Part 26

[b]Another Time, Another Life - Section L[/b]

Liz sat on the couch in the Evans' living room as Max made the call setting up the exchange. His tone was grim as he spoke into the phone, telling Tess that he would meet her at the pod chamber late the next day.

Needless to say, having to make the decision to leave Serena in their enemies' hands overnight was the most difficult they had ever made, although Max was still convinced that she was perfectly safe as long as Tess and the dupes believed he would trade himself for her. There was no choice anyway. They needed to wait for Michael and Isabel to return with Ava, needed the full power of the four square to ensure that they were going to win. Max explained to Tess that they had to tell the Sheriff and his father about Kyle and his mother. It has seemed enough of an explanation for the witch.

Liz was still amazed that Tess was not suspicious about it though. It only reinforced to her how little Tess cared about her own son, that she could not understand Liz's panic, her desperation to get her daughter back. Liz could not stop twisting her hands in her lap as Max made the arrangements, desperately trying to control the urge to leap to her feet, to grab the phone from him and demand that Tess return her baby immediately. Only Maria's comforting arm around her shoulder kept her in place.

Tess' willingness to wait 24 hours also confirmed to Max and Liz that she could not conceive that they were planning to bring their four enemies down permanently - which meant killing them - or at least they would die trying. Tess thought she knew them, did not understand that taking their baby was the last straw. If she had wanted to push them to the point where they would [I]really[/I] fight, she had succeeded.

Before going for Kyle's body they moved Max's mother to her bedroom. Max's expression was stony the entire time, as he simply did what had to be done. His father was away for the weekend at a conference, would not be back until Monday. It was another crime to be laid at Tess' doorway that they did not even have time to call him.

They did not have time for anything - not even to grieve. All they could focus on was destroying their enemies once and for all. All they could think about was getting their daughter back.

The waiting was the worst part. Not just the wait for the exchange, but the wait before they could start to mourn their loss.

When they went back to the park for Kyle's body, it was gone. Liz's first horrified thought was that it had been found by someone, that Valenti was going to hear what had happened from the police instead of from them. But when they drove to his house and all was still dark, she knew that Tess had taken Kyle. She just knew it. It made her stomach twist in fury.

Tess had not wanted to kill Kyle. Liz could understand that, even through her hatred. In her own twisted way, Tess had loved him. But she loved herself more. And it only made Liz's fear for Serena greater. Tess murdered people she loved to get what she wanted. She would have no qualms killing the person she would most despise in the world - Max and Liz's child.

Telling Valenti was a nightmare. He did not break down, just stared at them in dumbfounded disbelief as Max quietly told him what had happened. Liz led Kyle's father to the couch, where he collapsed, a mixture of shock and raw grief etched on his craggy face.

"Should I call my mom?" Maria whispered to Liz. Liz watched Max seat himself beside Valenti, a grim expression on his face. She closed her eyes against the guilt and pain she could see him barely managing to control.

"I don't know," Liz replied helplessly. "How can she help? We can't tell her the truth."

It was then that she became aware of the fact that Max and Valenti were speaking quietly to one another.

"When do we go after them?" Valenti's voice was stiff, brittle, as though if he spoke any differently, he would completely lose it.

And Liz understood. He had absolutely no intention of [I]losing[/I] it until his son had been avenged.

"Tomorrow night," Max replied evenly, not even trying to argue with Valenti that it was safer without him, that they didn't want to endanger him. Because if there was one thing Max understood, it was the pain of losing a child.

But at least Max's son still [I]lived.[/I] His daughter too. For now.

"As soon as Michael and Isabel get back," he continued.

"Fine."

The four of them sat in silence for close to an hour, just waiting for the time to pass. There was nothing else to say, nothing to do except [I]wait[/I]. It was numbing, excruciating…

Liz did her best not to think. She sat with her head on Max's shoulder, simply enduring.

Finally Max told them all that it was imperative that they get a good night's sleep but that he wanted them to all stay together, for safety's sake. "We'll go back to my parents'. I can't leave my mom…" He trailed off, his voice cracking. Liz placed a gentle hand on his arm. "I can't leave her alone," he finished, scrubbing a hand across his face, shock finally beginning to wear off, as the truth of what had actually happened to the woman who had raised him began to penetrate the shell he had built around his heart.

They made love that night in Max's old bedroom. It was a storm of passion unlike any Liz had ever experienced before, a desperate attempt to feel [I]anything,[/I] a way to convince themselves that they still lived, that they would survive this - that they [I]could[/I] go on.

After Max sank into exhausted slumber, Liz lay with her head cradled on his chest, tracing small circles along his bicep, staring off into the darkness. She knew that she would not rest again until her child was back in her arms. There was no point in even trying.

Slightly before dawn, Liz sat up and pulled an old West Roswell T-shirt over her head. She slipped from the bed, padded to the window, stared out into the brightening sky, amazed that it was true, that life [I]did[/I] go on. But how could it? How could they just keep going after losing Alex and Kyle and Mrs. Evans and Sean…and Serena.

She brought her hands up against her mouth, tried to muffle her sobs. Max needed his sleep, now more than ever.

But, it was too late of course. He never did sleep properly when she wasn't beside him. She could already hear him stirring.

"Liz?" She turned her head in time to see him push himself up on his elbow. His dark hair was flopping over his eye in the way it tended to now. He had kept it longer since their return from Canada, never finding the time to get it cut because he was always away. He looked so young, still half- asleep. "Are you okay?"

It reminded her that she was truly still only nineteen years old. She felt about a hundred.

She turned back to the window, not answering. He knew she wasn't okay. He wasn't either. It was just one of those things people said when someone they cared about was hurting. She sighed, leaned back against him as his arms came around her from behind. He kissed her ear gently, whispering, "I promise that you will see her again."

"I know."

Together, they watched the sun rise.

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

"Whatever happens, Serena and Sean are the most important thing." Max's voice was stern. "Does everyone understand that? Whoever gets to them, takes them and [I]leaves,[/I] no ifs, ands or buts. Even if it's one of us." He looked at Michael, Isabel and Ava in quick succession. "If we can't take care of the dupes now, we won't. I want my children safe. We can always go back."

There were sounds of agreement from everyone. Liz glanced at Ava, biting her lip. The other girl looked slightly uncomfortable still, trapped between her past - Lonnie and Rath - and her future - Max, Isabel and Michael. Liz felt awful about it when she was forced to look away from her friend. She just could not stand seeing her face - Tess, the murderer - right in front of her. Not right now. She hoped that once they had Serena back, she would be able to get over it.

None of this was Ava's fault after all.

But it didn't help that poor Ava looked more like Tess than she ever had before. She had let her hair grow out, was no longer wearing her lip stud, was dressed more like a regular teenager than the punk street kid she had been.

It turned out that Ava had not wanted to return to Roswell. She had been enjoying a semi-normal life in Texas, had even enrolled herself in school there, under a pseudonym of course, always aware that Lonnie and Rath would kill her if they found her. She was not their top priority, but they would do away with her if they had the chance. She knew it, knew [I]them.[/I]

It was the reason that she was so valuable to them. Or so Michael and Isabel had tried to convince her. She had finally given in, her kind heart not allowing her to turn her back on two children in jeopardy.

It was only when they were all together that Ava informed them that she had another reason for coming. "I had to see if it would be different."

Max had looked at her curiously. "If what would be different?"

"You." She had smiled sadly, glancing at Liz. Liz had frowned, wondering where Ava was going with this. "If maybe [I]you[/I] and I were the ones meant to be together. Zan…he was always distant, waiting for someone else. I thought maybe it was [I]her…[/I]" The way Ava said it, Liz knew she meant Tess. "I thought maybe there was a mix-up or something…that somehow I was put with the wrong people."

Liz had stared at her, disbelieving that this could really be happening again. Would the price of Ava's help be Max? Was that what she was getting at? But she should have known better. Liz had always been a good judge of character and she had somehow always known that they could trust Ava.

"I know it's just not meant to be." Ava had smiled at Liz. "But being here…" She looked at Michael and Isabel in turn and then back at Max. "I know it's where I belong."

"Does everyone know what they're supposed to do?" Max asked again now, glancing at his watch.

"For the eight hundredth time Maxwell, yes," Michael ground out. Liz knew he wasn't really angry though, merely itching to get moving.

Max glanced at him, sighed. "Okay then, let's move." He lingered behind the group, pulling Liz against him for one last soft kiss. "I love you. Always remember that."

"I know." She closed her eyes, let herself rest her forehead against his chest for one final moment, perhaps the last time. Because they both knew that this was a fight to the death, hopefully Tess and Lonnie and Rath's, but potentially not.

She didn't know if she would survive it if something happened to him. She knew she would have to, would have to go on for the sake of their daughter and Sean. He was trusting her to.

But imagining a life without him…The darkness, the emptiness of it - of even just the imagined version - it was suffocating, terrifying.

She remembered what it had felt like when she thought he had gone to Antar. But at least then, she had had some hope that he still lived. Losing him completely would kill her. Somehow, she just knew it.

She felt so weak. With every new person she came to love, had to worry about, she felt her weakness more acutely, her fear, her despair that something might happen to them.

But, as always, Max knew exactly what she was thinking, which only reinforced how much she would miss him if he was gone. "You are the strongest person I know. You make [I]me[/I] strong Liz, trying to be worthy of you. Don't ever doubt that about yourself." He had pulled back from her, his hands on her shoulders, looking right into her eyes as he said it. "You will survive. You always have. And you have to promise me that you'll be happy."

She looked away, tears on the verge of falling. "Max, I can't promise that. I could never keep it." She laughed slightly, despite herself, knowing that he somehow, sometimes [I]still[/I] believed that she could not love him as much as he loved [I]her[/I]. It was ludicrous, after all they had been through, but she knew [I]him.[/I] He had just never felt worthy of her love, which was why he had made so many mistakes. It was one of her biggest frustrations, but also one of the things she most loved about him. Because it was what made him [I]Max[/I].

He pulled her against him again, stroking her hair, words meaningless now. Despite the feeling of safety that always came over her in Max's arms, a shiver ran down her spine.

And, somehow, she felt as though some sort of countdown had begun.



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

Liz climbed out of Valenti's SUV, her heart beating a nervous tattoo against her chest. They had pulled to a stop close to where the pod chamber used to be, but not close enough that it was likely they would be noticed.

The entire operation depended completely on timing. If any of them were off by even one second, it could bring the whole thing tumbling down around them like a house of cards.

"How long?" Maria whispered next to her. She had linked her arm through Liz's as they both leaned up against the hood of the SUV, waiting. Always waiting.

Liz glanced at her watch. "Ten minutes."

They had determined that it would take Max at least ten minutes to get Tess to reveal where Serena and Sean were hidden. They did not expect that she would bring the children with her and so they hadn't asked it, wanting them as far away from what could turn into a field of battle as possible. Max had told Tess to arrange to leave them somewhere safe, that he would join she, Lonnie and Rath, and before they would leave together, he would call Liz and tell her where to find the babies.

Tess trusted them. Liz knew that that part of the plan would work. She thought she knew them too well. It would never even cross her mind that they had every intention of betraying her.

Two days ago they wouldn't have betrayed her, even after she had murdered Alex. In his heart, Max believed in truth and straight dealing. Ironic that, considering the lengths he had to go to over the years to keep his secret. But, in the end, the only time he and his friends had ever killed was in self-defense. Their natures were such that it was the only way Max knew how to lead.

It had taken the completely merciless murders of Kyle and Mrs. Evans for understanding to finally penetrate past their natural compassion and empathy, for them to grasp that the only way to keep the people they loved safe from Tess and the other dupes was to kill them. Alex's death had [I]not[/I] been an accident, but cold-blooded murder. They were taking a step into the abyss by playing by the dupes' rules Liz knew, but they had no choice. Tess had seen to that.

Michael, Isabel and Ava had taken up their positions near the meeting point half an hour before. The plan was simple. Ava would mindwarp Lonnie, Rath and Tess so that they were unaware of their presence. Max would meet the dupes as planned, would find out where the children were located. He would call Liz, she would go with Maria and the Sheriff to retrieve them. Max would pretend to leave with the dupes, closely followed by the other three. Liz would call Michael once she had the kids…

And then the four square of Max, Michael, Isabel and Ava would unleash hell.

Of course, none of the humans were really sure what that meant, but Ava seemed to know and Max, Michael and Isabel appeared to have some sort of idea. Isabel had blanched when Max had said to them, "We're going to do what Tess did to the Skins. But with all of us, it will be four times as powerful." Liz hadn't really understood, but Isabel and Michael certainly had.

She didn't want to know. It was going to be hard enough on Max without him worrying what she was thinking about what he had to do. He could tell her after. She would heal him [I]after.[/I] Serena was the only thing that mattered.

Liz clenched her hands together, felt the nails digging into her palms. It had to go well. It just had to! They were due for some luck.

Her cell phone rang right on time.

Her eyes met Maria's for a long charged moment as she hit the Talk button. "Hello?" It was barely a whisper. She could not seem to make her voice work.

"Liz, they're at the Hardings." Max was calm, quiet. "You can go get them."

Liz's entire body was tingling at the sound of his voice. He was safe. Right now, he was still safe.

"Are they alone?" She asked quietly, trying not to let him know how scared she was. But she knew he knew. He always did.

"No. Tess hired a babysitter." He sounded disbelieving. Liz could almost see him shaking his head. "The girl knows you're coming."

"Okay. Be careful Max. I love you."

There was a long pause. "Me too." She could almost envision him in her mind, trying to decide what to say that wouldn't piss Tess off. The ball was still in her court after all - at least until they had Serena and Sean back.

But she wasn't in control for much longer. The tables were about to turn - permanently.

The drive to the old Harding house was long - close to half an hour. It made Liz uncomfortable, thinking of Max driving out of town with the dupes, every minute putting more distance between them. But if everything was going according to plan then Michael, Isabel and Ava were following close behind, mindwarped out of sight by Ava.

They were just waiting for the call to end it once and for all. And the further they were out of town when they did whatever it was they were going to do, the better for all of them. Because Liz had some sort of idea that it wasn't exactly going to be quiet or unnoticeable. The way Max had pressed his lips together at the idea of the four square combining their powers…she just knew that something major was about to occur. Somehow, inherently, they had some idea of what to do. And it was going to be [I]big.[/I]

Valenti finally pulled the SUV to a halt in the driveway of the house where Tess had first lived with Nasedo upon arriving in Roswell. Liz shook her head as they hurried up the front walk. It seemed so long ago now. So much had happened since that evil witch had arrived in town. It still amazed Liz that they had ever trusted her. They should have known what she was, what she had [I]shown[/I] them she was, even that far back.

They would never be so trusting again. More than anything, Liz would never forgive Tess for stealing their innocence. Because, in spite of it all, up until she had come to Roswell, resulting in Liz's first doubts in Max, from which all the disasters that followed had snowballed, they had still been kids. Kids with a secret, yes. But kids who were basically safe.

Tess had to take responsibility for that changing. Liz pressed her lips together. And soon she would.

Valenti stood beside her on the porch as Liz rang the bell. Maria hung back near the car, ready to make a break for the others if something went wrong.

This all seemed [I]too[/I] easy after all. Liz just knew that Tess had to have something else up her sleeve. Until she had her daughter in her arms, she could not relax.

The door opened moments later. A young girl smiled out at them. "Hi! Are you Liz? Tess told me you'd be here to take the kids for the night."

"I'm Liz," she acknowledged curtly. She could not be friendly. It was just impossible. Liz followed Valenti as he pushed his way into the house. "Where are they?" She demanded over her shoulder.

"Up in the nursery," the girl replied, following close behind and sounding a little upset, as though she couldn't understand why they were being so rude.

Liz glanced in a couple of doorways before the nursery became obvious. There were two cribs pushed against opposite walls.

She stared for a moment at the small blond boy sitting up in the one nearest the door. It wasn't until that moment that she truly believed that Tess had left her son behind. It was absolutely incomprehensible to her. The baby was staring at calmly, not the least bit nervous by the presence of strangers.

And it was then, as she looked into the baby's familiar blue eyes, that she suddenly remembered Kyle's last words to her.

[I]Liz, Sean is my son.[/I]

Because those eyes were not Tess' eyes. They were not her icy blue, but Kyle's warm shade, the colour of the sky at dusk.

Liz brought her hands to her mouth in shock. How could she not have remembered this? The chaos that had followed Kyle's death was no excuse. How on Earth had he known?

But obviously he had been right.

It changed everything.

Tears filled her eyes as she continued to stare at the small boy, the only piece of her friend they had left.

"Liz, are you all right?" She glanced over at Valenti. He had gone to the other crib but had not moved to pick up Serena.

It was only then that Liz saw that the other bed was empty. She could not be shocked. Somehow she had known that Tess would not just return her baby to her.

And, yet, she had left her own behind. Something was extremely wrong here…Liz could feel the world spinning, tried desperately to breathe, tried to focus on Valenti.

She pushed the thought aside for the moment. Her heart was aching for her daughter, but she had to tell Kyle's father the truth. Now. Somehow she just knew that it was imperative.

"Sheriff…" Liz moved to pick up Sean, swallowing. "This is Kyle's son."

Her arms met only air.

Mind-warp.

The minute it disappeared, she saw the glowing prism sitting in the crib, recognized it immediately as one of the otherworldly bombs Michael had destroyed in Las Cruces. It was beeping crazily, clearly about to go off.

Valenti was gone. Somehow he had disappeared, had gone back outside, clearly mindwarped as well into believing that she was with him. She could already hear him calling her name from the open window over the crib she still stood beside as the mindwarp fell.

Liz had just enough time to glance out, to see Kyle's father on the front lawn, Maria beside him, both staring up at her in the window in horror. The babysitter stood beside them, a half-smile on her face. Something in that smug expression reminded her of someone she had once known…

Nicholas. Disguised, but definitely him.

But there was no time to worry about who it was who had finally managed to separate her permanently from Max. Because all she really cared about was the baby she saw cradled in her best friend's arms.

It was Serena. Her daughter was safe.

All of this took about ten seconds to cross Liz's mind.

She had five more seconds to wonder how Max was going to go on with out her.

[I]I love you![/I] She thought it desperately, hoping against hope that he would hear her.

And then the explosion came.

To be continued…