| Revelations in the White Room Danger pushes the truth to the forefront |
| Author: Minnie Rating: PG-13 Fandom: Roswell Category: Max/Maria Setting: The White Room Disclaimer: The truth revealed: I don't own these characters. No infringement intended. Distribution: Please ask. Dedication: To *Maria* Feedback: Yes, please. Author's Note: Part 8 of the Zero Series created by *Maria*. Parts 1-7 archived at Dulce (offline). Alternating POV fic between Max and Maria. Archive Date: 9/7/2000 “Good morning, Max,” the smooth voice greets me. “Where am I?” I wonder out loud. All I see is white. White everywhere in the room. “Someplace where no one can find you,” the voice continues. “Why am I here?” I ask. My head's pounding. The last thing I remember is being dragged away from the funhouse by men in suits. “That’s what I want to try to find out.,” it answers. Slight panic starts to invade me. What is this place? “You’ve made a mistake.” I’m not supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be with my friends. With Maria. “I don’t think so. I know what you are, and now, you’re going to tell me everything,” the voice hisses softly. “I’m Max Evans. I live at sixty-twenty-five Murray Lane. You can call my parents.” I stall for time, all the wondering, . Where were the others? What happened to Liz? To Nasedo? Where they were here too? No, Nasedo would keep them away from here. Michael would protect Isabel and Liz. Alex was savvy enough to protect himself and so was Tess. But Maria? Who would protect her? The thought scares me. “We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. What is the name of your home planet?” the voice continues. “What? What is he talking about?” I wonder. A group of white coated men rush in the room just after I tell the voice that I was from Earth. “I’m Max Evans. Why are you doing this to me? Why?! Why? Wha…?” I’m strapped down. Pain plunges throughout me. Then I feel nothing. - Liz runs up to greet us as we come inside the café. “Oh my god, Liz. We were so worried…” I tell her, all the while searching for Max. Her next statement drains the bloods from my face. “You guys, they took Max,” she tells us, tears almost drowning her eyes. Terror floods me. Oh god, no, not Max. How? How could this have happened? Why wasn’t I there? Liz goes on to tell us the FBI Special Unit took Max. God. Max. I’m in shock. My feet take me towards Michael. Michael who was Max’s best friend. He clasps me tight and I hang my limp arms around him. I could pretend I was holding Max. Max who I couldn’t get to. Liz addresses a stunned Tess, asking her where Nasedo was. I feel sorry for Liz. She looks shell-shocked. I know how she feels. The thought of Max being taken away, being hurt is ripping a hole in me. I bury my face deeper into Michael’s shoulder, trying to find some comfort. Tess sounds worried about disappearance of Nasedo. This was not good. If she was worried, then it meant trouble. Big trouble. For Max. With Nasedo gone, Isabel decides it was up to us to find Max. Yes! I nod mentally. A sense of purpose overrides the panic that threatens to spill out of me. Alex is skeptical. He doesn’t think we stand a chance against our enemies. “What the hell choice do we have? Let him be a pincushion for Pierce? Let him die?” Michael rages at Alex. I feel a rush of affection towards Michael for saying that. He was a good friend after all. He understood. As Alex replies in the negative, Liz declares she wants to go to Valenti. I stay silent, all the while, thinking, 'Valenti. Yes. We need him. We need him to get back Max back.' 'But he's the enemy', a small voice registers within me. I swipe it away. I would bargain with the devil if it got Max back. “What, and tell him everything?” Michael huffs. I snap my head towards Michael. That previous rush of affection goes up in smoke. What was wrong with him? This was Max! Max, his friend who was in danger. Max who I didn’t realize until now, meant everything. Why the hell was Michael even arguing about this? “Max was willing to do it to save Liz. Maybe now is the time to trust him,” Isabel reasons. “What makes you think that Valenti is better equipped than we are?” Tess asks me. She’s also arguing about this? I thought of all people she’d be the first one to suggest going to the cops. To save her precious Max. No, not her precious Max. Mine. “He’s the law. He’s got resources,” I tell her. He has all those damn gadgets in his office that can reach out and touch someone. He can help Max. Why can’t Tess understand that? Liz understands. Then again Liz is in love with Max. And so am I. Tess argues that they could do a better job of saving Max on their own. I didn’t care. I just wanted to know he was safe. Tess asks Isabel and Michael about their powers. Michael responds, “We’re not too advanced.” I throw a glare at him as his words don’t exactly assure me. What did he do with his gifts all this time? Spend them all on trying to get his hair to stand up? Isabel tells her they can change simple molecular structures and Tess tells her that Nasedo has taught her a few tricks. Like what? Steal someone else’s boyfriend? Stop that, Maria. Focus! Tess’ words relieves me somewhat. Maybe Tess could help Max. Alex reminds Isabel of her dreamwalking power. Isabel starts hedging but Liz pushes her, telling her, “Look, if you do it to Max, maybe he can tell you where he is. And what they’re doing with him, I add mentally. A shudder of fear crawls up my spine as unbidden thoughts of Max being hurt crosses my mind.. Think positive, Maria. Think positive. Finally Isabel is convinced. I feel slight relief. We have a plan now. My arms refuse to move. I struggle, look down and notice I'm strapped to a gurney. That face, that face above me looks familiar. The agent strips away his white face mask. Recognition floods me. The deputy. It was the deputy. He was Pierce? “You have your tricks, I have mine,” Pierce tells me. I smile at the irony of his words. I know about tricks. I know how it is to pretend to care deeply about someone when all the while my heart belongs to someone else. Don’t think about that now. Think about something else. Anything. Pierce goes on to tell him horrific stories, stories about former heads of the Special Unit being killed. Having silverhandprints on them. Internal organs being heated to a temperature of 180 degrees. What did that have to do with me, I wonder. “Union City, Tennessee, 1967 Agent del Bianco, his replacement. Ring a bell?” Pierce continues. I snatch at that statement. The only bell it rings is Michael’s mention of Maria’s relatives coming from Tennessee once. Maria again. He shows me X-rays and tells me my genetic make up human although my blood and skin cells were definitely not of this earth. I am puzzled. He brings out an orb and tells him to make it work. I look at him, uncomprehending. This was all a mistake. “I don’t know,” I tell him. More lab coats come in. They pump liquids into me. “No!” But no one hears me. I move around Liz’s balcony, restless, worried. Alex and Isabel are in Liz’s bedroom, trying to make the dreamwalk work. A pang of envy rushes out throughout me. If there was ever a time that I wished I had secret powers, now was it. I want to be the one to find Max, to see if he was alright. To tell him everything was going to be okay and that I was there for him. Instead I stand agitated outside Liz’s window, unable to do anything but look in and wait. The drugs invade my system, making me feel sluggish and helpless. Hands touch my face. Soft hands. Was it her? “Max, stop this and help me,” Isabel commands. Not Maria. Izzy. Was she dreamwalking again? I can’t think straight. I hear Isabel’s voice pleading with me, asking me things. “Tell me where you are!” she reiterates. Focus, Max, focus. Isabel is here to help. Think of something good. Maria. Operation Never-Leave-Max-Alone-For-An-Instant. I try to summon up a grin through the haze but fail. It’s okay. I’m smiling inside. Isabel asks with me to think harder. I do. An image of Maria clears the fog a little. I manage to throw out images to Isabel. Me being laid face down on a gurney and wheeled through some sort of base. A symbol of a red eagle on the floor. Pierce finally revealing himself to me. Isabel is aghast at the knowledge that the sherrif’s deputy was the one hunting them all along. I tell her to leave, tell her it’s not safe here. She refuses. Iz, you have to tell everyone where I am. Tell M … I collapse. Isabel screams, “Max! Max! Oh god! Oh my God! “ I dread whatever she’s about to say. But at the same time, I can’t stop myself from straining closer to hear it. “Michael, he’s so scared. He’s so scared,” Isabel says, tears streaking down her face. Fear, that sullen monster always hiding in the background, rears its ugly head. God, what were they doing to him? Why do I feel so scared, so alone? There is no one here for me, no one who will understand. I can’t even show my fear for Max. Not in front of Liz or Michael. They’d think I was nuts. “And he’s drugging him. He’s hurting him,” Isabel continues. Fear was no longer sullen. Instead it was bright and alive within me. My heart stops. They were hurting him? God, no. I send up another silent prayer. The sinking claws of pain replace my fear. I bite my lip hard and taste the saltiness of blood on it. I haven’t even told Max how I really feel about him. Now, it could be too late. Liz and Tess urge Isabel to remember where Max was. Despite the pain radiating throughout me, I force myself to hear the rest of the conversation. Maybe if I know where he is, it would make me feel better. Make me feel closer to him. Make me feel as though I wasn’t alone. “Eagle Rock Military Base. This is where they were said to have secretly taken the aliens after the crash,” I tell the others. Good. That was a start. If we knew where he was, then we could get him out. We could save him. I could save him. “This is the symbol on the hall floor on the base,” Isabel confirms. But wait. Doubt creeps in. “It says that it’s been abandoned for years.” Was Isabel even right? Isabel sounds so sure that’s where Max was. I had to trust her. Because I didn’t know what else to do. Liz reiterates her earlier suggestion to go to Valenti. Michael nixes it, suggesting that perhaps Valenti was in cahoots with Pierce. His words irk me. Why was he always so distrusting? Why couldn’t he see the big picture? The picture was Max. His friend who was trapped inside a hideous place and needed our help. We all discuss a plan to rescue Max. Michael tells us that they could protect themselves better than us. “With what? Your gifts?” I ask sarcastically. How did he know they’d even work? Was he really willing to risk Max’s life with something so unstable as his gifts? “Why not?” he snaps back at me. “Because you don’t know who to use them, that’s why not. You could get killed, or worse.” You could get Max killed. And if he died, my life would be over. Tess makes a case for the three aliens to save Max. Liabilities. She called us humans liabilities. I didn’t agree with her. We could help. We’d already helped out the aliens so far. I was about to argue when I saw Liz walking over to Michael, her head resigned. “Bring him back to me,” she told Michael. That’s it? She was leaving it all up to them? I look at everyone and they seem to go along with that. I sigh in frustration and nod reluctantly. Bring him back to us, Liz. To us. I glance at Michael, see his face scrunched up in determination. I still feel something for him. Fondness. That’s why I tilt my head up as he gives me a kiss. I feel like a general sending off a private on a dangerous quest. “You come back to me,” I tell him softly. Come back, Michael. And bring Max back to me. They leave as Alex puts his arms around me and Liz. "I’m sure they’ve found him by now,” I tell Liz, trying to sound optimistic. Trying to convince myself that the three of them have gotten Max out of danger. But my words don’t sound too convincing. Faith, Maria, you have to have faith. My optimism falls flat in Liz’s eyes. She doesn’t believe me. I feel sorry for her. Sorry for me The sheriff walks in and we all try to pretend everything is fine,. He wants to help us. Liz shrugs off the idea, gives him some lame remark about not knowing anything. Wait, wasn’t she the one who was pushing us to tell Valenti in the first place? What happened to all her earlier comments? As soon as Valenti leaves, Liz backtracks. “You guys, what if he’s right? I would never forgive myself if something actually happened to them that maybe we could have, like, prevented. I…” Geez, Liz, make up your mind! A lost, teary-eyed look comes across her face. I couldn’t tear into her. She was hanging on by a thread as it was. I inject some sort of plan to allay the anger, fear and frustration sinking in to me. “Ok, listen; let’s give them until four o’clock, all right? If they’re not back by then…” I tail off. To myself, I add, “I’m going in there. Even if I have to die trying.” Liz agrees with me. “He’s going to be fine,” I say that as much for myself as for her. I have to believe it. I HAVE to. Because the alternative is simply too horrible to imagine. The clocks strikes 4:08 PM. Still no Max, Michael, Tess and Isabel in sight. And no Max. “I’m not waiting any more. I’m going to do what Max would do for me,” Liz states. Just as Liz gets her resolve back, I lose mine. My head fills with doubts. Maybe Michael was right. Maybe Valenti’s appearance would only make things worse. If Pierce knew Valenti was on to him, he might do something drastic. Like kill Max. “Wait a minute. Are you sure it’s our responsibility to tell Valenti everything?” my voice hesitates and I cringe. Where was my earlier conviction? Trapped behind a wall of nightmarish possibilities perhaps. Liz tells us she’s going to tell Valenti. About Max being taken. What was she going to say? “Whatever I have to; to get him to help.” I didn’t stop her. Because the bottom line was she and I had the same goal. To bring Max back. Whole. Safe. Alive. I break free and rush at Pierce. But my powers, where were they? They were gone. Pierce tells me they’ve done research and know where my powers reside. I feel the chair restraint again. Pierce puts on some kind of mask over my head. He tells me it’s a virtual reality mask “You have feelings,” Pierce says. Michael’s image flashes before my eyes. “Emotions”. Isabel. “Friendship.” Alex and Maria. Maria. No, not friendship. Not anymore. Only now, in this place, do I realize what I really feel for her. Maria who was always ready with a snappy retort and a plan of action to save me, to save us. It’s not friendship or gratitude. It’s love. Love for someone who was always there, for someone who supported me, for someone who knew how we felt about being alien. . “Love.” Liz. I barely see Liz. Instead the image of Maria remains with me. I blink and it’s gone. Liz’s face comes into focus. Blood is trickling out of her mouth as she is laid down to ground, lifeless. “No, NO!” I lash out, screaming loudly. Maria won’t be able to handle it. Not her best friend! “Trick photography, Max,” Pierce says but his words don’t assure me. “NO! No!” I scream again. She can’t handle it! No, damn it! Pierce explains the image is rigged and not real. My hearts starts once again. “You’re evil,” I tell him. And feel the word course throughout every pore of my being. He shakes his head of course, denying everything. He wants me to tell him where the other orb is. “The other what?” I don’t know what he is talking about. All I know is I want to keep Maria safe. The Special Unit found the orb at the crash and now he was using it as leverage. “Ok. I’m going to give you a choice, Max. You can either tell me where the other orb is, or you can tell me which one of your friends you want me to kill first. Hmm? And you have ten seconds. Maybe I’ll start with Liz.” Liz? He thinks I’m in love with Liz? A nasty thought creeps up on me. What if he decides to go after Maria instead? I yell out, ”Stop it! Stop! I’ll tell you where it is, just don’t hurt Liz.” Better to tell him what he wants to hear. So he doesn’t decide to do anything to anyone. Especially her. I can’t risk Maria being hurt. Pierce tells me, almost in wonder “You do have feelings. Just like us. Whatever you are, you better tell me the truth for Liz’s sake.” Liz’s sake. Liz, not Maria. I’m getting antsy. It’s been an hour since Liz went to Valenti. Went to tell him where Max was. Could he help? Where were they? What was happening? Max! Max, hang on, please. They’re coming. Pierce is gloating. He has the other orb. The one I sacrificed because of Maria. She was the only thing I would have given it up for. “Now make them work,” he commands me. I don’t know how. Even if I did know how, what guarantee is there that he won’t go back on his words and hunt down those I cared for the most? He commands me again, this time harsher. “I’m telling you the truth,” I yell at him. It’s been a day of truths for me. In some way, I have to be grateful to Pierce. Grateful for showing me how I really feel. Wouldn’t he be ticked to know that he was the catalyst for the unearthing of a long hidden truth? My reluctance angers Pierce and he calls in the lab coats. I squirm. “I can’t tell you what I don’t know. I can’t tell you what I don’t know.” All I know is that I’m in love with Maria. But somehow I don’t think that’s what he wants to hear. The surgeons come closer. I clench my jaw and resolve to think only of strawberries. Maria. She reminds me of them. Pierce’s inhuman behavior comes out full force as he orders the surgeons to cut me up. I feel almost sorry for him. Sorry for whatever it is that drove him to this. Sorry that his life means this and only this … to torture helpless human beings. Perhaps he’s never had a Maria to shed light in his life. Maria of the pouty, raspberry flavored lips and dry sarcasm. Maria whose face lights up when she talks. Whose devoted friendship can never be questioned. “Open him up,” Pierce orders the butchers. Maria’s face comes up before me. She’s my savior now. Suddenly, someone's in my head. Maria? No. Not Maria. Izzy again. She is begging with me, pleading, talking about a plan, I tell her the last commands Pierce gave me. “He wants me to make the orbs work.” “Tell him anything, just give us more time,” Isabel says. “Stop!” I scream. Pierce puts up a hand to halt the incisions. I make up something, tell him what he wants to hear. I hope it was enough. Enough to get me out. To get me away from here. Back to the light. Back to her. My stall tactics don’t work too long on Pierce. C’mon, c’mon, Iz. Get with Phase II of Operation-Never-Leave-Max-Alone. I hide a smile within my anxiety. The orbs in my hand starts giving off a green glow that mesmerizes Pierce. Way to go, Izzy! Michael breaks in but Pierce simply stands there, still hypnotized by the fake glow emanating from the orbs. I was never so glad to see anyone in my life. He pulls me up and slings my arm across his shoulder to support me. I lean in close to him, trying to gather strength. Maria’s scent is still clinging to Michael. It’s a spicy scent. In my drugged state, I still manage to breathe in it. It gives me a kick. A thought intrudes. Why was Maria’s scent clinging to him so strongly? Was she in his arms? I push the thought aside for now. I hear Michael arguing with someone. What was the matter? We needed to get a move on. I wanted to get a move on. Michael is half-dragging my limp body across the room and through some barred doors. Shots ring out. My first instinct is look around, to see if anyone was hurt. To see if Maria was hurt. She isn’t there. I breathe a sigh of relief. Good going, Michael. Keep her safe. “Come on, come on. Come ON!” the sheriff’s voice pierces through my head. Valenti was here? Did he know? Who else was here? Was she? Shrill alarms sound throughout the base as both Michael and Valenti cart me to the exit. -End- HOME ROSWELL FAN FICTION FAN FICTION |