“Do you want me to go with you?” Alec asked. They were standing half on the sidewalk, half on the street outside the Crashdown Café. He looked up and down the street and realized how accurate Liz’s description of the small town was. But he found the idea of hanging around wasn’t repulsive.
“No. I have to face them on my own.” Liz answered as she looked at the glowing UFO over the doorway. It seemed the same but so different as well. It didn’t seem that long ago that Max had parked the Cheville there to pick her up for their road trip. One that drastically changed her life. “Will you wait here?”
“Well Roswell doesn’t exactly look like a big party town to me so I’ll be right here when you need me.” He said before kissing her on the forehead. As soon as his lips left her forehead, she pulled away and walked to the café doors. She took a deep breath and pushed them open.
Liz heard the familiar sound of bell above the door ring as she walked inside. The café was empty except for Maria who was by the counter, Isabel who was sitting at it and Michael who was behind the order window. She saw Maria turn towards the door when she heard the ring of the bell. “Sorry, we’re clo..OH MY GOD!”
The next noise was that of shattering glass as the glass Maria had been holding slipped out of her hand. Her shout and the glass caused Michael, and Isabel’s heads to snap up in shock. Liz could see equal looks of shock directed towards her. She could see it wasn’t just shock but maybe a little fear as well. She nervously tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she said, “Hey guys.”
Maria recovered from her daze and started walking towards Liz, “I can’t believe it’s you Liz. It is you isn’t it? I mean of course it’s your body but is it still you in there or someone else? Your parents said that if you ever came back you’d be different because of what Manticore would do to you.”
“Maria.” Liz interrupted. “You’re rambling.”
“Sorry.” Maria apologized.
“It’s okay, I’ve missed it. And yes, I’m still me.” Liz answered smiling slightly then feeling nervous about what Maria had said she asked. “So my parents told you the truth about me huh?”
“About a month after you disappeared.” Michael answered speaking for the first time. “They told us about you coming from a test tube, having some furry animal mixed into your DNA, training to be a soldier since you could walk, your escape and how you ended up here.”
“Max was trying to find out what happened to you and when your parents overheard us, they told us so that we would stop looking. They were worried we might get in over our heads.” Isabel added.
“Are they here?” Liz asked.
“No, they’re in Albueque at a restaurant conference. But they should be back tomorrow about noon.” Maria said. “We’ll call them and tell them. They’ll rush right back.”
“No, it’s okay.” Liz said. She wanted to see her parents more than anything but if they were gone she would just have to wait. She didn’t think it would be a good idea to call them. Knowing her dad, he drive like a bat out of hell to get back to Roswell and might cause an accident. “Where’s Max?”
“In Santa Fe with Brody.” Michael again answered.
Liz looked over and saw Maria staring at her like she was going to disappear. Her heart almost broke when she heard Maria ask, “Can I hug you?”
“Of course.” Liz answered. The two girls embraced, Liz squeezed her friend as tight as possible. She had missed Maria so much. She felt Maria’s body shudder and her shoulder becoming wet. She pulled back to see Maria crying.
“I’m sorry, Liz. I’m just so happy. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” Maria sobbed.
“It’s okay. There were times I felt the same way.” Liz said wiping her tears away, trying to comfort her. “It took some patience and a little help but I’m here.”
“My turn.” Isabel said. Liz was surprised when Isabel grabbed her into a hug. True they had gotten closer after Alex’s death but Liz didn’t know if Isabel would still be friends with her, guess she had her answer now. When they pulled away she looked at Michael; “I don’t do hugs.”
“I know Michael. Don’t worry, I’m not offended.” Liz joked.
“But it is good to see you.” Michael offered.
“You too.” Liz said. She took a chance to look around the café. It hadn’t changed in the months she was gone and she was glad. It was comforting, and she didn’t want it to change.
“How did you get out Liz?” Maria asked.
“Well it’s a long story.” Liz said then remembered that Alec was waiting for her. “I don’t mean to be rude but we’re starving. I know you guys were closing up but do you think we could get something to eat? Doesn’t matter what.”
“We?” All three of them asked.
“I’ll explain that too.” Liz said. “He’s actually with me, waiting outside.”
“Go outside and grab your friend. We were going to hang around here tonight any way so I’ll have Spaceboy fix us up a bunch of goodies and you can tell us everything.” Maria stated. She wanted to sit down and talk to Liz. She wanted to know what her friend’s life had been like the past few months and she was curious as to who Liz brought with her. And the fact that Liz had said ‘He’ didn’t escape Maria’s attention.
“Yeah, I’d have to heat up the grill but the fryers still warm, how about some fries and a couple of burgers?” Michael asked also curious to hear what Liz had to tell them.
“That would be great. I’ll be right back.” Liz said before hurrying outside. She saw Alec sitting on the hood of a car staring up at the sky. He looked perfectly relaxed but Liz knew he was on alert to any danger around him at the same time. As she walked up he asked, “Done already?”
“Hardly but I didn’t want to leave you out here all by your lonesome while I told them everything.”
“What you think I’d be abducted by aliens?” Alec smirked.
“You’re hilarious,” Liz laughed. “Now get your cute ass up off of that car and come with me. We have all kinds of junk food waiting for us.”
“You’re going to make me fat eating all that stuff.” Alec jokingly complained.
“Then we’ll just have to figure out a way to work it off.” Liz said as she slapped his ass when he got up.
“You’re dead.” Alec said as he started to chase her. Liz took off for the safety of the café. She made it through the door before Alec tackled her from behind. They collapsed in a pile of limbs in front of more surprised expressions on Maria, Michael, and Isabel’s faces. Liz and Alec just looked at each other and laughed. “Sorry we’ve been locked away for too long.”
“That’s okay.” Isabel said to Liz’s statement. “Do you need help up?”
“No thanks, we’ve got it.” Liz said as she got up followed by Alec. “Guys, this is Alec. Alec this is Isabel, Maria, and Michael.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Liz talks about you all the time.”
“Well we don’t know anything about you.” Michael grumbled.
“You are exactly how Liz described you.” Alec commented.
“Guys, Alec’s fine. He’s like me.” Liz stated.
“You’re an X5 too?” Maria asked.
“Yep, if you don’t believe me you can see my ‘Made in Manticore’ stamp.” Alec stated turning to show them his barcode.
“Alec escaped with me with some help from some of my family. I trust him completely.” Liz said making sure her voice held the seriousness as her words.
“Completely?” Isabel asked.
“How about I just lay it out for you? I know you’re little secret.” Alec stated.
“What?” Michael exclaimed. “Liz, how could you tell him?”
Before Liz could answer Alec came to her defense; “Well it’s a little hard to hide when she was glowing and crackling in front of me. We didn’t want those mad scientists at Manticore finding out about you guys so I helped her hide it, it’s not that big a thing. You were genetically created on another planet, we were genetically created on this one, tomato, Tomatoe.”
Michael and Isabel looked at him in shock while Maria and Liz broke out laughing. They were still in the same arrangement when the front door swung open and ….....
Part 31
They were still in the same arrangement when the front door swung open and Kyle entered. His eyes landed on Liz and his face broke out into a huge smile, “LIZ!”
“Kyle!” Liz said before running up to hug him. Over the summer the two had spent quite a bit of time together trying to sort through the aftermath of Tess’s mindwarps and had become even better friends. Kyle pulled away and asked, “What are doing here?”
“Way to make a girl feel welcome.” Isabel remarked.
“Hush princess,” Kyle said. “I just meant how did she come back.”
“We were just about to get to that, that is if Michael is ever going to make our food.” Liz joked. Michael ducked into the kitchen while the rest of them settled into a booth with extra chairs. It was then that Kyle became aware of Alec’s presence but saw his closeness to Liz and figured he was okay. So he stuck out his hand, “Kyle Valenti.”
“Alec.” He said shaking the shorter man’s hand. Liz watched the two interact as she moved around the counter to the drink machines. She grabbed what she needed out of the counter freezer and started mixing up some smoothies. Alec watched her curiously before she plopped a filled glass in front of him, “One blood of alien smoothie for the fugitive.”
“Funny Liz,” Alec commented before gulping down the smoothie as Michael brought out the food. Liz and Alec dove into their food as she started to tell their story. “As you guys know since October I’ve been in Manticore. I tried to figure out how to escape but security was too tight. So I played along with them until they would send me on a mission. During this time was when I met Alec. We got to know each other and became friends, neither one of us fell for their brainwashing so we stuck together. Two of my siblings were also caught, one escaped and one fell victim to the brainwashing. It wasn’t until February that they sent us on a mission. But of course it didn’t work out that way.”
“Manticore injected us with this neurotoxin that would kill us if we didn’t receive the antidote within three days.” Alec explained. “Luckily I was able to find out about it before hand so Liz knew not to try and ditch the mission.”
“I can’t believe this.” Michael stated offhandedly.
“Things went on like that for a while, then one day the weirdest thing happened. I started showing signs of having powers.” Liz stated.
“Powers?” Isabel asked.
“Yeah, I had these streams going up and down my arms like electricity. I had to tell someone and Alec was the only one I trusted, so I told him. Then when Alec touched me, I was hit by a bunch of flashes.” Liz said but didn’t offer any information on the flashes. It didn’t matter and they were personal. “The streams came and went while Alec helped me to hide them. I started to attempt to learn how to use my powers and actually made some progress. Then Alec got taken away.”
“Taken away where?” Maria asked.
“To a place inside Manticore called PsyOps. It’s where they do all their psychological testing on us. You see I have a twin, had a twin who killed some people.” Alec answered as he looked over at Liz. “The crimes were unusual and made them question his mental health. And since we shared the same DNA, they wanted to make sure that it wasn’t in the genes. So I got taken away to be studied.”
“I didn’t want him in there so I decided it was time to get us out. A few weeks after, I was called into the director’s office along with my sister Brin, the one who had been brainwashed and told that another one of our sisters had been killed. When we left the office, I touched Brin and got a flash or vision of Zack and some others breaking into Manticore. I knew I just had to wait and our escape would be soon so that night I snuck out of my cell courtesy of my powers. I got lucky, that was the night they came.”
“Wait a minute, you mean you saw the future?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah.” Liz answered.
“What is with you and this fetish for the future?” Michael asked. “First an old Maxwell comes to see you, now you get visions.”
“Funny Spaceboy.” Maria said.
“Well like I said, my family broke in.” Liz said starting up the story again. She told them about the breakout, the aftermath, how she helped Brin and how they made their way from Seattle. She had just finished up when Kyle’s cellphone rang. He answered, talked quickly then hung up. “That was Dad. I’ve got to get home.”
Kyle started getting up and added, “I catch him up on your arrival. He’ll probably come by to see you tomorrow.”
“Looking forward to it.” Liz stated.
“Wait up Kyle, I need to head for home too.” Isabel said getting up. She surprised Liz again by hugging her again. “I’m glad you’re back. I’ll come by tomorrow so we can catch up more.”
“Thanks Isabel.” Liz said. “That’d be nice.”
“Well I’m going to head for home too. I open in the morning unfortunately.” Michael grumbled. “Coming Blondie?”
Maria eyed Liz for a minute, “I’m not sure, I’m having a sudden urge for some ice cream.”
Liz caught her line of thought and smiled, “Yeah, me too.”
Michael knew what the ice cream ritual was all about and rolled his eyes. “Alec if I were you I’d run for the hills. But I’m out of here.”
Within minutes Maria, Alec, and Liz were the only ones left in the café. Alec went out to the car and got their stuff then was back inside. “Maria, I’m going to get Alec settled upstairs and then I’ll me back down. Have the ice cream ready.”
“Will do chica.”
Liz led Alec up the stairs and through the door there. Once inside she showed him around. “This is it. This is where I’ve lived practically since I escaped.”
Alec looked around, “It’s nice. Homey.”
“Come on.” Liz said dragging him down the hallway towards her room. When they got inside he smiled, “Now this is better.”
Even though he knew that Liz held some of herself back from her friends it hadn’t spread to her room. It screamed her. There was personal stuff of hers everywhere but it was still neat and orderly just like Liz. He saw a picture of a younger version of her and Maria along with a guy he didn’t recognize but figured out who it was. “That must be Alex.”
“Yep, that’s him.” Liz answered. “I’m going to go back downstairs, behave yourself. Take a shower or something. I don’t want to come up here and find you rifling around in my dresser.”
“Yes ma’am.” Alec joked. Liz just laughed before she hurried back down to Maria. Her friend had two bowels off ice cream set out and ready. Liz plopped down and dug in.
“So let’s skip all of the skirting around and tell me, how did you meet Alec exactly? I know you were at the same base but…” Maria asked as she dipped her spoon into her ice cream.
“Well it’s kind of unusual way that I met him. About a week after I got taken in, I was in my room when he came in. He came in and told me that he was my Commanding officer and that we were under orders to start training the next morning. Now I wasn’t in a great mood, after all I’d been dragged into that place and put through a bunch of psychological stuff so when he told me that, I basically threw him out of the room. The next morning I was in the shower room and when I went out to change Alec was there.” Liz explained.
“In the changing room?”
“Yep, and there I was just in a towel.” Maria could picture what Liz was describing and couldn’t help but chuckle. Liz smiled as she continued, “Any ways we bickered back and forth a little until he told me a little add on to the orders Lydecker had given him, he wanted me on active duty within three months or he’d have me executed.”
Maria gasped, “Seriously?”
“Very.” Liz stated. “So I agreed to follow the orders until I could get out. After that we kind of struck up a weird friendship, which led to more.”
“How much more?” Maria prodded.
Liz smiled, “A lot more.”
“I hate to bring this up but what about Max? I mean before you left you two were together.”
“I plan on talking to him, as soon as I see him.” Liz said.
“You should have seen him when we found out you were gone. He freaked. He broke into the sheriff’s station to go through your file trying to find out where they’d taken you. But there was nothing to where you actually where taken, only who took you. Which we already knew when the sheriff gave your parents a copy of your release forms. At the time we didn’t notice the way your parents reacted but later when they told us your story, we saw it. After that Max tried to find out anything he could about Manticore but there was nothing. He combined the search with the one for his son. Both of them have turned up nothing. But he was still thinking of you.” Maria said.
“When I first got captured, I did think about him. I thought about him a lot and I wanted to get back to him. It wasn’t until Alec asked me if it was worth it to hide what I was from everyone that I thought it over. Max didn’t really know me, at least not all of me. I’m not saying that I’m a stranger to him. Just that he doesn’t know all of who I really was. He had this perfect picture of me in his head and I was always trying to live up to it. Liz Parker the normal small town girl. And I’m not. I’m not this perfect normal innocent naïve person. I’m flawed, I’ve killed, and I know the harshness of the world. I was always scared that Max would find out the truth and not love me anymore. And I don’t want to live with that fear. I deserve to have someone love me for me. Alec knows exactly what and who I am. He’s known what it’s like being a transgenic.”
“So you’re with him because he’s like you?” Maria asked.
“No!” Liz exclaimed. “I’m just saying that he knows me, he understands what’s inside of me. I just can’t explain how it is with me and him.”
“I think I get it. I mean I’ve seen the two of you together.” Maria commented, “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t settling.”
“Hardly.” Liz said. “So catch me up on what’s been going on with the rest of you guys.”
Maria thought it over before she started. “Well a few weeks after you disappeared we all found out that Isabel was dating one of the younger attorneys, actually the attorney that was on your case. The relationship didn’t last much longer, her keeping secrets from him is what ended it. But Isabel got over it quickly and her and Kyle have kind of become close. Kyle still works at the garage even though his dad got his job back.”
“How did that happen?” Liz asked interrupting.
“Hanson botched a few things up as Sheriff. So the town decided that Valenti had only made one big mistake in twelve years while Hanson made three in less than a year.” Maria explained. “Michael and I are going strong. It even looks like he’s going to graduate next month. Mom’s gotten better at accepting us. Nothing on the alien front has happened, so it’s been pretty much dead.”
Maria yawned then and said, “If I go home to sleep you’re not going to disappear are you?”
“Don’t plan on it.” Liz stated. “I’m not sure what going to happen now but I won’t be leaving for a while if I do.”
“I’ll take that for now.” Maria said before hugging her again and slipping out the door. Liz locked up before heading upstairs. A smile spread across it at the thought of the sexy transgenic waiting for her up in her room.
Part 32
As Liz made her way up to her apartment she thought of how nice it was to be there. It was the exact opposite of the sterile halls she had walked through the past few months. Everything was warm and secure where Manticore seemed sterile and cold. It would be even better tomorrow when her parents arrived. She smiled as she thought of what their reactions would be at seeing her again, her dad would probably not stop hugging her for days. She quietly walked through the apartment and entered her room. It was empty except for their open bags. The window to her balcony was open to let the spring air in but she didn’t see him there. Liz would have wondered where Alec was but then she heard a faint noise in the bathroom and figured it out for herself. She walked over and hovered in the doorway to watch him.
Alec stood in front of the sink shaving his scruffy face, barechested wearing only a towel around his waist. If the towel didn’t tip her off that he had just gotten out of the shower than his wet hair would have. His skin still looked damp and slightly pink from the heat of the water. He had combed his hair back away from his face but it’s shortness allowed her to see his barcode plainly on his neck. The black lines contrasting sharply against his pale skin.
“For someone who has constantly reminded me about privacy in the bathroom you’d think I wouldn’t catch you staring at me,” Alec joked. He ran the razor over the last patch before wiping off his face and turning to her. He gave her his usual half smile as he asked, “Maria gone?”
“Yeah, but not after eating quite a bit of ice-cream and getting the dish on you. We probably would have talked longer but she was tired and after promising not to leave in the middle of the night, she went home to bed.” Liz informed him. “I think it’s going to take some time for her to believe that I’ll be here every morning.”
“Well if I get to eat as much as I did tonight and keep taking showers like that then she doesn’t have to worrying about me leaving.” Alec stated. “Except I think I used all the hot water so you may have to wait awhile.”
“I’ll probably just wait until in the morning.” Liz said before leaving the bathroom and walking back into the bedroom with Alec following, still dressed in only his towel. “My parents won’t be here until noon or so, I’ll have plenty of time. Of course when they get back, we have to figure out where you’re going to live. I don’t think my parents would be too happy with the idea of you living here.”
“You mean I can stay here with you?” Alec asked pouting, “I thought I could just lay around up here waiting for you to get off work then provide any services needed.”
“Oh really,” Liz said with one eyebrow raised in question. “And what kind of services would that be?”
“Let me show you.” He said huskily before capturing her lips. They kissed softly, mouths just brushing, tongues darting out to stroke tenderly, faces shifting as their warm breath washed over each other. They were barely touching, yet Liz felt the fire inside her building. She traced the contours of his bare chiseled chest, her nail scraping against his flat nipples. She raised them to his shoulders, up to his head and threaded her hands through his hair, trying to push him into a deeper kiss. Alec grabbed her wrists and gently forced her hands back down.
He kept kissing her, pressing her to lie down on the bed while exploring the sweet recesses of her mouth as his hand moved up to touch her face. Liz tilted her head to give him better access, loving the taste of him. Pulling back when the need for air became necessary, Alec traced the edges of her lips with tiny kisses. Moving away from her mouth, his soft lips left butterfly touches against her left temple, the outline of her ear, her jaw, then repeated it by outlining the other side of her face. He found the sensitive spot behind her right ear and lingered there until her breath grew ragged. Moving on, he skimmed down the column of her throat, his breath warming where neck met shoulder, the hollows of her collarbone. Liz was already squirming beneath him, aware of how many nerve endings filled each inch of skin. She wanted him, now, but she never wanted this to stop.
Alec worked his way down before going back to the upper curves of her chest above her tanktop, loving the warm taste of her skin. Liz gasped, arching towards his mouth, but he pulled back until she relaxed. Slowly, using only his lips, he took gentle nipping bites of the soft flesh, over and over, occasionally grazing her with his teeth. She felt like she was falling to pieces. He pulled down the straps of her tank and lowered his mouth to her breasts. Every time his breath blew over her nipples she shivered. Until finally, he closed over one and drew it fully into the warmth of his mouth. He teased the tight bud with the flat of his tongue while he suckled, drawing moans from her, then switched to the other breast. He used his bottom teeth to gently scrape up from her ribs and over the nipple, then licked the same path, before allowing his lips to close over her. He alternated between breasts, pulling at one with his mouth while rolling the taut nipple of the other between his fingers.
Liz was writhing against his mouth, her head spinning. She could come just from this, she thought. As if he could read her mind, he placed a last kiss on each nipple and began tracing a line of fire down her ribcage while he pulled her shirt off of her body. She wanted to cry from frustration until he reached her navel and dipped into it. She jumped, grabbing at his shoulders. Once again he stopped her from touching him.
“Just let me,” he said his voice hoarse against her belly. He was so hard it hurt, but he was enjoying this too much to stop. He undid her pants and pulled them off quickly. Once she was undressed he went back to kissing her beautiful body. He slid his tongue down in a straight line through the dark hair covering her mound, and nearly came himself when she sobbed his name.
Liz was beyond rational thought as Alec’s warm hands parted her legs, and his thumb traced the inner crease of her thigh. It moved higher, barely brushing her curls, as he kissed his way up from her knees. She wove her hands into his hair, she couldn’t help herself, but he wouldn’t be hurried. Finally, delicately, he stroked her with his tongue, moving just over the outer lips, making her shudder with each elusive touch. He dragged his mouth up again, deeply, parting the lips and tasting her wetness. He did it again and again, his tongue pressing into her each time, flicking over the swollen bud. Liz was pleading wordlessly, her thighs trembling, and he desperately wanted to see her face, but he couldn’t wait either. As the first tremors washed over her, he pushed her harder, suckling and stroking until she screamed, not stopping until the last shivers ended and she lay limp against the mattress.
When she could finally move Liz rolled over to face Alec. She leaned in and rubbed her cheek against his face, before her lips sought his once more. They kissed slowly, deeply, while their hands roamed. ‘He feels so good' Liz thought, and pushed him back against the mattress. She used her fingertips to trace the lines of muscle in his shoulders, his arms, his chest, before following their path with her lips. She kissed his belly, loving the way he tensed beneath her.
Alec was in heaven as Liz explored his body; her hair tickling his skin as her hands and mouth igniting his nerve endings. She was so perfect just like she was meant to be, made to be. He felt her pulling loose the towel that had somehow managed to stay in place during them rolling around on the bed and off of his body. Her lips brushed over the tip of his erection and he jerked, moaning, all coherent thought erased. He needed to touch her, now, and tried to pull her up to him. But she would have none of it. And since she had similar amount of strength that he did, she put up a good fight. But he lost when she took him fully into her mouth and Alec stopped fighting her. Her soft lips wrapped around him and he was encased in her warm wet mouth. Her small tongue traced the small ridges and creases in his member before she lightly blew on it. Before he knew it she took him fully once again and sucked gently. It felt amazing but he was too close and he didn’t want to finish in her mouth. He gently pushed on her shoulders, taking care that he didn’t hurt her injured one as he said, “Liz, I need…”
She knew what he meant and released him. She needed him, too, and she was more than ready. She climbed back up his body and reached for the box of condoms that Maria had given her after her and Max had gotten back together. They had to start being careful, they were no longer getting birth control in their food. She put it on and guided him into her. She pressed down with her legs letting him fill her, feeling every slick bit of him inside her as her body accepted his. Once he was completely sheathed within her she sat back on him. They stayed like that for a moment, not moving, just enjoying the feeling of being joined together in the most of intimate of ways.
Their eyes met as they slowly, very slowly, began to move. At first they only rocked against each other, sensitive flesh rubbing against sensitive flesh, until their bodies demanded more. Unhurriedly, Liz began sliding up and down and Alec rose to meet her momentum. Despite how much they wanted each other, they shared the need to drag this out for as long as possible. Over and over they moved together, their rhythm leisurely, but as they progressed their breathing became more labored and their whispered endearments were replaced with moans instead. Gradually the pace began to quicken more, kisses become hungrier, movements becoming more forceful, as passion flared. Eyes still locked again, natural instinct finally took over, bodies moving roughly, demanding completion.
As they moved Liz could feel she was close, and with each stroke the tension grew higher . Her eyes closed of their own accord, her face flushed, as she continued to ride him, his hips pressing against hers. She tautened, arched, her whimpers rising in pitch, until he drove into her one more time and she snapped, shuddering, the waves of pleasure radiating up through her body.
Alec watched her as he held back, wanting to see her face as she came. She looked so beautiful as she moved above him. She was so hot and wet and sweet, his body was screaming for release, but as she tightened around him he kept thrusting, drawing out her pleasure for as long as he could. She was so beautiful, his Liz, and he finally gave in and let go, jerking as he poured himself into the condom wishing it were her, the pleasure even more intense than before. They both kept moving as small aftershocks ran through them, gasping breaths washing over each other until Liz collapsed on top of him. Finally they were still, hearts still racing, bodies still tangled.
When she could finally move Liz raised her head to look at him, “So you’d do that whenever I needed it huh?”
“I’m here to serve.” Alec said smiling.
“As appealing an offer that is, I don’t think my Dad would agree to it but you gave it a good try.” Liz said smiling. She got up and grabbed her underwear and tanktop and slipped them back on. She looked back to see Alec still lying on her bed. “It’s strange to see you here, in my room. But it’s something I could get used to.”
“Did you have to get dressed?” Alec asked.
“Yep, just in case Maria barges in here at an ungodly hour.” Liz tossed him a pair of shorts and the two got ready for bed.
Part 33
Liz woke suddenly and it took her a minute to figure out what had actually woken her. Then when the feeling of being watched came over her, she knew that was what had awakened her. She shifted her head slightly to see Alec still sound asleep and decided to check things out for herself. She slipped out from under the blanket and Alec’s arm and grabbed her pants that were discarded on the floor.
She reached over and grabbed the small handgun that they had brought from Seattle, and snuck over to her window. They had left it open and it made it easier for Liz to move out onto the balcony. She ducked through the window and stayed in a crouching position, gun aimed, as her eyes swept the balcony. She saw the dark figure on the other side of the landing, close to the ladder, and recognized it. She stood up and lowered the gun as she said, “You know Max, sneaking up on someone is a good way to get shot. And take it from someone who has been shot repeatedly , it’s not something you want to have done if you can help it.”
Max eyed the gun at her side and asked, “Is it loaded?”
“Yes, it is.” Liz answered then cocked her head to the side. “What are you doing here Max?”
“I just got back home and Isabel told me about you showing up earlier, I wanted to see you so I rushed over. I knew it was late but I couldn’t help myself. I came up the ladder and was about to go through your window when I saw…” Max explained. The plan to come over to see Liz was not going how he had thought it would. He hadn’t expected to find her in bed with another man.
Liz knew it must have come as a big surprise to him to find out she was suddenly back then only to find her in bed with some guy he didn’t know. “Sit down so we can talk.”
Liz moved around the balcony plugging in her little Christmas lights before sitting down on the lounge chair while Max sat on one of the stools. “I planned on talking to you but Isabel and Michael said they didn’t know when you’d be back. I didn’t intend for you to find out like this.”
Max was about to ask her something when he saw her shoulder. The usual unblemished skin was replaced with a scared pink flesh and what looked to be a large burn mark. Before he could stop himself he ran his fingers over it. “Are you alright, Liz?”
“It’s okay, it’s almost healed.” Liz said shrugging.
“What happened?”
“Got shot when we were escaping. The bullet went straight through and we had to cauterize it to stop the bleeding.” Liz explained, “In a few more days there will only be a small scar left.”
“What is going on Liz? I mean first you disappear from the jail in Utah and your parents were upset but not very surprised then they told us this story about how you were part of this government research project. That you were a prototype of a genetic soldier and you were recaptured by the people you escaped from. Then you pop up after months with a gunshot wound and I see you in bed with some guy.” Max said
“His name is Alec. And he’s not some guy, he’s important to me. He was the only one there for me when things were really rough for me at Manticore.” Liz snapped.
“I’m sorry Liz, I was just surprised to see the two of you.” Max apologized. “So he’s like you?”
“Yes, we were assigned to work together and we became friends, then the friendship moved to more.” Liz explained. She looked into Max’s eyes, “I love him, Max. And he loves me.”
“What about us? Don’t you still love me like I love you?” Max asked
“Max, a part of me will always love you. But I’m not in love with you. Too much has changed.” Liz said.
“I want to fix things, find out more about the other side of you.” Max pleaded.
“I don’t think you do. Remember in Copper Summit when I said you put me up on this perfect pedestal? That’s who you love, that image of me that you have. But you know what? I’m far from perfect.” Liz stated. Liz played with a piece of her hair that had fallen out of her loose ponytail. “I’ve experienced things that you would never think ‘innocent’ Liz Parker would have done.”
“Like what?”
Liz looked at him as she asked, “Do you really want to know? Do you want me to tell you about when I was little and the doctors would cut us open to make sure their experiments were progressing the way they should? Or about how the guy in charge of us would release criminals into the woods so he could see how fast we could hunt them down and kill them? How about when I was recaptured and was put through weeks of psychological and physical tests? Or the man I had to kill, poison, so that Manticore would let me live? I’ll admit you saw some of me, the ones of me as a teenager were real but those memories you saw of me when I was young weren’t. Manticore implanted them in me to cover my real memories.” Liz ranted before lowering her voice to a moderate level.
“I’m sorry Liz.” Max said.
“I’m sorry too, I didn’t mean to go off on you like that.” Liz said. “It’s been a rough few days. I got to see four of my siblings for the first time in ten years and then they were gone.”
“Why?” Max asked.
“Because we all had live to get on with, lives that are safer now. Manticore was blown up, if not destroyed then it’ll take them a long time to get back up and running.” Liz explained.
“So now it was safe to come back.” Max half asked, half stated.
“Yeah, Alec always lived in the base and since I wanted to let everyone know I was safe, we decided to come to Roswell.” Liz answered.
“Liz, I’m sorry that it was my stupidity that got you put into jail and caused you to get caught.” Max apologized.
“Max, you didn’t know what it would lead to.” Liz said. “And as horrible as it was, I have to look at the positive part of it. I met Alec. And I have you to thank for it. I know it hurts you to hear that but it’s the truth.”
Max just slowly nodded but didn’t say anything so Liz continued, “Max, be happy for me, please. I’m happy, I’m not hiding my life or who I am from anyone that is important to me. And they’ve accepted me. I would like it if you could too, and if you can accept me and me and Alec, then I hope we can be friends.”
“I’m sorry but I can’t. I can’t believe that you could suddenly stop loving me. We can get through this. I understand about wanting to be with someone like you but we can move past this now.” Max pleaded.
“Max, I don’t want to get past ‘this’. I want to be with Alec and not you. Can’t you understand that? It has nothing to do with him being like me, it had to do with who not what he is.” Liz argued. “Listen I’m not going to argue with about this in the middle of the night. Either except that Alec and I are together and be my friend or stay the hell out of my way. Because trust me Max, you don’t want to be on the bad side of a transgenic, especially not one with alien powers.”
“I’ll go but this isn’t over Liz. We need to finish talking about this.” Max said as he climbed down the ladder.
Liz felt like hitting something she was so angry. Why couldn’t he just let her go? She had been willingly to do it when she thought he was supposed to be with Tess. Couldn’t he understand that she didn’t want to be with him anymore? That he suffocated her? She was starting to wish she had shot him when she found him on the balcony. She heard the Cheville start up and leave the alley before she crawled back into her bedroom. She shed her pants and gingerly crawled back into bed and Alec’s arms. She had just gotten settled when she heard him, “So that was Max huh?”
“I thought you were asleep.”
“I woke up as soon as I felt you leave my arms.” Alec stated. “But I thought I’d give you some space.”
Liz rolled over to face him. He was so understanding of her, not like Max. “Yeah, that was Max. How much did you hear?”
“All of it. Do you want me to kick his ass?” Alec asked. Although it sounded like a joke she could see that he was entirely serious.
“I’ll get back to you on that.” Liz muttered. She leaned in and kissed him gently, “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Alec said before Liz rolled over and the two went to sleep.
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