Title:Touch of Death {cryptic huh}
Author: Kathryn C.
Disclaimer: Me No Own.
Distribution: You want it, you take it, just give me
the URL.
Feedback: Send it, or I don't feel like writing.
Well, maybe for some of you, you might want
that.SEND IT, SEND IT, SEND IT. I won't
stop writing, so I can't threaten that, but please
send it. Let me know you're reading.
Rating: Uh, pg-13/14a?
Spoilers: Well, it's mostly speculation based on
spoilers mentioned. But, spoilers for Sexual Healing
and the whole "T" person storyline.
********
Well, that statement was enough to shock the heck out of everyone. Michael walked towards Max who was still in a daze. He put his hand on his shoulder. "Okay Max," he said gently. "Now, where is she?"
Max shook his head and sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. "She's dead," he said in a broken voice.
"Okay," Maria said in a reasonable voice, walking over to Max and Michael, "Where is the body then?"
Max gave a humourless laugh and waved his hand around the room. "Want to know something? Well, we vaporize when we die. Well, at least we do if we die like she did?"
"And how did she die Max?" Michael asked, thinking the worst.
Max gave a broken sob, "I don't know. I mean, I really don't."
He continued, "I mean, we kissed and it was nothing like with L....like before," he finished, averting his ashamed glance from Liz. "I saw everything in her. I saw her memories, her emotions and thoughts. Then, I got really angry and my emotions just seemed to flow into her. Well, she just....she just died."
"If she was alien too, why did she want to help catch you guys?" Maria asked Max as Michael searched around the room for any sign, or trace of Tess.
Max sighed, "It was all there, in her memories. Tess wasn't completely alien. Her mother was human. Nasedo took off shortly after Tess was born, and her mother died not long after. Tess was sent to live in an orphanage. Eventually, the FBI found out about her."
Max's voice broke. "She was taken to an FBI testing center when she was 5 years old. They kept her alone in a steel room for a long time with no contact except the agents who examined her. The only time she was ever allowed out was when they were testing her, and once a year on her birthday, supervised of course by a staff of agents."
Max continued, "They showed her pictures of us and told her all about us. They got her to hate us. We were fully human and we got to have the full life she never got. She was brainwashed in a sense by them, a true product of the system."
He sighed, "This mission was the last time. They told her if she got proof about us, she could be free and go live the life she never had before."
"She hated us," he said soberly, "To her we were the enemy, the real reason that she was imprisoned all these years."
"That's how they new the perfume would work on aliens," Maria mused aloud.
"Perfume? What are you talking about?" Max asked.
"In case you didn't pick up on it in her thoughts," Michael said from across the room, "It's how they influenced you. It's why you've been acting like such a jackass for the past week."
"I'm sorry for everything I said or did this week you guys," Max said quietly. He remembered everything. He knew a simple apology was nowhere near enough. He had some serious groveling to do.
"What about Nasedo?" Isabel asked, "Did she know anything about him?"
Max shook his head, "All she knew was that her father was an alien and he abandoned her and her mom when she was a kid. For all she knew he could be alive or dead."
"That's helpful," Alex said drily.
"What would the FBI want with us when they had her?" Isabel asked Max.
He shrugged, "Probably because she was only half alien. Her powers weren't as strong or as developed as ours. Besides, she was a tool. 3 for the price of one."
"Why?" Liz asked quietly. It was the first time she had spoken since coming up.
"No corpse, so evidence, so conviction," Michael said. "The FBI won't have anything to go on. Technically, they'll know we are responsible, but they can't confirm or prove anything."
It sounded cold and unfeeling, but it was true. Max had just killed a woman, even if he didn't mean to, and now they were covering it up.
Michael went over to close the blinds on Max's window. Isabel and Alex walked out. This room just wasn't the same knowing somebody had died here. Max tried to catch Liz's eye, but she just filed out of the room behind them. Maria ignored the stricken look on Max's face and followed the others.
Michael stopped in front of Max. "Glad to have you back to normal," Michael said in a gruff tone.
"Listen Michael," Max began, "I'm sorry for what I said that day in the library, about...you know. I didn't mean it."
"Forgiven and forgotten," Michael said uncomfortable. However, he couldn't escape the thought that although the perfume made Max irritable towards them, it didn't place words in his mouth. However, he knew the real Max would never say anything like that.
At least not out loud.
"Is Liz....is she okay?" Max asked Michael, his eyes on the door which she had exited out of.
Michael shrugged, "I'm not a mind reader. All I can say is you screwed up pretty big buddy."
He clapped Max on the shoulder and walked to the bedroom door. "You coming Max?" he asked, pausing.
Max shook his head, "You go Michael. Tell them all I'll be down in a minute. I just want to be alone for awhile."
Michael nodded and Max forced a smile as he watched him go. As soon as Michael was gone, Max collapsed on his bed.
There was nothing to remind him of Tess, nothing but the memories.
"I killed her," he whispered to his empty room, "I'm a murderer." even though Tess had been out to destroy him, even though she had hated him, he had still killed her, intentional or not.
A single tear ran down Max's cheek. Soon they were falling free as he grabbed his pillow and clutched it to his chest.
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