A/N- Again, I am so, so sorry for my long absence. There really is no excuse that I can give you, and I apologize for that. I'm not sure I really like this chapter. It's a whole lot of dialogue and not a lot of action, but it's a necessary chapter in order to get to the end. In fact, we are actually very close to the end- one or two chapters. So, I hope you enjoy. Sorry if it seems kind of choppy- I tried to fix that, but it's kind of how the chapter has to be. Your questions will definitely be answered very soon. The end is near. Thank you SO much to my readers and reviewers- you make this story worth writing and you have quickly made it my most popular story! Read, review, and enjoy!

Chapter Eleven

"That's it," Liz said, closing her eyes and turning away. "That's the building where they held me."

The group stood together in the dense woods, staring across the long field at the large, brick building in the distance. No one said anything, but the silence was filled with unspoken words and questions.

Max turned toward Liz, "You're sure, Liz?"

She nodded, closing her eyes and turned away. "I'm sure. That's it... I was held there. That's where I met Tess."

"Tess!?" The voice rang out angrily and Michael quickly stepped forward. "No one ever said anything about Tess before. Max, how long have you known about this? What the hell does Tess have to do with this? What has she done now?"

Max let out a breath, turning toward the group. "I didn't tell you because I knew you would be upset."

"You're damn right we're upset, Max. You know what she did to us; how could you not tell us that she was connected to this? How long have you known?" Michael fired his questions at Max, the anger growing in his eyes with every word.

"Liz had a flash a couple days ago that made her begin to suspect that Tess was involved. She had another one, and it was confirmed. She thinks that Tess was chasing her when she left the compound, but she isn't sure." He said, stressing his last few words as angry words bubbled to Michael's lips.

"We don't have secrets, Max." Isabel said, her voice coming out hushed and frightened. "Tess hurt us all by leaving and selling us out. It wasn't your secret to keep."

Max let out a breath, his shoulders falling limp. "I'm sorry Isabel. I know that what she did hurt us all, but I didn't want to get everyone upset in case the visions turned out to not be true. I mean, we don't know if they are true. Liz only thinks that Tess was chasing her. I just didn't want to frighten everyone. I mean, with what we've been through... I just didn't want us all to hurt again when it might not even be true."

A silence fell after his words as the group considered Max's words.

"They're true," Liz's voice broke through the silence and everyone quickly turned toward her.

"What?" Max asked, taking a step closer to her.

"They're true, Max. Tess was behind me. Tess was in that place with me."

"How do you know?" Max asked.

"I know, Max. Tess was there. Believe me. She was in the cell next to me."

Michael let out an angry breath. "They put her there so that you would start to trust her. God, I hate them. I hate them!" He screamed, his face reddening in hot, vivid anger. Maria took a step closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He turned toward her, the muscles in his jaw relaxing.

"I'm sorry," his voice came out choked. "I'm just still so angry."

"I think we just need to think this through. We can't do anything rash; we cannot put ourselves in danger. We need a plan." Isabel said firmly. "So, what do we do next, Max?" She asked, voicing the question that everyone wanted answered.

Max sighed, turning toward Liz. "We wait," he said. "We wait, and when Liz is ready, she'll have the answers." He slowly lifted his hands, placing them on the sides of her face. His eyes stayed fixed on her, his gaze holding a promise that none of the others could her.

Slowly she nodded, lifting her hands up and placing them over his, and closing her eyes. The connection was instantaneous.

"Miss Parker, cooperate," the man said, his form standing tall and firm above her. "Cooperation is your best option right now, believe me."

Liz sighed, keeping her eyes cast downward. "Why should I do anything for you? I don't even know who you are."

"Don't lie to us. We know that you know us. You can sense us. Tell us what you see in us, Miss Parker. Tell us and there won't have to be any consequences."

Slowly Liz lifted her head to look up at the man. She saw the confidence in his gaze as he looked down at her; he knew that she was his. She could feel everything inside of him as he looked at her. He was confident of his power over her, but somewhere in the back of his mind, in a place that he didn't acknowledge, he was scared. He was scared of what she could do to him. "I'm not telling you anything," she said, turning away.

He let out a sigh. "Bring her in," he said to the guard standing by the door. He turned back to her. "Liz, I'd like you to meet your new friend."

She walked in with her head down, her limp blonde hair falling in front of her eyes as the men led her into the room. She sat down next to Liz, slowly lifting her eyes to stare at Liz.

"We'll give you two some time to get acquainted," the man said with a smile, turning and walking out the door.

Liz watched him go and then turned toward the girl, her eyes full of questions. "Who are you?" She asked quickly.

Tess put her hands over her lips, "Just so you know, they're on the other side of that wall watching us," she pointed to the wall beside them. "I'm Tess."

"I'm Liz," Liz said quietly, her eyes shifting toward the wall where Tess had indicated.

"I know who you are. They told me a few days ago that you would be arriving. Welcome to hell." She quickly stood up and walked toward the wall. "You hear me? Hell! I know you're watching, so why don't you just come out and get whatever it is you want done over with so that I can go back to sleep!?"

The door opened and quickly the man entered the room again, his eyes fixed on Tess's angry face.

"Tess, Tess, Tess... how many times do we have to go over this?" He asked, shaking his head at her.

"Go over what? I'm not playing your game anymore. I'm not going to manipulate this girl." She turned toward Liz. "She doesn't deserve to be manipulated."

The man turned back toward Liz. "Miss Parker, tell Tess what you can do. Tell Tess what you can see in me. Tell her what you see and you can both go back to your cells.

Liz looked quickly toward Tess, their eyes catching each other. Liz raised her eyebrow in a question and Tess nodded lightly.

"I see evil," Liz said, her eyes never leaving Tess's eyes. "I see the control that you feel you have over me. You think I can give you the answers that you've been searching for your whole life. You think I can answer questions about 1947, because I'm the missing link." She turned her head back toward the man. "But you're wrong."

His face stayed even, not stirring as her stare cut through him. "Let them go. Guards!" He screamed, and two men entered.

Liz got up from her seat, and fell in step beside Tess as the two guards led them back to their cells.

Tess leaned ever so slightly toward Liz, her face falling right beside Liz's ear. "We need a plan, Liz. We can get out of here together, I know we can. If you follow this hallway, it eventually leads to a door. That door leads to the outside. There are always two guards outside our cell, and two guards outside that door. I know you can sense when people are near, and I can manipulate what people see. I will mind warp the guards, and we will get out of our cells and out of the door. I will need you, though. I'll need you to use your powers to tell me when there are others around."

Liz looked toward Tess, shaking her head. "But I don't have powers."

Tess nodded. "You do, you just don't know that's what they are."

They walked separately into their cells, their eyes staring at each other through the thick glass as the doors slammed behind them. Liz could feel something inside of Tess. A feeling she had never felt before. Tess was confident, Tess was scared, but more than anything, for the first time Liz could feel something inside of Tess that she'd been longing to feel for her whole life in another. Tess was like her. They were the same.

The connection broke and Liz stared up into Max's eyes. Instantly she knew he had seen the flash as well.

He sighed, his head falling down as he took a step backward. He looked toward Michael. "You were right," he said. "They put Tess in there with Liz to try to manipulate her and get her to share her secrets with her. They wanted to see what powers Liz has.

Michael looked from Max to Liz. "And what powers are these, exactly? Why would they be holding Liz inside of that place? It's not like she' an alien."

Liz shook her head. "They held me because I'm different. Because I can feel things about other people. I have no idea why they wanted me there, but they felt like I had some connection to Tess. At least that's what they told me."

"They were manipulating you, Liz." Max said quietly. "I hate to tell you this, but they were using Tess to get information out of you."

"But how do you know that, Max? I mean, now that I'm starting to remember, how can we be so sure? When I looked at Tess, I could feel something inside of her that told me that we were alike. How do you know she was in there to hurt me?"

"Max knows because that's exactly what Tess does." Michael broke in. "It's what Tess did to him; it's what she did to us all. We all have specialized powers, and that's what she could do. She could make people see things that weren't there. And in some cases," his eyes shifted toward Max and then back to Liz, "she could even make you feel things that you couldn't control."

A long silence wrapped around the group. No one spoke as they looked from one another, their eyes connecting as they remembered events from the past and the ways in which Tess had cut them so deeply.

"They know I'm alive," Liz's voice wavered slightly as she spoke. "They know I'm alive, Max. They told my mother I was dead, but they know I'm alive. They aren't going to stop looking for me until they find me."

"That's why we're not going to let them find you," Max's voice was low, solemn. He turned toward the group. "That's why we have to fight. We have to go in and make sure no one ever comes after Liz again." He turned back toward Liz, his hand sliding along her cheek. "We have to fight so that you can stay with us, right where you belong."