Two Sides of the Coin

Rating: Teen/Mature

Part Nine

"Zan, there was a baby. I held him. I helped take care of him," Liz insisted.

"And I'm telling you, Tess did NOT have a baby," said Zan. "Liz, I followed them to that observatory that night. Liz, Max didn't go in there, I did. Max spent that night out at the quarry, mourning Alex's death. I was the one who was with her that night. She tried to seduce me, thinking I was Max, but it didn't work. So she tried mind warping me into thinking we had sex but I knew we didn't, so it didn't work."

"Well then, why was Max so certain there was a baby. He tried for almost a year to find a way to Antar to get the baby away from Tess," Liz asked.

"I don't know, Liz. I really don't," Zan answered. "I can only guess that she mind warped him into believing it was true."

"But you could have told him," Liz cried. "You knew and you could have told him. You could have stopped him from his stupid quest to get back to Antar. God, the things I did to help him, and it was for nothing."

"Wait a second, sister. You got some freaking nerve, pushing this all back on me. Max is responsible for his actions, and you're responsible for yours. Nobody made you do anything, least of all me."

"But you knew they didn't have sex, and you knew Tess told him she was pregnant.."

"Stop right there," Zan demanded. "I didn't know anything about that. Max didn't tell me everything, you know. I just thought he sent Tess back after you figured out she killed Alex."

"But didn't you two talk and stuff?" Liz asked.

"Yeah, we talked but it's not like we sat up late at night braiding each other's hair and sharing secrets," Zan said. "After a while, I split and did my own thing for a while. Max and I kept in touch, but that was about it."

"Oh," Liz said, dully. She wasn't sure what to think anymore. It felt like everything she believed in, everything that she knew was a fact was now nothing more than a fairy tale.

"Where – where'd you go?" Liz asked. "When you left Roswell I mean"

"Actually, I took off for California," said Zan. "Thought I'd take a look around for our 'protector,' and let him know what a crap ass job he'd done."

"Did you find him?" Liz asked.

"No, I gave up and headed back to Roswell, only to find out that Max had left you alone and unprotected."

Damn, he thought to himself. Nothing like opening mouth and inserting foot. She doesn't need to know what I think about her.

Liz however, seemed unaware of Zan's slip. She reached across the table and helped herself to one of his spicy fries and chewed absentmindedly while she formulated her next question.

"What happened next?"

"Nothing happened next. I hung around, watching you, trying to keep you safe until Max came back."

"And that was when you told him there wasn't a baby," Liz said, filling in the blanks. "But why did he pretend there was after Tess came back?"

"Nobody knew where the baby came from," Zan explained. "And Max really didn't want to try and find out. It would have put you all under even more scrutiny. I mean for all he knew, Tess could have stolen a baby from Antar and brought him down to pass off as Max's child. With no way of tracing the baby's parents, he did the only thing he thought he could do. He kept up the pretense that the baby was his, and had his father arrange an adoption."

"He should have told me," Liz said, bitterly.

"Yeah, he should have," Zan agreed. "And had he not been killed, he probably would have. Don't forget, Liz everything happened so fast. And he didn't plan on dying."

"No, he didn't plan on dying," Liz agreed, softly. "But he did, and now I'm here, alone, trying to deal with the fallout."

Zan pulled back slightly, stung from her comment. She wasn't alone. Or she didn't have to be.

"Yeah, whatever," Zan said, masking his hurt behind a show of bravado. "Look, I'm gonna cut out and find a place to shack up. I'll catch up with you sometime." He through enough cash on the table to cover the price of his meal and stood up, grabbed his jacked and was out of the restaurant before Liz could even say a word.

Liz finished her coffee and thought about all she had learned tonight. A part of her felt an incredible betrayal. Max had kept so much from her, and it hurt. It didn't matter that he was trying to protect her, or anyone else. She pushed her cup back and grabbed her belongings. If Zan wanted to leave, far be it from her to stop him. In fact, she was happier that he was gone. Or at least she tried to convince herself that he was.

She weaved her way through the crowded restaurant and pushed open the door to the outside. The rush of cold air reminded her that she wasn't in New Mexico any longer, and she snuggled pulled her coat tighter around her body. Out of nowhere, a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her off balance. She stumbled and her attacker used the opportunity to push her up against the front of a building.

"Hey Liz, long time no see," a familiar voice said.

Liz looked up and faced her attacker and her heart sank. This was unbelievable. She was doing everything in her power to escape everything that was alien related and again and again it was thrown back in her face.

"Let go of me, you freak," Liz said, struggling to break her attacker's hold. "What are you doing here anyhow? I thought when you left Roswell, you'd head back to New York and the sewer from which you crawled."

"Yeah well what can I say? It's a big world, and I wanted to see some of it."

"Leave me alone Rath," Liz said. "I'm just going to get on with my life, and believe me when I say, that life does not include you."

"I'm hurt, what would old Maxie boy say?"

"Max is,"

"Max is right here, and he says get your hands off of her, or I'll kill you," said Zan, grimly.