correct?"
Max glared silently at the FBI agent.
"And what can you tell me about Tess Harding and Kyle Valenti, Mr. Evans? What can you tell me about their relationship?"
It was supposed to be a quick trip down to New York to check on Tess. Even though they were fairly certain that the baby would be completely human – Tess said alien pregnancies only last a month and it had been over four months since the conception – they still didn't want to take her to a hospital. The risk was too great, and that unfortunately meant that the temperamental blonde was going through the rollercoaster of pregnancy without a doctor.
It was supposed to be a quick trip… and yet somehow, Tess had convinced Isabel to stay an extra night, and since Max was driving Isabel back to Boston, he ended up being forced to spend the extra night as well.
He was standing in the doorway to Tess' kitchen, watching as the two girls talked with their heads close together. They were speaking loud enough for him to hear, though, and it felt a bit like eavesdropping. Except that he was positive that they both knew he was standing there and could kick him out if they wanted privacy.
"It doesn't feel weird? Being with Kyle? You don't… I mean, you're happy, right?"
Tess was silent for a moment, thinking. Then she nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess I am. I mean… I really like Kyle."
"That wasn't particularly enthusiastic," Isabel said cautiously.
Tess shrugged. "Yeah, I know. It's… hard. I won't lie about that. Sometimes, it feels like I only made this decision because of the baby, and if we hadn't slept together, then I'd still be with Nick. And I don't know. Maybe that's true. But I do really like Kyle."
"What do you like about him?" Isabel pressed.
Tess smiled wistfully and stared off into space. "I like the fact that he sings in the shower when he thinks no one can hear him. I like that he puts so much sugar in his coffee it makes my teeth hurt, but he won't drink it if it has even a drop of milk. I like the way his eyes light up when he talks about football and the way he smiles when he looks at me. I like that talks to the baby, and I like that he blushes bright red whenever I tell anyone that. I like that I can tell him I'm tired and he knows that means I want ice cream and pickles. I like that he doesn't care that I'm a freak."
Isabel chuckled at the last one. Then she sobered and asked, "And you don't think about… about all the what-ifs?"
Tess looked up, her gaze going past Isabel and landing on Max. He stared back at her, and she held his gaze for a beat before looking at Isabel and answering honestly, "If Kyle and I… if we don't work, then we don't work, and we'll cross that bridge when we get there."
Isabel chewed her lip thoughtfully and lowered her head, staring at the table. Max watched her for a long moment, wondering if he should interrupt, or join in the conversation, or just walk away.
Then Tess said, "I'm not Liz. Or Maria. I don't have this… this epic love. I don't have any of that soul mate whatever that they keep going on about, and that's fine. I don't need it. I never thought I'd say this, but… but I don't need any kind of destiny to tell me what's right and what's wrong. I'll figure it out. And contrary to what I'm sure Liz thought of me when I first told her I was pregnant, I don't jump into bed with people I don't love. So even if I'm not expecting fireworks or thunder and lightning...and I'm not waiting for divine intervention and prophetic signs… and I'm not thinking about all the other possibilities… Kyle is… Kyle. And that's enough for me."
"Oh, God," Isabel muttered, dropping her head onto the table. "Who'd have thought you'd be the one to end up with the most grown-up relationship out of the group?"
"I ended up in this relationship because I got into a fight with my boyfriend and then ended up sleeping with my ex," Tess countered, a bit ironically. "You call that grown-up?"
Max left the kitchen then, and didn't hear the rest of the conversation.
"Is their child human?"
Max started and glared at Agent White. "Of course she is!"
Again, the FBI Agent shook his head, somewhat exasperated. "You're still not getting it, are you? We know about you. We know a lot about you. And your lies will only get you into even more trouble, Mr. Evans."
"It's not a lie!" Max hissed. And it wasn't. Abby Valenti was completely human.
Agent White frowned, then nodded slowly. "Alright. Now… tell me about her mother. Tess Harding."
"Blonde. Blue eyes. Likes ice cream," Max deadpanned.
"And has the ability to control people's minds?" Agent White finished. "That's a neat trick. Most twenty-somethings aren't quite as talented."
Max gaped. It took him a moment to regain his senses his school his expression back to neutral, but inside he was still panicking. How did the FBI know so much about them?
"Alright, then let's move on to someone else, shall we?" Agent White said with a sigh. "How about Ms. Isabel Evans? What can you tell me about her?"
Max didn't answer.
"Mr. Evans, you are not helping yourself," Agent White said, a tinge of annoyance in his voice.
"I'm not telling you anything," Max snapped.
"Then let me tell you something," Agent White said with a huff of irritation. "A story, perhaps?" He lifted one eyebrow, watching for a reaction from Max, but the hybrid king stared at him coolly and gave nothing away. Agent White lifted his chin slightly, and said, "Make yourself comfortable, this story may take a while."
"What could you possibly have to say that would interest me?" Max asked.
Agent White smiled, lips curling upwards into a thin smirk. Lifting his hand, he pointed towards the ceiling with one finger and said, "Somewhere up there, in some galaxy far, far away, you've got a home planet. And you're pretty important to people on that planet, although I'm not quite sure why. An outlaw, maybe? A fugitive? Either way, you and your band of alien followers are important enough for the rest of your planet to send people after you. People who apparently want you dead."
Max bit his lip to keep all remarks at bay. It was a bit terrifying just how close to the truth the FBI Agent was, although he apparently didn't know Max's exact identity.
It was almost amusing, the fact that he thought Max was an outlaw.
Almost.
"So, as we said, there is Ms. Harding with the ability to control minds. Ms. Isabel Evans with the ability to communicate with people across long distances and influences subconscious thoughts. Dreams, perhaps? And Mr. Guerin, quite the character, with a rather impressive ability to make things explode. And then, of course, yourself, with the ability to heal injuries. How am I doing so far, Mr. Evans?"
"Interesting theory," Max said with a bravado that he did not feel, "but completely crazy."
"Is it? Really? Well, hear me out, won't you? Humor me while I finish my tale." Agent White leaned forward, eyes gleaming. "I'm not the first FBI Agent to discover the truth about you four, am I? But interestingly, all the others are dead. Only a few of us remain who know the truth. You've seen to that, haven't you?"
"What are you accusing me of?" Max demanded furiously.
"Murder," Agent White answered easily, nonchalantly. "Oh, I am sure you'll wave it off as self-defense, but you did kill, didn't you?"
For a moment, Max thought of Nicolas. But he savagely pushed that thought away. He would not dwell on the skin leader, not now. Not while he had a more pressing enemy to deal with, to somehow evade.
"Now, perhaps you fled to this planet with no intention of doing any of us harm. Perhaps you just wanted a place to live, to be safe," Agent White continued thoughtfully, his cold smile firmly back in place. "But you brought a battle with you, didn't you? You brought enemies. You brought all of this on us, and for what? Your own safety? How many humans have died for your protection, Mr. Evans, and how many will continue to die in the future?"
His tone had gotten hard and cold, a firm edge to it. But it wasn't the tone that bothered Max so much as the words, and the inherent truth behind them. None of this was his fault, not really, but did that change the fact that people had died because of him? And would continue to die?
"Now… you've heard my story, so tell me some of yours. Tell me about your sister, Mr. Evans. Tell me what kind of person she is. Her hopes and dreams… and fears."
Max refused to say anything, even as a vague memory played through his mind.
"Need a hand with anything?"
Max looked up as Isabel poked her head into the kitchen. Liz had prepared the meal, and all he was doing was serving the dishes. "Thanks, Izzy, but I've got it covered."
Isabel nodded and glanced over her shoulder towards the other room. Max could see Liz talking quietly to Maria and Alex. Michael was still in New York having to work, and neither Tess nor Kyle really wanted to make the trip, so it was just the five of them.
"You should go join them," Max said, nodding to their friends. "I'll have everything out on the table pretty soon." Isabel chewed her lip and nodded, a hesitancy in her gaze. Max sighed and turned away from the food, giving his sister his full attention. "What's wrong?"
"I talked to Tess this morning," Isabel murmured. "She seems so… happy."
Max raised one eyebrow and asked in some bewilderment, "Is that a bad thing? She's your best friend, Izzy."
"I know, I know," Isabel agreed, waving away Max's comment. "Of course I'm happy for her. But I just… I don't know. Everyone else has found the one and I still feel like I'm treading water or something."
"Didn't you date about twelve different guys last year?" Max asked curiously, a hint of a smile pulling at his features. His attractive sister had never really had a problem getting a date, but it had also been clear that her heart wasn't really in any of those relationships.
She frowned at him.
"You know," he said carefully, well aware that he was treading on thin ice, "maybe there is a reason why you're not finding the right guy yet. Maybe you already found him."
Isabel folded her arms over her chest and glared at him. "Not you, too," she groaned.
"Hey, you're the one who brought up the subject," Max defended himself. "Can't blame me for that."
For a moment, Isabel looked like she was going to argue, but then she just shrugged. "I went out with Daniel a few times this week," she said.
Max tilted his head to the side. "Daniel? Uh… blonde guy, right? From one of your classes? Tall, lanky? Really boring?" She glared at him again, but this time there was no heat behind her expression. "How'd that go?" Max pressed.
Again, Isabel shrugged. "Fine, I guess. It was just so… normal. We had coffee, we went to dinner, we saw a movie. Three dates, and it just… I don't know. The world didn't end or anything like that."
Max grinned. "Yeah. You do realize the world not ending is a good thing, right?"
"Yeah, I know," Isabel said, slumping against the wall. "I just feel like I'm in this rut, and the rest of you are moving around, going past me and I… I don't know. I'm stuck. I can't keep up."
For a moment, Max was quiet, thinking over all the possible things he could say. Isabel was gazing at him expectantly, waiting for answers he didn't have, and he sighed, wishing he had more to offer her.
"Look," he said finally, "I know that you're trying really hard to have a different life. To not let what we know about the other futures dictate how we act now. And I get that, I really do. But if you don't want anything to do with those lives, it means you're going to miss the good along with the bad."
He picked up a tray and stepped around Isabel, towards the dining room. She caught his arm as he passed, searching his face for a moment.
Then she smiled. "You're not so bad at this, you know. Listening and sympathizing and giving advice. You're like… practically a girl."
Max pushed back his chair and looked away from Agent White, trying to keep his thoughts focused. Part of him wanted to run, but what could he do? If the place really was surrounded, then there was probably no chance of escape. And if he used his powers, he risked exposure. Agent White knew a lot, but it didn't seem as though he had any proof yet. Just conjecture. Just theories.
"I must admit, I have several questions for you," Agent White said, leaning back in his chair. He tapped one finger on the photograph still on the table and added, "About Abby Valenti, for instance. How did two aliens give birth to a pure human?"
"Kyle's not an alien," Max answered, lips flattening into a straight line. "And you clearly haven't done decent research if you think otherwise."
"Ah… yes. So tell me, what did you do to him? How did you turn him into one of you?"
Max said nothing, and the door behind him suddenly swung open. He turned sharply to stare up at the woman who had entered. She was young, perhaps about his age, and she gave him a cursory look, before turning towards Agent White with a questioning expression.
"Mr. Evans, may I introduce Agent Jennifer Walker?" Agent White said with a casual wave of his hand.
Max's eyebrows rose slightly as he took in the site of the other woman. In several of the timelines, Kyle had married a woman named Jennifer, he knew that much. And in at least one, if not more, of those timelines, Jennifer had secretly been FBI.
Jennifer took a seat next to White and smiled, a smile that lacked all warmth. "Pleasure," she drawled. Max still said nothing, and she folded her arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side.
"Now… where were we?" Agent White mused. "Ah, yes. Kyle Valenti. You were going to tell me how you turned him into one of you. And the same with Ms. Parker, I believe."
"I'm not telling you anything," Max replied. "And you have no right to hold me here."
Agent White laughed. "I don't need rights," he answered honestly. "Trust me, there isn't anyone in my organization – or any other organization – who will stop me."
Max clenched his hands into fists. It was like Pierce all over again, although as of right now, Agent White had made no move to physically hurt him.
"Tell me, why the virus?"
Max looked up sharply, eyes darting towards Agent Walker. She was staring at him, her gaze blunt and questioning and completely devoid of compassion. Unlike Agent White, she wasn't even pretending to be civil. There was a hardness to her expression, a firm set of the lines of her face, that indicated just how little she thought of Max.
"What virus?" Max asked, honestly confused.
"The one in New York City," Agent Walker replied calmly. "The alien virus currently killing anyone it infects."
Max just stared at her, completely taken aback. The news reports had all said it was some kind of flu, and he'd ignored it, hadn't thought to question those facts. None of them had.
But the epidemic in New York City had occurred in almost every timeline, wiping out a large amount of the population and bringing the FBI into the equation again. How could he have seen the news reports and not remembered this? Even if they were saying that it was the flu?
In every timeline in which they had occurred, this epidemic had been the beginning of the end. The final stage of the war.
"I… I didn't know it was alien," he admitted. "I had nothing to do with that."
"Right," Agent Walker drawled disbelievingly. "Sure you didn't. People are dying. I understand that you don't care about this at all, but we care. These are our people you're killing, and I won't just sit idly by and let you continue. I made that mistake once already, but I know better now."
"What do you mean?" Max asked, blinking in confusion. "When did you…"
"So let's move on to someone else, shall we?" Agent White interrupted, setting another photograph on the table.
Max glanced at it quickly, stomach twisting. He looked up at Agent White. "She has nothing to do with this, either."
"Maria DeLuca. Girlfriend of Michael Guerin. Daughter of Amy DeLuca, who is in quite a serious relationship with Jim Valenti. That would make her and Kyle Valenti practically siblings, wouldn't it?"
And they argue like siblings, Max thought wearily. How many times had he seen Maria and Kyle at each other's throat over nothing of any consequence? They bickered nearly as much as Maria and Michael did, and only occasionally did their disagreements touch on anything important.
Like the argument they had the week after Tess told Kyle she was pregnant.
"How could you just walk out on her like that?"
"Hey, my entire life just got very screwed up, even by alien standards. Don't you think I'm entitled to a moment or two of panic?"
"Yes, Kyle, a moment or two. Not an entire week!"
Max frowned as he opened the door to his apartment to hear Maria and Kyle yelling at each other. He hadn't known that either of them had any plans to be in Boston that day, or that they were going to be visiting him, so as he stepped into the room, he automatically looked for Liz, assuming they'd made the plans with her.
But she was nowhere to be seen.
Maria was pacing in agitation, glaring at Kyle. The hapless football jock was sitting on one of the chairs at the table, slumped forward. But though he looked exhausted and frazzled, his jaw was clenched and his eyes flashed with anger as he stared back at the pixie blonde.
"When did you become such a fan of Tess? You barely tolerate her most of the time and…"
"That doesn't give you the right to walk out on her when she's pregnant, you jerk!"
"Um… guys?" Max started.
Maria ignored him, continuing her tirade. "It's your baby, too, and it doesn't matter how freaked out you are, it is still your responsibility."
"Stop dumping all of your daddy issues on me, Maria!"
"Guys?" Max tried again.
"Shut up, Max!" Kyle and Maria both snapped in unison, giving him identical furious glares.
Liz appeared at his side, resting a hand on his arm. "Leave them be," she whispered. "I tried getting involved, too. It didn't work. And I am the one they were both supposed to be visiting."
"What's the matter?" Agent Walker sneered. "Cat got your tongue?" Max glared at her, but it did no good. She just shrugged and pressed on, "So tell me, Mr. Evans, what did you do back on your home planet? What crime was so horrible that you have an entire army of aliens after you?"
Max closed his eyes for a moment, collecting his thoughts. There was no reason to answer the question, he knew it would do no good. Somehow, the FBI knew far more about him than they should, and were determined to believe the worst. It was a typical human response, he supposed, and part of the reason he hadn't even told his parents the truth.
"We're not the enemy," Max said finally. "Look, it is true that the others don't care if people die. But we do care. We don't want this, we never wanted it. And we're not the ones you should be fighting."
Agent White chuckled softly, bitterly. "Is that so?" He leaned forward, his words a mere hiss, "You've killed, Mr. Evans, and so have your… friends. So don't tell me that you're not the enemy."
"We just want to live normal lives. We just want to be normal," Max said, realizing with a start that he was actually pleading with this man. He tried frantically to regain control, but he couldn't quite erase the begging quality of his voice. "You have to believe that. We don't want to hurt anyone."
"I don't have to believe anything you say," Agent Walker interjected smoothly. "If you don't want to give us an honest answer, that's fine. We can take care of the problem on our own."
There was absolutely no doubt in Max's mind what she meant by taking care of the problem.
"So you're going to kill me?" Max shot back, anger coursing through his veins. "Call it self-defense, of course, but it's still killing," he spat, throwing Agent White's earlier words back at him.
The agent jumped to his feet, eyes blazing. "Don't you dare compare us," he snarled, all traces of civility gone from his features and voice. "I am nothing like you. You're the enemy, Mr. Evans, not me. Not us."
"We want this to end, Mr. Evans," Agent Walker said. "We want to stop the killing. And if you can't help us do that… well, you are the threat. If we just get rid of you and your friends…"
"You leave them out of this!" Max ordered tersely.
"I'm not the one who brought them into this," she answered softly. Beside her, Agent White slowly sat back down, and she gave him a quick look. Then she turned back to Max and continued, "I gave you the benefit of the doubt once. You know, Mr. Evans, the Bureau has been watching you for nearly five years now. We know about your trip to Copper Summit, about the people who died there. We know that something happened to Mr. Jesse Ramirez, although the details were vague. And we know about the fight in New York City two years ago, and the people who died there. And I thought… I thought that I could forgive it. You only killed aliens, after all, so maybe it really was in self-defense. I argued for the Bureau to leave you alone, to let you live your lives. That perhaps we could ignore all the deaths prior to that, assume that they were self-defense as well, and if we left you alone, no harm would come to us. And now… now we have hundreds of people dead or dying." She pressed her lips together for a moment, then said, "Clearly, I was wrong about you. But, as I said, I have no intention of repeating that mistake."
"I'm not responsible for the outbreak," Max answered honestly. "I'm not the one spreading the virus."
"Even if we believe that that is true," Agent White said, "which I highly doubt, you're still the reason for it. They're after you, aren't they?"
Max rubbed his eyes. What could he do? Lying would get him nowhere, and he certainly couldn't tell them the truth, no matter how much of it they had managed to guess. But he was not going to give them anything to use as leverage against the others. He would protect his family, no matter the cost.
A hard ball formed in the pit of his stomach. Was he really, truly thinking of going through with this?
And yet… what other choice did he have?
He needed to stall for time, to make sure he could do this, that he wouldn't screw it up at the last minute…
"Yes," he said. "Yes, they are after me."
"Why?"
"We just wanted to be normal," Max murmured. "But we saw the future, and we knew normal wasn't possible. Not really. So we just… we tried to survive. To stay alive."
"What do you mean? How did you see the future? Another power?" Agent White asked in interest.
Max laughed and shook his head. "Not quite. But yes, it was an alien thing. And so, I guess that you're right about us. We knew the epidemic could happen. We didn't know that it would happen, we weren't responsible for it. But we knew that it had happened before, in a different timeline, and so it was certainly a possibility. I don't know what we could have done to prevent it, if there was anything at all that could have stopped him from doing this. But… I guess it is possible that we could have done something different, and that… that thought haunts me."
He pushed back his chair and stood up, turning away from them and staring blankly at the wall. He heard both agents rise to their feet as well, and he drew a slow breath, knowing what was about to happen.
"It isn't the only thing you're right about, though…" he said softly.
Then he spun around and flung out both hands, sending a burst of energy towards the agents.
They were dead before they hit the ground.
"In the end, I can call it self-defense if I want, but it's still killing," Max said with a heavy sigh. "I'm still a killer."
"I keep thinking about the future. All of them. I keep thinking… I keep thinking that I don't want this. Any of it. It… it scares me. Terrifies me, Max."
It had been months since Maria was attacked. Months, and they still didn't know why. Months since Tess had announced that she was pregnant, months since Kyle had freaked out at the news but still reluctantly took on the role of a father and boyfriend. Their lives had finally gotten somewhat back on track, and though Max was still waiting for the next battle, the next fight, feeling like it could happen at any minute. "What do you mean, Izzy?" he asked, looking up at his sister.
"I mean… did you notice how in all the other timelines, I'm never happy? Khivar's after me, and Alex dies, and then Jesse dies, and I just… I don't know. It's like all my dreams, everything I wanted just gets… destroyed. Completely."
She sat down across from him, not quite meeting his gaze, and Max wondered if he was supposed to say something, or she just wanted someone to listen.
A moment later, she started speaking again, "But Maria… I remember what she told Liz. That we've got this new timeline, and it's the one we should be worrying about. And… I don't know, but maybe I've been so worried about avoiding the other timelines that I've… I've tried to avoid this one, too. And I don't want that. I don't want to feel… stuck. Maybe I love Alex, and maybe I don't. Maybe I love Jesse and maybe I don't. Maybe the whole thing is messed up and I'll find someone else tomorrow and it will be perfect, but… but it isn't tomorrow yet. We're still here, and Jesse doesn't even know about any of this, about who and what I am, but Alex does and… maybe it's all wrong. Maybe I'll hate it. Maybe Alex and I won't work out, but I won't know unless I try. You know?"
Max ran a hand through his hair and studied Isabel for a long moment, before saying quietly, "You know, Izzy, I'm not the one you should be telling all this. Don't you think you should be talking to Alex?"
It was like some bad horror movie, Max thought, as he settled himself behind the wheel of the car, Liz riding shotgun and Alex and Isabel in the back seat. No one said anything at all, too in shock over what had happened. He didn't know where they would go, what they would do. He only knew that they needed to leave, needed to get out of the city now, while they still had the chance.
Isabel leaned her head against Alex's chest and he wrapped his arm around her and pressed a kiss into her hair. Max watched them for a moment in the rearview mirror, then turned his attention to the road in front of him.
Getting out of the library hadn't been easy. Agent White had not been bluffing when he said the place was surrounded by other members of the FBI. In fact, it was more by sheer luck than anything else that Max made it out of there. He'd had enough foresight to pull the fire alarm, thereby emptying the entire building and allowing him to slip out in the crowd. He'd gotten only about half a block from the building, however, before he had been forced to run, in broad daylight, away from the three agents who converged on him. Only skilful use of his powers to cause a diversion – an exploding car – had allowed him to get away and send a frantic phone call to the others, telling them it was time to run.
And now they were here.
"Michael is getting Maria and Tess. Kyle was with Abby when I called, so the two of them just fled, and they'll meet up with us," Liz said, breaking the silence.
Max nodded. "My picture will be on the news," he said, a bit numbly. "I don't think they caught me using my powers on tape, but… but I was running from FBI agents who were firing guns at me…"
"The important thing is that the rest of the world still thinks you're a human threat, and not an alien one," Alex spoke up. "I know it doesn't seem like much reassurance, and it isn't, not really. But at least we don't have to worry about the media or some other government knowing the truth."
Isabel shivered. "They'll still come after us. The FBI knows. And… and they'll come. After us, after our families. After Abby. How are we going to protect a baby in all of this?"
"We'll figure it out," Alex murmured, kissing her quickly. "Don't worry. She's got her Mommy and Daddy and Uncles Max and Michael and Aunt Isabel to look after her."
Isabel chewed her lip and didn't look convinced.
Max stared ahead, the scenery flying by outside the window of the car as they left their lives behind. It was over now, all of it. Every dream they had had for a normal life, every shred of hope they had desperately clung to with the belief that they could change the future, make it better…
It was all over.
"What happens now, Max?" Isabel asked tentatively.
Max shook his head and pressed his foot harder on the gas pedal. "I have no idea."