[u]Part 12[/u]
"What is that Alex?"
Alex sighed, glanced over his shoulder at Maria, who was hovering nearby. Her expression was half concerned, half hurt that he was obviously keeping something from the rest of them. He had decided that it was not his story to tell though. When Liz had handed him the photo album she had whispered, "I'm going to talk to Max. Don't say anything to the rest of them until I do. I, at least, owe him that."
But Alex had already decided that he wouldn't be telling tales out of school anyway. First of all, he wouldn't even know where to start. Secondly, he just didn't have the energy. All he really wanted to do at the moment was head home, crawl into bed and pull the covers over his head. Then he wouldn't have to deal with any of it. He wouldn't have to come up with a way to protect Liz from herself, because with every passing moment she seemed more and more determined on self-destruction. She had broken her own heart by pretending to sleep with Kyle. Alex knew that her guilt over what that lie was doing to Max became more intense by the hour. And, now, she was allowing their friends' enemies to convince her that she wasn't entirely human.Worse than that. That she one of [I]them[/I].
His best friend was completely losing herself in the alien abyss and he didn't know how to stop it.
The photo album had been Alex's idea. Liz's whispered words, right before Valenti had picked them up, continued to haunt him.
[I]I think I believe him[/I].
The photo album was Alex's attempt to make Liz face reality, to make her look at the book and acknowledge Will's lies when her own baby pictures stared up at her, showing them for what they were. But he knew already it hadn't worked. He knew it when she handed it to him that she was pretending to agree with him. But, in her heart, she didn't. He knew [I]her[/I]. It was written all over her face.
The Liz Parker he had been friends with since fifth grade, who believed in cold hard facts and physical proof above all things, was letting someone who had already kidnapped her once, someone who had freely admitted his hatred for their friends, pull the wool over her eyes. This was only the latest in a long string of events that made Alex worry that the Liz he knew and love was long gone. Because, ever since Max had healed her, Liz had let her heart guide her instead of her head - something she had [I]never[/I] done before. And, in the end, when had it ever turned out for the best?
Liz had kept Max's secret from him, Alex, for so long, it had almost destroyed their friendship. She had allowed herself to fall in love with Max, even though it had only ever ended up hurting her.even more so since they had learned that Max was destined for someone else. She had also followed her heart when she had believed Future Max that she had to make Max fall out of love with her - something that didn't appear to be happening, in spite of all the sacrifices Liz was making to assure it. Because hadn't Alex just witnessed the fear on Max Evans's face a few minutes before when he thought Liz might not have returned after all. In spite of it all, Max would be devastated if anything happened to Liz. Nothing had changed.
Liz following her heart was a disaster waiting to happen - every single time. And it was up to him to convince her of it.
The worst part of it all was that Alex actually admired the part of her that had thrown herself body and soul into Max Evans's world. He wished that he knew for certain that one day he would love someone that much, that he would know that he was loved that much in return. Which only made his goal of protecting Liz from herself pretty much dead in the water before he even started. Because he wanted her way to work, even if, up until now, it certainly hadn't.
Her way was going to get them all killed. Alex slammed the album shut so that Maria couldn't see what he was looking at - so that she couldn't see the album filled with proof that Will Spencer was a liar. Liz could believe him all she wanted to. The evidence that Liz had been born to Nancy and Jeff Parker seventeen years ago was right in front of him. He didn't care that Liz's heart was telling her to trust the new boy. Liz's heart was [I]wrong[/I]. She had been right about Max Evans but she was wrong about Will Spencer.
Unfortunately, for the moment, there was little he could really do to convince her of something she wasn't willing to believe. If she could look cold, hard fact in the face and still believe Will, there was only one avenue left for Alex at the moment. In order to protect and support his friend, Alex was going to have to stick by her through whatever crazy plan was likely brewing in that too smart for her own good brain of hers - even if it meant angering and distancing himself from all the others. Including Maria. And Isabel.
Isabel. Isabel, whom he was fully aware had been watching him quietly, her dark eyes brighter for him than he had seen in months, since the moment he and Liz had reappeared from their adventure. Alex shook his head ruefully. Trust his luck that Isabel Evans would start to care about him again the instant he wasn't sure he wanted [I]her[/I] anymore. He clenched his jaw when he realized that Kate Spencer's face was actually invading his thoughts again. He sighed heavily. Trust his luck even more that he would be the idiot to transfer his crush from one alien to another - and not even just [I]any[/I] alien. An evil one this time!
Yet, he knew deep in his gut that Kate was not evil. She had fully believed everything she had told him about Max and the others - she hated them for what she thought were good reasons. Which could only mean one thing. Will the wanker was lying to her too.
He blinked when he realized Maria was still talking. "Alex!"
"What?" Alex asked. Ignoring her had seemed like a good plan. Usually when he ignored her, she got frustrated and just went away. He thought she was just blowing off steam. After all, he [I]never[/I] knew anything before anyone else. How could Maria have deduced so quickly that this time he actually did?
"Why are you and Liz shutting me out?" Maria asked, not sounding hysterical any longer, but, rather, simply, hurt.
She was pulling out all the big guns. Maria reasonable was not someone he enjoyed dealing with. Psycho Maria he could handle easily. Compassionate and ready to listen Maria - bad news. It didn't help that he actually really did want to tell her what was going on. But he had promised Liz.
"Maria, I can't." He yelped when Maria reached past him and made a grab for the closed photo album behind him on the counter. "Maria!"
But Maria was already on the other side of the restaurant, which was now empty of any customers, Mr. Parker having locked up a few minutes ago. He was, as always, amenable to Liz's friends hanging around after closing. Alex guessed that he preferred to know where they were, rather than having them "cat around the desert" - one of his favorite expressions. What it [I]meant[/I] precisely, Alex didn't know. It sounded better than running from evil aliens and FBI agents through the desert though. He really wished they could just "cat around" every once in a while.
Alex shook his head, glared at Maria and went after her. Apparently all the evading of evil aliens was making her slippier, he thought, annoyed, as she threw a chair into his path. A year ago he would have wrestled her to the floor already. "Kids!" Mr. Parker yelled helplessly. "Watch the glas."
Too late. The pile of glasses Michael had been drying at the booth he was sitting in with Tess went flying as Alex tripped and crashed into the table. Alex made a wild grab for Maria anyway, almost caught her.
"Isabel! Catch!" Maria shrieked, ignoring Liz's dad and the mess. She threw the photo album over Alex's head to Max's sister, who was now standing, looking perplexed. But not for long of course. Isabel flipped the book open, narrowed her eyes as her eyes scanned Liz's baby pictures.
"Isabel," Alex ground out between clenched teeth. "Please give me that book."
Isabel's dark eyes met his. They looked confused - and slightly pained. "Liz's baby book? Alex, what is this? Why won't you tell us what's going on?" She paused. "Was it really that bad?"
He blinked, realized that Isabel's guilt was real. She thought he was keeping quiet because he didn't want her to feel bad about whatever "torture" he had undergone at the hands of their enemies.
Alex smiled at her gently, no longer fuming. "I promise you Isabel. They didn't hurt us."
There were tears in Isabel's eyes. "Alex." She obviously didn't believe him.
"I swear it Iz."
She stared at him for another long, charged moment and then collapsed, her relief almost a living force. Alex actually felt it sweep through him, warming his heart in a way he wasn't sure she was even aware of.
It was Michael who reached Isabel before she hit the floor. "Izzy? Are you okay? None of this is your fault. You didn't actually think that?"
Alex rushed to kneel beside her too. Something more serious than worrying over him was obviously affecting Isabel Evans. He wondered that he could still feel disappointed. He was used to it after all. It must have just been the momentary mistaken belief that it was actually [I]him[/I] she had been worried about that had caused it.
"Isabel, what's wrong?" Alex asked now, reaching out and taking her hand. They were friends after all. If something was upsetting her, he owed it to her to be there for her.
"I've been so worried! All day Alex!" She sobbed. Alex blinked. Okay, so maybe she [I]had[/I] been worried about him. He barely noticed Michael quietly withdraw, clearly wanting to give them a little privacy. Within moments their shaggy-haired friend had herded everyone else into the back - including Mr. Parker, who looked seriously worried. Alex heard the sheriff assuring him that it was just a "lover's spat." Alex rolled his eyes. If only things could ever be that simple in the alien abyss.
"Shh, Izzy. It's okay," Alex soothed her, pulling her against him and stroking her long blonde hair. "I'm perfectly fine."
She sniffed. "Everything is just so messed up Alex. God. I've been so horrible to you - to everyone. It wasn't until this afternoon, when I thought I'd lost you, that I even realized what a fool I am! I drive away everyone I should hold on to."
Alex's heart started to pound more quickly as he looked down into the face he had fantasized about for years. Were all his dreams really finally coming true? After he had basically given up on them for good? "Well, I hope it won't take a life-threatening situation to make you remember next time," he joked mildly, still feeling a little off balance.
"It wasn't even that," Isabel hiccuped. "It was when I heard that you were in the Eraser Room with Liz." Isabel trailed off, laughed slightly. "God Alex, my heart just stopped. Max knew right away it couldn't be what I thought, but."
Alex frowned slightly. "That what couldn't?"
"Well, you and Liz? I wouldn't put anything past her," Isabel continued darkly, "But that I would even suspect you.I mean, you're my best friend!" She laughed again. "I just should have known better," she finished quietly.
Alex pulled back, stared at her. [I]Best friend?[/I] He was her best friend? One who wouldn't be in the Eraser Room with anyone else? What the hell was that supposed to mean? "Known what?" He asked, hoping for clarification.
"That you'd never do that to me of course," Isabel replied, smiling at him.
He frowned. "And what would I have been doing to you exactly if Liz and I [I]had[/I] been in there for real?" Alex demanded, he blood beginning to boil. He didn't care that, until a few hours ago, what Isabel was saying would have been entirely true. Just [I]where[/I] did she get off being so sure of him?([I]Might have been the strip tease,[/I] a small voice in the back of his mind reminded him. He instantly told the small voice to shut up.) Especially since she had just called him her best friend? Not boyfriend, not desired love slave. Best friend. "I mean, have you not told me a million times that you just want to be friends?" He continued, realized that he was ranting and didn't care. "Including three minutes ago when you just called me your best friend?"
Isabel blinked, her gaze faltering. "Alex, I." She obviously had no idea why he was so upset.
"Okay, I just have one question for you Isabel. Which is it? Best friend or boyfriend? Because I really can't be one if the other one is constantly being dangled in front of me. I can't wait for you forever."
"Alex, I'm not just going to fall into your arms," Isabel flared, suddenly irritated. "I've told you. Things are complicated. I just found out that in my past life."
He held up his hands. "Don't tell me. As your potential best friend - and even as your potential boyfriend -, I would like to know, but until you decide, I don't want to hear any of it. I just don't. Not to mention I have had just about enough of past lives for today, thank you very much."
"Alex!" Isabel was beginning to sound worried.
Alex clenched his jaw. "Yes, I know I'm being unreasonable. I realize that I am behaving in a psychotic manner which you think may be the result of potential alien brain suckage, but I swear it's not." He narrowed his eyes. "Speaking of brain suckers - bores being among the worst sort - any plans to see Grant later tonight?"
There was a long pause. Isabel's eyes widened. "Well, technically."
"I thought so. Okay, that decides it. No more fall-back guy for me. I'm sorry you were worried Isabel, but you know what? I think, for now, I'm done here." Alex stood up, wondered where the hell this was coming from. He felt like he was watching himself say these things. Yesterday the pleading look on Isabel's face would have melted him into a pile of butter. "Still love ya Iz, but I just don't feel like playing second fiddle anymore. If Liz comes down, tell her I went home."
With that, he pushed his way out into the early evening air, taking a deep breath and letting it go. Amazing. He actually felt like he had just had a one thousand pound weight lifted off his back. Had he really just done that? Had he truly just left Isabel Evans sitting on the floor of the Crashdown Café? His goddess? Isabel Evans?
Alex thought about it for a few minutes as he started off in the direction of his home because he really didn't have anywhere else to go. He hadn't been expecting to make a grand exit like that. It seemed a little anti- climactic to just go home after. He decided to go for a walk in the park, apparently needing a little more fresh air in order to truly grasp what he had just done.
He realized fairly quickly that he did not regret it. Alex did not doubt that Isabel cared about him, that she would be deeply upset if anything ever happened to him, but the hesitation she had shown when he had asked about Grant had confirmed what he was beginning to realize he had known for a long time. Isabel did not love him. She liked him a whole lot, liked the way he made her feel about herself. He was the first boy to know the truth about her he was also the first boy to not be fooled by her ice queen exterior. She liked that she could be herself around him and he continued to pine for her. It was humiliating to think she simply expected him to be there for her when she needed him but, in the end, only as a friend. She didn't love him.
The fact that she could run so hot and cold, even after everything they had been through together, only confirmed it. Maybe someday they could be friends, but not right away. Because he knew he was still precariously perched on the edge of a big cliff when it came to her. One glance from those dark eyes and it was entirely possible he would fall head over heels for her again. Walking away from her five minutes before had probably been the most difficult thing he had ever done - even if it hadn't seemed like it at the time. But he would not be second fiddle any longer. He wanted someone who [I]really[/I] loved him.
Alex was pleased with his new resolve to get over Isabel once and for all. He was strong enough to do it. He would help Liz and then he would leave the whole Czechoslovakian mess behind him. Because, if he broke his ties to Isabel, as he fully intended to do, there was nothing binding him to any of them anymore. Not once Liz was back to normal. He could do it! Alex Charles Whitman was not going to be anyone's whipping boy any longer!
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and kicked at a can on the path in front of him. He frowned slightly, realized that his heart was beginning to hurt. That damn conscience. Guilt already! He quashed it ruthlessly. He deserved to look out for himself for once.
But Isabel had looked so sad.Something was clearly haunting her. She hadn't meant to make him feel like crap. He knew she hadn't. She just hadn't been thinking. She couldn't help it if she liked Grant.
"Stop it!" Alex ordered himself aloud. "Weak! You are so weak Whitman!"
Of course, saying it out loud didn't help the fact that Isabel's eyes were haunting him. He hadn't given her much of a chance to tell him what was upsetting her. Maybe if he had listened, it wouldn't have come out sounding quite so bad. What kind of friend was he anyway?
"Stop it," he repeated firmly. "Let it go! She has Michael and Max and Tess! She has more than proven that she only wants you when there's no one better around."
He wasn't convincing himself. His feet were actually trying to make him turn around. They wanted him to go back to the Crashdown.
He couldn't! If he did that, he'd apologize. Unacceptable!
"Bloody hell!" Alex yelled before he could stop himself. "Is it too much to ask for a little peace?"
"Are you okay?"
He literally jumped about three feet into the air. He was absolutely sure that he had been completely alone moments before, no one in front or in back of him. He was in a fairly open area of the park too, his experiences in the alien abyss making dark shadows anathema.
In spite of all this, Kate Spencer stood in front of him now, staring at him.
"Where the hell did you come from?" He demanded, his heart in his throat. Will the wanker better not be coming for Liz again. Alex didn't know what he would do to him if he was, but it would be.well, something. So the wanker had alien fire bolts. So what? And his knees were [I]not[/I] quaking. They just.weren't.
"I teleported," Kate explained. "I'm alone by the way. So you can stop looking."
"Holy crap!" Alex exclaimed. "Am I supposed to be scared?" He asked, narrowing his eyes, deciding to ignore the fact that he kind of was. But not really. "Did you change your mind about killing me?" He realized that he actually wasn't scared anymore, now that he knew Kate was by herself. He wondered why he wasn't afraid of this girl - not at all.
"Of course not," Kate snapped. "I told you, [I]we[/I] don't do that."
"But my friends do?" Alex flared back, annoyed almost immediately. As angry and as confused as he was about his relationship with Isabel, he would not let this girl continue to insult her or her fellow aliens. Kate didn't even [I]know[/I] them. While his Czechoslovakians could be as irritating as hell, they weren't evil and they didn't deserve to be hated - especially not for a past they didn't even remember.
Kate ignored his question. "Where [I]are[/I] your friends?" She asked instead.
"Why?" Alex glared at her. "You want me to hand them to you on a silver platter, just because I told you I don't think you're evil?"
Kate apparently dismissed his sarcasm because she asked him quite calmly, "Why didn't Zan come after us? It's been over two hours. You should have led them straight back to us by now."
"[I]Max,[/I]" Alex emphasized the alien king's Earth name deliberately, "Is not like that. And he's with Liz. She's telling him the crazy story your brother made up to freak both of them out."
Kate frowned. "It's not made up Alex. Liz Parker [I]is[/I] Rowena."
"She is not," Alex replied firmly. "Did Will send you?" His earlier panic returned. "Wait a minute! If he's not here, where is he? He didn't go to the Crashdown, did he?" Alex's mind was filling with images of Michael, and maybe even Max, blasting first and asking questions later. As much as he distrusted Will and would enjoy seeing it, he knew it would not be what Liz wanted. He tried not to think about the fact that he was also reflecting on how upset Kate would be should anything happen to her brother. Why he cared, he wasn't sure, particularly since he was being downright nasty to her at the moment, but he did.
"Will's still at the motel," Kate told him, sounding mildly bitter if Alex was not mistaken. "He trusts Rowena to come back to him. Now that he has told her the truth, he will not pressure her."
"You don't sound like you approve," Alex commented, his heart beginning to return to a regular tempo.
"She was clearly taken from her pod too early. She has no memories. Until she is made to remember, she won't," Kate said. "And the longer she is allowed to stay under Zan's power, the harder she will be to convince that he is her enemy."
"She'll never be convinced of that," Alex said. "She loves him."
Kate narrowed her eyes at him. "I thought you said that they no were no longer together."
Alex mentally kicked himself. "Er.Well, they're not. But they still have a soft spot for each other," he finished lamely.
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway." Kate waved her hand in the air dismissively. "She will not love him when she remembers."
"He is not the same person," Alex stated. "I'm telling you." He trailed off, knowing that he would be continuing the argument in vain. She did not believe him. Except.
There was a long silence. Alex watched a bevy of emotions play across Kate's face. He recognized disbelief and frustration that he would not accept her version of what Max was supposed to be like. But he also thought he saw a slight glimmer of hope there. It made him wonder.
"Did you know Zan?" He asked gently.
"I knew him," she replied, closing her eyes. "Very well, but only before he took the throne. I was raised with Vilandra you see. He was different then - kind, but restless. He didn't want to be king, not then. His father sent him away in the summer before I left Antar - said that he was going to make Zan accept his destiny if it was the last thing he ever did - and it seemed to work. The old king could not have known what he had done though. Because when Zan came back."
"He had changed?"
"Yes." Kate's eyes snapped open, as whatever memory she had been living disappeared. "It is why I do not blame you for not seeing what he is. He has always been a marvelous dissembler."
"So you think Max is pretending to be something he isn't?" Alex asked. "That once he accepts his destiny, once he accepts he will someday be a king, he will change?"
"I don't necessarily think he's pretending," Kate said carefully. She looked right at him. "You told me before that you were a good judge of character. I see that you are. You do not fear me at all, do you?"
"No," Alex agreed. "And you don't fear me?"
"No." Kate smiled slightly. Alex thought she wanted to say something else, but she didn't elaborate. Instead she said, "My point is that perhaps you are right about Max Evans. Perhaps he has not become the monster he is capable of being. Not yet anyway."
Alex frowned. "But you still think he might?"
"He [I]will[/I]," Kate insisted. "It is who he is. His true nature will win out." She swallowed. "And may the stars help us all if we allow it to happen. We cannot be fooled Alex. Not again. There is far too much at stake."
With that, Kate closed her clear blue eyes. Alex jumped when she disappeared into thin air.
He felt his blood run cold when he understood that she was really gone. Because her words were just beginning to make sense to him.
Kate Spencer had come to him wanting to be convinced that Max really was a good person. Because, for her, it only proved more strongly what she was sure he would become. He, Alex, had not convinced her to leave Max alone. In fact, he had convinced her of quite the opposite. What had he done?
It was a rhetorical question of course. He knew [I]exactly[/I] what he had done. Although she had not said it in so many words, he had just convinced one of Max Evans's enemies even more firmly that he had to die.
To be continued.
"What is that Alex?"
Alex sighed, glanced over his shoulder at Maria, who was hovering nearby. Her expression was half concerned, half hurt that he was obviously keeping something from the rest of them. He had decided that it was not his story to tell though. When Liz had handed him the photo album she had whispered, "I'm going to talk to Max. Don't say anything to the rest of them until I do. I, at least, owe him that."
But Alex had already decided that he wouldn't be telling tales out of school anyway. First of all, he wouldn't even know where to start. Secondly, he just didn't have the energy. All he really wanted to do at the moment was head home, crawl into bed and pull the covers over his head. Then he wouldn't have to deal with any of it. He wouldn't have to come up with a way to protect Liz from herself, because with every passing moment she seemed more and more determined on self-destruction. She had broken her own heart by pretending to sleep with Kyle. Alex knew that her guilt over what that lie was doing to Max became more intense by the hour. And, now, she was allowing their friends' enemies to convince her that she wasn't entirely human.Worse than that. That she one of [I]them[/I].
His best friend was completely losing herself in the alien abyss and he didn't know how to stop it.
The photo album had been Alex's idea. Liz's whispered words, right before Valenti had picked them up, continued to haunt him.
[I]I think I believe him[/I].
The photo album was Alex's attempt to make Liz face reality, to make her look at the book and acknowledge Will's lies when her own baby pictures stared up at her, showing them for what they were. But he knew already it hadn't worked. He knew it when she handed it to him that she was pretending to agree with him. But, in her heart, she didn't. He knew [I]her[/I]. It was written all over her face.
The Liz Parker he had been friends with since fifth grade, who believed in cold hard facts and physical proof above all things, was letting someone who had already kidnapped her once, someone who had freely admitted his hatred for their friends, pull the wool over her eyes. This was only the latest in a long string of events that made Alex worry that the Liz he knew and love was long gone. Because, ever since Max had healed her, Liz had let her heart guide her instead of her head - something she had [I]never[/I] done before. And, in the end, when had it ever turned out for the best?
Liz had kept Max's secret from him, Alex, for so long, it had almost destroyed their friendship. She had allowed herself to fall in love with Max, even though it had only ever ended up hurting her.even more so since they had learned that Max was destined for someone else. She had also followed her heart when she had believed Future Max that she had to make Max fall out of love with her - something that didn't appear to be happening, in spite of all the sacrifices Liz was making to assure it. Because hadn't Alex just witnessed the fear on Max Evans's face a few minutes before when he thought Liz might not have returned after all. In spite of it all, Max would be devastated if anything happened to Liz. Nothing had changed.
Liz following her heart was a disaster waiting to happen - every single time. And it was up to him to convince her of it.
The worst part of it all was that Alex actually admired the part of her that had thrown herself body and soul into Max Evans's world. He wished that he knew for certain that one day he would love someone that much, that he would know that he was loved that much in return. Which only made his goal of protecting Liz from herself pretty much dead in the water before he even started. Because he wanted her way to work, even if, up until now, it certainly hadn't.
Her way was going to get them all killed. Alex slammed the album shut so that Maria couldn't see what he was looking at - so that she couldn't see the album filled with proof that Will Spencer was a liar. Liz could believe him all she wanted to. The evidence that Liz had been born to Nancy and Jeff Parker seventeen years ago was right in front of him. He didn't care that Liz's heart was telling her to trust the new boy. Liz's heart was [I]wrong[/I]. She had been right about Max Evans but she was wrong about Will Spencer.
Unfortunately, for the moment, there was little he could really do to convince her of something she wasn't willing to believe. If she could look cold, hard fact in the face and still believe Will, there was only one avenue left for Alex at the moment. In order to protect and support his friend, Alex was going to have to stick by her through whatever crazy plan was likely brewing in that too smart for her own good brain of hers - even if it meant angering and distancing himself from all the others. Including Maria. And Isabel.
Isabel. Isabel, whom he was fully aware had been watching him quietly, her dark eyes brighter for him than he had seen in months, since the moment he and Liz had reappeared from their adventure. Alex shook his head ruefully. Trust his luck that Isabel Evans would start to care about him again the instant he wasn't sure he wanted [I]her[/I] anymore. He clenched his jaw when he realized that Kate Spencer's face was actually invading his thoughts again. He sighed heavily. Trust his luck even more that he would be the idiot to transfer his crush from one alien to another - and not even just [I]any[/I] alien. An evil one this time!
Yet, he knew deep in his gut that Kate was not evil. She had fully believed everything she had told him about Max and the others - she hated them for what she thought were good reasons. Which could only mean one thing. Will the wanker was lying to her too.
He blinked when he realized Maria was still talking. "Alex!"
"What?" Alex asked. Ignoring her had seemed like a good plan. Usually when he ignored her, she got frustrated and just went away. He thought she was just blowing off steam. After all, he [I]never[/I] knew anything before anyone else. How could Maria have deduced so quickly that this time he actually did?
"Why are you and Liz shutting me out?" Maria asked, not sounding hysterical any longer, but, rather, simply, hurt.
She was pulling out all the big guns. Maria reasonable was not someone he enjoyed dealing with. Psycho Maria he could handle easily. Compassionate and ready to listen Maria - bad news. It didn't help that he actually really did want to tell her what was going on. But he had promised Liz.
"Maria, I can't." He yelped when Maria reached past him and made a grab for the closed photo album behind him on the counter. "Maria!"
But Maria was already on the other side of the restaurant, which was now empty of any customers, Mr. Parker having locked up a few minutes ago. He was, as always, amenable to Liz's friends hanging around after closing. Alex guessed that he preferred to know where they were, rather than having them "cat around the desert" - one of his favorite expressions. What it [I]meant[/I] precisely, Alex didn't know. It sounded better than running from evil aliens and FBI agents through the desert though. He really wished they could just "cat around" every once in a while.
Alex shook his head, glared at Maria and went after her. Apparently all the evading of evil aliens was making her slippier, he thought, annoyed, as she threw a chair into his path. A year ago he would have wrestled her to the floor already. "Kids!" Mr. Parker yelled helplessly. "Watch the glas."
Too late. The pile of glasses Michael had been drying at the booth he was sitting in with Tess went flying as Alex tripped and crashed into the table. Alex made a wild grab for Maria anyway, almost caught her.
"Isabel! Catch!" Maria shrieked, ignoring Liz's dad and the mess. She threw the photo album over Alex's head to Max's sister, who was now standing, looking perplexed. But not for long of course. Isabel flipped the book open, narrowed her eyes as her eyes scanned Liz's baby pictures.
"Isabel," Alex ground out between clenched teeth. "Please give me that book."
Isabel's dark eyes met his. They looked confused - and slightly pained. "Liz's baby book? Alex, what is this? Why won't you tell us what's going on?" She paused. "Was it really that bad?"
He blinked, realized that Isabel's guilt was real. She thought he was keeping quiet because he didn't want her to feel bad about whatever "torture" he had undergone at the hands of their enemies.
Alex smiled at her gently, no longer fuming. "I promise you Isabel. They didn't hurt us."
There were tears in Isabel's eyes. "Alex." She obviously didn't believe him.
"I swear it Iz."
She stared at him for another long, charged moment and then collapsed, her relief almost a living force. Alex actually felt it sweep through him, warming his heart in a way he wasn't sure she was even aware of.
It was Michael who reached Isabel before she hit the floor. "Izzy? Are you okay? None of this is your fault. You didn't actually think that?"
Alex rushed to kneel beside her too. Something more serious than worrying over him was obviously affecting Isabel Evans. He wondered that he could still feel disappointed. He was used to it after all. It must have just been the momentary mistaken belief that it was actually [I]him[/I] she had been worried about that had caused it.
"Isabel, what's wrong?" Alex asked now, reaching out and taking her hand. They were friends after all. If something was upsetting her, he owed it to her to be there for her.
"I've been so worried! All day Alex!" She sobbed. Alex blinked. Okay, so maybe she [I]had[/I] been worried about him. He barely noticed Michael quietly withdraw, clearly wanting to give them a little privacy. Within moments their shaggy-haired friend had herded everyone else into the back - including Mr. Parker, who looked seriously worried. Alex heard the sheriff assuring him that it was just a "lover's spat." Alex rolled his eyes. If only things could ever be that simple in the alien abyss.
"Shh, Izzy. It's okay," Alex soothed her, pulling her against him and stroking her long blonde hair. "I'm perfectly fine."
She sniffed. "Everything is just so messed up Alex. God. I've been so horrible to you - to everyone. It wasn't until this afternoon, when I thought I'd lost you, that I even realized what a fool I am! I drive away everyone I should hold on to."
Alex's heart started to pound more quickly as he looked down into the face he had fantasized about for years. Were all his dreams really finally coming true? After he had basically given up on them for good? "Well, I hope it won't take a life-threatening situation to make you remember next time," he joked mildly, still feeling a little off balance.
"It wasn't even that," Isabel hiccuped. "It was when I heard that you were in the Eraser Room with Liz." Isabel trailed off, laughed slightly. "God Alex, my heart just stopped. Max knew right away it couldn't be what I thought, but."
Alex frowned slightly. "That what couldn't?"
"Well, you and Liz? I wouldn't put anything past her," Isabel continued darkly, "But that I would even suspect you.I mean, you're my best friend!" She laughed again. "I just should have known better," she finished quietly.
Alex pulled back, stared at her. [I]Best friend?[/I] He was her best friend? One who wouldn't be in the Eraser Room with anyone else? What the hell was that supposed to mean? "Known what?" He asked, hoping for clarification.
"That you'd never do that to me of course," Isabel replied, smiling at him.
He frowned. "And what would I have been doing to you exactly if Liz and I [I]had[/I] been in there for real?" Alex demanded, he blood beginning to boil. He didn't care that, until a few hours ago, what Isabel was saying would have been entirely true. Just [I]where[/I] did she get off being so sure of him?([I]Might have been the strip tease,[/I] a small voice in the back of his mind reminded him. He instantly told the small voice to shut up.) Especially since she had just called him her best friend? Not boyfriend, not desired love slave. Best friend. "I mean, have you not told me a million times that you just want to be friends?" He continued, realized that he was ranting and didn't care. "Including three minutes ago when you just called me your best friend?"
Isabel blinked, her gaze faltering. "Alex, I." She obviously had no idea why he was so upset.
"Okay, I just have one question for you Isabel. Which is it? Best friend or boyfriend? Because I really can't be one if the other one is constantly being dangled in front of me. I can't wait for you forever."
"Alex, I'm not just going to fall into your arms," Isabel flared, suddenly irritated. "I've told you. Things are complicated. I just found out that in my past life."
He held up his hands. "Don't tell me. As your potential best friend - and even as your potential boyfriend -, I would like to know, but until you decide, I don't want to hear any of it. I just don't. Not to mention I have had just about enough of past lives for today, thank you very much."
"Alex!" Isabel was beginning to sound worried.
Alex clenched his jaw. "Yes, I know I'm being unreasonable. I realize that I am behaving in a psychotic manner which you think may be the result of potential alien brain suckage, but I swear it's not." He narrowed his eyes. "Speaking of brain suckers - bores being among the worst sort - any plans to see Grant later tonight?"
There was a long pause. Isabel's eyes widened. "Well, technically."
"I thought so. Okay, that decides it. No more fall-back guy for me. I'm sorry you were worried Isabel, but you know what? I think, for now, I'm done here." Alex stood up, wondered where the hell this was coming from. He felt like he was watching himself say these things. Yesterday the pleading look on Isabel's face would have melted him into a pile of butter. "Still love ya Iz, but I just don't feel like playing second fiddle anymore. If Liz comes down, tell her I went home."
With that, he pushed his way out into the early evening air, taking a deep breath and letting it go. Amazing. He actually felt like he had just had a one thousand pound weight lifted off his back. Had he really just done that? Had he truly just left Isabel Evans sitting on the floor of the Crashdown Café? His goddess? Isabel Evans?
Alex thought about it for a few minutes as he started off in the direction of his home because he really didn't have anywhere else to go. He hadn't been expecting to make a grand exit like that. It seemed a little anti- climactic to just go home after. He decided to go for a walk in the park, apparently needing a little more fresh air in order to truly grasp what he had just done.
He realized fairly quickly that he did not regret it. Alex did not doubt that Isabel cared about him, that she would be deeply upset if anything ever happened to him, but the hesitation she had shown when he had asked about Grant had confirmed what he was beginning to realize he had known for a long time. Isabel did not love him. She liked him a whole lot, liked the way he made her feel about herself. He was the first boy to know the truth about her he was also the first boy to not be fooled by her ice queen exterior. She liked that she could be herself around him and he continued to pine for her. It was humiliating to think she simply expected him to be there for her when she needed him but, in the end, only as a friend. She didn't love him.
The fact that she could run so hot and cold, even after everything they had been through together, only confirmed it. Maybe someday they could be friends, but not right away. Because he knew he was still precariously perched on the edge of a big cliff when it came to her. One glance from those dark eyes and it was entirely possible he would fall head over heels for her again. Walking away from her five minutes before had probably been the most difficult thing he had ever done - even if it hadn't seemed like it at the time. But he would not be second fiddle any longer. He wanted someone who [I]really[/I] loved him.
Alex was pleased with his new resolve to get over Isabel once and for all. He was strong enough to do it. He would help Liz and then he would leave the whole Czechoslovakian mess behind him. Because, if he broke his ties to Isabel, as he fully intended to do, there was nothing binding him to any of them anymore. Not once Liz was back to normal. He could do it! Alex Charles Whitman was not going to be anyone's whipping boy any longer!
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and kicked at a can on the path in front of him. He frowned slightly, realized that his heart was beginning to hurt. That damn conscience. Guilt already! He quashed it ruthlessly. He deserved to look out for himself for once.
But Isabel had looked so sad.Something was clearly haunting her. She hadn't meant to make him feel like crap. He knew she hadn't. She just hadn't been thinking. She couldn't help it if she liked Grant.
"Stop it!" Alex ordered himself aloud. "Weak! You are so weak Whitman!"
Of course, saying it out loud didn't help the fact that Isabel's eyes were haunting him. He hadn't given her much of a chance to tell him what was upsetting her. Maybe if he had listened, it wouldn't have come out sounding quite so bad. What kind of friend was he anyway?
"Stop it," he repeated firmly. "Let it go! She has Michael and Max and Tess! She has more than proven that she only wants you when there's no one better around."
He wasn't convincing himself. His feet were actually trying to make him turn around. They wanted him to go back to the Crashdown.
He couldn't! If he did that, he'd apologize. Unacceptable!
"Bloody hell!" Alex yelled before he could stop himself. "Is it too much to ask for a little peace?"
"Are you okay?"
He literally jumped about three feet into the air. He was absolutely sure that he had been completely alone moments before, no one in front or in back of him. He was in a fairly open area of the park too, his experiences in the alien abyss making dark shadows anathema.
In spite of all this, Kate Spencer stood in front of him now, staring at him.
"Where the hell did you come from?" He demanded, his heart in his throat. Will the wanker better not be coming for Liz again. Alex didn't know what he would do to him if he was, but it would be.well, something. So the wanker had alien fire bolts. So what? And his knees were [I]not[/I] quaking. They just.weren't.
"I teleported," Kate explained. "I'm alone by the way. So you can stop looking."
"Holy crap!" Alex exclaimed. "Am I supposed to be scared?" He asked, narrowing his eyes, deciding to ignore the fact that he kind of was. But not really. "Did you change your mind about killing me?" He realized that he actually wasn't scared anymore, now that he knew Kate was by herself. He wondered why he wasn't afraid of this girl - not at all.
"Of course not," Kate snapped. "I told you, [I]we[/I] don't do that."
"But my friends do?" Alex flared back, annoyed almost immediately. As angry and as confused as he was about his relationship with Isabel, he would not let this girl continue to insult her or her fellow aliens. Kate didn't even [I]know[/I] them. While his Czechoslovakians could be as irritating as hell, they weren't evil and they didn't deserve to be hated - especially not for a past they didn't even remember.
Kate ignored his question. "Where [I]are[/I] your friends?" She asked instead.
"Why?" Alex glared at her. "You want me to hand them to you on a silver platter, just because I told you I don't think you're evil?"
Kate apparently dismissed his sarcasm because she asked him quite calmly, "Why didn't Zan come after us? It's been over two hours. You should have led them straight back to us by now."
"[I]Max,[/I]" Alex emphasized the alien king's Earth name deliberately, "Is not like that. And he's with Liz. She's telling him the crazy story your brother made up to freak both of them out."
Kate frowned. "It's not made up Alex. Liz Parker [I]is[/I] Rowena."
"She is not," Alex replied firmly. "Did Will send you?" His earlier panic returned. "Wait a minute! If he's not here, where is he? He didn't go to the Crashdown, did he?" Alex's mind was filling with images of Michael, and maybe even Max, blasting first and asking questions later. As much as he distrusted Will and would enjoy seeing it, he knew it would not be what Liz wanted. He tried not to think about the fact that he was also reflecting on how upset Kate would be should anything happen to her brother. Why he cared, he wasn't sure, particularly since he was being downright nasty to her at the moment, but he did.
"Will's still at the motel," Kate told him, sounding mildly bitter if Alex was not mistaken. "He trusts Rowena to come back to him. Now that he has told her the truth, he will not pressure her."
"You don't sound like you approve," Alex commented, his heart beginning to return to a regular tempo.
"She was clearly taken from her pod too early. She has no memories. Until she is made to remember, she won't," Kate said. "And the longer she is allowed to stay under Zan's power, the harder she will be to convince that he is her enemy."
"She'll never be convinced of that," Alex said. "She loves him."
Kate narrowed her eyes at him. "I thought you said that they no were no longer together."
Alex mentally kicked himself. "Er.Well, they're not. But they still have a soft spot for each other," he finished lamely.
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway." Kate waved her hand in the air dismissively. "She will not love him when she remembers."
"He is not the same person," Alex stated. "I'm telling you." He trailed off, knowing that he would be continuing the argument in vain. She did not believe him. Except.
There was a long silence. Alex watched a bevy of emotions play across Kate's face. He recognized disbelief and frustration that he would not accept her version of what Max was supposed to be like. But he also thought he saw a slight glimmer of hope there. It made him wonder.
"Did you know Zan?" He asked gently.
"I knew him," she replied, closing her eyes. "Very well, but only before he took the throne. I was raised with Vilandra you see. He was different then - kind, but restless. He didn't want to be king, not then. His father sent him away in the summer before I left Antar - said that he was going to make Zan accept his destiny if it was the last thing he ever did - and it seemed to work. The old king could not have known what he had done though. Because when Zan came back."
"He had changed?"
"Yes." Kate's eyes snapped open, as whatever memory she had been living disappeared. "It is why I do not blame you for not seeing what he is. He has always been a marvelous dissembler."
"So you think Max is pretending to be something he isn't?" Alex asked. "That once he accepts his destiny, once he accepts he will someday be a king, he will change?"
"I don't necessarily think he's pretending," Kate said carefully. She looked right at him. "You told me before that you were a good judge of character. I see that you are. You do not fear me at all, do you?"
"No," Alex agreed. "And you don't fear me?"
"No." Kate smiled slightly. Alex thought she wanted to say something else, but she didn't elaborate. Instead she said, "My point is that perhaps you are right about Max Evans. Perhaps he has not become the monster he is capable of being. Not yet anyway."
Alex frowned. "But you still think he might?"
"He [I]will[/I]," Kate insisted. "It is who he is. His true nature will win out." She swallowed. "And may the stars help us all if we allow it to happen. We cannot be fooled Alex. Not again. There is far too much at stake."
With that, Kate closed her clear blue eyes. Alex jumped when she disappeared into thin air.
He felt his blood run cold when he understood that she was really gone. Because her words were just beginning to make sense to him.
Kate Spencer had come to him wanting to be convinced that Max really was a good person. Because, for her, it only proved more strongly what she was sure he would become. He, Alex, had not convinced her to leave Max alone. In fact, he had convinced her of quite the opposite. What had he done?
It was a rhetorical question of course. He knew [I]exactly[/I] what he had done. Although she had not said it in so many words, he had just convinced one of Max Evans's enemies even more firmly that he had to die.
To be continued.