It had been two hours and they still weren’t any closer to answers than they had been since that morning. Liz paced the length of her living room and listened as Michael and Isabel bickered over what course of action to take next. Liz glanced in the direction of her closed bedroom door and let out a frustrated breath.
She had shuffled Max into her bedroom an hour and a half ago against Michael’s very vocal disagreement. He felt that Max should have stayed with them in case something changed. But Liz had taken one look at Max and had put her foot down more firmly than she ever had before. He was too tired, too sickly looking. And he looked terrified. He couldn’t understand a single person on the planet, much less in the room, and might not again unless they could figure out what had happened. The last thing he’d needed was to sit in a room when he couldn’t understand what they were saying or be able to participate in the solution.
Her heart was breaking for him and it only compounded her guilt even further that she had driven a wedge between them now when he probably needed her more than ever before.
Tess had been the first of them to figure it out. She had been privy to the occasional slip of language around Nasedo, and she had recognized the harmony of the words Max had been speaking. So, she had tested it out with the one Antarian word she’d known.
The look on Max’s face in that instant had been unmistakable. He’d understood her, thought she understood him. And when he’d realized she couldn’t, he’d retreated into himself even further.
They’d moved the meeting upstairs and Liz had called someone in to work her shift. Her parents were out of town for the day, so they still had a little bit of time left. And there was no way she was leaving Max alone right now. She couldn’t begin to imagine how scared he had to be. Even if he hated her for the rest of her life for what she had tricked him into seeing last week, she could be here for him now.
The never ending bickering between Isabel and Michael finally caught her attention and she frowned at them. “Do you think you can keep your voices down?” she hissed.
“What does it matter? It’s not like he understands us anyway,” Michael groused in frustration.
“Because he understands the tone of your voice,” Tess explained for Liz. She had been keeping quiet for the most part, but she’d kept an eye on Liz. And she had noticed that Liz seemed to be the only one that Max trusted right now to guide him.
When they’d been downstairs, Max had shut down, putting a wall between himself and everyone else in the room. He hadn’t wanted anyone to approach him, except Liz. Despite everything that had happened between them, he still trusted her above everyone else. And it had been only Liz that had been able to get him upstairs.
And something inside of her twisted and died with the knowledge.
Surprised at Tess’s observation, Liz nodded in agreement. “All he understands right now is tones. So, if we’re yelling at each other all day, it’s not exactly confidence inspiring. We need to be a unit or we’re not going to be able to help him.”
Michael bit back the scathing remark that was perched on his lips. He wanted to light into Liz over the way she’d tossed his friend so carelessly aside, but she was right. Now wasn’t the time. And he paced in frustration. “I’m tired of just sitting here not doing anything.”
“Michael, there’s not anything we can do right now. Max is the only one that knows what might have caused this. Without that information, we’re just stumbling around in the dark. Isabel already tried to dreamwalk him, but he wasn’t asleep, so it wasn’t our best shot. And Tess is going to try to connect with him after he calms down a bit. And before you even suggest it, we’re not pushing him to try to tell us anything right now. He’s been through enough today without his friends bullying him. For the moment, we’re doing all we can.”
Max listened to the calm tone of Liz’s voice from the doorway. He didn’t have a clue what she was saying, but he thought he recognized the tone. She was defending him.
He’d tried resting, had tried meditating. He’d tried everything he knew how to do to fix the short circuit in his brain, but nothing had worked. He was going to have to trust his friends to help him. It was a huge leap of faith for someone as controlling as he could sometimes be, but he would have to trust them implicitly.
Max refused to speak though. He’d be damned if he’d open his mouth to the alien sounds. It was embarrassing on so many levels. He hated the lack of control, he hated being forced to admit to a weakness. And he hated most of all the way they looked at him when he did try to speak. He’d never felt more alien in his life.
Realizing he needed to garner their attention somehow, Max closed Liz’s door with a loud click. And he was rewarded with the intensity of seven pairs of eyes. Michael rushed forward as if this was his chance to press for answers, but Max held him off with a gesture of his hand. He was trying to take things slow, to calm the pounding ache in his head.
Wincing at the brightness of the room, Max shaded his eyes with his hand. It was just another angle about the whole thing he didn’t understand. He’d been in Liz’s living room dozens of times, and the lighting in the room was the same soft light normal people lived with. But it was suddenly too bright. And his inner voice taunted him. But you’re not normal, are you?
Liz’s mind raced as she watched Max flinch. Was the light bothering him too? Without stopping to question it, she flipped the switch behind her and the only light filtered in through the closed blinds. Max raised his head to look at her and he flashed her a grateful smile for somehow understanding him.
Picking up a tablet of paper from her father’s desk, Liz offered it to Max. Her last great hope had been that maybe he could write down what had happened. But Max saw her movement and shook his head quickly. Hope died and she found despair written across his face. Had he tried it already and failed? It was another key to the puzzle and she added it to her mental list of things they knew so far. She squared her shoulders, determined. It was a problem, but nothing they couldn’t solve. She offered Max a smile of reassurance and was rewarded when some of the despair lifted.
Max found himself gazing into Liz’s eyes and the world melted away the way it always did when she looked at him. It had always been so easy between them, a simple look, a touch, and a connection flared to life between them. Did she miss that when she was with Kyle?
The slash of pain from his own wandering thought snapped him out of the daze. He had to tell them something somehow. And the simplest way to get them going would be to start with the UFO Center.
Max strode to the window and shielded his eyes carefully before drawing the curtain back. He could see the UFO Center from there thankfully, so he pointed at it. He’d turned it over in his head in Liz’s room and this mess had to have been caused by Brody’s device. The only problem was that Brody was out of town and he had no idea how to convey that small detail. But at least Brody was a place to start.
The others followed Max’s gesture and found him pointing at the Center across the street.
“The UFO Center? Something must have happened there last night. Wasn’t Max working late?” Michael was already striding towards the door when Maria pulled him back.
“Michael, be serious. You can’t just walk over there. You have no idea what’s in there or what happened to Max.”
“She’s right, man,” Alex agreed. “Plus, I don’t think the Center is even open today. Brody’s car isn’t parked outside.”
“So we split up,” Tess decided. “Michael, you take Isabel and head across the street I’ll go check out Brody’s house and see if he’s there or if anything looks wrong.”
“If you think you’re going anywhere without me you’re dead wrong,” Maria insisted, crossing he arms over her chest. Alex moved to stand beside her and wrapped a long arm around her shoulders.
Liz smiled at the show of silent support. She’d seen it a thousand times, both from where Tess now stood and from the empty place at Alex’s other side “Why doesn’t Maria go with you, Tess? If Brody is at home, you’ll get more information out of him with her there.” She ignored both Michael and Maria’s grumbled complaints, and turned to Michael and Isabel. “Alex can go with you two. We don’t have any idea what we’re dealing with. Maybe he can help from the technical side of things. Plus, if it is something that does something to your physiology, Alex shouldn’t be affected.”
“What about Kyle? Shouldn’t he go with us instead of Alex?” Isabel asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn’t want Alex walking into trouble, and Kyle seemed to be better equipped if they ran into trouble.
Liz shook her head. “There’s a chance Kyle and I could be affected as easily as you could. You need someone with you that has had no contact with Antarian powers or DNA or whatever you want to call it.”
As sound as her logic was, Isabel still had problems with Liz taking charge. Isabel narrowed her eyes at Liz, her gaze frosty. “And what about you and Kyle? What will you two be doing while the rest of us are off looking for answers?”
Liz met her gaze, frost on frost. “We’ll stay here with Max.”
“I doubt my brother is up for a repeat of last time the three of you were together alone.”
Liz felt the icy slap of Isabel’s words. Of course she thought Liz was nothing more than a back stabber, a whore. She didn’t need to come out and say the word to know it hung between them. Isn’t that what they all thought of her after all? Hadn’t that been the point? Max hated her and by extension, so did everyone that loved him.
It’s for their own good. They would have died. Liz repeated the mantra in her head until the sorrow calmed. “He stays,” Liz repeated, all emotion absent from her voice.
Max watched the emotions play across Liz’s face. She’d been defending him again. He didn’t need to understand his sister’s words to understand the tone they had been delivered in. He’d seen the power struggle, figured Maria and Alex were fighting to participate in whatever plan they were creating.
But then Isabel’s unmistakably frigid tone had won out. And Liz had…crumbled before his eyes. What had Isabel said to her?
He’d seen a world of pain etched in her features and he couldn’t figure it out. They had to have brought up Liz and Kyle. Reflexively, his heart clenched painfully in memory. He’d been able to push it back when he’d been in her room alone a few minutes before. There had been enough to keep his mind pleasantly occupied.
He’d watched Kyle move to Liz’s side, wrapping one muscled arm around her shoulders and he had to shove his own anguish back. He needed all of them to get out of this. Liz had a cool, scientific mind and he needed that.
He needed her.
Even with Kyle by her side, the pain remained on her face. And he realized that it was the first time he’d really looked at her since he’d seen her in bed with Kyle. He’d spent too long giving into the impulse to avert his gaze to avoid heartache. And as Kyle and Isabel spoke now in harsh tones, he studied Liz.
She didn’t melt into Kyle’s arms the way she melted into his. It used to be something he took for granted. He could put his arm around her and she would naturally fit against his body until they felt solid together. And the rush of victory was hard to quash. Liz’s arms were wrapped around Kyle’s waist but stiffly, more like a lifeline than a lover.
Shit. Keep looking, don’t think.
Kyle’s hand cupped the back of Liz’s neck, marring the perfect flow of her straight hair. Didn’t Kyle know Liz didn’t like to be touched like that? She hated it when anyone touched the back of her neck. Now, the sides, just below her ears, if touched just right could make her gasp breathlessly.
Liz’s voice rose, rejoining the conversation. Controlled anger. Her jaw tightened, adding a strain to her tone. He wished he knew what she was saying. She looked magnificent.
She stepped forward, towards Isabel and Kyle automatically angled his body beside her. His hand rested possessively on the small of her back. Max made himself watch, made himself take it all in and put to rest the voices in his head that had been telling him something was off. And Max was surprised not to feel the overpowering urge to blast Kyle into a thousand pieces. Something in their body language was wrong.
Maria stepped between Liz and Isabel, playing peacekeeper. Isabel glared at Liz one final time before turning and storming out the front door. Alex followed after her and Michael joined them after sending one last remark Liz’s way. The parting shot, Michael’s specialty. Maria spoke in low, clipped tones to Liz, her own irritation showing now. And this surprised Max more than anything. When had all of this transpired? Since when was all of this animosity settling between them all? As he watched, Maria inclined her head towards Tess and the two girls headed silently out the door.
And then he was alone with Liz and Kyle.
Liz seemed to realize it at the same time and she turned to face him. Her gaze flicked over him a minute before sliding off him just as quickly. She avoided his gaze, uncertain what to do now.
Momentarily forgetting his own vow not to talk, Max looked at her curiously. “Why are you lying?”
Her head swung around to meet his gaze, her eyes wide with shock. And he cursed himself for the slip. Without another word, he turned and fled back to Liz’s bedroom. He had to think this new information through.
*~*~
Liz sat on the couch, her head in her hands. She’d been nursing a headache for an hour now, but she refused to do anything to alleviate the pain. If Max was suffering alone in the next room, it felt wrong somehow to do anything to take away her own pain. Somehow, her actions had to have been the cause of this mess.
Her argument with Isabel was still fresh in her head. Having had the opportunity tell Liz exactly what she thought about her, she had. Kyle had tried to defend her, but it hadn’t helped. Everything Isabel had said had been on target, at least without knowing she hadn’t slept with Kyle. And no one could find out. She’d been wracking her brain for hours now trying to figure out if Future Max had said anything to her that might help Max now.
And after reviewing every word they’d spoken during his visit, she’d decided that there was nothing. She hated feeling helpless, afraid that even her presence right now might upset him further. Kyle had gone downstairs, trying to give hr some space. And she was thankful for it. She desperately wanted to see Max, to find out how he was handling things. But she was afraid. She didn’t want to let him too close, yet she didn’t want to keep him too far away. She was trapped in a limbo of her own making, trapped by a promise she made to a man who no longer existed. She’d killed him to save the people he loved, to save the world.
Of their own accord, Liz’s feet brought her to her closed bedroom door. She listened quietly but wasn’t automatically alarmed when she didn’t hear anything. Max had been quiet all morning, unwilling to remind everyone of how different, how alien he was.
With a resigned sigh, she knocked on the door. Automatically, her lips formed his name but she killed the sound before she made it. What did she sound like to him? Did the English language sound as harsh as the Antarian language did? Although, if she was fair, it didn’t sound as harsh as she supposed it could sound. It had almost a lyrical quality to it.
She wanted to hear more of it.
Deciding that Max would never make a sound to usher her into the room, Liz pushed the door open cautiously. She found Max sitting on her bed, staring out the window. The lights had been dimmed and it took a second before her eyes adjusted to the low light. And when they did, in that single instant, she was able to see every emotion clearly on his face. He’d been so closed off from her; she’d almost forgotten what it was like to see his features opened to her.
Feeling her presence, Max shifted on the bed and turned to find Liz standing in the doorway. His heart leapt to his throat when he saw the pain on her face. And it confused him all the more. He knew she was lying to him now, he’d seen as much in the living room. But about what? And why?
He wished he could ask her, but he didn’t have the words. So, he settled for simply watching her. She hadn’t said anything yet, and he didn’t know if he was grateful or nervous that she was simply watching him. He didn’t want her pity. He didn’t want to see the fear that he’d seen in his own sister’s eyes as she’d backed away from him. If he couldn’t trust his own family to accept him as he was, how could he expect Liz to? Especially with her words running through his head.
My life is only in danger if I am with you. I want to be in love with boys...normal boys. I want to see my 21st birthday. I want to have a wedding day. I want to have children...and I want my children to be safe. You know, Max, if...if you truly love me, you'll let me go. I may love you, but I don't want to die for you.
Those words had sliced through his heart when he’d heard them and every time he’d repeated them in his head afterwards. He’d been training himself not to depend on her since then, not to seek her out whenever he needed a sounding board. And now when his life was more upside down than ever before, he desperately wanted to turn to her, to curl up inside of her and depend on her to take care of him. But he couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t let her get sucked back into the swirling vortex of his life. There would always be some crisis or another, and if he ran to her every time his life turned upside down, it would only make her miserable.
She wanted normal boys. And he wasn’t normal. Instead of running to her and clinging, he forced himself to remain seated. Slowly, he turned his eyes away, returning them to the window. The bright light stung his eyes, but he didn’t care. It was better than the constant throbbing in his chest where his heart used to beat.
“Max,” she whispered, wishing she knew what to do that would help him. He was so strong, so in control, it had to be killing him to sit helplessly by and do nothing.
Max closed his eyes when he heard her soft whisper. He knew the tone if not the word, and he memorized it the way his name rolled off her tongue. It wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t something in his life be fair for once?
Liz had already taken a step toward Max when she heard the front door open. Torn, she hovered in the doorway, but saw Max’s head lift at the noise.
“Liz?”
“We’re in here,” Liz called when she heard Isabel’s voice.
It took only a moment before Isabel poked her head through the doorway and scowled at Liz when she saw the dejected look on Max’s face. Somehow, she was sure Liz was to blame for her brother’s pain.
“What did you guys find?” Liz asked when Michael and Alex followed Isabel. She saw Kyle hovering on the edge of the group, unsure if he should move any closer.
“Not much of anything. Brody wasn’t there and there wasn’t a sign of struggle.” Michael ran a hand through his hair in agitation. “I don’t know what we were expecting to find, but it obviously wasn’t there.”
Liz’s hoped died down. She’d been hoping they would find something to help Max. “Have you heard from Tess and Maria yet?”
“Nothing,” Alex answered with an apologetic grin. “Sorry, Liz.”
Frowning in thought, Liz paced the room. “No, it’s okay. We can figure this out. Tess and Maria should be back soon and hopefully they’ll have spoken with Brody and we’ll be closer to figuring this out.”
“Sorry, but we hit a complete brick wall there.” Maria walked through Liz’s doorway and threw herself on Liz’s bed. Tess followed, but stayed closer to the doorway.
“Brody wasn’t there?” Michael asked.
“No sign of him. Wherever he is though, he packed fast and got the hell out of Dodge. There were still dishes in the sink and clothes thrown everywhere.”
“So, you didn’t get anything?” Liz clarified.
“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say that.” Maria grinned and held a slip of paper out to her friend. “I have a city. Santa Fe. It was written on a note pad he left behind with some vague directions.”
Michael grabbed for the paper and scanned it quickly. “So, something spooked Brody and he ran off for Santa Fe without a word to anyone.”
Maria scoffed. “It’s not like Brody’s the most stable guy in Roswell. He takes off on a whim all the time. Didn’t Max run the Center for a month the last time he left out of the blue?”
“Maria’s right. We have no way of knowing how long Brody will be gone, and we need to know what happened last night. Someone needs to follow him.”
“I’ll go,” Michael announced, leaving no room for debate. Then he turned to Maria. “And you’re not coming.”
“Right. Sure. And you’re getting there how?” She crossed her arms over her chest and watched him in amusement.
“Just give me your keys, Maria.” He held his hand out.
“Have you suffered head trauma lately? You know that wherever my car goes so do I. Besides, you might need back up.”
“From you? Are you going to pester anyone that comes after us? Annoy them by talking excessively?”
“I’m going too,” Isabel announced, breaking up Michael and Maria’s bickering. She glanced at Max. “I think we should take Max with us.”
“I don’t think that’s such a great idea,” Alex interjected with a glance at Max. “I mean, if there really is trouble, Max won’t know to get out of harms way. It’s not like you can call out to him or anything. He should lay low for awhile.”
“Where is he supposed to stay? He can’t stay at home if I’m not there. Mom and Dad will want to talk to him at some point in the next few days.”
Liz had been listening to the conversation, a plan already forming in her mind. Slowly, she had been inching closer to Max, wanting to lend her support. She’d seen the way his head had bobbed back and forth between the members of the group as they talked. And a faint line of frustration was forming between his eyebrows. It was only a matter of time before he gave himself a whopper of a headache.
“He’ll stay with me,” she announced finally.
Everyone in the room turned to look at her in varying forms of disbelief.
“Why do you think we would let you anywhere near him? Haven’t you done enough damage?” Isabel asked, her words cold and calculated.
Liz hardened the shield over her emotions. “I’m perfectly aware of the situation, Isabel. You, Michael and Maria are going to Santa Fe. He can’t stay at his house. I don’t really think the Valenti house is the most soothing atmosphere for him to be in.”
“He can stay at my apartment,” Michael decided.
Liz nodded, humoring him. “Sure. And if there’s some emergency, I’m sure Max will be able to take care of himself. Look, I don’t like it any better than you do, but Max shouldn’t be alone right now. It’s not safe. And I can’t just leave my room for a couple of days. My parents would notice that.”
“But they’re not going to notice your ex-boyfriend sleeping in your bed?” Michael asked.
“Not if he sleeps on the floor by the window. If I’m in bed, it’s enough for my parents. Look, I know what you all think of me. And right now, I don’t care. We have a serious situation and we need to figure out what happened so we can fix it.”
“There’s more,” Tess announced quietly. Her blue eyes swept the room, waiting until she had their attention. “There are Skins in Roswell again. Which means Nicholas isn’t far behind.”
