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 30 - Cleanup
Michael was momentarily stunned by the brilliant flash of light inches in front of his face. He quickly realized that he had left his personal shield on, and that it was a good thing he had. Grimly he shouted to his men to make sure they still had theirs on and returned fire. Within minutes, the control room had been secured.
"Michael to Liam," he said calmly into his radio.
"Yeah, Michael?" Liam responded.
"Control Room secure. How's everything elsewhere?"
"I just got Kyle's report, his section of the castle is secure, and so is mine."
"And Max?"
Liam hesitated. "I haven't heard."
"I'm going to him. Over and out." Without another word, Michael put a nearby colonel in charge of the control room and ran swiftly to the courtyard.
The courtyard was strewn with the bodies of fallen soldiers. Max had done what he could, but many just couldn't be saved. When Michael arrived at the edge of the courtyard, Max was standing dazedly in the center. The majority of Max's division was sitting or standing around resting. A few were guarding the small group of prisoners who finally surrendered.
"Maxwell!" Michael yelled, running to Max's side. "Maxwell, you okay, man?" he asked, pushing on Max' shoulder lightly to get his attention.
Max came out of his daze.
"She did it again."
"What?" Michael grabbed both Max's shoulders as if to shake him again.
"Liz. She did it again. That's the third time."
Michael dropped his hands. Clearly this was another Max-Liz-look-into-my-eyes-soulmate thing. "What'd she do?"
"She saved my life. Like she did in New York."
Michael shook his head and made a mental note to thank whatever God was listening for bringing Liz Parker into Max's life. Michael didn't know what he would do without his best friend and surrogate brother.
"Good for Liz. Why didn't you radio in to tell us you were all right?"
"I was almost killed."
"So were all of us. We're at war."
"No, assassinated. I was almost assassinated." Max pointed up at the balcony and Raies' body. "That guy, whoever the hell he is. Liz saw him in a premonition, and she must have seen him again for her to have come when she did. I was facing the other way, and suddenly Liz was there pointing up behind me. I turn and look and there's a guy just about to shoot me. He does, but I jump out of the way and blast him before he can run."
Michael whistled through his teeth and decided to thank God for Liz Parker right then and there.
"Close shave, man."
Max laughed softly and glanced at the place where he'd seen Liz. "Yeah."
He picked up his radio and informed Liam of his safety and the end of the battle. Ten minutes later Liam, Kyle, and Erik had joined Max and Michael in the courtyard.
"So we can go home now, right?" Kyle asked.
Liam glanced at Erik.
"Actually," Erik began, "we were thinking that maybe we should move headquarters here."
Max looked around.
"It wasn't very hard to take this castle."
"It couldn't be," Liam responded.
"What?" Max asked sharply.
"As long as you live, this castle cannot be taken away from you and any battle for it will always favor you. That's why we want to move headquarters here."
Max nodded. "We should clean it up first. I don't want my girls seeing all this until they absolutely have to."
"Of course," Liam answered, nodding. "Serena's seen all this before and I still don't want her to see it unless she has to. I've already got people working on it."
Erik nodded as well. "In fact, with all the people we have working on cleaning the joint up, it should be ready for everyone to move in by the day after tomorrow."
Michael looked up sharply. "And you want us to stay here until then?"
"That would be the safest course of action, yes."
"I want to see my wife!" Michael exclaimed.
"So do Max and I," Liam said quietly. "But sometimes we have to wait."
Michael nodded.
"The day after tomorrow?" Maria yelled incredulously. "I want to see my husband!"
Tristan glanced at Nikolai, who glanced at Christiana, who looked pointedly at Serena. Serena sighed.
"Look, Maria, I know you want to see Michael. I want to see Liam. Liz wants to see Max. Christiana wants to see her brother. Heck, we all want to see all of them. But we have to wait until they have the castle ready."
Tristan put his hand on Maria's arm. "Trust me, Maria, you don't want to see the castle now. Not until they've cleaned up and cleared out all the remnants of what the usurper had in there. He didn't exactly keep it as a nice place to live."
Maria frowned.
"Erik said everyone was all right?" Isabel asked anxiously.
Serena nodded gently. "Yes, Isabel. Everyone's fine."
"So is everyone okay with the current plan?" Nikolai asked. "Liz?" he added.
Liz had been silent throughout, and hadn't told anyone who wasn't with her at the time about her visit to Max. She looked up at Nikolai and smiled. "I'm okay with it. Max is fine, I'm okay with anything."
Nikolai smiled at Liz in return. "Okay then, meeting adjourned."
The group dispersed. Liz went back to the study and pulled her journal out of the desk.
July 3rd – The battle is over and we won. I think deep down I knew we would, not because of my powers but because I have faith in the power of good over evil. It's easy for me to say that now, though, when I'm not in any immediate danger and neither is Max. Tristan told Maria she didn't want to see the scene of the battle and he was right. I didn't see much when I saved Max...but what I did see I didn't want to. War is brutal, no matter how necessary it is, and it makes people do brutal things. But then again, and I feel a little bad saying this...it was kind of sexy to see Max swinging that great big sword around in that great uniform. Now I'm just rambling. But I guess I'm entitled, I did see war firsthand today. In two days I'll be with Max again, and my happiness will be complete. My heart's already there with him, and I think he knows that.
A/N – Almost done. One more chapter, and then I have to start the second story. And decide on a title for it...oh well, all in good time. Hope you all liked this chapter. Thank you for sticking with me even now when my updates are getting further apart. I promise to keep updating even though I have class and stuff, just less often! You guys are the best! :)