Disclaimer: I don't own the series Roswell or the original characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.
A/N: Hey :-) It took me a little longer than I said to update, but I wanted this chapter to be better than the last one and I think it is. Plus, the plot is close to being fully revealed so hang in there, kay? :-) I hope you'll enjoy reading this chapter. Thank you, Alexia :-)
Trigger
For the first time in a long while, Max's eyes darkened themselves to a deeper shade of brown as he observed the two familiar figures out in the hallway. He stood just around the corner, hidden from them and free to look at them as long as he wanted before he made himself visible. He knew that there was no reason to spy on either of them, especially because they hadn't been together for almost a year, but today, jealousy did grab a hold of him and he couldn't help but tense up slightly while looking at Liz and Kyle.
A few years ago, jealousy had consumed his every thought because back then, he had hardly ever spoken to Liz and he knew that he was too shy to approach her, knowing that she wouldn't be able to hear the rapid beat of his heart, but that she would be able to tell that something was different by the way his eyes would search for hers more frequently. Up until the day he had saved her, they had never had a real conversation and up until then, it seemed as if Liz and Kyle were together. Max was envious of all the time Kyle got to spend with her before he could and of how he still remained friends with Liz. But that feeling of mistrust faded quickly when he realized that Liz was just the kind of person that made friends easily and tried to keep their friendship by giving them the attention they deserved, though she didn't try very hard to contain the relationship they used to have.
Max sighed, realizing that he had just given up on their relationship, too, and somewhere inside, he knew that Tess was one of the reasons. She would spend most of her day with him, just to make sure that he wouldn't jeopardize their destiny for a stupid high school crush, but Max knew that it was so much more. He sometimes still saw the old spark in Liz's eyes and the regret that her features revealed to him. He knew all of this and yet he felt jealous towards the relationship she and Kyle had - jealous because he would give everything to be at least friends with her.
Max brought his gaze up to Liz's face, which showed him once again that things weren't easy for her, either. She looked tired, almost exhausted and her eyes nowadays carried a subtle sadness with them, one she could shade from everyone around her if she only tried. Knowing that most of this was his fault, Max made a decision and entered the hallway, no longer hiding from both Kyle or Liz. He would talk to her, hoping that he would be able to take away some of her pain and maybe some of his at the same time. As he approached them, he saw Kyle say something to Liz and nod in his direction, Liz's eyes, however never found his.
''You have a lot of nerve,'' Kyle murmured under his breath, though Max did hear him, not fully understanding the meaning behind Kyle's words.
''I just came to talk...to Liz.''
''I think you've lost your right to talk to her alone,'' Kyle said, the tone of his voice harsh and defensive.
Liz placed her hand on Kyle's shoulder and briefly looked up at him. ''Why don't you go ahead, I'll be right there.''
Kyle shook his head. ''No.''
''Kyle...''
He sighed. ''Fine, but remember that this is a public place, Evans.'' He reached for the strap of his bag while shooting Max a glare before walking off and leaving Liz alone with him.
''Why are you here, Max?'' Liz asked, colder than she had intended. She kept rummaging through her locker, hoping that he would just give up and leave.
''What's wrong?''
Liz didn't say anything for a few seconds, taking the time to close her locker and prepare herself for coming eye to eye with Max. She turned around and looked up at him, meeting his eyes, though she would have rather walked away from this conversation.
''I'm afraid to answer that question,'' she confessed.
''Why?'' Max's eyes now stood confused.
''Because I don't know what to say. Last time you...'' She stopped when Max took a step towards her, frozen in her own fear, though she recovered as well as she could and stumbled a few steps back.
''Liz...''
''Don't,'' she warned. ''You made it perfectly clear that you don't want me around...''
''I never...''
''No?!'' Liz said, angry with him for pretending that he had done nothing wrong. ''Then threatening me and pushing me against a vending machine wasn't meant to have that effect?!'' When people around them started to throw glances in their direction, Liz lowered her voice, trying to calm herself down in the process with no success.
''God.'' She ran a hand through her hair. ''First Tess threatens me and then you.''
''Liz, what are you talking about?'' Max asked, the tone of his voice desperate because he didn't understand what she was talking about.
Liz shook her head, disappointed at his behavior and maybe even more hurt by it than she was letting shine through. ''I never expected you to be like this just to keep me away from you...and I never expected to be actually afraid of you, so I guess your threats worked; I'll stay away from you.''
Liz turned around and walked off, leaving Max leaning against a locker because her words had shocked him so. He hadn't comprehended everything that she had said, but it had definitely left him with a pain that stung deeply. As the bell rang, his eyes flew across the hallway, looking for someone he could talk to, maybe even Maria, but instead his eyes collided with Tess's blue eyes that always stood dangerously happy. For some reason his intuition was telling him that she was the key to Liz's outburst and he followed it by heading over to her, calling her name in the process.
''Can I talk to you?'' he asked, though he hadn't meant it as a question. He wasn't going to give her a choice this time.
''Actually, I have class right now...''
''It's important,'' Max said while grabbing her arm and forcing her in the opposite direction of where they were heading. Max had another destination in mind, a more private one. He led her to the eraser room, not letting her go until he had closed the door behind them. When he did let her go, he did it roughly, causing her to stumble and search for her balance in this dark room.
''Max,'' she whimpered as she found her balance and looked up at him, her eyes now gleaming with feigned innocence, ''what's wrong?''
''I suggest you stop with the act, Tess,'' Max said, his voice dangerously low and his figure intimidating as he stood in front of her only way out.
''Act? Max, are you okay?'' she asked gently.
''Tess, I'm going to ask you something and I want you to be honest.''
''Of course.''
''What's wrong with Liz?'' Max asked, trying not to lose his patience and temper, though Tess drove it to the edge when she snorted.
''How should I know, I'm not one of her friends.''
''So you don't know why she acted nervous when I talked to her?'' he asked, taking a step towards Tess.
Tess shrugged. ''You know she has a crush on you, maybe...'' She stopped when Max clenched his fists at her words.
''Why did you threaten her?''
''Excuse me?''
''Tess...,'' he warned, the tone of his voice alarmingly close to losing its calmness.
''I didn't threaten her.'' Tess crossed her arms. ''I just told her what she already knew, that you and I are destined to be and that she should stop lying to get you back because it won't work.''
''Why?''
''To put her in her place.''
''To put her in her place,'' Max mumbled as he repeated Tess's words. ''Is that what I did to her, too, put her in her place...'' He approached Tess even more and slowly backed her up against the wall. ''...when I threatened her?''
''I wanted to help.''
''Help?''
''It was for her own good,'' Tess said, keep up her act by pretending not to be intimidated by him. She kept appearances up by looking him in the eyes and keeping her arms crossed.
''Tess, she seemed scared of me.''
''She should be; you are much more powerful than her, after all, she's a human.''
''Exactly!'' Max said, ''She is a human and on this planet we are the outsiders.''
''But we have the power, Max.''
''We are still half human. We feel just like Liz and we're not superior to humans just because we have powers.''
''But we are,'' Tess said.
''No, we're not!'' He placed both of his hands on the wall behind her on the opposite sides of her head, causing her to flinch.
''Max...''
''If you ever threaten Liz or mindwarp her like that again...''
''She is not your destiny, Max, I am.''
Max didn't say anything and just looked at her, silently warning her. ''I have to get to class,'' he said before moving away from her and exiting the eraser room.
-x-x-x-
A few hours later, Max found himself staring at Liz through the windows of The Crashdown, realizing that she was so different from Tess, both in looks and personality. She would have never done what Tess had done today, not even if she had been in Tess's shoes. She would never lie if it had deceit as a consequence and if she did lie, it was to make other people feel better, so maybe he should believe her so called stories because he was close to.
He pushed open the door of the diner and went in, heading straight for the counter where she had been these last couple of minutes.
''Liz,'' he said once he reached the counter.
Her head shot up instantly as a gasp escaped her lips. ''Max,'' she said while taking a few steps back, not realizing that she was hurting him by doing so.
''Can I talk to you?''
''Actually, I'm busy.''
Liz wanted to walk away, but Max stopped her by leaning slightly over the counter and gently locking his fingers around her wrist. ''Five minutes, please?''
She met his eyes briefly before nodding. ''We can go into the back.''
''Thank you.''
Max let go of her and followed her into the storage room where he was left to stand by the door while Liz stood a good couple of feet away from him, her arms protectively crossed in front of her chest.
''What do you want, Max?''
''I wanted to apologize, even though I'm not sure I did anything wrong.'' He took a step towards her which she countered by taking a step back.
''Max...''
''Tess is the one who threatened you, not me,'' Max started, ''though you did think it was me because of the image that Tess provided.''
''You mean, she...she tricked me into believing that it was you?'' Liz asked, her brown eyes looking up at him with shock.
Max nodded. ''I already told her that if she ever does it again, she'll have to deal with me. I didn't know that she was going to do that, Liz, and I'm sorry that she did... Did you really think that I would every hurt you on purpose?''
Liz rubbed her arms with her hands as she lowered her eyes in shame because she had thought that he would be capable of doing just that. ''I didn't used to, but lately you just seem foreign to me, Max... I don't know what to think anymore. I mean, all of you have assumed that I was lying about being attacked and, well, you know.''
''I do.'' Max looked at her. ''I should go.'' He placed one hand on the door, wanting to leave, but just before he did, he turned to look at her once more. ''And if you do have powers, find out what triggers them. You'll have proof if you do.''
He left Liz standing there with a smile.
-x-x-x-
After closing up The Crashdown, Liz went up to her room to lay down on her bed. The smile had stayed with her throughout the rest of the afternoon and had only just faded; instead, she was thinking of what Max had said. She had to find out what triggered her powers, if she did that then everyone had to believe her and had to believe that she wasn't making up stories to get closer to Max, though she admitted that it felt good to have Max on her side again.
She leaned back against her pillows and fought back the smile that was struggling to get through. She had to focus on her powers instead and she did. She went back to the night of the attack, reliving it all over again. Every word the shapeshifter had said, every move he had made, every move she had made. She tried to think of what she felt when he had attacked her and tried to experience that same feeling again. Liz closed her eyes and went through her mind like she would flip through pages in a book, looking for the correct one. And when she had reached the end of the story, her eyes flew open and down to her hands. She smiled. Green light seemed to be floating just half an inch above the palms of her hands. Fear was the trigger.
When there was a knock on her window, she quickly closed her hands and opened them again, revealing nothing out of the ordinary. She got up from her bed, excited and slightly confused to how exactly she had gotten these powers. Liz unlatched her window, already knowing who it was.
''Max, I know what...'' She stopped mid-sentence when she realized that it wasn't Max after all. A gasp escaped her before she could utter his name.
''Nicholas...''
REVIEW! Please? :-) Well, at least Max and Liz are talking again and Liz knows what triggers her powers...it always has to get even worse before it can get better. :-) Anyway, let me know how I did on this chapter. I'm not sure if everyone is in character so I apologize for that. Thanks again for the kind reviews and I'll update asap. :-) Oh, and if you have the time, check out my original short story at fictionpress. It's called Never Never Land and my penname over there is smile4theworld.
2 anonymous: Thanks for your ideas, but I won't be using them. I have already worked out this plot and I don't have any gaps that need to be filled. I hope you understand, but I did appreciate it. :-)