PART FOURTEEN

Max, Liz, Tess, Michael and Isabel sat in the living room, where they’d gathered for a small morning meeting between just Serena and themselves. Max had asked that this first meeting be more intimate, because he knew it would be a particularly emotional moment for them all—especially when they learned what Serena had shared on their journey last night. Max figured that fewer people might keep things from becoming too explosive. He glanced at Michael, who sat tensely on the hearth, his eyes narrowed, and Max felt a wave of apprehension about his reaction in particular.

Serena settled softly on the sofa beside Liz, and Isabel sat on the hearth near Michael. Tess sat cross-legged on the floor near the fire, and they all waited anxiously for Serena to begin.

"I know all of you have many questions," Serena began, her eyes sweeping among them. Max noticed something flare in her eyes, a little flash of raw energy. She frowned down into her coffee cup for a moment, hesitating, and then continued.

"I was in the crash," she confessed, glancing at Max meaningfully. "And for the most part, have been watching you ever since that time."

"What?" Michael demanded incredulously, rising a bit from where he sat. His voice was instantly hostile, and Max knew an explosion was imminent if Serena’s answer didn’t placate him.

"I lost you for a time, when you came out of the pods," Serena explained. "Because it happened a bit earlier than expected, but ultimately it may well have saved you…have been to your advantage."

"How is that possible?" Michael questioned, his voice strained. "How could that have remotely been to our advantage?"

"Because it protected you from Nasedo. He…didn’t support the way things were going," she hesitated a moment, drawing in a deep breath.

"It all began with the crash…with Liz," she continued quietly. "Her pod was terribly damaged…beyond repair, in fact…and a decision was required. We opted to remove her from her pod, and co-incubate her with Tess."

"Wait," Liz gasped softly. "What do you mean co-incubate?"

Max felt her stiffen beside him, and he reached quickly for her hand. Probably the one question that had plagued Liz most all these years had been her missing pod—the scientist within her had always tried to assess the jumbled pieces of who she really was.

"We placed you with Tess inside her pod, and used some of your own pod material to reinforce it."

Max watched as Tess and Liz stared at one another, their eyes locking for a long, unbelievable moment. Tess’s mouth fell open in shock, and Max saw countless emotions pass across her features. "But that means…we…we…were like sisters," she stammered in disbelief.

"I suppose so, yes," Serena agreed with a quick nod.

And Max immediately guessed the thought had entered Tess’s mind—how terribly she’d once treated Liz, because even though the two of them were close friends now, there had always been that silent specter over their relationship. Tess had even mentioned it to him once, had admitted that she feared Liz could never truly forget.

"I mean, how long were we in there together?" Tess asked softly.

"About thirty-five years." Serena tossed her hair over her shoulder, punctuating her statement. All her gestures were clipped like that, and it reminded Max a bit of Nasedo.

"Thirty-five years?" Liz cried in disbelief, and Max felt her tiny hand tighten around his like a vice. "But…that’s so long."

"But not as long as the rest of us," Tess finished, chewing on her lip thoughtfully.

"No, Liz came out early because," Serena hesitated, casting her eyes around the room. For some reason Max felt that her next words were going to impact all of them heavily. "Well, frankly, Liz wasn’t thriving. In 1983 everyone else was growing, maturing…but not Liz."

Max’s blood ran cold at what Serena was implying—what she wasn’t saying--that they’d removed Liz because she’d been slowly dying.

"And it was putting a strain on Tess, too, so I knew it was time, even though Liz wasn’t fully incubated."

"Wait, now when you say I wasn’t ‘fully incubated’…you mean what?" Liz asked, her voice low and full of raw emotion. Max knew she had to be overwhelmed—was learning so much about who she was in this one surreal moment.

"The incubation wasn’t just for physical maturation. It also allowed the alien side to develop…was necessary to bring the alien and human natures into full harmony. Your alien side wasn’t fully formed yet, and Nasedo didn’t believe that the Antarian queen should be so human."

Max felt anger churn within him at her words. At her implication.

"You were just a baby, but the others were growing…bigger. So I removed you against his wishes," she explained softly. "I was the unit leader, but he was defying me at every turn. And at that point," Serena shook her head somberly. "Well, we parted ways because I finally realized he’d never been the same after his capture."

Max’s throat tightened dryly, as he thought of all the Special Unit had done to him during his brief captivity. If Nasedo had endured that treatment for long, then it had undoubtedly changed him profoundly.

Serena rose from her chair, walking to the other side of the room, and it struck Max that she needed to distance herself emotionally at this moment. She fingered a row of books that lined a tall shelf, and then turned toward them again.

"I realized then that something had died within Nasedo, and I had to protect you from him, Liz," Serena stated evenly, pulling a volume out of the bookshelf absently. "So I quietly asked around Roswell, and found out about your parents. That they’d been trying to adopt for several years."

"You knew my parents?" Liz cried incredulously.

Serena gazed at Liz for a long moment, her eyes growing very melancholy. He wondered what was passing through her mind—she was so enigmatic and difficult to read, yet it was obvious that this part of their conversation was costing her a great deal emotionally. "Not exactly, but it wasn’t difficult to learn about them after some discreet checking," she answered softly. "I kept you for about three months, then took you to them."

Serena had taken care of Liz as a baby, not just in the pods like the rest of them-- she’d actually served as her surrogate mother for a short period of time. Comprehension dawned slowly within him, as he realized that it had killed Serena to give Liz up, but she’d done it to protect her.

Michael sprang suddenly to his feet, walking toward Serena, his entire posture confrontational.

"So, this still doesn’t explain why you never came to us," he insisted. "Never helped us all these years."

"But it does, actually," Serena answered heavily, her eyes becoming dark as she looked up at Michael. "Nasedo wanted Liz out of the way…and Tess as the queen. But beyond that, I learned that he planned to take you back to Antar…that he’d struck a deal with Khivar. I vowed to protect you from him at all costs." She whispered fiercely, and her eyes grew suddenly shadowed, as if she were revisiting some moment within her mind.

"I watched over the pods and waited, always on guard against him. I should have just killed him, but…" She shook her head, frowning. "It went against all of our oaths as protectors, and I couldn’t make myself do it. But I should have," Serena confessed quietly, and looked up at Michael again. "When you came out of the pods early, neither of us knew…expected it, and it worked incredibly to my favor. Because even if I didn’t know where you were--he didn’t either. And when I found you all again a year later, I knew I had to stay away or I’d lead him right to you."

"But aren’t you a shape-shifter?" Max asked, his mind trying to make sense of all she’d just told them.

"Yes, I am, but Nasedo could have easily still known me."

"How?" Max asked.

"Scent. Intuition. Energy impressions," she explained evenly. "Countless ways, and the risk was just too great."

The group fell silent a moment, and Max noticed that Isabel’s eyes were shimmering with unshed tears, as she stared down at the floor.

"What about me?" Tess asked. "How did I wind up with Nasedo?"

"Because you came out a bit later. The co-incubation with Liz had placed a strain on your pod, and when you came out, Nasedo was waiting."

"Where were you?" Tess asked.

"Away," she answered simply, her voice melancholy again. "I had no idea when you’d come out, Tess. I took a risk and left you in the pod. I was worried that co-incubating with Liz had caused you problems, and wanted you to reach maturity."

Serena walked back toward them all, leaving Michael where he stood scowling by the bookshelf. She sat across from Tess, and rubbed a hand across her eyes tiredly. "I was wrong to leave you, and for that I’ll never forgive myself."

Tess grimaced slightly at her words, her blonde brows drawing together painfully. He wondered what she was thinking at that moment. Serena’s decision had cost her years of separation from the rest of them—had enabled Nasedo to lie to her about her destiny. One decision had yielded so many painful results for all of them.

"So it all worked out very badly, as you can see. Nasedo had Tess, but I had Liz…knew her location, and I had to keep him away from the three of you," Serena finished, her eyes slowly passing between Michael, Isabel and Max.

"And that’s why you left us alone for all those years?" Isabel asked, her voice thick with emotion.

"Like I told Max last night, I was never far away, always watching from a distance. But I couldn’t risk actual contact…couldn’t risk exposing you."

Liz shifted beside him, and he saw that her hands were shaking slightly, as she balled them into tiny fists against her sides. He studied her features, wondering how she was responding to all of this.

"Nasedo wanted me dead, didn’t he?" She asked finally, her voice strained and unsteady. "That’s what your saying?"

Serena’s eyes narrowed, and Max noticed the same flash of alien fire he’d glimpsed earlier. "Yes, Liz."

Max’s heart began pounding crazily, as an idea began to take shape within his mind. As he watched Liz’s hands trembling, felt her entire body shaking softly, the newly forming thought became less hazy, more clear.

"That’s why Liz was shot, wasn’t it?" He demanded, his voice raw.

"Nasedo found her," Serena answered with a soft nod. "And in the process, ultimately found all of you."

The words hung in the air, echoing through the emotional space of the room, and no one spoke at all.

Max closed his eyes, as blinding pain suddenly pierced through him. All these years, he’d believed that Liz’s shooting had been only a random event—not related in any way to himself. He felt the air choking from his lungs, because this was what he always battled—the realization that who he was always seemed to cause her so much pain. That loving him naturally seemed to cost her so much.

Because it wasn’t just that Liz had been too human in Nasedo’s estimation—it was that the queen wasn’t alien enough. That Max’s wife was too human.

But Liz didn’t need his self-recriminations at this moment. She needed his strength, and he willed the thoughts out of his mind, opening his eyes.

"Now that we know all of this, what happens from here?" Max asked. "There’s so much we must learn…about the resistance, about who we are."

"Max, we’ll spend a lot of time, just teaching all of you. There’s much you in particular must learn in order to head this revolution."

Max nodded in silent acquiescence, as Serena continued. "You’ve been our leader in theory for a long time. But soon…very soon…you will become our leader in fact."

She stared at him intently, her gaze piercing—almost as if she were plumbing the depths of him in that moment. He wondered if she possibly knew how her words electrified him. Because for perhaps the first time Max could recall, he genuinely yearned to be their leader… their king.