Disclaimer: DC Comics owns all rights to the characters within. They are used without permission and not meant to infringe on copyrights or meant to generate income.

Tragedies of the Past, chapter 5

"It's going to have to happen," Max stated.

"Are you sure we can't get out of it?" Conner asked.

"Quite sure."

"I...I can't do it."

"You're going to have to."

"I can manage a peck on the cheek or something on the forehead, but that's it."

"Is this because it's me? Or because I'm a man?"

"Both. I'm not interested in kissing guys, and, contrary to whatever other people think, I'm not narcissistic enough to want to kiss someone who looks like me."

"Even if I'm all made up as Juliet?"

"I'll still know."

Max sighed. "The scene calls for it; there's no way it can be avoided. What if we alter it so that I'm the one kissing you? Could you just let it happen?"

"Isn't that out of character for Juliet?"

"She's a flighty character who mistakes infatuation for love."

"Not a fan, huh?"

"I think there's an over-romanticization of this play that obscures its main message."

"What message is that?"

"Children should obey their elders."

"That's certainly a novel interpretation of the play."

"You're avoiding the original problem. Could you just let me kiss you?"

"I don't know."

"Then let's find out," Max said as he went and kissed Conner.

Conner was stunned. Max wasn't just doing a quick kiss either; he was doing a full-on passionate kiss. Before everything fully registered in Conner's brain, Max stopped and took a step back.

"We'll play it that way, then," Max informed him.

"Where'd you learn to kiss like that?"

A brief flash of fear crossed Max's face before he said, "Excuse me, I need to finish my homework."

With that, Max left the room.

An hour before dinner, Ma asked Conner, "Do you know where Max is?"

Conner's first thought was that he was in his room, but he knew that Martha would have already checked there.

"I'll see if I can find him," Conner said.

Conner looked everywhere in the house and couldn't find him. He then checked the barn and didn't find him in it. On a feeling, he checked the top of the bar and saw Max lying there.

"Uncle Jon will throw a fit if he sees you here," Conner warned.

"That's nice," Max said absently.

Conner felt awkward. "It doesn't matter to me."

"What doesn't?"

"If you like men or women. You're still my brother. I know that Lois, Clark, and the Kents won't care. You don't have to stay up here if you think they'll pass judgment."

Max gave him a brief, sad smile. "That's not why I'm here."

Conner felt himself blush. "Uh, why are you here then?"

There was a pause before Max answered. "Your question brought back memories. Memories that I would rather forget."

"From your time in the Agenda or the Groups?"

"Both."

"Do...do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, but I think I owe it to you."

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to."

Max laughed a laugh that frightened Conner. There was no joy, no warmth in that laugh. It was a laugh of barely concealed pain.

"I'm sorry," Max said. "You have no idea how that sentence doesn't apply to me."

"Max, you're in pain. I want to help."

Max paused again before continuing. "I was...a commodity in the Agenda. I was passed around to do whatever I was ordered to do."

Conner gasped. "You mean..."

"I did whatever I was ordered to do," Max repeated.

"That's horribly..."

"In the Groups, I had to infiltrate organizations by whatever means the profile determined was the best. 'Best' usually meant 'fastest.'"

"Did you ever tell anyone?"

"Who was there to tell? It was condoned in the Agenda and an accepted tactic in the Groups."

"Why didn't you stop them? You have powers..."

"I couldn't disobey the Agenda. I couldn't. By the time I worked for the Groups...I suppose that I was desensitized to it."

"Max...no one will ever do that to you again."

Max shook his head. "It's my fault. I must have done something to cause it or encourage it."

Conner became angry. "It's not your fault! Don't talk like that! Whatever you look like, however you acted, it doesn't matter! If you didn't want to do what they did, they shouldn't have forced you!"

"There must have been something..."

Conner hugged Max. "Don't blame yourself."

"You...you don't hate me for it?"

"You said it was something you couldn't stop. You can't be blamed for those things."

---------

Yes, it gets a bit darker here. It is an action/adventure and angst story, after all.

Any and all comments welcome!