Two Sides of the Coin

Part Thirteen

"Are you insane?" Zan asked, trying to project as much of a Max like attitude as he possibly could. "People are going to hear you."

"The way I see, that's the least of your worries, Zan the Man," Rath said. He stepped fully into the room and closed the door behind him, using his powers to lock it shut.

"Why are you bothering us?" Zan asked. "I thought you would have figured out from my last trip to New York, that I don't want anything to do with you."

"And I would have thought you just would have stayed dead when I killed you," said Rath.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zan bluffed. "You didn't kill me, you only tried by making that scaffolding fall on me. But it obviously didn't work, Rath, because here I am."

"No, that was that Mayberry geek Max. You're not him, you're Zan. I can feel it," Rath said, his voice and his face full of certainty.

"You're wrong," said Liz. "This is Max. Do you honestly think I'd sleep with someone like you?" She reached under the covers to surreptitiously squeeze Zan's hand, letting him know her words meant nothing. "Please, I almost vomited when you kissed me. Do you honestly think I'd do something as sacred as making love with anybody but Max?"

"Yeah, well," said Rath, clearly confused. Liz sounded like she was telling the truth, and the flashes he got off of her when they kissed told him she was all about Max.

"We're on our honeymoon here," Liz continued. As she spoke, she slipped off a bracelet she had been wearing and passed it to Zan under the covers.

Zan grabbed the bracelet, caressing her leg at the same time and sending an excited thrill coursing through her body. While Liz continued to deflect Rath's attention, Zan used his powers to make two rings. He slipped one onto his ring finger and passed the other to Liz. Both of them slipped the rings on their fingers, and Zan carefully eased his hand back up on top of the covers so that the ring was visible.

"Look Rath, I don't know what you want us to say to convince you," said Zan. "What Liz said is true. We're here on our honeymoon, and to check out some colleges. Liz has always dreamed of going to Harvard. I'm going to do everything in my power to make that happen."

"God, you two are sickening," Rath growled. He caught site of the ring on Zan's hand and grimaced in disgust. "I should just kill you here. I can't believe you hooked up with a human."

"But then you won't get the one thing you're looking for," said Zan. "You want the Granolith."

"Yeah, that's right," said Rath. "I want the Granolith so I can get off this freaking hell hole planet."

"Too bad," said Zan. "You're too late. The Granolith is gone, Rath. It's back on Antar and it isn't coming back."

"What?" Rath said slowly, his face contorting with rage. "What do you mean, it's back on Antar?"

"I should speak slower and use smaller words?" Zan asked. "What aren't you understanding about that statement? Tess took it back to Antar, along with my son."

"Your what?" Rath asked his mouth gaping like a giant fish.

"Can you keep up, please?" Zan asked his patience wearing away. "This isn't rocket science."

Liz nudged Zan under the covers, trying to calm him down. While she was admiring his bravado, he was acting more like Zan, then Max.

"Look, we don't have what you're looking for anymore," said Liz. "Why don't you just leave us alone so we can get on with our lives?

"Watch it, Princess," Rath said, approaching the bed, menacingly.

Reacting, Zan jumped up from the bed, and despite the danger they were in, Liz took a moment to enjoy the site of his naked body.

"Back off, Rath," Zan said, his arm stretching out in an offensive position.

Liz wrapped the sheet tightly around her body and slipped out of the bed to stand beside Zan. She looked up at him, and the light shining in her eyes was enough to make him hesitate. Never before had he had someone look at him with such complete and utter trust. He wasn't going to do anything to lose that trust, or to put her in danger.

"You need to leave here, Rath. And if Lonnie's around, tell her the same thing. You have no business bothering us. We don't have anything that you want, so just leave us alone."

"Why don't you just leave us alone?" Rath mocked in a singsong voice. "Jesus, you sound like a freaking baby. No way you can be Zan, whining like that. Not that it matters," he continued, conversationally. "Kivar put a price on the head of all the royals, so I'm gonna have to kill you."

"Not to point out the obvious," Zan said, stalling for time. Rath's revelation had thrown him for a loop, and he needed a second to regroup. "But you and Lonnie and Ava are all considered royals. That means there's a price on your head, too."

"Nah, his whadda ya call it, emissary said we was safe," Rath said.

"Right," Zan said, sarcastically. "And you trust the man who killed you once because?"

Rath stopped to think about Zan's logic for a moment, and in that second, Zan acted. He leaped across the bed and tackled Rath to the floor and began to pummel him with punches. All the rage he felt at Rath's duplicitous betrayal came out in his attack, and he brutally beat Rath into unconsciousness. So great was his rage that he never even once considered using his powers. He wanted his revenge to come from his own two hands. It was only Liz's intervention that prevented him from killing Rath.

"Stop it, stop it now!" Liz yelled, pulling ineffectually at Zan's shoulder. "This isn't the place. Stop it before the room is filled with hotel security, MAX." She put extra emphasis on the name just in case it penetrated Rath's unconsciousness.

Zan pulled back and sat on the floor panting. He looked over at Rath's ravaged face and felt a surge of satisfaction pass through his body. He felt good inside. Not because he beat Rath down, but because it gave him an outlet for all the rage he had been repressing for years. Rage he didn't realize existed in him. Rage that Max, had warned him about.

Zan, you have to let it go. The hate and anger will kill you more effectively than anything Rath and Lonnie could have done to you. he remembered Max saying in one of their first conversations. Yeah, what they did was horrible. You thought they were your family, but they tried to kill you. But Zan, you can have a new family here with us. Let me tell the others about you.

Zan had balked at the idea. He'd been betrayed once, and he didn't think he could stand it if it happened again. He trusted Max because he trusted himself, but the others, they were an unknown entity, and he didn't want any part of them. Except for Liz. He had known even then that Liz was someone he could trust; someone he could love. But she was with Max, and he would never betray Max like that. Max was more than family, Max was him, and he was Max.

"Liz," Zan said, his voice catching a little. "This isn't quite what I had planned for this morning. Last night was,"

"Last night was what it was," Liz said. "It was wonderful, and I don't regret it, but we have other things to deal with right now."

The hurt look in his eyes, caused Liz to kneel down beside him and take his hand in hers.

"I mean it," she said. "It was wonderful." She paused to kiss him deeply. "But right now, we have something more pressing to deal with. We need to get dressed and get out of here."

Liz stood up, still shrouded in the sheet from the bed and began to rummage around for her clothes, while Zan used strips ripped from another sheet to bind and gag Rath. They worked together in companionable silence, gathering their belongings and preparing to leave the room.

"What should we do with him?" Liz asked, looking at the now conscious Rath, lying on the floor.

"Is killing him an option?" Zan asked hopefully.

"No," Liz sighed. "Not unless we really have no other choice. Besides, we need to ask him a few more questions."

She reached over and removed the gag from his mouth. A violent outburst of profanity caused her to step back. Never had she seen so much hate come out of one person.

"You done now?" Zan asked when Rath paused for a breath.

"I ain't even started yet, brother." Rath spat.

"Yeah whatever. We don't have time for your stupid games Rath. Tell me the truth. Does Kivar really have a price on our heads?"

"Yeah, whadya think? I just made it up for fun?"

"Yeah, actually, that's exactly what we think," said Liz. "Kivar doesn't care about us anymore. He has the Granolith. That's all he wanted, Rath."

Her words caused him to slump down even further.

"Fine, there's no bounty," said Rath. "We was just tryin to scare youse."

"Why, Rath?" Liz asked. "Max and I never did anything to you. We don't have the Granolith, and you can't go home. You don't want to go home. Your protector Nescado made a deal with Kivar. Tess was supposed to bring Max and the others back. If she succeeded, she'd win her freedom, and they'd all be dead. Is that what you want to go back for? To die?"

"Our protector betrayed us?" Rath asked. "But he was supposed to watch over us, and bring us home."

"Yeah, well instead, she got pregnant and almost tricked us into going back to Antar with her," Zan said. "She told us the baby couldn't live on Earth."

"And you bought that?" Rath scoffed. "Man, you are some kind of stupid. Zan never would have bought into that shit. So youse guys is tellin' me that Ava is just an evil bitch? I never liked that chick anyhow."

"No, not Ava," said Liz. "Tess. Ava was different, and if you ever see her again, just leave her alone."

"How'd you end up hookin up with Tess anyhow?" Rath asked. He'd seen for himself the bond that Liz and Max had, and even he couldn't understand how the two could ever split up.

"Tess killed one of our friends," Liz said, her eyes reflecting the pain she felt. "None of us handled it very well. We kind of drifted apart for a while."

"Yeah, which one?" Rath asked, almost conversationally. Death to him was not a big deal. He saw it every day on the streets. "The short jocky one, or that little blond chick?"

"Neither," said Zan, smiling a little at the descriptions of Kyle and Maria. "It was our friend, Alex. She mind warped him until there was nothing left of his mind, and he died."

"Couldn't you heal him?" Rath asked.

"I was too late," Zan said.

Something in his voice caused Liz to look at Zan and she could have sworn she saw Max behind his eyes.

"That sucks," said Rath. "But speaking of healing, I don't suppose you'd heal me, since you're not plannin' on killin me that is."

Zan looked at Liz, and she nodded. Zan moved over next to Rath and began to heal his various wounds. He tried hard to keep the connection between himself and Rath light so that there wouldn't be any flashes, but he wasn't sure if he succeeded. When he was done, he used his powers and released the bonds that held Rath's hands and feet. Zan held out his hand Rath and helped him up.

"You ain't got nuthin to worry about," said Rath. "Me and Lonnie will leave youse guys alone."

Zan and Liz walked to the door and waited for Rath to leave the room.

"You sure I can't interest you in another game of tonsil hockey?" Rath asked, leering at Liz.

"Yeah, I'm good," Liz said, slipping her hand into Zan's. "Thanks for the offer, though."

"Yeah, I didn't think so," Rath laughed. "Like I said, me and Lonnie won't be botherin you no more. We're gonna head back to New York. You can't get any good pizza here anyhow. Take it easy, Zan"

He held out his hand to Zan who reached out hesitantly and took it.

"You are da man," said Rath.