Irony

Irony

Chapter 9

Author: Margarita

Email: margarita782@hotmail.com

Category: Liz angst, slight M/L romance.

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Roswell and all of the characters from the show do not belong to me. "In the End" is by Linkin Park, and all lyrics belong to them.

Author's Note: The first part of this is taken directly from the episode "Harvest." All lyrics are in italics. Parts of this piece take place in the future; note the dates at the beginning of the chapters.

Spoilers: "The End of the World," "Harvest," "Max in the City."

Summary: Liz deals with the aftershocks of her promise to future Max.

Warning: Character death.

*I designed this rhyme, to explain in due time…
I tried so hard,
In spite of the way you were mocking me,
Acting like I was part of your property.
Remembering all the times you fought with me,
I'm surprised it got so (far)...*

June 2001

It had been over two months since the Skins had appeared in Roswell, and we were all anxious. The aliens had been tirelessly guarding the Granalith; they had been taking shifts in pairs every couple of hours. None of them had really slept in weeks, and it was easy to see that they were all exhausted. I secretly hoped that this meant that the Skins had given up, but the general opinion was that they were only biding their time. Deep down, I knew that everyone else was right. It was just easier not to believe it.

But then disaster struck. Tess was hurt badly by a Skin on her way home from guarding the Granalith with Max. She was only a few feet from her back door when the Skin attacked her. He had been behind the hedge of the Valenti's house. Tess tried to fight him off, but he was a large male and much too strong for her. Luckily, Kyle heard her screams and ran outside, frightening the Skin, who fled. He brought Tess inside with the help of the Sheriff, but by that point she was unconscious. They called Max immediately.

Max was already home and asleep – it was three o'clock in the morning and he was exhausted – but he immediately came over to the Valenti's house. He was able to partially heal Tess, but told Kyle that since she was unconscious, someone would have to watch her and notify him the moment she woke up. Kyle agreed, of course, and even told his father to go back to bed when he volunteered.

I woke up fifteen minutes later to the sound of footsteps on my balcony. I immediately grabbed the bat I had begun leaving next to my bed for protection, and got out of bed. I stood with my back against the wall next to the window and watched as the shadow paused at my window and then proceeded to unlock it. I lifted my bat as the windowsill was lifted, poised and ready to strike. But then a head poked through. "Liz?"

"Max!" I hissed. "You scared me!"

He looked up at the baseball bat I was still holding in my hands and quickly climbed in the window, shutting it behind him. "I'm glad you recognized me," he said wryly. "I don't think I could have taken that."

"Sorry. I was just trying to be careful."

"Yeah," he said, running his hands through his hair, "that's probably a good thing, considering what just happened."

"Why?" I asked, immediately panicked. "Who's hurt?"

"Tess." He paused. "I dropped her off at her house after we finished our shift, and then I just drove away." He lowered his eyes, his voice bitter. "A Skin attacked her right outside the house. She couldn't fight back, and now she's unconscious."

"Oh my God, Max," I said. "Is she going to be ok?"

"I…don't know," he admitted. "I hope so, but she's still unconscious and I can't heal her completely until she wakes up." He clenched his hands into fists. "She should never have been attacked in the first place. I should have waited until she was inside the house before driving away. It's my fault that she was hurt."

"Max, that's not true," I told him, walking over to put the bat back by my bed. "There was no way that you could have known that this would happen."

"I should have been more careful," he insisted. "We knew that the Skins were waiting to attack, but I just left her alone anyway."

"Max, you still couldn't have known that their attack would take place tonight. You were tired, and so was Tess. You both just wanted to go to bed. I'm sure that she doesn't blame you."

He shook his head. "She must have been so scared."

I shivered, imagining the Skin jumping out at me. "She probably was, Max. But it's still not your fault." He opened his mouth to say something, but then his cell phone rang. I sat on the edge of my bed while I waited for him to finish talking.

"Tess is awake," he said after hanging up. "I have to go."

"Oh, right," I said. "Well, be careful."

"Yeah, you too," he said. I walked with him to the window, and stood there, waiting for him to leave.

"Thanks," he said quietly. "I needed to talk to someone."

"Yeah. You're welcome," I said softly.

He cleared his throat softly. "Listen, Liz, about the whole Kyle thing…I forgive you. I don't think that that has to keep us apart any longer." He leaned in to kiss me.

I stiffened and backed away. "Max," I said finally, "we still can't be together. I just can't." I paused. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too, Liz," he snapped, "that you won't tell me the truth. You and Kyle never slept together."

"Max, I'm sorry, but for the last time, Kyle and I made love. Please stop this. You have more important things to worry about."

"It's not true," he snarled. "I refuse to believe it. And if it were true, I'd kill Kyle. He had no right to touch you."

My eyes widened and I stepped in closer to Max. "He had no right to touch me?" I spat. "Well, let me tell you something, Max Evans, you do not own me. And if I want to have sex with Kyle or anyone else, that's my decision to make, not yours."

"He knew that I was in love with you, and you knew it too. Even if you decided that you wanted to have sex with him, he should have said no."

"Why?" I shrieked. "Because King Max would have chopped off my head? You don't have any control over me, Max. You can't order me around, and you certainly cannot control my actions."

"I think that was proved when you fucked Kyle," he snarled.

I stood, shocked, and then gestured to the window. "I think you'd better leave. Please don't ever come back."

He climbed out of the window and then turned. "Liz, wait," he pleaded.

"Goodbye, Max," I said, slamming the windowsill down and locking the window. I walked back to my bed, got in, and waited until I heard him jump off the ladder. Then, after a few seconds, I burst into tears.