Chapter Nineteen

Liz sat cross-legged in the center of Tess’s bed, reading the revealing passage in the Destiny book over and over again.

Isabel had left Liz the page with the granolith’s instructions on it so that Liz could have a chance to study it in greater detail, and form her plan. She knew what she had to do now. The whole plan was thought out completely, but Liz couldn’t help studying the passage a few more times, just to make sure that she didn’t miss something, or misinterpret an instruction.

She didn’t. She was sure of it. Although the passage would have seemed like gibberish to the other aliens, to Liz it was plain as day, thanks to her discussions with Future Max.

All she needed was to get to the granolith chamber to put her plan into motion.

Liz’s attention wavered at the distracting sound of a knock on the door.

"Come in." She called, running a frustrated hand through her blonde curls, as she turned to see what Kyle wanted.

The door opened slowly, and Liz’s eyes widened as Max stepped into the room.

"Max!" She exclaimed, her eyes darkening in hurt at the sight of him. The pain from the night before was still much to raw in her heart, and his sudden appearance did nothing to ease it. "What are you doing here?"

Max’s expression was masked, his usually revealing eyes giving away nothing as he responded, leaving Liz’s heart pounding nervously.

"I think it’s about time we go somewhere and talk seriously." Max explained evenly. "Will you go on a drive with me?"

Liz hesitated a long moment. He was acting so secretive, she knew for a fact that something was not right with him, but she couldn’t figure out what.

"I really shouldn’t…" She stammered uncertainly.

"Please." Max insisted, his unemotional eyes burning into her. "We need to get all of this fixed. Just come with me, okay?"

"Okay." Liz finally agreed, her own curiosity over Max’s strange behavior winning her over. Walking behind him, Liz studied the back of his head nervously, as she followed him out of the house to the jeep.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~

The whole gang stared at Isabel in disbelief, as she held her hand over Liz’s head, ready to move should Liz try to fight her.

"What the hell are you talking about, Isabel?" Liz burst out angrily. "She got to you too, didn’t she? Just like she got to Alex, only you can’t break out of her mindwarp!"

"Cut the crap, Tess!" Isabel exploded. "I’m not going to take it." Isabel turned pleading eyes to the rest of the gang, who were frozen in shock at the sudden change in atmosphere. "Last week when the truth about what happened to Alex came out, Liz was telling the truth. She and Tess somehow switched bodies. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true." Isabel explained quickly. "Liz came to me the day after the meeting. She couldn’t control her powers and she needed help learning how to use them. I had to train her from scratch."

"She’s playing you, Isabel." Liz insisted again. "I’m telling you, I’m exactly who I say I am."

"Test her." Isabel demanded, turning to Alex and Maria. "Test her to see if she is who she says she is. Ask her something only Liz would know."

Maria eyed Liz for a long moment before bursting out a question.

"Where is the place by the thing that we went that time with what's-her-name?" Maria asked quickly.

"WHAT?" Tess burst out in confusion. Maria smirked at her as the blood drained from Tess’s face and she realized that her farce was over.

"She’s a fake." Maria stated simply, before her own eyes widened in fear. "Which means that Max is about to put my best friend into a spaceship blasting off of the planet! We have to stop him!"

~~~~~~ ~~~~~

"So, I thought you wanted to talk?" Liz asked, her voice wavering nervously.

Max had been silent throughout the whole drive, since the moment they left the Valenti house, and it was starting to wear on Liz’s nerves. Something was definitely up, there was no doubt about it in her mind anymore. All she needed to figure out is what was going on.

Max didn’t respond right away, so Liz asked another question.

"Where are we going anyway?"

"The pod chamber." Max replied shortly, turning to look at Liz. The mask was gone from his expression, leaving Liz chilled at the cold, hateful gaze in his eyes. Max had never looked at her that way before, not even after she pretended to sleep with Kyle.

"Why?" Liz pressed insistently. "I know something is going on, Max. What is it? You may as well just get it over with and tell me."

"You almost killed Alex, Tess." Max’s lip curled up in disgust. "You almost killed him with your damn mindwarp. You made us believe that we could trust you, and then you stabbed us in the back. You don’t belong with us, and I’m going to make sure that you can’t ever hurt anyone again."

The hair raised on Liz’s back at Max’s cold words.

"You’re not a killer." Liz stated with certainty, hoping that she sounded more certain than she felt that Max would never hurt her. "You couldn’t kill me."

"No, you’re right." Max agreed. "I couldn’t ever kill you. I’m not like you. But I can send you far away from here where you’ll never be a problem for us again. The Destiny Book’s translation was quite useful for us, Tess, so at least Alex’s suffering wasn’t all for nothing."

"The Destiny Book." Liz mumbled to herself, Max’s words bringing her back to reality. Max was taking her to the granolith chamber, and if she timed everything right, she could work this right into her own plans.

~~~~~ ~~~~~~

Max clutched the steering wheel tightly as he turned the jeep off of the highway onto the bumpy dirt path that led to the pod chamber.

Every fiber of his being was fighting against the other at that exact moment, and it was taking everything in his power not to reveal to Tess how confused and disturbed he was. In his mind, he knew he was doing the right thing. Tess was dangerous. Tess was untrustworthy. Getting rid of Tess would bring them nothing but good.

But then there was his body’s reaction. It was as if every cell in his body was gravitating towards Tess. All he wanted to do was pull her into his embrace, which left him feeling like scum. Even if his mind knew what he had to do, his heart was screaming at him that he was doing the wrong thing.

All of the contradicting thoughts and feelings left Max feeling angrier, more hateful to Tess than he ever remembered feeling before. He hated that he had to do this to her, and he hated that feeling as well. He hated that he had feelings for her, and he hated what would happen if Liz ever found out about the urges deep inside of him at that moment. And most of all he hated that he didn’t feel those same urges for the most precious person that had ever been a part of his life anymore.

Regardless of what his body was feeling at that moment, emotionally he was channeling all the contradicting anger and hatred inside of him right at the small, blonde alien sitting beside him.

Dust flying through the air, Max pulled the jeep around to a halt beside the path to the Pod Chamber. The car had just barely stopped before he was out of his seat and quickly stepping around to the passenger site to get Tess out.

"Let’s go." He demanded in a no-nonsense voice. She just stared back at him with those all too calm, cool blue eyes. A chill ran down Max’s spine at her lack of reaction. Something was going on with her, and he didn’t like it. "Don’t even think about mindwarping me." Max warned, his voice dripping with lethal threats.

"I’m not going to fight you, Max." Tess tried to comfort him, as she climbed down from the passenger seat.

She stayed true to her word, walking directly towards the pod chamber entrance, with Max following a step behind her to stop her should she try to take off. It surprised Max how compliant she was being. She only hesitated for a moment, before waving her hand over the rock and pressing it down over the silver handprint that appeared.

They stepped side by side into the darkened cave, and for the first time Tess hesitated, Max wasn’t sure why.

"Come on." He growled angrily, leading her towards the granolith. He crawled through Isabel’s pod to the now familiar hidden chamber, and stepped into the brightly lit room, thanks to the granolith’s glow.

Tess followed him in, staring up at the granolith in awe. Max stared openly at her reaction, trying to figure out why she was reacting so strongly to the granolith. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t seen it a dozen times before or anything.

Her eyes were glued to the swirling light in the center of the cone, as she distractedly walked towards Max. She wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing, and stumbled right into Max, who stuck his arms out to steady her.

His hands grasped onto the bare skin of her arms, and almost instantly there was a rush of energy between them. Tess glanced up at Max’s eyes in shock, and the moment their gazes met, the memories came rushing forth out of their subconscious minds, their world consumed with the familiar flashes that had been missing for much too long.

Image after image rushed through their joined minds.

The Crashdown shooting. Max’s fear as Liz lay dying on the floor, until he brought her back from the brink, opening up both of their worlds to entire new possibilities.

Their first kiss. The first time that they willingly gave into temptation after fighting it for so long. The pure love rushing through their fiery veins as for the first time both of them felt complete in each other’s arms.

Max walking away from Liz after the incident with Michael at the reservation. The pain and longing in her heart. She had finally found her other half, only for fear and doubts to keep them apart. Her anger and frustration in Max for not being willing to fight for their love.

Kiss after sweet kiss, as they discovered with wonder the melding of their minds through their flashes. Max’s wonder at seeing how much Liz loved and wanted him. Liz realizing for the first time that she wanted Max forever.

Liz walking away from Max at the pod chamber. Max’s disbelief, agony, fear…and most of all determination to change her mind. Determination that only grew in the time that Liz was away.

Max seeing Liz and Kyle in bed together, and the scorching pain and hatred that followed it. Giving up hope, after fighting for so long. Losing himself within his alien side, because his human side couldn’t take the pain.

Love that still, after all of the hurt couldn’t be denied. Max saw her sitting on the bench in the park, and he gravitated towards her, not even knowing who she was, because of the connection within their souls.

Even as the last flash faded away, Max blinked as understanding swept over his mind. His mind may not have understood what was going on at the time, but his soul had always known her, loved her, regardless of what she looked like.

He had been about to make the biggest mistake of his life.

Pure, undeniable love shone out from Max’s eyes as he stared down into her crystal blue eyes, unfamiliar eyes that now unlocked all of the secrets within, as with a hushed breath he softly cried out her name.

"Liz…" Max gasped with wonder.