Title: King's Opening
Rating: PG-13/R
Category: M/L, M/M, Ky/I
Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell and I never have. Don't sue me, I'm just a poor college student, you wouldn't get anything anyway.
Summary: Part One of the Battlefield Antar series. The group is summoned to Antar after a year roaming the US in their battered VW van.
Chapter 29 – Taking Aim
"How do you know that Dimitri Raies is in the castle, Erik?" Tristan asked tensely.
"One of my soldiers saw him run by with his gun."
"And he didn't follow him?" Nikolai asked incredulously.
"He couldn't. He was otherwise engaged."
"Otherwise engaged?"
"The poor bastard was fighting for his life, Nik, what do you want?"
Nikolai colored slightly. "Sorry, man."
"Where are we in terms of the battle plan, Erik?" Serena asked.
"All four of the divisions have met in the courtyard. Michael, Kyle, and Liam's divisions are about to secure the castle."
"Who's taking the Control Room?"
"Michael."
"So Max, who is most likely Raies' target, is going to be alone in the courtyard?" Christiana asked worriedly.
"Well, his division will be with him, but he'll be the only commander. I'd go, but I need to stay here to keep on top of everything." Erik glanced around the shields room.
"We understand," Tristan assured Erik. "This was how we planned it, after all."
Isabel ventured out of Kyle's room a few minutes after waking up from her dream turned nightmare and sat in the kitchen with Maria and Liz. Liz was still staring blankly, although she was slowly and methodically eating a small bowl of oatmeal.
Maria smiled slightly and set a bowl down in front of Isabel. She sniffed it experimentally and smiled back.
"Maple and brown sugar. My favorite."
"I know," Maria replied. "How are you doing?"
Isabel shook her head. "Not my best, but I'll be okay."
Maria nodded sympathetically as she sat down across from Isabel and next to Liz. She gazed speculatively at Isabel for a few moments.
"You're falling for Kyle, aren't you?" she asked softly.
Isabel jumped slightly. She hesitated. She was just beginning to realize the extent of her feelings for Kyle and come to terms with them. Dare she share them? Would it jinx them?
"Liz and I won't tell anyone." Maria grinned sheepishly. "Except our husbands. Husbands are exempt from the telling no one rule."
Isabel gave a weak smile, then decided to bite the bullet and tell her "sisters" the truth.
"I think I might be."
Maria beamed, glad for a distraction. "Liz! Did you hear that? Isabel's falling for Kyle!"
Liz seemed to emerge from a haze. "Who's falling for Kyle?"
Maria sighed. "Isabel!"
Liz managed a smile for her. "Good for you, I'm glad you can be happy with someone again."
"Max will be okay, Liz." Isabel said softly.
"I know. He wouldn't let anything come between us now. But I can't help worrying."
Maria eyed her best friend carefully. "You haven't had a vision, have you?"
Liz started to shake her head, but then nodded slowly. "A tall, thin man aiming a gun at the back of Max's head. I told Max to be careful, but..."
"But you worry anyway," Maria finished for her.
"Did you see anything about Michael or Kyle or the rest?" Isabel asked tensely.
"No." With that, she sunk back into her daze right before Isabel and Maria's eyes. They sighed and thought of their own men.
Liam slowly and methodically made it through his section of the hallways, rooting out the last few soldiers. Most of the soldiers, he knew, would be guarding the control room or still back at the courtyard being dealt with by Max and his division.
Kyle grimaced as yet another enemy soldier refused to surrender and started shooting at them instead. Fighting valiantly was one thing, but continuing to fight when there was no hope of winning just so one didn't have to live as the loser was another thing completely.
"Keep those shields up, men!" he shouted. Grimly, he continued to lead them down the hallway.
Michael concentrated on one goal. Getting to the control room, getting through the door, and gaining control of the castle. He knew how important his job was. The enemy was refusing to surrender, and Michael's job was to force one.
He could feel the soldier inside him getting stronger and stronger, and somehow in the midst of the chaos around him, his thoughts turned to Maria. He had seen many things today that he wouldn't want her to see, but there was no way he could close himself off from her again. He'd tried it before and it hadn't worked for long. But would she still want him after the horrors he'd faced?
Too quickly they'd reached the door of the control room. It was locked of course, and he thought about having the men blast it open, but then thought better of it. Better to use his powers to unlock the door and come in without the warning hum of building power that the guns gave off. He crept quietly to the door and unlocked it.
Inside the control room, Colonel Forester sensed the Resistance fighters getting closer, though he wasn't sure if they were outside the door or not. Nevertheless, he stood up from his chair and aimed his gun steadily at the door.
"They're coming men, get ready!"
The door opened, and Forester opened fire.
Max was poised in the center of the courtyard, fighting off attackers and yelling orders to his men. The defenders would be concentrated in the courtyard and the control room by this point, he knew. He dealt with one attacker, and in the pause before another stepped up to fight him, he glanced around at the balconies around him. There was no one.
Max returned his attention to the battle and pulled out his sword, as the man attacking him now carried one almost as big as Max's.
Suddenly Max felt a prickling at the back of his neck, as if he was being watched. At first he tried to shake it off, but then Liz's admonition to him before he left came into his mind. He finished off his attacker without any finesse, only speed, and glanced wildly around. Who was watching him, and where were they?
Up on a balcony, Dimitri Raies was taking careful aim at Max when suddenly he started to glance wildly around, constantly moving his head. Raies cursed softly and lowered the gun slightly, willing to wait a few moments longer. He could get off a shot even with the exiled king moving around, but his ego demanded a cleaner shot.
Max stilled. He hoped he could pinpoint where the feeling was coming from if he concentrated enough. The battle raged around him, but he blocked it out, concentrating only on the sensation at the base of his neck.
Raies smiled thinly and took aim once again at the back of Max's head, gauging exactly where to shoot so that the bullet would exit Max's head right between his eyes.
Liz suddenly sat up straight, her eyes clearer than they'd been all morning. Isabel and Maria, who had been talking quietly about nothing in particular, looked at her sharply.
"Liz, what's wrong?" Isabel asked gently. Maria reached out and grabbed Liz's hand.
"I feel like, no Max feels like he's being watched. He's being watched. The killer, he's there, he's watching Max!"
"Chica, chica, calm down," Maria said soothingly.
"No, Maria, you don't understand! Max is going to get shot!" She looked at Isabel wildly. "Help me," she said simply.
Isabel nodded, instinctively knowing what Liz wanted. She took Liz's hand. With their combined powers, it didn't take them more than a second to connect to Max.
Liz looked wildly around. Where was Max? Then she saw him standing stock still, concentrating deeply in the center of the courtyard. She ran closer to him, yelling.
Max opened his eyes in shock. He'd just heard Liz's voice. He saw her then, running towards him, pointing behind him and screaming incoherently. He swung around in time to see a gun pointed at him in the balcony behind him. Seemingly in slow motion, he saw the flash of it going off and then raised his hand while moving out of the way and sent an energy blast at the man holding the gun.
And then he was on the ground, slowly getting up and looking wildly around for Liz. But like the time she'd "visited" him in New York, she was already gone. He transferred his gaze to the balcony on which his attacker had been standing. All that was there was the lifeless body of Dimitri Raies.
A/N – Well, there you go, Max is okay. Thanks for continuing to review. Just a few more things to wrap up, eh? Like…what happened to Michael? And of course, the reunion of all our favorite couples. *grins* Glad you guys are enjoying it!