Chapter 25

No one noticed how Emma's weak body doubled over as Max closed the front door behind him.
"Daddy," she whispered, her hand reaching out faintly to grasp air in the direction of where her father had disappeared to.
She could hear the subdued crying coming from the closed bedroom door, and the deep fear that had been luring in the background since Khivar's men had taken control of her mind saw its opportunity and rushed forward knocking the wind out of her, making her legs give away under her.
"Mommy." Her voice cracked in the empty house, growing weaker in the emptiness that was slowly, but gradually taking control over her. With a fearful whimper she crumbled to the floor. All she could do the next minutes was to try and fight the dizziness and nausea as the sound and light slowly disappeared around her and the frightening sounds in her head took over.

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It was in that position, with her legs curled up in fetal position, and a painful expression haunting her soft features, that her grandparents found her twenty minutes later.
"Oh my God…" Nancy gasped as she saw the girl on the floor. Turning her head slightly to the side, she yelled into her husband's direction, "Jeff!! Get Liz!! Hurry!"
"What is…" Her husband quieted behind her for a second when he saw Nancy on her knees, lifting the lifeless body of their granddaughter from the floor. "What happened?"
"Get Max or Liz! Now!" Her voice remained calm, her movements with Emma gentle, but inside she was shaking with fear. She had always been able to come out on top of situations, remaining calm, but it was different with Emma. Emma might be her daughter's girl and she might look human, but Emma's father was inhuman and whatever had been going on with Emma since Liz and Max had returned had been dealt behind closed doors. Nancy and Jeff hadn't been given any peeks into Emma's condition and that told Nancy that something was really wrong with Emma, since Liz would never stop them from interacting with their granddaughter if she could help it. They might not approve of Max to the fullest, but Nancy hadn't for a second thought he would try and keep Liz and Emma away from them. He had, after all, agreed with Liz to live in her room, for a while. Nancy was glad they had decided to come live here. Even if they were mostly hauled up in their room, it felt really good to have Liz home again and be able to have Emma so close.

Nancy's heart sank when Liz appeared in the room. Her daughter looked like a living dead. She was pale, paler than usual, and her eyes were angry red. Nancy couldn't help but stare at her daughter when she, without any healthy grace whatsoever, stumbled to the floor next to Emma and more or less ripped her daughter out of Nancy's arms.
"Where's Max?" Nancy wondered, noting the absence of the young man.
Jeff shook his head in response to her question, an expression with a mixture between anger and confusion masking his face.
"Emma, sweetie, it's mommy," Liz cooed in a soft voice, gently rocking her child in her arms. "It's time to wake up. It's okay, baby. You're safe."
Nancy looked back and forth between the desperation in Liz's face and the twitching in Emma's face, which was distorting her facial features into distinct signs of pain. Looking up at Jeff, she said firmly, "Jeff, get Max. Just get him here."
Jeff held her gaze for a second or two, before turning on his heel and with some hesitation in his steps about leaving his family, walked out to find Max.

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Ten minutes earlier

"Max!"
A mere second after the door had opened, Max found himself enveloped in his mother's strong familiar embrace. She held on to him for a long time and he closed his eyes against the guilt that washed over him. He had visited his parents since he returned from Antar, but the fear of something happening to either Liz or Emma while he was gone had made the visits few and far in between. She pulled away framing his face between her hands, looking at him worriedly. His heart squeezed with the familiarity of the gesture. It was like he was a little boy again. One of her hands brushed away some of the bangs from his forehead. His hair was getting long again.
"How are you?" she whispered, the emotions in her body making her voice tremble.
"I'm fine, mom," he answered softly, not being able to meet her eyes.
"You look thin," Diane continued as if he hadn't answered her. "Are you eating right? Are you sleeping? You look so tired, sweetie."
"I'm fine," he repeated with a weak smile, even though his heart was aching with the knowledge of the truth he was hiding.
"Diane? What's…?"
Max looked up to see his dad enter the hallway. He saw the changes in the expression on his dad's face, going from wonder to happiness to worry in a matter of brief seconds. The ever present guilt started to bubble up to the surface and he once again felt that everything was falling apart around him. He had thought that going back to Earth would've been the answer. He had still been realistic about it; knowing that all their problems wouldn't just resolve themselves with the mere return to Earth, but he had thought that it would at least make things easier. But Liz hadn't gotten better, just worse. Emma was a little better, but she kept returning to that place in her head where they couldn't reach her. He had talked to Maria, Alex, Isabel and Michael, but that was just because they had come and visited. If they hadn't, he wouldn't have been able to have the energy to meet up with them. His parents had done the same; they had made occasional visits. However, during the last week, Max had called them, begging them not to come. He felt that Liz couldn't handle it. She needed her rest, even though she was still trying to do most of the things on her own.

Philip hugged him tight, holding him close. "Max."
"Hi dad," Max said quietly, feeling his heart plummeting to the ground. When did everything begin to go so wrong?
"Are you okay, son?" Philip asked, pulling away to look at his pale son.
Max gave him a faint nod, which was violently interrupted by a sharp ice cold pain slicing through his heart. He doubled forward, almost knocking Philip over.
Philip shot his wife a look of panic, as he grabbed Max by the upper arms to stop the young man from losing his balance.
"Max? What's wrong?"
Max barely felt his mom's concerned hands running over his back as it felt like his heart was turning to ice; hardening and cracking with ice cold death.

Then it stopped. Max immediately wished that it hadn't. Because the emptiness and complete lack of anything filling him was among the worse things he'd ever felt. It didn't take him long to localize the feeling that had started to scold with sudden familiarity. The loss of the connection.
"She's gone," he whispered, panic gripping him. He had anticipated it for a long time now, with the gradual weakening of the connection, but to actually feel it scared him to death. His whole body trembling, he looked up at the concerned faces of his parents, the anguished statement whispered again, "She's gone."
"What do you mean, Max?" Diane asked, fear marking her words.
"Liz? Is something wrong with Liz?" Philip asked, his grip on Max's arms remaining and tightening.
"I don't know, I don't know," Max mumbled as his eyes moved back and forth. He broke out of his father's grip and more or less ran towards the phone. His fingers quickly dialed the all too familiar number and the person on the other side barely had time to put the phone to the ear, before Max had spoken. "Is Liz okay?"
"Max, thank God."
And Max's heart stopped. He had never heard Nancy that afraid before. Something was wrong. He barely heard Nancy's last words before the receiver dropped to the table and he was out the door. "Please come back, Max. We need you."

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"Where is she?!"
"Living room," Jeff answered, but Max had already brushed pass him. He saw Liz on the floor with Emma bundled up in her lap. Nancy was sitting next to Liz, holding a glass of water in her hand.
Liz looked up at the sound of footsteps in the stairs and met Max's eyes. As soon as she saw him, her eyes teared up and her bottom lip started quivering.
"Where are you?" she whispered tearfully.
"I'm right here," Max answered, falling to his knees next to Liz and Emma. But they both knew that it wasn't true. Max knew what she was really asking, but he couldn't answer her. Because he didn't know. The only thing he knew was that Liz was dying. He knew that with tormented certainty. The closing of the connection was the last step. It wasn't long now.
"They're gonna die with me," Liz sobbed. "You have to save them, Max. Isn't there something you can do?"
"Liz, please," Max whispered, taking a hold of Emma's head, carefully placing it into his lap while swallowing his own tears, "We have to focus on Emma now."
"I don't wanna die, Max," Liz cried, on the verge of a complete breakdown. Max looked at her. It scared him. To see her so resigned and scared. She had always fought so hard to hide that side of her; to always appear strong and independent. But reality had finally broken her. She was beaten.

Firmly holding her watery gaze, Max addressed Nancy, "Mrs. Parker, help Liz into the bedroom. She needs to rest."
Liz started to shake her head, seeing where he was going with this, "No, Max. I'm not letting you decide this time. I'm not leaving Emma."
"Liz, listen to me. I will help Emma, but I need you to take care of the twins, okay? I can't take care of them right now, you have to be strong and do that, okay?"
She didn't want to listen to him; he could see it in her eyes. But he could also see that she knew that he was right. She was no help out here. She was already panicking and she would only disturb Max. She didn't know how much longer she could stay awake. Fatigue was weighing heavily down on her. She could see in Max's eyes that he knew. He knew that she was going to die – soon – and the only thing that could prolong her life right now was rest.
"Okay," she sobbed, letting her mother pull her to her feet and guiding her to her bedroom. Liz looked back just before Nancy closed the door to see Max lying down next to Emma, his strong arms folded protectively around his small daughter and she knew with clear certainty that he never would've been able to go through with it. He would never have been able to kill his sons. He couldn't make that decision. He would fight for them all three to live instead. But now it looked like they were all losing.

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He couldn't get in. A black brick wall was blocking his way and he couldn't get in. He tried to break it down with his mind, with his will. He tried to break it down by physical force, beating his fists against the rough surface. But it wouldn't subdue to his forces. He could hear Emma screaming behind the wall and it made him beat his fists harder against the wall, until they started to bleed, but he couldn't get through. It was with deep black feelings of failure that he was pushed out of the connection, finding himself back on the floor in the living room. He looked down at the little brown-haired girl next to him. On the outside, it almost looked as if she was sleeping peacefully, if it hadn't been for the small twitching of her fingers and the deep frown of pain on her forehead. He tried hard to push all the feelings down as he lifted her lifeless body up from the ground. Those feelings were no good now. He had to help Liz first. She was in a much worse place.

It was with heavy feet that he walked towards the bedroom.

Nancy looked at them worriedly as they opened the door, but with one reluctant look at Emma and Liz, she left the room. Liz was already asleep, her knees pulled up to her chest and tears still glistening on her cheeks. He stood there for a minute, just watching her, feeling like the world was weighing down on his shoulders. Was this it? Was this when he realized that he couldn't help this situation and gave up? Was this when he realized that even with all his powers, he couldn't save his Liz from dying? He swallowed back the burning tears and slowly walked up to the bed. He would do one last try to fix this. He knew that it must have something to do with the connection. The absence of the connection had been making Liz sick before, and it must be part of making her sick now as well. He gentle placed Emma on the bed, right next to Liz's curled up body. He reached over and put Emma's cold small hand in the hand that Liz was resting on the bed. Next, he climbed onto the bed, taking Emma's hand in his left and scooting closer to take the hand that Liz was resting on her stomach in his right. He pulled Liz's hand further down her stomach, moving it in between the buttons of her shirt to come into contact with bare skin and then pressed their joined hands against the skin.

He took a deep breath, let his eyes drift shut and started the search for their souls.

TBC...