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[u]Part 38[/u]
"She can't do that," Grant said impatiently. "I told you. The cells he has them in are wired to resist your gifts. She won't get in, and even if she did, she wouldn't get out again."
Kate felt her heart fall in disappointment. It had seemed like a good plan when Michael suggested it - that she simply teleport to Nasedo's compound and bring the others back. No confrontation would have been necessary then, or at least not until after they were all safe and able to plan more effectively. The fact that she might have killed herself trying to teleport that many people at one time was incidental to her. She knew she could do it. The mere possibility that everyone else would stay safe was enough to make her determination complete.
But, according to Grant, there was no possible way.
"So, we have to go in then," Max said, sounding tired. Kate didn't blame him. She was exhausted too. She had been awake for almost twenty-four hours now. While most of her life was spent in a perpetual state of worry, this had also increased exponentially since she, Will and Jack had come to Roswell. It was no wonder she knew that if she even sat down at this point, she wouldn't be getting up for a very long time.
There was no way she was sitting down.
She just wished they would get going. They had learned a lot from Grant, making the past hours their friends had spent in captivity a little more easy to bear. But the guilt that they had made absolutely no attempt to free them up until now was beginning to get to her. It was time to move. For once, she found herself in complete agreement with Michael, whose impatience was more than obvious. He was standing next to her, shifting from one foot to the other, clenching and unclenching his hands, as though he was about to lose his mind.
It made Max's complete calm even more obvious. The young king stood next to Liz, a pensive expression on his face as he thought about the best way to do what they had to do. She found it reassuring, but also a little frustrating. Did he always have to think everything through so completely?
It was only when he finally spoke again that Kate understood that Max wasn't really thinking about a plan at all. He apparently already had one. The careful way he voiced it indicated that he had only been thinking about the best way to let them all in on it without anyone freaking out. Because when Kate heard it, she closed her eyes and grimaced, knowing that various freak-outs were indeed impending. She knew immediately that any attempt on Max's part to avoid everyone ending up mad at him was in vain.
"Liz, Maria, Kyle and Michael are staying here."
He pissed Michael off first, which was really no surprise, although his bellow still made Kate jump. "Are you crazy, Maxwell?" No one else seemed particularly shocked by it though. Maria had already grabbed him by the arm to hold him in his place. Kyle was just rolling his eyes and Grant was staring at him with something approximating disdain. "I am [I]not[/I] staying here!"
"I'm not crazy, Michael," Max replied quietly. "You have a job to do and you're going to do it." He looked down at Liz, who was frowning slightly, but for being the only other person who was likely to majorly object to Max's plan, she seemed remarkably composed. "It's Liz and the granolith that he really wants. We all know it. You are going to protect them both and that's all there is to it. And the best place to do that is here. Obviously."
"Tess can stay!" Michael snapped, although he seemed to be calming down slightly. He seemed to have realized that he was more likely of success by reasoning with Max, rather than yelling. "He wants Tess too. She should stay!"
"I don't think Nasedo wants Tess at all," Max told him firmly. "He must know who she really is. He's had her in his power for years. No, it's Liz he thinks he needs to make the granolith work. Tess can look after herself." Max looked at Tess, who nodded. "Not to mention we need her mindwarp to get them out. Tess goes."
"But Serena was the one who invented it," Kate reminded him, still unsure what exactly he was thinking. She was looking at Liz while she said it, wondering what the dark-haired girl was thinking about the fact that Max was implying that while Tess could protect herself, Liz could not. She was holding herself a little more rigidly than before, but she still didn't say a word.
"I don't think Nasedo knows that," Max shrugged. "If he did, he never would have given Tess so much freedom."
"But he still thinks I'm working with him," Tess said. "He doesn't need to keep me close." She looked at Liz, obviously slightly embarrassed. "I've never made a secret of the fact that I would do anything to become who he told me I was supposed to be."
"Ava," Max agreed. "Which only makes your presence even more valuable in this operation. He doesn't have any idea that you know who you really are now. I'm hoping that we can use that too." He quickly outlined the rest of the plan. By the end of it, everyone seemed resigned.
Michael tried once more though. "Max, you [I]need[/I] me," he insisted. "I'm the only one with any firepower."
Kate felt a chill run down her spine as Max stared right at his best friend and said, "I do need you Michael. I'm trusting you to do this. You are the [I]only[/I] one I trust to do it. If we get caught." He trailed off, paused for a moment, as though trying to rid his mind of that possibility. "If we get caught, you are going to have to get Liz out of here. Until he gets his hands on you two, he has no real control of this situation. You need to leave if we something happens to us. Now that he knows who Liz is, the possibility that he can get what he wants is very real." He glanced at Maria and Kyle. "If we don't come back, you are going to take everyone and leave. You are the only one who can truly protect them. I can't even protect them like you can. You [I]have[/I] to do this."
There was a long moment of silence as everyone digested this. Michael actually looked more upset than he had before. Max's words seemed to have finally reinforced the danger of the position in which they found themselves.
After letting his words sink in, Max addressed Kyle. "Can you call your dad? I know that Michael can handle things here, but having him around wouldn't hurt matters." Kate noticed Michael's spine straighten slightly, as though he had momentarily bent under the strain of Max's trust in him. Max's obvious complete faith seemed to help him to bear it, however. "Plus, he'll be safer."
"I won't tell him that part," Kyle replied. "If he thinks [I]you're[/I] trying to protect [I]him[/I], he's going to be ticked."
Max sighed. "I really don't want him involved in this at all," he admitted. "He's done too much for us."
"He sees it as his job," Kyle reassured him. "Not to mention, he's still a little fixated on the fact that you saved my life. You're not going to get rid of him, so you might as well just accept it."
"Which is why I want you to call him. I'm trying to do that," Max replied. "It's wrong for us to turn our backs on help. This about a lot more than just us now. We know that if we don't get control of this situation, we're dooming this entire planet to destruction."
And, really, after that, there was nothing else to say.
"We leave as soon as the sheriff tells Kyle if he can come or not," Max finally said after they all stood in silence for several moments, each trying to imagine exactly what the Future Max who had visited Liz had lived through. Kate hadn't really thought about it until then. It upset her more than she had ever imagined it would. After all, she had been raised to view Earth as simply a pit-stop to her real life. She had never been meant to love it. In fact, she hadn't even known that she did until she knew that it was threatened.
She tried not to wonder if it was really the planet she cared about. If she hadn't met Alex, would she have even worried at all? Before him, her entire life had been spent waiting to leave this rock, to return to the life she was told was really her destiny.
Everything had changed for her over the past two days. Knowing Alex Whitman had irrevocably altered the way she looked at everything. If her destiny really was to return to Sardica, then why did she feel this way about him? Why did she care? Shouldn't she have been able to deal with him without this constant concern, without this slightly befuddling, but definitely blooming [I]emotion?[/I] Shouldn't she have been able to use him to help her to get home and then forget about him? She knew that it would never be possible though.
Forgetting him. Unthinkable. Using him.Unbearable.
Meeting him.Didn't that have to be destiny too?
All she knew for sure was that she couldn't figure out any of this until she saw him again. Any which way she looked at it, Alex was fated to set her on the path the rest of her life would follow.
She waited impatiently while Kyle called his father.
***
Max took Liz's hand, gently pulling her to a far corner of the pod chamber, away from the others. She had been entirely too quiet during the recounting of his plan. It was making him more nervous than any show of resistance would have. He had expected her to react much like Michael, had expected her to accuse him of weakening the rescue mission by leaving Michael behind just to protect [I]her[/I]. But she hadn't said anything. Which could only mean that she was waiting to get him alone to really let him have it.
The fact that she allowed him to lead her away so that the could have some privacy only reinforced that he was about to have the most important argument of his life.
She could not come. That was all there was to it. Even if she never spoke to him again, he was not going to back down on this.
He looked down at her, took a deep breath and said, "Liz, I know you're mad."
She looked up at him, her dark eyes unreadable. "I'm not mad, Max."
"Just let me explain," he continued, what she had said not really registering. "You have to try and understand. You don't have any gifts - or at least any gifts that you can use right now. I can't worry about you while we're out there. I need to know your safe and I just know that you're the only one Nasedo really wants. We have to keep him away from you." He paused, her words finally penetrating his mind through his own barrage of arguments. He stared at her. "What did you say?"
She was smiling slightly, her head tilted, waiting patiently for him to realize she had spoken. "I said I'm not mad," she repeated. "I think you're right. I am a liability."
"I never said you were a 'liability,'" Max said quickly. "That's not what I meant."
"But it's the truth, Max," Liz replied quietly. "Right now, I am. Until we figure out everything, I fully agree with you that I need to stay away from Nasedo." She sighed, lifted her hands and pushed her dark hair behind her ears. "I don't like that Michael isn't going with you, but I understand that too."
He didn't quite know what to say. He had been expecting a lengthy argument with her, had even expected to leave the pod chamber with the knowledge that she was angry still, but this was so the complete opposite, he found himself momentarily dumb-struck.
"I hope you don't think that I'm just going to sit here and wait for you to get back though," Liz added. "If Tess can't make the granolith work, then someone else is going to have to. I'm going to try and figure it out while you're gone."
He felt a flash of concern. "Liz, I don't know if that's such a good idea." Max frowned. "We don't know exactly what that thing can do. I think you should wait until we're back."
Liz lifted her chin. "Max, I hope you understand that I'm agreeing not to go because I really do think it's the best plan. I'm not doing it because it's what you want. We've already had this discussion today. We love each other, but it doesn't give us the right to control each other. I learned that lesson the hard way," she added quietly. Max knew she was thinking about keeping all the Future Max stuff from him. "Being honest with each other and trusting each other to be strong enough to handle this stuff is the only way we're going to get through this."
"I'm not trying to [I]control[/I] you, Liz," Max argued. "I can't help it if I worry."
She softened. "I know that. But don't you think I'm going to be worried about you too, while you're gone? And I'm not asking [I]you[/I] not to go. You can't ask me not to do what I can while I'm waiting."
He sighed. "Of course I think you're going to be worried. But."
Liz cut him off. "Max, there is no 'but.' You're doing it again!"
"Doing what?" He grimaced, wondering how he had annoyed her so thoroughly.
"Stop thinking that you're not as important as everyone else! We love you. [I]I[/I] love you. If we lose you, if you get hurt, it's just as big a deal as if anyone else does." Her eyes were bright with tears. Max felt his heart contract painfully. He hated to see her cry. It very nearly killed him to see it, particularly because, as she was so strong, she only ever seemed to do it when he was frustrating her in some way.
"Liz, please," he begged. "I'm sorry. Don't cry."
"Don't be sorry," she snapped. "All I want is for you to be careful. I know that you're planning to do most of this yourself, and I want you to promise me that you will let the others help you. In fact, they're the ones who are stronger and better gifted for this situation. You [I]have[/I] to let them help you."
"I know it," Max replied grimly. "That doesn't mean I have to like it."
"No one's expecting you to," Liz answered. "But I know you, and that's why I'm making you promise me. I know you won't break a promise to me, so you're going to do it."
He sighed again, reached out and pulled her tightly against him. Lowering his head, he buried his face in her silky hair. "I promise to come back to you," he whispered against her ear. "And the best way to do that is to let the others help."
A spasm ran through her small body, making him tighten his arm around her. "I just want this to be over," she finally admitted softly, her voice breaking slightly.
"Me too," Max replied. They stood there for several long moments. Max kept his eyes closed, memorizing the feel of her against him, knowing that it would be the remembrance of this that would guarantee him success over the next hours. There was no on God's green Earth he wasn't coming back to [I]this.[/I]
There was no way, now that he knew that they were going to be together forever, that he wasn't coming back.
An hour later, Max wasn't so sure. Now that he was about to throw himself right into Nasedo's hands, he wasn't nearly as confident.
He was huddled against a boulder near the entrance to the canyon where Nasedo's hide-out was located. It was indeed close to the reservation, as Tess had told them earlier. He looked back at the others. Grant was directly behind him, Tess next, followed by Kate. Grant was expressionless, but he could tell that the girls were as nervous as he was. Tess's skin was no longer its usual rosy pink, but an unhealthy looking white, while Kate's large eyes were wider than he had ever seen them. "Are we ready?" He asked softly, knowing that the longer they waited, the worse off they'd be. They'd start second guessing themselves. In fact, he had already started. He knew that they could do this. They had to get moving before he truly psyched himself out.
Tess nodded and Kate whispered, "Ready."
Max straightened, motioning for Grant to take a hold of his arm. He looked the shapeshifter in the eye, wondering for one brief moment if he was right to trust this guy. He was, after all, the progeny of a race born to deceive. Gritting his teeth, he looked briefly at Kate. Tess was helping her to the ground where she was going to pretend to be unconscious.
Grant reached into his pocket and pulled out a small radio. "This is Sorenson," he said into it. "Request back-up at main entrance."
There was a long pause. The radio finally sprang to life, after several seconds of static. "Where have you been?" The voice on the other end demanded. Max felt a chill descend his spine as he recognized Nasedo's voice.
"Checking out the perimeter," Grant replied into the com. "I just had a feeling we should be expecting some guests. I didn't trust your idiots to get their hands on them. You had to take the other four out yourself after all."
"Well?" Nasedo demanded, sounding impatient.
"As always, I was right," Grant said evenly. "I have the king himself. And the little escapee."
"You took them out yourself?"
"Princess Karana exposed Tess, but she managed to escape unscathed. She came back just in time to help out. She's here now. They know you're alive."
There was another long pause. Max narrowed his eyes, waited for Nasedo to say that he wasn't buying it. This was the real concern - that Nasedo might have stopped trusting Tess. After all, she had left him that message at the Special Unit. If he had gotten it.They were banking on the hope that he had been too busy.
"Very well." Max closed his eyes with relief. "I'm sending out two men to help you bring them in. I'll meet you in the main chamber momentarily. I'm occupied with Rowena at the moment."
Max felt his heart stop.
Grant seemed to notice the expression on his face because he shook him briefly, after switching off the radio. "It's not her. You know it's not. She's safe. He's just playing games. I've told you, he still doesn't entirely trust me. He knows you're here and he's trying to freak you out."
Max swallowed, nodded. He [I]knew[/I] Liz was safe. He would have felt it if something had happened and, yet, still he had let down his guard for an instant. He had to stop it. It was what Nasedo was best at after all, these mind games. He could not let the shapeshifter entrap him.
"This is it," Grant said. He looked at Tess. "Are you ready?"
She nodded, biting her bottom lip. She closed her eyes, waiting for Kate's signal to start the mindwarp.
To be continued.
[u]Part 38[/u]
"She can't do that," Grant said impatiently. "I told you. The cells he has them in are wired to resist your gifts. She won't get in, and even if she did, she wouldn't get out again."
Kate felt her heart fall in disappointment. It had seemed like a good plan when Michael suggested it - that she simply teleport to Nasedo's compound and bring the others back. No confrontation would have been necessary then, or at least not until after they were all safe and able to plan more effectively. The fact that she might have killed herself trying to teleport that many people at one time was incidental to her. She knew she could do it. The mere possibility that everyone else would stay safe was enough to make her determination complete.
But, according to Grant, there was no possible way.
"So, we have to go in then," Max said, sounding tired. Kate didn't blame him. She was exhausted too. She had been awake for almost twenty-four hours now. While most of her life was spent in a perpetual state of worry, this had also increased exponentially since she, Will and Jack had come to Roswell. It was no wonder she knew that if she even sat down at this point, she wouldn't be getting up for a very long time.
There was no way she was sitting down.
She just wished they would get going. They had learned a lot from Grant, making the past hours their friends had spent in captivity a little more easy to bear. But the guilt that they had made absolutely no attempt to free them up until now was beginning to get to her. It was time to move. For once, she found herself in complete agreement with Michael, whose impatience was more than obvious. He was standing next to her, shifting from one foot to the other, clenching and unclenching his hands, as though he was about to lose his mind.
It made Max's complete calm even more obvious. The young king stood next to Liz, a pensive expression on his face as he thought about the best way to do what they had to do. She found it reassuring, but also a little frustrating. Did he always have to think everything through so completely?
It was only when he finally spoke again that Kate understood that Max wasn't really thinking about a plan at all. He apparently already had one. The careful way he voiced it indicated that he had only been thinking about the best way to let them all in on it without anyone freaking out. Because when Kate heard it, she closed her eyes and grimaced, knowing that various freak-outs were indeed impending. She knew immediately that any attempt on Max's part to avoid everyone ending up mad at him was in vain.
"Liz, Maria, Kyle and Michael are staying here."
He pissed Michael off first, which was really no surprise, although his bellow still made Kate jump. "Are you crazy, Maxwell?" No one else seemed particularly shocked by it though. Maria had already grabbed him by the arm to hold him in his place. Kyle was just rolling his eyes and Grant was staring at him with something approximating disdain. "I am [I]not[/I] staying here!"
"I'm not crazy, Michael," Max replied quietly. "You have a job to do and you're going to do it." He looked down at Liz, who was frowning slightly, but for being the only other person who was likely to majorly object to Max's plan, she seemed remarkably composed. "It's Liz and the granolith that he really wants. We all know it. You are going to protect them both and that's all there is to it. And the best place to do that is here. Obviously."
"Tess can stay!" Michael snapped, although he seemed to be calming down slightly. He seemed to have realized that he was more likely of success by reasoning with Max, rather than yelling. "He wants Tess too. She should stay!"
"I don't think Nasedo wants Tess at all," Max told him firmly. "He must know who she really is. He's had her in his power for years. No, it's Liz he thinks he needs to make the granolith work. Tess can look after herself." Max looked at Tess, who nodded. "Not to mention we need her mindwarp to get them out. Tess goes."
"But Serena was the one who invented it," Kate reminded him, still unsure what exactly he was thinking. She was looking at Liz while she said it, wondering what the dark-haired girl was thinking about the fact that Max was implying that while Tess could protect herself, Liz could not. She was holding herself a little more rigidly than before, but she still didn't say a word.
"I don't think Nasedo knows that," Max shrugged. "If he did, he never would have given Tess so much freedom."
"But he still thinks I'm working with him," Tess said. "He doesn't need to keep me close." She looked at Liz, obviously slightly embarrassed. "I've never made a secret of the fact that I would do anything to become who he told me I was supposed to be."
"Ava," Max agreed. "Which only makes your presence even more valuable in this operation. He doesn't have any idea that you know who you really are now. I'm hoping that we can use that too." He quickly outlined the rest of the plan. By the end of it, everyone seemed resigned.
Michael tried once more though. "Max, you [I]need[/I] me," he insisted. "I'm the only one with any firepower."
Kate felt a chill run down her spine as Max stared right at his best friend and said, "I do need you Michael. I'm trusting you to do this. You are the [I]only[/I] one I trust to do it. If we get caught." He trailed off, paused for a moment, as though trying to rid his mind of that possibility. "If we get caught, you are going to have to get Liz out of here. Until he gets his hands on you two, he has no real control of this situation. You need to leave if we something happens to us. Now that he knows who Liz is, the possibility that he can get what he wants is very real." He glanced at Maria and Kyle. "If we don't come back, you are going to take everyone and leave. You are the only one who can truly protect them. I can't even protect them like you can. You [I]have[/I] to do this."
There was a long moment of silence as everyone digested this. Michael actually looked more upset than he had before. Max's words seemed to have finally reinforced the danger of the position in which they found themselves.
After letting his words sink in, Max addressed Kyle. "Can you call your dad? I know that Michael can handle things here, but having him around wouldn't hurt matters." Kate noticed Michael's spine straighten slightly, as though he had momentarily bent under the strain of Max's trust in him. Max's obvious complete faith seemed to help him to bear it, however. "Plus, he'll be safer."
"I won't tell him that part," Kyle replied. "If he thinks [I]you're[/I] trying to protect [I]him[/I], he's going to be ticked."
Max sighed. "I really don't want him involved in this at all," he admitted. "He's done too much for us."
"He sees it as his job," Kyle reassured him. "Not to mention, he's still a little fixated on the fact that you saved my life. You're not going to get rid of him, so you might as well just accept it."
"Which is why I want you to call him. I'm trying to do that," Max replied. "It's wrong for us to turn our backs on help. This about a lot more than just us now. We know that if we don't get control of this situation, we're dooming this entire planet to destruction."
And, really, after that, there was nothing else to say.
"We leave as soon as the sheriff tells Kyle if he can come or not," Max finally said after they all stood in silence for several moments, each trying to imagine exactly what the Future Max who had visited Liz had lived through. Kate hadn't really thought about it until then. It upset her more than she had ever imagined it would. After all, she had been raised to view Earth as simply a pit-stop to her real life. She had never been meant to love it. In fact, she hadn't even known that she did until she knew that it was threatened.
She tried not to wonder if it was really the planet she cared about. If she hadn't met Alex, would she have even worried at all? Before him, her entire life had been spent waiting to leave this rock, to return to the life she was told was really her destiny.
Everything had changed for her over the past two days. Knowing Alex Whitman had irrevocably altered the way she looked at everything. If her destiny really was to return to Sardica, then why did she feel this way about him? Why did she care? Shouldn't she have been able to deal with him without this constant concern, without this slightly befuddling, but definitely blooming [I]emotion?[/I] Shouldn't she have been able to use him to help her to get home and then forget about him? She knew that it would never be possible though.
Forgetting him. Unthinkable. Using him.Unbearable.
Meeting him.Didn't that have to be destiny too?
All she knew for sure was that she couldn't figure out any of this until she saw him again. Any which way she looked at it, Alex was fated to set her on the path the rest of her life would follow.
She waited impatiently while Kyle called his father.
***
Max took Liz's hand, gently pulling her to a far corner of the pod chamber, away from the others. She had been entirely too quiet during the recounting of his plan. It was making him more nervous than any show of resistance would have. He had expected her to react much like Michael, had expected her to accuse him of weakening the rescue mission by leaving Michael behind just to protect [I]her[/I]. But she hadn't said anything. Which could only mean that she was waiting to get him alone to really let him have it.
The fact that she allowed him to lead her away so that the could have some privacy only reinforced that he was about to have the most important argument of his life.
She could not come. That was all there was to it. Even if she never spoke to him again, he was not going to back down on this.
He looked down at her, took a deep breath and said, "Liz, I know you're mad."
She looked up at him, her dark eyes unreadable. "I'm not mad, Max."
"Just let me explain," he continued, what she had said not really registering. "You have to try and understand. You don't have any gifts - or at least any gifts that you can use right now. I can't worry about you while we're out there. I need to know your safe and I just know that you're the only one Nasedo really wants. We have to keep him away from you." He paused, her words finally penetrating his mind through his own barrage of arguments. He stared at her. "What did you say?"
She was smiling slightly, her head tilted, waiting patiently for him to realize she had spoken. "I said I'm not mad," she repeated. "I think you're right. I am a liability."
"I never said you were a 'liability,'" Max said quickly. "That's not what I meant."
"But it's the truth, Max," Liz replied quietly. "Right now, I am. Until we figure out everything, I fully agree with you that I need to stay away from Nasedo." She sighed, lifted her hands and pushed her dark hair behind her ears. "I don't like that Michael isn't going with you, but I understand that too."
He didn't quite know what to say. He had been expecting a lengthy argument with her, had even expected to leave the pod chamber with the knowledge that she was angry still, but this was so the complete opposite, he found himself momentarily dumb-struck.
"I hope you don't think that I'm just going to sit here and wait for you to get back though," Liz added. "If Tess can't make the granolith work, then someone else is going to have to. I'm going to try and figure it out while you're gone."
He felt a flash of concern. "Liz, I don't know if that's such a good idea." Max frowned. "We don't know exactly what that thing can do. I think you should wait until we're back."
Liz lifted her chin. "Max, I hope you understand that I'm agreeing not to go because I really do think it's the best plan. I'm not doing it because it's what you want. We've already had this discussion today. We love each other, but it doesn't give us the right to control each other. I learned that lesson the hard way," she added quietly. Max knew she was thinking about keeping all the Future Max stuff from him. "Being honest with each other and trusting each other to be strong enough to handle this stuff is the only way we're going to get through this."
"I'm not trying to [I]control[/I] you, Liz," Max argued. "I can't help it if I worry."
She softened. "I know that. But don't you think I'm going to be worried about you too, while you're gone? And I'm not asking [I]you[/I] not to go. You can't ask me not to do what I can while I'm waiting."
He sighed. "Of course I think you're going to be worried. But."
Liz cut him off. "Max, there is no 'but.' You're doing it again!"
"Doing what?" He grimaced, wondering how he had annoyed her so thoroughly.
"Stop thinking that you're not as important as everyone else! We love you. [I]I[/I] love you. If we lose you, if you get hurt, it's just as big a deal as if anyone else does." Her eyes were bright with tears. Max felt his heart contract painfully. He hated to see her cry. It very nearly killed him to see it, particularly because, as she was so strong, she only ever seemed to do it when he was frustrating her in some way.
"Liz, please," he begged. "I'm sorry. Don't cry."
"Don't be sorry," she snapped. "All I want is for you to be careful. I know that you're planning to do most of this yourself, and I want you to promise me that you will let the others help you. In fact, they're the ones who are stronger and better gifted for this situation. You [I]have[/I] to let them help you."
"I know it," Max replied grimly. "That doesn't mean I have to like it."
"No one's expecting you to," Liz answered. "But I know you, and that's why I'm making you promise me. I know you won't break a promise to me, so you're going to do it."
He sighed again, reached out and pulled her tightly against him. Lowering his head, he buried his face in her silky hair. "I promise to come back to you," he whispered against her ear. "And the best way to do that is to let the others help."
A spasm ran through her small body, making him tighten his arm around her. "I just want this to be over," she finally admitted softly, her voice breaking slightly.
"Me too," Max replied. They stood there for several long moments. Max kept his eyes closed, memorizing the feel of her against him, knowing that it would be the remembrance of this that would guarantee him success over the next hours. There was no on God's green Earth he wasn't coming back to [I]this.[/I]
There was no way, now that he knew that they were going to be together forever, that he wasn't coming back.
An hour later, Max wasn't so sure. Now that he was about to throw himself right into Nasedo's hands, he wasn't nearly as confident.
He was huddled against a boulder near the entrance to the canyon where Nasedo's hide-out was located. It was indeed close to the reservation, as Tess had told them earlier. He looked back at the others. Grant was directly behind him, Tess next, followed by Kate. Grant was expressionless, but he could tell that the girls were as nervous as he was. Tess's skin was no longer its usual rosy pink, but an unhealthy looking white, while Kate's large eyes were wider than he had ever seen them. "Are we ready?" He asked softly, knowing that the longer they waited, the worse off they'd be. They'd start second guessing themselves. In fact, he had already started. He knew that they could do this. They had to get moving before he truly psyched himself out.
Tess nodded and Kate whispered, "Ready."
Max straightened, motioning for Grant to take a hold of his arm. He looked the shapeshifter in the eye, wondering for one brief moment if he was right to trust this guy. He was, after all, the progeny of a race born to deceive. Gritting his teeth, he looked briefly at Kate. Tess was helping her to the ground where she was going to pretend to be unconscious.
Grant reached into his pocket and pulled out a small radio. "This is Sorenson," he said into it. "Request back-up at main entrance."
There was a long pause. The radio finally sprang to life, after several seconds of static. "Where have you been?" The voice on the other end demanded. Max felt a chill descend his spine as he recognized Nasedo's voice.
"Checking out the perimeter," Grant replied into the com. "I just had a feeling we should be expecting some guests. I didn't trust your idiots to get their hands on them. You had to take the other four out yourself after all."
"Well?" Nasedo demanded, sounding impatient.
"As always, I was right," Grant said evenly. "I have the king himself. And the little escapee."
"You took them out yourself?"
"Princess Karana exposed Tess, but she managed to escape unscathed. She came back just in time to help out. She's here now. They know you're alive."
There was another long pause. Max narrowed his eyes, waited for Nasedo to say that he wasn't buying it. This was the real concern - that Nasedo might have stopped trusting Tess. After all, she had left him that message at the Special Unit. If he had gotten it.They were banking on the hope that he had been too busy.
"Very well." Max closed his eyes with relief. "I'm sending out two men to help you bring them in. I'll meet you in the main chamber momentarily. I'm occupied with Rowena at the moment."
Max felt his heart stop.
Grant seemed to notice the expression on his face because he shook him briefly, after switching off the radio. "It's not her. You know it's not. She's safe. He's just playing games. I've told you, he still doesn't entirely trust me. He knows you're here and he's trying to freak you out."
Max swallowed, nodded. He [I]knew[/I] Liz was safe. He would have felt it if something had happened and, yet, still he had let down his guard for an instant. He had to stop it. It was what Nasedo was best at after all, these mind games. He could not let the shapeshifter entrap him.
"This is it," Grant said. He looked at Tess. "Are you ready?"
She nodded, biting her bottom lip. She closed her eyes, waiting for Kate's signal to start the mindwarp.
To be continued.