What is the Truth?
By Didi
Disclaimers: Do I really need to do this? I mean how many of you would believe me if I did say that I owned them all?
Note: Starts just at the end of Season 2 but I'm writing it my way cause I simply refused to except the way the writer screwed up that storyline. So, here's my take on the end of the episode and what happens afterwards. Forget everything that was on UPN, it didn't happen.
Caution: I can handle creative criticism and all but please no flames of any sort. Oh and if you are a Max/Liz fanatic, I doubt you'll like this story much.
"Spoken," *thoughts*
~~~~~
"I don't believe you!" Liz shouted. "You're wrong!"
"Right," Alex shook his head at her stubbornness. "Cause you'd know more about this than I would."
"Liz, stop yelling at him." Maria wrung her hand and chewed her lip. Between Liz's upset and Alex's obvious unconcern, it was quite confusing.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Kyle was having serious trouble digesting everything. "You're saying that instead of Tess mind-warping me into believing that I was carrying out luggage when I was really carrying your body, she mind warped me into thinking that I was carrying your body when I was actually carrying luggage?"
Maria blinked at all the nouns and verbs. "Run that one more time."
Alex rolled his eyes, he has told the story twice now and getting tired of sitting there being grilled. "Kyle, you really were carrying out luggage, they were for the Salvation Army, Tess thought we might as well drop off the stuff while we were at it." In fact they ran quite a few errands that day before he was 'killed.'
"So I didn't carry any bodies?" Kyle asked again tentatively.
Alex nodded his head sympathetically. "That would be an affirmative."
Kyle nodded his head, appearing both relieved and perplexed. "Now explain to me again how..."
"Oh for crying out loud!"
Max has long sense stopped listening to the ongoing explanations, questions and emotional outbursts from his various friends. His mind was occupied by something else, the near overwhelming sense of guilt.
"How did my mom end up with the same..."
"Tess has been dropping that thing in everyone's head for weeks now, it was my idea. I figure Liz or you would have picked it up sooner or later and..."
*She didn't betray me.* The thought kept running in his mind, the one thing he could never make himself to believe in. Sure there were times when he doubted her motives and her understanding but he's never doubted her loyalty to him. She's always made it clear that she was on his side, no matter what. *She didn't betray me, but I sure as hell betrayed her.*
"But I saw that girl, the one that you supposedly were with in Switzerland? How do you plan on explaining her to me? And how does she figure into this grand scheme of yours to..."
"Liz, now many times do I have to go through this. She has nothing to do with what Tess and me did. She's just a nice girl that offered me a friendly ear and some hot meals while I hid out for a bit. I was only there doing some minor translations with the text. It's not like I was any expert at all this alien language crap. I'm actually a little surprised that...."
*I yelled at her, threatened to kill her. I let myself get carried away with that cause I needed someone to blame for Alex's death.* Max stared out the window, the numbness was starting to melt around his heart, making him ache all over. *I blamed her cause she was convenient, cause she let me.* If he had that power, he would cry with shame. *She loved me and I betrayed her.*
"But the wreckage," Valenti asked, his mind looking for the details now that the others have worked through way through most of the bigger clues. "How did you manage to survive the crash. According to the reports, your car hit the truck head-on."
"Neat trick, huh?" he grinned, almost proud of himself for it. "Tess and I were trying out that little stunt for weeks now, usually after school when no one was around. She'd put up something called a magnetic ionic field that repels all forces thrown at it."
Michael nodded his head as things fell into place. "She created a force field like the one that Max uses to protect you form the wreck."
"That's right."
Valenti nodded slowly, thinking it through. "But how would she be able to do it unless..." The thought nearly took his breath away. "Unless she was in the car with you."
Alex nodded. "You really think she was going to let me do it alone? And chance that it might actually kill me?"
*She risked her life, not once, not twice, god knows how many times now to protect you and yours. Remember New York, you idiot. Who stood by you and help keep your head when you needed it the most?* Max wished to god that Michael had not found that newspaper clipping. He wasn't sure which was worse, knowing that she hadn't turned her back on him, or thinking that she had.
"And you actually thought this would work?!?" Michael yelled, his eyes shooting fury at the near-bored Alex, who seemed completely impassive by his outburst. This was the fifth or sixth time he's asked that question and frankly, Alex was getting tired of answering the question.
"Are we done here?" Alex asked, finally getting up from his seat. He's answered all the questions, explained all the planning and maneuvering, avoided looking at Isabel more than two seconds at a time... Isabel, she was so beautiful. He couldn't get over just how beautiful she was. It was as if the time that he spent away from her only made her more radiant. *God Isabel, I'm sorry for have hurt you so bad. But I did it for you.*
"Not quite yet," Max turned to watch Alex for a moment. He needed to do something, needed to do anything to make this up to Tess. *How do you redeem yourself in the eyes of someone you turned your back on so completely? She's never going to trust me again.* But he needed to try. "How is she?"
"How do you think?" Alex shook his head, his grief evident on his face. "She grows weaker every day. Not only does she not eat, as she should, she can't keep down the things she does eat. I can't do anything but try to ease some of the pain."
There was silence. He didn't need to say it. They all knew. Tess was dying.
"You may not be able to do anything but we might," Isabel murmured softly for the first time since Alex everything came tumbling out into the open. "From what we've heard so far, Tess seemed pretty determined to die in order to protect the rest of us."
Valenti nodded his agreement. "She's right. She's even you all the conclusions she needs you to hear but none of the options that can get her out of this."
"Maybe it's cause she doesn't see any options," Alex replied, knowing where this is headed. "Don't you think I've tried to talk to her about it? She won't even discuss the possibility of her surviving with the baby. For all of our planning to pay off, she and the baby had to die and be buried in an unmarked grave where no one can ever find them."
Max nodded. "I know that part. Now what can we do to prevent it?"
"Find her another granilith. Get her off the planet so that her kid can breath."
"Or she's not telling you everything there is to know," Max sighed and went to the pack that he had brought with him. From inside, he pulled the healing stones. "Maybe these will help."
Alex eyed the stones with much interest. He looked up at Max, noting the determination in them. Somewhere in his heart, there was a spark of hope that lit. "Assuming they work? How do you plan on getting her to let you use it?"
Max raised a brow at him humorlessly. "You're presuming that I'm going to give her a choice in the matter."
Not knowing what to do, Alex got up. "Now are we done?"
"Alex..." Maria reached out for him.
"I care about her, Maria." He wasn't going to abandon her. "I really do."
"I know," she hugged him tight for the first time. The solidness of him brought tears to her eyes. "It's so good to see you again."
He smiled, his arms coming around her for a moment. "I missed you too." And he meant it. It was lonely without the others when he was waiting for Tess. It was just as only as he tried to keep Tess's spirits up as they await her death. To be among those that care once more, it was such a painfully sweet feeling. "I gotta go. Tess will be worried if I'm back too late."
Michael and Max both stepped into this way as he made for the door. Max shook his head. "You won't tell her, will you?"
Alex paused, wondering what he was going to do. *Tell her and risk having her run? Or don't tell her, and betray her trust? Tell her and let her die? Or don't tell her and maybe have a chance to save her and her baby? Decisions, decisions...* But he already knew what he was going to the minute he saw the healing stones. "Can you save her?"
Max looked at Michael, Michael looked at Isabel, Isabel looked at Max. The three nodded almost at the exact same moment. "We'll most definitely try."
Alex nodded. "Then I better find out what Tess knows about her condition then, shouldn't I?"
"Yeah," Max stepped out of the way and opened the door. "Oh, and Alex?"
"Yeah?"
"Waffles."
"What?" Perplexed.
Max shrugged his shoulders. "Tess. She likes waffles more than pancakes. Lots of strawberry jam, whipped cream and Tabasco sauce. Add chocolate chips if you have them."
Surprise lit Alex's face. "I'll remember that."
TBC....
By Didi
Disclaimers: Do I really need to do this? I mean how many of you would believe me if I did say that I owned them all?
Note: Starts just at the end of Season 2 but I'm writing it my way cause I simply refused to except the way the writer screwed up that storyline. So, here's my take on the end of the episode and what happens afterwards. Forget everything that was on UPN, it didn't happen.
Caution: I can handle creative criticism and all but please no flames of any sort. Oh and if you are a Max/Liz fanatic, I doubt you'll like this story much.
"Spoken," *thoughts*
~~~~~
"I don't believe you!" Liz shouted. "You're wrong!"
"Right," Alex shook his head at her stubbornness. "Cause you'd know more about this than I would."
"Liz, stop yelling at him." Maria wrung her hand and chewed her lip. Between Liz's upset and Alex's obvious unconcern, it was quite confusing.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Kyle was having serious trouble digesting everything. "You're saying that instead of Tess mind-warping me into believing that I was carrying out luggage when I was really carrying your body, she mind warped me into thinking that I was carrying your body when I was actually carrying luggage?"
Maria blinked at all the nouns and verbs. "Run that one more time."
Alex rolled his eyes, he has told the story twice now and getting tired of sitting there being grilled. "Kyle, you really were carrying out luggage, they were for the Salvation Army, Tess thought we might as well drop off the stuff while we were at it." In fact they ran quite a few errands that day before he was 'killed.'
"So I didn't carry any bodies?" Kyle asked again tentatively.
Alex nodded his head sympathetically. "That would be an affirmative."
Kyle nodded his head, appearing both relieved and perplexed. "Now explain to me again how..."
"Oh for crying out loud!"
Max has long sense stopped listening to the ongoing explanations, questions and emotional outbursts from his various friends. His mind was occupied by something else, the near overwhelming sense of guilt.
"How did my mom end up with the same..."
"Tess has been dropping that thing in everyone's head for weeks now, it was my idea. I figure Liz or you would have picked it up sooner or later and..."
*She didn't betray me.* The thought kept running in his mind, the one thing he could never make himself to believe in. Sure there were times when he doubted her motives and her understanding but he's never doubted her loyalty to him. She's always made it clear that she was on his side, no matter what. *She didn't betray me, but I sure as hell betrayed her.*
"But I saw that girl, the one that you supposedly were with in Switzerland? How do you plan on explaining her to me? And how does she figure into this grand scheme of yours to..."
"Liz, now many times do I have to go through this. She has nothing to do with what Tess and me did. She's just a nice girl that offered me a friendly ear and some hot meals while I hid out for a bit. I was only there doing some minor translations with the text. It's not like I was any expert at all this alien language crap. I'm actually a little surprised that...."
*I yelled at her, threatened to kill her. I let myself get carried away with that cause I needed someone to blame for Alex's death.* Max stared out the window, the numbness was starting to melt around his heart, making him ache all over. *I blamed her cause she was convenient, cause she let me.* If he had that power, he would cry with shame. *She loved me and I betrayed her.*
"But the wreckage," Valenti asked, his mind looking for the details now that the others have worked through way through most of the bigger clues. "How did you manage to survive the crash. According to the reports, your car hit the truck head-on."
"Neat trick, huh?" he grinned, almost proud of himself for it. "Tess and I were trying out that little stunt for weeks now, usually after school when no one was around. She'd put up something called a magnetic ionic field that repels all forces thrown at it."
Michael nodded his head as things fell into place. "She created a force field like the one that Max uses to protect you form the wreck."
"That's right."
Valenti nodded slowly, thinking it through. "But how would she be able to do it unless..." The thought nearly took his breath away. "Unless she was in the car with you."
Alex nodded. "You really think she was going to let me do it alone? And chance that it might actually kill me?"
*She risked her life, not once, not twice, god knows how many times now to protect you and yours. Remember New York, you idiot. Who stood by you and help keep your head when you needed it the most?* Max wished to god that Michael had not found that newspaper clipping. He wasn't sure which was worse, knowing that she hadn't turned her back on him, or thinking that she had.
"And you actually thought this would work?!?" Michael yelled, his eyes shooting fury at the near-bored Alex, who seemed completely impassive by his outburst. This was the fifth or sixth time he's asked that question and frankly, Alex was getting tired of answering the question.
"Are we done here?" Alex asked, finally getting up from his seat. He's answered all the questions, explained all the planning and maneuvering, avoided looking at Isabel more than two seconds at a time... Isabel, she was so beautiful. He couldn't get over just how beautiful she was. It was as if the time that he spent away from her only made her more radiant. *God Isabel, I'm sorry for have hurt you so bad. But I did it for you.*
"Not quite yet," Max turned to watch Alex for a moment. He needed to do something, needed to do anything to make this up to Tess. *How do you redeem yourself in the eyes of someone you turned your back on so completely? She's never going to trust me again.* But he needed to try. "How is she?"
"How do you think?" Alex shook his head, his grief evident on his face. "She grows weaker every day. Not only does she not eat, as she should, she can't keep down the things she does eat. I can't do anything but try to ease some of the pain."
There was silence. He didn't need to say it. They all knew. Tess was dying.
"You may not be able to do anything but we might," Isabel murmured softly for the first time since Alex everything came tumbling out into the open. "From what we've heard so far, Tess seemed pretty determined to die in order to protect the rest of us."
Valenti nodded his agreement. "She's right. She's even you all the conclusions she needs you to hear but none of the options that can get her out of this."
"Maybe it's cause she doesn't see any options," Alex replied, knowing where this is headed. "Don't you think I've tried to talk to her about it? She won't even discuss the possibility of her surviving with the baby. For all of our planning to pay off, she and the baby had to die and be buried in an unmarked grave where no one can ever find them."
Max nodded. "I know that part. Now what can we do to prevent it?"
"Find her another granilith. Get her off the planet so that her kid can breath."
"Or she's not telling you everything there is to know," Max sighed and went to the pack that he had brought with him. From inside, he pulled the healing stones. "Maybe these will help."
Alex eyed the stones with much interest. He looked up at Max, noting the determination in them. Somewhere in his heart, there was a spark of hope that lit. "Assuming they work? How do you plan on getting her to let you use it?"
Max raised a brow at him humorlessly. "You're presuming that I'm going to give her a choice in the matter."
Not knowing what to do, Alex got up. "Now are we done?"
"Alex..." Maria reached out for him.
"I care about her, Maria." He wasn't going to abandon her. "I really do."
"I know," she hugged him tight for the first time. The solidness of him brought tears to her eyes. "It's so good to see you again."
He smiled, his arms coming around her for a moment. "I missed you too." And he meant it. It was lonely without the others when he was waiting for Tess. It was just as only as he tried to keep Tess's spirits up as they await her death. To be among those that care once more, it was such a painfully sweet feeling. "I gotta go. Tess will be worried if I'm back too late."
Michael and Max both stepped into this way as he made for the door. Max shook his head. "You won't tell her, will you?"
Alex paused, wondering what he was going to do. *Tell her and risk having her run? Or don't tell her, and betray her trust? Tell her and let her die? Or don't tell her and maybe have a chance to save her and her baby? Decisions, decisions...* But he already knew what he was going to the minute he saw the healing stones. "Can you save her?"
Max looked at Michael, Michael looked at Isabel, Isabel looked at Max. The three nodded almost at the exact same moment. "We'll most definitely try."
Alex nodded. "Then I better find out what Tess knows about her condition then, shouldn't I?"
"Yeah," Max stepped out of the way and opened the door. "Oh, and Alex?"
"Yeah?"
"Waffles."
"What?" Perplexed.
Max shrugged his shoulders. "Tess. She likes waffles more than pancakes. Lots of strawberry jam, whipped cream and Tabasco sauce. Add chocolate chips if you have them."
Surprise lit Alex's face. "I'll remember that."
TBC....