I don't own Roswell or any of its franchise. Sorry to say.
As always big thanks to marzmez for taking the time out of her busy schedule to work on this - trust me she's busy and for her to prioritize this "little" thing means the world to me. Give her some love as well!
A/N Hi my peeps...Okay that sounded cheesy. Anyway I'm back briefly to upload this, even in the midst of my vacation that's how much I love you all;) I hope you'll like it. I'm thinking maybe this is the second to last chapter, trying to end it on a pretty chapter number, I'm anal like that, I know... That said, I am gonna be even more cheesy and ask that you try to help me reach 600 reviews, 'cause that'd just be awesome:D Well, 'nuf of me talking silly, I hope you all enjoy this rather long chapter:D
Tess' POV
Tess had just finished taking a much needed shower when the door opened and Kyle walked in. At first glance, the sheriff's son seemed troubled, so Tess probed their bond tentatively to see if there was something bothering him. To her dismay, she found their connection was barely there, clearly a sign that Kyle wasn't interested in sharing how he felt at that moment.
How he's gotten so good at controlling the bond so quickly, Tess thought with a small frown marring her features, I'll never know. I guess all I can do is try talking to him.
Tess threw her brush at the bed before turning her full attention to the boy she'd fallen in love with, however crazy it still sounded to her when she thought about it.
"Hey, Kyle."
Kyle jumped in surprise, and the light in the bathroom flickered a second until he regained his equilibrium.
"Hi, I'm sorry I didn't think you'd be up yet, I was just gonna check on you."
Suddenly, feeling a little bashful, Tess shrugged and looked up at him out of the corner of her eye. "I couldn't sleep…dreams, you know?"
Kyle nodded and Tess continued with a small smile, "I was just wondering where you were, actually. Have you eaten? There's plenty of food in the fridge, I went shopping before—"
Tess cut herself off, the memory of Kyle lying dead on the ground haunting her and affecting her vocal chords. If I live to be a hundred, I will never see anything so horrible again, she thought, fighting to shake off the images while staring fully at Kyle, because he was alive and not dead out there in the desert!
"Tess…" Kyle's voice rang through her; the worry in it gave her a feeling of warmth, like she had just finished a mug of hot chocolate. The pleasant, not to mention uncommon, sensation helped drive away the frightening memories.
"It's nothing, don't worry," she murmured, trying to tell herself simultaneously that she was an independent woman and really should stop acting like a love struck teenager. But I am a love struck teenager, Tess' rebellious side pointed out and she shook her head violently.
The awkward tension grew. Kyle was fidgeting with a thread of his worn shirt while Tess was looking everywhere but at him. Eventually though, Tess gathered enough courage to blurt out the question that she'd been dying to know the answer to since…well, for a while.
"Are you happy?"
Kyle frowned, taking the time to rip off the thread before looking over at her. Tess swallowed at the dark expression that flashed over his face. "I…I don't know, to be honest, Tess. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, because I don't want you to be sad. It's just hard to explain."
"Try," Tess ordered gently, walking over to him and taking his hand before leading him over to the bed to sit. "I promise I won't start crying or anything, no matter what you say. I'm not a crybaby. Nase— I've always been encouraged to keep my emotions in check, so don't worry, I can take it."'
At her slip of the tongue, Kyle's frown transformed into a full-fledged scowl that, for one brief second, made Tess want to run and hide, despite the fact that he was the actual human in the room. If he can even be called that anymore, she thought, licking her dry lips. He's got powers that can rival any of ours in potency and after what happened in the podchamber, I'm not too sure anymore…
"Look," Kyle's voice brought Tess back into the present, and she put her thoughts aside to ponder later. "I'm not exactly good with words, but yeah, a part of me is thrilled that you're here, willing to be with me and I really don't want to fight that part. And there's the other part of me that's still beyond pissed about your lying and mindwarping me."
From the way Kyle's eyes suddenly looked, he seemed far away. Tess figured he was remembering the time she'd wiped his memories of them being aliens after the incident in the computer room with his friend, Johnny.
The awkwardness turned into guilt. Well, to be fair, Tess tried to comfort herself, it's not like I could possibly have known how great he'd take everything…no matter how much Isabel kept trying to tell me. The attempted self-soothing rang a little hollow, so Tess just ended up sighing heavily.
Her breathing seemed to bring Kyle's attention away from whatever it was he was thinking, and once again focused on her. Tess swallowed audibly.
"I told myself when I started developing these feelings for you that I'd let the past go," Kyle muttered, not looking away. Tess couldn't bring herself to move, even if she wanted to. "When I was brought back to life by you guys yesterday, I was overwhelmed by this insane need to just be with you, and now that I've calmed down, I can't really say that inclination has changed – no matter what kind of mistakes you've made before. So, to answer your question in a very convoluted way; yeah, I think I'm happy and you play a big part in that."
Okay, Tess thought, trying with all her might to keep her emotions in check as she'd promised mere minutes earlier, not the love declaration I was hoping for, but it's still more than I expected, I guess.
Apparently, something slipped through her defenses, because Kyle scooted a little closer and took a firm, yet gentle hold of her shoulders. "Look at me, Tess," he ordered softly, and she could do nothing but obey. "I can't promise you the world right now, because there's still so much you don't understand and I'm not that sure I can ever really explain things to you without causing some sort of meltdown and–"
"Don't," Tess whispered, reaching up to caress his cheek, but stopped halfway when her nerves got the better of her. "I said I could handle it. Besides," she smiled tentatively, "it's not like I haven't kept secrets from you, remember."
Not for the first time, Tess noticed something flash through Kyle's eyes while the bond echoed with some vague emotion that was too complex for her to grasp, but for once she acted like it didn't bother her and just kept staring at the human she'd fallen in love with.
Sensing his indecisiveness, Tess just gently poked his cheek with a small smile dancing on her lips. "I'm fine, Kyle," she stated, "I'm just happy that you're not d…That we didn't have to leave you in the podchamber. And let's be honest here—" Tess forced a grin,—"it's not like we've really known each other long enough to reveal everything. Just know that I'm strong and capable of handling a lot more than I get credit for, for future reference."
A long minute went by before Kyle seemed to work out what she'd said. The tension slowly seeped from his body, and Tess had to hand it to herself, she finally got rid of the awkwardness.
Only, not entirely, Tess amended a moment later, when she realized that Kyle hadn't stopped staring at her lips since she stopped speaking. Without any conscious thought, Tess' tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip.
It was as if the movement acted like a verbal permission for Kyle to take control. He sent her one quick glance before promptly leaning forward with a whispered, "Screw all this talking, I ain't Max," before his warm lips slanted over hers in an intense kiss that made her mind go blank.
All her focus was on the way his lips were a perfect fit against her own, the taste of him and the scent of his skin, coupled with the usual warmth of his body so close to hers numbed her to everything else…at first.
Suddenly, Tess' attention was overwhelmed by the massive amounts of images that she began to receive from Kyle's side of the bond.
Kyle was running into the Granolith chamber with Liz, Michael and Maria. Liz screaming at Max, who was standing beside…was that girl really her? "Max stop!" Liz's next frantic words froze Tess' insides completely and she stopped worrying about the confusing fact of her own presence, "It was Tess. Tess killed Alex. She mindwarped Alex and sent him to Las Cruces to decode the book, when he broke out of the mindwarp and she killed him."
Max's confused eyes landed on Kyle with growing anger, "Why didn't you say anything?" "Because," was Kyle's reply, "she mindwarped me!"
Tess stopped moving altogether, her mind soaking up every flash from the human in front of her, not noticing that she'd grabbed onto his face, keeping him in place by pure instinct in an attempt to gain more knowledge.
"I carried his body. She made me think it was luggage. She killed him. Tess killed Alex." "You know, of all the aliens I've met, you're the only one who has no soul." "We took you into our home, Tess. We protected you. And how did you repay us? You brainwashed me into carrying Alex's dead body!" "We don't remember a lot. In our other life Khivar was our enemy. He was trying to take over my throne. Isabel fell in love with him, and helped him overtake us. It was a blood bath; we were all killed, including Isabel. Our genetic material was mixed with human DNA, and then we were sent here.
Then a series of more horrifying moments streamed through her head, and Tess could feel her mind struggling to keep up, but still she didn't stop the connection – too intent on seeing what the hell was going on, because this had to be some kind of evil joke.
The setting changed, seemingly newer and yet a lot darker. Kyle was fighting, killing Skins and other humanoid aliens with his powers, standing back to back with Michael, carrying a bleeding teenager to safety, while calling for Max, and screaming for the girl, Sydney to hang on, embracing Liz as she cries on his shoulder, trying to get an unbelievably gaunt Maria to smile, having rough, animalistic sex with a silently crying Isabel, pretending that he doesn't see the truth; that she's still in love with a dead boy that was killed by Tess, a hated phantom continuously haunting his mind wherever he goes. "I just died for you Woman…" Kyle lying bloodied and undoubtedly dying, watching Isabel leave him behind for the last time. Waking up, young again, in a dark forest with the group of Antarians staring at him with varying degrees of shock. Realizing they were back again, seeing Tess again, ready to kill her instantly—
"ARGH!"
Tess broke through to the present, her mind hurting with everything and the horror and confusion waging war within her, it was just too much and she wanted to not see what she'd seen. A stinging pain on her face vaguely told her that she was trying to claw her own eyes out, but she didn't stop – she couldn't, just as she couldn't stop screaming out her agony.
Warm hands struggled with hers, forcing her bloody fingers, now coated with bits of flesh, away from her hurt face and eyes. In the distance, Tess heard Kyle's desperate calls of her name, begging her to just snap out of it, but she couldn't – all she could do was scream, because it was all too much…
Max's POV
Seeing the still bloodied and dirty form of Liz standing in front of him, knowing that she remembered everything up until her death in the original timeline again was awe-inspiring, mind baffling and terrifying all at the same time and all Max could do for a long moment, was just stare at her.
Despite the grime and the blood, she had never looked more beautiful to him than she did in that moment. He was so lost in just looking at her, that Liz's voice actually made him flinch when she broke the silence.
"To be honest, Max, I don't really know how to begin. I mean back at the podchamber, you just looked at me when I told you the truth and didn't really say anything. When we got back here you went to take that shower and…Well, you know better than me what happened next. I'm afraid whatever I say will set you off again. I mean, are you unhappy that I'm back? I guess, I could understand that, the Liz I used to be was a lot more innocent and—"
Max was moving before she could finish her sentence, and without any preamble whatsoever, he enveloped her in his arms and just held on to her tightly for a long while. At first he tried to force down their bond, knowing how much it tended to freak her out, until he remembered that unlike this timeline's Liz, his wife had thrived on their connection.
It took but a minute to decide whether or not to open himself up, for some reason, it felt like exposing himself to an unbelievable degree, no longer used to it. It makes sense though, Max thought to himself, grabbing onto Liz's body with all his might. First I lost you, then the war escalated, then we came back here and you weren't fully you anymore, so I lost the ease of this…but not anymore.
With his last thought, Max slowly opened up their bond, fully showing everything that was in him in the hopes of vanquishing any shred of doubt Liz might have had of his feelings.
The gasp told him it had succeeded, and if that hadn't been enough for Max, a second later, Liz's side of the bond responded in kind by opening up as well and all thoughts of calmly and maturely talking things out completely disappeared from his mind.
Then moving as if in a daze Max placed his head in the crook of Liz's neck and breathed her in deeply. The smell of the battle, the blood and grime, didn't linger. It was the scent of her that was so unique he could pick it out of a line up with a blindfold on… that he couldn't get enough of. Before he knew it, Max began kissing her soft skin, nibbling her neck like his memories reminded him that she used to love.
"M-Max…" Liz's voice washed over him, bringing with it salvation and hope for a much brighter future. She was healing him, the true healer in Max's mind had returned to save him from further hardships.
He could feel her heart beating frantically, and managed to tear his mouth away from her neck long enough to meet her widened brown eyes. A moment later, Max had reached out his hand to trail down a finger on her cheek. The colorful afterglow of his touch briefly reminded him of the very first time it had happened back when they'd been mere children the first time.
The memories of all the other times it had happened in their lives together came and went with satisfaction, but nothing thrilled him more than knowing that it would not be the last time it happened, because she was back in his arms and better yet, she wasn't afraid of him any longer.
Liz's muffled chuckle in his ear made Max step back to look her fully in the eyes again, and her small smile made him want to do things to her that his current teenage body had yet to experience. "What?" he whispered softly.
Liz shook her head and then trailed a finger of her own down his cheek until she reached his recently transformed shirt. "I can't do it to you," she muttered, a smile still etched on her face, and it was infectious as he too recalled the first time she'd said those words.
"It's so amazing to know that I won't lose those memories now," Max said – his senses coming back as the haze of lust and desire slowly trickled backwards, "it's like I've woken up from a nightmare I didn't even know I was having, you know?"
"I know exactly what you mean," Liz nodded, as she watched her hand fingering his neckline, and in that moment, Max noticed the shameful state of the cast on her arm and wanted to kick himself. In a flash, he'd gingerly grabbed the arm and led Liz toward the bed, sat her down and unceremoniously begun crumbling the rather gross-looking plaster under his fingers, personal weariness be damned.
"Max," Liz tried taking her arm back, but he wasn't about to let her suffer from an injury when he could prevent it.
"Liz," he said, pausing to look her deeply in the eyes. "I let you decide when you didn't have your memories out of respect for you and the fact that you didn't really know anything about me, but now that you do, why should you put up with this when I can stop it?"
"Because," Liz replied promptly, her face set in that stubborn mask that warned Max that he was about to tread on thin ice, "I can't go home without a cast. I haven't worn it the prescribed amount of days yet. Even my parents' pre criminal record would notice that, don't you think?"
"I'll just make a new one after I've healed you." Max stated and went back to his work. It took a moment for his powers to fix the break in her wrist, and nary a few more to transform a pillowcase into a new, much cleaner, cast.
"There." Max released Liz's arm with a satisfied sigh. Suddenly he was overcome with a massive amount of dizziness. "Whoa…" He began to tilt forward awkwardly, landing in Liz's arms with a small groan.
"Max? Are you okay?" Liz's tone wasn't frantic, but it certainly held enough worry for Max to immediately try to calm her down.
"It's nothing," he murmured, eyes closed as he tried fighting back a sudden wave of nausea. "Think I'm just finally feeling the effects of using too much power lately, this body isn't as trained as my old one was, to be honest."
"Shh," Liz soothed, gently helping him down to lie in a more comfortable position, "don't talk too much. I bet you're hungry, so I'll go grab something for you to eat."
The very idea of actually eating only made things worse, and his expression must have told Liz that because she cringed with sympathy and just stayed put.
"Join me?" Max asked, unable to not look at Liz – dizziness nowhere near as important as actually looking at the woman he loved, however sappy that sounded.
"Sure," Liz smiled and gently placed herself along his body with her head on his chest.
Max savored the closeness and his nausea slowly disappeared, but he still didn't move – too content to actually get back up and go to the kitchen for food. Instead, Max gripped Liz tighter and decided to get their "talk" over with.
"I'm very happy that you're here," he began quietly, feeling Liz stiffen next to him at his words. "I don't understand how exactly, but I'm not in the least bit sorry, no matter how I originally acted. My mind just went on a little break, I think. There's been so much I haven't been able to tell you until now. Taking care of Hubble, Nasedo, Topolsky and Tess. The whole Serena mess and—"
"Wait," Liz moved to look at him and Max frowned at the eager look in her eyes, "what Serena mess? She's okay, right?"
Swallowing a lump of dread, Max tried to find the words to describe what had happened between him and the mysterious little human girl. I had forgotten how much Liz loved Serena. She was like a mother, sister and best friend all rolled into one…
"I know that face," Liz burrowed her face back into his chest with a heavy sigh. "Something not so great happened."
"Yeah…"
"Just tell me, please. I think some of 'innocent Liz's' annoyance with secrets travelled over to me when I took her place or whatever. Just give me the cliff notes version."
"Okay," Max turned on his side, so he could look at Liz more closely as he tried formulating what had really happened with Serena. "Isabel and I went to her house to heal her. I tried, but somehow her…I don't know what it was, but it was her as we knew her that connected with me mentally and she basically told me not to bother. Something about not repeating mistakes was all she said."
"Huh," Liz exclaimed softly, her eyes dry as she pondered his words.
Well, Max thought bitterly, I guess it's not that surprising, considering its Liz from our future that's in control now. She is nothing if not strong. "So," he said quietly, "I wasn't happy with her decision, but I reluctantly decided that it'd be disrespectful not to honor her wishes."
Liz didn't say anything for a little while, and just when Max was about to encourage her to speak her mind, Liz broke all of his preconceived beliefs when a lone tear slowly trickled down her face. The rush of intense mourning from her side of their connection nearly overpowered him, and a fresh wave of nausea made its way through him.
In the first disoriented second, Max had no idea what was going on, but then he remembered. Serena had still been alive when Liz had died. She didn't know that she wasn't waiting in the wings in Phoenix with her old mind and memories intact – She's grieving for her pseudo daughter…
"Oh, Liz," Max whispered and went to embrace her again, when, suddenly, an eerie scream rang through the entire house.
The two brunettes jumped to their feet, and instinctively fell into a battle formation as they rushed out of the room in search of the source. A pounding on the stairs told Max that those already up and downstairs had heard it too and was coming to investigate as well.
Michael's long legs carried him upstairs first, and his hardened eyes locked on to Max's with a silent question for orders. Evidently, Michael had also fallen victim to old instincts, but Max didn't bother mentioning it. Instead, he pointed at Tess' room, "It's coming from in there," was all he got out before Kyle's desperate sounding voice jumpstarted him back into action.
The sight that met him and the others as they barreled through the open doorway momentarily froze Max, his eyes struggling to take in and understand what was going on in front of him.
Tess was on her knees, screaming bloody murder, her face a horrid mass of vivid red, still leaking blood, scratches that originated from around her eye sockets. Her fingertips and nails were painted red and spoke as to what had happened.
Kyle was crouching behind the curly-haired girl, struggling to keep her hands away from her self-mutilated face, his mouth by her ear as he tried calling her back to the real world with little effect.
No one moved for a long second, the silence only broken by Tess' increasingly hoarse screaming, and, in the end, it was Liz that broke ranks first and ran to Tess and Kyle's sides.
"W-What happened?" Isabel asked, her arm on a white-faced Alex's arm as he stood completely still with a frown on his face. Judging from his expression, Max figured that he was trying to calm Tess down, but without any luck.
Kyle cursed in pain, when Tess unexpectedly head butted him, too lost in her own world of… whatever it was. "I don't know. We were talking and kissing one minute and the next she turned into this!"
Max nearly lost his balance when Maria pushed past him and joined Liz in trying to calm Tess. Max only hoped they would manage where Kyle failed. He watched Liz and wondered whether her innate hatred for Tess had been crushed by the friendship she'd build with the blonde before regaining her old self.
For Tess' sake, Max thought, keeping his distance until he was needed, let's hope it's the latter…
In the next second, though, Max didn't quite know what to think, when Liz suddenly shoved Kyle away and slapped Tess twice in quick succession with her still tear-stained face set in a fierce scowl.
Tess' POV
The throb from the slaps managed to shock Tess' mind back into a somewhat working order, and she blinked rapidly. The first thing she realized was that her entire face was hurting, and she had a fleeting memory of being responsible for it herself, so she quickly pushed that aside.
Instead, her focus turned to the one who'd had the audacity to actually strike her. Surprisingly, her eyes met Liz's and once again Tess had a weird feeling that Liz had changed in ways that she couldn't even begin to comprehend – especially since her own mind was still trying to come to terms with whatever it was that had made her snap so violently.
"Snap out of it," Liz's tone was cool, but her eyes carried a hint of softness that told Tess that change or not, her friend was still somewhere inside and ready to comfort her. "What happened?"
At the question, Tess closed her eyes and turned her head to the side, not yet capable of fully understanding what she'd seen or felt. Her avoidance didn't stop Liz from grabbing her face and turning it back.
"Trust me," Liz's tone carried weariness, bitterness and amusement all at the same time, "there's nothing you can say that'll shock me."
"Come on," Liz urged softly, her hand pushing her curls out of her face, "whatever it is, it'll feel better to talk about it."
"I…" Tess began, looking over at Kyle's still worried face, and stopped when she saw the blood from his nose. "What—"
"Never mind this," Kyle brusquely interrupted, softening his words with a small smile, "it's you I'm worried about."
"Well," Tess took a deep breath, "when I kissed Kyle something happened. Something that I wasn't prepared for, nor did any of it make sense." Another inhaling of air, and the calming waves sent to her from Kyle, coupled with Liz's almost unnatural serenity, gave Tess the strength to continue. "Now that I think about it, I remember Nasedo mentioning something like this, but only vaguely because he'd never experienced it himself…I saw…I mean, when we kissed, there were these images, but they didn't make sense at all and—!"
Tess broke off as she began to shout again, fighting for her control. Just as she thought that she'd dive back into the chaos, another rush of peace came at her. Out of the corner of her eye, Tess saw Alex stare at her with a very concentrated look on his face, and she managed to give a smile that looked more like a grimace in thanks for his assistance.
Finding her equilibrium again, Tess looked back at Liz, whose expression had turned stiff at her words. "D-Do you know what that means, Liz?" she asked and added, "have you experienced that too, with Max I mean?"
"Okay, I think maybe us Czechoslovakians need to talk for a minute," Michael's voice interjected quickly before Liz could give an answer, and Tess would probably have glared at him if her eyes hadn't hurt so much.
"Well," Maria's tone wasn't quite as cold as the arctic, but to Tess' ears, it was pretty damn close as she watched her friend turn around from her kneeling position in front of her to look up at Michael, "Czech or not, Tess is our friend, in fact, not to sound childish, but she was our friend before any of you even bothered to talk with her, so we'll go when—"
"We'll be right outside, Michael." Liz talked over Maria, and Tess saw the other blond sputter indignantly like an engine that ran out of gas. "Come on, Maria. I need a shower anyway; maybe you could help me find some clean clothes, because this blood is never coming out and I don't need the reminder of what happened…"
Tess, and the rest of them, watched how Liz masterfully manipulated Maria by subtlety reminding her of her recent injuries and near death, distracting her from any anger toward Michael in a matter of seconds.
Maria was up and holding on to Liz's uncast arm, half-way dragging her out the door in a blink of an eye. She ordered Alex to come too, because powers or not, he was still human. Tess almost didn't catch the words that Liz muttered as she passed Michael, but she had no idea why those words would cause the large male to pale instantly and look after her disappearing form with widened, disbelieving eyes before turning to Max, who merely shrugged with a secretive smirk.
Tess frowned, tiredly leaning back against Kyle, whose warmth indicated that he was right behind her. What's so special about, 'Oh, Mike – even after all these years, you just never learn, do you?' He looks like he's seen a ghost?
Isabel walked over and quietly closed the door after the human trio's exit, while Max and Michael made their way over to Tess and Kyle. Max's hands were already glowing softly as he reached out to her face, and Tess couldn't quite repress the sigh of relief that came when the deep scratches quickly closed up, and the stinging around her wounded eyes vanished as if never there in the first place.
As soon as Max finished, Tess had to reach out to keep him from toppling over.
"Max!" Michael was by his side on the floor immediately, and Tess watched with baited breath as her former husband shook his head and rubbed his eyes roughly. "I'm fine," he muttered, leaning toward the bed for support, "I've just overexerted myself, not rested enough after everything."
Tess' guilt flared up, and it was only Kyle's wave of soothing comfort through their bond that stopped her from apologizing. And there's the fact that Max will probably just look at me like I'm crazy for wanting him to wait to heal me until he's fit again – completely ignoring the fact that he can heal me just as well tomorrow after a decent nights sleep…
"Tess?"
Michael's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she flinched a little, knowing what he wanted to know. How can I even begin to explain, when I don't get what happened myself?
Fortunately for Tess, it seemed like it didn't matter that she understood zilch, because judging from the way they all looked at her, they seemed to know exactly what was going on.
"This better be good," Tess stated after a long minute of tense silence. Michael looked to Max, who looked at Kyle still sitting behind her. "Please, tell me what's going on, those images I saw –hateful Kyle asking Michael why he hadn't killed her yet – they make no sense…"
"Fine," Max sighed, leaning his head backwards on the bed. "I'll tell you everything. Just promise us that you'll stay seated until I'm finished. It's a pretty long story."
"O-Okay," Tess hesitantly promised, suppressing the urge to take Kyle's arms and wrap them around her body. She tried to tell herself it would be to keep her from running away, but she really knew she just wanted the comfort of his warmth and love. "I'm listening."
Max opened his mouth and spilled everything. Tess' entire worldview crumbled in the process.
Liz's POV
Liz didn't say much while Maria helped find some clothes and guided her to the shower where Max had had his mini-meltdown. She listened to the grumblings from Maria and the comments from Alex as if she was in another world.
Which coincidentally, I kinda am, Liz thought tiredly, forcing a smile to her friends before closing and locking the bathroom-door. Quickly stripping down, Liz wrapped a plastic bag around her cast, turned on the water and stepped in as soon as the steam started forming in the air.
She robotically cleaned herself and washed her hair twice, all the while watching with a detached feeling as the dried blood on her skin fizzled down the drain leaving a gory trail of red until more water drowned it out. In that moment, Liz finally gave up her struggle, the struggle she had fought ever since Tess' scream had interrupted her from breaking down fully at the news about Serena.
Her breathing got harder, as she tried stemming the pain that seemed to build up inside her chest and paralyze her with memories of Serena. The pressure of her grief was choking her from the inside, and Liz wanted nothing more than to be able to blink away the growing burn in her eyes, to stop what she knew deep down was unstoppable.
Within seconds, tears took the place of the blood in being washed away by the pouring water, but it brought with it no relief. Liz just kept on crying, images of the pretty little brunette child that she'd, at times, considered her own, playing in a loop in her head.
"Why, Rena?" she hiccupped, venting her anger and frustration by smashing her cast clad arm into the tiled wall in front of her.
Max's concern and comforting emotions slammed into her, and Liz bit her lip when she felt like laughing hysterically. Being with Max again, seeing everyone alive and well, is what I need to focus on. Max said Rena wanted this, so I'll have to respect it no matter what…
Sighing heavily, Liz stepped out of the shower and got dressed in a matter of minutes, all the while sending back enough to Max to stop him from bursting through the door in his worry. She forced back the natural disgust she got from putting on her dirty clothes again, but she didn't have anything clean to wear and she didn't want to bother any of her friends to help her. When she finished, Liz straightened her shoulders and unlocked the door. I'm here now and life will be better than before, she told herself.
And, Liz added as she exited the bathroom, at least this time around I won't have Tess to worry about. It was weird for the brunette to actually consider a person she'd spent more than a decade hating with every fiber of her being a friend, a good friend nonetheless.
Ever since she'd locked eyes with Tess on the battlefield, dying from her brutal injury, Liz had felt her hatred begin to drizzle away. She'd pushed the subject aside, choosing to focus on Max and their conversation until she'd seen a horrified Tess in Kyle's arms on the floor. After that, the young Liz's feelings for the curly-haired blonde surged to the surface and she'd immediately jumped into the fray to help Tess.
"It's still a little weird, though," Liz whispered to herself, only to flinch when Maria's voice asked her what she was talking about.
"Um, nothing, I'm just talking to myself," Liz replied, sending a small glare at Alex, who was looking at her funny. I guess his powers are picking things up, she thought and barely resisted the urge to jump him in a fierce hug. The older part of her just wanted to stare at the friend she'd lost so long ago and so unfairly too, while the rest of her just wanted to be left alone.
But I can't, Liz thought and dragged Maria away from Tess' closed bedroom door when it seemed like she wanted nothing more than to loiter around within earshot. I have to stop Maria and Alex from knowing anything about our other life so their minds don't explode like it seems like Tess' did…
0o0o0
A half an hour later had Liz feeling a little more positive and overall appreciative of all the good things coming back from the dead and into the past was actually worth. She was smiling at the banter between Maria and Alex that sprouted to life moments ago, where Maria couldn't stop herself from teasing the teenage boy about not wearing a shirt in front of ladies.
Of course, Alex had replied, "which ladies," and Liz just sat back and watched the nostalgic sight unfold. She was so invested in staring at her friends, remembering the good times that she didn't notice when both of them stopped talking and turned to stare back at her.
"Are you okay, Liz?" Alex asked, his eyes narrowed with concern. Liz nodded her head yes, and tried to change the subject back to him and Maria.
"I guess I was just so distracted by your body that I couldn't help myself."
"Ha!" Maria slapped Alex's arm with a beaming grin, "I told ya, I'm not the only one who thinks you're adorable, Whitman."
"I'm not adorable," Alex pouted, his eyes dancing with amusement, "I'm manly."
"Oh yeah, you're all man." Isabel's voice distracted the group of friends and they turned as one to look up at the tall, beautiful girl, whose eyes were fixed on Alex and a smile that lit up her face.
"Aaaand that's too much information for me," Maria quipped and got to her feet, while Liz silently eyed the former princess cautiously. Judging from the way Isabel's eyes kept falling on her, plus the confused frown on Alex's face when he started looking between his girlfriend and Liz, she had definitely decoded the words that Liz had spoken to Michael earlier and figured out the truth.
"Could I get a minute with Isabel, Guys?" Liz asked, deciding to just get the reunion over and done with. "I need help with some Dreamwalking in the future," she added when Maria seemed to want to object. "I may need it for nightmares and stuff because of the battle."
Comprehension and sympathy dawned on Maria's face, just as Liz knew it would and after a quick, but a little too tight hug, the blonde walked out. Alex hesitated, looking between the two young women.
"I know you're hiding something," he blurted out and Liz had to work extra hard to keep herself from cringing- still not at all used to the unexpected powers he'd gotten. "But I trust you both, and just hope that whatever it is you'll return that trust someday."
His ability to make me feel guilty seems to be as intact as ever, Liz thought and watched silently as Alex briefly pecked Isabel on the cheek before leaving them to their privacy.
"So you're back too?" Isabel blurted out after a few seconds of awkward tension, and Liz had to smile.
"Yeah. From what you're saying I figure Kyle's back too, right?" Liz watched Isabel's eyes widen and then narrow at her words and hurried to explain. "It makes a lot of sense from what I've discovered so far compared to what me and S-Se…Compared to what we found out in the past but I'll tell you the rest at a better time."
"Okay," Isabel whispered. Her eyes suddenly glassy-looking at the near mention of Serena and then she rushed over and enveloped Liz in a hug that could rival Maria's in tightness.
Liz could feel her sister-in-law tremble around her and didn't object in the least to the hug. Instead, she too put her arms around Isabel and just enjoyed being able to touch one of her best friends for the first time in what felt like eternity, sharing her deep grief with someone that understood just how close she'd been to Serena.
Liz didn't know how long she stood with her arms around Isabel, but it was long enough for a fragile sense of calm to engulf her, at long last managing to –momentarily at least – stop all her tumultuous thoughts.
It was the sense of Max drawing closer that clued her in that it had been a while, and she began pulling away from the embrace until Isabel suddenly grabbed her again and whispered in her ear, "Losing you nearly killed him, Liz. Please help me heal the part of him that died with you, before he breaks."
Liz glanced to the side and met Max's gaze, he was looking pale and unbelievably exhausted, but all of his focus was one hundred percent on her. "I will," she whispered back and stepped out of the hug, "I'll do everything I can so we can all heal again, I promise."
"Heal? Do you need healing?" Max oozed worry as he walked the short distance from the door to the two of them, looking between them. "Why didn't you say so, Isabel?"
"Whoa, hold up," Isabel held up her hands and backed away with a small smile on her lips, "emotional healing, and not healing. Stop listening in on other people's thoughts by the way. I just needed to talk to Liz and now that that is done, I'm gonna go back down and feed the hungry masses, 'cause we all know aside from Michael, I'm the only one able to produce edible food in this house."
She's still got some of her old fire in her, Liz thought with a smile of her own. Despite everything that's happened she always tried keeping the mood up…but I'm glad that her eyes seem happier in this life, she added fondly before Max spoke and distracted her from her own thoughts.
"Want to go for a walk outside in Tess' backyard?"
Liz eyed her once and future husband with a frown. "You look ready to drop any second now, Max," she stated as she walked over to him and began leading the way to the bedroom they'd been assigned. Her small cool hand wrapped in Max's much larger and warmer one, subconsciously needing to touch him as much as possible.
"You're going to sleep and when you wake up, Izzie or Mike will make you something to eat and you'll eat it without complaint, am I clear?"
"Yes, Dear." Max saluted and let Liz sit him down on the edge of the bed and bemusedly allowed her to take his shoes off.
A moment later, he was clad only in his boxers and under the covers and Liz unceremoniously began taking off her shoes, pants and socks and trying not to cringe at the dried blood and grime on the socks in particular. After a brief internal debate, she decided to keep her relatively bra and undershirt on and crawled into the bed to join him.
Soon the two of them were snuggled up tightly and just basking in being together. Liz's mood was tainted with the knowledge of Serena's fate though and she quietly asked Max to fill her in on what her younger self hadn't been able to grasp until now, and with a small sigh, he did as she asked.
Twenty minutes later, after so many stories, Liz just laid there, staring up at the ceiling. After a while, she turned her head and looked at him. "For what it's worth, I really appreciate you trying to change our future and from what I can gather, you've taken care of the major points so that's great…"
"But?" Max leaned his head in his hand as he turned to the side and stared right back at her.
Liz barely swallowed a smile, suddenly just too excited to be where she was and without a devastating war in sight to not be a little happy. She didn't want to think about serious stuff anymore so she decided to mess with Max a little, "But," she continued, "now that I'm back, maybe you should leave the planning of things to me 'cause my plans used to work…"
Her words had the reaction she wanted. Max mock-gasped with offence and pounced, tickling her all over to get her to say uncle. "Max Evans is a master strategist," Max said, tickling her sides ruthlessly, "he's not too bad-looking either. Say it, Max is superior to Liz all the time."
"N-Ne-Never!" Liz barely managed to gasp out between giggles, enjoying the moment all the more because Max seemed to gain strength from listening to her laugh.
Then things suddenly changed. From one moment to the next, Max's lips was on hers and they were eagerly sending whatever they were feeling through their bond, more desperate than ever to reconnect completely.
"God, I love you," Max groaned and roughly pulled off her T-shirt and bra, eying her with loving eyes that made Liz weak in the knees. "Don't ever leave me again, I love you so much," he repeated and began kissing his way down her collarbone to her breasts and it didn't take long before Liz was completely lost to her emotions and desires.
0o0o0
It was a slightly ruffled Liz that eventually emerged from the bedroom, leaving a near comatose Max behind to finally get some of the rest he so severely needed.
Especially now, Liz smirked to herself and made her way downstairs to find everyone gathered in Tess' living room. They looked more or less as tired as she felt, so Liz simply waved and squeezed in next to Michael, who had a sleeping Maria leaning on his shoulder and Tess, who looked pale and worried as her eyes kept jumping from Kyle to Alex.
They all sat in silence for a few minutes, before Liz snuck a glance at Maria and decided to take a chance to just get things out in the open between the others there. "So," she quietly said, looking around at everyone, evidently distracting Isabel and Alex from a telepathic conversation if their flinching was anything to go by, "Max told me that everyone here but Maria knows the truth about the time travelling. He told me what happened after I died, so I'm covered. I just want you all to know that like Kyle I've gotten my memories of that life back too."
"So you hate me again?" Tess whispered, sounding nothing like the confident girl Liz had known in her first life, let alone like the close friend she'd found in her during this timeline. "Because I…" here her eyes darted to a sad, but understanding – looking Alex, "because I killed Alex."
"No," Liz immediately replied, feeling secure in her answer and even leaned to the side a little and gave the blonde a small arm rub. "I don't, Tess. You're my friend and that's all I care about at the moment. I've lost too many of those in my life to ever take one for granted."
Tess smiled, and Michael spoke up next, "I knew it! You're the only one that ever called me 'Mike'." He paused and then added with a fake glower, "I still hate that, you know."
"I know," was all Liz said and turned to face Alex and Isabel on the other couch, while ignoring the slight pain that her earlier activities had cost her with an inwardly grimace. "We need to talk about everything later, but we've got school tomorrow from what I remember so let's just meet up in the music room at four to talk without Maria finding out."
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Maria's said suddenly, and she sat up in one fluid motion, staring harshly at them all. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm the last one to know something really important here? You better tell me because I'm about to freak out like I've never done before, okay?"
Liz looked at Michael, who looked sheepish at not keeping better watch on Maria's bond hearing so she wouldn't hear what she wasn't ready for. "Um…"
"Don't even think about spinning some bull crap line, Liz Parker!" Maria bellowed and jumped to her feet, "I really need to know why you came down here babbling about time travel and what the hell do you mean by us dying and Tess killing Alex? Talk or so help me; I'm walking out that door and never coming back!" Her eyes were on Michael as she spoke the last words and Liz knew her best friend enough to know she meant every word.
Why can't anything ever be simple? Liz thought, biting her lip and closing off a huge part of her connection to Max to keep from disturbing his much needed sleep. Maybe Max was right and he's the better strategist after all…
TBC…
A/N Thanks for any and all comments and as I said, hopefully you liked it! Big hugz!
Until Next Time
Ditte Mai