Part 23
"I'll be up in a minute." Liz kissed Dan lightly on the cheek as he picked up the motel room key and headed for the elevator. "I just need to get something out of Kyle's truck."
Dan frowned slightly but nodded. He had been unnaturally quiet since she had basically ridiculed him about his suspicions regarding Max. She could tell that the conversation was by no means over, but the fact that she had agreed to stay the night with him in the motel and that she had also decided to return to Roswell the next morning had quieted him on the subject of aliens for the moment.
Now she had to deal with the consequences of the fact that she was going to have to break her promise to Ben. She had told the little boy that she was coming back and now she couldn't. And, somehow, she knew that an eight year old was not going to understand that she was doing it to protect him.
But she couldn't go back. Not before the wedding anyway. Because if Max even caught a hint of the truth that she was now basically marrying Dan to protect [I]him[/I]... Liz grimaced. It would not be pretty.
The fact that she was still furious at him - truly, gut-wrenchingly furious - because of the fact that he had basically [I]ordered[/I] her to acknowledge that they belonged together, did not overshadow the fact that she would not allow him to be threatened by her fiancé.
Max had made his choice. By coming back to Earth, he had decided that he was [I]human[/I] - that his [I]son[/I] was human. And Liz was not going to let anyone take that away from them.
Deep down, she knew it was a bad plan. She [I]knew[/I] that Dan was not just going to let this go. But she didn't know what else to do. Telling Max was not even an option. Because what was he going to do - tell Dan the truth? No, Max had himself admitted that he had had to do many horrible things in order to protect his son. She did not want him to even have to face the reality that he might have to continue doing them.
Because, deep down, Liz knew the only way to truly protect Max and Ben from Dan was to kill him.
And, suddenly, she understood Nasedo - or at least understood him before it had become clear that he was in on the plan with Tess to have Max and Isabel and Michael killed as soon as they returned to Antar. The only real way to keep Max and the others safe was to decide that their lives were more important than those of the people who threatened them.
Once upon a time, back when she had first known him, Max had been willing to sacrifice himself to keep others safe. He had been ready to turn himself in after he had healed her at the Crashdown for example. But that had changed. He couldn't just give himself up, because he was needed. Now the only person who mattered was Ben. He would be willing to do whatever it took to protect that little boy.
A child who wasn't even [I]really[/I] his.
Liz was not going to put him in the position where he had to decide. She would decide for him. If it meant that she had to spend every waking minute of the rest of her life with Dan, she would do it.
She was not surprised to find Kyle waiting for her in the motel's parking lot. "Looking for this?" He asked, an eyebrow raised, as he held her purse up in the air. "Thought you might come looking for some fresh air." He added, explaining his presence. "We need to talk Liz."
"Did you call Sarah?" Liz asked wearily, leaning back against the hood of the sheriff's department vehicle.
"Yeah, she hasn't even missed me. Vick's in town for the wedding. They've been gabbing it up all night." Kyle grimaced.
Liz smiled slightly. Victoria was Kyle's sister-in-law. She was a journalist and drove Kyle absolutely batty because she never seemed to shut up. But Liz loved her. She and Sarah and Vick had been practically inseparable during her student days. Vick had left Boston for New York after graduation, but she and Liz were still close enough that Liz had invited her to the wedding.
She shivered slightly. Even the thought of the wedding sent a chill down Liz's spine. There were barely thirty-six hours until she would be walking down the aisle.
All of her dreams had come true. She was a molecular biologist at Harvard, marrying someone [I]normal[/I], someone who had always been there for her, and somehow, some way it had all turned into a nightmare.
It would be easy to blame Max. But she had long ago acknowledged that she had not been happy, even before she knew he was back. And she had no intention of even being with him after all.
No, she was the one who had gotten herself into this mess. She was engaged to a man she could no longer trust and stuck in a job she hated. Life was grand.
"She's pressuring me to get her an interview with Maria." Kyle was adding, rolling his eyes.
Liz laughed slightly. "Maria will give her a little something. She likes Vick. She might even let her break the story about Michael."
It felt good to discuss something so inane Liz realized. But she knew that they were avoiding the real subject. Even now Kyle was beginning to eye her with disapproval again. She sighed heavily. "Okay, out with it. I know it's practically killing you."
"I think you should tell Evans what's going on." Kyle replied without any ceremony. "While I am still not the guy's biggest fan, he should know about this. It's up to [I]him[/I] to deal with Dan Liz."
"How?" Liz asked reasonably. "There is only one fool-proof way of doing so Kyle. Do you want Max to kill him? Doesn't that go against your oath to protect people?" She added wryly, lightly patting the vehicle she was still leaning against.
Kyle's eyes narrowed. "Do you really think Max would do that?"
"What else [I]can[/I] he do Kyle?" Liz closed her eyes in frustration. "Dan is like a dog with a bone when it comes to his career. This would make him."
"Liz, I don't think Dan's particularly concerned about his career at the moment." Kyle shot back wryly. "I think he's more than a little concerned that he's losing [I]you[/I]. Maybe knowing the truth would put his fears to rest. You know, he might find it reassuring that the reason you've been acting like you're madly in love with Max is because you're still trying to protect him - because he saved your life."
There was a long pause. Liz opened her eyes and stared at Kyle. She watched Kyle's eyes widen as the truth hit him squarely. "Oh Jeez. Are you telling me that he [I]has?[/I] Lost you I mean?" He sighed heavily. "Man, whatever alien force Evans does put on you...I gotta get me some of that."
Liz just smiled sadly. "It's not about Max Kyle. I wasn't ready for this long before I even knew Max was back. But Max [I]has[/I] played a part. Because being with him has reminded me of [I]what[/I] I want to feel like when I'm in love. And I just don't. Not about Dan."
"How can you say that it's [I]not[/I] about Evans if he's the one who reminds you of that?" Kyle asked logically. "Liz, why can't you just admit you still love him? Despite everything?"
"I do love him Kyle. But I can't [I]be[/I] with him. I just can't. I can't trust him."
Kyle shrugged. "I've [I]never[/I] trusted him Liz. But I [I]know[/I] he trusts you. You [I]have[/I] to tell him. You can't deal with Dan by yourself. It will kill you. I cannot stand the idea of you married to someone you don't love." He reached out, pulled her gently against him.
"What does it matter?" Liz whispered against her friend's chest. "If I can't be with the person I do love, what does it even matter? I'll make the best of it."
They stood that way for a long time, Liz trying to gather the strength to return to Dan, to try and convince him that what he had heard with his own ears had been untrue.
"I guess I'll head back there and tell them you're not coming." Kyle finally broke the silence. "What do you want me to say?"
What could he say that would even make a difference? Liz swallowed, tried to stop the tears from coursing down her cheeks. Ben was [I]never[/I] going to understand. It was absolutely breaking her heart to have to betray him like this. "Just tell Ben that I love him and that I'm sorry. Tell him that I'll see him soon but that he can ask Maria any questions he has about Alex." But she knew it would not be the same. She was never going to have the relationship with Ben that she wanted now. He would never trust her after this.
"What about Max?"
"Don't say anything. He'll get the picture." Liz felt the lump in her throat expanding as she imagined how Max was going to react when he realized that she was not coming back. She had a feeling that he was going to be a little stunned that her will was so strong. She [I]knew[/I] that he had thought that it was just a matter of time until she broke down and gave in. After all, when had her actions told him anything but that? She had run off into the night with him four days before her wedding, had slept in his arms, had flat-out told him that she still loved him.
She had told him that she would be back. And she could even admit to herself now that it was no longer an option that going back had [I]not[/I] been just about Ben.
"Tell them to be careful." Liz choked out as she turned away from Kyle.
"This is a mistake." He called after her, sounding supremely frustrated.
She turned around. "Maybe." She nodded, the tears truly falling now. "But if so, it's a mistake I [I]have[/I] to make."
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The stunned silence had yet to be broken.
Max had felt all the colour drain out of his face after Isabel's bombshell, could not even begin to formulate a coherent sentence. He just stared across the table at Michael, who, for once, seemed incapable of even an explosion of outrage. This revelation was so clearly beyond anything he had been expecting, his mouth was hanging open, literally.
It was Maria who finally managed to find the use of her vocal cords. "Isabel, what does this mean? How can the FBI know about you and Michael...and not care?"
"Because they don't think we're aliens." Isabel replied simply, a slight crease of fear on her forehead. "They never knew for sure about us. They do know for sure about Max, because Nasedo wasn't able to expunge all the records when he was impersonating Pierce. And when Jesse took over it was too late to do it. Too many agents already knew."
Max felt fear twist within his gut, flashes of Pierce and what had been done to him in the White Room filtering through his mind at lightening speed. Because it sounded like not only was Isabel's husband FBI, but that he was, in fact, heading up the same unit that had tortured him.
The sheer irony was that he had experienced worse torture on Antar, but the difference had been that he had [I]trusted[/I] humans, had believed inherently in their conscience to do what was right and so the betrayal in the White Room had been that much more horrifying. He had always been afraid of discovery on Earth, but after Liz had known the truth, and Maria and Alex, and even eventually Valenti and Kyle, who had both always seemed like his enemies, he realized that he had started to fear less, because they had accepted him. He had started to hope that if the truth had come out, maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he had always envisioned. He had never recognized this feeling he had until long after he had left Earth. Because it had only existed for a very short time.
Pierce had changed it all.
What he had experienced on Antar had been different, because he had [I]never[/I] trusted the Antarians, not for an instant.
But his fear now wasn't even for himself. It was for Ben. Because if they knew about [I]him[/I], they had to know about Ben.
"But...but you just said that Jesse knows the truth." Maria replied. "About [I]you[/I] I mean." Max felt grateful to her. Because he didn't even know where to start with his sister.
Isabel had agreed to betray him. She had hated him so much after he left that she had been willing to turn him back over to the people who had tortured him - the people that had destroyed his faith in humanity.
"Jesse knows - knew before he even met me, although the FBI didn't know that." Isabel told them. "He officially came to get close to me because they thought that they could get more information on Max from the inside. They had Max's name and the suspicions and some of the tests from the White Room, but they had to be absolutely sure before they moved in again, because of how humiliated they had been during the Senate hearings."
"But why hasn't he turned you in?" Maria asked. She had reached out to grasp Michael's hand. Max could see that his best friend looked like he was about to pass out.
But Isabel ignored her for the moment. She was eyeing Michael worriedly. "Michael?" She glanced at Max, but quickly averted her eyes. She clearly didn't want to see his reaction. He wondered inanely if she even felt at all guilty. "Are you even going to say anything?"
"You agreed to turn Max over to the FBI?" Michael finally ground out, appearing to finally break out of his stupor. "How could you do that? HOW???"
Isabel was twisting her hands in front of her. She swallowed convulsively. "You don't understand. I never thought he would come back." She whispered finally. "I had to protect you Michael. You [I]and[/I] me." Finally, she turned to look at Max, her eyes shining with tears. "Max, I never thought you would come back. I really didn't. I thought it was what you would have wanted me to do." The tears began to spill down her cheeks. "It's the only reason I let myself go enough to have Lexi. I really, truly believed that you were never coming back. And Jesse never meant it either. He's not going to turn you in, just told them that he would. It was the only way he could stay married to me and still work there - they were willing to let him, in case Max came back."
"Where is Jesse now?" Max croaked, visions of a team of Special Unit agents gathering outside Atherton's, making his blood run cold.
"He went in to do damage control." Isabel replied. "He has no intention of turning you in Max, never did. It's why he told me to go with you - why he didn't want me to tell him where we were going. In case he can't fix this."
"How can you be sure Isabel?" Michael demanded. "And why would he send you off with us if Max is in such danger? With his own daughter yet?"
"It's because of what almost happened to Ben the other day at school." Isabel sighed, closing her eyes and burying her face in her hands. "He must have known that that was Nicholas even before we did. He knows that the three of us have a better chance of protecting Lexi than he does, even though..." She cut herself off abruptly.
And the hits just kept on coming. "What? Even though what Isabel?" Max stood up so abruptly, the chair he had been sitting on fell over backwards.
"Jesse has been on to Nicholas for years." She replied wearily. "Guys, don't you get it? Why Jesse is working for the FBI but hasn't turned Michael or I in?"
"Clearly not." Michael replied suspiciously. "Tell us."
"I'm trying." She retorted. "It's just that it's all so complicated! Okay, think about it." She looked at Michael. "Remember when I married Jesse, you are were all concerned, because you thought he might be using me, or a bad guy, or something?"
Michael nodded, frowning.
"Well, I told you at the time that I had dreamwalked him and that he was perfectly normal." Isabel continued.
"He's not?" Michael interrupted, although he sounded resigned now.
"He's as normal as we are." Isabel replied, shaking her head. "And he's a good person, just like we are."
And suddenly Max understood. It was so far-fetched as to be almost unbelievable and, yet, it made perfect sense.
"He's one of us."
Isabel glanced at him gratefully. "Yes. Well, sort of." She amended. "It's why I was so attracted to him, right from the beginning."
Maria had stood up by now too, was backed up against the wall of the room, just taking everything in. "Sort of? Either he is or he isn't." She interjected.
"He's half-alien." Isabel grimaced.
"How?" Max could feel his heart beating at about fifty times the normal speed.
Isabel sighed. "Nasedo."
"EWWWWWW!" Maria shrieked. Max, Michael and Isabel all whipped their heads around to stare at her. "Sorry," she muttered. "But, I mean, c'mon. That's gross."
Isabel rolled her eyes. "His mother doesn't even know," she continued. "But Nasedo came back after he was born, kept an eye on him, because he knew that he might develop some powers, wanted to make sure that he learned how to hide them." She frowned in Maria's direction. "Nasedo wasn't [I]all[/I] bad you know. He had a job to do and he did it, and after he lost us he made a deal that he couldn't get out of, even after he found us again and [I]wanted[/I] to. Tess was wrong. He didn't make it forty years ago. He made it only after he found the empty pods. Why do you think the Skins killed him if he was working for them? Tess knew he was waffling and she told Nicholas so." Isabel looked at Max. "You impressed him far more than he ever thought you would. I think he thought you were something of a moron on Antar, only came with us in the ship because he was loyal to our mother and the monarchy. He [I]tried[/I] to get out of the deal, once he knew you, but it was too late. He had raised Tess to only want one thing. When she thought that you weren't going to go back, because of Liz, she knew that the only way to [I]make[/I] you was to follow the Skins' plan to the letter. So she betrayed Nasedo."
Max remembered back to the last few times he had spoken to Nasedo, before he had been killed. The shapeshifter had pushed the idea that he was meant to be with Tess, although he must have known that Zan had never loved his wife. Because he had to have known about Kadiya, especially if he had been around when they had been cloned. He must have been or he never would have been sent with them.
Max wondered if Nasedo had even known how Liz was tied to Kadi. If he was such a monarchist, it had probably scared the hell out of him. It might have even been one of the reasons that he had kidnapped Liz, before Pierce had taken Max. If Liz had been killed in the crossfire then, the whole thing would have been over before it had even started. Because Kadi had been the one person who had compelled Zan to abandon his throne. Even though he had wanted to long before he had ever met her, it had been love for her that had finally made him actually do it. No wonder Nasedo had not been loyal to Zan first. If he had wanted a king and a monarchy, the fact that Zan had been willing to give up his throne must have been anathema to him. Pushing Max towards Tess had perhaps been Nasedo's way to try and avert it from happening again in the present lifetime.
"So Jesse went to the Special Unit after Nasedo died?" Max asked, pushing those questions aside for the moment. Isabel wouldn't have the answers for all of Nasedo's motivations after all. But he felt like he was gradually putting the pieces together.
"Well, he already worked there, had since he left college. He had been undercover for a long time, on Nasedo's orders. They were the ones who put him through law school actually. When Nasedo was impersonating Pierce, he set it up so that Jesse would take over for him when he left. Because, despite what we heard on C-SPAN, the government had no intention of completely ending the Unit. Not after all the proof they already had because of Max's imprisonment."
"What about Nicholas?" It was the answer Max really wanted. Because if Jesse had any connection to that evil little troll, then there was no way he could ever trust him. "Do you know why he's still alive?"
"I'm shocked he is, if he's out in the open." Isabel admitted. "Jesse caught up with him after the summit in New York. Why do you think he completely disappeared? He was at the Special Unit. They figured out a way to keep him alive, in spite of the fact that his new skin was destroyed. But Jesse would have told me had he escaped. He knows he's a danger to all of us."
"Did Nicholas talk?" Michael demanded. "Because he could have told them all about us."
"I don't think so. I think he and Jesse understood each other. Jesse would keep him alive if he protected me. Plus, Khivar didn't want [I]me[/I] dead." Isabel glanced at Max guiltily. "Only Max."
"But that doesn't answer the question of why Nicholas wants Ben dead." Max murmured, glancing at Michael, who shrugged.
"Because he's your son of course." Isabel returned, sounding confused. "Max, he's your heir. Of course he wants him dead."
Max blinked. He stared at Michael. "You didn't tell her?"
"Er, no." Michael admitted. "It didn't seem like the right time, being as we were fleeing for our lives and all. And then we had to deal with Liz's crazy fiancé."
"Tell me what?" Isabel asked, annoyed. "If I'm being so honest with you, I expect the same courtesy Max."
"Chill Isabel." Michael snapped. "You don't have the right to give anyone orders right now. In spite of the fact that you didn't think Max was coming back, [I]your[/I] husband is still the one who told his bosses that you would turn over your own brother."
"Michael." Max cut in gently. "It's okay. I understand why she did it."
"Well, she should have told me about all this years ago Maxwell." Michael almost yelled. "I can't believe that she kept a secret of this magnitude for so long. What am I anyway? I'm practically your brother Isabel!"
"I was trying to protect you." Isabel whispered, her eyes filling with tears again.
"Bull!" Michael flared. "You were trying to protect your pansy-ass husband. That and your pretty little house and picket fence. I [I]know[/I] you Isabel."
"MICHAEL!" Maria gasped. "None of this is Jesse's fault! He's trying to help you."
"Well, then why doesn't he [I]really[/I] help us? If he's half alien, then he should be with us. He's got to have some sort of gift. And keeping Nicholas [I]alive[/I]? Man, that's just crazy."
"Jesse doesn't have any gifts." Isabel shouted back. "And he's been working his butt off for years trying to keep them away from us. You owe him your life Michael!"
Michael just snorted and turned to storm out of the room. Maria shook her head in despair. "He thought that all of this was over." She told Max and Isabel helplessly. "He doesn't know how to deal with it."
"It's my fault." Max shook his head. "I never should have come back here."
"This is your home Max. It's where you belong." Maria smiled sadly at him. "You had every right to come back. Things might be a little tense right now, but we'd rather have you here than not." She turned and followed Michael.
There was a long silence after she was gone. The only sound was Isabel's sniffing as she tried to control her tears of sorrow and outrage.
"I'm sorry about all of this Iz." Max finally turned, took in the shattered mess that his sister was slowly turning into. She had collapsed into a chair and looked absolutely devastated by Michael's accusations.
"Why can't he understand that I was trying to protect him?" She asked, tears welling up again.
Max sighed. "Do [I]you[/I] understand that [I]I[/I] was trying to protect [I]you[/I]? By leaving you behind I mean?" He sat down across the table from her again.
Isabel blinked, but she replied honestly. "Intellectually, yes. But my heart still hurts."
"I know Iz." He reached out and squeezed her hand lightly, before standing up again. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?" She asked quietly, although she stood quite willingly.
"I'm going to make your heart feel a little better." He replied, quirking a grin in her direction.
Max led the way to the bedroom, where Ben and Lexi were both curled up, sound asleep. Isabel stood quietly beside him, gazing down at the two blissfully unaware children.
"They're in danger." She whispered, a hitch in her voice. "How is this supposed to make me feel better?"
"They're who we really need to protect." Max murmured back. "It's why we have to stop lying to each other Isabel. Only telling half the truth means that the other half can be used as a weapon."
There was a long pause. "What do you need to tell me Max?" She finally asked. "I know there's something."
Max swallowed. "There's more than something. There are a lot of somethings, but I'm going to start with a good one. Or at least I [I]think[/I] you'll like it. "
"What?" Isabel brushed a strand of dark hair behind her ears, frowned slightly.
"Lexi isn't Alex's only legacy." Max replied. "We have more than just his name Isabel. Because Ben is not my son."
"I'll be up in a minute." Liz kissed Dan lightly on the cheek as he picked up the motel room key and headed for the elevator. "I just need to get something out of Kyle's truck."
Dan frowned slightly but nodded. He had been unnaturally quiet since she had basically ridiculed him about his suspicions regarding Max. She could tell that the conversation was by no means over, but the fact that she had agreed to stay the night with him in the motel and that she had also decided to return to Roswell the next morning had quieted him on the subject of aliens for the moment.
Now she had to deal with the consequences of the fact that she was going to have to break her promise to Ben. She had told the little boy that she was coming back and now she couldn't. And, somehow, she knew that an eight year old was not going to understand that she was doing it to protect him.
But she couldn't go back. Not before the wedding anyway. Because if Max even caught a hint of the truth that she was now basically marrying Dan to protect [I]him[/I]... Liz grimaced. It would not be pretty.
The fact that she was still furious at him - truly, gut-wrenchingly furious - because of the fact that he had basically [I]ordered[/I] her to acknowledge that they belonged together, did not overshadow the fact that she would not allow him to be threatened by her fiancé.
Max had made his choice. By coming back to Earth, he had decided that he was [I]human[/I] - that his [I]son[/I] was human. And Liz was not going to let anyone take that away from them.
Deep down, she knew it was a bad plan. She [I]knew[/I] that Dan was not just going to let this go. But she didn't know what else to do. Telling Max was not even an option. Because what was he going to do - tell Dan the truth? No, Max had himself admitted that he had had to do many horrible things in order to protect his son. She did not want him to even have to face the reality that he might have to continue doing them.
Because, deep down, Liz knew the only way to truly protect Max and Ben from Dan was to kill him.
And, suddenly, she understood Nasedo - or at least understood him before it had become clear that he was in on the plan with Tess to have Max and Isabel and Michael killed as soon as they returned to Antar. The only real way to keep Max and the others safe was to decide that their lives were more important than those of the people who threatened them.
Once upon a time, back when she had first known him, Max had been willing to sacrifice himself to keep others safe. He had been ready to turn himself in after he had healed her at the Crashdown for example. But that had changed. He couldn't just give himself up, because he was needed. Now the only person who mattered was Ben. He would be willing to do whatever it took to protect that little boy.
A child who wasn't even [I]really[/I] his.
Liz was not going to put him in the position where he had to decide. She would decide for him. If it meant that she had to spend every waking minute of the rest of her life with Dan, she would do it.
She was not surprised to find Kyle waiting for her in the motel's parking lot. "Looking for this?" He asked, an eyebrow raised, as he held her purse up in the air. "Thought you might come looking for some fresh air." He added, explaining his presence. "We need to talk Liz."
"Did you call Sarah?" Liz asked wearily, leaning back against the hood of the sheriff's department vehicle.
"Yeah, she hasn't even missed me. Vick's in town for the wedding. They've been gabbing it up all night." Kyle grimaced.
Liz smiled slightly. Victoria was Kyle's sister-in-law. She was a journalist and drove Kyle absolutely batty because she never seemed to shut up. But Liz loved her. She and Sarah and Vick had been practically inseparable during her student days. Vick had left Boston for New York after graduation, but she and Liz were still close enough that Liz had invited her to the wedding.
She shivered slightly. Even the thought of the wedding sent a chill down Liz's spine. There were barely thirty-six hours until she would be walking down the aisle.
All of her dreams had come true. She was a molecular biologist at Harvard, marrying someone [I]normal[/I], someone who had always been there for her, and somehow, some way it had all turned into a nightmare.
It would be easy to blame Max. But she had long ago acknowledged that she had not been happy, even before she knew he was back. And she had no intention of even being with him after all.
No, she was the one who had gotten herself into this mess. She was engaged to a man she could no longer trust and stuck in a job she hated. Life was grand.
"She's pressuring me to get her an interview with Maria." Kyle was adding, rolling his eyes.
Liz laughed slightly. "Maria will give her a little something. She likes Vick. She might even let her break the story about Michael."
It felt good to discuss something so inane Liz realized. But she knew that they were avoiding the real subject. Even now Kyle was beginning to eye her with disapproval again. She sighed heavily. "Okay, out with it. I know it's practically killing you."
"I think you should tell Evans what's going on." Kyle replied without any ceremony. "While I am still not the guy's biggest fan, he should know about this. It's up to [I]him[/I] to deal with Dan Liz."
"How?" Liz asked reasonably. "There is only one fool-proof way of doing so Kyle. Do you want Max to kill him? Doesn't that go against your oath to protect people?" She added wryly, lightly patting the vehicle she was still leaning against.
Kyle's eyes narrowed. "Do you really think Max would do that?"
"What else [I]can[/I] he do Kyle?" Liz closed her eyes in frustration. "Dan is like a dog with a bone when it comes to his career. This would make him."
"Liz, I don't think Dan's particularly concerned about his career at the moment." Kyle shot back wryly. "I think he's more than a little concerned that he's losing [I]you[/I]. Maybe knowing the truth would put his fears to rest. You know, he might find it reassuring that the reason you've been acting like you're madly in love with Max is because you're still trying to protect him - because he saved your life."
There was a long pause. Liz opened her eyes and stared at Kyle. She watched Kyle's eyes widen as the truth hit him squarely. "Oh Jeez. Are you telling me that he [I]has?[/I] Lost you I mean?" He sighed heavily. "Man, whatever alien force Evans does put on you...I gotta get me some of that."
Liz just smiled sadly. "It's not about Max Kyle. I wasn't ready for this long before I even knew Max was back. But Max [I]has[/I] played a part. Because being with him has reminded me of [I]what[/I] I want to feel like when I'm in love. And I just don't. Not about Dan."
"How can you say that it's [I]not[/I] about Evans if he's the one who reminds you of that?" Kyle asked logically. "Liz, why can't you just admit you still love him? Despite everything?"
"I do love him Kyle. But I can't [I]be[/I] with him. I just can't. I can't trust him."
Kyle shrugged. "I've [I]never[/I] trusted him Liz. But I [I]know[/I] he trusts you. You [I]have[/I] to tell him. You can't deal with Dan by yourself. It will kill you. I cannot stand the idea of you married to someone you don't love." He reached out, pulled her gently against him.
"What does it matter?" Liz whispered against her friend's chest. "If I can't be with the person I do love, what does it even matter? I'll make the best of it."
They stood that way for a long time, Liz trying to gather the strength to return to Dan, to try and convince him that what he had heard with his own ears had been untrue.
"I guess I'll head back there and tell them you're not coming." Kyle finally broke the silence. "What do you want me to say?"
What could he say that would even make a difference? Liz swallowed, tried to stop the tears from coursing down her cheeks. Ben was [I]never[/I] going to understand. It was absolutely breaking her heart to have to betray him like this. "Just tell Ben that I love him and that I'm sorry. Tell him that I'll see him soon but that he can ask Maria any questions he has about Alex." But she knew it would not be the same. She was never going to have the relationship with Ben that she wanted now. He would never trust her after this.
"What about Max?"
"Don't say anything. He'll get the picture." Liz felt the lump in her throat expanding as she imagined how Max was going to react when he realized that she was not coming back. She had a feeling that he was going to be a little stunned that her will was so strong. She [I]knew[/I] that he had thought that it was just a matter of time until she broke down and gave in. After all, when had her actions told him anything but that? She had run off into the night with him four days before her wedding, had slept in his arms, had flat-out told him that she still loved him.
She had told him that she would be back. And she could even admit to herself now that it was no longer an option that going back had [I]not[/I] been just about Ben.
"Tell them to be careful." Liz choked out as she turned away from Kyle.
"This is a mistake." He called after her, sounding supremely frustrated.
She turned around. "Maybe." She nodded, the tears truly falling now. "But if so, it's a mistake I [I]have[/I] to make."
******************************************************************
The stunned silence had yet to be broken.
Max had felt all the colour drain out of his face after Isabel's bombshell, could not even begin to formulate a coherent sentence. He just stared across the table at Michael, who, for once, seemed incapable of even an explosion of outrage. This revelation was so clearly beyond anything he had been expecting, his mouth was hanging open, literally.
It was Maria who finally managed to find the use of her vocal cords. "Isabel, what does this mean? How can the FBI know about you and Michael...and not care?"
"Because they don't think we're aliens." Isabel replied simply, a slight crease of fear on her forehead. "They never knew for sure about us. They do know for sure about Max, because Nasedo wasn't able to expunge all the records when he was impersonating Pierce. And when Jesse took over it was too late to do it. Too many agents already knew."
Max felt fear twist within his gut, flashes of Pierce and what had been done to him in the White Room filtering through his mind at lightening speed. Because it sounded like not only was Isabel's husband FBI, but that he was, in fact, heading up the same unit that had tortured him.
The sheer irony was that he had experienced worse torture on Antar, but the difference had been that he had [I]trusted[/I] humans, had believed inherently in their conscience to do what was right and so the betrayal in the White Room had been that much more horrifying. He had always been afraid of discovery on Earth, but after Liz had known the truth, and Maria and Alex, and even eventually Valenti and Kyle, who had both always seemed like his enemies, he realized that he had started to fear less, because they had accepted him. He had started to hope that if the truth had come out, maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he had always envisioned. He had never recognized this feeling he had until long after he had left Earth. Because it had only existed for a very short time.
Pierce had changed it all.
What he had experienced on Antar had been different, because he had [I]never[/I] trusted the Antarians, not for an instant.
But his fear now wasn't even for himself. It was for Ben. Because if they knew about [I]him[/I], they had to know about Ben.
"But...but you just said that Jesse knows the truth." Maria replied. "About [I]you[/I] I mean." Max felt grateful to her. Because he didn't even know where to start with his sister.
Isabel had agreed to betray him. She had hated him so much after he left that she had been willing to turn him back over to the people who had tortured him - the people that had destroyed his faith in humanity.
"Jesse knows - knew before he even met me, although the FBI didn't know that." Isabel told them. "He officially came to get close to me because they thought that they could get more information on Max from the inside. They had Max's name and the suspicions and some of the tests from the White Room, but they had to be absolutely sure before they moved in again, because of how humiliated they had been during the Senate hearings."
"But why hasn't he turned you in?" Maria asked. She had reached out to grasp Michael's hand. Max could see that his best friend looked like he was about to pass out.
But Isabel ignored her for the moment. She was eyeing Michael worriedly. "Michael?" She glanced at Max, but quickly averted her eyes. She clearly didn't want to see his reaction. He wondered inanely if she even felt at all guilty. "Are you even going to say anything?"
"You agreed to turn Max over to the FBI?" Michael finally ground out, appearing to finally break out of his stupor. "How could you do that? HOW???"
Isabel was twisting her hands in front of her. She swallowed convulsively. "You don't understand. I never thought he would come back." She whispered finally. "I had to protect you Michael. You [I]and[/I] me." Finally, she turned to look at Max, her eyes shining with tears. "Max, I never thought you would come back. I really didn't. I thought it was what you would have wanted me to do." The tears began to spill down her cheeks. "It's the only reason I let myself go enough to have Lexi. I really, truly believed that you were never coming back. And Jesse never meant it either. He's not going to turn you in, just told them that he would. It was the only way he could stay married to me and still work there - they were willing to let him, in case Max came back."
"Where is Jesse now?" Max croaked, visions of a team of Special Unit agents gathering outside Atherton's, making his blood run cold.
"He went in to do damage control." Isabel replied. "He has no intention of turning you in Max, never did. It's why he told me to go with you - why he didn't want me to tell him where we were going. In case he can't fix this."
"How can you be sure Isabel?" Michael demanded. "And why would he send you off with us if Max is in such danger? With his own daughter yet?"
"It's because of what almost happened to Ben the other day at school." Isabel sighed, closing her eyes and burying her face in her hands. "He must have known that that was Nicholas even before we did. He knows that the three of us have a better chance of protecting Lexi than he does, even though..." She cut herself off abruptly.
And the hits just kept on coming. "What? Even though what Isabel?" Max stood up so abruptly, the chair he had been sitting on fell over backwards.
"Jesse has been on to Nicholas for years." She replied wearily. "Guys, don't you get it? Why Jesse is working for the FBI but hasn't turned Michael or I in?"
"Clearly not." Michael replied suspiciously. "Tell us."
"I'm trying." She retorted. "It's just that it's all so complicated! Okay, think about it." She looked at Michael. "Remember when I married Jesse, you are were all concerned, because you thought he might be using me, or a bad guy, or something?"
Michael nodded, frowning.
"Well, I told you at the time that I had dreamwalked him and that he was perfectly normal." Isabel continued.
"He's not?" Michael interrupted, although he sounded resigned now.
"He's as normal as we are." Isabel replied, shaking her head. "And he's a good person, just like we are."
And suddenly Max understood. It was so far-fetched as to be almost unbelievable and, yet, it made perfect sense.
"He's one of us."
Isabel glanced at him gratefully. "Yes. Well, sort of." She amended. "It's why I was so attracted to him, right from the beginning."
Maria had stood up by now too, was backed up against the wall of the room, just taking everything in. "Sort of? Either he is or he isn't." She interjected.
"He's half-alien." Isabel grimaced.
"How?" Max could feel his heart beating at about fifty times the normal speed.
Isabel sighed. "Nasedo."
"EWWWWWW!" Maria shrieked. Max, Michael and Isabel all whipped their heads around to stare at her. "Sorry," she muttered. "But, I mean, c'mon. That's gross."
Isabel rolled her eyes. "His mother doesn't even know," she continued. "But Nasedo came back after he was born, kept an eye on him, because he knew that he might develop some powers, wanted to make sure that he learned how to hide them." She frowned in Maria's direction. "Nasedo wasn't [I]all[/I] bad you know. He had a job to do and he did it, and after he lost us he made a deal that he couldn't get out of, even after he found us again and [I]wanted[/I] to. Tess was wrong. He didn't make it forty years ago. He made it only after he found the empty pods. Why do you think the Skins killed him if he was working for them? Tess knew he was waffling and she told Nicholas so." Isabel looked at Max. "You impressed him far more than he ever thought you would. I think he thought you were something of a moron on Antar, only came with us in the ship because he was loyal to our mother and the monarchy. He [I]tried[/I] to get out of the deal, once he knew you, but it was too late. He had raised Tess to only want one thing. When she thought that you weren't going to go back, because of Liz, she knew that the only way to [I]make[/I] you was to follow the Skins' plan to the letter. So she betrayed Nasedo."
Max remembered back to the last few times he had spoken to Nasedo, before he had been killed. The shapeshifter had pushed the idea that he was meant to be with Tess, although he must have known that Zan had never loved his wife. Because he had to have known about Kadiya, especially if he had been around when they had been cloned. He must have been or he never would have been sent with them.
Max wondered if Nasedo had even known how Liz was tied to Kadi. If he was such a monarchist, it had probably scared the hell out of him. It might have even been one of the reasons that he had kidnapped Liz, before Pierce had taken Max. If Liz had been killed in the crossfire then, the whole thing would have been over before it had even started. Because Kadi had been the one person who had compelled Zan to abandon his throne. Even though he had wanted to long before he had ever met her, it had been love for her that had finally made him actually do it. No wonder Nasedo had not been loyal to Zan first. If he had wanted a king and a monarchy, the fact that Zan had been willing to give up his throne must have been anathema to him. Pushing Max towards Tess had perhaps been Nasedo's way to try and avert it from happening again in the present lifetime.
"So Jesse went to the Special Unit after Nasedo died?" Max asked, pushing those questions aside for the moment. Isabel wouldn't have the answers for all of Nasedo's motivations after all. But he felt like he was gradually putting the pieces together.
"Well, he already worked there, had since he left college. He had been undercover for a long time, on Nasedo's orders. They were the ones who put him through law school actually. When Nasedo was impersonating Pierce, he set it up so that Jesse would take over for him when he left. Because, despite what we heard on C-SPAN, the government had no intention of completely ending the Unit. Not after all the proof they already had because of Max's imprisonment."
"What about Nicholas?" It was the answer Max really wanted. Because if Jesse had any connection to that evil little troll, then there was no way he could ever trust him. "Do you know why he's still alive?"
"I'm shocked he is, if he's out in the open." Isabel admitted. "Jesse caught up with him after the summit in New York. Why do you think he completely disappeared? He was at the Special Unit. They figured out a way to keep him alive, in spite of the fact that his new skin was destroyed. But Jesse would have told me had he escaped. He knows he's a danger to all of us."
"Did Nicholas talk?" Michael demanded. "Because he could have told them all about us."
"I don't think so. I think he and Jesse understood each other. Jesse would keep him alive if he protected me. Plus, Khivar didn't want [I]me[/I] dead." Isabel glanced at Max guiltily. "Only Max."
"But that doesn't answer the question of why Nicholas wants Ben dead." Max murmured, glancing at Michael, who shrugged.
"Because he's your son of course." Isabel returned, sounding confused. "Max, he's your heir. Of course he wants him dead."
Max blinked. He stared at Michael. "You didn't tell her?"
"Er, no." Michael admitted. "It didn't seem like the right time, being as we were fleeing for our lives and all. And then we had to deal with Liz's crazy fiancé."
"Tell me what?" Isabel asked, annoyed. "If I'm being so honest with you, I expect the same courtesy Max."
"Chill Isabel." Michael snapped. "You don't have the right to give anyone orders right now. In spite of the fact that you didn't think Max was coming back, [I]your[/I] husband is still the one who told his bosses that you would turn over your own brother."
"Michael." Max cut in gently. "It's okay. I understand why she did it."
"Well, she should have told me about all this years ago Maxwell." Michael almost yelled. "I can't believe that she kept a secret of this magnitude for so long. What am I anyway? I'm practically your brother Isabel!"
"I was trying to protect you." Isabel whispered, her eyes filling with tears again.
"Bull!" Michael flared. "You were trying to protect your pansy-ass husband. That and your pretty little house and picket fence. I [I]know[/I] you Isabel."
"MICHAEL!" Maria gasped. "None of this is Jesse's fault! He's trying to help you."
"Well, then why doesn't he [I]really[/I] help us? If he's half alien, then he should be with us. He's got to have some sort of gift. And keeping Nicholas [I]alive[/I]? Man, that's just crazy."
"Jesse doesn't have any gifts." Isabel shouted back. "And he's been working his butt off for years trying to keep them away from us. You owe him your life Michael!"
Michael just snorted and turned to storm out of the room. Maria shook her head in despair. "He thought that all of this was over." She told Max and Isabel helplessly. "He doesn't know how to deal with it."
"It's my fault." Max shook his head. "I never should have come back here."
"This is your home Max. It's where you belong." Maria smiled sadly at him. "You had every right to come back. Things might be a little tense right now, but we'd rather have you here than not." She turned and followed Michael.
There was a long silence after she was gone. The only sound was Isabel's sniffing as she tried to control her tears of sorrow and outrage.
"I'm sorry about all of this Iz." Max finally turned, took in the shattered mess that his sister was slowly turning into. She had collapsed into a chair and looked absolutely devastated by Michael's accusations.
"Why can't he understand that I was trying to protect him?" She asked, tears welling up again.
Max sighed. "Do [I]you[/I] understand that [I]I[/I] was trying to protect [I]you[/I]? By leaving you behind I mean?" He sat down across the table from her again.
Isabel blinked, but she replied honestly. "Intellectually, yes. But my heart still hurts."
"I know Iz." He reached out and squeezed her hand lightly, before standing up again. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?" She asked quietly, although she stood quite willingly.
"I'm going to make your heart feel a little better." He replied, quirking a grin in her direction.
Max led the way to the bedroom, where Ben and Lexi were both curled up, sound asleep. Isabel stood quietly beside him, gazing down at the two blissfully unaware children.
"They're in danger." She whispered, a hitch in her voice. "How is this supposed to make me feel better?"
"They're who we really need to protect." Max murmured back. "It's why we have to stop lying to each other Isabel. Only telling half the truth means that the other half can be used as a weapon."
There was a long pause. "What do you need to tell me Max?" She finally asked. "I know there's something."
Max swallowed. "There's more than something. There are a lot of somethings, but I'm going to start with a good one. Or at least I [I]think[/I] you'll like it. "
"What?" Isabel brushed a strand of dark hair behind her ears, frowned slightly.
"Lexi isn't Alex's only legacy." Max replied. "We have more than just his name Isabel. Because Ben is not my son."