Max warily met Tess's gaze, searching her clear blue eyes for a hint at what she'd wanted to talk to him about. He wasn't exactly sure, but he thought he had a pretty damn good idea. And it annoyed him. Inside, he was resentful at the thought of having to defend his night with Liz. Especially to Tess. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself. Remember, he thought, that it's this very subject that spurred Tess to leave in the first place, in that other timeline. No matter how much you hate all this, you can't let her feel that way this time. You can't let all of these sacrifices be for nothing. He took another breath and squared himself away, readying himself for the onslaught. When she spoke, it completely took him by surprise. "Do you hate me?" she asked.
Max was startled into answering her question with a question. "Hate you?"
Tess paused, as if gauging his reaction. "Yeah. I wanna know if you hate me."
Max was confused at the direction this conversation was going in, but was glad that he could at least answer her honestly. "No, Tess…I don't hate you." He watched as she searched his expression for the truth behind his statement, and saw when some of the tension left her face. Now he was curious. "Why do you think that I would?"
Tess suddenly found the Formica of the tabletop fascinating, and wouldn't look up at him. He said her name twice before she finally met his questioning gaze. "I know…about the future." she said grudgingly. "I know what's supposed to happen because of me, and I know that you and Liz have decided you really can't be together because of it."
Max froze. "How do you know?"
Tess stared harder at the smooth table top, seeing minute cracks in the Formica, and picking at them nervously. "I…was kind of still in here the other night when you guys came back in."
She finally looked up at him, her expression questing. Looking to see what his reaction was. He was stunned, to say the least. He opened his mouth as if to ask a question, and Tess said "I saw it all…you found out about the future, you realized my part in it, you guys kissed, and then she ran out."
Max's mouth snapped shut again and there was yet more surprise evident on his face. He looked so dumbfounded for a minute that Tess almost laughed. But remembering why she was having this conversation with him, she sobered quickly. "Okay," she said, cutting to the chase. "I know all that, and I know that in the end you recognized that everything in the future happened because I left. So my question now is, do you hate me for that?"
Max finally found a way around his surprise long enough to answer her, trying to show his sincerity with his eyes. "No, Tess. I don't hate you." he said again.
A bit of relief came to her eyes, but he could tell she didn't really believe him yet. "How could you not?" she asked. "I mean, even besides all of the crap that happened when I first got here…how can you not despise me knowing that I cause innocent people to die? Michael and Isabel to die? The loss of the love of your life? I'm like…evil, Max!"
She said the last half-jokingly, relieving the tension a bit. "You're not evil." he said, laughing a little. "And I don't hate you for this. I mean…yeah, I was upset; I still am, really. It's hard to know that there's a future out there where those things do happen. And I wanted to blame you for it. I wanted to be able to put all of the blame on you, so that I could still be with Liz. But that was wrong of me, and it didn't last very long."
He took her hand reassuringly. "Tess, I can't remember loving you, in that other lifetime. But I know that since I've known you here you've never been anything but sincere and perfectly honest and supportive of me. You've become someone that I count on, someone that I consider a friend. A part of all of us. And you haven't done anything wrong. How could I realistically blame you for things you haven't even done yet? And…if you felt things were bad enough to leave, then somewhere along the line I stopped making sure you felt like part of the group. And that's just as bad, Tess. That's part of the future that I want to change."
Tess felt her eyes sting, and blinked to keep tears back as he continued. "I can't hate you, Tess, even though I wanted to at first."
Tess smiled a little.. "But you still love Liz," she said, and it was more of a statement than a question.
Max's eyes never dropped from hers. "Yes." he said simply, as if she'd just asked him if he still needed to breathe.
Tess nodded, as she'd already known the answer. She was silent for a moment, and she appeared to be thinking deeply. Finally she looked up at Max, and her expression was firm, as if she'd come to a resolution. "Then we're friends?" she asked with a smile.
Max smiled back. "Friends."
~*~*~*~*~
The bell tinkled loudly as Liz used her key to enter the diner, and she suddenly found herself center of attention. Max and Isabel were sharing a booth, talking about something, and they both looked up at her sharply as she came inside, obviously on the alert for Rath or Lonnie.
Max had half-stood when he heard the bell, and when he saw her he froze. God, it was amazing how she could incite the butterflies in his stomach just by walking into the room. He looked at her hungrily, and wondered at how he was reacting like he hadn't seen her in a week. He watched her step forward, take off her jacket and hang it on a rack, and he suddenly remembered that she had gone to see Maria at the hospital. He searched her face worriedly. "Is everything okay?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"
Liz finished hanging her coat and turned around. "Everything's fine…I just wanted to see if I could help."
Max's words were quick as he crossed to her and put a hand under her elbow, turning her and heading back to the door. "You can't stay here," he said. "We don't have any idea when they might be coming after us, and there's no need for you to be at risk, too."
Liz pulled away from him, though he tried to grab her arm again. "No, Max. I'm part of this; you can't exclude me like I'm not."
Max leveled a steely gaze on her. "Watch me." he said. He grabbed her arm again and started actually pulling her toward the door.
Liz dug her heels in. "Max I know how you feel…you don't want me in danger. I get that…do you think I like it that you're here, just waiting for them to come after you? I can't just sit back and watch it happen and not try to help." Max continued to pull her along, and her voice rose desperately. "Max, we all make our own choices, and I'm choosing to stay here and help!"
Max looked back at her, and Liz could tell that argument had an affect on him. How many times had he said that to her himself? We all make our own choices…we make our own destiny.
Max was torn between getting her out of the danger he knew was coming, and keeping her close to him where he could at least try to protect her. And it wasn't helping that he was still holding her arm, and he could feel the heat radiating from her body as she stood close to him. It infected him, swirled around and within him. He met her eyes. "Liz…"
"She's right," Isabel said. "It's her choice if she wants to stay. And honestly, Max, who are we to pass up any help we can get? Especially from someone who's already proven to be invaluable in the past couple days." Max looked at his sister, and she continued. "She saved my life, Max. And yours. And it was Maria's presence that kept Michael from being killed." She shook her head as the thought occurred to her, and her voice went quiet; thoughtful. "Maybe the humans have more of a part in this drama then we originally thought."
"Besides," Liz said, trying to lighten the mood a little. "It's not exactly like I can just leave here and go home, you know?" Isabel smiled at her, and Liz turned back to Max to see a defeated expression come across his face as he realized that he couldn't win this one. She would stay, and be in danger with the rest of them.
A scuffling from the back caught their attention, and they all turned as one to see Michael, Tess and Ava enter the main room after having come from upstairs. Michael's eyes locked on Liz.
"How is she?" he asked.
Liz smiled. "She's okay. Up and giving the nurses makeovers already."
Michael's relief was obvious, though he tried to act like it didn't matter to him one way or the other. Isabel smirked a little from the booth she still sat at, and Michael caught it. Instantly the macho "I don't care about anything" bravado was back up. He looked back at Liz. "So, how pissed at me is she right now?"
Liz laughed. "I'm not sure…but I think a call from you now would help to lessen her nagging at you later."
"I doubt it," Michael muttered, but nevertheless turned immediately to go to the kitchen and use the phone.
Liz laughed again, and heard matching snickers from Tess, Ava and Isabel. She turned to Max again, and saw that he was still looking at her with worry. "It'll be okay," she said. She took his hand gently, squeezing it in reassurance. And as she touched his skin, and his eyes met hers, she suddenly felt that something was wrong. Not just a feeling…a certainty. "They're here." she whispered.
Max's grip on her hand tightened, and his eyes shot to the windows. The street was empty outside. "I don't see anything…how do you know?"
Liz gasped, her knowledge growing more certain with each moment. "I don't know…I just know. They're here…outside."
Isabel rose from the booth in alarm just as Michael came back out from the kitchen, his face set with foreboding. "The phone's dead." he said.
There was a beat of silence after his declaration, and then all of the windows in the diner exploded inward.