Hi all!

I'm so sorry for leaving you high and dry like this. School is being a drag and I don't have much time to write. In a desperate attempt to make up for my absence I have two chapters for you. Thank you so much for the feedback!!!

Chapter 20


"Mommy?"
"Darling, you have to stay here. Stay quiet. It's like that game we taught you. You remember that game?"
"Yes."
"Good girl."
The room vibrated with the ominous sound of the thick wooden door being forced open. The young mother quickly scrambled to her feet, so that she wouldn't reveal her daughter's hiding place. Her mate put up his hands in front of him in an act of surrender and apprehensively, albeit calmly, started talking, "Just tell us what you want and we will-"
There was a loud deathly sound and the little girl could hear her mother scream -- a scream ending in a death rattle as her soul was being torn from her body. The little girl put her hands over her ears, the tears streaming down her cheeks, as she tried to block out all the sounds that followed. How her mother was beaten to the ground and how the men forced themselves on her until she was begging for mercy.

And then they had her killed.


She bolted up from the painful sleep, her hand automatically moving to her left in the search of the person who could comfort her. Her hand met nothing but the cool material of the sheets. No one else had slept beside her tonight. She brought the comforter closer around her body, trying to reduce the trembles. Her body started rocking to still the fear surging through her and the endless stream of tears running down her cheeks. Painfully, she tried to block out the emotions. Think of something else. But tonight it wasn't working. Maybe it was because Max had looked at Liz so tenderly that it had reminded her of how her own mother used to be. Or maybe it was because Max had announced that he would be abandoning the Antarians, shredding their last piece of hope.

With a strangled sob, she crawled out of bed. She needed some air. She couldn't go back to sleep, or the nightmares would continue to haunt her. Pulling another shirt over her head, she stepped out into the cool night. Her eyes drifted to the sky, which had taken on a tint of dark green, almost black. The soft and warm red Xerios, the dying sun, always provided her with comfort. But not tonight. Tonight she couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful Antar used to be. How free and friendly. She had only been a little girl when her parents had been killed and Khivar had taken power. But she could still remember the time before her life was drastically altered, before she was forced to go underground and change her identity. The tears stilled on her cheeks, making her feel cheeks dry in the night air. The camp was silent. Almost everyone was asleep. She noticed some guards in the fringes of the camp, but they knew better than to leave their posts and come and ask her how she was doing. Not that Antarians did that anyway. They didn't know how. They barely showed any feelings, and didn't feel any either. Thus, they had no clue to how to deal with them if someone lost their control.

Absently observing the sun spots on Xerios, she wondered if Antar had ever been anything like Earth. If Antarians had been like Earthlings. Some days, the longing to be able to feel real emotions and not be restrained to show them, made her ache. On other days, she was grateful that she didn't have to deal with any of the turbulent emotions she had seen the hybrids harboring. Once, Antarians had been able to feel. They had committed to each other because they loved each other, not because it was convenient or the genes were right for copulation. Once, people had been free and happy. They had been laughing, crying, hugging, and smiling. They had been alive.

She shivered. Not because of the coldness of the still night. The memories haunted her.
"Serena?"
She jumped at the sound, spinning around. She visibly relaxed when she saw who it was, but mentally admonished herself for letting her guard down.
"Isabel."
"I couldn't sleep, and I thought I heard someone-" Isabel started, walking out of the shadows towards Serena. As Serena turned her face more fully towards Isabel and the dim red light from the sun fell over her face, Isabel's voice trailed off.
"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly, watching the tears on Serena's cheeks.
Serena quickly turned her head away. She had forgotten the physical signs of her turbulent inner state. "Yes," she answered quickly. She bent her head and rubbed the lingering tears off her cheeks.
There was a pause and she could feel Isabel's eyes on her.
"Are you sure?" Isabel finally asked.
"Yes," Serena answered, the professional and emotionless nuance of the voice she usually used slowly reinstating itself as she fought to recompose herself.

They stood next to each other as the silence fell over them.
"You miss home, don't you?" Serena asked.
Isabel turned her head and observed Serena's profile. "Yeah," she answered quietly.
"Do you… do you have someone there waiting for you?" Serena asked tentatively.
Isabel couldn't hide the surprise on her face as she looked at Serena. That was a question she had never anticipated Serena would ask.
"Yeah," Isabel answered, turning her head to look off into the distance, her thoughts lingering on that particular person waiting for her on Earth. "At least I hope so."
Now it was Serena's time to be surprised. "You're not sure?"
Isabel shifted her eyes down to her feet, an insecure smile grazing her lips. "Well, we were… Alex and I were never really together…"
"Alex?"

Isabel's smile warmed and she met Serena's eyes. "Yes, Alex."
She spoke his name with gentle softness, which made a distant and bittersweet smile form on Serena's lips. Right now at this moment, she would give anything to feel what Isabel felt whenever Alex was brought up.
"He's always had this crush on me," Isabel said softly, "At least that's what Liz tells me."
"Crush?" Serena asked, the word not sounding familiar to her.
"Oh sorry," Isabel apologized, "He has had these, you know, romantic feelings about me for ages." Receiving an understanding nod from Serena, Isabel continued, "And I never noticed him. He was like a fly on the wall. I was too caught up in everything going around me. In keeping my secret safe, I was too blind to see what a wonderful person he was. I guess the circumstances forced me to get to know him and I've never been more grateful."
"What happened?" Serena asked.

Isabel's eyes took on a far-away expression, as she remembered things that had happened a long time ago, in another time, because that's what it felt like. She had been so different then, everything had been so different.
"There is this restaurant in Roswell, where we live on Earth, called the CrashDown. It is owned by Liz's father, and Liz was helping out there as a waitress. Consequently, Max spent all his free time there."
"Really?" Serena asked interested.
Isabel rolled her eyes at the memory playing out inside her head. "Yeah, he was always watching her every move. But he never approached her. Never talked to her, at least, not more than was necessary. You see, we had this pact, Michael, Max and I, to not get involved with humans. It was not safe. It would probably require that we revealed who we were and we didn't trust anyone with that secret."

"What changed?" Serena asked. She could understand the secrecy Michael, Isabel and Max had lived with. The double life they had been forced to lead. She had been forced to do the same. She had been forced to hide who she really was to keep herself from getting killed. Up to this day, not even Aldonis knew her real origin. He knew about her nightmares, but he didn't know the cause of them. She had never told him. The fear had stopped her, even if she had wanted to. God, had she wanted to tell him everything. But something had held her back.
"Liz was shot," Isabel said, her eyes darkening. The memory still plagued her. She hadn't been there in the restaurant, but she still got nauseous when she thought back to the arguments she'd had with Max after he had saved Liz's life. It sickened her when she thought about that she had yelled at Max for saving someone's life. She had been so selfish.
"She was?" Serena asked, her eyes opening wide with fear. She had read about what effects guns could have on the human body.

"Max healed her. Right there in the middle of the restaurant," Isabel continued, "Michael tried to stop him, but not much can get between Max and Liz."
"I have noticed that," Serena whispered.
Isabel smiled at her. "Max asked Liz to cover for him, to lie to the Sheriff. He trusted her to do so. She surprised us all when she did. Liz really came through. She stood up for us through everything and she opened up this whole new world to us. She really brought us to life. Max mostly, but each and every one of us were affected by what she did for us."
"And Alex?" Serena questioned.
"Liz, Maria and Alex were this really tight-knit group. They've been together since fifth grade or something," Isabel explained. "Liz wanted to keep Max's secret to herself, but Maria was too persistent and I guess Liz really needed someone to confide in, so she told Maria."
"Maria is…?"
"Maria is…" a chuckle escaped Isabel at the thought of the spunky blonde, "…she's unique. She and Michael have this really weird hate-love relationship going on."
"Aha," Serena said, not really understanding what that meant.

"When you see them, you'll know what I mean," Isabel said. "Anyway, Max was in an accident and he was brought to the hospital. We had always worked really hard to stay away from hospitals, because our blood cells are different from humans'. When Max ended up in the hospital, they drew some blood. We quickly had to change the blood sample, so that no one would get their hands on Max's real blood. Problem was, the only humans we had let in on the secret were women and we needed male blood, so Liz had to ask Alex. Alex, being the sweet and loyal friend that he is," Isabel's voice trailed off and she had to bit her lower lip to not give in to the tears threatening to fall, "agreed to let us take a sample of his blood, without any explanations. He just trusted Liz that much. He has this really pure and trusting heart."
"It seems as if you've been through a lot," Serena mused. Isabel swallowed and took a deep breath, trying to recompose herself. She really didn't want to cry here. Not in front of Serena. They were getting to know each other better, but Isabel wasn't the kind of person that could cry in front of just anyone.
"Yes, it's been pretty rough," Isabel replied absently.

Serena smiled faintly. Evidently, there was a lot she didn't know about what had happened to Max, Michael, Liz and Isabel on Earth. There was a lot she didn't know about them at all.
"I should go back to sleep," Serena said.
Her quiet statement broke Isabel out of her reverie. She reached out with her hand and stopped Serena in the process of turning around. Serena looked at Isabel questioningly.
"Serena, do you want to talk about it?" Isabel asked, sincere concern in her voice. Something had upset Serena earlier. Even though she was back to being the very controlled Serena, she had been crying earlier.
Serena met her eyes, her gaze not faltering a bit. "Thank you, Isabel, but I'm just gonna head straight for bed. You should go back to sleep too. We need the sleep."
Isabel looked at her closely, before letting go off her arm and giving her a resigned nod. "Yeah, you're right. Good night, Serena."
Serena smiled, but Isabel noticed the trembles in that smile. "Good night, Isabel."

--------------------------------------------------



Movement.

It was movement that brought him back to consciousness. His head was heavy; his eyes were stinging, and his mouth dry.

There it was again. Something was trying to get his attention and slowly he opened his eyes. As they opened, he felt the material of her gown against his cheek and he instinctively knew where he was.

Right where he belonged.

Something jolted under his head and he was suddenly wide awake.

Lifting his head in agony, he blinked repeatedly to moisten his dry eyes. His eyelids were so heavy and his body cried for him to go back to sleep. But there was something there. Something that was keeping him from going back to sleep. Eyes staring into the darkness engulfing him, he tried to get his thoughts around what had happened before he had lost consciousness. The twinkling of bright light at the outer fringes of his peripheral vision put an abrupt halt to his wandering and lost thoughts. His head moved transfixed towards the light, as fast as it could without it feeling like it was going to explode.

Soft blue light was spreading out from under his hand. Quickly, he snapped it away, afraid that he had hurt her, that in his dazed condition he had lost control of his powers. But the light continued to glow even in the absence of his hand, even though it had lessened some in intensity at his withdrawal. His breathing getting shallow with apprehension and his mouth falling open in awe, he slowly moved his hand back to her stomach and, amazed, watched the light getting brighter the closer his hand got to her.

His heart started to beat faster as he watched the light pulse under his hand, in accordance to the rhythm of a heart. Two hearts. Slowly, he unbuttoned the gown just above the stomach. The light flickered as he placed his palm against her soft skin. His breath caught in his throat when he could feel the energy being emitted from underneath his hand. He could feel a presence tugging at his consciousness, bringing something that had been dormant back to life. Something that had been forced into sleep when Liz had run out on that battlefield. Everything that was truly her. Her mind, her soul, her smile, her laughter. All that remained was her tired body and the sound of forced breathing.

The light coming from her stomach was the first real sign that Liz still existed in this world and that the children she was carrying were still being nourished, were still breathing, growing and living. Now they were reaching out for him. He had never experienced this with Emma and he couldn't help but feel a sting of sadness as his thoughts momentarily trailed to all of the other things he had missed. He closed his eyes and focused on the sensations he could feel starting to evade his mind. Somehow his sons seemed able to initiate a connection with him. He relaxed and opened his mind, trying to assist their weak, yet instinctive search for him.

A wave of something powerful washed over him, making his breath hitch in his throat, feelings, so intense, his mind was overwhelmed. Feelings, so raw, simple and true, his heart ached with emotion. He could feel their happiness at connecting with him, their simple wonder and their childish questions. He took a deep breath and let the oxygen flow down into his lungs again and he smiled. A peaceful, hopeful smile bringing forth tears in his eyes. They were not talking to him, not in words, but they were nonetheless communicating with him with feelings. They were telling him that they were fine and that their mother was fine. They were wondering about the feelings of self-doubt, guilt and grief in his heart. Feelings they could yet not understand, still pure at heart and untouched by the harsh world outside the protective womb of their mother.

His fingers, which had been resting calmly against her stomach, fluttered with emotion as another presence broke into the first connection between a father and his children. His eyes snapped open and the light illuminating her skin pulsated with renew intensity. Instinctively, he angled his head to her face, finding her looking at him.
"Liz…"
"Hey," she whispered.
The hand resting on her stomach not leaving its position, he turned his body facing her and leaned forward to move his free hand through her hair. Concerned eyes met his and her first comment was about his wellbeing. "You look tired." Her voice was weak, but it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

A tear left unattended made a slow travel down his cheek as his eyes came to life. Softly caressing her cheek, he whispered, "Welcome back."
She smiled and something broke inside of him. He fell forward against her chest. His hand left her stomach and moved towards her sides, clutching desperately at the piece of clothing covering her. Her weak arms slowly lifted from their position along her body and were gently placed around him, holding him as his body shook with tears being held back from days of pent up worry and grief, mixed with tears of relief, joy and love.
"I love you so much," he sobbed against her chest, tears that couldn't be soothed wetting her gown.
"I love you too," she whispered, her fingers threading through his hair, tears pooling at the corners of her eyes at the misery she was getting from him through the connection. Her mind was still fuzzy. She couldn't quite remember what had happened. There was desperation, a black fear of being abandoned, in Max, and that scared her. The feelings she was getting from him were raw and unshielded. Something she had never experienced from him before. Even with the connection, she knew that there had always been a part of him that he didn't let her see in an attempt to protect her from feelings that he found embarrassing. Feelings that made him ashamed of himself and even at some times made him hate himself.

She could feel her energy returning to her, the more awake she became. Her arms tightened around him and she shifted slightly to the side. As if following a physical law, Max's body shifted along with her and the mattress shifted as he crawled up beside her. She turned on her side, pulling him closer. His hand went around her body, his head coming to rest against the side of her throat, where he could feel the stable beating of her pulse against his cheek. His warm lips brushed against her skin as he whispered against her throat, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
His desperate plea for forgiveness surging through the connection emphasizing his words overwhelmed her with sadness and guilt. Her hot tears flowed down her cheeks, disappearing into her hair at the temple. "Shh, it's okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm not leaving you."
"I'm sorry," he sobbed.
Her words couldn't get him out of the distressed state he was in. All she could do was be there for him, supporting him, loving him and taking in all his emotions. Feeling him. Really seeing the raw feelings of insecurity, self-doubt and fear in him for the first time, which she had only seen a weak shadow of before.
"Thank you," she whispered. She had a feeling that Max had done more for her than she could ever begin to imagine. He always did. She just had to prove to him that he did. And she would.

As her arms rocked the man who meant more to her than life itself, memories slowly started to evade her mind. Her thoughts went to her daughter, to her parents, Maria and Alex. The world had fallen into pieces around her, but because a boy loved a girl so purely, Liz Parker had been given a second chance and she was going to take it. Placing a soft kiss on Max's temple, she said softly, "Sleep, Max. I got you. Get some sleep."
Fear of her not being there when he woke up again kept him awake for another ten minutes, clinging to her. But soon exhaustion overwhelmed him and he stopped fighting it. His hand tightened around her arm as his breathing evened out, hoping that it hadn't all been a dream, but that she would be there when he woke up.

-----------------------------------------------------------



Liz slowly drifted out of the mists of sleep and became gradually aware of something pressing down on her. She took a couple of deep breaths before opening her eyes. The bright light of a new day hit her eyes, momentarily blinding her. Her senses were slowly coming back to life. She could hear the wind blowing outside, she could taste the foreign composition of air on her dry lips, and unfamiliar scents swirled around her, mixing up with some very familiar ones. Angling her head to her right, she could feel the beautiful love flood her at the sight. She took a shaky breath of relief and lifted her hand to sift through his hair. He was asleep. His face buried at the base of her neck, his lips resting against her skin. His arm was resting protectively over her stomach. Slowly, she became aware of the weight of something on her left side. She turned her head to see the dark head of her daughter resting on her shoulder.

Her breath hitched in her throat as a sob of surprised relief, joy and sadness erupted from her lips. Tear filled eyes traveled down her daughter's curled up body and her maternal eye worriedly noticed the changes that had taken place in her baby's outer appearance. She was so thin. So small.
"Baby," Liz whispered, her other hand traveling up to the small of Emma's back. Emma didn't respond at her touch. She was sound asleep.
"Liz…?"
Liz turned back to him at the sound of his hopeful voice. She smiled when she met his eyes.
"Hi," she whispered.
"Are feeling okay?" Max asked, lifting his head from her chest. She felt the loss immediately.
"Yes," she smiled.
Max eyes shifted to his daughter and the surprise on his face brought Liz a tad of confusion.
"Emma…" Max said softly, with disbelief in his voice, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Max." Liz's voice prompted him to look at her. "What is wrong with her?"
Max swallowed at the sadness in her eyes.
"I can't feel her," Liz whispered, agony seeping through her voice.
"She…" Max's voice caught in his throat. "She's…"
Liz could feel fear surging through her, fueling her worst preconceptions of what could've happened to her girl. Emma was alive, but something was very wrong.
Liz's hand moved to Max's face, cradling his face. "Max…"

Max eye's dropped, but not before she could see the very familiar guilt in them, and his hand captured hers, moving it away from his face. "I failed her, Liz. I couldn't get to her in ti-"
"No, Max," Liz interrupted, her voice stronger now as it was being fueled with fear, boarding on panic. "What happened?"
"I don't know. I don't know," Max whispered. Tears of remorse trickled down his face and he moved himself into a sitting position. Liz hold on Emma's body tightened as Max moved away from her. She knew what he was doing. He was closing himself off from her, to keep her from getting hurt, and that was making her even more frightened.
"When I found her, she wouldn't talk to me. I don't think she even recognized me."
"No…" Liz whimpered. "What did they do to her?"
"We haven't been able to contact her at all since we got her back," Max continued, rising to his feet, his hands raking through his hair.
"Max… Please. What did they do to her?"
Max turned around and met her teary frightful eyes. "I don't know, Liz. I couldn't get there in time. Those bastards…" his fists clenched in anger and jaw tightened as he looked upwards, trying to regain his control. "Those bastards did something to her… and…"
Tears were flowing down his cheeks freely now.
"Max," Liz begged, holding out her hand towards him.
"I wasn't there…" Max continued. "I wasn't there. And then he hurt you and I thought that you would die. The others were sure you were dead."
"But you saved me."

Her soft reply put a stop to his spoken anguish.
"You brought me back, baby."
"I wouldn't have had to if I had been able to protect you in the first place, if I had just fought harder to make you stay on Earth. God, Liz, I've ruined your life. You should be with someone normal, someone who could give you the safety you need-"
"But not the love I need," Liz interrupted. "Max, I would've been dead years ago if you hadn't been there. I would never," Liz forced her through the connection to look at her, "never even consider trading my life or you for anything else. Normal is nothing without you, Max. I can't live without you. Don't you understand that? My life means nothing without you. All the things you just said. I want them. God, I want them so much. I want to be safe, and back on Earth. But I want them with you. I would rather kill myself than living without you-"
Max stepped up to the bed in two long strides. "Don't say that."
Liz reached out and cradled his face in her hands. "It's what I feel, Max."
"I want you to be happy," Max whispered, "That's all I ever wanted. This is killing me, to see you here and know what you have to go through just because…because of me and who I am."
"Stop hating yourself," Liz said softly. Her hands collected the tears falling down his cheeks. He looked at her in disbelief.

"How can you be with me, Liz? All I've ever done is causing you pain. Look at Emma. First, I abandon you to care for her on your own and then I failed to protect her and she was abducted to this place. Now she is barely living anymore because of what those aliens did to her-"
"Without you, there wouldn't be an Emma," Liz sniffed, "Without you, there wouldn't be a Liz Parker."
"And without a Liz Parker, there wouldn't be a Max Evans," Max filled in.
She smiled, her smile transforming into a sob and she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder.
"I don't know how I will ever be able to convince you that you mean the world to me, Max," she sniffled against his shirt, "But I have a lifetime to work on it."
His hands tightened around her.
"I will give you a normal life, Liz. I promise."
"I don't want that, Max," Liz said truthfully. "I want a life with Max Evans and somehow I don't think it will be normal."
She could feel him smile against the side of her throat. "Then I vow to always protect you. I want to spend my life with you, Liz Parker. I want to see our children grow up. Safe."
"We will, baby. We will."
He nodded against her throat, so desperately wanting to cling to that piece of hope she was handing to him.

"Did you feel them?"
He could immediately tell from the happiness in her voice who she was talking about.
"Yes," he whispered. "They are beautiful, Liz. Just like their mother."
Liz broke down into tears, thinking about her unresponsive daughter lying beside her. "They are. They truly are."
She leaned back against the bed, taking Max with her. She let go off him with one hand and instead put it around Emma, pulling her petite body close. Max's arm went around Liz's stomach, his two sons, and his daughter.
"I love you Liz," Max whispered, still trying to comprehend that she was talking to him again. Returning his hugs. Living. "I love you so much."
"I love you, Max," Liz said. "More than you'll ever know."


TBC...