Part Two

Max found himself wandering the streets of Roswell aimlessly, his confusion mounting with every step. It wasn't just the unnerving flashes he seemed to be experiencing all of a sudden that were troubling him so much; it was feelings that the flashes brought with them. Feelings that he had closed himself off from and hadn't allowed himself to feel in so long and it was confusing the hell out of him.

"Max! Hey, Max! Over here!"

He looked up suddenly, startled by the unexpected shout. He was at the park, right in front of the Christmas skating rink and concert stage. Realising quickly what was going on around him, he looked up to find Isabel waving at him frantically from the edge of the stage. She was making last minute preparations for the annual children's costume pageant, he remembered.

With a sigh, he buried his hands further into his jacket pockets and made his way over to his sister. No doubt, she wanted his help with something, but despite his outward reservation, he was glad of the distraction. Maybe doing something constructive would keep his mind off Liz.

"Hey, Iz. What's up?" he asked once he reached her.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were Christmas shopping with Michael," she wondered, looking him over. "Never mind," she dismissed with a wave of her arm. "I need your help."

For the next two hours, Max found himself immersed in a world of candy canes and snowflakes as he strung row after row of decorations under the watchful eye of The Christmas Nazi. He was rather glad, however, that no one else was around to see him surrounded by tinsel and fairy glitter and rowdy kids dressed as princesses and pirates. It would kind of spoil his 'king' image if the others saw him being bossed around by his sister.

He shook his head at the thoughts running through his mind. Since when did he care about being considered a leader?

"Are you almost done here, Max?" came Isabel's voice from behind him. He didn't have time to form a response as she continued on regardless. "Okay then. Look, the kids are going home now and I have to talk with Mrs O'Neill," she nodded in the direction of a fairly large woman in a faux fur coat standing by the ice rink. "About the performance tomorrow. So, do you mind watching Sydney for me until her father comes to pick her up? He shouldn't be long." Again, she didn't wait for his answer, but turned to a small dark-haired girl of about five or six who was dressed in a fairy costume, taking her hand and leading her over to him.

"Sydney, this is my brother Max," she told the girl, who smiled shyly up at him. "He's going to look after you until your daddy gets here."

"Hi, Max," the small voice penetrated his brain and he couldn't help but smile at the sweet, innocent expression on the child's small face.

He knelt down in front of her, "Hi there, Sydney," he smiled.

Isabel shifted her clipboard to her other arm. "Right, I'll leave you two to it. Thanks, Max," she nodded and then made her way over to Mrs O'Neill.

It was only fifteen minutes before Sydney's father arrived, but it wasn't nearly long enough for Max. He was helping Sydney to colour in some pictures that Isabel was planning on putting up in a display of the children's Christmas artwork and was having a wonderful time. He'd never realised before how much he loved kids; how much he wanted one in the future. Maybe even more than one. But in his heart, he knew it wasn't meant to be. Who knew if he could even have children? And besides, the only person he could ever imagine having children with was Liz, and it was highly unlikely that that was ever going to happen now.

His internal musings were put to an abrupt stop however, when Sydney suddenly jumped up.

"Daddy!" she cried and began running towards a man stepping out of his car.

Max looked up. And stopped.

Sydney's father was…Brody?

He quickly gathered the rest of her belongings and walked over to the car, where father and daughter were hugging. Brody noticed him approaching and setting Sydney down, he turned to face him.

"Max, hi," he said. "I gather you've been taking care of my little girl," he gave a nod to Sydney, indicating that she'd just told him as much. "Thanks."

"Yeah," Max smiled self-consciously. "It was no problem. We had fun, didn't we Sydney?" he asked and the girl nodded enthusiastically. "I, um, I didn't know you had a daughter, Brody."

Brody glanced down at his daughter lovingly. "Yeah, she's staying with me over Christmas, aren't you sweetie?"

Another eager nod followed and Max also nodded his head in understanding.

"Well, uh, don't let me keep you. Bye Sydney, Merry Christmas."

"Bye Max," she waved as she and Brody began to walk towards the car.

"Have a great Christmas, Max," called Brody over his shoulder.

"You too," he replied and watched them as they left. He saw Sydney tugging on her Dad's arm in excitement, squealing when he suddenly hoisted her up into his arms and spun her around.

A pang went through Max's chest as he thought of doing the same with a child of his own.

~Flash~

"Liz, please," he begged, following her through the kitchen and into the living room, where she resumed her pacing.

"No, Max. You can't do this again. You can't get my hopes up like this, only to get scared and back out at the last minute. You've told me over and over how much you want children, our children, but whenever we try to discuss the possibility seriously, you change your mind!"

"Liz, I do want children with you, there's nothing in this world that I want more, but right now it's not safe and we don't know if it ever will be. Michael, Isabel and I still have enemies out there, watching us, waiting to strike and I don't want a child caught up in all of that."

"It's been five years since the skins attacked, since Rath and Lonnie tried to kill you in New York and our lives have been relatively quiet since. Face it, Max, no one is after us, no one has even come near you since we got married! I think by now we can safely say that the danger is gone!" she stopped pacing and turned to face him, her hands on her hips, an angry expression claiming her features.

His eyes softened as he felt her anger and frustration. He hated seeing her so upset, but he couldn't risk it. He'd never be able to live with himself if he gave in to her and then something happened to their children because of who and what he was.

"Liz," he took a step towards her, reaching out his hand to touch her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he told her sincerely. "I know how much this means to you, to both of us, but it's more of a risk than I'm willing to take. I'd die before I let my family suffer because of me."

That was all it took. She deflated before his eyes; her arms falling to her sides and his arms came around her quickly, hugging her to his body tightly. Her hands gripped his back and she buried her head in his chest. She was crying, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably and he felt his eyes tear up at her reaction and at his frustration over the situation.

Max held her until she calmed and lifted her head to look up at him.

"I'm sorry too, Max. I know how you feel about this and I know you would do anything to make sure that I'm safe; it's just that sometimes I wish that we could be a normal family. You know, husband, wife, 2.4 kids and a dog; and sometimes it upsets me that I'll never have that."

"I know, I know," soothed Max, stroking her hair. "I hate it too, but I just couldn't…"

"I understand," she whispered sadly.

Max looked at her running his fingers lightly down the side of her face. He cupped her cheek and leaned in to giver her a sweet, tender kiss.

"I love you, Liz Evans. You know that, right?"

She smiled tearfully and nodded, "I love you too, Max. Forever."

~Flash~

The images left Max stunned and gasping for air as he returned to the present, Brody's car long gone from the parking lot. That flash had been different from the others he had experienced earlier. Those had been happily, idyllic scenes of a perfect future with Liz; something he may have even conjured up by his own imagination. But this last one…their pain had been so real and thinking about it, their argument was perfectly justified. But it was definitely not a situation that Max would have dreamed up himself; especially not if he was trying to come up with happy endings for Liz and himself.

So, if those images weren't conjured up by his own imagination, then what exactly had just happened here?

He was determined to find out.

TBC...