A/N (long): This is a story I worked quite a lot on about a year ago, but never posted anywhere. Recently I found it again and felt that I should post it, seeing as I spent so much time on it (and seeing as I haven't posted anything at all here in ages, due to serious writer's block and lack of time). Anyway, the storyline may seem sort of stupid, but it's just an idea that popped into my head one morning (literally popped: I woke up and opened my eyes and – pop – the idea was there) and which I felt I had to make into a story. I don't know if anyone has had the same idea before me, and written a fic about it – if they have I'm sorry – but I've never read one so I'll just pretend it's my idea.
I also have to apologize for the corny quotes in the beginning of each part, that was just something I'd always wanted to do… I hope it doesn't bother you too much.
I'm not really expecting anyone to read this, seeing as it's pretty out of date and the series have ended and all, but should somebody happen to stumble upon it, it would be nice if you left a quick review and let me know what you think. Thanks in advance!
One more thing: I started writing this before Alex died, and when I found out he had died, I still decided to keep him in the story, because I love his character. So he plays a pretty big part in this story.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own the characters, only the rights to the story.
PART 1
***
"Help others, but when you do, do not forget yourself"
-Buddha-
***
Liz Parker had always been in awe of the way things had a tendency to take such drastic turns. She was a true believer in all that "live for the moment" crap, which so many claimed to live by, yet so few actually adapted as a lifestyle. And she had seen very up close and personal versions of these drastic turns, so she knew that each day could be her last, therefore forcing her to live it to it's fullest. Then there was that word she hated.
Consequences. It terrified her that a very minor event could bring with it the most fatal consequences. But at the same time it fascinated her, the way things constantly evolved out of one another, the way everything depended on everything else, and that nothing could happen without something following it.
And now here she suddenly was. Wading in a deep pool of consequences and the aftermath of drastic turns. And fate. And though it wasn't major enough to put her in a petrified state yet, it seemed to her as if she sensed the greatness of what was to come.
The proportions of the consequences.
***
It had all seemed so normal at first.
She'd arrived at the Crashdown, got into her alien costume and figured herself being in for a common, everyday shift, with lousy tips and the occasional grumpy customer. Maria had been whining about some English assignment and Liz herself had been somewhat casually worried about the next day's history test. Everything had went on as usual, with Alex checking in once to deliver a few books and eat a free meal.
Max Evans arrived with his sister around the same time he usually came in. Liz greeted him, as usual, and took their orders, well aware of Max's searching stare. It didn't make her uncomfortable anymore, she was pretty used to it. At first his soulful gaze on her had made her feel a bit awkward around him, but now it was just part of the routine, it seemed. And he did, after all, have a girlfriend. Not someone Liz cared that much for, just some perky, rather shallow cheerleader named Tess. Max had actually, during one of their occasional conversations in chemistry class, pointed out to Liz that he wasn't really in love with Tess, making sure she understood that it probably wouldn't last that long. She'd nodded, somewhat flattered by the attention he gave her. After all, she wasn't all that popular, and he was one of the most "wanted" guys in school.
However, this day she was in the midst of being gazed at as usual, when two men walked in, took a booth and started arguing loudly. Maria took their orders and returned to Liz looking annoyed.
"God, some people are having serious behavior issues," she said, indicating the arguing men. Liz looked at her questioningly.
"Well," Maria went on. "I take their orders, tell them to have a nice day and one of them actually tells me to piss off."
"Piss off?" Liz said, surprised. "Maybe I should get dad to ask them to leave."
"Nah, it probably won't be a problem," Maria said. "So… Did Max have anything interesting to say?"
Liz rolled her eyes at her grinning friend. "You just can't let it go, can you?"
"Not as long as I'm working here, forced to wear this stupid costume," Maria said. "And with my luck, that's probably gonna be a long, long time."
Liz smiled at her, and Maria went off to take more orders. As she was standing there by the counter, refilling some napkin holders, Liz suddenly felt a shadow fall over her. She looked up and straight into the dark eyes of Max Evans. She smiled uncertainly at him and he returned the smile.
"Hey," he said with that characteristic deep voice.
"Hey," Liz said, swallowing hard.
"So… Busy, eh?"
"Umm, sort of, yeah…"
"So I see."
She would have laughed at the fumbling, few words of the conversation, if it weren't for the fact that she was constantly aware of his eyes on her.
"Are you done with the, uh, the… the assignment?" Max asked.
"I'm working on it. Pretty tough, though."
"Yeah, definitely. Very tough."
She smiled at him again and they stood there just looking at each other for a while. Liz was well aware of the fact that this couldn't possibly lead to anything, and that he probably didn't wish for anything serious to happen, but it was always nice to know that someone liked you in that way.
The silent conversation between their eyes came to an abrupt end as Maria's scream echoed through the diner. Max spun around to see what it was about, and Liz didn't know how it happened, but suddenly he was lying there on the floor in front of her, a growing patch of blood on his shirt. She had a faint memory of a gun going off, but it was all so confusing, she couldn't put it together.
The first thought that came into her mind was to save him. She kneeled down next to him, as she heard Isabel screaming her brother's name and running up to them. Liz told her to go phone an ambulance and she did so, leaving Liz with Max's lifeless body in front of her.
Everything else disappeared. Liz pulled up his shirt over his chest, exposing the wound. Her heart was racing and her head was spinning but she knew she had to do this. Far off she heard Maria speak to her, telling her not to do it, telling her to wait for the ambulance. But Liz did not listen.
She patted Max's cheek, urging him to look at her. His head rolled a bit before he managed to open his eyes. He looked at her, confusion all over his now pale features.
"Liz," he whispered and she told him to be quiet. She placed a hand over his wound and focused all her energy on the spot, using all her strength to bring back the life of the boy in front of her who was far too young to die. Images flashed through her head. Images of Max as a child, of her as a child, of Max and Isabel getting off the bus, of Max looking at her in the hallways.
She squeezed her eyes together, feeling the power drain from her, feeling the stabbing pain in her own chest as her heart started slowing down.
It was time to stop. She shut off the energy flow and fell back as it let go of her. Max was staring back at her, now resting on his elbows. He looked down at his now healed chest, then back up at her again. Without taking his eyes off of her, he slowly sat up and pulled his shirt down. His expression was one of confusion and disbelief.
Maria pulled Liz up to her feet, urging her to leave the café, telling her that she'd take care of the rest. Liz nodded, reaching out for a ketchup bottle. She broke the bottle on the counter and poured it's contents over Max.
"Ketchup," she said hoarsely. "You spilled ketchup."
He nodded, but clearly not understanding anything of what had just happened. It was all over in less than a minute. She let Maria pull her out in the back, and she rushed from the diner, her only thought to get as far away from there as possible.
***
And now it had been three hours. All the while she'd been sitting here in Maria's room, waiting for her friend to finish her shift. Waiting and fearing. And knowing that she might just, in one single minute, have blown the cover they'd worked so hard to keep during all these years. She wondered desperately what was going on. Maybe the sheriff was there now, asking everyone a ton of questions, getting the full story of what had happened. She couldn't remember how many people had been at the diner at the time of the shooting, it was all a blur. For all she knew it could've been plenty. For all she knew they were all at this very moment telling the sheriff about the freaky girl who somehow fixed a gunshot wound.
For all she knew Max Evans was telling him his version.
She closed her eyes, breathing hard. This was not good. Most definitely not good. She was working herself up more and more, and was just about to start hyperventilating when the door opened. She jumped up at the sudden noise, ready to flee through the window. A pair of hands grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her back down on the bed.
"Relax, it's me," Maria said to her. Liz breathed a couple of sighs of relief, and realized she was trembling.
"Christ, look at you," Maria went on, shaking her head. "One might think you'd seen a ghost or somethin'." Liz couldn't manage a smile. The smiles had fallen off of her somewhere on that panicky, paranoia rush to Maria's house.
"Maria," she gasped, and found she had trouble breathing, but went on anyway. "Maria, what happened, after I… after I left?"
Maria looked at her grimly.
"What could've been expected, I guess," she began. "The ambulance came, and the paramedics were sort of pissed when they saw that no one was actually hurt. Then Valenti came, too, and asked everyone, like, two million questions, but there weren't all too many people there. Most of them ran off when that man pulled out the gun."
Liz exhaled, relieved. "What about Max?" she asked.
Maria sighed. "Max... Max played his part, I guess. The sheriff asked him all kinds of things, but he kept claiming that he broke a bottle and spilled ketchup."
Liz nodded. "But Liz, this isn't the end of it," Maria went on. "I'm telling you, from the look on Max's face, if the sheriff would've asked him just a few more things, he would most certainly have spilled and then that would've been it."
Liz squeezed her eyes together. How did she manage? How on earth did she manage to get herself into these kinds of things? "Maybe we should call Alex." Her voice was barely a whisper. Maria nodded. "I just don't know what the hell we're supposed to do about Max," she said, shaking her head.
"It'll be okay, Maria," Liz whispered, her voice giving away all of her uncertainty. "I'll take care of it.
***
When Isabel went into her brother's room to say goodnight, she found him sitting motionless on the bed.
"Max?" she said, trying to get his attention, but he was just staring at some spot in front of him. She sat down next to him. Only then did he realize that she was there.
"Oh, hey Iz," he said distractedly, before going back to the wallstaring. She sighed.
"Max, what exactly happened to you at the café today?"
She could almost swear he froze at her question. Satisfied with his reaction she decided to go on. "Are you sure you weren't hurt?"
He still didn't say anything. "Max? Were you hurt?"
He kept staring at the wall, but she noticed that he had brought a hand up to his chest, scratching lightly. She observed his seemingly pointless scratching before speaking again.
"Max, were you hurt? Was that where you were hurt?"
But all he did was scratch and stare and she felt that it was all really a waste of time. She was positive that something had happened at the Crashdown today, and she vowed to herself to find out what it was, but tonight just wasn't the right time for that.
"Goodnight Max," she said before rising and leaving the room, without getting any reply from her brother.
The moment the door closed behind her, Max rose from the bed and walked up to the full length mirror standing in the corner. He pulled his t-shirt up and studied the strange, silver handprint glimmering on his chest.
***
"Oh man, oh man, oh man. I don't believe this."
Alex paced back and forth in Maria's room, every now and then running an unsteady hand through his hair, or clutching his forehead.
"This is just... This is so extremely... It's unbelievable! That's what it is! Unbelievable."
"Yes Alex, in the same degree as it was the first time you informed us of it's unbelievableness." Maria sighed, rather annoyed at her friend's pacing.
"There is no such word as unbelievableness," Liz pointed out solemnly from her position by the desk.
"So shoot me!" Maria snapped at her. "Or chop me up or dissect me, 'cause that's surely what's going to happen soon anyway."
"I don't believe it!" Alex said again, lost in his own world of total disbelief. "It's... unbelievable! That's the right word for it."
"We're not going to get chopped up," Liz said, sounding more tired each minute. "Nothing bad is going to happen."
"How can you say that?!" Maria exploded. "Liz, you used your powers publically! You broke the rules! You... you betrayed our trust! So don't you dare give me all that "it's gonna be okay" bullshit 'cause it isn't! It's not gonna be okay!"
"Well, what was I supposed to do, Maria?" Liz shot back. "Should I have let him die? Huh? Would that have been better?"
"Maybe he wouldn't have died," Maria said.
"Come on, who are you trying to fool with that? His insides were torn apart! Who's giving the bullshit now?"
Maria just glared at her, crossing her arms.
"I just don't believe it," Alex said. Maria was about to yell at him, when he broke the pattern and said something else. "We have to talk to him," he stated firmly. Maria raised her eyebrows at him.
"Talk to who? Max?"
"Yeah. We have to tell him." Alex was eerily calm. "We have to tell him everything and we have to make sure he doesn't pass it on to anyone."
"Well, that should be easy," Maria sneered. "Just promise him a night of passion with Liz and you'll have him do anything you tell him."
"Shut up, Maria," Liz snapped. "Alex is right. We have to tell him and make sure he stays silent."
"What, like nail his lips together? 'Cause I'd be happy to."
Liz glared at Maria. "I'll talk to him tomorrow," she said. Maria shrugged. "Fine," she said. "I just want you to know that I won't hold back on the "I told you so"'s when we're all scattered in a hundred different jars in some upnorth government lab."
"I'll talk to him tomorrow," Liz repeated. "I'll make sure he stays silent."
***
Max awoke after approximately four and a half hours of sleep by Isabel hitting him on the arm with a hairbrush.
"Max! Get up! We're late!"
Max sat up in bed, trying to get his still sleeping mind into some kind of order.
"You don't have time to eat any breakfast, Max. Just get out of the bed and into some clothes and then we have to get going. We have to pick up Michael in ten minutes."
With that Isabel rushed out of the room. Max got out of bed and looked around. He didn't seem to have any clean clothes lying around. He sighed. Right now the last thing he wanted to do was go to school. He just wanted to go back to bed and sleep for twentyfour hours til the next morning.
And then he remembered. The memories of everything that had happened the previous day hit him with such force that he had to steady himself against the wall. And he knew he had to get to school so that he could talk to Liz about it.
Without giving it much thought he pulled on a pair of pants and a shirt and headed out the door.
They picked up Michael at the trailer park and headed off to school. Isabel was a big bundle of nerves over her "lunch meeting" with Darla Simmons, senior and head of the student council. Apparently she was going to try and get Isabel into some fancy girls' group which had dinners every week and in which "every girl worth knowing in the entire town is a member", as Isabel said.
"And so anyway," she went on, "Darla's gonna put in a good word for me, and if they want me in I'll be at the first dinner thing on Friday!"
"Sounds like a hoot," Michael said sarcastically from his position in the back seat.
"Oh, shut up. You're just jealous." Isabel just couldn't seem to wipe off the giddy grin she'd had on her face all day.
Michael just smirked at her before turning his attention to Max, who practically hadn't said a single word during the ride. "So Max, I heard there was a bit of commotion at the Crashdown yesterday." Max didn't answer, so Isabel spoke instead.
"Yeah, this guy with a gun fired a shot, but amazingly the bullet disappeared and no one was injured." She looked meaningly at her brother. "Right Max?"
Max just nodded. "Right. No one was injured."
Michael shook his head. "I can't believe you still go there all the time. Get over that Parker chick already, Max."
"That's what I've been trying to tell him," Isabel said. "I say "Come on Max, how about we go to Gordon's instead", 'cause they've got this real cute, and most importantly, older guy working there, 'cause I mean, it should be my turn too, you know? But nooo, somehow my darling brother is always in the mood for saturn rings, ET burgers and all that other alien shit."
"Listen to your sister," Michael said. "You can't go there anymore. It'll ruin our reputation. Plus, I don't think Tess's too happy about you drooling over another girl."
"I'm not drooling over anyone," Max said, therefore joining in the conversation for the first time. "And anyway, I don't give a shit about what Tess thinks."
"Whatever," Michael said and sank back in his seat. "I'm just looking out for you. But if you don't wanna listen, that's fine. Just don't come crawling to me when everyone turns their back on you and you'll be nothing more than one of those pathetic science geeks, whose only goal in life is to work and then die."
"Thanks for the support, Michael," Max said sarcastically. "Nice to know I've got friends."
Michael just shrugged at him.
When they pulled in on the parking lot a group of girls was waiting for them. As they stopped the car the group, led by Tess, came up to them. Max suddenly found himself caught in a passionate kiss as his girlfriend greeted him. As they drew apart she grinned at him.
"Hey there, gorgeous," she drawled in what 90 percent of the school's male population would call a sexy voice, but which Max only found more annoying every day.
"Hey," he said, attempting a smile. Meanwhile, Michael was being attacked by the rest of the group, all dying to run their fingers through his trademark hair. Isabel headed straight into the school building to do some mental preparation for her lunch meeting.
Tess insisted on clinging to Max as he made his way into the school, and when they finally reached her locker he was glad to be released from the burden. She made him promise her a dozen times to meet her at lunch before he could leave for class.
He checked his watch. He was late. Not like that was going to make him hurry, though. He had vowed to himself never to rush anywhere, no matter how late he was. It would completely ruin his image.
It was only first when he already had opened the door to the classroom that he realized what class it was.
Chemistry. He stood by in the doorway and was suddenly hesitant to go in. All heads turned towards him as he stood there frozen.
"Mr Evans, good morning," the teacher said and he mumbled a reply. His eyes drifted over the class 'til they reached the only person in the room who wasn't looking at him. Liz was staring down at her book, seemingly very fascinated by the diagrams she found there. He stood there observing her and was totally unaware of everyone else. At least 'til the teacher reminded him of their presence.
"Mr Evans, would you care to take a seat so that we can proceed?"
Max looked back at him, startled. Then he remembered where he was and made his way past all the desks to take his seat next to Liz.
She barely greeted him. After mumbling something that could be interpreted as a good morning, she kept her eyes locked on her book. They did all the laborations without her eyes meeting his, not even once. When the class was over, she quickly packed her things together before exiting the classroom.
But he was determined to talk to her, so he rushed past everyone, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her into the nearby music room. It all went so fast that she didn't even have time to protest. He carefully closed the door before turning around to face her.
***
Michael strolled around in the corridors, whistling a tune, waiting for Max to finish his chemistry class. Right now he was sort of bored and almost, but only almost, regretting that he hadn't decided on attending art class this morning. It seemed sort of pointless skipping classes when you were all alone doing it.
He heard footsteps echoing through the hall and a twinge of hope struck his heart. Maybe it was somebody he could talk to. But his heart sank as the person came into sight.
Alex Whitman. He made a face. Not really a potential object of conversation. The tall, skinny boy didn't make any sign of having noticed Michael, he walked on, studying the paper in his hands. Michael stood there, pondering if he should greet him or not, and finally decided to, seeing as there wasn't anybody else in the halls, so he really didn't have anything to lose.
"Hey," he said as Alex came closer. Alex's head shot up, apparently startled by the sudden voice. "Uh, hi," he said unsurely, probably wondering if it was some sort of joke.
"Having fun?" Michael asked. He knew it sounded lame, but what the hell, he wanted to keep the conversation going so that he wouldn't bore to death.
"Umm, yeah, I'm just, just, you know, walking around," Alex stammered.
"Didn't figure you for skipping class," Michael said.
"No, no, I'm not skipping, not skipping class, I'm... I'm on my way to deliver this…" He held the paper up for Michael to see. Michael raised his eyebrows.
"Absence form? Where've you been?"
"Minnesota. I visited my cousins."
Michael nodded, pretending to be interested, but he noticed as well as Alex that this conversation was running dry.
"I should... go," Alex said.
"Okay, have fun," Michael said, leaning against the wall.
"Yeah." Alex rushed away from the awkward situation. Michael sighed. What a complete waste of time, he thought.
The bell rang and students began filing out of the classrooms. Michael spotted Max and was about to go up to him when he saw his friend grabbing Liz Parker by the arm and dragging her into the music room. He sighed again. He had to stop this and knock some sense into Max. Slowly and carefully he crossed the hallway and sneaked into the music room after the couple.