Part 15 - Another Time, Another Place - Section E

He told her slowly, haltingly what had happened. About half-way through the story she moved away from him despite herself. She wanted to comfort him - after all, it had not been [I]his[/I] fault, what had happened, but hers, as she had been the one who had [I]let[/I] it happen - and yet, she could not touch him any longer.

"When I left you, I couldn't even think straight. I just drove around." His voice was low, desperate. "I ended up at that old observatory - the one we went to on that field trip last year. I [I]knew[/I] that Tess had mindwarped you somehow and I had no idea how to prove it to you. You were so angry Liz. I have never seen you like that."

"I'm sorry." She said it, not really meaning it, because she knew that it had [I]not[/I] been her. Someone, something had played on her emotions, had made her over-react to what she had seen, had made her forget what she knew about Max in the deepest part of her soul.

She had [I]known[/I] that he would [I]never[/I] make love with her and turn around and kiss another girl two hours later - even it if was Tess. And she had allowed herself to believe it anyway. Even his words when he had come to see her had only confirmed what she already knew - that it had not been him.

And yet, she had [I] still [/I] allowed herself to believe it. Her eyes would not lie to her after all. She had allowed it, even though she had known about Tess's gift, had seen the true evidence of its power more than once, recently even, at the UFO Museum.

She suddenly understood perfectly what Max had been going through in the first days after he had "caught" her in bed with Kyle. She had never really comprehended what it must have felt like to [I]know[/I] in your heart that something was a lie, and yet to have to believe it because you had seen it with your own two eyes.

The mind-warp was the most evil of all the aliens' powers - even more that Michael's detested ability to kill without even touching. How could they have not realized that Tess's gift had displayed exactly what kind of monster she really was?

"Don't apologize. Please." Max closed his eyes. His elbows were on his knees and he brought his face down into his hands. "Liz, you came to me at the observatory."

"What?" Liz felt her heart in her throat. Could this be even worse than she had ever possibly imagined? "What do you mean?"

"I...I was there, just looking through the telescope, wondering how I could prove that Tess was evil...and you came." Max looked up at her, his dark eyes shining with unshed tears. "I was just about to leave...I was going to go to the Sheriff's, confront Tess, make her admit the truth to you, when suddenly you were there." He paused, a grimace of self-disgust passing over his face. "I didn't even question how you knew where I was. You kissed me, apologized, and I believed it was you. But, it was her...I didn't know, until...after."

It was at this point that Liz moved away from him, wrapping her arms around her middle, her entire body suddenly overcome with such cold, she felt like she was freezing to death from the inside out. "After what?"

She knew of course. But she was going to make him say it. Until he said it, it would not be real. This complete and utter disaster would not be real. "Liz, I slept with her."

He said it quickly, as though the words made him want to be sick, which she was pretty sure they did. "I woke up afterward." He was speaking mechanically now, just trying to get it all out. "It was morning." Liz looked out his bedroom window, saw that it was indeed after dawn, the sun shining weakly in the morning sky. "And [I]she[/I] was there." His voice cracked. "You weren't anywhere. And she told me what had happened. I came home and you were here and I knew that she was telling me the truth."

Liz tilted her head back, let herself fall back onto his bed, stared up at the ceiling. "Why?" She whispered. "Why did she do this?"

"She knew." Max replied. "She knew that we were back together. She said that she found out the night of the hostage thing at the Museum." He paused. "I never told you, but I went to see her that night. I had gotten some flashes from Brody when I had healed him, flashes that had made me remember some stuff. I had to go to see her that night..."

"To see if they were real." Liz finished. Max had allowed himself to flop back on the bed too. They were not touching, but she could still feel the bond between them, could feel it pulling her towards him. It made her want to lay her hands on him, comfort him. She sat up abruptly.

"Yeah. And we connected that night. Like you and I did, right after I healed you...and I saw things and I knew that my memories were real." She turned to look down at him. He was now the one staring sightlessly up at the ceiling as he continued, "She told me that she had seen it then, when we connected."

"Kyle said she was acting weird all week." Liz told him. "She must have been biding her time the whole time." She added, suddenly furious because she had used Kyle all along, making Max believe that she wasn't interested in him. She had just been using the oldest trick in the book though. She had been trying to make him jealous.

And it hadn't worked because he had been with Liz. And so she had had to resort to outright deception. She had pretended to be Liz and she had seduced him.

"Liz..." Max sat up again, tentatively reached out, but stopped short of touching her. "I can't even say I'm sorry. It is just totally not enough. I...I don't even know where to start to make this up to you." He looked away, down at the floor. "I...I would totally understand if you wanted..." He paused, swallowed, hard. "Wanted to break up with me."

"NO!" Max's head jerked up. Liz threw herself at him desperately. "NO! That's what she wants. No. No. No."

And she knew it was true. Tess had done this to break them up. The last thing Liz was going to do was let her win that way. "No Max. No. It wasn't your fault."

And she knew it wasn't. Liz could still feel the devastation in the pit of her stomach that this had happened, but Max had not been to blame. He had been tricked, in fact, in some horrible way, he had almost been raped by Tess.

He needed her.

Max's hands came up, wrapped themselves in her hair. "But Liz, how can you forgive this? I almost couldn't get past the Kyle thing and that wasn't even true. I can't let you do this." He was actually crying. She could hear the pain, the guilt in his voice even though she could not see his face. Liz hugged him against her, willing him to take comfort from her.

"I don't care! Max, I don't care. She can't win! No. You are mine." She sobbed it into his neck, winding her arms around him, plastering her body against his.

He didn't reply, just let her cling to him. She felt him shivering under her, felt it gradually stop as they continued to sit on his bed, neither wanting to let go.

The cold was closing in. But, as long as they were together, they could stay warm. Liz's mind was not working coherently anymore, the combination of her grief and horror and pain, as well as heavy fatigue finally settling into her bones, all joining together to cloud her mind.

But this she knew. Only as long as they were together could they keep the cold away.

*******************************************************************

But it only got worse.

At first it looked like it was going to work. That they could pretend that nothing had happened. Because that's what they did for almost an entire week after the prom.

Max and Liz were openly back together. After all, there was no need to hide anything anymore. Maria and Alex and Isabel and Michael were ecstatic (although Michael refused to admit it, Maria told Liz it was true). Everything was going back to normal, back to the way they were supposed to be, the way they [I]had[/I] been before the whole destiny/Future Max disaster.

But things were not all right. They were affectionate in public, both pretending that everything was perfect. It was only when they were alone that the distance that was springing up between them became clear.

Max could not get past his guilt. Liz [I]had[/I] forgiven him. She knew she had, but he could not believe it because he could not forgive himself. And so, when they were alone, they sat in silence and said nothing and let the cold continue to settle in.

No one knew what had become of Tess. She had completely disappeared. Liz had broken the news to Kyle a day after it had happened, only because she felt that he had the right to know the truth about Tess, so that she wouldn't be able to worm her way back into his good graces. They told no one else. No one else needed to know.

And, then, Tess showed up in the Crashdown a week later and told Max she was pregnant.

None of them wanted to believe it at first. They were all there when she said it, sitting at the counter or at a booth in Liz's parents restaurant, looking over pictures from the prom. Maria was sitting on Michael's lap, Isabel had her head on Alex's shoulder as she giggled over some joke he had told her.

Max and Liz were sitting at opposite ends of the counter. Liz was looking at a picture of Alex and Isabel and Michael and Maria and Kyle and...Tess, that Mrs. Deluca had taken before the prom.

She and Max should have been there, but they had been in the desert, making love under torchlight, knowing that nothing could ever split them up again.

Kyle, who was sitting beside her, grabbed the picture out of her hand and turned it upside down, looking back at her, his eyes burning with pity and rage.

She should not have told Kyle the truth. Because he hated Max now. Even though none of it had been Max's fault.

It was in that instant that the bell over the door leading into the Crashdown rang, making them all turn their heads as one.

Tess stood in the doorway, her hands clasped in front of her, her expression unreadable. Liz felt Kyle tense beside her. For her part, she could not move. She could not even look at Max, who she was sure was dying inside at the sight of her.

Either dying or getting ready to kill her with his bare hands. Because he had told Liz last night, as they had sat on her balcony, not touching, that he wanted to. He wanted to kill her and if he had the chance, he would.

It was the first time any of them had seen her since the prom. And since she did not know the truth, Maria stood up, welcomed her, beckoned her to join them; Maria, who had always despised Tess because she stood between Max and Liz, but now that Max and Liz could be together, there was no need to hate Tess anymore, was there?

Tess shook her blonde head. Liz wondered when it had started raining, because when Tess's hair moved across her shoulders it sent water raining around her small body.

"I need to talk to Max. Alone." She said quietly. Liz felt a lump rising in her throat, forced herself to look at Max.
He was staring at Tess, his face completely blank. But his eyes, they were burning with hate so strongly, Liz feared for him for a moment.

Hate of that magnitude was not an inherent part of Max Evans's make-up. It was just [I]not[/I] him.

"Ah! No secrets!" Alex joked from the booth where he sat with Isabel. "We're all friends here."

Liz looked in their direction, could see that Isabel was frowning slightly, like she was becoming aware that something was suddenly distinctly wrong. She saw Max's sister glance at her brother, worry beginning to appear on her pretty face. She pinched Alex lightly, as though to quiet him.

Because when Liz turned back to Tess, she could see Tess openly [I]glaring[/I] at Alex, like she hated him.

But Liz had no time to reflect on this because in the next instant Tess laughed bitterly and said, "Okay then. Everyone's going to know soon anyway. Surprise Max!" Tess's face was a mask of triumph so abruptly, it made Liz freeze. She felt Kyle reach out, grab her by the arm, as though in support for what they both knew was coming. "You're going to be a daddy."

The silence that followed this statement was so complete, Liz wondered inanely if anyone was actually breathing anymore. She knew she wasn't. In fact, her heart had stopped beating the minute Tess had walked through the door. She had known, even then, that her entire world was about to end.

It was Michael who finally said what they were all thinking. He turned to look at Max. "Maxwell, what the hell is she talking about?" It was as though his words suddenly woke everyone else up.

Maria slid off Michael's lap, came to stand beside Liz. Alex stood up, near the booth, the shock on his face only enhanced on that of his girlfriend who stayed seated and simply said, "Max?"

"It's true." Tess smirked at Liz. "You two can pretend all you want, but this baby is real and its coming and it is Max's."

"Get out." Two simple words from Max. He was no longer looking at her, but down at the counter, his entire frame rigid with the effort to control himself. Liz wanted to go to him, to support him, but she could not move.

She was frozen inside and out.

"But that's not all Daddy." Tess continued, as though she had heard nothing. It was almost like she was on a death mission Liz reflected later, like she [I]wanted[/I] Max to kill her, like it would be the final triumph. Game. Set. Match. "The baby's dying. I connected with it this morning. It can't survive here."

Liz watched a tremor pass through Max's body.

"Max, can this be true?" It was Isabel asking, but they were all looking at him, waiting for him to acknowledge that he had slept with Tess, that she was not lying. Liz knew what they were really waiting for. They were waiting for him to take responsibility, to help Tess.

Because they didn't know. The did not know what Tess had done. Only Kyle knew.

And now there was a baby and it was innocent and it was dying.

Liz could feel Maria's eyes on her, like she didn't understand why Liz was not breaking down, freaking out. But it was too late for that.

"You're lying." Max said simply. Liz watched Tess's eyes widen, like she couldn't quite believe he was actually saying the words, that he was truly going to leave her alone and pregnant.

But Tess did not understand. She did not understand that she had destroyed Max Evans when she had tricked him into sleeping with her. Because the Max Evans she wanted was the Max Evans who [I]never[/I] would have slept with her, who never would have betrayed Liz Parker.

This Max Evans was lost, did not understand himself any more, did not know how he could have done what he had done. Liz had known it for a week, ever since the day he had told her what had happened, when they had clung together, trying to shut the world out.

But the world insisted on getting in. The guilt insisted on claiming him.

Tess tried again. "Max, it is your child. I know you hate me, but you have to love this baby. It is [I]yours.[/I] It is your heir. I'm your wife."

Liz became aware of a tapping sound down the length of the long corridor from which she seemed to be watching this entire farce play out. She glanced over at Kyle. He was tapping his fingers against the counter, almost impatiently. He didn't seem to be listening to the conversation at all anymore, had completely tuned out, to protect himself from the fact that everything Liz had told him was true - that [I]his[/I] Tess had really tricked Max Evans into sleeping with her, that she was truly lost to him.

"It is not mine. I refuse it."

Liz heard Isabel gasp. She understood why. Max sounded like some sort of medieval king with those words. Because in those words, what they all heard was "It is mine and I refuse to take responsibility for what I have done."

Liz was not shocked. He was no longer Max. Tess had killed what Max had been. He was not the same.

But she loved him anyway.

And so Tess turned and left. But before she left, she said, "I know you'll change your mind. I'll be at the Valenti's."

Kyle flinched at that, stopped tapping.

"Okay, what the hell just happened here?" Michael demanded. "Max, has that chick gone psycho? We know that you and Liz have been back together for ages." Max blinked at that, but did not answer. "What is she talking about?"

"Leave it alone Michael." Max sighed wearily, turned and dropped his elbows onto the counter, his face into his hands.

And still Liz could not move.

"Valenti?" Michael turned to Kyle, the only other person who might feasibly understand what was happening.

But Kyle stood up and walked out of the Crashdown, without another word to anyone, although he squeezed Liz's shoulder as he left.

Liz managed to stand up too. Because she was becoming increasingly aware that there was only one way to save [I]her[/I] Max from the distant, guilt-ridden person he was becoming. She was going to have to be the strong one - again.

"Max, come with me." She ordered. He did not protest, followed her through the swinging door to the kitchen. She heard their four friends all start talking at once as soon as the door swung shut behind them.

"I am so sorry Liz." He said mechanically. She turned to him, wrapped her arms around him, really touching him for the first time since the morning after the disaster.

She realized now that the reason they had both been distancing themselves from each other was because they had been waiting for the other shoe to drop. They had both known that Tess would not stop at what she had done, that there had to be a greater purpose.

It had happened. And, to save Max, there was only one route to take. "You know that you are going to have to find a way home." Liz whispered to him. "You're going to have to find a way to make sure she's telling the truth and then you are going to have to help her."

"No." He said it mutinously, but she could tell by the tone of his voice and by the way that his hands stilled against her that he knew it was true. That he would do it for her. He would save himself - for her.

And so Liz said the words that they knew she would. "It's your child Max. It doesn't deserve [I]her[/I] as a mother. And if it can't survive here, then you have to take her away."

"I can't leave you."

"You have to." She pulled back, reached up and stroked his face. "But you'll come back to me."

The real Max would come back if he took responsibility and did what had to be done. The shell that he was now - the guilt-ridden shell that could not forgive himself - she did not want it. She wanted the real Max back.

***************************************************************

Within hours, they knew the truth.

Liz went with Max to the Valenti's. Kyle was there too, watching from the shadows of the living room, as Max connected with Tess, touching her as though he was touching a snake. Liz wasn't sure [I]where[/I] the Sheriff was.

Liz knew that Max had connected with his child when he pulled back, an amazed expression on his face. Tess looked triumphant, although her expression wavered slightly when Liz did not even flinch. "It's a boy." He told Liz, a smile breaking out over his face despite himself.

Liz smiled sadly at him. The healing of Max's soul was beginning already. Because she knew from the expression on his face, that he accepted the child. That he loved it.

That he [I]would[/I] go.

But, at the very least, he would still be hers.

"And he's dying." Max acknowledged, standing up, taking Liz by the hand and ignoring Tess completely. He looked back at her only once before they left. "I'll find a way back there. He will live."

Tess just stared at him, expressionless, seemingly unable to believe that he was just going to leave her sitting there.

Kyle seemed to understand though. "I'll make sure she doesn't do anything to herself." He promised quietly as he followed them out onto the porch. Liz knew he was saying it more for [I]her[/I] benefit than Max's, but he understood what was going on.

Tess was a vessel for Max's son, but Liz was it's mother. Plain and simple. All three of them knew it and all three of them accepted it.

Except [I]fate[/I] did not accept it.

The next blow came out of nowhere, was so unexpected, the trio could not have been aware that within twenty-four hours, everything would have changed again.

Because, the very next day, Alex Whitman died.

To be continued...