Chapter Four: Bonding Together Despite Suspicion

(Note: Just to let you know, there's probably going to be spoilers from SAR, later on. And two more things, for those of you who asked me if I was going to make it a Zack/Liz thing, vote in your reviews, whether or not you want it to go down like that, because I'm still kind of iffy on it. And when Liz asks Zack 'the' question, and he talks about Jessica, Jessica is a girl from my other fic, 'Feelings That Heal' Read and Review please!!!)

Anyway…………onward to the next chapter………………

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After Zack and Liz had hopped onto his motorcycle and sped out of town, there was nothing between them except silence. Not that you could hear much of anything, anyway, over the roaring engine of Zack's motorcycle. Liz still had a lot of unanswered questions she needed to ask her brother though. She needed to know why and how Tinga was killed, and about what was it that had befallen Ben, after the escape. After spending eleven years apart from the brother she had been closest to, finding out that he was alive, and that most of her siblings were still alive, made her hungry for any sort of information her brother would give her about the rest of her family. Still, she knew Zack, and she knew that he would only tell her what she needed to know, but not what she wanted to know, because of fear that, that would endanger both herself, and the rest of her siblings. Liz's thoughts were interrupted, when Zack abruptly stopped the motorcycle and got off it, looking at her expectantly. "Well, little sis, we're here, right where you wanted to start you training." Liz snapped out of her thoughts, and gave her brother a brisk nod. "I wanted to make it clear to you, exactly what it is that I want from you Zack." Zack just looked at her, his expression revealing nothing. Liz took a deep breath before answering the obvious question that Zack didn't need to ask. "What I need from you is a full-scale reindoctrination." Zack's eyes blazed momentarily with anger, but cooled. "I don't think you really know what it is that you're asking me to do Risa." Liz looked shocked, realizing that she hadn't clarified to her brother, what it was that she really wanted. "Zack, I know that, back in that hellhole that we grew up in, being reindoctorinated, meant turning against your family, and having them break you to their will. But, that isn't what I want from you big brother. I want you to make me into the soldier that I was meant to be. I want to be strong, I want to be ruthless, and I want to be able to turn my back and walk away from what makes me weak. You, of all people, know that I definitely forgot my training as soon as I got involved with Max." Liz spit out his name like it tasted bad. "And that's why I need your help Zack." Zack nodded a determined expression on his face. "Okay, let's get started on the mental part." Liz stood up straight, and clasped her hands behind her back, like the way they were taught. Zack slowly circled her, examining her to make sure she still at least remembered how to stand like a soldier. "State your designation, soldier!!" Zack barked harshly in Liz's face. Liz stared forward emotionlessly, and barked out, "X5-595!!" Zack stared at his sister hard, and shouted "That's not good enough soldier, I want to hear you say it, like you mean it 595!!" As Liz continued to repeat her designation, Zack sighed inwardly to himself. 'This is going to be harder than I thought.'

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Meanwhile…………………

Maria sat in a booth, opposite Michael as they both waited for the dinner rush to start. Michael suddenly looked up from directly his gaze at the Formica tabletop, and glanced at Maria. "What?? What's wrong Spaceboy?" Maria demanded, immediately catching the look on his face. Michael sighed, "Listen Maria, I'm sorry." Maria looked confused, "Sorry?? What're you sorry for??" Michael sighed again, "I'm sorry for the way Max treated you and Liz ever since Alex, uh, passed on." Maria just smiled sadly at the thought of Alex, and shook her head. "Forget about that Spaceboy, it wasn't your fault. Heck, you were the only one who was on our side after what happened. I blame Max for everything I mean, he was such an ass." Michael nodded, "I hate to say it, but he was. The guy's been my best friend, for like, forever, but, I admit, he had no right to treat you and Liz the way he did. I mean, God, he claims he loves Liz more than anything, but look at the way he treated her!! And getting Tess pregnant too, that's just the last straw!!" Maria just kept nodding in silent agreement to everything Michael said, that is, until he got to the Tess comment. Maria threw up her hands in disgust. "I can't believe he did what he did! All Liz did was stand by him, and stick up for him. For crying out loud, she almost died because of him!!! And this is how he repays her!!" Michael nodded grimly, "I guess Max wasn't as nice a guy we thought." Maria snorted disdainfully, "Ya think??" she asked sarcastically. Michael changed the subject back to the speculation that Alex's death had been a murder, not a suicide, since Maria was getting worked up at the thought of Max. "I always thought I knew Alex pretty well, and I always thought that there was the possibility that some Skin killed Alex just to make us look weak, and break us apart." Maria nodded, apparently to have calmed down some, after Michael's not-so-subtle change of the subject. "Yeah, and that ass wouldn't believe it." Suddenly they heard the familiar chime of the door opening, and there stood Max, Isabel, and Tess. "Michael," Max said. "The baby can't survive here on Earth. So, Isabel and I found a way home. The three of us are leaving in a week, and you're coming with us." ***

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Meanwhile……………back at the desert……………………

Liz dodged a kick that Zack had aimed at her head, and grabbed her brother's leg, flipping him to the ground. Zack blocked Liz's flying roundhouse kick, and did a back flip to get up. Things continued like this for a while, with both Zack and Liz each using their enhanced abilities to their advantage, before calling a truce between them. As Zack sat down on a rock, and motioned Liz to sit in front of him so he could clean her wounds, Liz hesitated to ask her brother the one question that had been bothering her since they left The Crashdown. Behind her, Zack applied peroxide to her cuts and scrapes on her back, and nodded approvingly. "You did pretty well for your first day, Risa, but, we need to work fast, we only have 5 days." Liz nodded, pleased to have her brother praise her. Zack rarely complimented anyone, and when he did, it was usually toward her. Still, her brother's compliments weren't to be taken for granted, and Liz appreciated it. "Zack??" Liz asked her brother hesitantly. "Yeah, what's bugging you little sister??" Zack replied. Liz sighed, "What did you mean when, you told me you knew where I was coming from??"          

Zack sighed,"I guess it's time I told you." "Almost a year ago, I attempted to destroy Manticore, with Zane, Maxie and Krit on my side. Apparently I was standing too close to the base itself when the explosives went off. So I was slammed into a tree, and knocked out. A young woman saved my life." Zack sighed longingly, thinking of Jessica and how much he still loved her. "Her name was Jessica, and I fell for her, fell hard. We loved each other so much, and I could've easily seen myself spending the rest of my life with her." Liz interrupted her brother with an apologetic look on her face. "Zack, was she like, human??" Zack shook his head. "No, she was like us. I can't explain it. She had our abilities and everything, but, she wasn't from Manticore. Every time I asked her who she was, she wouldn't answer me. But, she didn't have seizures though, it was strange. Just when I thought that I could finally be happy, and have a normal life, Jessica died." At this, Zack's voice cracked, and a few tears slipped down his cheeks. Liz looked shocked, "Oh, God, Zack I'm so sorry. What happened??" Zack swallowed hard a few times, and said, barely above a whisper, "She was killed in a car bombing. Apparently she had been a part of some top-secret government facility organization, and some of their enemies had planted the bomb. The one person who was an outsider, but who was able to understand what life was like for us, died. I loved her, and she died. I lost her, and there wasn't anything I could've done to stop those bastards from taking her away from me." Liz wrapped her arms around her brother, and silently sobbed with him, as he relived, in his mind, losing the one person that he loved more than life.

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Meanwhile…………………back at the Crashdown…………

Michael stood up in a rage, as he glared at Max, full in the face. "What the hell do you mean I'm coming with you?? Since when do you make these kinds of decisions for me Max?? Did you really think that just because you fucked up and got Tess pregnant, that I'd follow you back home like a good little second-in-command??? Think again Max, because after the way you acted, I'm through listening to you!!! I have a life here, and I'm not going to let you ruin it!!" Max glared at Michael, his face an identical thundercloud. "There will be no discussion Michael, you're coming back with us, and that's it!!" Michael snorted, "I told you Max, I'm done listening to you! You're just being selfish, you're the one who fucked up here, and you want to drag the rest of us down with you." Max just glared at Michael saying nothing. Michael turned to Isabel, who was standing behind Max, slightly apart from her brother. "Isabel??" Michael asked gently, seeing her torn expression. "Are you willing to let your brother push us around like this??" Isabel sighed brokenly, "I wish I could tell you that I'm not going to Michael, but, I can't. There's nothing really keeping me here now. I mean, Alex is gone, he's gone and I can't bring him back. It's better if I just go home. Please Michael, I know that you don't want to go home, I know you don't, but, please, just do it for me." Michael sighed, still glaring at Max. "Let me think about it." Isabel looked grateful, although the tired and wary look was still on her face. "Thanks Michael," she said, before turning and quickly exiting the diner. Max spit out to Michael angrily, "This isn't over Michael, you are coming back with us." Tess followed Max out the door, saying nothing, just clinging to his arm. Maria looked at Michael, the shock and pain, etched into her face. "Are you seriously considering going back??" Michael sighed, a deflated sigh, and collapsed into the booth across from Maria, and took her hand. "Maria, you know I love you, and I don't want to leave you. I meant what I said, when I told Max I was through listening to him. But, I can't leave Isabel, it's obvious her brother couldn't care less about her pain right now." Michael flopped back against the cushions, silently contemplating what to do.

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Upstairs in Her Bedroom

 Liz sighed as she came out of the bathroom, brushing her hair. She couldn't believe that her brother had lost the one he loved. It had been so heart-breaking, holding Zack as he cried, still mourning the one he loved. Liz knew better than anyone else, exactly how much her brother deserved to have a normal life, to have someone to love. But, to finally have that chance, and have it taken away from you so cruelly, was unbearable. Liz couldn't bear to think what it was her brother must have went through, and wished with all her heart that she could've been there for him. Exhaling deeply, Liz climbed through her window, and sat on the blanket on the cold floor of her balcony, writing in her journal. She knew that her brother was nearby, watching her, making sure that she was safe. Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming up her ladder, and was relieved to see that it was Kyle's familiar hair coming up the ladder. Relieved that is, until she saw his expression. Kyle looked betrayed and angry. "What the hell is going on here Risa?? You don't return my calls, don't tell me anything of what you're hiding, and then I follow you out to the desert, to find you training with another guy, who fights like one of us. Who is he, Risa, what the hell are you keeping from me??"

tbc…………………………………