Author's Note: Hey guys! I just realized that I screwed up the posting of parts 11 &12. No wonder some of you were confused! LOL Part 10 skipped right to part 12. Anyway, you should go back and read parts 10-12 before reading this for any of this story to make sense. Sorry about that. I'm a dork.
Part 13
"...barely managed to get into the closet and get the mind-warp up before they were in here. I don't know how the kid knew they were coming, but he did. He herded me and Maria in there. Max, he saved our lives." Michael shook his head in disbelief.
He was sitting on the couch, Maria beside him, his arm draped loosely around her shoulders. Whatever it had been that had made them so mad at each other apparently suddenly seemed insignificant because they had not let go of each other since following Ben out of the closet.
Max could see that Michael was still shaking slightly. Maria looked shell-shocked, stared at the floor as Michael explained what had happened. They were both acting like they had forgotten what it was like to have their lives threatened.
Which they had of course. They had lived for eight years in safety and security and now it had all come tumbling down again. Max felt a pang of guilt. He had done this to them. Coming back had made this happen.
He had truly thought they would be safe on Earth. He had been so sure that all the danger was gone.
Max was sitting in an arm-chair, Ben still clutched in his arms. His son had fallen asleep almost immediately after running to him, completely exhausted from having had to use his gift for so long.
Liz was standing against the wall, beside the television, staring at Ben, a half-smile on her face. She had not spoken a word since that first tortured, joyous "Alex." All she did was watch Ben, looking for all the world like she had entered a dream from which she hoped never to wake up.
Max tried [I]not[/I] to think about what her reaction was going to be when she got past her first shock and exhilaration and remembered that Max had kept Ben's true identity from her. It was not going to be pretty. Even the fact that he had [I]tried[/I] to tell her in the desert was going to be overshadowed by the fact that he hadn't tried very hard.
But he had other things to worry about right now.
Like the fact that a maniac was after his son and he had no idea how to stop him because he didn't know what he wanted.
"I just don't get it Maxwell. Why the hell would Nicholas want the kid?" Michael asked, running a shaky hand through his shaggy hair.
Nicholas.
Max had almost completely lost it when Michael had told him that it had been that little troll who had come to the apartment, who had threatened Ben's life. Max didn't understand how Nicholas still even existed. He should have died long ago, unable to go on in the Earth's atmosphere after his skin died. They had destroyed the harvest in Copper Summit all those years ago. There should have been no way for Nicholas to survive.
"I have no idea." Max replied wearily. "He has to know that Khivar is dead, has to know that the war is over on Antar, that he has no place there anymore."
"Revenge?" Michael asked. " Maybe he wants to take your son out because you killed Khivar?" There was a pause and then Michael added, "Which brings up the idea that maybe you should give us a few more details about that Max. How exactly [I]did[/I] you take out that bastard anyway?"
Liz finally spoke up, cutting off Michael's question, much to Max's relief. "If that's what it is, the simple answer is to get the word out that Ben isn't Max's son." She swallowed, tears appearing in her eyes. "He's Alex's." She whispered. "God. Max, how can this be?"
Max rubbed his face wearily with one of his hands, shifting Ben on his shoulder. He saw Liz eyeing Ben longingly, like she wanted to offer to take him off Max's hands for a while. She was so small though, and Ben was a lanky kid for his age. She wouldn't be able to handle it.
Besides, Max couldn't let go of him yet. Not yet.
"It's not revenge." Max sighed heavily. "Nicholas should want to [I]protect[/I] Ben because of who he is."
"Why on Earth would that little jerk want to protect Alex's son?" Maria asked quietly. She shook her blonde head. "I just can't believe it. Tess and [I]Alex[/I]? It just doesn't make any sense. Kyle I would buy, but [I]Alex[/I]??? He hated that tramp."
Max sighed again. He was beginning to realize that he was not going to be able to keep his Antarian experiences a secret after all. Ben's life being threatened had changed everything again. He needed his friends' support. When there had been nothing to worry about, he had had the option of being able to protect them from the truth, but that luxury was gone. Ben's safety, as well as the safety of the whole group meant that they all had to know.
"Listen, these are all valid questions guys." Max stood up slowly, balancing his sleeping son with difficulty. When had he gotten so big? It seemed like only yesterday that Max could swing him up over his head, throwing him onto his shoulders and keeping him up there for hours.
And he wasn't only growing physically Max realized. The fact that Ben could maintain a mindwarp of the magnitude he had, under the stressful conditions he had been under... It was practically a miracle.
It was also a little scary. Because Max didn't understand it. He and Michael and Isabel had barely had access to their powers until they were adolescents. But Ben... He was coming into his gift so much more quickly, it worried Max.
"We need to get out of here though." Max continued, pushing away his concerns about Ben's changes for the moment. "They could come back at any time. And we need to warn Isabel. They might be after Lexi too."
"Are we even sure they were after Ben?" Maria asked, a slight hitch in her voice. "Maybe they wanted Michael? They might not even know you're back Max."
"They know." Max told her. "The fact that I left Antar with Ben was all over the galaxy in a few hours." When Maria blinked, Max shrugged. "The interstellar media is pretty fierce. They haven't managed to track us down here yet, but they will."
"Er, does anyone else think this is strange?" Maria looked at Michael and Liz for support. "Are you telling me that there are tabloids in [I]space[/I]?"
Max grinned despite himself. "Not like [I]our[/I] tabloids, but they have a pretty sophisticated media interchange between the more advanced civilizations." He paused. "They don't usually cover Earth though. It's considered something of a backwater in most other places. It's why the jackals never managed to track me and Michael and Izzy down here. They thought they knew the Royal Four had been cloned and sent [I]somewhere[/I], but they never knew where exactly. The Skins kept it quiet once they had found us because they fully planned on exterminating us and didn't want it reported on. Plus, letting the news leak would have let everyone know that we really [I]had[/I] been cloned. It had been spun as a legend by Khivar."
"Okay, just stop." Maria held her hands up. "This is [I]too[/I] much information. Tabloids are my enemies on Earth and now they're my enemies on an universal scale?" She glowered. "I may be ill."
"Don't worry about it." Max replied grimly, his smile fading. "They're not going to find us. And neither is Nicholas - not again. Ben and I are leaving."
"What?? NO!" Liz jumped forward, a horrified expression on her face. She looked nonplused at her outburst when she realized what she had done, but she continued anyway, "Max, you can't just take him away. He's [I]Alex's[/I] son. Alex's parents deserve to know him. [I]Maria and I[/I] deserve to know him."
These were Liz's words, but there was something else going on in Liz's eyes as well. Like it wasn't just Ben she didn't want leaving. Max immediately quashed that thought. He was not going to go looking for signs from Liz that were not there. He had told her that he would not pursue her and he wouldn't.
He realized he was frowning. All of this was reminding him that there had been one main reason he hadn't wanted to tell Liz the truth about Ben's origins right away - not after he had heard about Dan. Because the thing he most feared was that Liz would decide that she wanted to be with him, Max, because of Ben. Because she felt she owed it to Alex. Max could not bear that.
"Liz, I know." Max told her quietly. "But we have to protect him. I'll get lost for a while. And if it seems like things have calmed down, maybe I can come back."
"No." Liz repeated firmly. "Running away is never the answer." Max opened his mouth to argue. "Listen Max, it's not. We have to deal with this. We have to get rid of Nicholas once and for all. Ben and Lexi will never be safe if we don't. These kids deserve to grow up happy and without having to be on the run." She paused, then smiled slightly. "Weren't you the one who once said that taking our lives back was the only answer? When the whole thing went down with Pierce?" She moved forward, reached out and ran her hand down Ben's blonde curls lovingly. "Max, you were right then. And [I]I'm[/I] right now."
Max just stared at her. She didn't understand what she was getting them into. She had lived through some of the times with Nicholas and the Skins, but she had not seen the worst. She had not been tortured at their hands, had not had her thoughts literally ripped out of her skull. She did not know that, strangely, Nicholas was even more dangerous with Khivar dead, because now he was a loose cannon.
And yet....
He was lying about coming back someday. If he left with Ben, it would be for good. He would never be able to be sure that Nicholas was really gone. He would never see any of these people again - the people he had struggled for eight long years to get back to.
Ben would never have a family.
But he couldn't commit to anything. Not yet. Not until they all knew exactly what this might be like. Until they all knew exactly what [I]war[/I] was like.
"I'll think about it Liz." He finally said. "Let's just go to Isabel and Jesse's. We can't make any real decisions until they're informed about what's going on."
Max laid Ben gently down on the couch, which had been vacated by Michael and Maria during the intense conversation between Max and Liz. "We need to pack up some stuff Michael. I don't think we'll be able to come back here. It's unsafe."
Michael nodded his understanding, hurried out of the room. Max followed him, tried not to let his heart skip a beat as Liz sat down on the couch and gently lifted Ben's head onto her lap. She continued to stroke his hair soothingly, the gesture entirely motherly.
It was a scene Max had often envisioned - Liz as the mother of his child. Even when he'd known the truth, that Ben wasn't really his, he had still longed for it. Because Ben [I]was[/I] his in every way that mattered. And Liz would always be the only one he would ever want in his life.
He was going to be alone now, but, at least, with Liz knowing the truth, one part of the dream would still come true. Ben would have her. Because Max knew without a shadow of a doubt that Liz was not going to let them leave, at least not without her.
How Dan worked into the scenario that Max knew Liz was already creating in her mind, about how she could be to Ben what Alex would have wanted her to be, Max had no idea, but he did know that everything had now changed. Liz knew the truth and she had already made it clear that she had no intention of letting Ben go.
If things had been complicated before, they were now ten times more so. And this wasn't even bringing in the fact that their lives were all in danger again.
Max sighed heavily as he threw some of Ben's clothes and toys into a duffel bag. He hadn't managed to accumulate many possessions for his son during their short time back on the planet, but Max wanted wherever they ended up to be as familiar to Ben as possible. He even took the poster of the Earth from space off the wall and carefully folded it, placing it inside a book so that it wouldn't get too crumpled.
"Let's go Maxwell." Michael called from the living room. "I'm beginning to get a little creeped out here." He continued as Max rejoined the others. "I have a bad feeling they're going to be back soon."
Michael had already picked the sleeping Ben up. Someone had put his jacket on him as well. Liz and Maria were hovering around them, both looking exhausted and emotionally drained. And there wasn't going to be any rest for any of them yet. Max had already decided that it wasn't enough to meet at Isabel and Jesse's. They were going to have to go somewhere secure, at least for a little while, if even just overnight.
Max had somewhere very definite in mind. Somewhere Nicholas would never find them.
He tried to ignore the fact that it was also somewhere a fiancé would never find them either.
Max threw his bag and Michael's over his shoulder and followed Liz and Maria out the door.
**********************************************************
"This isn't the way to Isabel's." Liz commented wearily. She was back in the Cherokee with Max, Ben still sound asleep on the back-seat. Liz was actually beginning to get a little worried about the boy. He had not stirred once since he had fallen asleep in Max's arms right after coming out of the mindwarp. Max had reassured her though, just reminding her of how tired [I]he[/I] used to get when he used his gift.
"I slept solid for sixteen straight hours after I healed you in the Crashdown." Max had told her.
"I never knew that." Liz had said, interested. "You seemed fine the next day."
"I was okay." Max had replied. "Well enough to come to school." He had quirked a grin. "Plus the adrenaline of fear, knowing that I had to tell you something about what I had done, helped keep me alert." He paused. "But I couldn't use my gift for almost three days. Basic molecular manipulation, sure, but I just knew I wouldn't be able to heal. The same thing happened when I healed the kids at the hospital that time, but I even shorted out my everyday powers then. Ben's young still. Keeping the mindwarp up that long totally drained him. I'm amazed he could do it at all."
"He's a pretty amazing kid, isn't he." Liz had smiled softly, glancing over her shoulder at the little boy. Every time she looked at him, she noticed something else that reminded her of Alex - whether it was his lanky body or the shape of his hands or even the way his face reposed in sleep. Liz had had enough sleep-overs with Maria and Alex through the years to know both of their sleeping expressions intimately - and Ben looked [I]exactly[/I] like Alex when he slept.
"We're not going to Izzy's." Max told Liz now. "Michael and Maria are heading over there and they'll bring them to us."
Liz glanced at him. "Which would be [I]where[/I] exactly?" She asked quietly. She tried not to think about the fact that every mile they drove took her a mile further away from her fiancé. Because she was also trying to ignore the fact that, at the moment, she didn't particularly care, that it was actually somewhat of a relief to not have to feel guilty about being in Max's presence, because this was about [I]Ben[/I] now - about keeping the only part of Alex still with them alive and well.
"Somewhere no one will find us." Max answered grimly, interrupting Liz's thoughts. He took his eyes off the road for a moment, met hers. When Liz raised an eyebrow at him, he continued. "We're going to Marathon."
Liz stared at him. "Marathon?" She asked weakly. Max just nodded.
Marathon was in an entirely different state. They weren't going to get there until morning, if then.
Dan was going to kill her.
And yet, Liz was completely not surprised when she opened her mouth and simply said, "Okay."
That was all. Okay. Because not going to Marathon with Max and Ben was completely out of the question. Because not [I]being[/I] with them was completely out of the question.
Because of Ben. Because of who he was.
Not because of Max. Not because of the way he had held his son earlier. Not because he had literally traveled through outer space to retrieve a child that was not even his. Not because Liz knew that one of the reasons Max loved Ben the way he did - completely, even if Ben wasn't who he was supposed to be - was because he knew it was how [I]Liz[/I] would feel about the child.
Not because the way he still looked at her with those eyes of his, in the way that weakened her at the knees, told her that he would do it all again tomorrow. Because of her.
Not because a quest that had started out as a retrieval mission for a child no one had wanted, but one everyone had felt responsible for, had ended up a mission that was destined to bring Max and Liz back together.
She knew it, was still resisting it, but there was no escaping it.
Liz sighed, leaned her head against the cool glass of her window.
The alien abyss was opening beneath her again and was pulling her in so resolutely, resistance was a waste of time.
Hell, if she was completely honest with herself, she didn't even [I]want[/I] to resist. Not anymore.
She was fighting this side of herself, the side that longed to give in, but it was a battle she feared she was going to lose.
Because the enemy held all the weapons. He held her heart, still, after all these years. He held her soul too.
And the real question was whether she could trust him not to use them against her.
Because, the [I]worst[/I] part - the absolute [I]worst[/I] part - was that she [I]wanted[/I] him to.
Part 13
"...barely managed to get into the closet and get the mind-warp up before they were in here. I don't know how the kid knew they were coming, but he did. He herded me and Maria in there. Max, he saved our lives." Michael shook his head in disbelief.
He was sitting on the couch, Maria beside him, his arm draped loosely around her shoulders. Whatever it had been that had made them so mad at each other apparently suddenly seemed insignificant because they had not let go of each other since following Ben out of the closet.
Max could see that Michael was still shaking slightly. Maria looked shell-shocked, stared at the floor as Michael explained what had happened. They were both acting like they had forgotten what it was like to have their lives threatened.
Which they had of course. They had lived for eight years in safety and security and now it had all come tumbling down again. Max felt a pang of guilt. He had done this to them. Coming back had made this happen.
He had truly thought they would be safe on Earth. He had been so sure that all the danger was gone.
Max was sitting in an arm-chair, Ben still clutched in his arms. His son had fallen asleep almost immediately after running to him, completely exhausted from having had to use his gift for so long.
Liz was standing against the wall, beside the television, staring at Ben, a half-smile on her face. She had not spoken a word since that first tortured, joyous "Alex." All she did was watch Ben, looking for all the world like she had entered a dream from which she hoped never to wake up.
Max tried [I]not[/I] to think about what her reaction was going to be when she got past her first shock and exhilaration and remembered that Max had kept Ben's true identity from her. It was not going to be pretty. Even the fact that he had [I]tried[/I] to tell her in the desert was going to be overshadowed by the fact that he hadn't tried very hard.
But he had other things to worry about right now.
Like the fact that a maniac was after his son and he had no idea how to stop him because he didn't know what he wanted.
"I just don't get it Maxwell. Why the hell would Nicholas want the kid?" Michael asked, running a shaky hand through his shaggy hair.
Nicholas.
Max had almost completely lost it when Michael had told him that it had been that little troll who had come to the apartment, who had threatened Ben's life. Max didn't understand how Nicholas still even existed. He should have died long ago, unable to go on in the Earth's atmosphere after his skin died. They had destroyed the harvest in Copper Summit all those years ago. There should have been no way for Nicholas to survive.
"I have no idea." Max replied wearily. "He has to know that Khivar is dead, has to know that the war is over on Antar, that he has no place there anymore."
"Revenge?" Michael asked. " Maybe he wants to take your son out because you killed Khivar?" There was a pause and then Michael added, "Which brings up the idea that maybe you should give us a few more details about that Max. How exactly [I]did[/I] you take out that bastard anyway?"
Liz finally spoke up, cutting off Michael's question, much to Max's relief. "If that's what it is, the simple answer is to get the word out that Ben isn't Max's son." She swallowed, tears appearing in her eyes. "He's Alex's." She whispered. "God. Max, how can this be?"
Max rubbed his face wearily with one of his hands, shifting Ben on his shoulder. He saw Liz eyeing Ben longingly, like she wanted to offer to take him off Max's hands for a while. She was so small though, and Ben was a lanky kid for his age. She wouldn't be able to handle it.
Besides, Max couldn't let go of him yet. Not yet.
"It's not revenge." Max sighed heavily. "Nicholas should want to [I]protect[/I] Ben because of who he is."
"Why on Earth would that little jerk want to protect Alex's son?" Maria asked quietly. She shook her blonde head. "I just can't believe it. Tess and [I]Alex[/I]? It just doesn't make any sense. Kyle I would buy, but [I]Alex[/I]??? He hated that tramp."
Max sighed again. He was beginning to realize that he was not going to be able to keep his Antarian experiences a secret after all. Ben's life being threatened had changed everything again. He needed his friends' support. When there had been nothing to worry about, he had had the option of being able to protect them from the truth, but that luxury was gone. Ben's safety, as well as the safety of the whole group meant that they all had to know.
"Listen, these are all valid questions guys." Max stood up slowly, balancing his sleeping son with difficulty. When had he gotten so big? It seemed like only yesterday that Max could swing him up over his head, throwing him onto his shoulders and keeping him up there for hours.
And he wasn't only growing physically Max realized. The fact that Ben could maintain a mindwarp of the magnitude he had, under the stressful conditions he had been under... It was practically a miracle.
It was also a little scary. Because Max didn't understand it. He and Michael and Isabel had barely had access to their powers until they were adolescents. But Ben... He was coming into his gift so much more quickly, it worried Max.
"We need to get out of here though." Max continued, pushing away his concerns about Ben's changes for the moment. "They could come back at any time. And we need to warn Isabel. They might be after Lexi too."
"Are we even sure they were after Ben?" Maria asked, a slight hitch in her voice. "Maybe they wanted Michael? They might not even know you're back Max."
"They know." Max told her. "The fact that I left Antar with Ben was all over the galaxy in a few hours." When Maria blinked, Max shrugged. "The interstellar media is pretty fierce. They haven't managed to track us down here yet, but they will."
"Er, does anyone else think this is strange?" Maria looked at Michael and Liz for support. "Are you telling me that there are tabloids in [I]space[/I]?"
Max grinned despite himself. "Not like [I]our[/I] tabloids, but they have a pretty sophisticated media interchange between the more advanced civilizations." He paused. "They don't usually cover Earth though. It's considered something of a backwater in most other places. It's why the jackals never managed to track me and Michael and Izzy down here. They thought they knew the Royal Four had been cloned and sent [I]somewhere[/I], but they never knew where exactly. The Skins kept it quiet once they had found us because they fully planned on exterminating us and didn't want it reported on. Plus, letting the news leak would have let everyone know that we really [I]had[/I] been cloned. It had been spun as a legend by Khivar."
"Okay, just stop." Maria held her hands up. "This is [I]too[/I] much information. Tabloids are my enemies on Earth and now they're my enemies on an universal scale?" She glowered. "I may be ill."
"Don't worry about it." Max replied grimly, his smile fading. "They're not going to find us. And neither is Nicholas - not again. Ben and I are leaving."
"What?? NO!" Liz jumped forward, a horrified expression on her face. She looked nonplused at her outburst when she realized what she had done, but she continued anyway, "Max, you can't just take him away. He's [I]Alex's[/I] son. Alex's parents deserve to know him. [I]Maria and I[/I] deserve to know him."
These were Liz's words, but there was something else going on in Liz's eyes as well. Like it wasn't just Ben she didn't want leaving. Max immediately quashed that thought. He was not going to go looking for signs from Liz that were not there. He had told her that he would not pursue her and he wouldn't.
He realized he was frowning. All of this was reminding him that there had been one main reason he hadn't wanted to tell Liz the truth about Ben's origins right away - not after he had heard about Dan. Because the thing he most feared was that Liz would decide that she wanted to be with him, Max, because of Ben. Because she felt she owed it to Alex. Max could not bear that.
"Liz, I know." Max told her quietly. "But we have to protect him. I'll get lost for a while. And if it seems like things have calmed down, maybe I can come back."
"No." Liz repeated firmly. "Running away is never the answer." Max opened his mouth to argue. "Listen Max, it's not. We have to deal with this. We have to get rid of Nicholas once and for all. Ben and Lexi will never be safe if we don't. These kids deserve to grow up happy and without having to be on the run." She paused, then smiled slightly. "Weren't you the one who once said that taking our lives back was the only answer? When the whole thing went down with Pierce?" She moved forward, reached out and ran her hand down Ben's blonde curls lovingly. "Max, you were right then. And [I]I'm[/I] right now."
Max just stared at her. She didn't understand what she was getting them into. She had lived through some of the times with Nicholas and the Skins, but she had not seen the worst. She had not been tortured at their hands, had not had her thoughts literally ripped out of her skull. She did not know that, strangely, Nicholas was even more dangerous with Khivar dead, because now he was a loose cannon.
And yet....
He was lying about coming back someday. If he left with Ben, it would be for good. He would never be able to be sure that Nicholas was really gone. He would never see any of these people again - the people he had struggled for eight long years to get back to.
Ben would never have a family.
But he couldn't commit to anything. Not yet. Not until they all knew exactly what this might be like. Until they all knew exactly what [I]war[/I] was like.
"I'll think about it Liz." He finally said. "Let's just go to Isabel and Jesse's. We can't make any real decisions until they're informed about what's going on."
Max laid Ben gently down on the couch, which had been vacated by Michael and Maria during the intense conversation between Max and Liz. "We need to pack up some stuff Michael. I don't think we'll be able to come back here. It's unsafe."
Michael nodded his understanding, hurried out of the room. Max followed him, tried not to let his heart skip a beat as Liz sat down on the couch and gently lifted Ben's head onto her lap. She continued to stroke his hair soothingly, the gesture entirely motherly.
It was a scene Max had often envisioned - Liz as the mother of his child. Even when he'd known the truth, that Ben wasn't really his, he had still longed for it. Because Ben [I]was[/I] his in every way that mattered. And Liz would always be the only one he would ever want in his life.
He was going to be alone now, but, at least, with Liz knowing the truth, one part of the dream would still come true. Ben would have her. Because Max knew without a shadow of a doubt that Liz was not going to let them leave, at least not without her.
How Dan worked into the scenario that Max knew Liz was already creating in her mind, about how she could be to Ben what Alex would have wanted her to be, Max had no idea, but he did know that everything had now changed. Liz knew the truth and she had already made it clear that she had no intention of letting Ben go.
If things had been complicated before, they were now ten times more so. And this wasn't even bringing in the fact that their lives were all in danger again.
Max sighed heavily as he threw some of Ben's clothes and toys into a duffel bag. He hadn't managed to accumulate many possessions for his son during their short time back on the planet, but Max wanted wherever they ended up to be as familiar to Ben as possible. He even took the poster of the Earth from space off the wall and carefully folded it, placing it inside a book so that it wouldn't get too crumpled.
"Let's go Maxwell." Michael called from the living room. "I'm beginning to get a little creeped out here." He continued as Max rejoined the others. "I have a bad feeling they're going to be back soon."
Michael had already picked the sleeping Ben up. Someone had put his jacket on him as well. Liz and Maria were hovering around them, both looking exhausted and emotionally drained. And there wasn't going to be any rest for any of them yet. Max had already decided that it wasn't enough to meet at Isabel and Jesse's. They were going to have to go somewhere secure, at least for a little while, if even just overnight.
Max had somewhere very definite in mind. Somewhere Nicholas would never find them.
He tried to ignore the fact that it was also somewhere a fiancé would never find them either.
Max threw his bag and Michael's over his shoulder and followed Liz and Maria out the door.
**********************************************************
"This isn't the way to Isabel's." Liz commented wearily. She was back in the Cherokee with Max, Ben still sound asleep on the back-seat. Liz was actually beginning to get a little worried about the boy. He had not stirred once since he had fallen asleep in Max's arms right after coming out of the mindwarp. Max had reassured her though, just reminding her of how tired [I]he[/I] used to get when he used his gift.
"I slept solid for sixteen straight hours after I healed you in the Crashdown." Max had told her.
"I never knew that." Liz had said, interested. "You seemed fine the next day."
"I was okay." Max had replied. "Well enough to come to school." He had quirked a grin. "Plus the adrenaline of fear, knowing that I had to tell you something about what I had done, helped keep me alert." He paused. "But I couldn't use my gift for almost three days. Basic molecular manipulation, sure, but I just knew I wouldn't be able to heal. The same thing happened when I healed the kids at the hospital that time, but I even shorted out my everyday powers then. Ben's young still. Keeping the mindwarp up that long totally drained him. I'm amazed he could do it at all."
"He's a pretty amazing kid, isn't he." Liz had smiled softly, glancing over her shoulder at the little boy. Every time she looked at him, she noticed something else that reminded her of Alex - whether it was his lanky body or the shape of his hands or even the way his face reposed in sleep. Liz had had enough sleep-overs with Maria and Alex through the years to know both of their sleeping expressions intimately - and Ben looked [I]exactly[/I] like Alex when he slept.
"We're not going to Izzy's." Max told Liz now. "Michael and Maria are heading over there and they'll bring them to us."
Liz glanced at him. "Which would be [I]where[/I] exactly?" She asked quietly. She tried not to think about the fact that every mile they drove took her a mile further away from her fiancé. Because she was also trying to ignore the fact that, at the moment, she didn't particularly care, that it was actually somewhat of a relief to not have to feel guilty about being in Max's presence, because this was about [I]Ben[/I] now - about keeping the only part of Alex still with them alive and well.
"Somewhere no one will find us." Max answered grimly, interrupting Liz's thoughts. He took his eyes off the road for a moment, met hers. When Liz raised an eyebrow at him, he continued. "We're going to Marathon."
Liz stared at him. "Marathon?" She asked weakly. Max just nodded.
Marathon was in an entirely different state. They weren't going to get there until morning, if then.
Dan was going to kill her.
And yet, Liz was completely not surprised when she opened her mouth and simply said, "Okay."
That was all. Okay. Because not going to Marathon with Max and Ben was completely out of the question. Because not [I]being[/I] with them was completely out of the question.
Because of Ben. Because of who he was.
Not because of Max. Not because of the way he had held his son earlier. Not because he had literally traveled through outer space to retrieve a child that was not even his. Not because Liz knew that one of the reasons Max loved Ben the way he did - completely, even if Ben wasn't who he was supposed to be - was because he knew it was how [I]Liz[/I] would feel about the child.
Not because the way he still looked at her with those eyes of his, in the way that weakened her at the knees, told her that he would do it all again tomorrow. Because of her.
Not because a quest that had started out as a retrieval mission for a child no one had wanted, but one everyone had felt responsible for, had ended up a mission that was destined to bring Max and Liz back together.
She knew it, was still resisting it, but there was no escaping it.
Liz sighed, leaned her head against the cool glass of her window.
The alien abyss was opening beneath her again and was pulling her in so resolutely, resistance was a waste of time.
Hell, if she was completely honest with herself, she didn't even [I]want[/I] to resist. Not anymore.
She was fighting this side of herself, the side that longed to give in, but it was a battle she feared she was going to lose.
Because the enemy held all the weapons. He held her heart, still, after all these years. He held her soul too.
And the real question was whether she could trust him not to use them against her.
Because, the [I]worst[/I] part - the absolute [I]worst[/I] part - was that she [I]wanted[/I] him to.