Summary: (AU) Liz meets another alien while trying to escape from Roswell and the events of the end of Season 1 (the cave - you all know what I mean!)

Could this stranger, friend or foe, hold the keyto Liz's own destiny?

Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell so I'm not taking any of the credit from the creators for this fantastic show. Pity: I'd soo love to be mega-rich by now - and better yet, hold creative license over Tess' head (behave, vixen!) :D The OC's are mine, and I will fight viciously to keep them!

Reviews: Thank all of you who responded to my query on how well Akela seems to be coming across to all of you – it helped me to get an idea of how you all see her! Thanks to all for reviewing (the response to the fight scene from last chapter was awesome!):

To Just Me: Hi, thanks for reviewing – and I'm glad you really enjoyed the last chapter. I wasn't sure if anyone would like it. I can't give any secrets away, but I can say that whatever possessed Liz for a moment won't be revealed straight away … all I can say is that it's something Liz and Catriona may have in common. (Did that raise more questions – hmm …)

To Chrissienuil: Thank you heaps for the encouraging review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you liked the last one.

And now on to the next chapter …

Chapter Twelve: There Are Too Many Corners in a Foursquare.

All the loud morning chatter that filled the air with the latest school gossip evaporated into silence as the strident tones of the school bell tolled and the rushing of feet were hidden behind the slamming of classroom doors as the students were herded into their first class of the day, leaving a forlorn figure leaning quietly against the shadowed recesses of the bathroom cubicle door she had chosen to hide behind. Keeping herself as still as possible until she was sure she was alone, she pulled herself upright and turned the lock on the bathroom door slowly and released herself from the shadows into the garish mix of light coming from the twisted daylight shining through the frosted glass above the cubicles and the glare from the usual bathroom fixtures. Her dark hair fell forward to hide her face behind its protection, keeping her gaze obscured from detection; but as she reached the basins, she used a hesitant hand to push the tresses behind her left ear and revealed to her troubled gaze a pale reflection. The matching gaze that stared back caught her focus, and with her left hand resting on the edge of the basin before her, she lifted her right hand to push the rest of her hair back behind her other ear.

Her reflection was mirror perfect; and she winced at the large mark of blue-black bruising that marred the smooth skin above her right cheekbone, a mark that travelled down to meet the red and swollen upper lip that was closest to the mark and further up to a nasty cut across her right eyebrow. The damage looked worse to her own gaze, but it was noticeably visible even through the concealer she had hoped would mask her battle wounds. With a sign, she closed her eyes gingerly when she could not stand to see the evidence any longer, ducking her head down as the screech of rusty metal hinges announced she would have to share the bathroom with another.

"Shouldn't you be in class, Elizabeth?" The tone was quiet, but the quality held a musical note that sent warm relief to her tired mind. Her slight smile hidden by her hair, she gripped the basin with both hands.

"I shouldn't have come today. I was fooling myself if I thought I could hide this – there's no way this won't be noticed!" Raising her head to glare at her mute reflection, Liz shoved her hands up her forehead and into her hair none to gently, revealing the damage to her face to her friend. Akela didn't move from her stance, keeping their gaze locked through the mirror, only the slightest hint of sympathy for the Zai'era evident in her sea-green eyes. Liz slumped her shoulders with the release of her breath, her hands threading slowly through her hair to let it fall where it would. Akela shrugged her shoulders delicately and moved with silent steps to stand behind Liz, watching their reflection as she reached her hands to grip at Liz's relaxed shoulders.

"I can't help you, Elizabeth – these are your scars to bear. You must accept them as you must accept your destiny. You cannot hide who you are from yourself."

Liz heard a warning note in the message Akela gave her, matched by a glint in her eyes that told her there was something more to this – something she was missing. Their gaze met in the mirror and held, a light frown marring the skin between her eyebrows as she tried to find the meaning, and Akela released her hands from Liz's shoulders, breaking their gaze to shift her eyes onto the bruising along the younger girl's face. Spinning around so that she could meet Akela's intent look without a medium, her eyes asked for the answer she was uncertain she should voice; but Akela merely shook her head, her lips spreading slightly in a thin smile that Liz was uncomfortable with.

"I'm not going to ask you to make a choice – you already know which path you have chosen deep within your heart. When you can face who you are, you will see the answer for yourself."

Lifting her hand, she gently traced the bruise along Liz's cheekbone, and the younger girl hissed in reaction, her eyes closing in a wince as she pulled slightly away from the discomfort. Turning back to the mirror, Liz glanced at her reflection once more, hoping to see what Akela was sure she already knew. Pushing away her confusion, she focused on the brown of the eyes before her staring steadily back and looked inwards. Her mind flew with memories of the previous night, forgetting her lack of sleep to fast-forward through the pictures of her thoughts: the anger in Vanessa Whitaker's gaze as she backhanded her, the black eyes and red hair of Catriona's reflection staring back at her in the Senator's office, the soul-destructive hatred that had consumed her so easily in Akela's meditation chamber, the controlled determination that had pushed her into action to help her friends, the fear that had clutched her heart as she had watched Akela turn away from Vanessa's power, and the certainty that had helped her overcome her despair as she watched Max walk away from the courtyard that change was necessary.

All those memories and the emotions that linked them rolled endlessly around her mind as she built them into a picture she knew she had to see. The Auron hummed with power, a blue-white glow increasing outward from the charm as she pushed herself to relive every memory again and again in the space of a few seconds, wringing the emotions to find the meaning she had already faced. It all meant one thing – her destiny had called her, and she had already answered. She could no longer pretend she hadn't; she could no longer pretend the choice wasn't always in her own hands. She shared a past now – a past she hadn't lived, yet one that she was included in and was still connected to; and it had marked her as different just as it had threatened to overlap her future. She opened her eyes as she realised she had to embrace the answer:

"I am the Zai'era!"

The Auron glow filled the room with a fierce light that neither girl flinched from, and when it faded instantaneously, Liz saw that her reflection had changed to mirror her perfectly now. The bruising had faded to the lightest purple shade that dusted along her cheekbone; the swelling of her cut lip had gone down to even her pout to normal, and the cut across her eyebrow looked smaller and barely perceptible even to her knowing gaze. Akela smirked behind her in satisfaction, and Liz caught the look in the mirror, her own lips pulling into a similar smirk with the realization that the power was always in her own hands. Their gaze locked once more through the mirror, and Liz bit her bottom lip.

"Can we continue with our training?"

Akela's smirk widened and she lowered her head in dramatic acknowledgement. "What are we still doing hanging around the girl's bathroom, then? Let's get out of here!"

Liz's own grin matched Akela's, and she turned from the mirror for the last time, leading her friend out of the bathroom and into the school hallway. Akela paused for a moment to stare down the length of the lockers on her right before following Liz's shadow out into the sunshine, leaving the doors to swing back loudly into place. The corridor remained empty for a brief moment before a tall shadow pulled away from the wall behind the row of lockers and reached up a hand to push long blonde hair behind an ear. Her gaze watched the two figures that sauntered down the path towards the parking lot from the small windows lodged in the doors before turning away and heading down the corridor in the opposite direction.

The lunch crowd was dense in the cafeteria but sparse enough in the tabled courtyard that all six of the remaining I-Know-An-Alien Group had no trouble finding a space for just themselves far enough away from the rest of the crowd to avoid interruption. Isabel sat at the head of the circle, her loose blonde tresses shining golden in the sunlight as she picked hesitantly at her food. Alex sat by her right side, watching her out of the corner of his eye as they waited for the other four that had just arrived to settle down enough to discuss their main topic of conversation lately. Tess glanced often over her shoulder, certain she could feel herself being watched, and Michael glared at the tabletop as he lost his King of Paranoia position to the smaller blonde. Max spoke first, but Maria wasn't really paying attention as she kept her own gaze sweeping the courtyard for a familiar brown-eyed gaze that she never found. Her attention was dragged back when Isabel interrupted her brother.

"They're not here – either of them. I saw them both come out of the bathroom across from my English class and leave the school this morning."

Maria glanced over at Alex, who met her confusion with a worried gaze of his own. "They were together? But, I thought you said this Akela was dangerous – how could you have just let Liz leave with her?"

"What are we going to do now? We have to get Liz back …"

Max spoke over the both of them, his tone harsh with the evidence of his own concern. "We don't want to make Akela nervous; she could hurt Liz if we rush things. We need to make sure she doesn't realise we know who she is, or that we know she's after us or she'll realise she doesn't need to use Liz anymore and …" He didn't need to finish the thought as everyone else at the table had already grasped the concept with mental images that were disturbing.

Maria bit her lip; she had already worried more than she should have to about one of her best friends during last night's dramas, and even though the Senator – or whoever she really was – was dead, it seemed the threat she had started hadn't died with her. Alex must have been thinking the same thing, for he reached out a steady hand and dragged the strawberry blonde into a fierce one armed hug that she found warmly comforting. Michael turned away, his eyes becoming the cold mask she recognised from whenever he couldn't handle the situation emotionally, and she truthfully realised to herself that she wasn't surprised to see it back. Tess was the only one who didn't seem concerned, but nobody was really paying enough attention to her to notice as they were all lost in thoughts of their own.

"So, what's the plan …?" Max couldn't meet Alex's intent eyes, and turned instead to search out Michael's opinion, but for once his friend had nothing to say. Isabel too looked away from the table, unable to voice a view of what she was sure was a situation that would end badly for them. She always trusted her instinct, and today it was screaming at her, a warning of a dire conclusion. Max swallowed his own concerns and rubbed at the overtiredness behind his closed eyes that threatened a pounding headache, a frustrated sigh escaping tightly closed lips.

"I think the first thing we need to do is get Liz away from Akela. Warn her – let her know what's really going on, and then we go from there. But we need to be careful about this."

"Ok, so Alex and I will call her to come over and we'll tell her what Tess heard –"

"No. Look, we all know that Liz doesn't trust Tess – I think we all need to be there. Isabel can back it up; she heard it from the Senator too. And Liz knows for herself the Senator was an alien – she was the one to warn us in the first place. I think this needs to be like an intervention – we get her alone and away from Akela. She'll believe it better then – we can't take any chances with this."

Max nodded slowly, his complete agreement with Alex's plan evident and even Isabel turned to stare at him with a slight smile at his sudden take-charge attitude, wondering why it was so easy for him to constantly surprise her. Michael leaned forward, ready to make his own contribution.

"We could do this at my place – less interruptions to worry about."

"Well, I think we have a plan. Let's get this started." Isabel looked to Maria, who nodded and looked to Alex. He stared back, and his unspoken question was answered with a shrug. "What – you're gonna have to ring her; remember, I don't have a phone anymore!" With a slow grin, Alex drew his own mobile out of his pocket and pressed the auto dial number, listening patiently for the call to be connected. Tess leaned back to keep her face in shadow as she watched Alex's eyes light up with a grim smile when he heard a familiar voice answer his call.

"Hi Lizzy; listen, are you doing anything important tonight …"

Akela watched Liz's face carefully as she ended the phone call to Alex with the push of a button. It wasn't necessary for the younger girl to tell her what the call was about, for she was very aware of the growing suspicions about her, and was determined to use them to her own advantage. For Liz to truly release herself to the powers that Akela was training her to use, the ever-strong bond between Max and Liz, the connection that the two of them had felt instinctively from their beginning, would have to be broken. This bond that they were unconsciously aware that they shared distracted her from truly accepting her destiny, and Akela was resolute to ensure that Liz was prevented from becoming unfocused about her training and pushed into getting caught up in their problems – matters that should no longer concern her. There was only one way to go about achieving this: she had to break Liz away from her friends.

Liz sighed, her left hand reaching up to unconsciously twirl with a loose strand of dark hair that had fallen from her messy braid as she pushed the mobile away from her reach and leant back into the large cushions surrounding her and Akela as they practised their meditation. Akela sat Indian-style; her legs crossed under her in a relaxed pose, her fingers intersected together freely. Her expression was open, and Liz groaned as she thought over the brief conversation she had just shared with Alex for a simple way to share it with her mentor.

"Alex wants to meet up and talk – I just know what it's gonna be about!" Akela remained silent, waiting. "He'll wanna talk about what happened last night – and I'm not ready to lie to him about it!"

Akela smiled – subtle control was how she worked best. She couldn't come outright and forbid Liz from associating with her old friends if she wanted to be successful. It was too soon for that, and she didn't want Liz to start questioning her trust in the older girl. It was important to make the damage irreparable, for as confused as Liz was now, her old friendships were currently held together by a string fragile enough to be torn completely. If that connection was broken, it would be easy for Akela to keep Liz away from them and focused on her own future.

"You can only do what you believe is best. Can you trust him to keep this secret from the others? Or, more importantly, would it be fair of you to ask him to keep it from them?" Liz sighed, and folded her arms over her drawn-up knees, sitting forward enough to drop her head into the folds. Her skin muffled her spoken answer, but the perceptible shake of her head emphasised by her swinging braid made her it clear what she would have said. Akela's smile faded somewhat into a darker, satisfied smirk, and she released her fingers to toy with the fabric on the cushion beneath her toes.

"If you need to tell them something, generalise it – don't make it a lie, exactly, if you are uncomfortable with them. But maybe you do need to tell them something soon; before their suspicions lead them too close to the truth."

Liz's head raised from her lap then, a wary look in her eye as she realised what Akela meant. "What suspicions?"

Akela didn't meet her gaze, and her own loose curls fell forward like a gypsy curtain to hide their amused depths as she continued to pull at the loose threads of the fabric. "Haven't you noticed how they watch me? Tess even followed me from school once to try and catch me out, hoping I might reveal my – our – secret. I'm sure it's only because they are so concerned for you; you are spending so much time with me now instead of them. But to even watch me so closely in school – perhaps they are afraid I'm going to blow up the building!" Her light chuckle gave away how ridiculous she thought the whole idea was, but Liz didn't share her amusement. She was furious.

"They, what! How long has this been going on? How long have they been spying on you – and me – for?"

Akela looked up then, the amusement fading a little from her light green eyes as she took in the physical evidence of Liz's anger. "Calm down – it's alright. They haven't done anything you should be concerned about, and they haven't seen anything that might give away what we are. They're just worried about you. Can you blame them for wanting to protect you?"

"If they were so worried about me, then they could have come and talked to me…"

"And would you have given them the answer they wanted?"

"Maybe not – but at least they would have been upfront about it! All this sneaking around, it just proves that this wasn't about me at all! It was all about them!"

"Elizabeth, please calm down. Maybe this is what Alex wanted to talk to you about tonight …"

"Oh, that's even better! He said he wanted to talk on neutral ground, that it would be easier to just meet Maria at Michael's and talk there! It's a damn ambush is what it is! And I can't believe I was stupid enough to fall for all that! Well, fine – if they want to talk, I have plenty of things I want to say!"

Pushing herself up from the heap of cushions on the floor, she shoved the loose fringe behind her left ear and stalked towards the closed doorway, the Auron flashing the lightest pink in her anger as she flung the door open and let it slam shut behind her. Akela closed her eyes in a faint wince at the violence behind the action; almost immediately, the door was quietly opened again, and her smirk returned as she opened her eyes to face her companion. Her Gor'uth smiled hesitantly back, swaying her long tail nervously before curling it around her waist as she sat before her Ka with a low bow. No words were spoken, for they both knew what action had to be taken next and Akela's smirk widened as she closed her eyes once more. Everything so far was going according to plan, if a little behind schedule; and as she vanished into the air with the power of her teleportation to see that what she had set in motion would come to pass, Ari folded her hands into her lap and prayed silently to the spirits that they would keep her beloved Akela from harm in this game her Ka was determined to play.

Liz pushed her loose wavy hair out of her face as she strode up the steps to the front door of Michael's apartment, willing herself under her breath to stay calm. She had made herself take a long walk after storming out of Akela's large house in an effort to calm down, but the only difference that had made was to cause her to sweat from the sweltering heat the day had suffered from. She had immediately gone home and showered, but even the luke-warm temperature of the water had done nothing to cool her temper. Taking a deep breath, she raised her fist and beat a tempo on Michael's door, stomping her feet in an effort to rid her body of the excess tension she was finding hard to keep under her control.

The rusty hinges squeaked as the door was pulled open, and Alex's quirky smile beamed at her from where he lent against the frame. Not really in the mood to be friendly, Liz grunted a 'hello' before trudging her feet past him and into the sparse hallway. Alex's smile faded slightly, and he hesitated as he pushed the door closed behind her before turning to usher her into the small living area. She wasn't surprised to find the room occupied with more people than Alex had intimated would be coming; instead, she folded her arms across her chest in an intimidating way that only seemed to emphasis a large charm she wore around her neck that her open peasant top revealed. Maria frowned as she noticed this: the charm was old and unusually shaped, and she had never seen Liz wear it before. For that matter, she had never seen her best friend glower so effectively before either, and a queasy feeling in the pit of stomach told her that something was not right.

"You wanted to talk – so, let's talk." Her eyes swivelled around to meet each one of them, and her gaze made them all guiltily look away. No one made the first approach either, so she huffed under her breath and strode forward to stand in the centre of the room so that her eyes could focus on all of them at once. "Let's talk about my friend, Akela, shall we – that's why you tricked me into coming here, isn't it? Let's talk about how all of you have been spying on her – following her around, watching her!" Max stood up, his gaze worried as he realised that in his blind concern, he might have made a wrong move. Liz didn't give pause to let him speak. "Did you think she wouldn't notice – that I wouldn't find out! What exactly were you hoping to get from this?"

"We got enough – she's alien, in case you haven't worked that out for yourself."

Max closed his eyes for a brief moment, a frustrated, "Tess!" released from his gritted teeth in a growl as Liz's eyes had widened in what he had thought for a moment might have been dismay. The blonde tossed her curls and shrugged her shoulders pettily as she turned away, but Liz's eyes had hardened over and Max wasn't sure of what he thought he had seen. Inhaling a deep breath, Liz stepped back from his closeness, muttering in a low tone, "I don't believe this!" through a clenched jaw as she shook her head in slow annoyance. Turning her head slightly, she pinned Max with a stony glare out of the corner of her eye, and he grimaced with anticipation of another outburst that caused his heart to beat faster in a fearful tattoo.

"I trust Akela, and I know that she would never do anything to hurt me. Whatever your problem is with her – drop it, ok, … because she's not what you think she is!"

"Are you sure about that? What do you even know about her?"

And what is it that you know about her that has you so spooked? Oh sorry, I meant apart from what Tess has told you – whatever that is!"

Isabel exchanged a worried glance with Michael, confused that Liz would know that Tess was the one who first became aware of the connection between Akela and the Senator when they hadn't mentioned it yet, but Max growled in frustration as he stalked forward with a determined gleam in his eye; this confrontation was not playing out the way he had pictured and planned in his head, and to have his supposed destined relationship with Tess thrown in his face didn't help his temper. Isabel quickened her step and clenched her hand around her brother's bicep, hoping to help him calm down even as she held him back.

"It wasn't just Tess – I saw her memories too, and I heard for myself what the Senator had to say about Akela. There is no mistake! They knew each other, and that means Akela is alien, too!"

Liz's body instinctively stiffened and took another step back, her head beginning to shake away her confusion. Maria pulled away from Michael and Alex pushed away from the archway leading to the front door, both pleading with their friend as they moved to make an effort to comfort her; but Liz dodged their efforts, backing away until her shoulder blades came up against solid wall.

"She's dangerous, chica – please, just listen!"

"We're just worried about you, Lizzie – we just want to see you safe!"

Liz pushed her hands into her hair as she felt her control begin to slip, and she began shaking her head wildly in clear denial.

"STOP, just … just, stop it! I'm not listening to this anymore. I don't know why you're determined to do this, but you have to stop!"

Max pulled away from his sister's strong grasp, his steps rushed with the apprehension he felt that Liz didn't understand their reason for setting up this intervention, and Liz shrunk back against the wall even further as she clenched her hands in a tighter grip on her upper arms as she crossed them in front of her to hide their trembling.

"Liz, please, I …I just don't want to see you get hurt! Akela is alien; she was working with Whitaker –" Liz's breathless, "NO!" didn't stop him, and he continued over her interruption as if she hadn't spoken. " – and that means they were working for the same thing! She's just using you, Liz – using you to get to us. I don't want you involved when she decides to attack. You could … you – you could get …" He couldn't say the words to finish the sentence as his mind suddenly filled with the images of the Senator's office and the horrific blood stains that had terrified him that he had been too late, but it didn't matter. Liz wasn't listening.

Her own mind raced with confused thoughts as she tried to make sense of their accusations. She knew that Whitaker knew Akela – that was why the Senator had attacked her. But, that meant that they were enemies, not that they were working together. She saw for herself how vicious the battle between the two aliens had been in the end, and she knew that Akela had been the one to stop the Senator for good. She just couldn't share that knowledge with her friends. Her voice lowered to a low, dark tone that tried to hide her bemused state.

"You have no right to try and turn me against a friend that you have decided I can't have. Whatever you have against Akela, deal with it yourselves – I'm not going to help you!"

Usually the quiet one, Alex pushed himself physically between Max and Liz, his firm glance telling Max to step down before they all lost control; when he reluctantly paced away, Alex turned his piercingly troubled gaze back to his friend who kept her arms folded closely over her chest in a protective move as she kept her own gaze turned down and away.

"Liz, maybe you don't want to hear this – but you have to try: if Akela is an alien, and we both know what happens when other aliens move into this town – "He paused as Tess snorted in disgust, but Michael pinned her with a ferocious stare that caused her to shrug her shoulders and turn away; Liz glanced up at her taller friend through her fringe as he continued, " – then she needs to be stopped before someone gets hurt."

It was Liz's turn to snort, this time in vague amusement as she dropped her arms to rub her palms nervously over her tight black jeans, before raising them up to dry wash her face.

"Alex, Akela isn't a threat, she's my friend – and that should be enough. Please … please, just leave this alone …"

Max raked a distracted hand through his hair, a desperate spark in his eyes as he pivoted back to face the girl he was determined to save in spite of herself.

"I can't do that, Liz – we can't just leave this. You may not think she is a threat, but we can't take that chance. If she is after us, like the Senator was, … then we have to get her before she gets us!"

Liz's face paled significantly with those words, and Maria shot her a questioning glance; one that was ignored as Liz focused instead on her own realisations. She knew that Akela had no intentions towards Max, Isabel, Michael, and Tess; she knew that they had misrepresented her reasons for coming to Roswell, and that Senator Whitaker had a lot to do with that. But she also knew that if Max came looking for a battle between them, he would not walk away the victor. Appearances where Akela were concerned were often deceiving, and that would lead to Max's death – to all their deaths – if she didn't do something. Something fast.

"I know you don't trust me where Akela is concerned – I know there are far too many secrets and lies being told that keep the lines blurred between us; and although that's not ok, I understand that it can't be fixed in one night. It doesn't matter – it can't, because I can't tell you what you want to know; I can't tell you what you need to hear. I can't tell you that you're right about her – or that you're wrong – I can't tell you anything. But, listen to me anyway … you have to drop this. You can't go after Akela – leave her alone, leave her family alone. You have no idea what you'd be getting yourselves into!"

Max darted forward as Liz slid sideways along the wall and grabbed her arm, holding her back from escaping Michael's apartment, and though she tried to shake him off, his grip held firm.

"What are you talking about – talk to me, Liz!" His fingers dug into her arm, and she flinched away from the dull pain, shaking her head as her free hand pushed at his chest to keep the distance between them from closing.

"Didn't you hear what I just said? There is nothing else I can tell you!"

"Yes, there is – whose side are you on? It's not mine, is it?"

Liz stopped struggling, her free hand stopped the pressure she was holding against his chest. It wasn't necessary any longer as she stared up into his eyes in disbelief. Maria made a noise somewhere between a squeak and a groan as she glanced from one frozen form to the other, her eyes wide as the feeling that had nagged at her before returned with a vengeance.

"You're asking me to choose." Liz's stomach had jolted painfully at his words, and a strange hazy feeling of déjà vu had swum through her senses like an unpleasant echo. Isabel clutched at her own waist with tight arms, her own mind racing as she met Michael's uncertain look with a haunted one of her own. She had instinctively known that this meeting was going to end badly, but she had never expected her brother's hormonal temper to be the catalyst.

"You're either on our side – or not."

Liz kept a steady gaze locked on his own anger filled brown orbs that had a flicker of fear she couldn't see in her certainty her own eyes mirrored the emotion of wrath perfectly. Her memory wafted over the conversation she had shared with her mentor earlier in the day, and she realised Akela's words had a double meaning that applied to this confrontation. Akela hadn't asked her to choose a side – but she knew that she had already chosen the path. Her answer became clear.

"Then I'm not." Her voice was cold, laced with a hurt anger that pulsed along Max's spine; but it was too late to take back the ultimatum. She tried to pull away again, but Max's own pain added fuel to his already burning resentment, and he refused to let go. Tess' blue eyes turned icy calm, a gleam of something close to satisfaction reflected off the surface, but from where she stood behind the others, no one saw her reaction.

The Auron, charged by the tense emotional atmosphere that filled the room with currents, responded to the fierce and intense reaction of the Zai'era as she lost control of her rage; it flashed a deep rose pink and a white serpent with red flashing eyes appeared, twisting its way around her forehead and into her dark hair to swallow its own tail like a crown of thorns. Liz's eyes deepened to an almost black, flashing over with the same light the Auron glowed with, and she raised her hand to rest against Max's chest, her head cocking to the side as she used a blast of power focused through her palm to force Max away from her, the power sending him flying backwards across the room and causing Tess to duck out of the way of his flailing limbs as the far wall broke his fall.

"You really should have let her go when she asked."

Tess spun around on her toes to stare at whoever Liz had become in unconcealed surprise even as she moved to place her body in front of a stunned Max as he lay in a sprawled heap against the skirting board. Michael reacted on instinct, pushing a heavily shocked Maria and Isabel behind him and his own outstretched hand, and Alex, backing away from Liz in bewilderment, tripped over the arm of the couch and fell heavily against the padded fabric. The Auron felt the new charge of power, and raised a shield around the Zai'era to protect her, but Liz had seen the open fear in her friends expression and fought back as she heard a distorted groan in a familiar voice, shaking her head in an effort to clear the shadow that had taken over her mind in the instant she had lost control. The Auron recognised her flicker of power, and flashed again with a warm cleansing pure light that faded the pink into oblivion as the crown disappeared to be replaced by a bracelet that curled around her right wrist of two wingless dragons in differing colour, the cobalt eyes of one of them shining with a calming light.

Michael's arm hadn't lowered, and Liz backed away from the unflinching glare he directed towards her, her left hand hovering before her face in her turmoil and her voice breaking as she whispered, "No, not again," before turning away to flee. As she reached the front door, she stopped at Maria's hoarse cry of, "Liz!" as the strawberry blonde tugged at Michael's arm to get past him, but she didn't turn around.

"I tried to warn you to stop, but you just wouldn't listen. Things have changed – so many things that I had to keep secret from you all for your own good. Things you shouldn't have to know. I suppose it's better this way, though – Akela was never after you, and I'm sorry, but … there's no going back now. And now you know why …" Before anyone could voice any words, she was gone, the door swinging softly shut behind her.

She only made it down one flight of stairs before she had to stop to get her shaking limbs under control, leaning heavily back against the cold bricks as she used the sharp edges as a focusing tool. Her options had been whittled away, and she could no longer sit on the fence. Max had made it very clear she hadn't done anyone any good up there, and the only way she could have prevented the upstairs disaster was if she had chosen a side sooner. She had been fooling herself for too long when she had continued to think she could have it both ways; her needs were clear. She needed Akela, yes, but she also needed to keep Max – and the others – safe. Living in the shadows of the past hadn't helped anyone, and it was time she pushed herself forward to focus on her own destiny.

Upstairs, Max rubbed at the pain in his stiff neck as he pushed himself up and off the floor, using the wall as leverage so that he could ignore Tess' offered hand and overly dramatic look of consoling concern. Michael had shoved his weapon of flesh into his faded jean pocket, and paced away from the girls to turn slowly and watch Max as the broken shambles of the evening were replayed in his mind. Isabel had sunk down to sit on the coffee table behind her knees, her head falling to rest tiredly in her hands as she tried to ignore the different ways her mind had pointed out she could have prevented what had happened. Alex tried to slide his body into an upright position, the numbness his mind had become started to fade to reveal a terrified pit of worry for his friend, and Maria had pushed away from everyone, her mind damning Max for whatever had happened to Liz even as her knees gave way, her fall aborted by her hands sinking into the carpet as she tried to focus on her troubled breathing.

Taking it all in, but not understanding any of it as his own mind raced over the words he and Liz had used as arsenal against each other even as he shook his head in an effort to clear it of the dizzying aftershocks of getting thrown across a room, his hands lifting up to his temples so that he could use the tips of his fingers to place pressure against the pounding in his skull, he asked the question that couldn't be avoided.

"What the hell just happened?"

No one he trusted could meet his gaze, and even as Tess placed a heavy hand on his shoulder, her lips parting to spout her own opinion as she used their programmed ability to connect to heal the pain in his head, a faint chuckle could be heard bouncing off the walls in the small apartment before an amused voice answered him.

"I told you I would destroy the bond the two of you shared – but did you listen? Although, I never expected you would make it so easy for me, Zan, and I must thank you for that. But I assume you have some questions … hmmm, and maybe it is my turn to answer a few of them. It seems only fair that you know a little more about me before you decide I am an enemy you want to have."

Max shook off Tess hand, ignoring her impatient sigh as he spun around trying to find the owner of the voice, wondering why it was so familiar; and as the shadows from the darkening kitchen merged to reveal a small figure of a teenage girl a little taller than Tess with loose black curls and glinting sea-green eyes that hardened with a distaste that defied the amusement in her voice, he knew why.

Next Chapter:

Chapter Thirteen: Knowing Thine Enemy:

Max has drawn a line in the sand – and now he knows who will stand by his side in this battle he is determined to fight. Akela has decided that maybe it is time he also found out who is standing on the other side …

AN: FYI – In the time-line of events, this chapter happened around the time Future Max came into the picture (in the series – he won't be making an appearance in my story!)

So guys, what did you think of this chapter – did you enjoy Liz's temper tantrum? I hope I made it clear why it happened … but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Chapter 13 shouldn't be too far behind …

Ciao ciao

Anianka xx