Part 32

She was a complete fool. As soon as Tess opened her eyes, as the stone ceiling above her came into focus, she knew she had been used. She looked around the beautifully appointed chamber, slightly dazed, realized that it was [I]her[/I] room, the Queen's apartment.

Kyle was in danger and it was all her fault. She knew it instinctively and it brought tears to her eyes. She brushed them aside impatiently, forced herself to think. What had happened?

She had been mind-warped. There was no other explanation for why she had so completely betrayed Max by allowing his mother to escape. The guilt came crashing down on her in waves. She didn't even really know what had happened. But mindwarp seemed to be the only answer. It was extremely distressing to find out that your own gift could be used against you so effectively.

And even if she had not been directly responsible for allowing Milena to escape, this was technically all her fault. She should never have gone down to the dungeons in the first place.

She hadn't even been aware of it happening. It had been totally different from when Captain Lorn had mindwarped she and Kyle a few days before. Then she had felt his presence in her mind like the infiltration it was, her own gift the stronger, and thus, the dominant. But now, as she thought back desperately on the moments after arriving in the cell, she realized that her feelings towards Milena had started to change almost immediately. She had been on her guard up until a certain point and then it had all lost focus. She had started to trust the woman, even though she had known she should not, even though Kyle had told her time and again she should not.

Mindwarp. It had to be. But how could Milena, who had only a tiny ability for mindwarping, her main gift being dreamwalking like her daughter, have done this without Tess being aware of it? Tess was supposed to be the strongest mindwarper on the planet. [I]No[/I] one should be able to mindwarp her without her knowledge - or at least that's what the Guild had told her yesterday when she had met with them for the first time.

She climbed to her feet a little unsteadily. The hows and whys were irrelevant now. She needed to find Kyle and somehow warn Max. Milena's instability of mind had never been more evident.

Tess wasn't sure how she had ended up back in her chamber. Obviously the guard had been suspicious, had found her in Milena's cell but hadn't dared wake her, unsure of what was wrong with her. She moved to the door, swiped her hand over the silver handprint that shone from the wall. She frowned when the door remained firmly shut.

Locked? She was locked in.

And suddenly she understood. It had been a mindwarp. An extremely elaborate mindwarp - one Milena should never have been capable of. They thought that she had [I]helped[/I] Milena escape. Of course they did! Even Kyle thought it.

Her heart started to thump uncertainly. She had only ever been treated with respect since she had found the Illyrians, even if they had been a little condescending and impatient, remembering silly and ignorant Sabrya and not knowing that Tess was nothing like her former self. She had seen how they had treated captured Dernians - people they had considered traitors. There had been [I]no[/I] mercy for them.

But she wasn't just [I]anyone[/I]. She was the Queen. No one could judge her. No one except Max.

She straightened her back, pounded on the door. "Hello out there? I'm awake! I want to see my bodyguard!" She stepped back, waited for the door to slide open.

Nothing happened.

Tess scowled, pounded again. "Open this door at once! I command you."

When another few moments passed with absolutely no movement on the other side of the door, Tess backed up, sank down on the bed, biting her lip.

She was in serious trouble here. Somehow she just [I]knew[/I] it. If [I]she[/I] was in danger, than Kyle was in even [I]more[/I]. The only reason he was at all safe was because of she and Max. The Illyrians found him irritating and odd. They would be happy to have any excuse to get rid of him, and without Tess around to make him control his tongue, he was more than likely to say something that was going to get him into serious trouble.

Max was gone. Max could not help her. And the more she thought about it, the more she wondered how in control of anything Max really was.

Nothing any of these people did ever made any sense. The three of them were like people lost in a thick forest, trying to react to situations with common sense, but there was nothing logical about any of this.

She felt tears of frustration beginning to pool in her eyes, fear for Kyle and Max and Liz and herself almost choking her. They had made a strategic error and she was only just beginning to recognize it.

They should never have separated. They couldn't trust anyone but each other. They should never have let Max come to the Citadel alone in the first place and they should never have let him go after Liz by himself either. It didn't matter if he was the king or not. He was stronger and [I]safer[/I] with Tess and Kyle by his side.

She and Kyle were [I]definitely[/I] safer at Max's side. She could feel her hands beginning to tremble, clutched them desperately in her lap.

She brushed aside her tears impatiently. She had to be [I]strong[/I].

They should [I]never[/I] have left Earth without the others.

The thought came unbidden and so suddenly, she blinked.

But she knew that it was true. Somehow, in some way, they had failed. They had left the others behind and they were going to lose because of it.

They weren't strong enough in pairs. They weren't strong enough in the Four Square. They were only strong enough when all eight of them worked together, as a team, unified in their trust for each other.

She felt the coldness of her solitude deep within, suffocating, burning, to the point that she wasn't even aware of the door to the chamber sliding open until Kyle was kneeling in front of her. It might have been five minutes later, or a lifetime.

The entire world came back into focus when Kyle took her hands in his. He was so warm, so [I]alive[/I], she came back into herself with a resounding thump.

Tess blinked, disbelieving, unsure of what had just happened to her. "Kyle?" She brought a hand up to touch his face. "How…I don't understand! What's going on? Are you okay?" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around him.

Kyle grimaced. "They think that you helped Milena escape," he told her. He was staring straight into her eyes, trying to tell her something. She stared back at him, uncomprehending. And then she understood. He too still thought she [I]had[/I] helped Milena. He was trying to stop her from saying anything incriminating.

"I didn't!" She exclaimed. "She mindwarped me!"

"And Hamor too evidently," Kyle replied, sighing and moving to join her on the bed. It was only when he stopped blocking her direct line of vision that she realized that they were not alone. There were two guards standing in the doorway, both listening intently. "But they don't believe it. Apparently there is no way Milena should have been able to mindwarp you without you knowing about it."

"I know," Tess said glumly. "But somehow she [I]did[/I]."

Tess felt Kyle squeeze her hand. "Tess, are you [I]sure[/I]?" He asked her in a low tone. "It sure looked to me like you were helping her." She stared at the two guards, could see them straining to hear what he said, but apparently they were too far away because they moved closer.

"I wasn't Kyle. I swear," she answered quickly and quietly, then raised her voice, addressed the guards. "I want to see Hamor."

She heard Kyle sigh. "He won't see you Tess. He feels completely betrayed."

"What?" She was dumbfounded. She looked at Kyle. "Are they just going to keep me locked up here until Max gets back then? That's just unacceptable Kyle! I can't just sit here and wait! We have to go after Milena."

"They've already sent a detachment of the Royal Guards after Max and they're trying to reach him on the communicator orbs, but they're not having much luck."

"Wait a minute!" Tess stared at him. "Why did they let you in here?"

"Because guess who's your partner in crime?" Kyle grinned wryly, leaning back against the pillows, his hands folded behind his head. "I'm in jail too. We're in for a long wait babe." He looked over at the two guards. "You two can go. We're not going to say anything to make your jobs any easier, so the least you can do is leave us in peace."

They didn't move, just continued to stare straight ahead. Tess shivered again. Dernians no doubt. Their complete lack of emotional response told her so.

Well, that was something anyway, Tess reflected wryly. The Illyrians and Dernians appeared to agree on at least [I]two[/I] things now. One, that Max was the rightful king and two, that she and Kyle were traitors.

Oh joy.

She started to giggle hysterically, until she felt Kyle shift again, pull her against him. "It's okay Tess. It's not your fault."

She pulled back. "Kyle, this is still dangerous. As of right now, they already think I'm a traitor, but if we get too close, they're liable to think I'm betraying Max on a completely [I]different[/I] level."

He sighed, flopped back again. "It's good to be king," he quipped, but he didn't sound the least bit amused.

"He's allowed to go chasing after other girls, but you're not. Stupid double standards."

"But I don't want to chase after other girls," Tess told him with a completely straight face. She just couldn't help it. It was just too good a chance to pass up.

He stared at her for a full minute before bursting out laughing. She joined him, felt some of the tension draining away as they fell against each other, both overcome with glee.

Because laughter was far better than fear. If they had to live through this, the least they could do was laugh about it.

The two Dernians were staring at them like they were crazy, which Tess realized wasn't far from the truth. She finally sprawled out beside Kyle, still giggling, but absolutely exhausted.

There was a long silence.

"What are we going to do?" Tess finally asked, shaking her head in frustration.

"I guess, for now, we wait," he replied. Kyle turned his head, looked right at her, lowered his voice again. "At least we're together. They won't do anything to us without Max's say-so."

"Right," Tess said, allowing herself to be reassured slightly. "At least there's that."

But she still couldn't help but hope with all her heart that Max was already on his way back.

****************************************************************************

Maria was exhausted, mind, body and soul. There was no other word for it. It was just supremely exhausting having to be the support system for her entire group of friends while still trying to maintain her own sanity. Because she was [I]definitely[/I] close to losing hers.

She understood that Michael was trying to keep Isabel secluded, was doing his best so that no one had to see what was happening between them, but that didn't mean she didn't [I]know[/I] that they were alone together, that they were [I]exploring[/I] their alien sides, or whatever the hell you wanted to call it. It wasn't like she wasn't [I]imagining[/I] what was going on in the room on the other side of the compound.

It didn't matter that she knew that Michael loved [I]her[/I]. He was still in [I]there[/I], with [I]her[/I].

It literally made her feel sick to her stomach. But she just didn't have [I]time[/I] to be sick, to lose her mind. Because who would pull her back if she did?

If Maria had missed Liz before, this day had made it so that she knew that she was [I]never[/I] letting her best friend out of her sight again once they had her back. All this was [I]Liz's[/I] job. She was good at it - good at making people feel better, good at [I]fixing[/I] things. She [I]always[/I] made Maria feel better.

And it wasn't even herself that Maria was really worried about. It was her daughter.

Liz would know what to say to Jennetta, would know how to help Maria's daughter through what she was about to endure.

Because there was almost no hope now. Ren was going to die and there was nothing they could do to stop it. The doctor, who was the closest to an Illyrian physician they were going to find on Earth, had told her as much only moments before. His balance was completely out of whack - why no one was really sure, but there it was. The only one who could save him now was a true Healer. Or, in other words, Max, who was, of course, completely unavailable.

There were other Healers, of course. The doctor was one himself, a changed human, one who was extremely dedicated to the Illyrian cause from what Maria had seen. But apparently, according to Jemma, no one could compare to Max when it came to healing.

Ren [I]needed[/I] Max. But he was fading fast and it was doubtful that they were going to be able to get him through the portal in time, let alone find Max on the other side fast enough.

They [I]all[/I] needed Max. They needed his calm leadership, his quiet authority. They were completely lost without him.

Maria brought her hands up to her face, forced herself to take deep breaths. She had come out into the hallway to collect herself, had tried to get Jenny to come with her, but her daughter had refused to leave her bodyguard's side. Maria had left her sitting with his hand held in hers, as though she was trying to anchor him to this life, as though if she let go of him, he would drift away from her permanently.

"Maria."

Maria's head came up. She met the Sheriff's concerned gaze, smiled slightly. "Hey Sheriff."

"No better I take it?" He hooked his thumb in the direction of Ren's room.

"No. Is everything ready for tonight?" Maria asked, wanting to change the subject. There was no point in discussing it after all. It wasn't like it was going to make anything better. They had to concentrate on what they [I]could[/I] control.

"They're still coming in but Jemma says she'll have a full contingent of the Royal Guard ready to go by the time the sun sets," the Sheriff replied. He shook his head incredulously. "They're all changed humans Maria. How could this have been going on for so long and no one ever knew?"

"The Special Unit knew," Maria told him, sighing. "It's why they wanted Max so badly." She grimaced. "Is it wrong Sheriff? That all those people are being changed like that?"

"It does make me uncomfortable," the Sheriff admitted. "But Jemma insists that they are given a choice, that they would die if they weren't changed." He paused, then continued. "Kyle hates that it's happening to him, doesn't he?"

Maria looked at him sharply. "Why?" She knew that Kyle had never spoken to his father about the emergence of his alien traits, that he barely liked to acknowledge it himself.

"It's my fault Maria." The Sheriff scratched his head wearily. "If I hadn't been so all-fired determined to expose Max, Kyle never would have been in any position to get shot. I ruined my own son's life."

She didn't know what to say to that, bit her lip. Why did everyone keep acting like she was Liz? She wasn't the one people were supposed to come to with their problems!

"He's in love with Tess," Maria blurted, without thinking. "He's probably safer with some powers. He would have fallen into the alien abyss anyway. This way at least he has some power."

The Sheriff stared at her. "So that's it. We never got a chance to discuss it before…before he left." He nodded, like he wasn't at all surprised. "And he doesn't think that she reciprocates his feelings?"

"No. They're both idiots," Maria sighed. "But then alien/human relations are never easy."

"Are you okay with everything that's happening Maria?" The Sheriff asked sympathetically. "I heard about Michael and Isabel."

Who hadn't? Maria though wryly. They had been shut up in Isabel's room for the better part of twenty-four hours. The compound was a small enough community that of course word would get around. But no one could know the truth, that Michael was only pretending. Isabel had to [I]believe[/I] that he wanted to be with her. Their plan wouldn't work otherwise.

"I spoke to Alex earlier," the Sheriff continued. "He's trying not to show it, but he's devastated."

"I know," Maria replied quietly. She was the one who had broken the news to her friend after all. He had literally turned green.

"It's [I]my[/I] fault." They had been the first words he had managed to choke out.

"No Alex!" She had exclaimed. "How can you even think that?"

"I drove her to it. She thought…" He had closed his eyes, shuddered. "She thought something was going on between me and Jenny." And he had told her all about how Isabel had caught Jenny on his bed, in his arms.

She had wanted to reassure him, to tell him that none of it was his fault, that Isabel had been acting psycho for much longer than that, but she had bit her tongue, hard. Because, in the long run, wasn't it more important to find out [I]why[/I] Isabel was losing it, so that everyone could be happy in the long run? So that this could never happen again? Telling [I]anyone[/I] put Michael's plan in jeopardy.

She couldn't even tell Alex. It broke her heart, but it was the only way.

"We're a sorry lot," the Sheriff laughed bitterly. He was quickly serious again though. "I don't think we're exactly at our strongest right now Maria. I have a bad feeling about this - that going through that portal when we're so divided is a mistake."

"I know," Maria told him. "But we have no choice. It's out of our hands now." She reached out and hugged him. "Thank you for being here for us."

"I wish you had all let me be here for you long before now. Maybe I could have stopped some of this from happening," the Sheriff said, sounding slightly exasperated.

"I wish we had too." Their mistakes were all coming back to haunt them now it seemed.

Because Maria suddenly knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that their biggest mistake was ever splitting up. It had started when they had shut the Sheriff out, trying to protect him from the alien chaos. And then they had not believed Max when he had insisted that Liz was still alive, had driven he and Tess off the planet alone, with Kyle in tow.

She knew that it was crazy to think that they could all be together, all the time, but it wasn't really the splitting up physically that had caused the problem, she realized. It was the complete lack of communication, the way they had let walls come up between them. Isabel hadn't told Alex about her emerging feelings for Michael. Michael hadn't told Maria soon enough. Alex hadn't told anyone that Jennetta had a crush on him. Jennetta hadn't told anyone that she was [I]really[/I] in love with Ren.

Until they all accepted that they loved each other without reservation, that they could deal with whatever alien catastrophe reared it's ugly head better together - or any human one for that matter, until they stopped worrying about hurting each other all the time - until they [I]trusted[/I] each other - they were never going to win.

It might even be too late now.

Maria felt a shiver descend her spine. Where had that thought come from?

It couldn't be true, could it? It couldn't be too late?

The shriek of utter grief that suddenly pierced the silence that had fallen between she and the Sheriff as they had moved apart told her that it could be.

Because that scream had been unearthly, devastated on a level that Maria almost couldn't grasp.

And it had come from her daughter.

Maria knew it without a shadow of a doubt that Ren was gone.

It was all downhill from here.

She took a deep breath, exchanged one long, meaningful look with the Sheriff, before going into Ren's room to try and put her daughter's life back together.

What she saw on his face did not reassure her. Because he seemed to know it too. They didn't know [I]why[/I] yet, but Maria was sure that it was only a matter of time.

Control had just shifted irrevocably from their hands. They were all now merely pawns in the hands of fate.



To be continued…