Part 26
"Please tell me that I am hearing things." Michael's voice was [I]too[/I] quiet. It made Max grimace. He saw Maria flinch at it too.
"I can't." Max replied, shrugging. "Liz is on her way here with Dan. I just spoke to her a few minutes ago."
It was a lie of course. He had spoken to Liz a few [I]hours[/I] ago now. After finally convincing her that he was serious that she should bring Dan to Atherton's, she had agreed that they would drive out first thing in the morning with Kyle. By that time, everyone else had managed to find somewhere to pass out in exhaustion - Michael in his sleeping bag on the floor, Isabel and Maria in the bed with the two kids.
Max had been exhausted - too tired to deal with the repercussions of what was about to happen at three thirty in the morning. And so, he simply hadn't. He had crashed on the other sleeping bag, having absolutely no trouble falling asleep.
Because he wasn't worried. Not at all. It had to be done. Dan [I]had[/I] to be dealt with. There was no choice now. And he was happy about it. Really and truly happy.
He had been more than aware that Michael and Isabel were going to be the complete [I]opposite[/I] of happy and so he had simply chosen [I] not[/I] to tell them right away.
No good in them worrying about what couldn't be helped. There was no point in that at all.
"And why did you decide that it was a good idea to bring Liz's psycho fiancé back into the picture?" Michael was asking now, so clearly trying to hold onto his temper, Ben, who was sitting on a blanket on the floor playing with Lexi, looked up at him with interest.
"Michael, did you know your face is turning all red?"
"Maria, do you think..." Max gestured in the direction of the two kids, indicating that she should take them outside. Maria frowned slightly, but nodded, went to pick up Lexi and grabbed Ben by the hand, hauling him to his feet.
Ben's face fell in annoyance. "I always have to leave just when things start to get interesting!" He complained. "And I don't get why everyone yells at my dad here. First Liz...and now Michael. Because you're about to start yelling, aren't you?"
Isabel, who was leaning against the wall, her arms folded in front of her, managed to unbend slightly in order to smile at her nephew. "It's not you Honey. We need you to help Maria look after Lexi. And no one's going to yell at your dad." The look she was sending in Max's direction told him that this last statement was [I]not[/I] true though.
Ben sighed. "Okay." He followed Maria out of the room, looking more glum than Max had seen him. Max frowned slightly, shook his head in concern. His son had still not bounced back from Liz's departure. He missed her and Max had not failed to notice the fact that Ben had been holding back tears when he had woken up this morning to discover that she still wasn't back.
It was another reason why Dan had to be dealt with. Liz [I]was[/I] going to be a part of Ben's life if it was the last thing Max ever did. Both Ben and Liz wanted it and Max was going to make it happen, come hell or high water.
"Okay, are you going to try and explain this Max?" Isabel asked wearily. His sister appeared to have woken up even more tired than she had gone to sleep. Max knew that she was beginning to worry about her husband now. The fact that they hadn't heard one word from Jesse did not bode well that he was managing to straighten things out at the Special Unit.
"Of course." Max replied, smiling slightly at his sister. She didn't smile back. He sighed. Apparently for every step forward he seemed to make with Isabel, he took two back. He was trying not to be impatient with her anger at him, but he [I]had[/I] left her only because he wanted to protect her.
She might not believe it, but it was the truth. And after all he had learned about Vilandra, about how she had been bewitched by Khivar, and about how she had died, he would never regret it.
"Listen to me you guys. This is going to be hard for you to hear, but you have to know."
"Maxwell, just tell us." Michael ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
"Okay, Dan knows the truth."
There was a long moment of silence. And then pandemonium broke.
"WHAT!" Michael yelled. "Liz [I]told[/I] him?"
"Oh my God...Oh my God..." Isabel began to murmur. She backed up against the wall again, slid down it until she was sitting on the floor, a shell-shocked expression on her face.
"Liz didn't tell him." Max interjected.
But neither of them appeared to hear this.
Michael had crossed his arms over his chest. "Okay, so you're bringing him here so that we can kill him. Good plan Maxwell." He sounded resigned, but perfectly willing to do it.
Isabel looked sad, but she nodded. "I guess we have no choice." An expression of anger crossed her face. "I am [I]not[/I] going to let [I]anyone[/I] put my daughter in danger. If it means we have to kill him, we do it."
"We're not going to kill him." Max exclaimed. "We're going to tell him the truth."
This managed to shock them both into silence again.
"Max, you don't have the right to make this decision." Isabel finally managed to screech, sounding like she was about to lose control. "We [I]all[/I] have to agree!"
Michael, surprisingly didn't erupt this time. Instead he was staring at Max, a puzzled expression on his face, like Max was some gigantic enigma he didn't understand. "Can I please just ask why you think telling Dan the [I]truth[/I] is the answer?"
Max looked at him gratefully, because he actually sounded like he was willing to listen. Isabel was glaring, but she suddenly appeared willing to hear his explanation as well, even if only to shoot it down.
So some things [I]had[/I] changed while he'd been gone. It used to be the other way around. He hid a smile with little success.
"It's really very simple." Max told them quietly. "I trust Liz."
"Er - we know that Max. That doesn't answer the question though." Michael rolled his eyes. "Trusting Liz has nothing to do with trusting Dan."
"Yes, it does." Max argued. "Can you honestly tell me that Liz would ever agree to marry someone that, deep down, she didn't completely trust? In my opinion, Liz's judgment is dead on target. She told Maria, she told Valenti. And you can't tell me that our lives weren't made [I]better[/I] because she did." He looked at Isabel pointedly. "She told Alex."
"And he died because he knew." Isabel shot back.
Max felt a lump enter his throat. "Yes, but I don't think he would have chosen [I]not[/I] to know either." Max smiled sadly at his sister. "Izzy, he loved you. And if Alex never found out, we wouldn't have Ben."
"But he'd still be alive!" Isabel's dark eyes were shining with unshed tears. "Max, please don't try and take away my guilt about that. It's all I have left of him."
"It's [I]not[/I] all you have left." Max moved forward, gently pulled his sister to her feet and into his arms. He was actually a little shocked that she allowed it, but she was slowly crumbling right before his eyes. He [I]had[/I] to help her. "His [I]son[/I] is right here. You can make it up to Ben. It would be what Alex wanted."
He wasn't even sure if Isabel heard him though. She was sobbing against his chest, as though her heart was breaking. "God...how can he be his son? It just makes it worse Max! What Tess [I]did[/I] to him..."
"Ben is nothing like Tess Isabel." Max told her firmly. "He is all Alex's. And it's our job to make sure that he stays that way."
Michael cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I'm sorry guys." And he truly sounded it. "But we don't really have time for this right now. Because how Ben turns out isn't exactly going to be an issue if Dan Riley manages to get him killed."
Isabel stepped away from Max, her expression stony again. "I know. I'm sorry."
Max felt a pang of disappointment. He had obviously not convinced his sister at all. He managed to focus on Michael though as his friend continued, "Trusting Liz really doesn't seem like a good enough reason to me Maxwell."
Max narrowed his eyes. "Let me just ask you something. Both of you." He looked at Isabel as well. "Before you knew I was back, before whatever sense of loyalty you still have to me made you change your minds..." He grimaced. "Well, and Dan's actions over the past twenty-four hours haven't really helped his case much either." He admitted, "But that doesn't really matter. My point is this...[I]Before[/I] you knew that I was back, you were willing to accept Dan. You even [I]liked[/I] him."
"I liked him Max, but I wasn't about to go broadcasting my secret to him!" Isabel exclaimed.
"I never liked him." Michael added militantly.
"Michael!" Max shook his head in exasperation. "You [I]told[/I] me you liked him!"
Michael scowled. "I lied."
"Fine." Max rolled his eyes. "You lied. But the point is, Liz has never steered us wrong. I trust her completely. And if she trusts Dan enough to marry him, then he deserves to know the truth. Because Liz [I]is[/I] going to be a part of Ben's life, and I don't think that's even possible unless we let Dan in on the secret."
"Why have you suddenly accepted the idea that Liz is going to marry Dan?" Isabel asked suspiciously. "I was getting the impression from Maria in the car that you weren't exactly making Liz's life easy over that."
Max looked away for a moment. It was going to be difficult trying to put his muddled thoughts on this subject in order, because he wasn't even too sure himself, but he had to do it.
He spoke seriously. "Here's the thing. I love Liz. We [I]all[/I] know it. I'm never going to want to be with anyone else. But I also love my son. And he [I]needs[/I] her." He paused. Isabel and Michael were both listening closely to what he was saying, like suddenly they [I]wanted[/I] to be convinced. "If I don't leave her alone, she's going to shut herself off from me, and I cannot do that to my son. Because I know Liz. She would never try and take Ben away from me and so if she shuts me out, she's going to be shutting him out too. She wouldn't want to, but she'd have to."
"Why Max?" Isabel asked, shaking her head, clearly not understanding.
"She doesn't trust me Isabel." Max smiled sadly. "I understand that now. I can't force her to either. She either does or she doesn't. So I don't have any chance at all. But she [I]did[/I] trust Dan before I came back and screwed everything up for her."
Michael was still frowning. "But Maxwell, telling him our secret....?"
"Liz wants Dan. And no relationship can truly work if there are secrets." Max shrugged. "I owe it to Liz to let her have a completely honest relationship with her husband. It's the least I can do. Because [I]I'm[/I] the only secret she has."
Of course, he was basically shooting himself in the foot here, because if he started added up all the secrets he was keeping from Isabel and Michael, not to mention Liz, his head would start spinning. And if they [I]knew[/I], they would [I]kill[/I] him.
It wasn't as though he [I]wanted[/I] to keep them though. He was protecting Isabel and Michael from what had happened to them on Antar. Knowing would not serve any purpose for them.
And, as for Liz, she had made her choice. Whatever he told her now about Kadi wasn't going to change things. In fact, it would be unfair, because he would be using what they had once been to each other to try and bind her to him. If she didn't trust him [I]without[/I] knowing, it wasn't fair to use their past lives as a way to hold on to her.
Because, in the end, if Liz didn't trust him, then he didn't want to be with her. Any sort of relationship between them, without trust, would simply be a shadow of what he really wanted.
"But Max, what about us?" Isabel whispered.
"I'm not planning to tell him about you guys." Max told her.
"I'm your sister! He'll suspect me for sure!" Isabel retorted. "I don't even understand how he found out anyway. You said Liz didn't tell him?"
"Apparently he listened in on a baby monitor or something?" Max sighed, remembering what Liz had told him before they had hung up.
"And this is the guy you're willing to trust?" Michael demanded, his spine straightening again. "He's a spy!"
"People do crazy things when they think they're losing someone." Max replied wryly. "You can't tell me that either of you wouldn't have done the same, if you thought there was something weird going on with Jesse or Maria?"
"I just don't know if this is a good idea Max." Isabel shook her head. "Maybe Jesse could do something about him..." She trailed off as her husband crossed her mind. She looked worried again, but quickly tried to suppress it.
"Well, I actually thought that might be a good idea." Max agreed. "He [I]is[/I] a molecular biologist. Maybe Jesse can find something for him to do at the Special Unit. That way Dan and Liz could stay in New Mexico. And it wouldn't hurt for us to have someone else in there on our side."
"You're [I]that[/I] convinced that Dan's okay?" Michael sounded amazed. He was peering at Max suspiciously. "Who [I]are[/I] you? You hate him!"
Max grinned, despite himself. "Of course I hate him. He's marrying LIZ. I used to hate Kyle too. But that doesn't mean I don't think we can trust him." He sighed. "He's made Liz happy. He can't be all bad."
"This is all just too weird for me." Michael threw his hands up in the air. "I give up! Do whatever you want. But if he even shows any little sign of screwing us over, he's dead." He glared at Max. "Do you understand me Maxwell?"
Max frowned at him. "Michael, I am telling you, don't throw that threat around lightly."
"I've killed before." Michael shot back. "I [I]will[/I] do it again. If it's between him and us, I choose us." He looked at Isabel for approval, but she turned away, clearly still undecided.
"Michael, you killed an [I]evil[/I] person in circumstances where you had no choice. Dan is [I]not[/I] evil." Max explained patiently. "There is a very large difference."
"I don't see one." Michael retorted.
"Please just [I]trust[/I] me on this." Max pleaded.
It was only then that he realized that Isabel was staring at him. "Max, what did you [I]do[/I] on Antar?" She whispered, sounding scared.
"A lot of things I'm not proud of." Max replied shortly. "But I never did [I]any[/I] of them without thinking about the consequences first."
It was true. He had killed Tess and Khivar without remorse, but he had understood beforehand that he had had no choice. He [I]knew[/I] that he was taking away Ben's mother and the only person he had had ever known as a father, but he had had to believe that it was truly the best thing for the child. Being with them would have been worse than being without them.
He could not deny that old-fashioned revenge had played a large part in it as well. And it was only because he could recognize this fact, that he had [I]wanted[/I] to kill them, that he was able to forgive himself at all for doing it.
He could not say the same for all the hundreds of other beings that had perished because of him.
He did not want Isabel and Michael ever to have to bear that burden. Ever.
Michael and Isabel were looking at each other. They seemed to come to some sort of silent agreement, because Isabel appeared to speak for them both when she finally nodded. "Fine. We'll play this your way. But we can't tell you that we're not going to step in if we have to."
It was the best he was going to get. "Thank you."
"So what do we do in the meantime?" Michael asked.
"I think you should go tell Maria what's going on." Max suggested. "And, as for me, I'm going to spend some time with my son."
Because, as much as Max truly believed that telling Dan the truth was the only way to save this situation, he still was not going to waste a moment with Ben. Dan wasn't the only threat after all and he certainly wasn't the most dangerous. He was only the most immediate one.
Nicholas was still out there. And Max still had no idea what he wanted.
*****************************************************************************
"We're almost there now." Liz spoke cheerfully, but her heart was thundering in her chest as Dan pulled his rental car off the highway and onto the long gravel road that led to Atherton's dome. "Thanks again for agreeing to do this Honey."
"I know how much Alex meant to you." Dan grumbled from beside her. "And I can't have you worrying during the wedding. If seeing Ben again is going to make you happy, then that's what we're going to do."
Liz reached out, picked up his hand and squeezed it. "I am so sorry about all of this." And she was, although she was not as sorry as she was worried.
She knew that Max had absolutely no intention of killing Dan. He had told her as much on the phone, and even if he hadn't, despite what he had told her about what he had done on Antar, she had somehow [I]known[/I] that Max would never do such a thing.
And so, the only logical reason Max could have for wanting to see Dan was to tell him the truth.
Liz had not been able to understand what Max's reasoning was for doing so, but she knew that she had not been happy about it. She truly had not believed that Dan was going to be able to handle it.
But Liz had awoken that morning with a new clarity.
Dan had not seemed as shocked as he should have been when he told you what he suspected, a small voice in the back of her head had reminded her. Your fiancé is a scientist. He will accept what can be proven to him. And Max will be able to more than do so.
No, she had realized that she had been afraid of telling him the truth for another reason entirely.
What Liz was more afraid of was that he wasn't going to be able to accept [I]Max.[/I] Because, the more she thought about it, the reason Dan had been so upset about his suspicions regarding Max's otherworldly origins had not been because Max was an alien. In fact, he had been pretty straightforward about that.
No, what Dan had been worried about was that he had felt that what Max was put [I]Liz[/I] in danger.
It did not bode well. Because Dan had no loyalty to Max [I]or[/I] Ben. She was the only person he cared about. She was the only one he wanted to keep safe. And if keeping her safe meant turning Max and Ben in, Liz did not doubt that he would do it. Her dad egging him on behind the scenes had not helped matters either, because her dad had always felt exactly the same way.
She came first with them. Because her own safety did not come first with herself, she appeared to have a little difficulty accepting it from anyone else. But she knew it was true, felt horrible that she had tried to convince herself otherwise.
She was more than a little ashamed of herself that she had originally tried to convince herself that Dan would betray them because of his career. She knew that his career was important to him, but she also knew that she was even [I]more[/I] important to him. She had tried to deny it for the last few days, because of the upheaval Max's return had inspired within her, but she could not ignore it any longer.
She had been looking for an excuse to make Dan less worthy of her love, to make Max [I]more[/I] so. Because it was Max she wanted to be with, deep down, and if Dan was a jerk, well, then she had every right to turn away from him.
But, the thing was, he wasn't a jerk. He was a great guy. She had been very happy with him.
She knew though that it had never been the same as it had been with Max. She had felt safe and secure, but she had never felt [I]alive.[/I]
Dan loved [I]her[/I] though. She knew it. And if she followed her heart in the direction she was beginning to suspect she was going to be unable to resist doing, she was going to break [I]his[/I] heart.
She didn't trust Max, had no intention of giving in and being with him. But, because he was [I]Max[/I], and she hadn't changed that much from the girl who had robbed stores for him after all, he would always come first with her.
If she had to choose between Dan and protecting Max, the decision was already made for her.
It was sad, she didn't understand it, she didn't [I]like[/I] it, but it was true.
She had come to this realization before all Dan's suspicions had come to light, and it was only fair to tell him so. He might choose not to be with her because of it. He deserved to be loved entirely, with her whole soul after all.
Unfortunately for them both, her soul was not hers to give. It had been claimed a long time ago by someone else, when she had been lying in a pool of her own blood, dying on a cold floor in her parent's restaurant.
He had to be told the truth. All of it. The rest would play out from there.
Liz knew that Max was right, knew that this was the only way to fix this situation, and yet, she was still terrified.
She could feel icy fear in her veins as they pulled the car to a stop behind Kyle's all-terrain vehicle. Her friend was standing beside it, waiting for them, a slight frown of concern on his face.
The sun was high in the sky, striking the dome directly and almost blinding them as they joined Kyle to climb the slight incline to the door.
"What is this place?" Dan asked, taking her by the hand. "It doesn't look like a hospital Elizabeth."
Kyle looked back at them both, shook his head. "Liz..." He trailed off in disapproval that she still hadn't told Dan that Ben wasn't really sick. Kyle had been thrilled to accompany them back to Atherton's, had been ecstatic that Max had wanted to clear the air with Liz's fiancé. Because all Kyle wanted was for Liz to be happy.
But that didn't mean that Kyle didn't want her to behave like the Liz he knew and loved. And she had [I]not[/I] been behaving like herself at all. She had been behaving like a complete maniac. She could try and blame Max, she could try and blame Dan, but, really, she was the one to blame.
It was time to take responsibility for her own feelings. Because as much as she didn't want to have them, they were there and she had to start accepting them.
"Ben's not really sick." Liz explained carefully. "I mean, he's part of the reason that I brought you here." Dan had stopped walking, dropped her hand, was staring at her in surprise. "But Max really wanted to talk to you too."
Dan narrowed his eyes. "Why? What could we possibly have to say to each other?"
Liz moved forward, picked up his hand again. "Please just listen. I swear you'll understand everything when we're done here." She smiled sadly at him. "I don't want to lie to you anymore Dan. I can't guarantee that you're going to like everything you hear, but Max is putting a lot of faith in you by letting you come here." She took a deep breath. "I am too. Because I'm about to let Max put the two most important people in the world to me in danger."
"I'm in danger?" He asked, not sounding afraid, more angry than anything.
Liz felt a pang of sadness. He truly did not understand. [I]Could[/I] not understand. Because it made no sense to her either that her fiancé was [I]not[/I] the most important person in the world to her.
She had to warn him ahead of time, had to tell him that what he was about to hear was not going to be easy for him. Because he was about to be hit over the head with exactly what Max meant to her. There was going to be no way to avoid it.
She had tried putting off telling him, had thought that seeing his reaction to the alien reveal before she told him her real feelings would make it easier, but it just wasn't fair. He deserved to at least be warned.
Liz looked at Kyle. "Can you give us a minute? Let them know we're here?"
"I'm guessing they know." Kyle quirked a grin at her. "They [I]always[/I] know. Or he does anyway."
Dan watched him go. "What is that supposed to mean? Elizabeth, we've just had a two hour car ride. What do you have to tell me now that you couldn't tell me then?"
"Dan, this is so hard for me to say to you..." Liz trailed off. "It really has nothing to do with what Max is going to tell you. But, you need to know. Because you're not going to understand otherwise. And we're putting a lot of faith in you by even allowing you to be here."
"What?" Dan whispered, now truly sounding frightened.
"You've always understood about Max, or at least said that you did." Liz began, moving away from him and staring up at the dome, a slight smile on her face. "You know that he saved my life and that he broke my heart. But, it was so much more than that. The connection we had...[I]have[/I]," she amended firmly, "It's something I can't even describe to you. I've tried to let go of it, but I just can't seem to, no matter what I do. I [I]love[/I] you Dan, and I still can't let go of it."
"What are you saying?"
"It sounds insane, crazy, but it is completely true. I love you...but I am still in love with him too. And I always will be."
To be continued...
"Please tell me that I am hearing things." Michael's voice was [I]too[/I] quiet. It made Max grimace. He saw Maria flinch at it too.
"I can't." Max replied, shrugging. "Liz is on her way here with Dan. I just spoke to her a few minutes ago."
It was a lie of course. He had spoken to Liz a few [I]hours[/I] ago now. After finally convincing her that he was serious that she should bring Dan to Atherton's, she had agreed that they would drive out first thing in the morning with Kyle. By that time, everyone else had managed to find somewhere to pass out in exhaustion - Michael in his sleeping bag on the floor, Isabel and Maria in the bed with the two kids.
Max had been exhausted - too tired to deal with the repercussions of what was about to happen at three thirty in the morning. And so, he simply hadn't. He had crashed on the other sleeping bag, having absolutely no trouble falling asleep.
Because he wasn't worried. Not at all. It had to be done. Dan [I]had[/I] to be dealt with. There was no choice now. And he was happy about it. Really and truly happy.
He had been more than aware that Michael and Isabel were going to be the complete [I]opposite[/I] of happy and so he had simply chosen [I] not[/I] to tell them right away.
No good in them worrying about what couldn't be helped. There was no point in that at all.
"And why did you decide that it was a good idea to bring Liz's psycho fiancé back into the picture?" Michael was asking now, so clearly trying to hold onto his temper, Ben, who was sitting on a blanket on the floor playing with Lexi, looked up at him with interest.
"Michael, did you know your face is turning all red?"
"Maria, do you think..." Max gestured in the direction of the two kids, indicating that she should take them outside. Maria frowned slightly, but nodded, went to pick up Lexi and grabbed Ben by the hand, hauling him to his feet.
Ben's face fell in annoyance. "I always have to leave just when things start to get interesting!" He complained. "And I don't get why everyone yells at my dad here. First Liz...and now Michael. Because you're about to start yelling, aren't you?"
Isabel, who was leaning against the wall, her arms folded in front of her, managed to unbend slightly in order to smile at her nephew. "It's not you Honey. We need you to help Maria look after Lexi. And no one's going to yell at your dad." The look she was sending in Max's direction told him that this last statement was [I]not[/I] true though.
Ben sighed. "Okay." He followed Maria out of the room, looking more glum than Max had seen him. Max frowned slightly, shook his head in concern. His son had still not bounced back from Liz's departure. He missed her and Max had not failed to notice the fact that Ben had been holding back tears when he had woken up this morning to discover that she still wasn't back.
It was another reason why Dan had to be dealt with. Liz [I]was[/I] going to be a part of Ben's life if it was the last thing Max ever did. Both Ben and Liz wanted it and Max was going to make it happen, come hell or high water.
"Okay, are you going to try and explain this Max?" Isabel asked wearily. His sister appeared to have woken up even more tired than she had gone to sleep. Max knew that she was beginning to worry about her husband now. The fact that they hadn't heard one word from Jesse did not bode well that he was managing to straighten things out at the Special Unit.
"Of course." Max replied, smiling slightly at his sister. She didn't smile back. He sighed. Apparently for every step forward he seemed to make with Isabel, he took two back. He was trying not to be impatient with her anger at him, but he [I]had[/I] left her only because he wanted to protect her.
She might not believe it, but it was the truth. And after all he had learned about Vilandra, about how she had been bewitched by Khivar, and about how she had died, he would never regret it.
"Listen to me you guys. This is going to be hard for you to hear, but you have to know."
"Maxwell, just tell us." Michael ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
"Okay, Dan knows the truth."
There was a long moment of silence. And then pandemonium broke.
"WHAT!" Michael yelled. "Liz [I]told[/I] him?"
"Oh my God...Oh my God..." Isabel began to murmur. She backed up against the wall again, slid down it until she was sitting on the floor, a shell-shocked expression on her face.
"Liz didn't tell him." Max interjected.
But neither of them appeared to hear this.
Michael had crossed his arms over his chest. "Okay, so you're bringing him here so that we can kill him. Good plan Maxwell." He sounded resigned, but perfectly willing to do it.
Isabel looked sad, but she nodded. "I guess we have no choice." An expression of anger crossed her face. "I am [I]not[/I] going to let [I]anyone[/I] put my daughter in danger. If it means we have to kill him, we do it."
"We're not going to kill him." Max exclaimed. "We're going to tell him the truth."
This managed to shock them both into silence again.
"Max, you don't have the right to make this decision." Isabel finally managed to screech, sounding like she was about to lose control. "We [I]all[/I] have to agree!"
Michael, surprisingly didn't erupt this time. Instead he was staring at Max, a puzzled expression on his face, like Max was some gigantic enigma he didn't understand. "Can I please just ask why you think telling Dan the [I]truth[/I] is the answer?"
Max looked at him gratefully, because he actually sounded like he was willing to listen. Isabel was glaring, but she suddenly appeared willing to hear his explanation as well, even if only to shoot it down.
So some things [I]had[/I] changed while he'd been gone. It used to be the other way around. He hid a smile with little success.
"It's really very simple." Max told them quietly. "I trust Liz."
"Er - we know that Max. That doesn't answer the question though." Michael rolled his eyes. "Trusting Liz has nothing to do with trusting Dan."
"Yes, it does." Max argued. "Can you honestly tell me that Liz would ever agree to marry someone that, deep down, she didn't completely trust? In my opinion, Liz's judgment is dead on target. She told Maria, she told Valenti. And you can't tell me that our lives weren't made [I]better[/I] because she did." He looked at Isabel pointedly. "She told Alex."
"And he died because he knew." Isabel shot back.
Max felt a lump enter his throat. "Yes, but I don't think he would have chosen [I]not[/I] to know either." Max smiled sadly at his sister. "Izzy, he loved you. And if Alex never found out, we wouldn't have Ben."
"But he'd still be alive!" Isabel's dark eyes were shining with unshed tears. "Max, please don't try and take away my guilt about that. It's all I have left of him."
"It's [I]not[/I] all you have left." Max moved forward, gently pulled his sister to her feet and into his arms. He was actually a little shocked that she allowed it, but she was slowly crumbling right before his eyes. He [I]had[/I] to help her. "His [I]son[/I] is right here. You can make it up to Ben. It would be what Alex wanted."
He wasn't even sure if Isabel heard him though. She was sobbing against his chest, as though her heart was breaking. "God...how can he be his son? It just makes it worse Max! What Tess [I]did[/I] to him..."
"Ben is nothing like Tess Isabel." Max told her firmly. "He is all Alex's. And it's our job to make sure that he stays that way."
Michael cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I'm sorry guys." And he truly sounded it. "But we don't really have time for this right now. Because how Ben turns out isn't exactly going to be an issue if Dan Riley manages to get him killed."
Isabel stepped away from Max, her expression stony again. "I know. I'm sorry."
Max felt a pang of disappointment. He had obviously not convinced his sister at all. He managed to focus on Michael though as his friend continued, "Trusting Liz really doesn't seem like a good enough reason to me Maxwell."
Max narrowed his eyes. "Let me just ask you something. Both of you." He looked at Isabel as well. "Before you knew I was back, before whatever sense of loyalty you still have to me made you change your minds..." He grimaced. "Well, and Dan's actions over the past twenty-four hours haven't really helped his case much either." He admitted, "But that doesn't really matter. My point is this...[I]Before[/I] you knew that I was back, you were willing to accept Dan. You even [I]liked[/I] him."
"I liked him Max, but I wasn't about to go broadcasting my secret to him!" Isabel exclaimed.
"I never liked him." Michael added militantly.
"Michael!" Max shook his head in exasperation. "You [I]told[/I] me you liked him!"
Michael scowled. "I lied."
"Fine." Max rolled his eyes. "You lied. But the point is, Liz has never steered us wrong. I trust her completely. And if she trusts Dan enough to marry him, then he deserves to know the truth. Because Liz [I]is[/I] going to be a part of Ben's life, and I don't think that's even possible unless we let Dan in on the secret."
"Why have you suddenly accepted the idea that Liz is going to marry Dan?" Isabel asked suspiciously. "I was getting the impression from Maria in the car that you weren't exactly making Liz's life easy over that."
Max looked away for a moment. It was going to be difficult trying to put his muddled thoughts on this subject in order, because he wasn't even too sure himself, but he had to do it.
He spoke seriously. "Here's the thing. I love Liz. We [I]all[/I] know it. I'm never going to want to be with anyone else. But I also love my son. And he [I]needs[/I] her." He paused. Isabel and Michael were both listening closely to what he was saying, like suddenly they [I]wanted[/I] to be convinced. "If I don't leave her alone, she's going to shut herself off from me, and I cannot do that to my son. Because I know Liz. She would never try and take Ben away from me and so if she shuts me out, she's going to be shutting him out too. She wouldn't want to, but she'd have to."
"Why Max?" Isabel asked, shaking her head, clearly not understanding.
"She doesn't trust me Isabel." Max smiled sadly. "I understand that now. I can't force her to either. She either does or she doesn't. So I don't have any chance at all. But she [I]did[/I] trust Dan before I came back and screwed everything up for her."
Michael was still frowning. "But Maxwell, telling him our secret....?"
"Liz wants Dan. And no relationship can truly work if there are secrets." Max shrugged. "I owe it to Liz to let her have a completely honest relationship with her husband. It's the least I can do. Because [I]I'm[/I] the only secret she has."
Of course, he was basically shooting himself in the foot here, because if he started added up all the secrets he was keeping from Isabel and Michael, not to mention Liz, his head would start spinning. And if they [I]knew[/I], they would [I]kill[/I] him.
It wasn't as though he [I]wanted[/I] to keep them though. He was protecting Isabel and Michael from what had happened to them on Antar. Knowing would not serve any purpose for them.
And, as for Liz, she had made her choice. Whatever he told her now about Kadi wasn't going to change things. In fact, it would be unfair, because he would be using what they had once been to each other to try and bind her to him. If she didn't trust him [I]without[/I] knowing, it wasn't fair to use their past lives as a way to hold on to her.
Because, in the end, if Liz didn't trust him, then he didn't want to be with her. Any sort of relationship between them, without trust, would simply be a shadow of what he really wanted.
"But Max, what about us?" Isabel whispered.
"I'm not planning to tell him about you guys." Max told her.
"I'm your sister! He'll suspect me for sure!" Isabel retorted. "I don't even understand how he found out anyway. You said Liz didn't tell him?"
"Apparently he listened in on a baby monitor or something?" Max sighed, remembering what Liz had told him before they had hung up.
"And this is the guy you're willing to trust?" Michael demanded, his spine straightening again. "He's a spy!"
"People do crazy things when they think they're losing someone." Max replied wryly. "You can't tell me that either of you wouldn't have done the same, if you thought there was something weird going on with Jesse or Maria?"
"I just don't know if this is a good idea Max." Isabel shook her head. "Maybe Jesse could do something about him..." She trailed off as her husband crossed her mind. She looked worried again, but quickly tried to suppress it.
"Well, I actually thought that might be a good idea." Max agreed. "He [I]is[/I] a molecular biologist. Maybe Jesse can find something for him to do at the Special Unit. That way Dan and Liz could stay in New Mexico. And it wouldn't hurt for us to have someone else in there on our side."
"You're [I]that[/I] convinced that Dan's okay?" Michael sounded amazed. He was peering at Max suspiciously. "Who [I]are[/I] you? You hate him!"
Max grinned, despite himself. "Of course I hate him. He's marrying LIZ. I used to hate Kyle too. But that doesn't mean I don't think we can trust him." He sighed. "He's made Liz happy. He can't be all bad."
"This is all just too weird for me." Michael threw his hands up in the air. "I give up! Do whatever you want. But if he even shows any little sign of screwing us over, he's dead." He glared at Max. "Do you understand me Maxwell?"
Max frowned at him. "Michael, I am telling you, don't throw that threat around lightly."
"I've killed before." Michael shot back. "I [I]will[/I] do it again. If it's between him and us, I choose us." He looked at Isabel for approval, but she turned away, clearly still undecided.
"Michael, you killed an [I]evil[/I] person in circumstances where you had no choice. Dan is [I]not[/I] evil." Max explained patiently. "There is a very large difference."
"I don't see one." Michael retorted.
"Please just [I]trust[/I] me on this." Max pleaded.
It was only then that he realized that Isabel was staring at him. "Max, what did you [I]do[/I] on Antar?" She whispered, sounding scared.
"A lot of things I'm not proud of." Max replied shortly. "But I never did [I]any[/I] of them without thinking about the consequences first."
It was true. He had killed Tess and Khivar without remorse, but he had understood beforehand that he had had no choice. He [I]knew[/I] that he was taking away Ben's mother and the only person he had had ever known as a father, but he had had to believe that it was truly the best thing for the child. Being with them would have been worse than being without them.
He could not deny that old-fashioned revenge had played a large part in it as well. And it was only because he could recognize this fact, that he had [I]wanted[/I] to kill them, that he was able to forgive himself at all for doing it.
He could not say the same for all the hundreds of other beings that had perished because of him.
He did not want Isabel and Michael ever to have to bear that burden. Ever.
Michael and Isabel were looking at each other. They seemed to come to some sort of silent agreement, because Isabel appeared to speak for them both when she finally nodded. "Fine. We'll play this your way. But we can't tell you that we're not going to step in if we have to."
It was the best he was going to get. "Thank you."
"So what do we do in the meantime?" Michael asked.
"I think you should go tell Maria what's going on." Max suggested. "And, as for me, I'm going to spend some time with my son."
Because, as much as Max truly believed that telling Dan the truth was the only way to save this situation, he still was not going to waste a moment with Ben. Dan wasn't the only threat after all and he certainly wasn't the most dangerous. He was only the most immediate one.
Nicholas was still out there. And Max still had no idea what he wanted.
*****************************************************************************
"We're almost there now." Liz spoke cheerfully, but her heart was thundering in her chest as Dan pulled his rental car off the highway and onto the long gravel road that led to Atherton's dome. "Thanks again for agreeing to do this Honey."
"I know how much Alex meant to you." Dan grumbled from beside her. "And I can't have you worrying during the wedding. If seeing Ben again is going to make you happy, then that's what we're going to do."
Liz reached out, picked up his hand and squeezed it. "I am so sorry about all of this." And she was, although she was not as sorry as she was worried.
She knew that Max had absolutely no intention of killing Dan. He had told her as much on the phone, and even if he hadn't, despite what he had told her about what he had done on Antar, she had somehow [I]known[/I] that Max would never do such a thing.
And so, the only logical reason Max could have for wanting to see Dan was to tell him the truth.
Liz had not been able to understand what Max's reasoning was for doing so, but she knew that she had not been happy about it. She truly had not believed that Dan was going to be able to handle it.
But Liz had awoken that morning with a new clarity.
Dan had not seemed as shocked as he should have been when he told you what he suspected, a small voice in the back of her head had reminded her. Your fiancé is a scientist. He will accept what can be proven to him. And Max will be able to more than do so.
No, she had realized that she had been afraid of telling him the truth for another reason entirely.
What Liz was more afraid of was that he wasn't going to be able to accept [I]Max.[/I] Because, the more she thought about it, the reason Dan had been so upset about his suspicions regarding Max's otherworldly origins had not been because Max was an alien. In fact, he had been pretty straightforward about that.
No, what Dan had been worried about was that he had felt that what Max was put [I]Liz[/I] in danger.
It did not bode well. Because Dan had no loyalty to Max [I]or[/I] Ben. She was the only person he cared about. She was the only one he wanted to keep safe. And if keeping her safe meant turning Max and Ben in, Liz did not doubt that he would do it. Her dad egging him on behind the scenes had not helped matters either, because her dad had always felt exactly the same way.
She came first with them. Because her own safety did not come first with herself, she appeared to have a little difficulty accepting it from anyone else. But she knew it was true, felt horrible that she had tried to convince herself otherwise.
She was more than a little ashamed of herself that she had originally tried to convince herself that Dan would betray them because of his career. She knew that his career was important to him, but she also knew that she was even [I]more[/I] important to him. She had tried to deny it for the last few days, because of the upheaval Max's return had inspired within her, but she could not ignore it any longer.
She had been looking for an excuse to make Dan less worthy of her love, to make Max [I]more[/I] so. Because it was Max she wanted to be with, deep down, and if Dan was a jerk, well, then she had every right to turn away from him.
But, the thing was, he wasn't a jerk. He was a great guy. She had been very happy with him.
She knew though that it had never been the same as it had been with Max. She had felt safe and secure, but she had never felt [I]alive.[/I]
Dan loved [I]her[/I] though. She knew it. And if she followed her heart in the direction she was beginning to suspect she was going to be unable to resist doing, she was going to break [I]his[/I] heart.
She didn't trust Max, had no intention of giving in and being with him. But, because he was [I]Max[/I], and she hadn't changed that much from the girl who had robbed stores for him after all, he would always come first with her.
If she had to choose between Dan and protecting Max, the decision was already made for her.
It was sad, she didn't understand it, she didn't [I]like[/I] it, but it was true.
She had come to this realization before all Dan's suspicions had come to light, and it was only fair to tell him so. He might choose not to be with her because of it. He deserved to be loved entirely, with her whole soul after all.
Unfortunately for them both, her soul was not hers to give. It had been claimed a long time ago by someone else, when she had been lying in a pool of her own blood, dying on a cold floor in her parent's restaurant.
He had to be told the truth. All of it. The rest would play out from there.
Liz knew that Max was right, knew that this was the only way to fix this situation, and yet, she was still terrified.
She could feel icy fear in her veins as they pulled the car to a stop behind Kyle's all-terrain vehicle. Her friend was standing beside it, waiting for them, a slight frown of concern on his face.
The sun was high in the sky, striking the dome directly and almost blinding them as they joined Kyle to climb the slight incline to the door.
"What is this place?" Dan asked, taking her by the hand. "It doesn't look like a hospital Elizabeth."
Kyle looked back at them both, shook his head. "Liz..." He trailed off in disapproval that she still hadn't told Dan that Ben wasn't really sick. Kyle had been thrilled to accompany them back to Atherton's, had been ecstatic that Max had wanted to clear the air with Liz's fiancé. Because all Kyle wanted was for Liz to be happy.
But that didn't mean that Kyle didn't want her to behave like the Liz he knew and loved. And she had [I]not[/I] been behaving like herself at all. She had been behaving like a complete maniac. She could try and blame Max, she could try and blame Dan, but, really, she was the one to blame.
It was time to take responsibility for her own feelings. Because as much as she didn't want to have them, they were there and she had to start accepting them.
"Ben's not really sick." Liz explained carefully. "I mean, he's part of the reason that I brought you here." Dan had stopped walking, dropped her hand, was staring at her in surprise. "But Max really wanted to talk to you too."
Dan narrowed his eyes. "Why? What could we possibly have to say to each other?"
Liz moved forward, picked up his hand again. "Please just listen. I swear you'll understand everything when we're done here." She smiled sadly at him. "I don't want to lie to you anymore Dan. I can't guarantee that you're going to like everything you hear, but Max is putting a lot of faith in you by letting you come here." She took a deep breath. "I am too. Because I'm about to let Max put the two most important people in the world to me in danger."
"I'm in danger?" He asked, not sounding afraid, more angry than anything.
Liz felt a pang of sadness. He truly did not understand. [I]Could[/I] not understand. Because it made no sense to her either that her fiancé was [I]not[/I] the most important person in the world to her.
She had to warn him ahead of time, had to tell him that what he was about to hear was not going to be easy for him. Because he was about to be hit over the head with exactly what Max meant to her. There was going to be no way to avoid it.
She had tried putting off telling him, had thought that seeing his reaction to the alien reveal before she told him her real feelings would make it easier, but it just wasn't fair. He deserved to at least be warned.
Liz looked at Kyle. "Can you give us a minute? Let them know we're here?"
"I'm guessing they know." Kyle quirked a grin at her. "They [I]always[/I] know. Or he does anyway."
Dan watched him go. "What is that supposed to mean? Elizabeth, we've just had a two hour car ride. What do you have to tell me now that you couldn't tell me then?"
"Dan, this is so hard for me to say to you..." Liz trailed off. "It really has nothing to do with what Max is going to tell you. But, you need to know. Because you're not going to understand otherwise. And we're putting a lot of faith in you by even allowing you to be here."
"What?" Dan whispered, now truly sounding frightened.
"You've always understood about Max, or at least said that you did." Liz began, moving away from him and staring up at the dome, a slight smile on her face. "You know that he saved my life and that he broke my heart. But, it was so much more than that. The connection we had...[I]have[/I]," she amended firmly, "It's something I can't even describe to you. I've tried to let go of it, but I just can't seem to, no matter what I do. I [I]love[/I] you Dan, and I still can't let go of it."
"What are you saying?"
"It sounds insane, crazy, but it is completely true. I love you...but I am still in love with him too. And I always will be."
To be continued...