Michael realised Liz was at her limit, the mention of Tess had pushed her limit. He called it. ''Ok, now we have the plans in place, we need some sleep. I am back at Metachem tomorrow morning.'' Kyle yawned, ''Night.''''Night Valenti'' Michael replied, expecting to hear Liz's reply. He looked down. She was still quietly leaned on him, exhausted. 'Why hadn't she answered?' He knew the answer- she trusted him to answer for her and he had. Finally, she was letting go of her control enough to even do that. Smiling, he nudged her, she yawned. Kyle hadn't heard her reply yet when he noticed her still leaning on Michael. Her yawning got his attention. ''Night Kyle'', she muttered, sleepily, ''I'm fine, just need an early night.''. She'd seen his look of concern. Her hand waved it away.
Rolling his eyes, Kyle left, waving. Liz got up, yawning. ''Damn, using powers really takes it out of you. I'll have to be more careful next time.'' Michael had got up himself by this point, raised an eyebrow at her comment. ''Next time?'' he asked, crossing his arms, caution in his voice. ''Training I meant, nothing else'', her own voice stubborn. He stood toe to toe with her now. ''Are you sure? So you aren't planning to sneak into a certain building? You know pulling the kind of mission I would pull?''.
As she looked away, he sighed in frustration. ''I knew it. Why? You go in there and you could die. I'm not going to even risk losing you.'' He was trying to get through to her just how bad this idea really was. She was standing her ground. ''What if I want to risk it. This is my life I am trying to save'', she said heatedly, then realised what she'd said.
He froze. ''I thought it was. You're alive in the future.'' She stepped back. Wincing, she admitted ''It is one possible future, in another possible one the van is the same and I'm not there. One event now leads to one of those futures and I am trying to ensure that not only does that damn van not need to happen but that I live long enough to get to Harvard in the first place. The only way I can make THAT happen is to be there in the building- hiding - to find whoever it is that would want me dead and take them out first.'' He huffed in anger. ''WHAT!'' His eyes blazed at her. ''I didn't lie to you. One other thing- I can mind warp. I can do this, I trust you can too, just for so long now I've been some flipping princess stuck in a stupid tower with a less than shining prince saving her and screwing her over constantly because said princess became a damn door mat and let him.''.
Michael was just staring at her in shock. ''WHAT?!'' He just shook his head and grinned at her. ''Damn, I fucking love you so much right now.'' She looked at him, unsure of his reaction, then blinked at what he'd said. ''Huh?! What did you say?'' she asked in shock. He groaned, then strode over to her and kissed her with a passion, bringing her out of her shock and she finally realised exactly what he'd said to her.
She kissed him back with just as much passion, losing herself in him. She was lost. 'Finally he had all of her, it was about time' was his single thought before he finally claimed her for himself. Moving them to the couch, he lost his control. Realising how close he had been to seducing her, he pulled back, smirking at the mess of her he'd made, eyes glazed with passion and surprised shock as she looked up to him from her position lying on the couch. ''You love me that much?'' ''I love you too'' came back her stunned whisper to his look of 'DUH!' to her question.
He whispered in her ear ''Just promise me you'll hide outside of Metachem as lookout and use a mind warp as a last resort only to protect yourself and I'll teach you the basics myself. Deal?'' ''Deal'' she whispered back, claiming him for herself with a sweet kiss, he couldn't help but answer with his own passion. Groaning, he reluctantly pulled away from her. ''So I take it your heart is back in one piece again. Ready to be mine yet?'' ''Meaning?'' ''Meaning, are you ready to be my girl and only my girl in dating terms?'' his eyes were whisky amber, full of fire and intent, just waiting for her nod. She gave it, nodding, just having the chance to say ''Yes'' before he kissed her once more, finally content to have her for his own.
When he got home that night, he had a grin on his face. He finally had Liz Parker, his reason to envy Maxwell had vanished, Max had lost her and he had claimed her for himself. What a claim it had been. True it had just been a kiss of acknowledgement but still her fire had surprised him. They were evenly matched in that way. It now made sense just how much they had clashed before- they were on the same page but different view points of that page.
Smirking at the memory of his near seduction of her, he got a peach snapple, opening it, got changed, finished his drink and got some much needed sleep.
He started to dream, it was of Metachem. Liz was hiding in a room with two armed guards. There was a struggle, Liz ducked just as a bullet hit her shoulder. ''You son of a bitch, that hurt!'' she swore at them, eyes widening as she saw the second gun man aim. It was too late to mind warp. As Liz ducked, the bullet caught her side and she fell, gasping in pain. Her hand came away red. She was white. The men left, running. He saw why. 'Damn, where was he?' The scene changed. He was with Valenti. They heard the gun shots and then an explosion. He was panicking. 'LIZ! Please let the other him find her.' He saw the other him run into the previous room. It was on fire, Liz lying motionless in the corner. He watched himself run in and stop when he saw her. ''LIZ!'' he screamed in terror, on his knees next to her, ''Wake up.'' She stirred too slowly, he was losing her. His hand on her waist was covered in her blood. ''Michael, I'm so sorry I couldn't stop it. I love you.'' Her voice was so faint he barely heard it before her head rolled and she was gone. ''Liz, no Liz, NO!''.
Michael woke up in a cold sweat. He had just seen Liz die in his arms. She couldn't be near the place, he'd lose her. He had to warn her. Getting out his copy of the prom photo, he looked at her face, then Alex's, then Tess'sand then Maxwell's. There was something linking the four of them, he felt it. Liz would tell him eventually, if she lived long enough that is. Focusing on his girlfriend- he grinned at that- he went into the dream plain and focused on her energy.
Finding her, he knocked on her dream sphere, ''Can I come in?'' She looked up, alive and smiling, thank goodness for that! ''Sure, what's wrong?'' she asked, puzzled at his white face. He just hugged her. ''I can't lose you. I've lost too much already. Don't go to Metachem please? You will die.'' She stepped back to look at him, concerned. ''Michael, what did you see?'' ''You dead.'' She went white, ''You're not kidding, crap.'' She sat down on her bed in shock. ''No, this can't be happening.'' Michael looked around, it figured her dream sphere would her room. She was muttering to herself.
Sitting down next to her, he pulled her close, aware of just how much he had unnerved her. ''Surely I could mind warp.'' It was said with a confused surety. He shook his head.''You didn't, I saw everything, he leaned forward to put his head in his hands, you tried to duck, you got shot twice. The second shot was in your side, the first in your shoulder. I watched you slowly bleed to death tonight in my arms.'' ''But I'm right here!'' He shot up to his feet, facing her ''But for how long? I don't want to lose you and if you do this, there is a very good chance I will! What about Maria?''.
Liz knew she had to go in now. If Max wasn't the one caught, it would be her. The people involved could keep going until one of the group was caught. Liz would be a martyr one more time with maybe an exception- stopping Tess's action of suicide to prevent the need to be on the run.
Michael couldn't believe it. 'She was actually considering going anyway. She was going to be a damn martyr for the group and to protect him! He had to stop her somehow. The question was how? What would stop her? Him. He could.' He sat down next to her. He had a plan in mind. He hoped it would work for both their sakes.
''Liz, you can't be serious, even if you do mind warp in time, you could still be shot. Please promise me you won't go in, for Maria, if not for me?'' he quietly pleaded with her, his heart in his eyes. ''Michael, when changing things, there are rules. Events get changed and things can still stay the same, just different from before with someone else instead. I can't not do something knowing that. Can you?!''.
Michael couldn't answer that, so did the next best thing, he kissed her to the point she stopped thinking straight. It was the only thing he could think of. He didn't stop until Liz was pinned onto her bed, lost entirely. ''Promise me you won't go in?'' he silkily whispered in her ear. She shivered at his tone, gone to reason. She nodded. ''Ok, just don't stop.'' .
Michael gulped, damn he had taken it too far and he had heard her tell Max that nothing had happened. How far had he taken her to the edge to get her to agree? Far enough he decided. He would never be Max and yet he had done just that. Liz meanwhile had been sobering up and realised what he had just done to get her to agree. She was mad. Pushing him away, she sat up in a huff. He winced, He was in trouble and deserved it. He turned to face her to say sorry, only to get a slap.
She was furious at his actions, he'd used her weakness-him- to get her to agree.
''That was not fair, don't ever do that again! I get you don't want me to go but using the beginning of a seduction to get me to agree, that won't work ever! ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS ASK AND I WOULD HAVE AGREED BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, NOT BECAUSE OF A SEDUCTION ATTEMPT THAT WOULD HAVE WORKED!'' She glared at him. ''THIS IS NOT HOW I WILL HAVE MY FIRST TIME EVER, NOW GET OUT!'' She was livid. He gulped.
THAT idea had spectacularly backfired on him and left him with a tearful, angry, hurt Liz, who couldn't believe what he had just done to get her to agree. She was standing now, her shield up and glowing. He had messed up badly and he knew it. Only one thing could fix this. ''I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I won't ever do that again, I promise.'' Her shield disappeared.
''Thank you. Did you even notice I didn't actually say the words I would go in, I was simply considering it?'' ''You never said you would go in, then what was that question about? I thought that was a yes.'' She wiped her eyes and sniffed. He winced, he'd made her cry. She sighed in frustration at him.
''I never actually said yes to going in. EVER! I HAVE been trying to come up with a plan to save everybody including you, you stupid idiot. I have already worked out how to do a mind warp. I can sneak in, do whatever I feel I need to do and get back out before even YOU can see me coming IF I wanted to.'' She took a deep breathe, adding quietly breathless ''but I won't because despite the actions you have just done and I get why you did them, I love you. Now, I promise I won't go in. Can I now get some sleep please? I do have school in the morning.'' She still hadn't taken a single step towards him. He nodded and left, speechless.
Liz woke up from the dream into reality and sobbed. She cried herself to sleep. Her pendant glowed, connecting her emotions to Michael, who knew she was crying upset over him into her sleep. 'Damn! He needed to trust more. This was his fault and now he needed sleep.' Swearing at himself, he got an uneasy rest, knowing he had Liz safe through an uneasy agreement.
He went to get Liz to school the next day to find she'd already gone in. Apparently she wanted to update the teachers about Harvard and get the best chance she could get including letters of recommendation. She hadn't mentioned any fight to her dad, once again protecting him, which made Michael feel worse. He needed to trust her or he WOULD lose her too. Max hadn't trusted her enough. He needed to prove he was different.
He finally found her in school, looking through letters of recommendation and smiling at herself. 'How would she react to him now?' he walked up to her carefully and simply said ''I do trust you, I should trust you more, I pushed things too far, further than I should have done. I am sorry.'' His tone was apologetic. His body language told her he was sorry and did respect her and his voice was just asking her to forgive him please, he didn't want to lose her. She sighed. ''Fine. It's ok now. I'm better now, you're safe.''.
Sighing in relief, he stepped forward and put his arm carefully around her waist to not disrupt her pile of letters and kissed her hair tenderly. 'I thought I'd almost lost you last night.' 'You nearly did. Thank goodness you said sorry in time and haven't brought me any flowers either.' He froze. 'Relax, we're fine now.' Her tone was reassuring with a brush of a mental kiss. He smiled, relaxing against her.
Out loud she said ''Can you help with my books please? My arms are full'', smiling up at him, as he took the key from the pile in her arms and unlocked her locker for her, helping her to put the letters in and take the books out. Once they were sorted, he noticed the interested stares in their direction. ''People are staring'', ''I know'' she replied with a smirk. She took his hand, saying to him ''Come on, I'm sure you were planning to walk me to class anyway.'' He paused and winked, 'Shall we give them something to really talk about?', moving towards her and bringing her into a light but passionate public kiss, smirking as he released her and walked her to class.
It was at lunchtime when Kyle joined them with a grin. He sat down, stating ''you two are causing quite a stir. The good girl and the resident bad boy. Nice one.'' He highfived both of them. ''Now, what's new? Apart from the obvious.'' He looked between them. ''I take it things are official now?'' ''Yep. Definitely'' Michael answered with his smirk, ''do I want to know any details?'' Liz blushed. ''Probably not'' came her answer.
Kyle's eyebrows rose in surprise. He glanced at Michael's pleased smirk, who was glancing back at Liz, who looked away, hiding her growing blush behind her hair. His smirk broadened into a grin at getting her flustered so easily. Kyle was left feeling like he had witnessed an extremely private moment between the two. Realising they were making Kyle uncomfortable, Liz politely coughed to break up the moment to his relief.
At Michael's look of 'really, what was that for?', she nodded to Kyle and he realised. ''Oh, sorry midget'' Kyle laughed, ''no you're not'', Michael shrugged ''you're right, I'm not.'' Kyle smiled at both of them. ''Well I'm glad you're both happy.'' Liz smiled at him. ''Thank you Kyle. It's appreciated.'' Her eyes lit up as both of them laughed. Michael was looking back and forth until it hit him- Kyle was her ex, so all three of them on the table were now linked in a way with Max. ''Oh great!'' He rolled his eyes when realising that. ''What?'' both said together, ''NOTHING!'' was his reply.
''So you go back to Metachem tonight?'' Kyle asked, aware of a returning tension between the two. Michael nodded, ''Yeah, I do. I have the night off at the Crash Down to get some sleep before I start.'' Kyle was about to speak when Liz remembered something. ''I've just remembered something I need for Harvard. I'll see you two later.'' She got her bag, ignoring their surprised looks, waved to Kyle and kissed Michael on the cheek. She senthim a quick ''I love you'' and left. The two friends were left feeling confused after she left. Michael shook his head in confusion, 'What was she doing?'.
Liz was looking at how to graduate early and still get into Harvard. She had just ended her school day when wandering past the Eraser room, a hand dragged her through the open door and into the room, closing the door behind her. Before she could say a word, lips were pressed on hers and she knew who had pulled her in- Michael. He was intense and she felt him give her complete control over this moment. 'It's all yours Parker'. Liz nodded, she understood.
Letting her control slip a bit, she kissed him slowly, building in intensity until both of them were driving each other crazy with need. Finally regaining her control, she stepped back from a speechless Michael. She blushed under his surprised look. ''My control got away from me a bit. You are kind of hard to resist in moments like that.''.
She shrugged, pink at her admission. He just stepped up to her and told her ''So are you. Specially when you're letting go like that. I can't get enough. Neither can you.'' With that, he proved his point, nipping her neck. 'Damn. I can't think straight when you do that.' Her mental voice was breathless. He whispered in her ear ''That's my point.'' With that, he left her with a satisfied smirk firmly in place. 'That'll teach her to ignore him.'.
Kyle was walking past when an extremely pleased Michael strode out of the Eraser room followed by a dazed Liz, who was dashing after him stating ''Hey, that's not fair. How can you just do that and just leave like that?!'' At his raised eyebrow, she sighed, pushed past him and left the building. Scratching his eyebrow, he sighed and went after her, calling ''Wait, damn it, I'll drive you home.'' She finally allowed him to catch up and they drove off together. Kyle just grinned.