[u]Part 20[/u]
"Michael." Max grimaced as he watched his best friend beat down the fire that had erupted on the grill in front of him when he had sent bacon grease splattering everywhere in his impatience to finish the order he was working on.
"I'm a little busy here Maxwell," Michael ground out through gritted teeth. Max could see that Michael was trying to covertly use his powers to put the fire out without letting the other cook see, but that he was only making things worse in his frustration. José hadn't yet noticed the problem from where he was sticking alien headed toothpicks into the omelettes on the pass-through, but if Michael kept making the flames [I]bigger[/I] rather than putting them out, this state of affairs could not last.
Max hurried forward, muttered to his friend, "Cover me."
Michael moved aside quickly, positioning himself so that he stood between José and the grill. Max took a deep breath and turned his concentration inward, calling upon one of his gifts - he still wasn't exactly sure [I]how[/I] he put out fires - to extinguish the flames. He was glad to do it. It forced him to focus his thoughts entirely on something that would have a satisfying outcome, even if it was a fairly insignificant one, something that had been sadly lacking in his life over the past weeks.
He was starting to realize that the supreme irony of his life was that, despite the inherent part of his personality that craved order and control, he rarely, if ever, achieved it. It was something Max was slowly coming to accept, mainly because he had always felt in control of his own feelings, especially when it came to Liz. But after that strange little interlude they had just shared in her bedroom, he was beginning to wonder if he had lost his certainty of even that.
Something had been wrong between them - wrong in a way unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It wasn't like when he had taken his step back last Christmas or when Liz had walked away from him at the pod chamber. It wasn't even like when he had felt his world ending a couple of weeks before when he had caught her in bed with Kyle. In each of those situations at least one of them had been the instigator of the breakdown of their connection. There had been a direct cause and effect for the severing of their bond. One which had never worked anyway. Because, even over the past two weeks - without a doubt the worst weeks he had ever lived - the connection had never been extinguished. He had still been tuned into her, had still been bonded to her in their unique way. It was why he had known deep down that she was lying about the whole Kyle thing after all, even if he hadn't realized right away that he [I]did[/I] know it.
This morning had been different though. It had freaked him out because when he had kissed Liz, he had felt absolutely [I]nothing[/I]. No connection, no meeting of souls, not even any warmth. He had known last night, speaking to her on the phone, that she was not all right, had known it even following Alex's reassurance, and, yet, he hadn't done anything about it. And now something had happened. The worst part of the whole thing was that he had absolutely no idea what.
Max lowered his hand, stared down at the sizzling grill with unseeing eyes. He swallowed as he was forced to admit to himself that it wasn't true. He [I]did[/I] know.
Something had happened between she and Will. He had gone with his heart and had trusted that there was no way that another guy - [I]any[/I] other guy, even her past-life husband - could come between them and his heart had betrayed him. He had lost her.
There had been no connection, no flashes to tell him that his fears were justified, but somehow he knew he was right. Things had shifted in the space of twelve hours. She was no longer [I]his[/I] Liz.
He was surprised that it didn't hurt more. Maybe he had been expecting it all along, or at least since he had seen the instant bond between Liz and the mysterious newcomer in bio the day before. Maybe she had been doing him a favour with the whole pretending to sleep with Kyle thing. He had already experienced complete devastating heart-break once recently. Once more, this time for real, seemed like old hat now.
Maybe it was just plain, simple shock - it hadn't sunk in yet.
"Maxwell, what the hell's wrong with you?" Michael asked under his breath. "What's happened?"
Max turned his head, looked at Michael. Why had he come in here again? Oh yeah. To ask his second-in-command (why did it still sound completely ludicrous to Max to think of Michael in that way?) to find Isabel and tell her what was going on. His sister had somehow managed to make it out of the house before him this morning, something that either heralded impending nuclear war or an early-morning fire sale at the mall, and he still hadn't managed to fill her in on the current situation. Now, with his present course set, he wasn't going to have time to look for her himself.
"Nothing's wrong," Max replied firmly. He chose not to reflect on why he was keeping what had just happened between he and Liz to himself. Maybe it was still shock. Or maybe it was because he couldn't bear to admit that his faith in her had been betrayed. But he knew deep down that neither of these reasons explained it.
He just didn't want anyone to blame her anymore. She couldn't help what was meant to be, what she felt, anymore than he could. He knew now that he had been destined to love her - that Zan must have lusted after Rowena in their past lives and Liz had been fooled by it for a time in this one. It even made sense. Rowena had obviously loved her husband Khivar and Zan had been so insane with jealousy, he had gone crazy and had destroyed her planet and then everyone they both loved. It even explained the insight he had received in his connection from Kate the night before - that Zan had not always been evil, that he had changed somehow. It was why Kate's grisly demise had been even more shocking to her. She had never expected such a thing of Zan. He had changed because he had been rejected by the only person he had ever wanted. Love spurned - it was almost a cliché!
Now Rowena had found her real soul mate again and things were returning to the way they were meant to be. Max had been right once upon a time when he had told Liz that they didn't belong together. They never had. He had lived Zan's dream for several exhilarating, wonderful months, but now it was over.
It still amazed him that those few short minutes in her bedroom had told him all this. But the emptiness between them had been so complete, so unlike anything he had ever felt in her presence before, there had been no kidding himself any longer. Whatever it was that had bonded them from the instant he had seen her in the playground that day long ago, whatever it was that had made the connection real for her as well after the healing, was just gone.
He had lost her and now he had to concentrate on making sure it wasn't for nothing. He would fix the mistakes of that other person he had once been so that all the pain she had suffered in that life - and in this one - could finally be replaced by the happiness she deserved.
There was only one thing he could do now. He was going to surrender. He was going to concede the battle before it was even fought. In more ways than one. He would do it for Liz. She didn't need him any longer and neither did Antar. It would be better for everyone if he just gave in.
Max shook his head, focused on Michael, knew that he couldn't tell him exactly what he planned. Michael would blow a gasket and would also likely do something to stop him. Max's mind was made up. For once he would act like the king they all wanted him to be and he would do the right thing. He would not allow anyone to stop him - not even Michael. "I need you to find Izzy, need you two to meet me at the motel. Fill her in on the way."
"What?" Michael's surprise was evident in his voice. "What about the plan? The idiotic plan you said no one was allowed to argue with?"
"Screw the plan," Max told him evenly. "We're going to finish this once and for all. I just can't do this anymore Michael."
"Okay, slow down." Michael grabbed Max by the shoulder and pushed him physically into the break room. "I'll be back in a sec José. Watch those eggs," he called over his shoulder. "Talk." Michael ordered him as soon as they were somewhat isolated.
Max met his best friend's eyes steadily. "Michael, I can't get into it right now. Are you with me or not?"
Michael scowled, stared at him for a long moment and then said, "You know I am."
"Good. Find Isabel and then pick up Tess. I'll meet you there."
"What about the others?" Michael called after him.
Max paused, thought about it for a moment, then said over his shoulder, "I don't want them involved in this. It will all be over soon enough. They can find out after."
"The Sheriff is going to be pissed," Michael warned him.
"Fine. Let him be pissed. This is my war, not his. He'll get over it. Besides, once I do what I have to do, all the excess." Max paused, then sighed and continued, "Czechoslovakians will be leaving anyway."
"Maxwell, I don't understand. If you've figured out a way to get them all out of Dodge, why didn't you tell us yesterday?" Michael demanded impatiently.
"What I'm going to do wasn't possible yesterday," Max explained quietly. "But everything's changed now."
"Max."
"Michael," Max cut him off. "Just [I]do[/I] it. Please." With that, he pushed his way through into the alley, only to be brought to an abrupt halt.
In spite of his new resolve, he still wasn't prepared to find himself face to face with Will. He had been ready to go meet his enemy on his own terms, but had not expected to be the one sought out. Because as his eyes met Will's piercing blue gaze, he knew that he was exactly who the other guy had come looking for.
Apparently he wasn't the only one ready for a reckoning. The sheer irony of this was not lost on Max. Had Will waited another hour, he would have had the King of Antar exactly where he wanted him. Max sighed in resignation. So much for ending this peacefully. This was just not good, especially considering how well his last face to face encounter with Will had gone. The expression on the other guy's face did not bode well that this meeting would end any differently.
Max clenched and unclenched a fist at his side, ready to throw up his shield at a moment's notice. He knew that if Will really intended to kill him, the shield wouldn't do much in the long run, but he would try anyway. He might be ready to end the farce that he ever could have been a king or that he could ever have truly found happiness with Liz, especially after knowing that any future for the two of them would end in disaster (hadn't he even come back from the future to tell her so after all?), but it didn't mean he wanted to die. He had not lied to Liz the night before when he had admitted that sometimes he thought it might be the easiest thing, to give up completely, but he also knew that he was too much of a coward to take that route. He was no Marc Antony, ready to fall on his sword. His experiences with Pierce had more than reinforced this fact.
[I]And yet you're willing to give up on Liz and on your birthright.[/I] Max grimaced as the annoying small voice in the back of his head reappeared. Like he had time for doubts about that at the moment!
"Can I help you?" He asked Will wearily, trying to hide the fear that had awakened in the pit of his stomach. He was not proud of the fact that he feared this guy, but he did. It wasn't pleasant facing someone you knew wanted you dead, whether you were willing to give up your throne or not. The hatred and jealousy Max felt for Will or Khivar, or whoever he was, really almost counteracted it, but not quite.
"Don't play games with me Zan. You know why I'm here." Will's voice was quiet, but with an underlying steeliness that Max couldn't help but admire. He sounded like a king dammit. He wished he could do that. But, then, he had never asked to be a leader. Will had been born to it, had always known who he was.
"I really don't," Max replied. "If it's to see Liz, I'm not going to try and stop you."
Will's eyes narrowed at that. "Not that you could, but I admit I'm surprised. I was equally surprised to hear last night that you let Rowena come back to see me. It was a stupid plan Zan. She told me the truth almost immediately. Rowena cannot lie."
"It wasn't my plan. But it's not my job to tell Liz what she can or cannot do," Max said. [I]Not that I don't wish it was.[/I] He was trying to control that side of his nature, the side that wanted to keep the people he loved safe and close at all times. He couldn't run their lives. It didn't mean he didn't wish he could sometimes. If Liz hadn't gone last night, would she still have been so cold this morning? Would he still have his false claim to her? Because any sort of connection with Liz at the moment would have been just enough to make him want to deal with this. But the fact that he was standing right under her balcony and that she was likely still in her bedroom and that he still felt nothing.it was not reassuring.
There was a long silence as Will stared at him. Max did his best not to squirm beneath the close examination. He might be scared but he was not going to show it. "You don't fool me with this innocent teenager act you know," he finally said. "You've fooled even my sister now, but not me. Never me."
"I'm not trying to fool you," Max snapped. "And I really don't care what you think of me. It doesn't change what I was just on my way to tell you."
"What I have to do to get my cousin back." Will's blue eyes, which Max was beginning to realize, as he spent more time taking their measure, were strangely like Tess's, flashed with anger. Because of this analysis, it took him a moment to absorb what the other guy was saying.
"Your cousin?"
Will didn't have a chance to answer though because the air next to him had started to shimmer. Max watched with interest, although he already knew what was going to happen. He was proven right when a moment later Kate appeared out of thin air. Nor was she alone. Alex was with her, looking slightly green.
"Well, it beats the bus," Max friend muttered as he shook his dark head, as though to clear it.
"Will!" Kate practically shrieked. "Are you crazy? What are you doing here alone? This is dangerous! Rowena told you she would handle it."
"Getting Jack back," Will answered mildly, not even deigning to look at his sister.
Max sighed, looked at Alex, starting to get a little annoyed. Something had obviously happened and it seemed that he was being blamed for it. "I don't suppose you could translate for me?"
Alex sounded more tired than Max felt as he explained, "So, I'm guessing you know that the plan is kaputsky?" When Max just rolled his eyes in acknowledgment, Alex continued, "They're a four square too." Max nodded, it being exactly what Michael had guessed the night before. "Jack is the fourth. He's disappeared, but not before dusting Courtney."
Max felt a pang of sorrow at the news that Courtney had passed away. He hoped that it was mostly out of compassion, although he suspected, if he were to truly self-analyze, it was because he had wanted more information out of her before she died. This fact did not reassure him that he had changed much in this life after all. He did feel sorry for Michael though. His best friend would be upset by the news. But he knew there had been no way they could help her. Perhaps it had been merciful that she had been killed before she could simply shred away to nothing.
"You know who he is," Will interrupted.
"And that wasn't Jack," Kate insisted. "I told you that Alex. There is no way he would have done that."
"No, that's more Zan's style." Will narrowed his eyes again. Max shifted uncomfortably. Those eyes.they felt like two beacons attempting to glean the secrets of his soul. "After all, we know that you're still allied with the Wendarians. Sending in a shapeshifter to hide the fact that you've kidnapped our fourth would be a good way to screw with us, wouldn't it?"
"It would," Max conceded. "If I had an army of shapeshifters at my disposal. Of course, I don't, and the only one I did have was killed." He paused, glared, suddenly no longer willing to just stand there and take the accusations. He might be a psycho killer waiting to be unleashed, but he hadn't done anything [I]yet[/I] and he was tired of people saying he had. "Oh, right. By [I]your[/I] people." Good. Just enough sarcasm there. Even Michael would be proud.
"Deny it all you want. I know it was you." Will raised a hand threateningly. "Tell me where he is and I'll kill you quickly."
"Okay!" Alex stepped forward, his hands raised. He turned so that his back was facing Max, effectively blocking him from Will. "There is going to be no blasting. I told you already, I know that Max did not do this. Liz told you that she knew it."
"You talked to Liz," Max demanded. "When? I was just with her a few minutes ago."
"Er." Alex grimaced. "Well."
"What he doesn't want to tell you is that Rowena and I have reestablished our psychic link." Max turned his head and stared at Will, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. "I woke up this morning to the pleasant sensation of having her back completely. She's no longer blocking me." The arrogant expression on his face was enough to seriously make Max have second thoughts about this whole surrendering business. What had he been thinking? This guy didn't deserve Liz!
"Max." Alex said warningly, as though he could see the pleasant thought Max was entertaining that consisted of sending various parts of Will splattering against the concrete walls of the Crashdown. He knew that both Isabel and Michael had blown people to smithereens at various times. Why couldn't he?
[I]Because neither Michael or Isabel has forgiven themselves for taking those lives - even though they were evil ones,[/I] that damn annoying voice reminded him. [I]And as much as you despise him, you know that Will isn't.[/I]
Max scowled. As pissed off as it made him, he did know it. Because he knew that Liz would never trust someone who was evil and she trusted Will. Bloody hell. Max had lost her, yes, but it didn't mean that she still wasn't the person whose opinion he most respected in the world. If she had chosen this guy, then he could not be bad.
"Big bad Zan wants to come out and play," Will muttered, not quite loud enough that it could truly be considered a taunt, but close enough. Max gritted his teeth, but ignored him, decided to focus on Kate, who had by now established a death grip on her brother's arm. Max smirked slightly because she was apparently using her nails if the flash of pain that crossed Will's face was any indication.
If there was one thing Max couldn't stand it was a poor winner. If he had hated Will before, the depths of his antipathy could not now be measured.
"I don't know where your cousin is," he told Kate evenly. "I'm sorry." He paused, then said, shocking even himself, "Do you need my help to find him? I was bringing the others to see you all anyway." Kate looked like she wanted to interrupt for more information about that, but Max pressed on resolutely, although he still didn't quite know what he was doing, "We know this town better than you do. I can have a search party ready in half an hour."
Will snorted at that but Kate's expression softened. "Why would you do that?"
"For Liz," Alex guessed, looking flabbergasted at Max's offer. "It's for Liz, isn't it?"
"If someone has taken your cousin, my guess is that they can't be very friendly to anyone I care about," Max replied. But Alex was right of course. It was for Liz. Because she would care about this Jack character having gone missing. Max just [I]knew[/I] that she would. "And let's just say that I really want to find out what the hell is going on around here. Because if there's a rogue shapeshifter running around, I need to know about it." He paused, then added, "Being as they're supposedly on my side." Not that it had ever done them any good.
Will did not look convinced but Kate actually smiled, "Thank you Zan."
"It's Max," he replied firmly. "I'm not Zan."
Her blue eyes met his steadily. "You are." He blinked when her voice was abruptly in his thoughts. [I]And it's not all bad.[/I]
Max frowned, but didn't have time to pursue the comment because the back door to the restaurant flew open at that moment. He felt his heart start to beat more quickly as Liz came through, a slightly harried expression on her face. "Sorry! I meant to be here sooner but I was on the phone with Maria. She's heading over." She looked at Alex meaningfully. "We have some bridges to mend there," she sighed.
Max could not take his eyes off her. It was the moment of truth. How would she behave with both he and Will standing right in front of her?
Somehow, in spite of it all, he was not surprised when she came and stood next to him. He had known that it was what would happen. Because neither she nor Will knew that he was aware that she was shut off from him, that the connection had been broken. Whatever was going on between the two of them, Max knew that Liz would not want to hurt [I]him[/I]. And Will would understand because it was who Liz was, sounded like it was who Rowena had been as well.
She had always been kind. And until she had a chance to let him down easily, a chance to fix things for them all, she would not betray that she no longer wanted him. She would pretend for a while, but she would tell him the truth eventually. Wasn't it why he had finally made her tell him the truth about sleeping with Kyle? The whole lying thing had been tearing her apart. She just could not do it anymore.
Liz could not lie for long. She just did not have it in her. And, as this thought passed through his mind, as he tried to ignore the way his heart was literally breaking in his chest, he blinked abruptly.
Because, it was only then that Max realized something that had been staring him in the face for close to ten minutes. As Liz moved closer to him, he felt his eyes widen. He had heard it twice and it still hadn't penetrated.
Liz had never followed the plan. She had never pretended to side with Will. Will had said so and Alex had confirmed it. But last night on the phone and again this morning, Liz had acted as though everything was still going according to plan.
She had lied to him. And even if the connection [I]had[/I] been broken, he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that it was the last thing she would ever do. Not again. Not after the hell they had been through over the past few weeks and not even if she no longer loved him. In fact, if the latter was true, she would have just told him. He knew that she would have. Because if he had felt the connection end, she had to have too. She would [I]know[/I] that he knew it was over between them. Which could only mean one thing.
This girl was not Liz Parker.
To be continued.
"Michael." Max grimaced as he watched his best friend beat down the fire that had erupted on the grill in front of him when he had sent bacon grease splattering everywhere in his impatience to finish the order he was working on.
"I'm a little busy here Maxwell," Michael ground out through gritted teeth. Max could see that Michael was trying to covertly use his powers to put the fire out without letting the other cook see, but that he was only making things worse in his frustration. José hadn't yet noticed the problem from where he was sticking alien headed toothpicks into the omelettes on the pass-through, but if Michael kept making the flames [I]bigger[/I] rather than putting them out, this state of affairs could not last.
Max hurried forward, muttered to his friend, "Cover me."
Michael moved aside quickly, positioning himself so that he stood between José and the grill. Max took a deep breath and turned his concentration inward, calling upon one of his gifts - he still wasn't exactly sure [I]how[/I] he put out fires - to extinguish the flames. He was glad to do it. It forced him to focus his thoughts entirely on something that would have a satisfying outcome, even if it was a fairly insignificant one, something that had been sadly lacking in his life over the past weeks.
He was starting to realize that the supreme irony of his life was that, despite the inherent part of his personality that craved order and control, he rarely, if ever, achieved it. It was something Max was slowly coming to accept, mainly because he had always felt in control of his own feelings, especially when it came to Liz. But after that strange little interlude they had just shared in her bedroom, he was beginning to wonder if he had lost his certainty of even that.
Something had been wrong between them - wrong in a way unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It wasn't like when he had taken his step back last Christmas or when Liz had walked away from him at the pod chamber. It wasn't even like when he had felt his world ending a couple of weeks before when he had caught her in bed with Kyle. In each of those situations at least one of them had been the instigator of the breakdown of their connection. There had been a direct cause and effect for the severing of their bond. One which had never worked anyway. Because, even over the past two weeks - without a doubt the worst weeks he had ever lived - the connection had never been extinguished. He had still been tuned into her, had still been bonded to her in their unique way. It was why he had known deep down that she was lying about the whole Kyle thing after all, even if he hadn't realized right away that he [I]did[/I] know it.
This morning had been different though. It had freaked him out because when he had kissed Liz, he had felt absolutely [I]nothing[/I]. No connection, no meeting of souls, not even any warmth. He had known last night, speaking to her on the phone, that she was not all right, had known it even following Alex's reassurance, and, yet, he hadn't done anything about it. And now something had happened. The worst part of the whole thing was that he had absolutely no idea what.
Max lowered his hand, stared down at the sizzling grill with unseeing eyes. He swallowed as he was forced to admit to himself that it wasn't true. He [I]did[/I] know.
Something had happened between she and Will. He had gone with his heart and had trusted that there was no way that another guy - [I]any[/I] other guy, even her past-life husband - could come between them and his heart had betrayed him. He had lost her.
There had been no connection, no flashes to tell him that his fears were justified, but somehow he knew he was right. Things had shifted in the space of twelve hours. She was no longer [I]his[/I] Liz.
He was surprised that it didn't hurt more. Maybe he had been expecting it all along, or at least since he had seen the instant bond between Liz and the mysterious newcomer in bio the day before. Maybe she had been doing him a favour with the whole pretending to sleep with Kyle thing. He had already experienced complete devastating heart-break once recently. Once more, this time for real, seemed like old hat now.
Maybe it was just plain, simple shock - it hadn't sunk in yet.
"Maxwell, what the hell's wrong with you?" Michael asked under his breath. "What's happened?"
Max turned his head, looked at Michael. Why had he come in here again? Oh yeah. To ask his second-in-command (why did it still sound completely ludicrous to Max to think of Michael in that way?) to find Isabel and tell her what was going on. His sister had somehow managed to make it out of the house before him this morning, something that either heralded impending nuclear war or an early-morning fire sale at the mall, and he still hadn't managed to fill her in on the current situation. Now, with his present course set, he wasn't going to have time to look for her himself.
"Nothing's wrong," Max replied firmly. He chose not to reflect on why he was keeping what had just happened between he and Liz to himself. Maybe it was still shock. Or maybe it was because he couldn't bear to admit that his faith in her had been betrayed. But he knew deep down that neither of these reasons explained it.
He just didn't want anyone to blame her anymore. She couldn't help what was meant to be, what she felt, anymore than he could. He knew now that he had been destined to love her - that Zan must have lusted after Rowena in their past lives and Liz had been fooled by it for a time in this one. It even made sense. Rowena had obviously loved her husband Khivar and Zan had been so insane with jealousy, he had gone crazy and had destroyed her planet and then everyone they both loved. It even explained the insight he had received in his connection from Kate the night before - that Zan had not always been evil, that he had changed somehow. It was why Kate's grisly demise had been even more shocking to her. She had never expected such a thing of Zan. He had changed because he had been rejected by the only person he had ever wanted. Love spurned - it was almost a cliché!
Now Rowena had found her real soul mate again and things were returning to the way they were meant to be. Max had been right once upon a time when he had told Liz that they didn't belong together. They never had. He had lived Zan's dream for several exhilarating, wonderful months, but now it was over.
It still amazed him that those few short minutes in her bedroom had told him all this. But the emptiness between them had been so complete, so unlike anything he had ever felt in her presence before, there had been no kidding himself any longer. Whatever it was that had bonded them from the instant he had seen her in the playground that day long ago, whatever it was that had made the connection real for her as well after the healing, was just gone.
He had lost her and now he had to concentrate on making sure it wasn't for nothing. He would fix the mistakes of that other person he had once been so that all the pain she had suffered in that life - and in this one - could finally be replaced by the happiness she deserved.
There was only one thing he could do now. He was going to surrender. He was going to concede the battle before it was even fought. In more ways than one. He would do it for Liz. She didn't need him any longer and neither did Antar. It would be better for everyone if he just gave in.
Max shook his head, focused on Michael, knew that he couldn't tell him exactly what he planned. Michael would blow a gasket and would also likely do something to stop him. Max's mind was made up. For once he would act like the king they all wanted him to be and he would do the right thing. He would not allow anyone to stop him - not even Michael. "I need you to find Izzy, need you two to meet me at the motel. Fill her in on the way."
"What?" Michael's surprise was evident in his voice. "What about the plan? The idiotic plan you said no one was allowed to argue with?"
"Screw the plan," Max told him evenly. "We're going to finish this once and for all. I just can't do this anymore Michael."
"Okay, slow down." Michael grabbed Max by the shoulder and pushed him physically into the break room. "I'll be back in a sec José. Watch those eggs," he called over his shoulder. "Talk." Michael ordered him as soon as they were somewhat isolated.
Max met his best friend's eyes steadily. "Michael, I can't get into it right now. Are you with me or not?"
Michael scowled, stared at him for a long moment and then said, "You know I am."
"Good. Find Isabel and then pick up Tess. I'll meet you there."
"What about the others?" Michael called after him.
Max paused, thought about it for a moment, then said over his shoulder, "I don't want them involved in this. It will all be over soon enough. They can find out after."
"The Sheriff is going to be pissed," Michael warned him.
"Fine. Let him be pissed. This is my war, not his. He'll get over it. Besides, once I do what I have to do, all the excess." Max paused, then sighed and continued, "Czechoslovakians will be leaving anyway."
"Maxwell, I don't understand. If you've figured out a way to get them all out of Dodge, why didn't you tell us yesterday?" Michael demanded impatiently.
"What I'm going to do wasn't possible yesterday," Max explained quietly. "But everything's changed now."
"Max."
"Michael," Max cut him off. "Just [I]do[/I] it. Please." With that, he pushed his way through into the alley, only to be brought to an abrupt halt.
In spite of his new resolve, he still wasn't prepared to find himself face to face with Will. He had been ready to go meet his enemy on his own terms, but had not expected to be the one sought out. Because as his eyes met Will's piercing blue gaze, he knew that he was exactly who the other guy had come looking for.
Apparently he wasn't the only one ready for a reckoning. The sheer irony of this was not lost on Max. Had Will waited another hour, he would have had the King of Antar exactly where he wanted him. Max sighed in resignation. So much for ending this peacefully. This was just not good, especially considering how well his last face to face encounter with Will had gone. The expression on the other guy's face did not bode well that this meeting would end any differently.
Max clenched and unclenched a fist at his side, ready to throw up his shield at a moment's notice. He knew that if Will really intended to kill him, the shield wouldn't do much in the long run, but he would try anyway. He might be ready to end the farce that he ever could have been a king or that he could ever have truly found happiness with Liz, especially after knowing that any future for the two of them would end in disaster (hadn't he even come back from the future to tell her so after all?), but it didn't mean he wanted to die. He had not lied to Liz the night before when he had admitted that sometimes he thought it might be the easiest thing, to give up completely, but he also knew that he was too much of a coward to take that route. He was no Marc Antony, ready to fall on his sword. His experiences with Pierce had more than reinforced this fact.
[I]And yet you're willing to give up on Liz and on your birthright.[/I] Max grimaced as the annoying small voice in the back of his head reappeared. Like he had time for doubts about that at the moment!
"Can I help you?" He asked Will wearily, trying to hide the fear that had awakened in the pit of his stomach. He was not proud of the fact that he feared this guy, but he did. It wasn't pleasant facing someone you knew wanted you dead, whether you were willing to give up your throne or not. The hatred and jealousy Max felt for Will or Khivar, or whoever he was, really almost counteracted it, but not quite.
"Don't play games with me Zan. You know why I'm here." Will's voice was quiet, but with an underlying steeliness that Max couldn't help but admire. He sounded like a king dammit. He wished he could do that. But, then, he had never asked to be a leader. Will had been born to it, had always known who he was.
"I really don't," Max replied. "If it's to see Liz, I'm not going to try and stop you."
Will's eyes narrowed at that. "Not that you could, but I admit I'm surprised. I was equally surprised to hear last night that you let Rowena come back to see me. It was a stupid plan Zan. She told me the truth almost immediately. Rowena cannot lie."
"It wasn't my plan. But it's not my job to tell Liz what she can or cannot do," Max said. [I]Not that I don't wish it was.[/I] He was trying to control that side of his nature, the side that wanted to keep the people he loved safe and close at all times. He couldn't run their lives. It didn't mean he didn't wish he could sometimes. If Liz hadn't gone last night, would she still have been so cold this morning? Would he still have his false claim to her? Because any sort of connection with Liz at the moment would have been just enough to make him want to deal with this. But the fact that he was standing right under her balcony and that she was likely still in her bedroom and that he still felt nothing.it was not reassuring.
There was a long silence as Will stared at him. Max did his best not to squirm beneath the close examination. He might be scared but he was not going to show it. "You don't fool me with this innocent teenager act you know," he finally said. "You've fooled even my sister now, but not me. Never me."
"I'm not trying to fool you," Max snapped. "And I really don't care what you think of me. It doesn't change what I was just on my way to tell you."
"What I have to do to get my cousin back." Will's blue eyes, which Max was beginning to realize, as he spent more time taking their measure, were strangely like Tess's, flashed with anger. Because of this analysis, it took him a moment to absorb what the other guy was saying.
"Your cousin?"
Will didn't have a chance to answer though because the air next to him had started to shimmer. Max watched with interest, although he already knew what was going to happen. He was proven right when a moment later Kate appeared out of thin air. Nor was she alone. Alex was with her, looking slightly green.
"Well, it beats the bus," Max friend muttered as he shook his dark head, as though to clear it.
"Will!" Kate practically shrieked. "Are you crazy? What are you doing here alone? This is dangerous! Rowena told you she would handle it."
"Getting Jack back," Will answered mildly, not even deigning to look at his sister.
Max sighed, looked at Alex, starting to get a little annoyed. Something had obviously happened and it seemed that he was being blamed for it. "I don't suppose you could translate for me?"
Alex sounded more tired than Max felt as he explained, "So, I'm guessing you know that the plan is kaputsky?" When Max just rolled his eyes in acknowledgment, Alex continued, "They're a four square too." Max nodded, it being exactly what Michael had guessed the night before. "Jack is the fourth. He's disappeared, but not before dusting Courtney."
Max felt a pang of sorrow at the news that Courtney had passed away. He hoped that it was mostly out of compassion, although he suspected, if he were to truly self-analyze, it was because he had wanted more information out of her before she died. This fact did not reassure him that he had changed much in this life after all. He did feel sorry for Michael though. His best friend would be upset by the news. But he knew there had been no way they could help her. Perhaps it had been merciful that she had been killed before she could simply shred away to nothing.
"You know who he is," Will interrupted.
"And that wasn't Jack," Kate insisted. "I told you that Alex. There is no way he would have done that."
"No, that's more Zan's style." Will narrowed his eyes again. Max shifted uncomfortably. Those eyes.they felt like two beacons attempting to glean the secrets of his soul. "After all, we know that you're still allied with the Wendarians. Sending in a shapeshifter to hide the fact that you've kidnapped our fourth would be a good way to screw with us, wouldn't it?"
"It would," Max conceded. "If I had an army of shapeshifters at my disposal. Of course, I don't, and the only one I did have was killed." He paused, glared, suddenly no longer willing to just stand there and take the accusations. He might be a psycho killer waiting to be unleashed, but he hadn't done anything [I]yet[/I] and he was tired of people saying he had. "Oh, right. By [I]your[/I] people." Good. Just enough sarcasm there. Even Michael would be proud.
"Deny it all you want. I know it was you." Will raised a hand threateningly. "Tell me where he is and I'll kill you quickly."
"Okay!" Alex stepped forward, his hands raised. He turned so that his back was facing Max, effectively blocking him from Will. "There is going to be no blasting. I told you already, I know that Max did not do this. Liz told you that she knew it."
"You talked to Liz," Max demanded. "When? I was just with her a few minutes ago."
"Er." Alex grimaced. "Well."
"What he doesn't want to tell you is that Rowena and I have reestablished our psychic link." Max turned his head and stared at Will, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. "I woke up this morning to the pleasant sensation of having her back completely. She's no longer blocking me." The arrogant expression on his face was enough to seriously make Max have second thoughts about this whole surrendering business. What had he been thinking? This guy didn't deserve Liz!
"Max." Alex said warningly, as though he could see the pleasant thought Max was entertaining that consisted of sending various parts of Will splattering against the concrete walls of the Crashdown. He knew that both Isabel and Michael had blown people to smithereens at various times. Why couldn't he?
[I]Because neither Michael or Isabel has forgiven themselves for taking those lives - even though they were evil ones,[/I] that damn annoying voice reminded him. [I]And as much as you despise him, you know that Will isn't.[/I]
Max scowled. As pissed off as it made him, he did know it. Because he knew that Liz would never trust someone who was evil and she trusted Will. Bloody hell. Max had lost her, yes, but it didn't mean that she still wasn't the person whose opinion he most respected in the world. If she had chosen this guy, then he could not be bad.
"Big bad Zan wants to come out and play," Will muttered, not quite loud enough that it could truly be considered a taunt, but close enough. Max gritted his teeth, but ignored him, decided to focus on Kate, who had by now established a death grip on her brother's arm. Max smirked slightly because she was apparently using her nails if the flash of pain that crossed Will's face was any indication.
If there was one thing Max couldn't stand it was a poor winner. If he had hated Will before, the depths of his antipathy could not now be measured.
"I don't know where your cousin is," he told Kate evenly. "I'm sorry." He paused, then said, shocking even himself, "Do you need my help to find him? I was bringing the others to see you all anyway." Kate looked like she wanted to interrupt for more information about that, but Max pressed on resolutely, although he still didn't quite know what he was doing, "We know this town better than you do. I can have a search party ready in half an hour."
Will snorted at that but Kate's expression softened. "Why would you do that?"
"For Liz," Alex guessed, looking flabbergasted at Max's offer. "It's for Liz, isn't it?"
"If someone has taken your cousin, my guess is that they can't be very friendly to anyone I care about," Max replied. But Alex was right of course. It was for Liz. Because she would care about this Jack character having gone missing. Max just [I]knew[/I] that she would. "And let's just say that I really want to find out what the hell is going on around here. Because if there's a rogue shapeshifter running around, I need to know about it." He paused, then added, "Being as they're supposedly on my side." Not that it had ever done them any good.
Will did not look convinced but Kate actually smiled, "Thank you Zan."
"It's Max," he replied firmly. "I'm not Zan."
Her blue eyes met his steadily. "You are." He blinked when her voice was abruptly in his thoughts. [I]And it's not all bad.[/I]
Max frowned, but didn't have time to pursue the comment because the back door to the restaurant flew open at that moment. He felt his heart start to beat more quickly as Liz came through, a slightly harried expression on her face. "Sorry! I meant to be here sooner but I was on the phone with Maria. She's heading over." She looked at Alex meaningfully. "We have some bridges to mend there," she sighed.
Max could not take his eyes off her. It was the moment of truth. How would she behave with both he and Will standing right in front of her?
Somehow, in spite of it all, he was not surprised when she came and stood next to him. He had known that it was what would happen. Because neither she nor Will knew that he was aware that she was shut off from him, that the connection had been broken. Whatever was going on between the two of them, Max knew that Liz would not want to hurt [I]him[/I]. And Will would understand because it was who Liz was, sounded like it was who Rowena had been as well.
She had always been kind. And until she had a chance to let him down easily, a chance to fix things for them all, she would not betray that she no longer wanted him. She would pretend for a while, but she would tell him the truth eventually. Wasn't it why he had finally made her tell him the truth about sleeping with Kyle? The whole lying thing had been tearing her apart. She just could not do it anymore.
Liz could not lie for long. She just did not have it in her. And, as this thought passed through his mind, as he tried to ignore the way his heart was literally breaking in his chest, he blinked abruptly.
Because, it was only then that Max realized something that had been staring him in the face for close to ten minutes. As Liz moved closer to him, he felt his eyes widen. He had heard it twice and it still hadn't penetrated.
Liz had never followed the plan. She had never pretended to side with Will. Will had said so and Alex had confirmed it. But last night on the phone and again this morning, Liz had acted as though everything was still going according to plan.
She had lied to him. And even if the connection [I]had[/I] been broken, he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that it was the last thing she would ever do. Not again. Not after the hell they had been through over the past few weeks and not even if she no longer loved him. In fact, if the latter was true, she would have just told him. He knew that she would have. Because if he had felt the connection end, she had to have too. She would [I]know[/I] that he knew it was over between them. Which could only mean one thing.
This girl was not Liz Parker.
To be continued.