Far Away From Here

By Blanca

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Their characters. My story.

Summary: When Max is kidnapped and sent to a government facility, it is up
to Liz and the gang to rescue him.

Category: Max and Liz

Authors note: There are three things an author needs from his/her readers:
1) Feedback 2) Feedback 3) Feedback

Distribution: Please e-mail me first, 'kay?

Continuity/Spoilers: Begins at the end of Blind Date. Some of Independence
Day is included as well.

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Far Away From Here
by Blanca

Part 1

Max Evans stepped out of the club, not entirely sure where he was. The last
thing he remembered was taking a sip from Kyle's flask in front of Chez
Pierre. How he came to be up on stage in a club kissing Liz - yes, he had
kissed her - he had no idea. He felt guilty about running out of there like
that, but he was only acting on instinct. There was something in the way
Liz had looked at him, a light in her eyes. Did he really mean all of those
things he said? What could he possibly have said to her?

He stopped at a pay phone and called home. Isabel wasn't there and he
couldn't exactly explain his whereabouts to his parents. There was no
answer on her cell phone either. He would have to walk home.

Max didn't get very far before he noticed that he was being followed. All
the years of hiding had made him hyper-aware of his surroundings. He turned
his head ever-so-slightly to see a black van slowly rolling down the street,
keeping pace with him. This was a bad sign. He kept his gaze forward and
turned the corner. The van turned and kept right on following. This was a
very bad sign. He sped up his pace, walking faster and faster until he was
in a full-out sprint. The van kept coming. He ran as fast as he could,
looking for a doorway, a passage, any place he could run to where they would
not follow. Desperate, he turned down a deserted alleyway. Dead end.
Trapped.

The van parked in the opening of the alley, blocking his only escape route.
For a moment Max considered using his powers to open a hole in the wall or
disable the vehicle - anything to get out of there - but it was too risky.
He just stood there with the headlights focused on him, out of breath from
running so hard. He concentrated on trying not to look as panicked as he
felt. It was like living his worst nightmare.

The side door of the van slid open and a figure stepped out, a woman. Max
felt the lump in his throat grow to the size of a grapefruit when he saw
her. Topolsky.

"Hello, Max," she said with a satisfied, Cheshire grin.

"M...Miss Topolsky. What are you doing here?"

"Come on, now," she said, walking towards him. Her black heeled boots
clicked and echoed in the narrow alley with each step. "Let's not play
these games."

He took an uneasy step back. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You've had a very eventful evening tonight so I won't waste your time. You
know who I am and why I came here back in September." Without looking, she
held her hand out to the van behind her. A man dressed in a black suit came
out of the passenger's side and handed her something. "Well, I know who you
are too, Mr. Evans. And now I have proof."

Max looked incredulous. "Proof?"

Topolsky held in her hand the smallest video camera Max had ever seen. She
turned the flat view screen towards him so he could see what they had
recorded. "Proof, Max. I've been following you for a while now, just
waiting for something like this to happen. And tonight I struck gold."

Max could not believe what he saw on the video screen. He watched himself
create a ladder out of nothing, draw a huge red heart on Liz's wall with
just his finger, turn a street lamp into a disco ball and parking meters
into fountains of fireworks. No wonder Liz had looked at him like that.

He pointed at the screen and took a defiant stance. "That's...none of that
is real. I don't remember doing any of those things. You must have, I
don't know, made it up or doctored the tape or something."

"Oh, it's real. Real enough to convince my superiors to reassign me to this
case. Now I'm going to have to ask you to come with us." She waved her
hand and the man standing behind her approached Max menacingly. He was soon
joined by another similarly attired man from inside the van. Max tried to
run, but it was no use. The men flanked him on each side, grabbing his
arms. They turned him back to face Topolsky. "Sweet dreams, lover boy,"
she said. The last thing Max saw was the top of her boot coming up to meet
his face.

* * *

Liz sat on her balcony under an Indian blanket, gazing at the stars. She
didn't feel like writing in her journal. She didn't feel like doing much of
anything. Her eyes fell on the large red heart painted on the brick wall
next to her. "M.E. + L.P." That said it all. Was he telling the truth
about not remembering anything he said earlier that night? It didn't
matter, really. Because when Max kissed her she had had a vision. In that
moment she knew how he felt about her. It was warm and loving and
wonderful. He would come around eventually. She just had to give him time.

The next day was Sunday. Liz went about her usual work routine though her
head and heart were somewhere else. Secretly she hoped Max might come by to
see her, but there was no sign of him. She would have to wait until school
the next day.

Insomnia kept her awake all that night. The thought of seeing Max again
after what she knew just made her too anxious to sleep. She kept imagining
a scenario where she would tell him about her vision and how he couldn't
hide his true feelings from her. Then he would tell her she was right and
he'd been miserable since the night they broke up. She'd assure him that
she understood that he needed some time because she knew how much he loved
her. Then she would tell him she loved him too and they would share a kiss.
The whole scene played over and over in her head like a movie. Rewind.
Play back. Rewind. Stop.

There was a tug, somewhere at the edge of consciousness. For an instant Liz
felt the sensation of fear gripping her. Desperation. Longing. Please.
Liz. Hear me. And then it was gone. The feeling passed so quickly she
wasn't sure she had felt anything at all. She put it aside and went back to
the movie in her mind before finally drifting off to sleep.

Go to Part 2