Chapter 17

Michael – June 11, 2006, Sunday 4:32 PM

Once Liz was down, it was a fog. Michael moved. Followed orders. Drove. He did everything he was asked and visions of his wife swam in his head until they got back to the mansion. Then some of his calm returned. She was fine. Worried, now, but fine. Then Max went outside with the ball of energy after it looked like Liz wasn't going to make it. Maria's nails in his arm, Michael watched Zan work. It didn't feel real. Nothing. The last two years on the run until they were saving Max and Liz, even then, it didn't seem possible that someone could die. Even after all the things he had done, Michael was sure they were all living in some sort of bubble.

Now, Liz could die. Maria's hand on his arm anchored him. Then Zan turned to him. "Get Max."

Max was doing his best to deal with the power Liz had given him. Max had to hand it over and the second it was in his hands, Michael had to fight it. It was tricky and seductive. He pushed it out and it was so destructive and that appealed to his former self. To set a world on fire was a dream of Rath's. Michael tamped it down and remembered what Max said about tiny breaths. Pinhole sized breaths. So destructive.

When Max came back, he was angry but took the energy back and Michael was so grateful. When he heard the news, it was perfectly understandable that Max was angry and Max was going to be outside setting things on fire and releasing that power ball slowly.

Michael helped get the babies under control. Isabel paced by the back door while Max refused to talk to anyone. Max seemed to be getting worse. Then Liz woke up. Michael blurted it out. He didn't mean to. "Max is losing it. Liz, Max is really freaking out."

Maria's hand returned to his arm. He'd said the wrong thing. Liz's face went absolutely blank. Unreadable. He'd never seen her look like that but then she was on her way out. She had Pierce gathering their things. Maria panicked and started gathering food for them. Giving away their good cooler.

Everyone seemed very quiet after that. Zan and Ava disappeared. Isabel and Alex argued in their room. Maria cried. Michael helped with the babies. Then Max walked in at last. It was dark out and Max seemed very confused for a very long moment. Max looked at him, confused. Michael watched him count the cars and then walk upstairs. Tess came down a few moments later and took over the babies.

Maria had given him some of the details, but Maria was in panic mode. "I saw her face and I couldn't say anything. She thinks we hate her."

"Probably better for now." Michael began gathering their things. They'd leave in the morning.

"I don't know her anymore. Or Alex. The way they both talk now."

"Sh." Michael wrapped his arms around her.

"Michael… I don't feel different. I feel like the same person I was when we were in high school. How did everything change so much?" Maria cried. "If you had seen her face… She was… like she wasn't there. And him. Jesus. I swear he was smiling… like he was happy, and I was frozen."

Michael squeezed her tight and let her cry. Michael had accidentally sent them on. He had misread Max because they had all done the same thing… assumed Max was incapable. "Isabel has got to stop treating Max like he's fragile."

"What?" Maria sniffed suddenly.

"He's starting to believe it."

"You noticed that?" Maria held on him but stopped crying for now.

"I know you miss everyone, but I think staying away is best for our sanity. For now."

"Michael…"

"We have to take care of each other. I love Iz and Max but you're my family. You and Sammy. So, we're going home and… you're going to find a doctor."

"What?" Maria pushed him away.

"To make sure you're okay. You need a doctor to look after you to make sure you're going to be okay. You need someone to tell you what to tell me to do so I can keep you safe and happy. I'm going to be in and out all the time while we round up the stragglers."

"Okay." Maria nodded.

"This life is a mess… so ours can't be. It can't."

"Okay." She stepped back into his arms. "Can't we get word to her? So, she knows we don't hate her."

"She's Liz. She knows."

"She's not that Liz anymore. She's just not." Maria shook her head at him. "She's getting lost in who she needs to be."

Liz – June 11, 2006, Sunday 6:32 pm

Liz woke in bed. Her husband sitting beside the bed, mopping her brow. Worried friends trailing out the doorway. "What happened?"

"What do you remember?" Daniel wrung out the towel and rubbed her arm.

"Um… the boy… in the warehouse… I got him and that's it." Liz sucked in air and even that hurt.

"You passed out. We couldn't wake you up." Daniel told her. "Everyone tried."

Liz looked to the doorway. Maria and Isabel looked worried. Beyond them, Michael and Zan looked grim. She could hear explosions. "Who is that?"

"Max." Isabel whispered. "He has to bleed off some of the energy you were carrying. He's been at it for hours."

Maria's eyes were watery. "He knows… about the baby."

"He's not taking it well." Isabel filled in, worry giving way to anger.

Liz tried to sit up, but everything was sore. Like she'd been hit by a truck. Daniel supported her until she could get the headboard behind her back. "Shit."

"You need to rest." He told her.

"Zan." Liz motioned him into the room. "Tell me. I don't remember a whole lot."

"Nicholas got in somehow. Before he went, he um… set a bomb. You pushed everyone out before it went off and… if it weren't for your man… we wouldn't have known. You held onto him until the very last." Zan gestured to Daniel. "When I healed him last year, must have opened some pathways. He froze it until we could get in to see what was wrong."

"But you found it."

"We stopped it and then we brought you back. It took a while. You were sweating and fighting it off but… Max was the only one who could get in. Then he could see why you were fighting so hard to contain it." Zan motioned with his hands. "Then he lost his shit. He had to go outside. We've just been waiting for you to wake up for the last three hours."

"I feel like I was hit by a train."

"I can fix that." Zan moved around the bed. He put his hands on Liz's head and concentrated. "Pierce, man, need you to hold her hand."

Liz felt Daniel take her hand. Their connection flared open and Zan used his energy to fill in the holes. It hurt to be repaired from that. Her face was suddenly pain-free though she hadn't realized there was an injury. Then she had a worry. "Sh. Sh."

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah. He's the only part of you that was. He was the part you protected." Zan told her softly as he backed out and Daniel sank back into his chair.

Liz shut her eyes and had to check for herself. There he was. Just fine and perfect. 10 weeks growth. 4-day old embryo. She breathed out and sat up. "He's okay, he's okay."

"Liz, he's freaking out." Michael motioned.

"I think they want us to leave," Daniel told her.

"I've outlived my usefulness, huh?" Liz shut her eyes. Healed but still weak. She took Daniel's hand and their connection started the feedback loop and she had enough to get packed and downstairs. "We can be out in 20."

Maria helped them get loaded up. She even made Liz some food. They hugged tightly before Daniel loaded Nate up and they were on their way. The drive out was quiet. Liz held back tears. Daniel held her hand. They drove to Keystone to rest the night.

Sight-seeing and pictures the next day. Liz felt the vestiges of her heart dying. Hope for Max had gotten her through the last year and a half and this was too much. Badlands National Park. Then another motel. Nate gave her kisses as they lay in bed while Daniel took a shower. "Mommy loves you."

"Mama."

"Yes. Mommy loves you." Liz told him.

"Da!"

"Heya kiddo." Daniel leaned over her to give Nate a kiss. Then he kissed her belly before getting dressed for bed. "Thinking of driving all day tomorrow and then we can hit up a few sites."

"Like what? Another wild west town or another maze?" Liz pushed herself up to watch him move around.

"Lincoln Presidential Library is in Springfield. Then I was thinking Detroit for the Motown Museum and then Cleveland for the Rock and Rock hall of fame."

Liz smiled at him. "You're a big nerd."

"I am."

"Da da da da da da!" Nate shrieked.

"Come on, bud. Time for a bath." Daniel scooped him up.

Liz decided not to worry about what Max thought or Michael thought or Alex. This was her baby and her life and if she had to be the one to do this, then she was going to do it her way. Keeping her sanity was key. If she went dark again, she'd lose control of her family and the last thing she needed was Agent Pierce making the big decisions without her.

Tess and Ava – June 12, 2006, Monday 11:32 am - Wyoming

Tess played with the babies. Ava joined her after a while. Ava looked over at Tess. "Did you remember yet?"

"We were barren. The kingdom was going to end with us anyway." Tess nodded.

"I think we pushed so hard because we knew this was the only way to see his line live on." Ava took a breath and picked up a baby. That smell.

"You know… when I looked the first time… There weren't any children at all." Tess picked up Freddie and did the same thing. That baby smell. "When I looked again, I saw your son… Then all the other babies but I never saw any children for me."

"No?"

"Not a single one."

"And now?"

"The future is in flux."

"Why?" Ava wrote all the babies names on the soles of their feet with her powers. Too many damned babies.

"Pierce. Somehow. He changes everything. His children change things. Liz's children." Tess whispered. "You think I trade my future for my visions?"

"That's old school thinking. Superstitious." Ava shook her head.

"I tried to get him to sleep with me this weekend. I'm ovulating." Tess frowned at herself. Why did she do that to herself?

"With his wife in the next room? You got some brass ones." Ava laughed and looked her clone over. "You know it doesn't work that way. What happened to the cowboy?"

"He wanted someone normal."

"He'll be back. Nothing like Antarian sex."

"I don't think he… gets anything out of it."

"He does."

"Are you the one getting visions now?"

"No, but I got eyes. I seen him seeing you." Ava kissed the baby and then put him back. "Tell me, do I get my son back?"

"I didn't see that but... there are more… for you."

"Okay." Ava nodded. "Now it's my turn to be superstitious. Don't go looking at the future too much. It'll kill your present."

"I think I know that." Tess nodded almost to herself. Ava left her to her cooing and oohing and ah-ing at the babies. Was it so terrible to just want a baby for herself?

Max – June 12, 2006, Monday 7:43 am - Wyoming

Max hardly slept and when he woke in the morning, he played with his nephews for a bit then caught a ride with Zan to town. He got a room near the airport, so he could fly back to California with his sister and her family when they decided to leave the mansion. He walked around for almost an hour then a familiar face flagged him down in the lobby. He blinked at the blonde. "Alice?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "Is she back already?"

"Tomorrow, I think." Max shook his head. "I was about familied out."

"Oh, well, I have all her contracts organized for her."

"She'll love that." Max motioned to the bar. "You want a drink?"

"I'm… not old enough yet."

"Good. I don't drink. I was just… being polite." He gave her a smile.

"They do make a good cherry coke, though." She pointed. "I mean, it's not bottled or canned."

"I can be enticed." Max followed her to the bar. They drank a variation of flavored soda, ate nachos and talked about politics, Isabel's flair for drama, how chilly it was for the time of year, science fiction movies vs science fiction books. Anything for Max not to think about the weekend and everything that had happened. Then Max followed her back to her room. It was very easy to let her set the pace. Kissing her was so strange. Her skin was golden and her hair blonde and it curled when she started to sweat. So wrong but he couldn't stop. He made sure she came and then he tried to stay conscious after he came. She liked to touch and kiss afterward.

He managed to sit up though his orgasm was still buzzing through his body. Her hands were all over him. He managed to kiss her and get into the bathroom to get himself together. What the hell was he doing? Isabel was going to kill him when she found out. "Hey, Alice…"

When he opened the door, she was putting her clothes on. She smiled at him. "I just got a text from the office. I have to meet a courier downstairs in 10."

"Okay… I'll… see you in the morning." Max grabbed his clothes.

"Meet you for breakfast in the lobby?"

"Okay." Max nodded and finished getting dressed after she left. That was easy enough. He returned to his room alone and in need of a shower. Then he slept until Isabel came knocking around nine. "You aren't human."

"Duh." Isabel walked in before he could even roll over to contemplate opening the door. "Alice said not to bother, she has things to do this morning. What is that about?"

"I've been awake for two seconds. How should I know?" Max groaned.

"Are you okay?" Isabel stared at him.

"I'm fine. Mom."

"Shut up." She smacked him. "Did something happen with Alice?"

"Maybe."

"Either it did or it didn't."

"I'm a gentleman." Max buried his face in his pillow.

"Max."

"Ask her if you're so interested." They fell into silence and Max was starting to enjoy it.

Isabel stared at him. "What is wrong with Liz? One baby, I understand. The… bunker baby when she didn't know who he was but a second one? What in the hell is she thinking?"

"She said she didn't plan it."

"When?"

"When I was in her head. We talked a bit. I wanted to talk to her when she woke up, but I guess I missed the train." Max sat up finally.

"We kind of… shooed them out." Isabel looked down to her nails. "I hate that she makes you feel this way."

"You guys asked her to do it. You know I wouldn't have let her." He stared up at his sister. "He's got powers, now. I know we all chose to ignore it, but he has powers. He saved her life. We could have lost her in the warehouse."

"What do we do?"

"We clean up. We get it done and we get her out of there. Zan's gone to make sure we didn't miss any. Any that are left will go to ground but he's good. He'll find them."

She tapped her fingers on his leg for a long moment. "I've been thinking… I'd like to meet Darryl."

"Why? He's an asshole."

"I'm curious about Christine."

"He might like that. I'll see what I can do." Max told her. "Can I go back to sleep?"

"No. We have things to do before we check out tomorrow. I have a meeting in an hour, and I want you to help Alex with the boys." She kissed his forehead. "An uncle's work is never done."

"Apparently." Max sighed and then threw the covers back. Time to go to work.

Liz – June 18, 2006, Sunday 11 am

Liz woke in her own bed after the week of driving from city to city, museum to museum, to find her husband was scrolling through the pictures in his digital camera, a record on downstairs filling the house with the sounds of yet another alto jazz singer. Nate was dragging Bear all over the bedroom. "Why'd you let me sleep so long?"

"You get all the sleep you need." He told her without looking away from his task. "We have a month until we meet our young man."

"Yep." She sat up and Nate rushed over to her. She hauled him and Bear onto the bed with her. "What's the plan for today?"

"Shopping." He told her. "I want to get Darryl his own crib and dresser. I'll need to rearrange the furniture in the nursery."

"Darryl?"

"For our new son."

"I don't know. You got to name Nate after his grandfather. Don't I get one. Dad would love it if we had us a little Jeff."

"Let the negotiations begin."

Liz got washed up and they went out to find what they needed while they put names on a list. Nate was a handful, but she managed to keep him under control while Daniel filled the trunk with his loot. They were eating dinner at a diner close to the house when he revealed that he was staying home for the next week. Liz blinked at him. "What?"

"I have a lot of things I want to do around the house and I'd rather get them done sooner than later. I'll take a couple of weeks when little Peter is born, too. That's a month or so off so, we have time to get everything ready."

"Peter…" Liz made a face. "Peter Pierce."

"It doesn't have the ring of Peter Parker, but I think it suits."

"You're ridiculous." She turned to feed Nate and to take a nervous breath.

"I want you to meet someone."

"Who's that?"

"My mentor. I've run into him a few times this year and he always asks after you."

"Always?" She turned to him.

"Well, since May."

"Okay."

"He lives in Philadelphia. It's another trip but maybe we find a weekend before our newest arrival shows up."

"Okay." Liz hoped the fear didn't show in her eyes. She had impressions of this mentor from her look through Pierce's brain. He wasn't a nice man.

"Let me feed him. You need to eat."

Liz let Pierce take over Nate's meal and mindlessly finished eating her meal. Tasted like sawdust. At home, Pierce wouldn't let her lift anything heavier than Nate. She supervised his placement of furniture.

Then Liz put Nate down for the night and sat with the phone for almost 20 minutes before she made the call. It rang for a long minute and she hoped it wasn't too late in the evening. "Hi, Mom."

"Liz! Jeff, it's Liz!"

"Yeah, it's me."

"How are you?"

"I'm good." Liz nodded into the phone. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm pregnant and I'm having another boy."

"Oh my goodness. So soon?"

Liz listened to her mother gush and her father shout questions into the phone and she cried a little bit. After about a half hour, Liz made her excuses and hung up the phone. He was standing there, staring at her. "How long were you listening?"

"Long enough." He kissed her forehead. "It's just not safe."

"I know." Liz got to her feet a little dizzy. "Can you make me a shake?"

"Of course, I can." He mixed one up and then they headed upstairs. She sipped it and groaned. "You okay?"

"Feeling weak, still." She sighed and sipped some more. She finished the shake and rinsed her glass out in the bathroom sink before brushing her teeth. She leaned on the vanity for a long moment before she dressed for bed. He was reading a biography of Bessie Smith and he sat almost in the middle of the bed. Liz had to cuddle and she was feeling nauseous.

"You look a little green."

"I just need sleep. Tomorrow, I'll need to eat four squares and double up on the shakes." She settled into his side and let her skin touch his. Some of the nausea faded. "Read to me."

His voice was soothing and she started to drift off. Then he hummed her into sleep and she floated in dreamless sleep. If only sleep meant rest. If only sleep meant peace.

TBC