Title: Revelations (part 5)

Author: Angela Rae

Category: Max/Liz, Michael/Maria, Isabel/Alex, Kyle/Tess (M)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these fabulous characters, more's the pity. They are the exclusive property of 20th Century Fox Television, Regency Television, Jason Katims, Melinda Metz and Laura J. Burns. To quote some of my favorite fan fiction authors, I'm just borrowing – I'll return them as I found them. Cross my heart!

A/N: Rated M for safety reasons… this fic is set at the end of "Destiny", ep 1:22, which makes it AR.

Okay, so I'm including a FAIR WARNING - this Ch includes a little 'lime'aid. This fic is rated 'M' for a reason, ppl. (To cover my cute bum for scenes like below :) So, if you're not okay with it, don't read this Ch, and you should probably stop reading this fic altogether b/c I don't think I'll remember to issue warnings every time.

That said, I hope you guys like this installment!...

And a big "Thanks!" to Tay for betaing. You're the best! :)

Isabel Evans turned her brother's Jeep off the main highway and down the narrow road that led into the quarry. It was the place Alex and she had first begun star-gazing together in the desert months ago. Gravel crunched under the tires as she rolled to a silent stop and quietly put the SUV in park. She hopped out and began walking the rest of the way down the steep path.

She was aware of what she would see before even passing the first outcropping. She knew this was one of those critical moments that would decide the course of her life to follow; but she ruthlessly repressed her insecurities and fear, focusing instead on her feelings for this boy.

She stepped around one of the boulders and into the shadows thrown off by the moon, needing a moment to gather her courage before she could face him. She didn't know if she would have the answers he needed but she couldn't walk away without first offering him a chance to ask. Isabel felt the now familiar unease, wondering if he would still accept her knowing as much of the truth as she could give him, or if it would be too much.

Did he love her enough? I would give anything to know the answer to that right now, she thought. Isabel raised a hand to brush a lock of hair behind her ear as she looked at him.

He was sitting on their rock. His head was bent in concentration as his nimble fingers plucked out a series of notes on his guitar. The rhythm became more complex as he ran through the cords again and again. Each time, he seemed to gain a little more mastery of the song.

Isabel smiled. She recognized the tune. It was a song he and Maria had written together for their band. Maria had titled it "Czechoslovakians".

Isabel's smile faded quickly when Alex abruptly stopped playing and made a rough, hollow sound of frustration. He violently swept his hands back through his hair, holding them at his nape, as he clenched his fingers tightly. His expression reflected an inner conflict, painful and intense.

Unexpectedly, he dropped his hands and swung his guitar into position. Strains of a harmony, so very familiar, wafted on the breeze. Isabel's eyes widened. The song was 'Tonight and the Rest of My Life' by Nina Gordon. She knew it by heart. It was one of her favorites.

She used to sing it for him out under the stars. He was the only one she'd ever done that for. Her voice was not nearly as good as Maria's, but Alex never seemed to care. He'd just look at her with all the love in the world as they shared those quiet moments together.

Her voice was a husky alto as she whispered the lyrics to the first verse. Realizing she couldn't hold herself back from him anymore, knowing that she didn't want to, Isabel lifted her voice to carefully wrap around the counterpoint of Alex's guitar. Melody and harmony blended as she sang the chorus softly.

Alex raised his head when he heard her voice. Their eyes met, their gazes locked, each betraying nothing and everything in the same instant. Alex continued playing, his sensitive fingers never faltering, as Isabel stepped out of the shadows toward him. Her eyes stayed on his as she began the second verse.

She felt almost as if she was being pulled to him, connected, by a force she didn't control. It was outside her realm, calling to something inside her that she thought had been walled off and buried deep, and now it felt like those walls were crumbling like so much sand with each step she took.

As she sang the chorus again, a feeling of rightness enveloped her. The certainty of her feelings passed through her as she opened herself to the peace that always accompanied Alex's presence.

He was an anchor to her storm. Isabel stopped, leaving only a short distance between them, and stood still as she completed the final verse.

The last notes were soft, almost inaudible as she let the words slide away into silence.

Isabel's breath caught while she waited for Alex to make the first move; anything that would tell her what she had come here to know. She searched for a sign of his feelings and clung to a hope she had only begun to let herself feel.

Alex lowered his guitar and rose to his feet in one fluid motion. He couldn't believe she was here – and yet, he had known she would come. There was too much left unsaid between them. His thoughts touched briefly on Liz and Maria. He wondered fleetingly if they were receiving similar visits tonight.

When he had first seen Isabel on the other side of the quarry, he hadn't been sure she was real. She had seemed a figment of his imagination.

From the moment he had first seen Isabel Evans in the third grade, he had known she was perfect, his ideal companion. That she would ever care for him was a dream he had only contemplated in his most private of moments. That it had become a reality was unbelievable.

And here she was, a goddess incarnate, asking him without words to make a choice that he knew was no choice at all.

Silently, he opened his arms to her and waited.

Tears of relief and joy gathered in her eyes as Isabel stepped into his embrace. Alex drew her into him tightly, tucking her head under his chin. He heard her whisper his name and felt her hands flatten on his back in a slow caress.

Alex smiled ruefully, turning his cheek into her hair, as he felt his body harden swiftly in its appreciation. Isabel felt it too and giggled softly as she moved her hands to settle on his hips and snuggled into him teasingly. She laughed in delight when Alex let out a heartfelt groan and quickly set her away from him.

Isabel's gaze was filled with tenderness when she leaned back into him, brushing his lips with hers. "I love you, Alex."

The words were soft, but they struck his heart with the impact of star gone supernova. His hands clenched reflexively on her arms and he leaned back to look into her eyes. The truth of her words was there, shining back at him.

Alex closed his eyes and laid his forehead to hers as profound emotions filled him. Isabel smiled. She felt a glimmer of his feelings through the faint connection forming between the two of them.

He opened his eyes and locked them with hers. "I love you, Isabel."

Tears slid down her face and she felt the floodgates break within her. Alex pulled her back into his embrace swiftly. He sat down, bracing his back against the stone, tugging her down onto his lap. He rocked her and ran his hand up and down her back in a light caress. His other hand moved to her hair.

She leaned into his caress, his agile fingers felt heavenly as they stroked her head, running smoothly through the strands of her hair. She sighed as the tears subsided, for good this time. She felt safe in the security of his arms and laid her head on his shoulder.

"So," he said quietly, "do you want to tell me what happened?"

After a moment, Isabel nodded.

She told him everything, about her mother and the long awaited secrets she had revealed; Max and the incubation pod; Tess' mission in Hondo; and, finally, the talk Max, Michael and she had had about their future and their decision to disregard any concept of pre-ordained destiny.

When she'd finished, Isabel sighed and turned her face into his throat. Her ear was pressed against his chest, so she felt the rumbling as she heard his voice.

"I'm glad." He tightened his arms around her. "Even though it's for my own selfish reasons, I'm very glad, Isabel."

Stretching, she pressed a kiss to his temple then relaxed back into his embrace. "I am too," she said with a smile, "I want to be with you, Alex."

Emotions fresh and gentle to be fully explored as yet unfurled between them, pulsing down the newly formed connection. Alex closed his eyes and let the feelings break over him.

"You know, don't you?" he whispered into her hair.

"Know what?" she asked, curious and relaxed.

"That I'd do anything for you."

Her fingers tightened where her arms lay over his in a close press. Her mind flashed back to memories of the day he'd first said that to her in the Crashdown.

"You know, don't you, Alex?" Her tone was soft as she asked the same question of him.

"Know what?" he asked, huskily.

"That I'd do anything for you." She ran her fingers over his arms with a simple touch. It was the first time she had ever said those words.

Alex closed his arms more firmly around her and she felt a strong pulse of adoration and pride through the link between them.

"I know."

(***)

Morning light slanted in through the window as the sun dawned, streaking along the horizon.

Max lay in bed, his eyes closed, to savor the sensations that rose within him at the feel of the girl of his dreams lying quietly in his arms for just a few more moments. He opened his eyes and raised his head, propping it on a free hand, so he could settle Liz more firmly against him with the arm he had draped around her torso. They must have shifted into 'spoons' sometime during the night.

They'd stayed awake into the early morning hours as Max had told her everything about the pod and they'd decisions made, as well as those yet to be made. Liz had listened intently, interrupting only to ask a question or offer an insight.

They'd both had questions about their connection. It was a new ability to sense what the other was feeling and to sometimes hear each other's thoughts. It was amazing and a little frightening, but they'd both agreed it was a gift.

And, as Liz had pointed out, "I really don't think this breaks my ranking Top 10 on the 'Alien Weirdness' list. I honestly doubt anything will ever top the Tabasco and Cherry Coke thing. That's just strange, Max." Which had prompted Max to retaliate by kissing her senseless.

And when they'd realized the bond was strengthened by touch or heightened emotion, Liz had smiled up into his eyes with a playful look and Max had relaxed into the pillows in mock surrender, ready to let her have her way with him. Her touch had felt like heaven, even with their clothes on, but the absolute love that flowed between them was what had them both seeing stars.

Now, Max reached over and tucked Liz's hair behind her ear as he leaned down to kiss the soft curve of her cheek lightly. Only then did he glance and the clock and groan. It flashed 5:15am. It was time to start the day. His parents would be up in forty-five minutes.

Reluctant though he was to disturb her much needed rest, Liz had made him promise to wake her before he left. Stroking her shoulder, he carefully opened the connection between them to send a pulse of pure love down the link as he gently whispered, "Liz, wake up."

She sighed and Max felt her drowsy response as feelings of comfort and contentment came back to him and she turned into his arms, trying to bury her face in his chest. Then she stretched, her eyes peaking up at him through a thick fringe of lashes.

"Morning," she whispered, her voice husky with sleep. Then her eyes widened as she bumped into evidence of his early morning arousal. Max raised an eyebrow, completely unashamed of his body's reaction to her nearness. Liz laughed and hugged him to her, positioning her hips to comfortably cradle the bulge. Max groaned into her hair.

"You're killing me," he moaned hoarsely.

"I love you," Liz replied sweetly.

"Mmm…" was his answer as he leaned over to take her mouth and hot desire flared through the connection between them.

She sighed into his mouth and returned each caress of his tongue with one of her own. She felt herself being pulled headlong into the undertow of the lethargic passion gathering between them. Her head began to spin and she felt dizzy.

The only thing that remained clear was her keen awareness of Max, the press of their bodies, and the growing need to get as close as she possibly could to the hardness that was pressed against her center. An increasingly hollow ache began between her thighs, making itself known in no uncertain terms as the throbbing intensified with each foray of Max's tongue in her mouth, each brush of his fingers over her taunt stomach and the undersides of her breasts.

She made needy little sounds in the back of her throat as she began to slide against him, her hands rushing over his back restlessly. She positioned herself to press his erection firmly against the core of her that was throbbing so intensely. A wave of his passion broke over her, making her whimper, and she attempted to ease the ache by applying pressure in small, undulating motions that temporarily offered some satisfaction but ultimately increased the tension that seemed to be winding tighter in her center, demanding release.

Max gasped into her mouth as he felt the melting heat of her pressing so firmly to his hardness, even through both their jeans. The instinct to remove the barriers and bury himself in her was overwhelming… its very intensity was what pulled him back to his senses.

"Liz… we can't." The words came out haltingly, between deep breaths of air.

His words penetrated the haze surrounding Liz and she looked up into his eyes.

"Oh, God," she said, shocked.

"Ditto," Max said with a little laugh.

Each could feel the other's body rock with frustrated yearning but the overwhelming tenderness and concern she sensed from Max was what gave Liz the strength to smile back, and slowly lower her legs from around his waist. The aching lack of fulfillment was intense but she knew it would ease with time. Besides, it was only fair when she could so clearly feel Max's struggle with his own frustration.

Maybe she would try one of those cold showers Alex was so enthusiastic about.

"Mmm… it's almost six," she reminded him softly.

Max groaned and snuggled under the covers with her for another moment. He closed his eyes to absorb more of the incredible sensations of their physical closeness and the open connection between them, and then took a deep breath before he pushed off his half of the blankets and sat on the edge of the bed. He quickly pulled on his shoes and turned back to her. Reaching around her body, he tucked her firmly back into the covers and leaned down to place a quick kiss on the end of her nose.

"Sleep in as much as you can. I'll be here to pick you up at 7:45," he said with an adorable grin.

"Love you," Liz said, quietly.

"I love you, Liz Parker," Max said, the emotion readily evident in his eyes.

He couldn't resist leaning down to kiss her hard on the mouth before he silently climbed out the window. Liz sighed and curled up under the blankets for her recommended snooze. The alarm would sound at six twenty but, somehow, she didn't think she'd mind waking up this morning. She couldn't wait to start the day!

A slight smile touched the corners of her mouth as she drifted off into a light sleep.

TBC…

A/N:Okay, so what did you guys think? Remember, R&R is always appreciated. So, press the little blue button… :)