Part 22
Max sighed wearily, but felt a great wave of relief as he watched as Michael parked the Volvo that belonged to Isabel and Jesse close beside his Cherokee.
It was close to one in the morning. He had put Ben to bed long ago, although the little boy had wanted to stay up to wait for the others to arrive. Max had only managed to convince him to go to sleep when he had promised him that he would wake him if Liz got back before morning.
He had not expected Liz and Ben to bond as quickly and as completely as they had. He had known that Liz would care about his son, because of the connection to Alex, but it had always taken Ben a long time to trust anyone. He was a friendly, outgoing child, but he didn't [I]expect[/I] much from adults. Max knew that it had to do with some of the things he had experienced as a small child living with Khivar and Tess, basically having been raised by servants and left to fend for himself much of the time in the compound on the northern pole of Antar. They had not been cruel to him, thank God, but they had not given him the love that every child - Antarian or human - needed.
For Tess, Ben had been a bargaining chip, a means to an end. She had known all along that he was not Max's, but she had also known that Max had wanted him, and so she had used the little boy to string Max along, to torture him, to keep him always on edge. She had let him get close to finding them many times during his early days on that far-off planet, but she had always slipped just out of his reach at the last minute. Max knew that she had cared about the child only so far as she could use him. But it wasn't until she truly realized how much Ben meant to Max that she became a danger to him.
Because she didn't particularly care about the child, she had not truly understood the way Max felt about him until they had finally come face to face.
It still brought a sick feeling to his stomach, reflecting on when he had finally found them, almost five full years after he had left Earth.
They had been sitting in the garden of the nursery in Khivar's compound, under a star-pocked sky, one of Antar's three moons shining down brightly upon them, turning their identical blond locks silver. She had been cradling the little boy in her arms, projecting the image of a mother comforting her son. But it had all been a farce. Tess had been stroking Ben's small head, murmuring soothing words to him but her cold blue eyes had been on [I]him[/I], Max, as she had raised her other hand to the boy's back and had allowed it to start to glow, smiling slightly because she [I]knew[/I] that [I]he[/I] knew what she was going to do.
Max had known exactly [I]why[/I] she was doing it too. One look at him, when he had stepped into that garden, had been enough for Tess to know that he would never accept her back into his life, that he would take the son he had still thought then was his and he would leave her with Khivar, that he fully intended to never look upon her again.
She had seen the truth of it in his eyes and she had decided in a split second her course of action. If she was going to be alone, then so was he. She was going to kill the one thing on the entire planet he cared about. Just to punish him, she had been willing to kill her own son.
Max had wanted to kill her ever since he had found out what she had done to Alex. But he had allowed her to live in order that the baby that had been growing in her womb could live as well. He was not going to let her kill him now.
And so he had done it. It had been simple in the end, because his will had been greater, finally, than hers.
He had simply stared at her, into those eyes he had come to despise so much, connected with her instantly, and had fried her brain from the inside out.
He still remembered the momentary flash of shock that had crossed her face, that he had penetrated her shielded mind so easily. But she had had no idea how strong he had become over the years.
She had blinked once and then her essence had been completely gone, shutting off the connection as simply as turning off a light switch on Earth.
He had not felt even a single pang of remorse.
The first moments afterward had been strange. He had moved over to the two of them, still seated on the bench, had realized with relief that his son had slept through the entire thing. He had gently disentangled the little boy from his mother's unnatural embrace and had just held him.
And the moment he had picked up the little boy in his arms, he had known the truth.
He had told Liz that it had been Khivar who had bragged about Ben being his child, that that had been how he had found out. But Max had [I]never[/I] believed it, had refused to believe it. It was not until he actually held the child, that he knew that it was all true.
Ben was not his.
And it had taken one more second for him to realize that he didn't care. Because he had fallen in love with him the instant his arms had come around his neck, the moment his small face had pressed itself against his neck.
It had only been reinforced when Ben had finally opened his eyes, had stared at him for a sleepy moment, and had murmured, "Who are you?"
"I'm your father." Max had whispered back. He had seen the instant flash of fear that had entered Ben's blue eyes, had known with a sinking heart that Tess and Khivar had likely been feeding the child horrible lies about him.
It had been a surprise when the small voice had replied, "You're going to leave me too. Mama always leaves." His fear had not been of Max at all, but of letting himself love someone else, and finding himself disappointed again.
"Never." Max had told him quietly. "I will never leave you."
But it had taken the almost three years it took them to get back to Earth to convince the child.
And, yet, Liz had somehow convinced Ben in less than forty-eight hours that he could trust her.
Apparently there was just something about Liz Parker that made people believe in her. Max had known that he could trust her from the first moment he had laid eyes on her in a school playground close to twenty years ago.
It wasn't because of who she had been to him in a past life either. It was because of who she was today. The best person he had ever known.
The only woman he would ever love.
What Liz returning to Ben meant for [I]his[/I] relationship with Liz, Max had no idea, but he had no doubt that she would be back.
The question was simply [I]when.[/I]
Max could feel his heart beating unevenly as Michael climbed out of the driver's seat after lightly poking Maria, who was half-asleep on the passenger side. Because he was about to get his answer.
"Hey." Max called out in a low tone. "Is everything okay?"
The back door of the Volvo opened and Isabel stepped out, her little girl clenched tightly in her arms. Lexi was fast asleep against her mother's shoulder, a small thumb firmly between her lips.
"Just tired." Michael replied, running his hands through his hair, clearly exhausted. "But we need to talk Maxwell."
Max swallowed as his eyes met Isabel's. Her expression was unreadable. He knew that it was not her choice to be back in his company so soon. He had agreed to give her the time she needed to decide what kind of relationship she wanted with him, but, as usual, circumstances had taken that choice away from her.
"I'm glad you're okay." She said tightly, but Max could tell she meant it. His heart instantly felt lighter. "Is Ben...?"
"Asleep inside." Max responded. "Iz, I'm sorry about Jesse."
Isabel looked away for a moment. "He's fine." She finally replied shortly. "I know far more than either of you think I do."
Michael's head whipped around. "Are you telling me you know where he is?" He demanded. Max watched Maria step forward and place a hand lightly on his arm, trying to calm him down.
"I know." She sighed. "I didn't tell you because I needed to talk to both of you. Michael, I knew you would freak out and I just couldn't deal with you alone."
Max stared at her. "Isabel?"
"You don't understand." Isabel shook her head. "He's trying to save us. I know he is."
Max frowned, exchanged a glance with Michael, who looked about ready to explode. "What are you talking about?"
She moved past him and towards the door. "I never once thought I would see this place again." She muttered as she entered the darkened dome. "Just let me put Lexi down and we'll talk."
"What the hell?" Michael almost yelled after the door shut behind her. "I've been worried about her all day! And she knew all along?"
"Michael, she obviously had a good reason." Maria reprimanded quietly.
Max rubbed a hand across his face wearily. He could tell that this was going to be a very [I]long[/I] night.
"Well?" He blinked when he realized that Maria was standing right in front of him, eyeing him with annoyance.
"What?" Max asked, unsure what the expression on her face meant.
"What did you do to Liz?"
"What do you mean? I didn't do anything to her."
"So you're telling me that she's not talking to you for no reason then?" Maria raised an eyebrow. Max took a step backward when she poked him in the chest.
Max grimaced. "Well, she wasn't exactly happy that I told her that I wasn't going to just give up on her." He admitted uncomfortably. He glanced at Michael, who looked interested, but mostly relieved that Maria's ire was no longer directed at him. "I told her I still loved her and that I was going to fight for her."
"And why, pray tell, did you decide to inform her of this?" Maria asked, deceptively calm. "Do you think that Liz can't make her own decisions?"
He didn't know [I]what[/I] to say. "She told me that she still loved me too." He protested lamely.
Maria rolled her eyes. "Of course she loves you, you idiot! You're Max. But that doesn't mean that you can just decide what's going to happen in her life!" She poked him again. "You need to give her time Max. I mean it. If you want this to work, you have to let her realize that it's what she wants. Because what you're doing now is just driving her away."
Max stared at her. "Why are you telling me this?" He finally asked.
"Because I think you two belong together." Maria told him honestly. "But I won't have Lizzie forced into anything. She has to come to it herself or it's always going to be wrong. Do you understand?" She finished gently.
He frowned slightly. "I understand." He replied automatically.
And, suddenly, he did.
All the plans he had been formulating in the back of his mind to woo her and to win her back crumbled to dust. The idea of rebuilding their relationship from the ground up, of pretending that everything that had come before had never happened - it wasn't going to work. Maria was more than right.
He realized that it was why he had slipped that ring into her pocket before she had left, even though it had not fit in with his plan of ignoring the past. He had brought the knowledge of it back from Antar, knew that it had fallen into the possession of William Atherton, just as the pendant had. They had both been presents to the writer, from Langley, in an attempt to keep him quiet about what he knew.
Max had learned a great deal about Langley on the trip back to Antar. Nasedo had been the cold-blooded killer of the pair of protectors that had been sent with the two sets of pods to Earth. Langley had not started out that way, had only become a murderer when his newfound life on Earth was threatened. Langley had wanted to appease Atherton, had tried with first the pendant, and then the ring.
But, of course, they had not been Langley's to give to anyone. They had, in fact, been a gift to [I]him[/I], Max. From the one person who had given him everything in his past life. The one person who had, in fact, given him [I]this[/I] life.
Kadiya.
The past could not be changed. Giving Liz the ring as he had, after he had torn apart Atherton's office in search of it, had proven that his subconscious knew this. He [I]wanted[/I] her to know - wanted her to remember.
Because their past was about so much more than him having slept with Tess, about more then him having deserted her, which he knew she still thought.
He had had to go back to Antar to get answers, so that they could create a new future. He had been [I]compelled[/I] to leave her, not just in pursuit of his son, but also in search of the truth.
Because if he and Tess were meant to be together, then how could his heart have been so wrong all along?
He had needed those answers...and he had needed to find them alone.
He had been wrong to even allow Liz to get involved with the search for his son. But, in the end, it had been too hard for him to let her go, when she had wanted to help, when she had been holding on to him so tightly. Because he loved her so much and hurting her had been something he couldn't even conceive of doing. Not when she wanted to be with him.
And so, in the end, he had taken the coward's way out. He had left, without saying goodbye, and she was probably never going to forgive him for it because he had never given her the chance to understand.
He had not lied to her when he had told her that the reason that he hadn't answered her phone call on the night he left was because he wouldn't have been able to do it. He would not have been able to go if he had spoken to her.
And he had had to. Alone. He did not regret it. His only regret was that he had not trusted her enough to tell her so.
Max realized that he was still standing out in the cold, where Michael and Maria had left him almost ten minutes before. Perhaps they had recognized that he had needed a little time alone, to let Maria's advice penetrate.
He was glad. Because he was going to take it. He was going to leave Liz alone, but first she had to know the truth. About everything.
"Max?" He heard Isabel's voice calling him from inside. Frowning slightly, he thrust his hands into the pockets of his jacket and put Liz from his mind for the moment.
His sister had something to tell him and he had a very good idea that he was not going to like it.
He found them all gathered around the scarred wooden table in the small kitchen attached to the bedroom. A bare bulb burned from the ceiling of the room, accentuating the cobwebs hanging from everything.
"I didn't have time to clean this place." Max sighed, collapsing into a chair at the head of the table. "Sorry."
"I think we have other things to worry about besides your housekeeping skills Maxwell." Michael retorted tonelessly. He was staring at Isabel, his eyes flashing. "I want to know what the hell's going on with your husband Isabel."
"Michael..." Maria frowned at him.
"It's okay." Isabel interjected calmly. "He's going to be a lot more ticked off once he finds out what I have to say."
Max narrowed his eyes. "Where is Jesse?" He asked, trying to keep his voice steady, trying to convey that he trusted her, no matter what she was about to say.
But the problem was, he wasn't sure he was going to be able to say the same thing [I]after[/I] he knew.
"Jesse knew that one of you would come for me tonight because he had a feeling that something was going to happen. As soon as he saw Max, he knew. He's been protecting Michael and I for years, but when Max came back, everything changed. It's out of his control now." She explained in a rush, clearly trying to get it all out before someone could interrupt. "You all know that Jesse knows the truth about us." She continued. "But what you don't really know is how he found out."
Max could see Michael frowning in his direction. "Isabel, what?" Max asked gently, before Michael lost it, which he was clearly on the verge of doing.
Maria reached across the table and placed a reassuring hand on Isabel's, which was clenched on the table-top. "Jesse's FBI." She blurted finally. "And the only way he has been able to keep Michael and I safe is because he vowed that if Max ever came back, he would turn him in."
To be continued...
Max sighed wearily, but felt a great wave of relief as he watched as Michael parked the Volvo that belonged to Isabel and Jesse close beside his Cherokee.
It was close to one in the morning. He had put Ben to bed long ago, although the little boy had wanted to stay up to wait for the others to arrive. Max had only managed to convince him to go to sleep when he had promised him that he would wake him if Liz got back before morning.
He had not expected Liz and Ben to bond as quickly and as completely as they had. He had known that Liz would care about his son, because of the connection to Alex, but it had always taken Ben a long time to trust anyone. He was a friendly, outgoing child, but he didn't [I]expect[/I] much from adults. Max knew that it had to do with some of the things he had experienced as a small child living with Khivar and Tess, basically having been raised by servants and left to fend for himself much of the time in the compound on the northern pole of Antar. They had not been cruel to him, thank God, but they had not given him the love that every child - Antarian or human - needed.
For Tess, Ben had been a bargaining chip, a means to an end. She had known all along that he was not Max's, but she had also known that Max had wanted him, and so she had used the little boy to string Max along, to torture him, to keep him always on edge. She had let him get close to finding them many times during his early days on that far-off planet, but she had always slipped just out of his reach at the last minute. Max knew that she had cared about the child only so far as she could use him. But it wasn't until she truly realized how much Ben meant to Max that she became a danger to him.
Because she didn't particularly care about the child, she had not truly understood the way Max felt about him until they had finally come face to face.
It still brought a sick feeling to his stomach, reflecting on when he had finally found them, almost five full years after he had left Earth.
They had been sitting in the garden of the nursery in Khivar's compound, under a star-pocked sky, one of Antar's three moons shining down brightly upon them, turning their identical blond locks silver. She had been cradling the little boy in her arms, projecting the image of a mother comforting her son. But it had all been a farce. Tess had been stroking Ben's small head, murmuring soothing words to him but her cold blue eyes had been on [I]him[/I], Max, as she had raised her other hand to the boy's back and had allowed it to start to glow, smiling slightly because she [I]knew[/I] that [I]he[/I] knew what she was going to do.
Max had known exactly [I]why[/I] she was doing it too. One look at him, when he had stepped into that garden, had been enough for Tess to know that he would never accept her back into his life, that he would take the son he had still thought then was his and he would leave her with Khivar, that he fully intended to never look upon her again.
She had seen the truth of it in his eyes and she had decided in a split second her course of action. If she was going to be alone, then so was he. She was going to kill the one thing on the entire planet he cared about. Just to punish him, she had been willing to kill her own son.
Max had wanted to kill her ever since he had found out what she had done to Alex. But he had allowed her to live in order that the baby that had been growing in her womb could live as well. He was not going to let her kill him now.
And so he had done it. It had been simple in the end, because his will had been greater, finally, than hers.
He had simply stared at her, into those eyes he had come to despise so much, connected with her instantly, and had fried her brain from the inside out.
He still remembered the momentary flash of shock that had crossed her face, that he had penetrated her shielded mind so easily. But she had had no idea how strong he had become over the years.
She had blinked once and then her essence had been completely gone, shutting off the connection as simply as turning off a light switch on Earth.
He had not felt even a single pang of remorse.
The first moments afterward had been strange. He had moved over to the two of them, still seated on the bench, had realized with relief that his son had slept through the entire thing. He had gently disentangled the little boy from his mother's unnatural embrace and had just held him.
And the moment he had picked up the little boy in his arms, he had known the truth.
He had told Liz that it had been Khivar who had bragged about Ben being his child, that that had been how he had found out. But Max had [I]never[/I] believed it, had refused to believe it. It was not until he actually held the child, that he knew that it was all true.
Ben was not his.
And it had taken one more second for him to realize that he didn't care. Because he had fallen in love with him the instant his arms had come around his neck, the moment his small face had pressed itself against his neck.
It had only been reinforced when Ben had finally opened his eyes, had stared at him for a sleepy moment, and had murmured, "Who are you?"
"I'm your father." Max had whispered back. He had seen the instant flash of fear that had entered Ben's blue eyes, had known with a sinking heart that Tess and Khivar had likely been feeding the child horrible lies about him.
It had been a surprise when the small voice had replied, "You're going to leave me too. Mama always leaves." His fear had not been of Max at all, but of letting himself love someone else, and finding himself disappointed again.
"Never." Max had told him quietly. "I will never leave you."
But it had taken the almost three years it took them to get back to Earth to convince the child.
And, yet, Liz had somehow convinced Ben in less than forty-eight hours that he could trust her.
Apparently there was just something about Liz Parker that made people believe in her. Max had known that he could trust her from the first moment he had laid eyes on her in a school playground close to twenty years ago.
It wasn't because of who she had been to him in a past life either. It was because of who she was today. The best person he had ever known.
The only woman he would ever love.
What Liz returning to Ben meant for [I]his[/I] relationship with Liz, Max had no idea, but he had no doubt that she would be back.
The question was simply [I]when.[/I]
Max could feel his heart beating unevenly as Michael climbed out of the driver's seat after lightly poking Maria, who was half-asleep on the passenger side. Because he was about to get his answer.
"Hey." Max called out in a low tone. "Is everything okay?"
The back door of the Volvo opened and Isabel stepped out, her little girl clenched tightly in her arms. Lexi was fast asleep against her mother's shoulder, a small thumb firmly between her lips.
"Just tired." Michael replied, running his hands through his hair, clearly exhausted. "But we need to talk Maxwell."
Max swallowed as his eyes met Isabel's. Her expression was unreadable. He knew that it was not her choice to be back in his company so soon. He had agreed to give her the time she needed to decide what kind of relationship she wanted with him, but, as usual, circumstances had taken that choice away from her.
"I'm glad you're okay." She said tightly, but Max could tell she meant it. His heart instantly felt lighter. "Is Ben...?"
"Asleep inside." Max responded. "Iz, I'm sorry about Jesse."
Isabel looked away for a moment. "He's fine." She finally replied shortly. "I know far more than either of you think I do."
Michael's head whipped around. "Are you telling me you know where he is?" He demanded. Max watched Maria step forward and place a hand lightly on his arm, trying to calm him down.
"I know." She sighed. "I didn't tell you because I needed to talk to both of you. Michael, I knew you would freak out and I just couldn't deal with you alone."
Max stared at her. "Isabel?"
"You don't understand." Isabel shook her head. "He's trying to save us. I know he is."
Max frowned, exchanged a glance with Michael, who looked about ready to explode. "What are you talking about?"
She moved past him and towards the door. "I never once thought I would see this place again." She muttered as she entered the darkened dome. "Just let me put Lexi down and we'll talk."
"What the hell?" Michael almost yelled after the door shut behind her. "I've been worried about her all day! And she knew all along?"
"Michael, she obviously had a good reason." Maria reprimanded quietly.
Max rubbed a hand across his face wearily. He could tell that this was going to be a very [I]long[/I] night.
"Well?" He blinked when he realized that Maria was standing right in front of him, eyeing him with annoyance.
"What?" Max asked, unsure what the expression on her face meant.
"What did you do to Liz?"
"What do you mean? I didn't do anything to her."
"So you're telling me that she's not talking to you for no reason then?" Maria raised an eyebrow. Max took a step backward when she poked him in the chest.
Max grimaced. "Well, she wasn't exactly happy that I told her that I wasn't going to just give up on her." He admitted uncomfortably. He glanced at Michael, who looked interested, but mostly relieved that Maria's ire was no longer directed at him. "I told her I still loved her and that I was going to fight for her."
"And why, pray tell, did you decide to inform her of this?" Maria asked, deceptively calm. "Do you think that Liz can't make her own decisions?"
He didn't know [I]what[/I] to say. "She told me that she still loved me too." He protested lamely.
Maria rolled her eyes. "Of course she loves you, you idiot! You're Max. But that doesn't mean that you can just decide what's going to happen in her life!" She poked him again. "You need to give her time Max. I mean it. If you want this to work, you have to let her realize that it's what she wants. Because what you're doing now is just driving her away."
Max stared at her. "Why are you telling me this?" He finally asked.
"Because I think you two belong together." Maria told him honestly. "But I won't have Lizzie forced into anything. She has to come to it herself or it's always going to be wrong. Do you understand?" She finished gently.
He frowned slightly. "I understand." He replied automatically.
And, suddenly, he did.
All the plans he had been formulating in the back of his mind to woo her and to win her back crumbled to dust. The idea of rebuilding their relationship from the ground up, of pretending that everything that had come before had never happened - it wasn't going to work. Maria was more than right.
He realized that it was why he had slipped that ring into her pocket before she had left, even though it had not fit in with his plan of ignoring the past. He had brought the knowledge of it back from Antar, knew that it had fallen into the possession of William Atherton, just as the pendant had. They had both been presents to the writer, from Langley, in an attempt to keep him quiet about what he knew.
Max had learned a great deal about Langley on the trip back to Antar. Nasedo had been the cold-blooded killer of the pair of protectors that had been sent with the two sets of pods to Earth. Langley had not started out that way, had only become a murderer when his newfound life on Earth was threatened. Langley had wanted to appease Atherton, had tried with first the pendant, and then the ring.
But, of course, they had not been Langley's to give to anyone. They had, in fact, been a gift to [I]him[/I], Max. From the one person who had given him everything in his past life. The one person who had, in fact, given him [I]this[/I] life.
Kadiya.
The past could not be changed. Giving Liz the ring as he had, after he had torn apart Atherton's office in search of it, had proven that his subconscious knew this. He [I]wanted[/I] her to know - wanted her to remember.
Because their past was about so much more than him having slept with Tess, about more then him having deserted her, which he knew she still thought.
He had had to go back to Antar to get answers, so that they could create a new future. He had been [I]compelled[/I] to leave her, not just in pursuit of his son, but also in search of the truth.
Because if he and Tess were meant to be together, then how could his heart have been so wrong all along?
He had needed those answers...and he had needed to find them alone.
He had been wrong to even allow Liz to get involved with the search for his son. But, in the end, it had been too hard for him to let her go, when she had wanted to help, when she had been holding on to him so tightly. Because he loved her so much and hurting her had been something he couldn't even conceive of doing. Not when she wanted to be with him.
And so, in the end, he had taken the coward's way out. He had left, without saying goodbye, and she was probably never going to forgive him for it because he had never given her the chance to understand.
He had not lied to her when he had told her that the reason that he hadn't answered her phone call on the night he left was because he wouldn't have been able to do it. He would not have been able to go if he had spoken to her.
And he had had to. Alone. He did not regret it. His only regret was that he had not trusted her enough to tell her so.
Max realized that he was still standing out in the cold, where Michael and Maria had left him almost ten minutes before. Perhaps they had recognized that he had needed a little time alone, to let Maria's advice penetrate.
He was glad. Because he was going to take it. He was going to leave Liz alone, but first she had to know the truth. About everything.
"Max?" He heard Isabel's voice calling him from inside. Frowning slightly, he thrust his hands into the pockets of his jacket and put Liz from his mind for the moment.
His sister had something to tell him and he had a very good idea that he was not going to like it.
He found them all gathered around the scarred wooden table in the small kitchen attached to the bedroom. A bare bulb burned from the ceiling of the room, accentuating the cobwebs hanging from everything.
"I didn't have time to clean this place." Max sighed, collapsing into a chair at the head of the table. "Sorry."
"I think we have other things to worry about besides your housekeeping skills Maxwell." Michael retorted tonelessly. He was staring at Isabel, his eyes flashing. "I want to know what the hell's going on with your husband Isabel."
"Michael..." Maria frowned at him.
"It's okay." Isabel interjected calmly. "He's going to be a lot more ticked off once he finds out what I have to say."
Max narrowed his eyes. "Where is Jesse?" He asked, trying to keep his voice steady, trying to convey that he trusted her, no matter what she was about to say.
But the problem was, he wasn't sure he was going to be able to say the same thing [I]after[/I] he knew.
"Jesse knew that one of you would come for me tonight because he had a feeling that something was going to happen. As soon as he saw Max, he knew. He's been protecting Michael and I for years, but when Max came back, everything changed. It's out of his control now." She explained in a rush, clearly trying to get it all out before someone could interrupt. "You all know that Jesse knows the truth about us." She continued. "But what you don't really know is how he found out."
Max could see Michael frowning in his direction. "Isabel, what?" Max asked gently, before Michael lost it, which he was clearly on the verge of doing.
Maria reached across the table and placed a reassuring hand on Isabel's, which was clenched on the table-top. "Jesse's FBI." She blurted finally. "And the only way he has been able to keep Michael and I safe is because he vowed that if Max ever came back, he would turn him in."
To be continued...