A/N: I'm sorry, don't kill me. I know it's been forever and a year since
I posted, but I've had writers block in the worst way. That and high
school doesn't seem to be agreeing with me. I have no idea where this is
going so I'm just going to start writing and see where it ends up.
Flashback to the day before Liz left
Liz was sitting by the window looking down at the rarely used street where Kit and some other children were playing. A car stopped up the street unnoticed by the children or the parents on the street level, but Liz, who had become paranoid after her last run-in with Jason, did notice. She straightened up on the window seat, trying to see who was in the car and why they weren't getting out. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the driver. "Max! Max, go get Kit, go get her now!" she yelled. If he said anything in response, she didn't hear it; she was too busy silently cursing herself for being so stupid. A few seconds later, Max appeared in her view through the window and called Kit in. Though she couldn't hear his voice, she knew Kit could tell he meant it when she came running without hesitation. She allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief once Max had her safely in his arms. She tore her gaze from the window and let it land upon the opposite wall while she tried to regain her composure. When so looked back down at the street, the car was gone. Before she had time to decide if that was good or bad, Max and Kit came inside. She vaguely heard Max tell her to go play with her toys, within seconds he was right behind her.
"What was that about?" he inquired. Keeping her focus on the children outside, Liz sighed. "Come on, Liz. Talk to me. When I got down there I saw nothing out of the ordinary."
Without turning she responded, "Thank you for going to get her before asking for explanation, but can we please not do this right now?"
"I just want to know what you saw that scared you so much," he told her earnestly.
"Thank you for caring," she snapped, "but this aspect of my life in Florida I do not want to relive by even discussing it."
Max remained quiet for a moment before speaking once more. "What did he do to you?" He ran his fingers through his hair and sensing she didn't want to talk about it then, left the room with the parting comment that he'd be there to listen whenever she wanted to talk about it.
After he left, Liz broke down crying. Through a haze of tears she made her way to the bed. Pulling the covers up to her chin, she grabbed a pillow and held it to her chest and that's how she stayed until she cried herself to sleep.
She's saying goodbye
And leaving tonight
She's used up all her lonely teardrops now
She's wasted all her lonely teardrops
-Sugarcult 'Saying Goodbye'
~~~
A light streaming in on her face finally woke Liz. Not finding the strength nor willpower to move, she lay there until Max knocked on the door. "Come in," she said quietly as she sat up. Kit opened the door for Max who was carrying a tray with her breakfast and a beautiful flower. Her heart melted at the sight of Kit's beaming face.
"We made you breakfast, Liz!" she announced. "Max said you didn't feel good yesterday and to let you sleep as long as you wanted and this morning he let me help him make breakfast."
"Sounds like he's been good to you, huh Kitten," she replied using Max's nickname for the child and patting the space on the bed beside her. Kit smiled even wider and jumped on the bed. "You too, Max," Liz ordered, "and bring the food, I'm starving."
Now everyone was smiling. "Looks like you feel better today," he said. Due to the pancake in her mouth, Liz just nodded.
When she swallowed that bite she looked at Kit. "You want a pancake?" The little girl's eyes widened as another smile made it's was across her face. "I'll take that as a yes," Liz laughed. She cut a piece, smothered it with syrup and fed it to and anxious Kit. "Do you want some, Max?" He also nodded, so Liz cut another syrupy piece to feed to him. He licked his lips. At that moment, they looked like a family, in fact, to the three of them, they were.
"Delicious," he told her.
"My thoughts exactly," she answered, "but you made them so I'm not surprised in the least."
Max turned to Kit. "If you go get your shoes on, I'll take you to the park," he said. Once she was out of the room, he gave Liz a peck on the lips before getting up. "You stay here. Enjoy your breakfast, take a shower, and relax. I'll drop Kit off with Michael and Maria and I'll give you a massage when I get back."
"Where do you think you're going? Get back here," she told him. "Don't you want me to thank you?"
"Thank me later, right now there's a four-year-old who's ready to go play." With that, they were gone.
Once they had left, Liz leisurely finished her breakfast then took a long, warm, uninterrupted shower. Then she went to clean up the mess that Max and Kit had undoubtedly left in the kitchen. To her surprise, it was spotless and a manila envelope was sitting on the counter with her name on the front, clearly overly filled. Opening it, she found pictures. Hundreds of pictures. Pulling one out, she gasped. It was of her and Max and Kit. She dumped them out on the counter. There were some here from the day she and Kit had arrived in Roswell and some from that very morning. She reached out a hand to grab the counter to steady herself. There was a letter along with all those pictures. The contents of the letter made her knees go weak. She collapsed into the chair that was, luckily, right behind her. "No," she said in disbelief, then she shouted, "No, no, no, no, no!!!" Then the tears stared again. They came by the group, pouring down her checks, dripping on the letter and blurring the ink. As if on cue, the phone rang. The tears didn't stop and she grabbed it and hastily turned it on.
"Yes, Liz," came the voice from the other end.
"You bastard!" she shouted in rage. "How dare you give me an ultimatum like that! You have right!"
"Oh Elizabeth," he replied calmly, unfazed by the shouting. "I gave you a choice first, but you were uncooperative so I was forced to give you the choice of life and death for your so called family. If you love them that much, the choice should be an easy one. Come with me and they'll be fine, refuse, and, it'd be such a pity to have to kill Kitrina, so young, so innocent. And it would be all your fault."
The words rang inside her head. All her fault. Choking back a sob, she weakly nodded. "Okay. Fine. You win, Jason. But if you or hurt them, then I'm gone. If you so much as speak down on them, I'll leave you. Just like I did last time," she whispered, her voice slowly raising in volume with every sentence. "But know this, I don't love you. I never have and I never will. You," she paused, "you're beneath me."
"Ah, feisty as always," he answered. "You are to go to Boston. I'll have someone there to pick you up at the bus station. Now, look in your purse. You should find a one-way ticket to Boston for later today, but not much later. I'll let you go so you can start packing. Goodbye for now, Elizabeth."
With shaking hands, she put the phone down on the counter. She shook her head as if it would cleanse it of all the unwanted thoughts that plagued her mind. She gathered the pictures and put them back into the envelope. Then she went back into the room she shared with Max, pulled out her bags, placed the envelope on the bottom and started packing, all the while with silent tears streaming down her face. Tears of rage, tears of sorrow, tears of regret, tears of guilt. Then she sat down and wrote a letter to Max telling him that she had to leave and asking him to take care of Kit and tell her she loved her. With a final look around, she grabbed her bags and left.
~~~
After Max found the letter Liz had written, questions wormed their way into his mind. He wandered around aimlessly until he came to the kitchen. During his haste to find Liz earlier, he had not seen the paper on the floor. He bent down and picked it up, noticing immediately the places where it was blurred but tears. As he read, he began to understand that she had left to protect him, just like he had done years before. It was then he saw something under the phone. Picking it up he found a picture of the three of them on the bed that morning. They were all smiling and laughing, having a great time, forgetting that anything bad could happen. He smiled a small, short smile and went to call Maria.
A/N: Again, I'm soooooooooooo sorry I didn't update in so long!! I'll try to do better. Please, tell me what you thought!!
Flashback to the day before Liz left
Liz was sitting by the window looking down at the rarely used street where Kit and some other children were playing. A car stopped up the street unnoticed by the children or the parents on the street level, but Liz, who had become paranoid after her last run-in with Jason, did notice. She straightened up on the window seat, trying to see who was in the car and why they weren't getting out. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the driver. "Max! Max, go get Kit, go get her now!" she yelled. If he said anything in response, she didn't hear it; she was too busy silently cursing herself for being so stupid. A few seconds later, Max appeared in her view through the window and called Kit in. Though she couldn't hear his voice, she knew Kit could tell he meant it when she came running without hesitation. She allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief once Max had her safely in his arms. She tore her gaze from the window and let it land upon the opposite wall while she tried to regain her composure. When so looked back down at the street, the car was gone. Before she had time to decide if that was good or bad, Max and Kit came inside. She vaguely heard Max tell her to go play with her toys, within seconds he was right behind her.
"What was that about?" he inquired. Keeping her focus on the children outside, Liz sighed. "Come on, Liz. Talk to me. When I got down there I saw nothing out of the ordinary."
Without turning she responded, "Thank you for going to get her before asking for explanation, but can we please not do this right now?"
"I just want to know what you saw that scared you so much," he told her earnestly.
"Thank you for caring," she snapped, "but this aspect of my life in Florida I do not want to relive by even discussing it."
Max remained quiet for a moment before speaking once more. "What did he do to you?" He ran his fingers through his hair and sensing she didn't want to talk about it then, left the room with the parting comment that he'd be there to listen whenever she wanted to talk about it.
After he left, Liz broke down crying. Through a haze of tears she made her way to the bed. Pulling the covers up to her chin, she grabbed a pillow and held it to her chest and that's how she stayed until she cried herself to sleep.
She's saying goodbye
And leaving tonight
She's used up all her lonely teardrops now
She's wasted all her lonely teardrops
-Sugarcult 'Saying Goodbye'
~~~
A light streaming in on her face finally woke Liz. Not finding the strength nor willpower to move, she lay there until Max knocked on the door. "Come in," she said quietly as she sat up. Kit opened the door for Max who was carrying a tray with her breakfast and a beautiful flower. Her heart melted at the sight of Kit's beaming face.
"We made you breakfast, Liz!" she announced. "Max said you didn't feel good yesterday and to let you sleep as long as you wanted and this morning he let me help him make breakfast."
"Sounds like he's been good to you, huh Kitten," she replied using Max's nickname for the child and patting the space on the bed beside her. Kit smiled even wider and jumped on the bed. "You too, Max," Liz ordered, "and bring the food, I'm starving."
Now everyone was smiling. "Looks like you feel better today," he said. Due to the pancake in her mouth, Liz just nodded.
When she swallowed that bite she looked at Kit. "You want a pancake?" The little girl's eyes widened as another smile made it's was across her face. "I'll take that as a yes," Liz laughed. She cut a piece, smothered it with syrup and fed it to and anxious Kit. "Do you want some, Max?" He also nodded, so Liz cut another syrupy piece to feed to him. He licked his lips. At that moment, they looked like a family, in fact, to the three of them, they were.
"Delicious," he told her.
"My thoughts exactly," she answered, "but you made them so I'm not surprised in the least."
Max turned to Kit. "If you go get your shoes on, I'll take you to the park," he said. Once she was out of the room, he gave Liz a peck on the lips before getting up. "You stay here. Enjoy your breakfast, take a shower, and relax. I'll drop Kit off with Michael and Maria and I'll give you a massage when I get back."
"Where do you think you're going? Get back here," she told him. "Don't you want me to thank you?"
"Thank me later, right now there's a four-year-old who's ready to go play." With that, they were gone.
Once they had left, Liz leisurely finished her breakfast then took a long, warm, uninterrupted shower. Then she went to clean up the mess that Max and Kit had undoubtedly left in the kitchen. To her surprise, it was spotless and a manila envelope was sitting on the counter with her name on the front, clearly overly filled. Opening it, she found pictures. Hundreds of pictures. Pulling one out, she gasped. It was of her and Max and Kit. She dumped them out on the counter. There were some here from the day she and Kit had arrived in Roswell and some from that very morning. She reached out a hand to grab the counter to steady herself. There was a letter along with all those pictures. The contents of the letter made her knees go weak. She collapsed into the chair that was, luckily, right behind her. "No," she said in disbelief, then she shouted, "No, no, no, no, no!!!" Then the tears stared again. They came by the group, pouring down her checks, dripping on the letter and blurring the ink. As if on cue, the phone rang. The tears didn't stop and she grabbed it and hastily turned it on.
"Yes, Liz," came the voice from the other end.
"You bastard!" she shouted in rage. "How dare you give me an ultimatum like that! You have right!"
"Oh Elizabeth," he replied calmly, unfazed by the shouting. "I gave you a choice first, but you were uncooperative so I was forced to give you the choice of life and death for your so called family. If you love them that much, the choice should be an easy one. Come with me and they'll be fine, refuse, and, it'd be such a pity to have to kill Kitrina, so young, so innocent. And it would be all your fault."
The words rang inside her head. All her fault. Choking back a sob, she weakly nodded. "Okay. Fine. You win, Jason. But if you or hurt them, then I'm gone. If you so much as speak down on them, I'll leave you. Just like I did last time," she whispered, her voice slowly raising in volume with every sentence. "But know this, I don't love you. I never have and I never will. You," she paused, "you're beneath me."
"Ah, feisty as always," he answered. "You are to go to Boston. I'll have someone there to pick you up at the bus station. Now, look in your purse. You should find a one-way ticket to Boston for later today, but not much later. I'll let you go so you can start packing. Goodbye for now, Elizabeth."
With shaking hands, she put the phone down on the counter. She shook her head as if it would cleanse it of all the unwanted thoughts that plagued her mind. She gathered the pictures and put them back into the envelope. Then she went back into the room she shared with Max, pulled out her bags, placed the envelope on the bottom and started packing, all the while with silent tears streaming down her face. Tears of rage, tears of sorrow, tears of regret, tears of guilt. Then she sat down and wrote a letter to Max telling him that she had to leave and asking him to take care of Kit and tell her she loved her. With a final look around, she grabbed her bags and left.
~~~
After Max found the letter Liz had written, questions wormed their way into his mind. He wandered around aimlessly until he came to the kitchen. During his haste to find Liz earlier, he had not seen the paper on the floor. He bent down and picked it up, noticing immediately the places where it was blurred but tears. As he read, he began to understand that she had left to protect him, just like he had done years before. It was then he saw something under the phone. Picking it up he found a picture of the three of them on the bed that morning. They were all smiling and laughing, having a great time, forgetting that anything bad could happen. He smiled a small, short smile and went to call Maria.
A/N: Again, I'm soooooooooooo sorry I didn't update in so long!! I'll try to do better. Please, tell me what you thought!!